1,460 days

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY 4 year anniversary to my lovely husband Russ!

I feel so lucky to be married to someone as loving, supportive, and hilarious as Russ. I can only hope that he can put up with my silliness for another 50 years or so!

Love you hub,

Shell K

Slacker.

I love reading other people's blogs. Why can't I make myself keep up with mine??? It is not like I don't enjoy doing it..It must be like working out. Once I do it, it's not so bad, but getting there is the whole battle :) Anyways, I've had an AWESOME summer so far. I am a little bummed out that it is almost over. Only one month left before I'm back to school...awww. I have done some great things so far though!

Just Brock and I!

Russ and I took our first vacation by ourselves EVER!! We went to Vegas for 5 days and boy did we do it up. We ate fantastic french food at the top of the Palms and probably the best meal of our lives at Craft Steak (Tom Collichio of Top Chef's restaurant). I had lobster thermador at the top of the palms and Russ had rack of lamb. Yummmy! At Craft Steak we shared a waygu beef tasting menu. It came with beef carpaccio, amazing salad, prociutto and a couple other fantastic appetizers I can't remember. The main course was waygu beef grilled and also roasted with potato puree and roast mushrooms. And dessert was glllllorious, homemade chocolate and raspberry sorbet, fresh fruit, bitter chocolate lava cake and  the crown and glory was a minature monkey bread with house-made carmel banana icecream. Sheesh it was good. Both restaurants were upscale so we got to dress up! Then we saw Ka (which was ok), Penn and Teller (which was awesome), and UFC 114 with Rampage vs. Rashad and the accompanying fan expo. The UFC events were so great. Russ and I are converts. I got to meet Forrest Griffin and Bruce Buffer, my two heros. The fight was so cool, they do a great job producing it. It was awesome to be able to spend alone time with my love <3

On our way to the fan expo

Russ, Penn, and I! He is soooo tall!

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Drinking the "Witch doctor"

We were just lucky enough to have the opportunity to take the kids to visit Disneyland and California Adventure for the first time. We stayed in a Disney hotel and had a 6 day hopper pass. It was perfect! 6 days at Disney does sound like a lot, but with a two year old and a three year old, it made for a stress free vacation. We came and went as we pleased which allowed for nap time and trips to the pool. Aubrey turned two on the 8th of July and we were able to spend her bday in the park. They treated her like a little princess :) Both kids LOVED the rides. They are realllly tall for their ages, so they were able to ride lots of rides. Aubrey's favorite was the Winnie the Pooh ride and Ethan adored Splash Mountain. We went on pretty much every ride available to them in both parks. It was so fun to see the excitement and joy on their faces. We even managed to squeeze in a few visits with old friends (John and Diedra and Log and Lane) and a trip to a beach in Encinitas. I love the beach. The water was chilly but Aubrey was fearless as usual and went in with me. Eth was much more content playing in the sand with Russ and Phyllis.  

Well, unfortunately, that is all the fun I get to pack in to my summer. From here on out, I get to work a WHOLE bunch before school starts. Sigh. I am excited for school though :) I get to do my first 12 hour clinical day at a hospital! Woohoo! Anyways, here's to blogging more!

Love,

Shelly K

Ohhhh sheesh.

So...it's been a long time! I had no clue anyone actually read this til I saw my friend Cheree a bit ago (Hi Cheree!) and she told me she did! So I need to do a quick update:

I'm kicking butt in nursing school and also nursing school is kicking my butt! Lol. I am about halfway through my first block. Just started clinicals at a long term care facility in Mesa. It is pretty exciting. I haven't done anything too groovy quite yet, but soon! I hope to be passing meds and giving shots next week.I am really enjoying the patient contact and the hands on part.

I'm stilllllllll plugging along at the Melting Pot. Ugh. After my second block, I can quit and get my LPN! Woooohoo! But you know, it's ok. Atleast I have a job. You know you have to pay da bills.

Unfortunately, Russ's grandma passed away last week due to complications from a UTI. She was in her 80s and had lived a full, happy life. She left her money to my mother-in-law who is taking us on a sweeeet Hawaiian vacacion this summer as a tribute to her mom, who loved to travel.

The kiddies are doing great! Ethan is enjoying preschool wholeheartedly. He is making projects and singing songs. He loves talking about all of his new friends. Aubrey is still so crazy! It is so hard to believe that she is almost 2. She loves dancing and running around. She is basically fearless (so scary!!) During spring break, we took the family up to Flagstaff and spent a few days playing in the snow. Ethan loved sledding and throwing snow balls. Aubrey laid down flat on her back in the sled and accepted her sledding fate with a very serious look on her face. It was hilarious! She did like the sledding despite her demeanor.

My babies were sooo cute frolicking in the snow. I think the cold shocked them the most since they are AZ babies through and through. This was the first time they had ever seen snow! Previously, we had only read about it in books! What a treat it was to let them experience something for the first time.

We did get  puppy named Alice (who is seriously cute) but the kids are still too young to handle a puppy. They think she is a toy and are not very gentle with her. I think we may have to give Alice away :( Any suggestions on how to help kids be gentle with a puppy? Telling Aubrey no and putting her in her room has ZERO effect!

Anyways, that's all for now. Love love love,

Shelly

P.S. It occured to me that I didn't mention Russ at all! Russ is doing excellent. He initiated a healthy lifestyle change for us in January. We are both eating healthy. No more fast food!!! Russ is very dedicated to working out and hiking. We have both lost a good amount of weight and are still going! Yay!

  

365

Soooo...on top of everything else I have to do this year, I have decided to tack on a 365 project. This project is on flickr and it involves taking a self portrait every single day for....(can you guess?)...365 days! So far, I am on day three and have succeeded thus far. I am excited because I feel like my photography has to improve if I am using my camera every. single. day. I am also a little apprehensive because taking a photo of myself daily will force my brain into coming up with interesting ideas or else it may become a tad borrrring!!

Anyway, here are different versions of the first two:

Day 1

Day 2

Did I mention only part of you has to be in the pic? I need a tripod or a wireless remote or some alternate creative ideas to get my whole self in the shot. Maybe I'll become inspired today...

<3,
Shell K

Buried treasure

I was just about to give up on my garden. There had been a frost and I lost most of the things I had planted. But today, as I was shaking out my Christmas tree skirt, I saw that my garden had a spark of hope!! I pulled out these darlings...

I love the little curlies at the bottom <3 I also found a copious amount of lettuce that survived the storm! What a happy little treat before I'm off to work tonight.

Love ya,

Shell K

Quick New Year's List

I want 2010 to be the best year so far sooooo....

1. I want to get straight A's! I start nursing school in a few weeks.
2. I am going to try to speak more kindly and thoughtfully.
3. I am DONE with fast food. :''( It is about time.
4. I will make time for more date nights with my hub.
5. I will focus on photography.
6. I will try to become more zen.

Much love always and forever,
Shell K