Some favorites from Chicago...

 And of course seeing the lovely Tim and Misty, who I love and miss, but as usual I forgot to take pictures. 

♥

It's almost here...

To get the days off for my vacation to Chicago this weekend, I have to work 7 straight days.

I just finished day 6.

I need this vacation.

Can't wait.

♥

2010, and looking towards the future!

I love the "year in review" blog that Naomi did at Rockstar Diaries.

I decided I wanted to do one, although I'm sure mine won't be as eloquent or detailed as hers. 

Not much happened in January, other than the fact that I worked until midnight on new years eve. Lame. But, we had had a rough year in 2009, and Jamie and I both had extremely high hopes that this year would be better. 

In February, we went to Olive Garden (an old fave) for Valentine's Day.

In March, my cousin's son Jackson was born, and I had my bridal shower!

 We celebrated Jamie's 26th birthday in april, and I finished block I, which felt like a miracle.

May was the big one. I had my bachelorette party on the 15th, and became Mrs. Rutan on the 29th!

We celebrated with our honeymoon in June, and my parents got the latest member of our family, Dexter, who has grown a lot, and become so special to all of us!

Baby Dexter

Dexter now
 In July I chopped 7 inches off my hair, Jamie and I took an impromptu camping trip, and we lost his Nan.

In August, we took a "one last hurrah" trip to Chicago, and school started again.

In September, Jamie and I sang at his cousin Bradley's wedding, and worked to adjust to our crazy schedules.

We celebrated Halloween in October, (and by celebrated, I mean passed out candy.)

November held my 22nd birthday, for which I was called onstage at my favorite bar and serenaded, and also my very first visit to the ER. 

And in December, we celebrated our first married Christmas. 

It's been a year to remember. Granted, it's been hard, trying to juggle school and work, but there have been so many blessings. I am looking forward to next year, and praying that it is just as good. 

I wish the same for all of you, 

and I hope you have a happy new year!

♥

Trying to make dreams come true...

I want to go to Africa.

On a missions trip.

And I'm determined to make it happen.

I have always had a strong desire to go on a mission trip.

When I was in high school, and was debating colleges, 

I knew that if I ended up at a christian college,

The only thing I would have any desire to major in would be missions.

For better or worse, I didn't end up at a Christian college or majoring in missions,

but it is a passion that I still have, deep down.

I think taking on our new Compassion child, Emmanuel, has lit a fire under that desire.

Other married women my age have baby fever.

I have Africa fever. 

Look at this handsome little 3 year old face.

There are millions like him, and if I could help even a few more, 

it would be worth it. 

So, I've decided I don't just want to dream about it anymore.

So, I talked to Jamie last night, 

and we are going to try and find the best route to doing a 2-4 week trip to Africa in the summer of 2012.

I have looked at many organizations that allow you to take trips with them.

Jamie thinks we should look into finding a church to sponsor us.

In all honesty, we are flying blind, we don't know much about this.

But I trust that we can make it happen.

I want this so bad. 

I don't want the craziness of our lives to interfere.

And I want to go to Africa, and make a difference.

♥

I need a vacation...seriously.

I got my Science unit turned in yesterday. 

74 pages, consisting of 17 lesson plans, that equal 46 hours, the papers and powerpoints that go with them, a two page table of contents, a four page introductory paper, and a cover sheet, all neatly inside of a purple binder.

It was due at 5 PM.

I laid it outside of his door at 4:53PM.

But, it's not entirely my fault, because i got there at 4PM to print, but my flash drive had gone crazy and MIXED ALL THE PAGES UP.

So, while having a minor panic attack in the library, I just had to print everything, and then find the table of contents, and use it to put everything in order. 

Needless to say, I was a bit stressed. 

And, I couldn't even be that excited, because last night and today I have to work on my benchmark. 

Which is a 12 page paper, due Sunday.

And, since Jamie's company Christmas party is Saturday night, I need to get as much of it done as possible.

I am excited for the Christmas party though, and our teeny tiny vacation of staying at that Hyatt afterwards.

And then, It's five wonderful weeks off, for Christmas!

Which, by the way, I am super excited for Christmas for the first time in a few years.

And then I start student teaching. And working full time.

Oh man. What did I get myself into.

I told Jamie that if I survive the next year and graduate, I want to go on another cruise. 

Which has me thinking about vacations.

Man, I want to go on one SO bad. 

So, I spent the last hour going through pictures of vacations that Jamie and I have gone on (instead of working on my benchmark, might I add).

I thought I would make myself feel better by sharing them.

Florida, 2008. 

Our first vacation together. We stayed with Jamie's grandma part of the time, and then camped on an island the other part. While it was fun, the being on an island with only what you brought was hard, because we were late to the peer, and the crazy mean psycho lady (don't get Jamie started on her, he STILL gets mad.) wouldn't let us bring everything we had packed, only what we could grab in 5 minutes. So, we took what we thought were the necessities, which did not include any warm blankets, seeing as we were in Florida. But, we found out the hard way, that it FREEZES on islands at night. So, we wrapped up in our towels, put on every article of clothing we had, and covered the bed with extra towels and clothes, and STILL froze out butts off. Hahaha, I think it's pretty funny looking back, but Jamie does not find it humorous. 

May 2010

Our next vacation was actually our honeymoon. Best, most amazing vacation ever. If I could go on a cruise every year for the rest of my life, I would do it. 

It was so wonderful.

(sorry there are so many, it's hard to choose a few favorites from 200 pictures.)

And last, in August of 2010, we took a weekend trip to Chicago. We took the train there and a bus back, so we rode the L all weekend, and felt like really city folks. =D

It was great. 

(To see more from this trip, go here.)

So there ya go, folks.

I want to go somewhere with my husband, and just get away from life for a while.

But for now, it's back to my benchmark.

Dang it.
Someday.

♥