Happy New Year

Mostly this post won't be about New Year's.  Maybe more random catch up events in the last couple months.  I read other people's blogs and always think that everyone else seems to be having much more exciting lives and that I really have nothing to write about.  Christmas break happened in Utah and that was AWESOME...but most of the people that read this already know all about it.  We did get sealed in the Bountiful Temple and that was definitely the highlight.  So cool.  And I got a new camera for Christmas.  Hopefully these are the last of the crappy old camera/phone pics.

I guess something rather significant is happening this month. 

Farewell, 017 UNA.  I have loved you and will miss you.  I've had this license plate for the last 6 years and if you will notice - the registration ends in January.  That's this month.

This is Tanner at the DMV this morning.  (He'll love that I put this up here). We are getting North Dakota plates.  I don't know why this seems like such a big deal to me, but it is.  I'm from Utah.  I've always been from Utah, and no matter where I've lived - I've always had Utah plates.  This will be weird.  Not that there's anything wrong with having ND plates or living here or like whether or not we have them, it will change the fact that we DO live here...it just feels like maybe my Utah plates helped keep me closer to home somehow.  Like a part of me is dying with the loss of those plates.  Hahaha.  Just kidding.  I really don't feel like that at all but it sounded like a nice dramatic thing to say right there.  I do feel a strange sadness about it though.  New plates should arrive in the mail in a few weeks.  And then the next step is new driver's licenses.  And then BAM.  Just like that.  We are official North Dakota residents.  Don't worry mom - this doesn't mean permanency.

So yeah - besides that and the new addition to our family named wii - January has been a fairly uneventful month.  The wii has brought some new excitement though for sure!  Zumba, Mario Kart and Just Dance have sure spiced up our cold, lifeless evenings at home.  Ok - Tanner doesn't do Zumba but it sure is helping my dance moves.  He also got the Tiger Wood's Master's golf game and a new golf club attachment for the controller and he's pretty much in winter heaven.  Neither of us have ever been big nintendo people, but I do have to admit - the wii is pretty fun!

We are both back to the grind at work.  Took us both a couple of days to get readjusted and back in the groove of real life and schedules, but we're all good now.  Just trying to plan our next vaca :)  In December I was able to go to Bismarck for an ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) course.  It's designed for doctors and mid-levels and is a pretty rigorous and intensive class.  They have a bunch of hands-on dummies where you can practice chest tubes and airways and pericardiocentesis and other cool stuff like that.  I'm basically a pro now - anyone need a needle in their heart?  I had all manner of anxiety for months before this.  I'd just heard how extremely difficult the course and test were, and they don't just pass you like they do for other more basic certification courses like CPR, etc.  But the instructors were cool and it was a LITTLE more relaxed than I was expecting.  Still hard and they expected a lot, but it was really quite fun.  They had live people dressed up with all sorts of wounds for our final practical.  Those situations seriously give me anxiety but by some miracle I passed.  I learned a TON and feel way more comfortable handling trauma's.  Bring it on Williston :) 

Cool sunset pic possibly captured on the drive down

I really liked my hotel room.  Tanner really likes it when I take pictures of hotel rooms :)

And blessed Bismarck had so many restaurant options.  The one on the left was at a place called Pirogue Grill.  That salad was probably the best salad I've ever had.  Warm goat cheese filled dates with mixed greens & clementine vinaigrette.  Hello.  Amazing.  The other was the HuHot Mongolian Grill.  You filled up a bowl with choices of meat and noodles and veggies and like 20 different sauces and you took it to the huge circle grill and they cooked it up for you.  All you can eat too :)  Probably no one cares as much as I do about this.  I so miss ethnic food.  I'm hungry.

This guy slipped on the ice yesterday in the ER.  Who can tell what's wrong with this picture?  I sure love the ER.  It's been quite busy lately and I just continue to feel overwhelmed with all the knowledge I want and still don't have.  Always learning though and I love that!

Pups are doing great.  So grateful for that!  SOOO incredibly happy to have gone from this:

To this:

Rozzi is back to her normal self.  Had a crazy, awful scare when she got hit by a car on Christmas Day.  We still have her shaved middle to remind us that we almost lost her.  Amazing how that helps us find almost limitless patience we never knew we had :)

Hope everyone's 2013 is off to a great start!  Happy New Year!