Amendment to Medication Post

I've been getting a lot of calls, texts, facebook posts, and emails about the 50 years older post I just wrote. So I thought I'd write a disclaimer to let everyone know that I'm not dying.

About a year ago our insurance started covering the birth control I was on, so I had to switch to another one. That one didn't work out so well seeing as how it made my face break out like a 13 year old. Finally about a month and a half away I couldn't stand it anymore and HAD to do something about it. I was put on a different birth control and prescribed an antibiotic for my face issues. I also have two different topical prescriptions. I should be off the three of those by the end of this month. 

All that accounts for 4 of the 7 medications.

WARNING: I include a picture of my eye in this next section.

Tuesday night my right eye started itching, but I didn't think anything of it until I woke up the next morning and my lid was swollen like I'd just been stung by a bee. I read online to treat with a warm compress. While this helped with the itching it did nothing for the swelling. I left it alone thinking it would eventually go away on it's own. Thursday came around and I felt a huge rock-like bump right by my earlobe. I once again read online that there's a lymph node there. So I assumed it was swollen because of my eye. That will go away too, I thought. But last night the lymph nodes on my jawline and on the back of my neck started swelling too. It got to the point of me not even being able to lay the right side of my head on my pillow because of pain. This morning when I looked in the mirror I noticed that on the underneath of my eyelid (like where my eyelashes start) had little white bumps surrounded by red swollen areas. Hmm...that doesn't look good. Maybe I should go to the doctor.

I called the ophthalmologist's office and described my symptoms, and they wanted me to come in immediately. Brad left work to come pick me up. After some poking and prodding, the doctor concluded that my eye has blocked glands, which caused the lymph node near my ear to swell. However, he said my eye shouldn't effect the other swollen lymph nodes. He thought I could either have a herpes virus in my eye which was spreading, or I was starting to get shingles. YAY! So he prescribed my eye drops and an antiviral medication. But he was worried so he sent me to an urgent care facility. 

That doctor came to the same conclusion - herpes or shingles. He then prescribed me an anit-bacterial drug, just to cover all the bases. 

I go back to the eye doctor on Monday to see if anything has improved. But hopefully, I'll only be on these eye meds for about a week, which is great but they're pretty much horse pills. I have to half them to even think about swallowing them.

So, there you have it. I'm not dying. I just happen to have a few problems all at once. By the end of the month I'll be down to just the birth control, which will be wonderful. (One of the eye medications I have to take FIVE times a day! Seriously?!)

But I do appreciate all the worrying.

Courtney

50 years older

In a matter of one month I've gone from a 23 year old to an 83 year old.

 In case you're too overwhelmed to count, that's seven medications I'm on.

Courtney

Brad's [not so] fond memories of Easter

All of Brad's best memories always involve a camping trip. That's just what his family did. They loved (and still love) their camping.

One camping trip, however, scarred him for life. It started out as a loving mother trying to surprise and excite her 5 year old for Easter.

Susie and Grandpa Don

What kid wouldn't want to meet the Easter bunny, right? Unbeknownst to little Brad the Easter bunny was actually visiting their family's campsite that day. As he was picking boogers or eating dirt or whatever else little boys do, the Easter bunny came up to say hello. I'll let the next picture that Brad found yesterday on Yahoo explain how he felt about this Easter surprise.

He saw this yesterday and shivers went down his spine as he recalled the visit from the Easter bunny all those years ago that he now can only describe as a nightmare. He jumped a little at the sight of this bunny because "it look[ed] just like [his] mom!"

Poor little Brad was scared to death of his loving and well-meaning mother dressed in a bunny costume. The story goes that even after Susie ceased her unfamiliar bunny voice and told Brad who she really was he was still completely unconsolable. And to this day he still vividly remembers this traumatic experience.

But, in his defense, Susie did kind of look like the scary bunny from the Yahoo article.

Happy Easter one and all!

Courtney

Happy Birthday to Brad T. Andersen

I love birthdays. Like really love them. So whenever Brad's birthday comes around every year I always try to make it the best birthday yet.

My dear husband woke up on February 24th to breakfast in bed. Yum.

He also got to pick a present to open after breakfast.

He unwrapped the paper and found this:

To be completely honest, I don't really know what this thing is. He just wanted it, so I bought it. It's some sort of remote for his camera. Like you can take pictures without having to push the button on the camera. He really likes it so far.

When he came home from work for lunch he got to open the rest of his presents.

 An REI giftcard form Sara and Steve!

Some great Kenneth Cole shoes from his mom and me.

And a double waffle iron! He's never asked for something like this and most definitely wasn't expecting it. We've used it several times since his opening it, and it's so cool.

We also upgraded from this:

20 inch 50 pound VCR/DVD combo TV

to this:

40 inch 5 pound flat screen

A long time ago we cancelled our cable because it was ridiculously overpriced. But with this new TV we got a digital antenna and now we get all the local channels. And you know what that means? We get to watch The Bachelor when it comes on TV and not online the next day! Awesome!

One of the missionaries was having a birthday on February 24th too, and they didn't have any dinner plans so we invited them over.

Happy birthday Elder S!

Happy birthday Brad!

Courtney

GRAD SCHOOL!!!!

A little over a month ago I wrote about my decision to finally apply to grad school. I was hopeful I'd get an interview, but let's be honest I submitted my application 15 days before the deadline. When the news came that I was in fact invited for an interview I was beyond excited. Brad spent the next week interviewing me constantly, preparing me for what was to come. He had interviewed at this school before (granted it was for a different program), so we both trusted he knew what he was talking about. I had perfect answers for questions like:

"What are your strengths and weakness?"

"Why did you choose our school?"

"What will you do if you don't get in?"

"Tell us about your volunteer experiences."

"How would you explain OT to someone who doesn't know what it is?"

Let me tell you, they didn't ask one single question I had prepared for (and it was a 30 minute event). Instead I was asked these kinds of questions:

"Tell me about a time when you were responsible for a conflict and how you solved it." 

"Tell me about a time when you solved a problem." 

"If you had a blank check and you could spend it on whatever charitable problem how would you use it?" 

"Tell me about a research project or paper either inside or outside of school that was important to you."

WHAT?!

Luckily I am quick on my feet and was able to think of somewhat satisfactory answers to all their questions (I know I got a little help from on high as well). I also came prepared with several questions to ask my interviewers, which I'm sure added a little plus by my name. I left the school that morning having mixed feelings about the interview.

The first thing we did that day was participate in a group activity. I made sure that I was the spokesperson for my small group, and I was constantly talking (making sure the teachers and other important people in the room knew who I was). We were then able to meet with first year students and ask them questions. I, once again, talked the whole time. If I ran out of questions I just kept talking until I thought of another one. I wasn't sure how much input these students had, but I knew the interviewers would probably ask them about their impressions when everything was said and done, and I wanted them to remember me out of the whole group. BUT that personal interview I felt killed my chances. It wasn't awful. It just wasn't as perfect as I'd expected. The students who were interviewed last year said they got all the questions I had prepared for. They were shocked to find out what the questions were this year. Which made me assume that that was the point. The interviewers wanted me to be caught off guard. They wanted to see what I would do and how I would answer questions I most likely wasn't prepared for.

128 applied, 100 were interviewed, and only 44 seats were available. Since I submitted my application so late in the game I was the second to last group to interview, which meant the school had already filled almost all their seats. The committee said their final decisions would be made a few weeks later. I constantly checked my application status online, and nothing ever changed. Almost a month went by, which I took as a bad sign. Then last Wednesday my application status was changed to: "Decision made by Admission Committee; notification by mail." Everyday Killer and I walked down to the mailbox and everyday we walked back home empty handed. The letter (good or bad) was taking so long to get here. Once again, I took that as a bad sign. The weekend came and went and still no letter. Brad's dental school acceptance letter came by certified mail, so everyday that I didn't hear a knock on the door was another day I thought my chances of getting in were lessening. I'll be completely honest, I was expecting rejection and hoping [and praying] for acceptance. Throughout the whole process I tried desperately not to get my hopes up, because I knew what my chances were (only 44 seats and most had been filled).

Monday after picking Brad up from work we once again made our way to the mailbox. Among the ads, bills, and Netflix red envelope I saw the GHSU blue logo. I braced myself and fumbled through the papers. I finally pulled it out, hands shaking, unimportant papers falling to the ground. It was a big envelope. That had to be good. I quickly closed the mailbox and ran to car holding up the envelope for Brad to see. I got in, closed the car door, and opened the letter. There were lots of papers in the envelope (surely they wouldn't need 6 sheets of paper to reject me!). And there on the first line was my fate. Husband and dog sitting beside me supporting me good news or bad.

"Dear Courtney, 

Congratulations! We are happy to welcome you to Georgia Health Sciences University. This letter is your official acceptance to the Master of Health Science in Occupational Therapy program,...blah, blah, blah..."

I didn't even read the rest. I had been accepted!!

Click to enlarge.

I am beyond excited. I seriously am still in awe. I really and truly believed I would not get in this year. I had great grades and a great GRE score, but I had applied so late. I didn't think I had a great interview. I was worried I wasn't impressive enough. And you know what, all those doubts might be true. But by divine intervention I got in! Brad and I prayed that whatever needed to happen would happen. Over the past three years of trying to get into dental school we've come to learn and trust that the Lord does indeed have a plan for us. And if what we want right now isn't what's best for us on the long road then we won't be getting what we want [right now]. This acceptance is such a blessing in some many ways. 

* I'll be able to be doing what I want; having a job that I won't consider work.

* I'll be able to work the last 2 years Brad is in school. Which will allow us to start paying off student loans and have insurance through my job and not through the school. And we'll be able to pay for a car that we probably will have been needing for the past 2 years while we were both in school.

* When we do decide to start a family I'll be able to have a job with flexibility, which will allow me to keep working if I so choose.

* And many many more...

We've loved Atlanta (ok...so that might not be as heartfelt as it should be), but we're ready to move on. We're ready to get no sleep and spend hours upon hours in the cadaver lab just to learn the muscles in the face and live on sugar and soda. We're ready. (I say that now, but ask us this time next year and see what we say...haha.)

Many of you have asked about our plans now. They remain unplanned. We should know within the next month more finalized details - like when we'll be moving. We'll be sure to update everyone, so stay tuned.

Courtney

P.S. I have not forgotten about my wonderful husband's birthday, which was over a week ago. I will be posting about it very soon.

afternoon rain

There's a tornado just south of Atlanta. I looked outside, and it was bright and sunny. I had already put on my running clothes, and Killer was beyond excited to get in a little morning exercise. So I laced up my shoes and leashed Killer and off we went. Ten minutes later when we were the farthest away from home we were going to get during this run the rain started. Downpour. Thank you tornado. 

 We had a blast. We splashed in puddles and slide down hills. Killer loved jumping in the newly formed river on the edge of the road as it raced down the hill and into the gutter. At one point she put just one front paw in, and it created an awesome arch and splashed right in her face. "Killer don't care." In fact, she loved it and snapped and barked and bit at the water.

Once she had finally had a little too much fun and was cold and soaked to the bone we went inside. 

I wish we could run in the rain everyday!

Courtney & Killer

Welcome to the world Tyler George Croft!

On Saturday Brad's sister had her second baby, a little boy! Five pounds, 14 ounces and 19.5 inches.

We can't wait to see more pictures of this little guy!

Brad & Courtney

Domestication, part II

In my first domestication post I wrote how I made my very own homemade strawberry jam. It was much more of a blog-worthy post than this one will be since I took step-by-step pictures documenting the process of making jam. No step-by-step instructions here. Oh well.

My sister Elizabeth needed some good ole fashioned pioneer clothes for the youth conference trek her ward was going on over the summer, so I whipped a little something up for her.

I didn't use patterns for the apron or the skirt. I just cut out the fabric and sewed it together. However, I got the bonnet pattern HERE.

My next project was extra large lay-on-the-floor-to-watch-movies pillows. Check out the post right before this one to read step-by-step instructions.

Christmas time was filled with lots of little crafting projects. First I made this sweater for Killer. The ones we bought her last year don't fit anymore, and since we don't turn on our heat at all ever during the winter, on cold days we like to put her in a sweater while we're away from home.

She's so festive! Once again, I didn't use any pattern. I just measured her and cut. This doggie sweater is made out of an actual sweater. I just went to Goodwill and bought one that looked cute.

So I didn't make this tinsel, but the picture's so cute I couldn't resist throwing it in.

 

I made lots of these temple recommend covers to give away as Christmas presents. It's super simple - plastic canvas (you can find it at Michael's) and white yarn. Also, your life will be much easier if you have a needle big enough to handle yarn. Still no pattern. I just looked at mine and copied it.

I made these adorable snowmen for my grandmother. I'll have to make some more for myself next Christmas since they make such great decorations. They seriously took maybe 10 minutes total to make. Go HERE for the tutorial.

Susie gave us a ton of Christmas tree balls last year - way more than could ever fit on our tree. Rather than leave them in their box collecting dust I made this great wreath out of them.

There's about a hundred different ways to make these, but I followed THIS tutorial.

In order for Killer to have something under the tree beside just treats I made her another, not so Christmasy, sweater. This one's also made from a Goodwill purchase.

Here's to another year of projects and crafting and becoming even more domesticated!

Courtney

How to make extra large lay-on-the-floor-to-watch-movies pillows

These are seriously the best pillows. They are beyond comfortable and make the floor much more appealing than the couch for movie-watching. I've also started using them for late night study sessions when studying in a nice warm bed sounds more pleasant than at a cold table. I just replace my normal pillow with one of these. It seriously cuts down on me dowsing off because I've sunk farther down into the bed than I realize. There's no way I can lay down while using this pillow to study.

I made two of these things and didn't once think about taking pictures of each step. Oh well. They're really not too hard so hopefully written instructions unaided by visuals will suffice.

Brad and I went to Joann's and picked out the fabric we liked. I don't even remember how much I bought. The pillows are 36x36 squares. I probably bought about 3 yards, because I used the same fabric to make the cording around the pillows. I also bought 6 yards of muslin (3 yards per pillow). Here's what I did:

1. Cut 4 36x36 squares of muslin.

2. Sew 2 squares together on 3 1/2 sides.

3. Stuff the pillow. I bought all my stuffing at Wal-Mart. It's by far the cheapest place for batting. Each pillow uses 100 ounces.

4. Sew the rest of the 4th side together.

5. Cut 4 36x36 squares of fabric.

6. I bought cording and then sewed fabric around it. You can make everything, but buying the cording seemed easiest. Wrap the fabric around the cording leaving at least an inch. Sew as far away from the actual cording as possible. The first pillow I made I sewed super close to the cording, which would have been fine, but I didn't sew that close when I attached the cording to the pillow. So now you can see some of the thread around the cording in some places.

7. You can attach the cording to all four sides of the pillow if you want. I attached snaps to one side so that I can easily remove the pillow from the inside and wash the case if need be (and I'm sure there will be a need). HERE'S a great tutorial on attaching snaps if you don't know how.

8. Next attach the cording to the 2 square pieces on 3 sides. Make sure you turn the fabric inside out. I'm sure this would have been easier to follow if I had taken pictures...sorry. You should end up with a fabric sandwich. Square piece, cording pieces, square piece. Also make sure the cording is turned the right way. You definitely don't want to sew the cording on the inside of the pillow. Make sure it's on the outside. When you're sewing everything together it should be between the 2 front sides of the pillow fabric.

9. Stick in the muslin pillow, snap up the 4th side, and you're done!

 

Courtney

Grad School?

My senior year of college lots of my friends started studying for the GRE. I thought about it for all of two seconds and decided grad school was not for me. Once I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree I was going to be done with school. How could people go to school for so many years and not get so sick of it? Well, graduation came and went and Brad Thomsa and I were thrown into the real world. No more on-campus jobs, no more $600 rent including utilities, no more late night cramming sessions, no more Utah, and no more school. I'm not going to lie, I went through a bit of an identity crisis. I had been in school for the past 17 years of my life. A huge part of my identity was STUDENT. What now? I didn't have a job, we didn't have any friends in Georgia, and I wasn't in school. I felt like my only title was WIFE. After so many years of multi-tasking how could I handle only one role? I couldn't. So we got a dog. :) But seriously, I quickly learned that I hadn't made the smartest decision when choosing my college degree. Human development is, let's face it, an unemployable degree. I did eventually find a job working way more hours than I was actually paid for and after being miserable with it for a year I realized how smart and prepared all my friends were in college who took the GRE. Why didn't I just it? Even if I wasn't planning on going to grad school, the scores last 5 years so I would've had time to change my mind. But we live and we learn, right? 

I eventually decided that I did want to go to grad school, and I started taking the pre-reqs I needed. Skip forward a year to December 2011. I had been volunteering/shadowing an occupational therapist for four months. I was dreading taking the GRE and had given up hope on applying for this year. That OT sat me down and told me to just do it. Just take the stupid test and apply to school. There's no point in wasting another year. She was right, and after about two days of crying because I was so stressed out I buckled down and took the GRE one week later. I turned in my grad school application one week before the January 15 deadline and emailed the admissions secretary almost every other day with made up questions just so she would know how incredibly interested in the program I was.

I feel like it's taken me a lot longer than many of my other peers to find out what I want to be when I grow up, but I finally did and the wait to begin learning how to do so is killing me. Luckily the same school that Brad will be going to for dental school has an occupational therapy program as well. I received an email from them Tuesday saying that they had reviewed my application and would like to invite me to an interview. An interview! One step closer! It's next Friday, February 3rd. If they like me and think I'll do well in their program they'll accept me and a huge part of my missing identity will be restored. I'll once again be a student, and I'll finally be studying material that will be useful to me in the real world. (If you don't know what occupational therapy is click HERE.)

Anyways, I want to start getting better writing on this blog meaningful posts that actually document
Brad and my life together and not just tons of pictures all the time, so what better way to start than this. Keep me in your prayers!

Courtney

Meet Squiggles

During the summer Brad found a lizard in our sunroom area. When he took Killer outside one day he just happened to notice the lizard basking in the sun in between the blinds and the window. It took a few minutes to catch the little thing because it was so fast, but he eventually caught and let it go back outside. 

A few weeks ago I also noticed a lizard in the sunroom from the outside. I was on my way out but took a mental note to go find it when I got back home. I forgot and didn't remember until a few days later. I told Brad about it, and he ventured into the sunroom for the lizard hunt. It didn't take long because the poor thing was laying on the floor skinny, frail, and dead. I was so sad I almost cried. I felt like it was my fault the lizard had died. If I had remembered it was there and gone to find it sooner it wouldn't have died. 

Then a few days later I saw another one! These poor little lizards get into our house thinking it will be warmer than outside (little do they know we don't turn on our heat) and then they can't find their way out. I ran inside and told Brad about it, and he geared up to run around chasing the little guy only to release him back outside. However, the lizard was blotchy, spotty, and brown. It was also freezing cold. When Brad went to catch it, it grabbed onto his finger and didn't even try to run away. It wrapped itself around his warm finger and hung on for dear life.

Look at the poor thing. You can see its ribs!

After feeling like I killed the last one I wasn't about to send this one back outside only for it to die. I mean, look at it. It was freezing outside this day, so I knew it wouldn't make it out there. Instead we made a little house for it. Brad and Killer found some nice green leafy branches and some great bark. We looked online and found out that this little guy was actually a girl since it didn't have one of those bright orange dangly things under its neck. We also learned how to feed and water it and what kind of things it needed in its habitat. Its called a green anole. We knew it needed some warm light, but we don't have have any UV warming lights since Killer doesn't require anything like that. So Brad had the genius idea of using Christmas lights since they warm up pretty quickly after you turn them on.

We wrapped the Christmas lights all around the fish bowl and put a paper plate (with holes punched in it, of course) on top so our little friend couldn't get out.

After we had designed this awesome habitat I decided it needed some water. I grabbed Killer's spray bottle (we spray her with cold water in the face when she barks incessantly or when she begs for food at dinner...sounds cruel but it works) and sprayed our new lizard and all around on the leaves and the bark. We later read online that this is exactly what you're supposed to do. Brad credited my just doing it without knowing that was the right way to motherly instincts. Ha. The poor thing lapped up water from the leaves for about 15 minutes. She was so thirsty. Almost immediately she started getting more energy and turning green. Brad then decided she needed a name. After much contemplation we agreed on Squiggles.

Later that day we went to Petsmart and bought some calcium-dusted small crickets for Squiggles. When we brought them home and put all 15 of them in her cage she was so excited! She immediately went on the hunt and ate like five of them. We didn't think about taking a video of it until she had already gotten her fill, but we watched in amazement. After she had gotten some food and water in her and sat in the sun for a while (we took her cage and sat it in a window that was getting direct sunlight) she was the happiest little green lizard we ever did see. Brad loved getting her out of her bowl and playing with her. She was so friendly. 

Killer wasn't quite sure what to think of her though. Whenever we went into the kitchen to watch the lizard, Killer would sit in the doorway and cry. I think she was a little jealous of all the attention Squiggles was getting.

At night time we replaced the Christmas lights with a black light and let Squiggles get some much needed sleep. The next morning before we left for church we removed the black light and wrapped the bowl in Christmas lights again. (Oh, side note. In case of you readers out there ever catch an almost dead lizard you want to nurse back to health, I sprayed Squiggles and her leaves three to four times a day.) When we got back home from church we decided it was time to bid adieu to our new little pet. She was obviously back to a healthy functioning level, and we didn't want to contain her in a fish bowl for the rest of the winter. Luckily that Sunday it was really warm outside and the sun was shinning. So we took her out and placed her on the top of a holly bush right in the path of the sun light. She held onto Brad's finger for a long time before she eventually let go and ventured back out into the real world.

Here's a before and after picture of when we first found Squiggles and then of when we released her.

I know many of you are probably thinking that we went to a lot of trouble for a stupid lizard, but I genuinely feel so good about what we did. We helped save a the little life of tiny breathing creature. We loved that lizard, and I know she loved us. I hope she found a nice warm place to live during the winter, and I hope we don't find anymore lizards in our sunroom!

Brad, Courtney, Killer, & Squiggles

Good-bye 2011.

2011 was filled with so many wonderful memories. It's amazing to look back at pictures from last January and realize that those were taken a whole year ago. It certainly doesn't feel like that long ago. Last year I put together a post full of pictures from some of our 2010 adventures. (I did this for 2009 too!) It was a great chance for me to look through all the pictures we had taken over the year and to remember all the fun things we did. I decided to do the same thing this year for the same reasons. I surprised myself when I came to find that I had actually blogged about most of the big events [well, what we considered big events] of 2011. I included a hyperlink with almost all these pictures. If you feel so inclined you can go back and read more about our awesome life.

Atlanta gets a huge snow storm that shuts down the city for a whole week, which meant no grocery shopping, which meant we spent over $300 when we could finally go since we hadn't been for about 2 weeks before the storm hit.

We go camping (without tents) for Brad's 26th birthday.

I get bangs.

We chill in the hammock on a beautiful spring day.

I get a weird skin rash.

We wait in line for hours to be in the first group to enter the REI sale.

We see Tangled in 3D.

Killer develops an undying love for the river even if that means sometimes stumbling across raging racoons.

We are called to be temple workers in the Atlanta temple.

Bethany, Andy, and I go to a preschool party.

Killer learns to drive.

Killer eats both a 20 dollar bill and a nature's valley granola bar.

We go on a cruise!

Killer celebrates her first birthday.

We celebrate two wonderful years of marriage by taking a camping trip to Fort Mountain State Park here in good ole Georgia. We spend the entire night playing with Brad's new camera and flashlights.

We take Killer to Woofstock - a big dog party in the park. And we get tons of free doggie stuff.

Killer decides the most desirable napping spot is in a laundry basket full of clean clothes.

I quit my job at the preschool.

Brad takes me on a surprise trip to Utah to see my sister, Blake, Devin, Sara, and Steve.

While on an afternoon run we suddenly get hit by a huge thunderstorm. We run even faster to seek shelter under a bridge until the storm settles a little. We seriously thought trees were going to start falling over on us.

Killer meets the beach for the first time and LOVES it!

After some inital hesitation, Killer quickly becomes obsessed with bubbles. She now knows where we keep them, and whenever she wants to play she'll go to that spot and bark nonstop until we get them out.

Killer helps Brad change the belts in the car.

We attend the roller derby championships.

We go to Six Flags with friends.

While visiting my grandparents in North Carolina we find this ginormous spider in a cave, and Brad falls in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We pick our own apples at an orchard.

I turn 23, and we visit a 9-11 memorial site.

We go to Lake Powell!

We dress up as Toad, Princess Peach, and Yoshi for Halloween and win 1st place in the trunk decorating competition at Trunk-or-Treat.

Brad takes this awesome water reflection picture at the pond by our house.

On a walk by the river one day Brad finds this super neat tree that beautifully displays all the lovely fall colors.

Killer continues to be the cutest dog we've ever seen.

Brad goes to a no-rules pine wood derby competition and wins "most creative car".

I grind a huge chunk of my finger off with a cheese grater. It bleeds for several hours and through several band-aids. I'll probably have the scar for the rest of my life.

We go see Christmas lights in the city square.

Brad surprised me with a beautiful purple orchard on a day when I'm especially stressed out about studying for the GRE. (Which I rocked, by the way.)

We visit the baby grand canyon (aka Providence Canyon in south Georgia) with Brad's mom Susie.

And last, but certainly not least, Brad gets into dental school!

We can only hope and pray that 2012 will be just as wonderful. We have lots of changes ahead of us - the biggest ones include moving to a new city and starting a new school - and we hope we will continue to be blessed as head down this new path.

Brad & Courtney