Our trip to Phoenix was very busy- full of family, a ton of food, celebrations, and exhaustion! I am very glad to be back home after one week. It felt very crowded in my parents' house (weird, since their house is like 3 times the size of ours) and it just doesn't feel like "home." Thanksgiving was definitely a highlight. It's one of my favorite holidays. My family is full of fantastic cooks, so I look forward to the food every year. I also enjoy seeing my family and Daniel's family spend time together. It reminds me how grateful I am that our families already feel like one large family. And this year an added blessing was time with my sister. Though no amount of time is ever enough, I was happy that we got to be together for a whole week. The best part was the Friday after Thanksgiving. Daniel was brave enough to get up at 4:30 and go shopping with his mom and Aunt Barbara. I was supposed to go, but at the last minute I bailed- I wanted to sleep. But I went into Nicole's room and woke her up at 8:00, and by 8:30 we were both ready to hit the mall. Daniel met up with us and we did some serious shopping! We got great deals, and knocked a lot of people off our Christmas list. Nicole also got a chance to go to the Apple store and pick a computer to replace hers that was stolen. We ended our shopping at Banana Republic where Daniel returned the favor and bought me a ton of nice clothes. I definitely need some new clothes, but I never feel okay about spending very much money on that. So it was nice that Daniel kind of gave me permission to spend some money on myself. We also celebrated Daniel's Mom's birthday, and Daniel's Aunt's birthday, and Nicole's graduation. Nicole had a HUGE party on Sunday with practically the entire church and some other family friends too. I got to see my little flower girls and their new baby brother. I also got to go see a movie with Nicole and Beth which was really fun. I never go to the movies here in Denver because Daniel doesn't like to. That's why girlfriends are so important. And finally, Daniel and I had our engagement photo shoot. I was really nervous, but once I got my makeup done and got all dressed, I felt more confident. I must have looked good, because when Julie saw me, she said I was glowing and asked if I was pregnant! (for the record, I'm not) I really don't like kissing in front of people, but I had to get over that quickly since we spent about half of the 90 minute photo shoot kissing. I can't wait to see the pictures. I have complete confidence in our photographer. I've seen lots of her work, and she is incredible.
Now we're back in Denver and absolutely loving our "empty nest." While in Phoenix, Daniel's parents agreed to lower our rent to just the mortgage, which means that with some tight budgeting Daniel and I should be able to make the rent on our own! And that means.... no roommates!!! We get to have our own little home with our own little family. I am so incredibly thankful to his parents for allowing us to live here on our own. It's so much more peaceful, quiet and comfortable. We're taking full advantage of our new freedom.
So for the next few weeks I'm going to work full time and hopefully make enough to pay off my huge credit card bill from Black Friday! Today I asked for a raise since I'm coming up on one year there in January. Laura told me I will get a raise in January. She doesn't know how much, but it'll be something. I'm very happy about that. She also told me that the lab will probably be moving around July. At that point, I'll be allowed to choose if I want to stay at National Jewish, or move with the lab to the University. I'm pretty sure I'll move for two reasons: one, David Schwartz is moving and he will give me a fantastic letter of recommendation to get into my first choice PA school, and two, the University is my first choice for PA school- so working there certainly can't hurt my chances. I still LOVE my job! I definitely hit the jackpot with that one. I should probably go to bed, so I can wake up ready to work hard tomorrow morning. I've got a busy few weeks ahead of me. Goodnight!
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