Happy 2009! some new news

Us on our honeymoon in our super cute glasses! Yes our honeymoon was quite a while ago.
We like to take pictures with funny glasses...just wait...
You like all of my fly aways?!
Alright well, I posted the pictures in the opposite order of what I was thinking, but that is okay. I'll just start with our news first. We are so excited because our friends Nate and Erin Russell and their 5 month old baby girl Rachael will be living here in New York City with us for 3 1/2 months! It will be such a blessing to have them living on our same street...it took some persuading their landlord, but they scored a sweet apartment. It will be just like old times...well kind of. Erin and I became friends in high school. We danced together, worked at Iceberg Drive Inn together, and were roommates in college. We even started dating our husbands about the same time, and they married four months before us. We were both blessed with husbands named Nate who are accounting majors. Joy for us!!! We love them! I'm so glad that Erin and I will be together during the boys' busy season. Her husband Nate is going to be doing an internship with PriceWaterhouseCooper in the tax department. I can't wait to meet Rachael!!!
The next piece of news is that I've started my online classes through BYU-Idaho. I was accepted into the BUS program which stands for Bachelors of University Studies. It means that I'll earn my degree online and the degree will consist of two minors and a cluster. For now I'm planning on English and History being my minors and Communications being the cluster. My only other option would be to do Business instead of History, but I can't bring myself to do that one yet. I think I'll leave the business classes to Nate. And wherever we live later on I could always get my teaching certificate in either English or history. I feel like I have more purpose now that school is underway for me again. I have always enjoyed learning.
That lovely billboard advertising holiday merchandise at Gap is significant because next week will most likely be my last week working there. I've been offered a nanny/babysitting position from a couple in our ward who have a little girl named Sadie. She is so precious and still so small. My mom and I were talking about how everything in life prepares you for what is next, even when we may not recognize it until later on. This has been true in my life in many instances, so I'm grateful for the experience and the camaraderie that I've felt at Gap. I really do love the job and the people that I work with. It has been a great job to help me transition into the city, not to mention I love their clothes...Nate and I have both made some pretty important purchases so the discount came in handy. We both got new peacoats. Nate looks the part of a New York business man now! And I got all the purple merchandise that my heart desired...I'm done buying everything purple, though it is still a fabulous color. Anyway, my point is the nannying job will be very rewarding and it will allow me to actually have a routine and nearly the same schedule as Nathan (excluding busy season...Good Luck to all CPAs the next few months...and all their loved ones too!) This new job will also be great because it will allow for Erin and I to hangout with our babies together.
And finally.... I told you that we love silly glasses!!! Here are some more to celebrate the new year! Funny thing is we took these pictures just a couple days after Thanksgiving. We actually celebrated New Years together like true New Yorkers...inside our cozy apartment! No way were we going to go freeze our rears off for hours in Time Square.
And sadly, for some reason we cannot get our pictures from our Christmas trip to Utah to load, but we had a wonderful trip. I made that list of things that I wanted to do when I went to Utah and it was impossible to complete...we did things that weren't on that list and I missed out on doing and seeing some others. The most important part was that we spent quality time with the family!! It was wonderful. I did reveal my big surprise...it wasn't me being pregnant...it was my brother Donny! He drove all the way from Kansas City Missouri and got there the day after we did. No one except myself, Nate, and Dad knew that he was coming. When he got there the family was at Grandma and Grandpa Snow's house to have breakfast for dinner. I couldn't take the smile off of my face when I walked in. I covered it up by giving Grandma and Grandpa hugs and being so happy to be home. Then, I said are you ready for my surprise? Everyone was confused and said sure. I ran and got Donny who was waiting outside, and when I brought him in everyone screamed. Mom's reaction was the best! I was so glad that we kept it a secret. She laughed and cried and she couldn't believe it. The boys were ecstatic too. We called Danny and he came right over when he heard who was in town for Christmas. This was one of the best Christmases that our family has ever had. We pulled names this year for all of the kids. Everyone really thought about what to get each other. This was the first Christmas in years that Donny has been with us. He said, "This was the best Christmas since St. Louis!!" Meaning the best Christmas since we lived in St. Louis. On this trip I was able to take Jake and Nate to the Caldwells house for the second year in a row, its become tradition to visit them each year at Christmas. They have been a second family to me since Tawny and I had drivers ed together. This was a special visit though because Tawny received her mission call on Dec. 19th!! She will be serving in Brazil and she leaves the end of March. I am so proud of her and so grateful for her and her family! Glad we got to see them. These are just a few highlights. Hopefully we can get some pictures soon.