i'm back!!!

it's been a while since i blogged...a LONG while.  every time i thought about it, i was too overwhelmed to start.  with that said, i'm going to give a really short summary of my life the past 8 months.  ready, go!

i ran my first half marathon on the great wall of china.  i was only signed up to run the 10k, but got inspired, or tricked, by krysten to just do the half.  it was tough, but was so happy i did it WITH krysten!!  china was cool...dirty, but cool.  we met some awesome people while we were there.

my friend sophia got married in the most elaborate, beautiful wedding i've ever seen!!  and...i caught the bouquet.

i left my full-time job in the fish department at seaworld to join the animal care department as a seasonal employee.  i lost all benefits and hours and pay, but it was nice NOT to be micromanaged and out of dead-end job.

krysten and i turned 28.

dickens and i went to hawaii for a week.  he was in a wedding.  we laid on the beach everyday, drank LOTS of mai tai's, hiked, snorkeled and had a great time!!

bailey had emergency back surgery.  she lost movement in her back two legs, i took her to an emergency hospital.  they kept her overnight, dickens and i met with neurologist the next morning.  he recommended a cat scan and mri (not cheap), and then possibly surgery (again, not cheap).  she ended up having surgery.  she had a herniated disc in her lower back and hemorrhaging on her spinal chord.  it was the scariest 3 days for me.  i was a mess.  i'm so thankful for dickens and his love for bailey and for me!  without his support, i don't think either one of us would've made it through this hard time.  after surgery, we put bailey in physical therapy.  she did hydrotherapy, where she walked on an underwater treadmill to build up her leg muscle memory.  it was a long recovery, and she's still recovering.  but i'm one happy momma when i see her play and run!!

i started my teaching credential program.  yep, i'm going to be a high school biology teacher.  good-bye seaworld.

dickens, krysten and i went to colorado for a long weekend.  we went to a friends wedding, played with the littles, went to the broncos game, and spent lots of time with family.  it was the first time dickens met tara and the littles.  vivy was shy, keeping her distance, but still giving him googly eyes.  by the end of the weekend, we said goodbye to all of the littles, went to my mom's car, and vivy runs out the house yelling, "I LOVE YOU, DICKENS!!!"  it was seriously the cutest thing ever!!  we'll be back around christmas...this time we're bringing the pups!

i ran my second half-marathon in big sur, california.  this was all krysten's idea, which turned bad quickly.  she was at work one day.  they served free in-n-out at lunch.  she felt like she needed to sign up for a race after that meal.  she finds one in big sur.  convinces me to join her.  AND THEN re-reads the race details...no music, it's a trail run, no refunds.  we were stuck.  luckily, we convinced dickens and phil to join us.  and aunt trish spent the weekend with us as our cheerleader.  we all survived.  phil probably would've died if it wasn't for krysten.  dickens and i ran together, he tolerated me and encouraged me along the way.  i only got emotional towards the end and begged him to "run with me" while we finished.  the rest of the weekend was great!  we stayed in carmel, went to monterrey bay, then up to campbell to spend the night at aunt trish's house.

dickens and i went to japan for 2 weeks in october.  it was a spur-of-the-moment type of trip.  it all came together in less than 3 weeks.  his sister and brother-in-law just moved to tokyo in august.  we spent a week in tokyo and a week traveling around japan.  it was an AMAZING trip!!  i absolutely LOVE seeing the world with dickens and experiencing adventures with him.  i'll try and post pictures at some point.

the broncos are awesome!

i started another job working at torrey pines high school.  i work in a classroom with students who are struggling academically, and who at one point were "english learners."  it's been a great experience observing the interaction between the teacher and the students, as well as working with the students and helping them succeed.

bailey and ruca both turned 2.  ruca's birthday was in september and bailey's was in november.  they're still crazy dogs!

christmas is in full gear!  we just got a tree!  it's beautiful and decorated and smells good.

dickens turns 30 in ONE WEEK!!!  i've been counting down all month!

if i forgot anything, i'll add it at some point.  hopefully, i can be better about writing.