Looking back...

Happy New Year 2009!!! Wow, I can't believe it. As I get older every years seems to go by faster and faster then the one before. 2008 was so full...I think it could be described by any adjective other than boring. It was busy, wonderful, suprising, stressful, scary, new, fun, joyful, sad. We said goodbye to our grampa, but welcomed another sister and my husband! I finished my BSN, got my RN liscense, and started a fast-paced job at the Heart Hospital. We celebrated with my brother as he married the woman of his dreams, and they celebrated with me as I married the man of mine. My mom was able to retire from her full-time job of mother-in-law caretaker, and my brother and sister-in-law moved across the country to southern California. I missed Thanksgiving with the fam for the first time and had Christmas via webcam. It's definitely been a different year, but it's been wonderful at the same time. Only the Lord knows what 2009 holds; A family trip to the Holy Land, another wedding, new jobs, houses, and maybe even babies. It will be fun to look back a year from now and see what else is new. Happy New Year everybody! May the Lord bless you and keep you this 2009!

LEGAL!!!!

Efren got his authorization to work!!! Ya hooooo!!! So now he is applying to jobs like crazy. Poor guy has been waiting so long. It was frusterating for him to send me off to work, but then not be going to work himself. He made up for it though. He cooked for me, cleaned, did laundry....he is wonderful. But he is so excited now to be able to work so I am happy for him. Hopefully someplace is hiring....who knows right now. We will keep you posted!!

House on the Horizon

So alot of things have been changing over the past week or so. Efren was supposed to start his masters in January, but we decided to put it off one more semester so that he could qualify for in-state tuition....That will save us about 15,000 bucks. So, after he gets his authorization to work he is gonna try to get a job until August. So, we decided that if we were going to, now would be the best time to buy a house! After looking at what's available and price ranges, we have pretty much decided that it might be better just to build. It all depends on a few things though. I am on the waiting list to move to a new position at work, it's more pay so that we could put more money down and save more. I'm sure that move won't happen for a couple months. Also, depends on when Efren is able to get a job. So, we have found the plan that we love, and possibly a lot to build on so if it all goes well we could start building around january or febuary! We are just praying for His will in this whole situation. It seems that this may be the best time since he will be in school for a year and a half and thinking about paying rent for that long makes me nauseous, but, we like where we are now so if He wants us to wait we will. We'll keep you posted.

Honeymoon Pictures

We went to West Palm Beach, Florida, for our honeymoon and stayed in this incredible Marriott Resort. One day we drove up to Orlando to see Efren's family one more time before they all headed back south to Venezuela. I think we are the only couple in history to see their parents on their honeymoon. Oh well, we got a trip to Islands of Adventure out of the deal, and any excuse to ride rollercoasters is fine with me! Really, it was great to see them one last time and it meant alot to them. The whole week was awesome. Here are a couple pics to show for it!

This is the view from our balcony...

Downtown, doin' a little shopping at City Place.

Of course, as my mom has taught us, always have to take a picture by the sign!

Cool jetty thing....is that what they are called??

On the path from our hotel (in the background) to the beach!

In front of that ride that gets everyone soaked....people are definitely getting soaked right now...

ok, so funny story, or at least it was hilarious at the time. So you know this ride, the one above that is at every theme park in the Americas, well, for those of us who get cold with just the slightest breeze and didn't want to be soaked for the rest of the day there is another way to entertain... there are these water guns, you see, that for just a measly quarter you can shoot the poor riders that have just been soaked. Me, Efren, E's cousin Nelson, and several others were staked out at these guns for about an hour an a half. I'm pretty sure we spent about 20 dollars between all of us, but just to suprise those people and see their reactions was TOTALLY worth it! We had guns 6, 7, 8, and 9 poised and ready to go for the next unsuspecting boat that came around the corner. Nelson would shout, "Look to your right!" and of course they would, and one by one we would soak them again. Oh it was so entertaining. The little things....

Efren was so kind to find shade for each of my toes

PICTURES!!

All my beautiful girls!



Super Hottie

This is one of my favorites! Perfect picture of my family!!







Sweet Daddy

KINDA cute!!!!



Dancin' the night away....or at least part of it...





hahahaha

The cute parents

Green Card Please?

We got a notification in the mail that they have received Efren's paperwork and they will be contacting him soon with the date, time, and location of where he has to go to get his fingerprints. The thing is, it could be anywhere. E seems to think it will be in Dallas, or possibly Chicago. I just hope I'm off work. He also looked online, cause apparently you can check the average time it has taken for other green cards to be issued, leave it to my extremely thorough husband to figure that one out. Anyway, more than one million applications have been received in Oklahoma this year. It takes an average of 3 months to get an authorization to work permit and a little over a year to get the status changed. Wow. And, while this is in process he can't leave the country because that would be abandonment. Uh huh.

So that's where we are...I know He will work it out. I'm not worried. But a million applications and at least a years wait was kind of a shock. We'll see what happens!

Settling in...

So the wedding and the honeymoon are over...It's so weird because it's something we (girls at least) look forward to for soooo long and then when it's over it's hard to believe it actually happened! I honestly don't think it could have gone any better. The weather ended up being perfect. The only way to explain that is the Lord's favor being poured out on us because in Oklahoma you never know! And nothing crazy happened! We were just waiting because it seems like something unusual happens at every wedding... whether it's someone answering their phone during the ceremony or a groomsman fainting it's always interesting to see what's next. Nothing too major happened for us though....unless I'm unaware!

It was so incredible to be surrounded by so many friends and family. "Thank yous" are not enough when people sacrifice so much to travel just for a few days to see us get married. Honestly, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. It meant the world to both of us. We are so blessed to have incredible people in our lives.

So the last week since we have been home has been filled with getting the apartment put together, writing thank you cards, getting back to work, and just figuring out what it's like to live together! It's soooo much fun! Sometimes I feel like a teenager defying her parents and living with her boyfriend, but then I remember that he's actually my husband and it's totally allowed! He's such a great roommate too. I am one of those lucky girls that got a neat freak for a husband. No complaining here!

Now we are waiting for Efren's immigration paperwork to go through so he can start school and get a job! Hopefully it won't take very long, but there's no way to know. Prayers for that would be great! I'll try to keep you updated!

Hi!! And yes, Brook, I will blog again....I think. It's very early in the morning and I'm about to get off work so I will hopefully update soon!

He's here!

So this is the first entry. I got inspired by my brother and sister-in-law and alaina to start a blog for Efren and I. I guess it's the easiest way for everyone to keep up and let you know what is going on in our lives and vice versa....so here we are!
After living 16 months in different time zones with different native languages Efren and I are finally together. In some ways it is so weird to do little things together, like going to Target or just driving around town (not that we do that for fun because of gas!), but in other ways it feels like we have been doing it all along. The first couple days has been full of getting him settled and getting wedding things nailed down that he had to be here to do. We did some of our registry which was a weird feeling just thinking about people buying us all these gifts, but it was fun. We also got on a cell phone plan together and opened our bank account in both our names! Wow, the little things.
Work has been going well. It's a TAD bit overwhelming to think that in just a couple days I will be off orientation and in charge of my own patients without another RN to run everything by. Yikes. I feel really comfortable, but I know part of that is because if anything goes wrong or if I have a question I can ask my preceptor and they will know what to do or what the answer is. In a very short time that will not be the case. Lord Jesus help me.....or my patients I guess! Ha! I can't wait til I've been a nurse for about a year or two and I feel like I know exactly what I'm doing. I think, though, that because this is a profession that is always changing I will be constantly learning for the rest of my career. that's ok with me.
So hopefully Efren and I can be consistent on this blogging thing. I think it will be fun!