WAAAHOOO!

Photograph by Markus Raab

a few weeks ago,

my lovely father texted me with some exciting news.

i didn't really believe him

but i was praying it would be true.

 today in my email inbox,

i got this from my mom. 

Dad just committed to going to China.  Merry Christmas.  

----- Forwarded Message ----

Subject: Hotel bookings

Dear Mrs Chan

Attached please find the confirmation from Guangzhou Shangri-La. 

For Suzhou and Hangzhou, will only send you the confirmation next month as the reservation system not allow to do that at the moment.

Thanks & best regards

Louise

aka I AM GOING TO CHINA!

waaaahoooooooo!!!

our state fair is the great state fair

 

cute farm animals,

weird foods**,

and a demolition derby.

can't get much better than that!

and mom--we ate a funnel cake, for you.

**deep fried butter sticks, chocolate covered scorpions, alligator meat and more!**

YUMberi

 

jeff and i went to a MCMS dinner

where we rubbed shoulders with some doctors,

ate a ton of food,

and made some new friends.

then we got delicious frozen yogurt at yumberi

                                                                (with a two-for-one coupon!)

for me--pumpkin spice and snickerdoodle topped with granola

for him--chocolate topped with chocolate

so good!!

hair.cut

i got a haircut!

with bangs!

my friend, the hairstylist, did it for me.

at a VERY reasonable rate.

(remember, i am used to california's prices)

so i happily forked over $25, plus tip

and now i have no more split ends

and little wispy (okay more like chunky) bangs

that i think are very very cute. 

but self-conscious me doesn't like just taking pictures of myself.

so we will wait for a day when a picture is taken

and i will post it,

in honor of my haircut. 

for now, enjoy this picture.

j, me, and j's lil bro B.

(who is serving a mission in the phillipines right this instant!)

utah, last year, around this time. 

collins family.

an old(ish) picture from our "rehearsal dinner"

we didn't actually rehearse anything.

we just sat around and got excited about getting married the next day.

i gave mister c a scrapbook of our dating life

and mister c gave me these family t-shirts.

he calls them our "collins team jerseys"

sweet memories.

crafty wifey

while the husbands were studying,

 a few girls got together and crafted.

it was so wife-y and so fun. 

now we have a least one festive decoration in our very un-festive house.

plus, it is a double duty decoration that can be used for halloween and christmas.

i love the holidays!

what's in your fridge?

i spy some tortillas

1 hamburger bun (whole grain-yum!)

strawberries

eggs

leftover blueberry syrup

leftover enchilada sauce

leftover rice

and leftover curry.

good thing saturday is grocery day!

painting

 

we painted a wall!

it looks fabulous.
it was a fun project to do together

and a good way to rationalize not studying.

(because we were improving our home, you know)

we only suffered one causality
that involved me putting my head against the wet wall
...and i just finished picking the paint from my hair.

next up--decorations!

white coat

 jeff got his white coat!

it is a symbol of his future career in healthcare,

given to all students of healthcare in their first semester.

it was a really neat ceremony that involved all midwestern students.

they said this cool oath about being healthcare professionals

and talked about what healthcare is about.

i felt proud that my husband is entering such a noble career.

and also proud that we have met such great people here in arizona

and that we can call them our friends.

azcom 2014, baby! 

my husband, the doctor?

 

so jeff isn't a doctor yet,

but he does get to spend lots of money on doctor-like materials.

and if we are spending all this money,

we might as well have fun with it!

all-american sport

did you know the diamondbacks have a pool in their stadium?

and that midwestern occasionally gives out free tickets to games?

also, that mister c and i love free dates?

well...it is all true.

and woah, check out my eyebrows!

FALL!

it rained today!

right now, all our doors are open,

welcoming the 65 degree breeze.

(p.s. i thought about not including my smudged makeup/raccoon eyes

but they add to the picture, right?)

it also hailed.

like HAILED.

here is one we collected.

soon after, we ran back inside 

because i got paranoid of getting hit in the face.

notice the size of the hail on the lawn in the pic below.

and it rained like crazy.

we rigged up a water collection system,

(okay, just buckets underneath rain gutters)

got soaking wet,

kissed in the rain,

and the best part--

got over 70 gallons of water!

WAHOO!

happy birthday ave!

 

i have this friend named avery.

in 7th grade, i attempted to braid her hair

but tangled it instead.

and then somehow we became best friends.

she just turned 21

and is absolutely fabulous.

she is nice and funny and caring

and pretty and modest

and smart and empathetic.

she is way nicer to her siblings than i ever was

and we get to make fun of each other for being mormon and jewish
and we don't even get offended.

now that is friendship!

so in lieu of being there in person of her birthday...

happy (belated) birthday, ave!

i love you.

picture from high school evacuation drill

and from j & i's wedding.