Valentine's Day on the Slopes

Amazing. Bucket List.  Snowy.  Germany Fun. 

I mean how else can I describe our Valentine's Day Adventure 2015?

This year for Valentine's Day I made Andrew be in charge of planning what we would do.  It was a 3 day weekend and I subtly (or not so subtly) gave him many suggestions of what I thought would be fun.  We had originally planned on doing something much different, but since that fell through the hubby came up with this.  He had some buddies from his shop who had planned on going snowboarding and he figured it would be the perfect time for somebody more experienced to teach us.  Not going to lie, I was super resistant at first to the idea. 

So we booked everything and ended up spending two nights and having a two day lift pass in Feldburg, Germany.  Instructions were minimal to say the least! We didn't have any lessons and it was a "ok, watch me do this" type of instruction and then us left to do our own thing. What better way can you learn snowboarding?!? Ha ha.  It did end up being good for us! Practice really does make perfect so just getting out there, falling 100+ times, and just learning through experience is the way to go.  We had tons of fun and traveled there in our car with us, three of Andrew's buddies, and the snowboards strapped to the top.  Fun times!!!

We stayed two nights at a "hotel".  Really it was definitely more of a bed and breakfast type place.  The place had about 7 rooms and we were greeted by a hostess.  She spoke very little English but she was super nice!  It was pretty funny when we had to call her on the phone (since we were getting in late as we drove about 5 hrs. after they got off work)and hoped she understood what we were saying!  But, I have to say...BEST BREAKFAST EVER!!! She had a whole spread for us ready by 0700 both mornings.  I wish we had gotten a picture because there were eggs, fruits, fresh bread, cheeses, smoked meats, orange juice, and even peppers! Super yummy. 

Outside of where we stayed.

Inside the hotel, house, place?

Our room...cute, right!

Then for the main dinner night there we pretty much drove around until I happened to spot a possible place down behind some trees in one of the villages we passed.  Luckily it had the lights on or we would have missed it! This place even had English menus which made things much easier to order:) Very delicious as well.  I had smoked trout with a cranberry spread and toast.  Definitely ended up being the best dish:) Did I mention a delicious apple strudel for dessert? YUM.

By the end of the trip, well really after the first day, we were super sore (just like we were warned).  Honestly it took quite a few days to get over feeling like we got hit by a train!  By the second day of snowboarding we had already gotten better and even tried some new slopes (the first day we mostly were on the blue slopes).  It was a fun group to go with I am glad we had someone to show us the "ropes" (luckily they had been there before).  What a memorable trip it was! We are already planning another snowboarding trip! Can't wait to see what new adventures we try in the future.  Snowboarding...check!

Love,

The Andersons

Where Has She Been?!? {Part 2}

Picking up where I left off...read about that here...I will continue all of my updating from the past months leading into where I am now! Prepare for another long one! After summer ended I started my FINAL, yes final, semester of school for my bachelors.  All these years later I am finally finished I cannot even tell you how good, and strange, it feels.  It has been a long time coming and now it was my chance.  Anyways, I am getting ahead of the story.  

August-October:
I concluded my final nursing classes to conclude my baccalaureate degree.  I was taking leadership & management, nursing trends and issues, NCLEX review, and nursing practicum.  It was a great semester because it just had a different feel.  The first 6 weeks of class there was a TON of paperwork.  If I have to write another annotated bibliography before a few years have gone by I may just die! Not to mention the 1000+ NCLEX practice questions we had to complete before a deadline. While it helped me prepare did I mention all of of this paperwork, questions, etc. were due the day before Andrew left for Germany?  Yep, I was a little panicky that week.  Luckily I worked hard and was able to finish basically everything well before the due date.  

Some of my classmates and I. Final Semester!

October-November:
Then, just like that, Andrew left on October 21st, 2014 for our new PCS in Germany.  I had already started my long term care practicum and knew things would be crazy anyways so in a way it was perfect timing as far as schooling. Now onto my senior nursing practicum.  After a flurry of weeks filled with class and paperwork we all finally got to the part we had been waiting for.  Practicum.  A time with no classes, although still lots of clinical paperwork, and working full time in the hospital.  I had gotten a taste of it during my two internships on med-surg and ICU, but this was much longer.  Starting the middle of October we had 40+hrs in a nursing home (under a charge nurse), then we had 192+hrs in an acute care section, and 24+hrs in a focus area in the hospital. We all got to put our first two choices for sections and most everyone got where they wanted to work.  Very exciting stuff for senior nursing students!  

For my 40+hrs at Trinity Nursing Homes I was mostly on the Alzheimer's Unit which ended up being a very interesting experience for me...and then on to the core practicum.  I chose, and got to work, in the Intensive Care Unit.  It was an amazing experience.  I learned so much because the ICU is a place where once you learn things you might not see anywhere else in the hospital makes it seem easier, this included working with ventilators, drip rates, post-CABG protocols, hemodynamic monitoring, and much more. My preceptor(who was great!), something like my own personal nursing supervisor who teaches me, was also frequently on the trauma team so I also got to respond to any traumas in the Emergency Room while I was on shift.  I even had my first code blue! It was exhausting, since I worked 12.5hr shifts (which I actually do prefer) and switched back and forth between days and nights. The most tiring was the week I had 5 night shifts in a row after working 2 day-shifts two days prior! In between this crazy schedule I also managed to squeeze in my 24+focus hours.  I decided to do them on Labor and Delivery (so I got two 12hr shifts on the unit).  It was...interesting. By the end I just knew it wasn't for me.  I loved the adrenaline rush of helping with delivering the babies and helping women through labor I just know critical care is where my heart lies:) All in all it was some crazy (awesome!) weeks.  However...this schedule ended up suiting me just fine:D

November to December:
Since I had so many shifts (all of which were 12.5hrs.) it meant I was one of the students who finished all of my hours pretty fast.  In fact, I had calculated it when I first got my schedule and realized I would be done the day before Thanksgiving! It got me thinking, I wonder if I could visit Andrew before I have to be back for my final classes, etc.  Turns out the timing, and price, was perfect!  For $700 I could fly to Germany and back for 9 days leaving the morning of Thanksgiving.  It was a crazy time finishing my final day shift in the ICU and then leaving the next morning for a very long travel days( I got in that Friday morning. But it was so worth it to see Andrew after only 6 weeks.   

So what did we do while I was there?  Do something on my bucket list of course!  We went to Disney during "Christmas time"! This included a road trip from Germany through Luxembourg into France!  All part of the fun:D

 The Disneyland Hotel in Paris

 Mainstreet

 Our amazing meal of cod fish and ratatouille

 Inside the new restraunt

 My favorite ride-Crush's Coaster! So sad it is only at this Disney Park

 The Phantom Manor

 Andrew said it was a "Dani Sized" door

 We had a blast! I mean we are pretty much "those people", you know.... the people with no kids yet and go to Disneyland.  What can I say? We are uber Disney nerds.  We had two day hopper passes (they even had military discount!) and didn't even have time to go down into Paris (that will be a whole other trip).  I wish we had gotten pictures of our hotel, but it was a perfect location on the outskirts of Paris.  Right outside our hotel was a little pizzeria and seriously it is some of the best pizza I have ever had (since Romania that is).  It was soooo good! Nothing you can get in the states that is for sure.  The park itself was closer to the size of Disneyland in California.  They had several different rides (like Crush's coaster and the curious labyrinth), some named different (like the Phantom Manor), and others that were better (like space mountain 2)! We also splurged by going to Remy's Bistro in a Ratatouille themed section of the park.  So good! Going during winter when it was Christmas time was just incredible.  The parades, light shows, decorations, the whole feeling made it feel like a very magical Christmas.  We had a blast!

Next up: Part 3...December to present time!

Love, 

The Andersons

Where Has She Been?!? {Part 1}

Oh, dear.  It has happened again.  I have let this blog fall to shambles only to have the pieces picked up when I feel like writing (which let me tell you takes some serious motivation!).  Well in case you didn't notice I have been giving my blog a whole new face lift!  Thanks to the discovery of picmonkey through Pinterest I have found my motivation.  New design, new blogging purpose. 

My last post I talked about how we got our newest PCS assignment to Spangdahlem, Germany!  Now begins the story of what happened since. Be prepared for a long one!

During the Summer:

Summer was soooo amazing!  I was once again separated from Andrew to complete another nursing internship in the Emergency Room.  Yep.  I loved it! It really made me realize critical care nursing was where it is at for me.  But more on school later...

Together over the summer (2014) we did this...

First...

(Andrew won a $175 spa certificate-which he put to good use!)

 Some of that...

We also did a little of this...

And concluded with that...

As you can see we had a blast!  We started it the end of May when I had my "fake" graduation. It was a real graduation as Minot State University only has students walk in May and I was officially done until December.  But it was great to have Andrew there for it!  Literally as soon as graduation finished we drove down to Iowa as I would be starting my internship right after our cruise!  The next morning we flew out of Omaha and I gave Andrew his first "taste" of cruising...

We did a 4 day cruise from Orlando to the Bahamas.  Our ports included Freeport and Nassau.  We had an AMAZING time!  Andrew already wants to do another one and I can't say I blame him;)  We fulfilled several of our bucket list items on this alone.  The firsts being going on a cruise together and going to Atlantis.  Atlantis was by far our favorite part of the cruise.  I could write a whole post just on that place!  It was beautiful and we had a blast at the water park, especially tubing down the slide with sharks swimming all around!

After the cruise we had three days in Orlando until we had to fly out again.  We definitely made use of those days! It was crazy busy! We stayed at a hotel with a free shuttle to both Universal and the Sea World Parks.  It was perfect.  Our first full day we spent fulfilling an item on my bucket list by going to Universal Studios, specially Harry Potter World!  I would seriously go back just to spend my time there.  Sadly we went 2 weeks before they opened the second park connecting the two.  It was still a blast.  Butterbeer was seriously amazing, we have yet to find a recipe to recreate it. The following day we got to head to Sea World for free! We are so grateful they are one of the places with salutes to active duty military.  Someday we will have to go back to hit Disney world ( that will have to be a whole other trip!).  Overall it ended up being one of these epic vacations we talk about all the time.  Can't wait for another one!

Finally, we ended with a family trip in late June/early July after my internship.  My brother came home from his mission after serving 2 years in Guatemala.  This also happened to be the time my little sister (who had turned 8) was baptized.  So grateful we were able to be there for both events! We also got to visit some great friends of ours, Leticia and Vasu, and their new baby (our new nephew;)) Keanu! So cute!!! Right after we headed with my family to Yellowstone National Park.  I wish I had more pictures, but we stayed in a huge cabin and met up with a set of my grandparents, aunt and uncle and their two boys.  We thought it would be more of a "low-key" vacation but it definitely wasn't! There was two much to see:D What an amazing summer!

NEXT UP: My final semester of school, a visit to Germany, and what I have been up to since!

Love Always, 

the Andersons

The Woman Who Waited

First, I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow up and get out the house.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying…and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.”

I came across this poem a little while ago and suddenly felt how incredibly true these words are for me.  I have always been a Type A, overachieving, fast-paced, always-need-to-be-doing something person.  "Taking time to smell the flowers" has never really applied to time. I was in school for years and then I finally graduate, after that I went right into studying for the NCLEX.  After that I was getting ready to move to Germany. 

And right now? I am sitting typing at my computer thinking about how all I want to do is to be doing something "productive".  I have been in Germany for two weeks now and am waiting and wondering what do I do?  For once in my life I don't have a "set in stone" plan.  I always knew before what I had coming next.  I have some leads as far as work but it is still a process to get started. It is easy to say well "why don't you do this?" or "why don't you do that?".  But it isn't always that easy.  

However, in saying those negative words, I realize I should "find joy in the journey". There are other things I can do!  It may not be in said "plan", but, right now, I have decided to live.  To travel, volunteer, try new things, be a better wife, daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter.  I have the rest of my life to work and worry so instead of focusing so much on the future and "dying" to accomplish things, I am going "to live"!  

Memorial, Disney, & Knott's...Oh My! {Parts 3&4}

Finally getting around to finishing blogging about my trip in California. from almost 2 years ago! This post includes the final stages 3 &4.  Go here to read about stage 1 and here to read about stage 2.   After San Fran we stayed with my Aunt and Grandparents in Atwater, CA for two days.  On Monday we(my family, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two little cousins) traveled the 4 hrs down to where we were staying near Disneyland.  We were definitely getting excited since we had a very busy week ahead.

Monday- Travel down and meet with rest of family at The Spaghetti Factory
Tuesday- Disney
Wed- Disney
Thursday-Vietnam Memorial, then Disney
Friday-Knott's Berry Farm
Saturday-Beach Day@ Huntington Beach/travel to Los Angeles
Sunday(early)-Fly home

Needless to say it was a very busy vacation.  Andrew, especially, wanted to stay from open to close every single day!  Glad I married someone as enthusiastic as me about Disney<3

{Stage 3}- Memorial & Disneyland

So on Thursday of that week we spent part of our day at a memorial at La Habra High School where my dad graduated from.  As members from a family who has lost a loved one in the Vietnam War we were honored during a ceremony by members  who have sacrificed to bring a replica of the "wall that heals" to their community. My dad went in served dress to honor his Uncle Micheal who died in the Vietnam War.  It ended up being a really amazing and humbling morning.

My uncle was Michael J Molina

A picture of Uncle Michael

Now...continuing on to a more positive note!

Again, we went three days to Disney!  It was pure craziness.  Of course this was the time all of us ended up with feet problems.  My Plantar Fascitis hit again so bad that they put me in a wheelchair one of the days just so I wouldn't slow everyone down.  I have quite a few pictures of Disney so I am only going to post a small sample.

We had such an amazing family vacation!  We all had a BLAST! I already want to go back :(


{Stage 4}-Knott's Berry Farm & Beach

At Knott's Berry Farm we had another great day.  After three days at Disney it was more of a ride and see what you can sort of thing.  The only attractions I really wanted to see were the shows.  My most favorite attraction being The Mystery Lodge!  Snoopy on Ice was also very good.  Oh!  This time Ghost Rider was actually open so I finally got to take Andrew on it.  Remember this picture from four years ago?

This was my sad, Ghost Rider is closed face.

Overall, it was one of those epic family vacations you always think about.  So happy we got to do it!  Hopefully we will have another trip in a couple years;)

Always,

The Andersons