2012, in a nutshell.

was big for us. Historic, even. It started out with a two-week old baby and a whirlwind of trying to figure out what just happened to our lives. Fast forward a couple months and Dan had been accepted to VCOM medical school and graduated from the University of Alabama, but before we had time to notice we were off with our Civic jammed pack so full I couldn't even see, reach, or probably hear Jude tucked back in that corner and Dan big-rigging the Budget truck. We arrived to a beautiful new home in Boiling Springs, SC. Our new residence... to have and hold for the next four years while Dan completed medical school. We settled in, without AC, for a week and off we went on a south to north road trip up to DC, Philly, Boston, Darien, &NYC. What a trip it was! We arrived home with about a day to spare and our bags were again packed, this time for a little summer bout in Las Vegas. I did my first assignment as a travelling nursing, which bamboozled me to the core of agony and emotional distress (sounds like I'm being overdramatic? I'm not...). After about a month and a half there we met up with Jared &Kris in SoCal to enjoy a little family vacation and then off we went up to Rexburg, ID to celebrate the beautiful marriage of Carly &Kurt. We flew back to South Carolina just in time for Dan to start medical school... it seemed to good to be true. It was our dream come true... all we had ever wanted and worked for. We loved our house more than words could describe, especially when Dan had an extra five minutes to spend it with us. August, September, &October came and went. November, and election day, came upon us and we made sure to vote. November 7th we woke up to a reelected President and a new look at our reality. Dan realized medical school was not what he wanted to do, especially under the tyrrany of Obama's big government (looking back, it was surely a blessing and we are thankful for how everything turned out). We chewed on the idea for a few days and before we knew it we were surrendering Dan's white coat and rethinking our whole life plan. Dan returned to his former love of Optometry and it never felt so right. We hurriedly started filling out the applications and starting the whole process over again. Back to LV we went so I could do another travel nursing assignment and make us a little green. I worked for a few weeks over December and November and Dan rocked it hardcore organizing sheets &unloading housewares and JCP. I graduated with my BSN, Dan came back to South Carolina to take one last pre-req at the community college here that he needs for Optometry School, and Jude and I followed shortly after to rejoin together as a little family in Boiling Springs.... for now... :)

We couldn't feel better about where life has brought us and we wouldn't change a thing. It's funny how when everything on the outside changes, it can't help but change you on the inside, too.