In case you are wondering, Matt and I are still alive and well! I am just a very neglectful blogger...
So in a nut shell, here is what has happened since I last wrote (in December):
-December:
- We spent Christmas Eve and some of Christmas Day with Matt's family. We enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve dinner at his grandparents' house and saw the rest of his family on Christmas Day, where we had a gift exchange.
- We spent the rest of Christmas Day at my parents' house and with my Grandma and Grandpa Ward.
- I worked New Year's Eve. It was the most low-key New Year's I have ever had. I was the only one at the nurse's station to realize that it had even turned midnight, and the only one to say, "Happy New Year!"
- Mom and Dad went to Disney World, where Dad ran the Disney Marathon. They stayed in the Pop Century Hotel all but one night, when they upgraded to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
- My friend Katie got married to her college sweetheart, Craig. Katie served as a bridesmaid in my and Matt's wedding and I got the same honor in her wedding. The ceremony took place in a beautiful cathedral in downtown Indianapolis and the reception was at Union Station, also downtown. Katie and Craig are currently living in Boston, where Craig is getting his Master's degree and Katie is working as a teacher's aide (she has her BA in Elementary Education). The two will move back to Indy in July when Craig is done with school (Craig already has a job lined up). They bought a townhouse in Carmel, so it will be nice to hang out with them!
- There, they could see giraffes and meerkats right out their window!
- I had my last day at Methodist Hospital on January 12. My coworkers threw a Mexican-themed pitch-in for me.
- I started my new job at Riley Hospital for Children in the Pediatric ICU on January 17, and I have loved it since day one!
- Matt started his Spring semester classes at IUPUI.
- The Groundhog saw his shadow.
- Eric celebrated his 21st birthday on February 5th. We went to Logan's Steakhouse for dinner. It was going to be a bit of a wait if we wanted a booth in the main part of the restaurant, so I suggested that we eat in the bar area. The hostess commented that "Everyone in the party has to be 21 to enter the bar," to which my mom replied, "Oh, well my son turns 21 today!" The hostess then looked right at me, implying that my brother wasn't why we couldn't sit in the bar; I was. Oh well, I am used to it by now.
- I have absolutely no recollection of how Matt and I spent our first Valentine's Day as a married couple.
- Just kidding, I remember: we went to iHop for dinener.
- I think this is when Matt and I went down to Kentucky so that I could attend his cousin Amanda's baby shower!
- Dad, Eric, and I ran the Big Ten Hoops 5k in downtown Indianapolis. I was the slowest one. Bah-humbug.
- The Butler Bulldogs basketball team made it to the Big Ten Tournament finals for the second year in a row and for a second year in a row, they lost :-(
- My friend Emily is getting married in June and I threw her a bridal shower up at Purdue in the church that we attended, the Wesley Foundation. The building reeked of smoke, however, as there was an electrical fire the night before. There was quite a bit of smoke damage done to the building.
- I was officially "on my own" and off of orientation at Riley at the end of March. Granted, no one is ever really by themselves. Everyone is great at helping each other out, so I feel safe taking care of all of the special kiddos because I know that if there is a situation that goes downhill, I have plenty of great nurses to back me up!
April
- Is it bad that April just passed and I can't remember what we did?
- Matt's cousin Amanda and her husband Matt had their first child, a beautiful daughter named Stella Lyn Raybuck!
- We went down to Kentucky for Easter. It was nice to see Matt's family and to meet baby Stella. We had to leave pretty early in the afternoon on Easter Sunday, however, because I was scheduled to work that night. When I got home though, they called me off for the entire night because they didn't need me! Guess we could have stayed a bit longer after all!
- Matt and I had fun landscaping our house. We mowed the lawn for the first time this year. We also planted some flowers, trimmed the bushes, and put new mulch down.
- Dad went on a two-week trip to Tanzania with other coworkers from Eli Lilly. The company sent about 200 people to various countries all over the world to do humanitarian work. If you want to read his blogs about the trip, check out the Seitz Update blog! http://seitzupdate.blogspot.com/
May
- Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
- I picked up some extra hours on my old floor at Methodist on Monday. They are very short-staffed and are offering a $25 bonus for every 4 hours worked in addition to your normal schedule. I picked up an 8-hour shift, meaning I made an extra $50, plus I made 4 hours of time-and-a-half overtime pay! Matt and I are saving up for a trip to Disney World in January, so these bonus shifts really help out!
- I started training for my third half-marathon (the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon), which will take place in September. I am also looking into training regimens so that I can run my first full marathon (hopefully the Disney Marathon!), which runs in January.
- Eric finished his last final of his third year at Purdue on Saturday morning. He will return to Purdue on Monday and stay there until Thursday for a short class and then on Saturday he will leave for a two-week study abroad trip to India! How exciting!
- Congrats to my cousins Zach and Nathan for finishing their first years of college! Zach is studying at Ferris University in Michigan and Nathan is at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Missouri
- Dad ran the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday morning. He said that the Mini was a great race as always.
- On Saturday evening, Matt and I went to dinner at Bub's Burgers with my parents, Eric, and Grandma and Grandpa Ward. It is a family tradition that we celebrate Dad's birthday there every year. Afterwards, Eric, Matt, and I went to see the movie "Thor" in 3D. It was decent. I think Matt and Eric were more impressed than I was.
- Happy birthday to my Dad and to my cousin Amy today! Dad is 49 and Amy is a legal adult now at 18!
- I am looking forward to going running after church this morning. After that, Matt and I are planning to finish up some of the landscaping.
Stacey, Matt, and Thor
