Summertime... and the livin's easy

Well it's official - Ryan finished his first year of medical school last week! I can't believe we've lived here for just under a full year and that Ryan has accomplished all he has so far. His grades have been very good and he's still enjoying what he's doing. Thank heavens he still likes it. :) I'm very proud of all the hard work he has put in. He now has a couple of months away from classes, but he'll still be doing some studying to get ready for the start of next year (in August) and for boards. Plus he has some mandatory shadowing to do, which he will complete both here in the Vegas area and in a small town north of here called Caliente (small-town pronunciation: cal-ee-an-ee). Incase you didn't know this about Ryan, he really wants to practice rural medicine (doctor of a smaller town). His wife, however, doesn't think she wants that. So we'll see what happens with that!

The day that the guys/students all finished their last test, a bunch of us "first years" had a BBQ and pool party. It was so much fun! Here is a picture of the students that were at the party...
Here are the wives who supported our men through it all... (there are plenty of kids between these 9 ladies, but they aren't all pictured... plus three on the way)
The BBQ party was so much fun!! The weather was hot of course, but it was perfect for the pool. Ryan made me a perfect hot dog which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of one year and beginning of a summer with our husbands again.

The next day, we decided to drive to LA... actually I should say that I FINALLY CONVINCED Ryan to let us go... and stay in our ward member's condo for the long weekend. We had originally planned to go with our friends, but just a few days earlier I was feeling sooo sick again. So we cancelled, and our friends made other plans. But then I started feeling good again, so we decided we might as well go on our own while we could. The drive there was a little miserable at first... We decided to bring Ryan's bike and it was hooked on the back with our crappy walmart rack. But within 30 minutes or so we realized the rack wasn't staying put and looked like it would fly off at any moment. So we stopped somewhere south of vegas on the side of the freeway to pull the bike inside the car. Thank heavens we have a big enough car to lay the seats down and fit a whole bike. (side note: he never ended up riding the bike while we were there. oh well!) 

On sunday, we headed to Corona Del Mar beach (recommended to us) and it was paaaaacked. But it was definitely gorgeous and the houses surrounding the beach are incredible. Plus we were excited when we heard one of Rascal Flatts' new songs that day and they mentioned that exact beach in the song! haha Simple pleasures.

(beware the pasty skin shown below)

We hung out the rest of the night, watching movies and playing Wii. On monday, we decided to explore something new and went to Balboa Island. What a neat little town! I can't imagine the millions of dollars you have to have in order to live in those little tiny homes on the island, but it was such a neat place to visit! We took the little ferry from the mainland over to the island. There's a ferris wheel on the other side, canoe and boat rentals, restaurants, etc. It was so neat!
Pic of us on the ferry with 2 other cars and 15 or so people... (we were loving that it only cost $3, versus going out of our way to drive onto the peninsula)
They have a little main street with these cute little shops and restaurants... art shops, clothing stores, treat stands, markets, all very high-end of course. We walked around for a bit and enjoyed the nice 70 degree weather (along with a billion other people enjoying the holiday). We also tried their traditional "balboa treat" and frozen banana. They were yummy!
That afternoon we drove up to Huntington... of course with a billion other people. Ryan has never been there before so I wanted to make sure we went. We had to park in the actual town area and then walk across the main road to the beach. But it was no big deal and we had a perfect amount of change for the meter! haha. That's always important. 

Monday night we decided to go out for a seafood dinner. We ended up at a Joe's Crab Shack, and I must add that my stomach was totally treating me well - no food or smells were bothering me! We even ordered a bucket of crab legs (first time for both of us). We are both fans now. Not only did we get dinner but a show too!... the waiters/waitresses danced around the restaurant. All the songs reminded me of stake youth dances. It was good fun.We went home the next day, and I started feeling yucky again. By wednesday I had a stomach flu bug and was MISERABLE. I went to the doctor for a pregnancy check-up and my doctor said if it kept up I'd have to go to the hospital for an IV to re-hydrate. I went home and laid down the rest of the evening... feeling totally miserable... and my husband walks in the bedroom with the Twilight movie he'd just bought for me! What a sweet-heart he is. :) I ended up feeling much better within the next 24 hours and was back to work this morning. Oh, and everything is still great with the baby! [She] has a healthy heartbeat, was moving around for us on the screen, is now 13 and a half weeks and 6.4 cm long. I'm even starting to show a little bit... or at least I feel like I can't "hold myself in" like usual and I hate wearing my favorite pair of jeans these days (too tight). I know, I know: Welcome to the beginning of the end! Who knows if I'll ever be able to fit in them for a long time to come. :)

So there's our update of the summer so far! We have some fun plans coming up and I'm so excited for them. Tomorrow morning Ryan has his first practice/club sprint triathlon at Lake Mead. I'm planning to get up at the crack of dawn with him so I can cheer him on. I'll try and post some pictures soon. We hope everyone's enjoying their warmer weather! If you're not, please come share ours. Plenty of heat to go around down here! ;)

BREAK THROUGH!

Yep, I had a burger. Can you believe it? Oh man, and it was SOOOO yummy (In-n-Out, of course). I have been craving one for the last several days but I thought it was too good to be true. Instead of eating it too early and possibly feeling sick after eating it, I waited until I was sure I was feeling a lot better... and today we finally went for dinner. Thank you Ryan! It was wonderful. :)

Maybe this means good things for me and my morning-sickness issues. Yesterday and today I've been hungry every hour and haven't felt nauseous. Thank heavens for week 12!! ...knock on wood... I don't want to get too excited too early. I just can't wait to be able to EAT again. A normal meal at every meal time. Oh how I miss those days!

p.s. As an update on Ryan's week of finals... He is doing really great, and has felt anywhere from somewhat confident to extremely confident on the 7 tests he's taken so far. He only has two more to go! Way to go, bud! 

weddings... weddings... weddings

One of my bestest high school friends was married in the Salt Lake temple on tuesday. I was able to fly in so I could be there for the ceremony and the reception. It was such a wonderful ceremony, and Elder Perry was their sealer! (I won't mention how I had to look him up in an Ensign to double check which apostle it was... haha ridiculous, I know... But when they're in person it kind of throws me off) Anyways, it turned out that in the next sealing room over another of my friends from high school was getting married! So I was also able to see them as they walked down the hall of the temple. It was a really neat day for me. :) 

Here is BEAUTIFUL Jen Little and her new husband Paul Jeppson.

It was windy... Me, Jen, and Mary Brosnahan.
The girls who attended the ceremony and/or bridesmaids.
Some of my closest high school buddies at the reception. It was SO fun to see them all! I can't believe how grown up we're all getting... or how grown up we THINK we are getting.
My 2 day trip to Salt Lake was so needed. I had a really good time even though I spent most of it laying around and being boring. But I honestly felt better than I do at home, and my mom was SO incredibly sweet the whole time. She got me whatever I needed, and asked me at least once every hour if she could get me anything. Thanks Mom - It was so nice to feel taken care of. Not like Ryan isn't amazing through all of this morning sickness, but there's just something about having mommy take care of me that makes me feel better. :) I admit that when I got off the plane last night I was in a surprisingly bad mood... Sorry about that, Ry. These hormones do funny things these days!

Since I was surrounded by weddings in Salt Lake, and we just celebrated our anniversary, I thought it would be fun to pull my wedding dress out before I went back to Henderson. And guess what... IT FIT!! Thanks to our little one who has helped me lose quite a bit of weight in the last few weeks. But who knows - it may be the last time I'll ever be able to zip it up again. I was quite excited about it. :)

I went to the doctor again today for a quick "peek" at the baby (as she called it) since I was supposed to be 10 weeks this week. Both the doctor and I were very excited to see that the baby was flipping and squirming around like crazy while we watched!! It was so incredible... in fact it didn't seem real at all. We listened to the heartbeat and it was fast and strong. The doctor said I was "textbook" and everything was going perfectly. Plus, the baby is measuring at 11 weeks now, so I'm back to a due date around Dec 2nd. We'll see what happens! I feel so much less worried about anything going wrong now, and I'm hoping that I only have one or two more weeks of feeling sick left.

Celebrating Three Years Together

Three years ago today was the happiest day of my life! Marrying Ryan Quinn Turner was the best decision I've ever made, and he continues to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Over the last 3 years together, we have moved 4 times, had 4 different cars at one time or another, and are now expecting our first baby. Never in a MILLION YEARS would I believe that 4 years after graduating high school I would be here, with all of those things under my belt. Needless to say, the last 3 years and 10 months that Ryan has been in my life have been the happiest, most wonderful and most worthwhile years of my life. Thank you, my love.

A little history and some memories... (sort of long - I won't be offended if you don't read it all)

Ryan and I met at the University of Utah Institute through my cousin's committee. The first time I saw Ryan, he had just come from coaching Skyline little league football, and was even wearing the whistle around his neck still. He was super tan, clean-cut, buff, and extremely good-looking. Honestly, those were my first impressions of him. I kept leaning back in my chair just right so that he could see me during the meeting and so that I could get a better look of him. I left that day feeling a little sad because I honestly didn't think he noticed me. Come to find out... he did, and was just as anxious to see me again at the next meeting as I was to see him. I even remember what he was wearing that second time too: his infamous cowboy stuff... boots, shirt, belt-buckle, the works. But oh man, was he hot! I remember standing at the doorway talking to one of my brother's old high school buddies (also in our institute committee) and Ryan had to walk really close to me to go through the door. My heart was going mad! I had already told all my friends (including Ryan's cousin, Molly, who went to my high school) that I was going to marry Ryan Turner. Remember, this is still within a week or so of meeting him for the first time. haha. Can we consider this love at first sight? Anyway, we finally got to talk after that second meeting. :) I remember I smelled like dark room chemicals (from my photography class) and I was so embarrased that I didn't smell more feminine. Apparently he didn't mind.

Roughly 10 months later, I was FINALLY waking up on my wedding day, tuesday morning, May 9th. I ate something quick for breakfast, and headed to my hair and makeup appointment up the street around 7 am. Ryan had texted me saying that he loved me, and couldn't wait to see me a couple hours later in the Temple. After an hour or two of makeup and hair, I was ready to go and feeling beautiful. :) I drove to the Temple with my parents... (side note: I wonder what was going through their heads as they drove their 18 year old daughter to get married...) Finally I saw Ryan waiting for me in the waiting room of the Temple and everything felt completely right. I'm sure I was glowing from being so excited and happy!

The ceremony was wonderful - I cried the moment I walked into the Sealing room and saw our loved ones waiting for us there. My Grandpa Brent Goates was our Sealer and it was a wonderful experience. I knew and felt the power of the Priesthood that day and knew that Ryan and I were sealed together for time and all eternity. After the ceremony, we headed outside take pictures. It seemed freezing that morning (probably 45 or 50 degrees) but otherwise the weather was perfect. After pictures, we had brunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial building, where some of the few things I remember was being roasted by my brothers. I was totally embarassed... Thanks Ben (and Jason, who wrote home from his mission with embarassing stories for Ben to share).

By the time the afternoon rolled around, we were all starting to head to the church where the reception was to be held that evening. Ryan and I were both already so tired and didn't know how to get through the next several hours of standing and talking to a million people. Our friend went to Emigration Market and got us some caffeine (Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew) which helped a bit. The rest of the evening is a bit of a blur... lots of pictures, a constant long line, lots of standing, not getting to try any of the food, and yet a perfect reception! It was all we had ever wanted, and was the perfect end to the perfect day. Well... I guess we technically ended it in a different way... but I won't go into all of that. :)

To sum up, I just want to thank my wonderful husband for all the great years and memories so far. There are plenty more to come and I am so grateful to have you by my side, Ry. I love you so much.