From Then to Now

I love this picture because it encompasses our story of BYU-Idaho, love, and the beauty of rural Rexburg. So many memories come to mind: the temple dedication, firsts, nightly strolls through campus, moments in the gardens, our engagement, and the daily grind of student life. As I am still a student, I often miss being there. I don't miss the winters! I'll tell you that right now. This picture just reminds me of where I've been and the good times.
This is what I get to experience now. My internship brings me here every day. I love it! I know that this experience is going to go by in the blink of an eye, in a New York minute really. For now, I'm getting used to the daily commute to the West Side, taking sneak peeks into the Julliard dance studio across the street (secretly wishing I was up there dancing!), laughing with the other interns, grazing on mini candy bars that are overflowing at the office, and warming my belly with soup from Europan for lunch every day. These are the little things that are making the winter bearable for me this year. It's officially been a year since I started school online. I know I'll look back on my schooling one day and be glad that I did it. In the NOW, Nate is surviving busy season and I'm loving the 9-5 world. In the FUTURE: Two semesters left. Mom is coming in April and friends and family are coming in June! Lots to look forward to.

Where to Begin?

There is so much that we haven't blogged about. I didn't really blog about our summer, or any holidays, or any changes or events that have recently occurred. So here is a recap.

June- We went to TX for a week to see Nate's brother return home from his mission, but he ended up getting an extension and didn't come home until July. We made a trip to the beach and called it a summer vacation. I went to St. Louis to see my Hoefelmann family after that. My trip overlapped with my Dad and brother's trip so I got to see them and it was great. Nothing better than Ted Drewes with Dad and a nice summer BBQ with the family. My cousin Karri had recently had a new baby girl, so it was my first time meeting Launa. I was also able to be there when my cousin Elizabeth announced that she was pregnant! It was a tender moment and she is due any day now. Hoping I can make it out there again this summer to meet her little guy, Riley!
July/August- Nate and I spent the 4th of July in Washington DC. We were on TV with Aretha Franklin on PBS for the Capitol Concert. I don't remember if it was July or August, but we made a trip to Palmyra and Niagara Falls with The Gibson's. Great memories!! We went to the Palmyra pageant and it got rained out with two scenes left. What we saw of it was awesome! We'd love to go again this summer. In August we celebrated our 2 year anniversary and my cousins Kristen and Karley came to visit for a girl’s trip just a week after we moved into our new apartment. It was so much fun to have them here and experience NYC.

Palmyra Pageant

Frozen Custard in St. Louis

Me with Launa and Lily

Elizabeth just told her mom she is pregnant!

Me with 3 of my 4 brothers and Dad

Kristen and Karley in Time Square

Kristen and Nate love to be goofy!

Sept- We went to Utah for my niece’s baby blessing. It was a quick trip, but it was so wonderful to see my family! We also saw Nate's brother Brent for the first time sine he had been back from his mission to Milan, Italy. (He'll be getting married at the end of April so we'll get to go back to Utah for that!) We also spent a night in Rexburg. It was so much fun for Nate and I to spend time together. We loved the drive to Idaho and seeing friends from our Idaho days. Rexburg was beautiful as ever.

Sept/Oct- Honestly, everything is a blur. Nate started studying for the CPA exam. He would come home from work and study till bedtime...nothing has changed or will change until next Fall probably. Sometime around there our friends the Abels came to visit and stayed with us for a couple of days. There were lots of visitors that stopped in and stayed a night or two during the summer, but we were so glad to see the Abels! In October Miss Sadie turned one and we went to her first birthday party! My mom came out in October for her own birthday! We loved having her here and she was really happy to see our new apartment (elevator/dishwasher and all!) It is always fun to have her come and sad to see her go, but hopefully she'll get to come out for her 50th too!! Some time in Oct or Nov we went with some friends (including Sadie bear) apple picking and decided that should be an annual outing.

My niece Naveya! sweet girl

Friends from Idaho: Brett, Eric, Julie, and Julie's comp. from mission

The Pecks and Broden, The Ellis' (just had new baby!), & us!

Cherise, Barbara, and Amy Abel

Friends at Grimaldi's under Brooklyn Bridge

Apple picking!Sadie

Nov- We were very blessed to have a couple of Thanksgiving feasts! We were able to spend an early Thanksgiving with the Gibson's. Kris' family was in town and we had a blast getting to know them and then seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with them from Kris' office in Herald Square. It was an awesome view!! Thanks again Kristi-Lynn! Then, we spent Thanksgiving Day with the Monroe's and the Weirs. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving and we were really happy to spend it with great friends!

Macy's Day Parade

Thanksgiving at the Monroe's

Dec- Oh December! In December, Nate's brother Aaron and his wife Sam came to visit us! It was their very first time to NYC, but it wouldn't be their last trip. Sam stayed with us to see a doctor in NYC. Sam made herself well acquainted with the city while Nate and I continued working our regular shifts. We became fans of toasted marshmallow shakes from "STAND 4" thanks to Shannon! We all made it out of NYC and home to Texas within a day of each other right before the big snow storm. It was the Lauritzen's first Christmas with all of their boys home in 5 years due to all of their mission's over lapping. Nate's parents made it an extra special Christmas for all of us, and we all went a little overboard on the gifts. It was a nice break from our busy lives in the city. We hadn't even had time to think about Christmas until we got to Texas. Nate spent the entire trip studying for the second part of the CPA exam. On Christmas Eve, Nate received the good news that he had passed the first exam. Upon returning from Texas Nate took the second exam and we are still waiting for the results. So we have two down, and two to go! Go Nathan! In December I started training for a half marathon with Melissa Monroe and we are still going strong. Dustin is awesome and runs with us too...now if we could just get Nate out there with us. Nate doesn't handle the cold too well...and the rest of us have all invested in winter running gear so we are official. haha Our races are coming up in April and May.

Aaron, Nate, Papa Noel, & Brent in Christmas PJs

Jan- I came home a little sooner than Nate to finish working my last full week for the Gibson's. It was a bittersweet week. I truly love Sadie and am so grateful for the opportunity I had to share in her first year. I've missed seeing her daily and chatting with Kristi-Lynn about the ins and outs of our lives. It was a busy week for everyone! I started school online through BYU-Idaho that very week. I have midterms this week. Sam and Nate both came back to NYC the same day and shortly thereafter Aaron came. In all, Sam was with us for about 2 months and in that time we all got to know each other really well! haha That's what happens when you put two married couples in a studio in NYC...craziness. We're glad they were able to come and gain the experience they needed, though it didn't go as planned. We love them and are grateful for all of the time we spent together over the Holidays and in NYC. In January we celebrated Melissa's birthday! hurray. She had her party at our place and it was a hit. (She has been more diligent in her blogging so catch up on her page for details :) ) When Nate returned from Texas, busy season officially began with JPMorgan's earnings release...He has been getting home pretty late, but I've kept busy with school, running, and good friends who take care of me.

Sam & Aaron

Feb- We also hosted a super bowl party with the Monroe's this year. It was pretty sweet because Dustin hooked up his projector and created an 84 inch screen for everyone. (Again, check out the Monroe's blog for pics.) Parties in NYC are crowded and wonderful! This month we celebrated my 22nd birthday! woot woot (That was for Brent and Kate :) ) I was able to go to brunch with Kristi-Lynn and Sadie bear at Alice's Tea Cup! It was so much fun to catch up and to see how big Sadie has gotten. Thank you again Kristi-Lynn!! I got a priceless picture of Sadie sucking her thumb and sleeping on her mommy's back. Love it! My birthday was lots of fun between brunch, a movie, and pizza and games later on. Thanks to all who celebrated with me!!! Valentine's Day was sweet. We finally framed our picture of the St. George temple and made a goal to attend the temple more often. We are currently getting used to staying up much too late to watch the Olympics, working on our taxes...hmm, looking forward to Spring which won't come for a while, and loving our little apartment which is finally fully furnished! Nate says, "Hi guys!" Love, Rach....hopefully I don't wait another 6 months to update. We were just a little busy!

Sadie Bear sleeping after birthday brunch!

Rexburgian Friends!

This is Chelsea and Nate! They lived above us! This is the Saxton family! Tia, Michael, and Everett!
This is Kelsey and Brady!
The last time I got to hold Everett! He was asleep when we went to say goodbye!

Surprise Surprise! This is Nathan! Bet you didn't expect to hear my voice! We miss y'all!

okay so that was all that Nate had to say...He isn't big on blogging YET. Hopefully once we get to NYC he'll have something more to say. These are pics from our last night with some of our ward friends in rexburg. Sadly Alisha and Travis weren't in the picture. Alisha has taken to sleeping early since her pregnancy began, but we still love 'em! Also, Scott and Melinda were absent from this late night photo shoot. We were blessed with wonderful friends in our ward.

Graduation

Nathan and I graduated on July 18th from BYU-Idaho. We had a great semester. We both worked extra hard our last semester. He received his BA in Accounting, and I completed my two years to earn my AS in Generals. His parents came out to Idaho from Texas, and my mom and brothers also were able to come and stay with us for graduation. It was a blessing to have them all there. It made moving and cleaning the apartment easier too! I'm very proud of Nate. He smiled the entire day! We'll both miss BYU-IWe will miss our friends in Rexburg very much. We had an awesome ward, but we're looking forward to our new life in NYC.

FRIENDS in ReXbUrG!

We made awesome friends in Rexburg! I worked at Days Inn over the fall semester and got to know Paul and Stephanie and their little girl McKenzie really well! Nathan and I have really fun memories of my time at Days Inn. Paul and Stephanie were the live in managers, and the went out of town for Halloween and left me with the hotel all by myself for the first time. It was a learning experience to say the least, but Nate and I made it a fun night. We watched Hocus Pocus and ate pop corn and pumpkin pie (Nate's favorite!) McKenzie was very fond of Nate! We love her to pieces. She and I always danced around the hotel lobby pretending to be the ballerina in the snow globe that they had out at Christmas time. It was nice to sit inside the lobby and watch the snow, but I hated going out in it. We made sure to go and say good bye to the clan at Days Inn, come to find out they were moving into our ward just a couple of weeks later. Hopefully they enjoy the 74th ward as much as we did!

More of Graduation

Graduation!

We made it through our last semester at BYU-Idaho! Thank goodness. I couldn't stand another winter there, but I don't think I know what I'm getting myself into because I've heard the winters in NYC are pretty harsh too. Anyway, we had a wonderful day--well not exactly--a wonderful evening I should say. I had three finals the same day as graduation. I came out of my math test about in tears but at least it is over. Nate smiled the entire day! I was so proud of him. He has been an excellent student. I swear the semester we were engaged we spent more time in the library than we ever have, but that was the luxury of being married. We didn't have to go to the library anymore. That just goes to show where our priorites were though. Nathan received his BA in Accounting. It brought tears to his father's eyes. His proud parents were there cheering him on. We hadn't seen then since we were married last august. His grandma Carol also came. It was fun to spend time with her. My mom and youngest brothers were able to come up from St. George for the festivites also. It was nice to have everyone there to support us, and not only that, to help us pack and move! I received my AS in Generals, and to my surprise graduated in the top 10% of my graduating class. I joked that I could have done better if it wasn't for meeting Nate, but I actually think I've done better because of him! We went to dinner right before graduation at Applebees. I felt bad becuase Jake was sick all day and him and mom missed a bit of the graduation, but they made it in time for the important part.