Home Again

That’s right, I’m actually calling Idaho home. I’ve finally come to peace with the idea that my life is officially and completely in Idaho. I’m a resident with a driver’s license and a home address. Our little girl will forever have the privilege of telling people throughout the duration of her life that she is an Idaho baby. 3 years ago I don’t think I would have been okay telling people that I lived in Idaho. Not that there’s anything wrong with Idaho, my heart just wasn’t tied to the potato state. Well, 3 years of school in Rexburg and a move from Spokane to Idaho Falls with my family and I find myself quite attached to this state that easterners are completely unaware of.
This attachment actually presented itself quite suddenly. I always felt homesick for Rexburg after a summer of working but I was always quick to attribute the feeling to the nostalgia for my college life. But let me tell you, flying out of Vegas and back to Idaho Falls made me more excited than I could have ever imagined. Yeah I was sad to leave Keith for a couple more weeks but I was excited to be back with my family and into a routine. I was tired of a big city and the traffic, smog and irritated drivers that accompanied it.
Wednesday that welcoming embrace of home enveloped both Keith and I as we saw the sign declaring we were officially in Idaho. We have truly grown to love the wonderful, kind people that make up Rexburg. Although meager, we love our small strip of downtown shops and the clean pedestrians that walk the streets in any type of weather. We love the fact that we can count on bumping into friends and professors at Broulims, Albertson’s, Wal-Mart, campus, basically anywhere we go in this town.
So does all of this mean that we plan on permanently living in Rexburg after dental school? Unless the average winter temperature increases at least 40 degrees, I’m going to have to say no. But I hope that we will be able to find a town in a state that is as lovely and welcoming as Rexburg has been.

Time Flies

I am so bad at keeping up on this blog. I wish I had some pictures to post but our camera is acting up and I completely forgot to bring it with me when I went to see Keith in St. George. He is supposed to take some pictures of the places we went but he's been busy with work so I don't know if we'll ever get any on here. Here's a re-cap of the trip which was a BLAST:

Monday the 4th I flew into Vegas to visit Keith after three weeks of being apart. Keith picked me up in Vegas and took me straight to get some much needed food and do some shopping. We went to the outlets with the intention of looking for cologne for Keith. Keith was sweet enough to take a detour and let me look at the maternity store. He went so far to help me pick out clothes and patiently wait in the dressing room with me as I tried on outfit after outfit. Needless to say, I was the one who went home with shopping bags, not Keith. Later, my sister Nycole and her husband Scott took us to BJ's for some deep dish pizza and to see the "Dark Knight" which we both thought was amazing.

Tuesday, Nycole and I dragged Keith out to do some shopping (I swear I haven't been shopping this much in a long time) which was a lot of fun. Me and Nycole both found some really cute jeans and we rummaged through the baby clothes for quite some time. That night I surprised Keith with tickets to the Blue Man Group for an early birthday present. It was a lot of fun and definitely different. We both liked how small the theater was and appreciated the clean acts. On Wednesday we headed up to St. George to stay with Keith's cousin Becca and her husband Mike. We drove through a pretty good lightening storm which was fun to watch and a little scary when our car hydroplaned a couple times. Thursday we went Jet Skiing with a couple of Keith's friends and got fried despite the sunblock. The water and beach felt amazing though and we had a really good time. Friday was our relaxing day, we just hung out with Mike and Becca. Mike's mom was so sweet and took us all out to lunch and knitted us the cutest little hat and booties. We ate mexican for dinner and let's just say I won't be doing that again anytime soon. Poor Keith was up with me in the middle of the night as I begged for tums and felt my esophogus wear away in a pool of acid. Saturday we walked around the temple grounds and checked out the visitor's center, toured Brigham Young's winter home, played lots of Nintendo, ate some amazing pizza at "2 fat guys pizza", watched some Olympics and relaxed. Sunday we took a tour of the tabernacle on the way out of town then headed back to Vegas to visit some awesome friends- Holly, Kathy, and Mellissa. We loved seeing everyone and really appreciated everyone for letting us into their homes.

Keith and I are meeting up this Saturday in Utah and I finally get to bring him home with me! We are both so grateful for his work but we have hated being apart.

We have been so blessed lately. BYU-I requires most students to complete internships for their majors and Keith and I both needed to find one in order to graduate. I was lucky enough to get one at Targhee Women's Clinic and Keith scored a spot with the free dental clinic here in town. Both should provide plenty of learning opportunities and real world experience. Keith has also heard back from two dental schools- Nova (in Florida) and Case Western (in Ohio). Both have asked him to come for interviews which is really exciting. So our lives this fall will consist of school, internships, flying across the country, and a baby. I think we both feel up to the challenge now and we are anxious to see where life will take us this next semester.