Merry Christmas in March

As part of our Christmas gifts to each other this year and help from my brother we were able to get tickets to Cirque du Soleil: The Immortal. It was an amazing Cirque du Soleil show based all around Michael Jackson's music. We were so excited when March was here so we could finally go. We headed down to Raleigh, NC and were completely blown away! Merry Christmas!

NYC

Well time has slipped by and I haven't posted on here for some time now. oops. The past couple of months have been great. Quite a bit of traveling but so many memories. In January Rustin had a nine day seminar/class (like literally took a final at the end of the nine days for school credits) in New York City. Thankfully I was able to go along and we had so much fun. Rustin was in class during the day and I would walk around the city, take the subway, check out sites so that when he was done with class we could go see all the stuff together. I was nervous at first to ride the subway alone but by the end of the week I felt like a New Yorker minus the little map and subway stop schedule I kept in my jacket pocket. We were able to fit everything in that we wanted and fell in love with the city. It was Rustin's first time there and I went back in 1995 and don't remember to many things. Here is a picture from that trip just for fun. It is my sister and I at Rockefeller Center.

Us at Rockefeller Center

Waiting for the subway

Times Square

Ground Zero. It was a pretty spiritual experience to finally be there. The waterfall monuments were massive and to see all the names of people who died really hit me hard. They were normal people on a normal day.

The New York skyline from Liberty Island

Rustin was able to meet and take classes from some amazing tap dancers while we were there. This is Jason Samuels Smith a BIG name in tap and he was so down to earth.

We saw the New Year's Eve ball and of course kissed under it. We were only 13 days past the new year. Works for me.

This a view of Central Park from the window where we were staying. We rented a small little room, pretty sure it was originally a closet, right in Manhattan. Besides sharing a twin bed for nine days, we got a good price and loved being right in the city with the subway shaking our window every time it went by!

We were able to go to the Manhattan temple which was so neat! So quiet inside compared to the crazy hustle and bustle going on outside. That day it was freezing! Can't remember ever being that cold almost didn't want to stop and take a picture but I am grateful we did and I am grateful for life and the adventures Rustin and I get to have together.

A Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween here in Virginia. All the leaves have turned amazing colors, the air is crisp, and everyone sits out on their porches in the evening. We love it! It is a picturesque Fall. Our ward had a big Halloween party with chili and cornbread. So yummy. Rustin and I dressed up as the Geico caveman and Flo the Progressive Insurance girl this year. It was so fun to dress up together and everyone loved our costume.

We also carved a pumpkin together which was a lot of fun. It has been a couple years since I have carved a pumpkin and it brought back a lot of memories of carving pumpkins with my family growing up. Here is picture of our finished product.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Fall season!

My Amazing Mom

A couple months back my Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It came as quite a shock and it was tough being so far away from her. Every time I talked with her on the phone all I wanted was to give her a big hug and tell her everything was going to be ok. She was so brave going continually to doctors appointments and facing news each time that would be life changing. She found a great cancer specialist team in San Diego and the surgery was scheduled for October 4th. With October being breast cancer awareness month every where we turned were pink flowers, ribbons, and stories of other brave women and their fight. What great support to be surrounded by on top of wonderful family and friends who have been absolutely incredible to my Mom and our family. A family friend of ours paid for me to fly out to California so I could be with my Mom through her surgery. A blessing that can not even be described in words. The surgery came and my Mom faced it like a champ. She had a double mastectomy, something I can't even imagine happening! She spent three days in the hospital and then she was able to come home. Through all her pain emotional and physical my Mom kept a smile on her face and a prayer of gratitude to her family and friends in her heart. She means so much to so many people you could always feel all that love in our home as people visited, flowers were delivered, and meals delivered. I was able to spend my birthday with her and received the best birthday present from the doctors, the news that her lymph nodes were clear! No radiation! I love you Mom! So grateful to be your daughter! xoxo

In the hospital, my Mom, nephew Derrik, and me

This video makes me cry every time. I love you Mom. You are an amazing women!

What's Next!?!

Well we have been in Roanoke exactly 38 days now and I think we have experienced almost every type of weather. I thought all I would have to do was get used to the humidity but I was all wrong. First out of nowhere Virginia is hit with a earthquake not far from where we live. We felt a good deal of shaking but at first didn't think anything of it, I guess our California roots kicked in.It was a big deal out here and was breaking news for at least two days. We joked about bringing it out to the East with us! Then a couple weeks later we are preparing for a hurricane. Yup Hurricane Irene decides to attack the East coast. Thankfully we are inland enough that we just experienced thunderstorms and rain but a lot of people out here were affected with family members and such. A big part of Virginia didn't have power for over a week. We were grateful to get through that thinking it would settle down for a bit. Well was I wrong. Earlier this week this flashed across our TV screen all night...

Wonderful. I get to lay my head on a pillow to sleep knowing at within the next couple of hours a tornado could be outside my window. Rustin and I made a tornado emergency plan just in case and since we live on the second floor of a house we didn't have many options but at least we had something. Along with the tornado watch we had flash flooding warnings for 48 hours. It was pouring rain outside. Like literally a foot of water just racing down the streets. We live right near the Roanoke river which is usually pretty timid, small slow moving, but picturing all the water it was receiving made me worry a little bit. 2nd floor apartment good for flash flooding, bad for tornados. Thankfully everything settled down and we were kept safe. Rustin and I went down to the river to check it out and this is what it looked like. Take my word for it it is at least triple the size and current it usually is.

So earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, flooding, what's next? I'll take humidity and heat thank you.

Our Place in Roanoke VA

We finally found a place to live in Roanoke and are so excited about it. We love it here and are so grateful that everything worked out.

This is the front of the house we live in and you can see our little door on the right of the porch when you are looking from the street. We rent out the entire upstairs.

Our barren bedroom but hey we just moved in. We are loving our air mattress!

Our extra room/living room. We are working on getting a couch or futon to put in here to have a place for guests.

The kitchen and laundry room. We have our own washer/dryer which is truly wonderful. Home sweet home for the next 10 months!

North Carolina: "To be, rather than to seem"

At the end of April we found out Rustin was accepted to Hollins University in Roanoke, VA in their Masters in Fine Arts program. So during the first week of June we moved from California to North Carolina for him to start grad school. The program starts with a six week term at Duke University and then continues in Roanoke for the following terms with lots of traveling included. We spent four days driving across the U.S and finally made it. We loved Durham! It was a nice mini city with lots of things to do and see and we loved living in the new southern environment (minus the humidity) Rustin enjoyed all of his classes and we were able to go to a lot of dance performances during the week which were a lot of fun.

For the 4th of July we went to the local Durham Bulls baseball game to celebrate and saw an amazing firework show that was shot off right in front of us.
We lived in a beautiful house, but only rented half of the upstairs. It was small but it was perfect for our short stay in Durham. I love all the southern home each one so big and full of history and stories. Our house was built in the early 1920s but the entire inside had been redone and split into three separate apartments. You can't see any of our windows because we were in the back but here is the front picture.

We just fell in love with the whole area. Duke campus was amazing! The chapel on campus was breathtaking, such a beautiful building inside and out. Downtown is all old tobacco factories that have been redone and turned into little shops and restaurants. I felt like I was walking through a movie scene :)

At the end of July, Rustin finished up his term and we packed up our car once again and headed up to Roanoke to settle at our new apartment. Good bye North Carolina, until next year!