Thanksgiving Trial

My roommate and I are putting on Thanksgiving Dinner this year and wanted to trial some of the food before we had real guests. So we cooked a 6 pound turkey with stuffing, homemade gravy and cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. Everything turned out really well, except the stuffing. The stuffing was good, but I mixed the bread crumbs, butter, and water together and the squares turned to mush :( Wish me luck on the 15 pound turkey! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

New Boots

Bryan got me these real nice Twisted X leather boots for my birthday. I absolutely LOVE them. I can't wait to country line/swing dance in them this weekend!

Birthday Weekend

My parents bought tickets to visit Bryan and I on my birthday weekend, Sept 18-22. Unfortunately, the weekend before Hurricane Ike completely destroyed most of the east coast of Texas. So it was definitely a memorable birthday weekend. Most of the shops were closed because of no electricity or open late/closed early, except Home Depot and Lowes; they were packed! We went shopping at Target in the dark for new clothes. The grocery store shelves were bare. Gas stations were opened during odd hours. Trees and debris were everywhere. We even went to church in the dark. The talks were very appropriate for the circumstance. The speakers talked about getting out of our comfort zone and meeting/serving our neighbors. It is sad that it takes a hurricane to get people out of their homes (away from the tv, video games, or the computer). But it is soo true.
Fortunately the inner city had electricity. We went to the Natural Science Museum. I think lots of people were sick of being at home with no AC and decided to enlighten their minds. We went to the Body Worlds part of the museum. Pretty cool. It is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. Most of the bodies are shaped as action figures: figure skating, hitting a baseball, skateboarding. If it ever travels to your city, it's a must see.

My mother and I outside the Natural Science museum in Houston, TX.

My parents bought this patio set for Bryan and Rebekah's birthday. We

are still looking for an umbrella holder.

All the flowers and plants were 70% off!

My parents are the best! They definitely came down to Houston at the wrong time, but we were so happy to see them. They helped us clean up our little patio area and bought us pots and plants and patio furniture to fill up the empty space. We love our little area now; it looks better than the inside of our townhouse.

Yup. This is what Bryan has been up to. Don't worry, it should look good by....

We Survived Hurricane IKE!

Well it was an exciting weekend for Bryan. He decided to stay in Houston to man our fortress during the storm. Some of our roofing was destroyed and we had a little water damage, but not as much as we would have if Bryan hadn't collected the leaks in pots and pans. Highway 288, which is directly across from our home, quickly filled up with 15-20 feet of water- a nice BIG river. Bryan decided to come up to Killeen LATE Saturday night, as he sat in a dark house with no air conditioning. Poor guy :( We are definitely blessed for not receiving TOO much damage! Thanks for everyone's concerns!

Holly Hall

We recently purchased a town home in downtown medical center Houston. It is a lot bigger than we're use to; since we've been moving in and out of apartments and hotels the past 6 months! 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 2 car garage, 2 pools, and conveniently located right bythe University of Houston. We're happy with our purchase!

So lately we have been updating the 1984 townhouse. Bryan has torn up the kitchen. He ripped out the cabinets, the wallpaper, and the tile. He is having fun destroying our brand new home! I am excited to paint, pick out new cabinets and appliances, and just remodel the outdated everything.

We have found quite a few problems with the place. Because Houston is so humid, we have found a lot of mold growing between the wall and wallpaper and where any water may have leaked (behind sinks, toilets, and washer). Although it is humid, Houston is gorgeous. I love all the trees and plush flower bushes, it is way greener than Fort Hood.

Bryan starts Optometry school tomorrow. He is really excited to start this chapter of his life. I am excited and proud of all his accomplishments. I know he will do great in school! I love you Bryan!

Stake Dance

Bryan: Hey babe! Wanna go on a date with me this Saturday night?

Rebekah: You're asking me out on a date?

Bryan: Yeah...

Rebekah: Totally! What are we doing?

Bryan: We're going to the stake dance!


I loved the stake dances when I was 14-16 years old. I always made sure I could go. I would usually buy a new outfit for the dance and spend my whole afternoon getting ready for this social event that only happened once a month. I also LOVED to dance!

The stake dance wasn't like the good old days. Bryan and I danced swing to the country music. But most of the time we spent getting the youth on the dance floor. It is funny how stake dances never change. The YMCA, dancing queen, and cotton eye joe are over played. There is always that interpretive dancer. And girl drama, enough said. The only thing that has changed is the wall flowers. The wall sitters are no longer wall sitters. The wall sitters now have cell phones and spend most of their time text messaging. I wish I took a picture of the lines of people on the walls texting their friends. I just don't think kids should own a cell phone- it only brings trouble.

We had a lot of fun and will probably be doing it more often (since we're both involved in young mens and young womens). Thanks for reading!

Texas Toughest 10K

One of my goals this year was to run a 10K. When Bryan and I finally got settled in Killeen, we looked for some races. The name of the first available 10K was called "Texas Toughest". We didn't think much of it, that is until we actually competed. The race was mostly up hill and the weather was HOT! My original goal for the race was to finish uder 50 minutes. After I realized the race was actually going to be "tough", I changed my goal to under an hour and I met that one! Bryan is a superstar. His time was 40:19. He got 3rd place in his age group and 13th in the race.

This is me dying at the very end.
Bryan and I after the race.
I thought the guys in the background were pretty funny looking.

They reminded me of Starsky and Hutch.
Bryan thought the dog looked pretty cool with an award around his neck. I think the dog won the race.

Overall we had fun and are excited for our next race. Hopefully I can meet my goal of running under 50 minutes.

Tabletop

While Bryan was living with his parents in Owasso, he got a free Ethan Allen dining room set from a little old lady his mother knew. The table was all scratched from her dogs, so Bryan decided to learn how to refinish the tabletop. It was a lot of hard work. I'm not being bias, but I think it looks really good. It has a unique finish.


Now all I have to do is reupholster the chairs. Any ideas?



I was thinking....














or this...












The chairs have the fabric below.

Give me your ideas...

Schlitterbahn

Our 4th of July weekend was awesome! I actually got a four day holiday weekend, which never happens in the health care world. I am not sure whether it's because I am still on orientation or if my head nurse really takes care of her military employees. Either way, I was happy.

We swam in our church friends pool and played a mean game of Marco Polo. Bryan was the ultimate champion. Then we went to a BBQ with Bryans construction worker friends. Now they are your typical construction worker- smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, never had dental care, and spend $500 on fireworks. All of his buddies were a very nice group of people, and I guess Bryan thinks they were a lot better than the construction workers he knew in Utah. Anyways, earlier that morning one of the workers was trying to get the Roman candle to aim into a trash can covered in gasoline. Not smart, but at least the fire department knew where their field was for later in the evening.

The next day we went to Schlitterbahn, it has been named one of the best waterparks for 10 years straight or something like that. A lot of the water rides actually go up hill- very powerful jets. Besides the lines being long and a huge rain storm passing by, we had a lot of fun playing in the water.

Updates:

I am still orienting to the mother/baby unit at the medical center working 3 days a week. Bryan is working tile and training to become a financial planner in his spare time. He just got a calling to the Young Men's as 2nd counselor and assistant scout master. We close on our townhouse in downtown Medical Center Houston at the end of this month and are way excited to move into something bigger. I am moving in with a friend while her husband is deployed at the end of the month as well. She travels a bunch with her job and needs someone to care for her dogs. It works perfect for both our situations and I feel so blessed and grateful to my Father in Heaven for answering Bryan, mine, and Sarah's prayers.

Hot Rod

So Bryan and I recently signed up for Netflicks. It costs $5-13 depending on how many movies you want sent out at a time (1-3). Probably one of the smartest businesses of renting movies. You go online and select all the movies you want to see, put them in your order of preference to be sent, receive the movie in the mail, and return the movie with a prepaid envelope.


Anyways, we just watched a pretty funny, but really stupid movie last night. It is very similar to Napolean Dynamite. So if you liked that movie, I think you will enjoy Hot Rod. It is about a stunt-man trying to raise money for his abusive step-fathers heart transplant. Here is the link: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi26214681/

Busy Bees

I am sure most of you are dying to find out what Bryan and I have been up to these past couple of weeks. You have probably been clicking on our link and been disappointed each time you saw that giant red "Do Not Enter" sign pops up on your screen.

Well, we are sortof settled.

I guess it's been a difficult process because we moved into a 1 bedroom apartment! It's cute, but small. On top of the unpacking process, we have to organize all the stuff that needs to be with Bryan in Houston. So, we are kindof repacking.

We've been trying to make fun in Killeen. I talked to someone who said there is a total of 3 things to do here. 1) Putt-put 2) Cowboy Dance Hall 3) Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area (BLORA). We have done 2 of the 3, and are excited to go dancing sometime between our lists of things to do. BLORA is actually pretty neat. It is a resort dedicated to military personnel that has picnics, parks, lakes, pools, boat/jet ski rentals, paintballing, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Military's free.

This past weekend we went to Houston. Bryan wanted to visit the house he grew up in. It's pretty nice and big enough to fit a family of 14. I guess the new owners decided to paint the outside a lighter brown, but that seemed to be the only difference. Bryan was too shy to ring the doorbell and let me check out the inside. That would have been neat, but maybe a little intrusive.

During our time in Houston, we checked out Bryan's College of Optometry and townhomes in the area. We found something we really like and we will have LDS neighbors, a plus! We will be headed down this week to make an offer. Currently, we are very interested in the foreclosed townhome because its cheaper and Bryan will have some fun cleaning it up and doing construction in his spare time (if he has any?!?)

We absolutely love our ward! We have been to several activities and just feel so welcomed here. There are also a couple people in our stake we know from BYU ROTC- the Pratts, the Noises, the Garners, and coming soon Vennemen, Willis, and Adair. Its a pretty small world.

One of our ward activities was going to this AA football game, or older men who graduated from high school 10-15 years ago and still think they could go pro. It was the Killeen Baracudas vs the Copperas Cove Hammerheads. Super intense game. Good thing the field was only 50 meters! I make fun, but it was actually really fun to watch.

We are having fun and enjoying Texas. We miss all are family and friends! You're in our prayers.

Going Private

Bryan and I have come to this conclusion. Sorry! If you want to view our site, leave your email address in the comments. Thanks!

Look what I did!

My mom gave me this cross-stitch as a going away gift to be completed during training here at Fort Sam Houston. It is pretty cute and I did a darn good job. My roommate probably thinks I am the craziest person ever...being tom boy at times, molly mormon at times, and holly homemaker the other times. It kept me busy however, and thats all that counts. Thanks mom!

Expert

So Brandon wanted me to update him on every type of weapon I get to fire while I'm out here. Unfortunately, the only weapon I fired was an M-16 and 9mm. Not too exciting, sorry bud. However, the 9mm range I shot on was pretty good and guess who qualified expert...

Oh, thats me. Pretty cool. I guess I owe all my sweet skills to Bryan.

I am officially done with the field and only have 3 more weeks of OBLC. Then Bryan and I are off to Killeen, TX. It will be nice to be with him again for good.

The Move

Moving all our valuables across the country was exciting. We put all the breakable stuff in my Subaru and the rest on the trailor. My view the whole way to Texas was of Bryan's trailor. It was actually a little nerve recking. Every time he went over 65 mph, the whole trailor would shake back and forth like a see-saw. It was miserable watching our stuff rock back and forth every time we went down the slightest hill or Bryan tried to accelerate. Thank goodness we took the New Mexico route. I honestly might have had a heart attack. Plus, I don't know if Bryan's truck would have been able to haul 9500 lbs of furniture up the Rocky Mountains. We are definately blessed.


San Antonio is definately busy. I guess I haven't been in a real big city since St. Louis. Salt Lake doesn't really compare; it is confined by the mountains. There are so many highways/freeways- really easy to get lost. Before Bryan dropped me off we went to the famous Riverwalk and the Alamo. Very nice.


OBLC (officers basic leadership course) has been quite interesting. Some of the students have
never been in the army before, ever. So, this course is very basic. I have been sitting in classes for 3 weeks straight learning everything I learned in ROTC. The most difficult part is trying to keep my eyes opened and my head from nodding. I am actually excited to be out in the field (camping) and doing hands on stuff.

Bryan and I are separated by about 9 hours (he is in Tulsa). We have met "half way" once and I will be headed to his place on a three-day weekend. I haven't been too lonely. It's actually fun to be everyone's designated driver and do "single things". I still love being married though.
Bryan is having a hard time, however. He has to hang out with his mom all day. Just kidding. He is just the one being left, which I think is a lot harder than the one leaving. I love him dearly and it is sure nice when we get back together.

Hopefully this up dates every one a little bit. If you get the chance, leave me a note or call me. Hope everyone is doing well.

We made it--written by Bryan

I have been instructed to put something on here so that everyone will know what is going on in our lives. After a two day drive to Fort Hood, Texas we rented a storage unit and backed the trailer into it. Immediately we went to Kerrville Texas to visit my grandma for a day before Rebekah had to report to Fort Sam Houston. After dropping Rebekah off-Easter Sunday- I drove to Owasso Oklahoma to live at my parents and work construction and tile here. Rebekah has been doing great at OBC. She has been assigned the Platoon Leader of all the nurses. I guess these first few weeks are briefings and classes about what Army life is like and learning what paperwork she needs to fill out. I finished a tile job this week and worked on some of the rent houses my parents own. Well, that is about it. Even though Rebekah would probably say a lot more...I don't have anything else. I would put a picture to the truck/trailer but Rebekah has the camera. Oh, Rebekah is not posting this because the computers do not allow personal websites, ie. blogs/facebook, and she doesn't have her laptop with her. Maybe I will drop that off when I go visit next week.

Moving?

Yeah and soon! The army gave us a little less than two weeks notice to get to San Antonio. We are having crazy fun trying to pack up all our junk and haul it down to Texas. We don't have a ton of stuff to benefit from the Army moving us, plus I don't like the idea of them storing it for 3 months while I am at officer's basic course. I don't even know if the packers would have been able to pack us on such short notice. Anyways, Bryan really wanted to buy a 16 foot trailor and haul our stuff across the country. Apparently, we will profit off the move and basically get a trailor out of the deal. His other soul purpose in purchasing the trailor is to transport our future ATVs. Keep dreaming babe.

As for now, I just finished my last night shift at work and Bryan is finishing some last minute tile jobs. We are stressing out about finding boxes that will fit our irregular/bigger items and the truck being capable of pulling our stuff across the country. Does anyone know where I'd find some good-sized boxes? How about some moving tips before we head out (5 days)? This will be one heck of an adventure, thats for sure. Keep our truck in your prayers!

Congrats!

On Wednesday I took my nursing boards or the NCLEX-RN. I felt like I had prepared fairly well for the exam; I read through old notes and finished all the questions in a NCLEX prep book. Most of the nursing professors drilled the word "NCLEX" into us poor little nursing students as a means to terrify and make us study harder. And so I studied my little butt off for two months...and passed that stupid exam! It really wasn't as bad and as terrifying as those professors put it out to be (that or I am just really ridiculously smart). Well, as of today I checked the results and I am officially a Registered Nurse! I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers!

Practice

As many of you know, Bryan and I will be commuting back and forth between San Antonio, TX and Tulsa, OK and Houston, TX and Killeen TX. We were kindof in a bind as Bryan only had 12 options for optometry school. Luckily, I was stationed in Fort Hood (Killeen), which is about 2.5 hours from Houston. I will be in San Antonio for Officer's Basic around June while Bryan works for his parents up in Tulsa (about 7 hours).

Over the past three weeks, we have sortof been "practicing" separation by distance. Bryan got a job tiling the Ogden and Bountiful Temples and has been working 14-16 hours a day. Fortunate for him, he has been staying at one of his siblings house (as he has one in every large city in Utah). It hasn't been too tough. Sometimes I get bored. Sometimes I get scared at night. But I am able to get much more accomplished throughout the day. I have been able to study for the NCLEX more because he isn't here bothering me and distracting me from my studies.

It will definately be a trialing time for us during his 4 years of medical school. However, I am grateful we are as close as we are. I could have been stationed in Washington DC or Fort Lewis Washington. I know Heavenly Father will help us along the way if we to listen to His counsel.

This is Bryan's last week of tiling and it will be nice to have him home again. He has other odd jobs lined up with this manager, but he won't be working those crazy 15 hour days. I don't know how he can do it Monday through Saturday. I guess he is just one of those crazy Ahlborns.

Disney World

Bryan's parents took us to Orlando, Florida as a graduation present. The weather was perfect- 70-85 degrees during the day. It was more warming to hear that Utah was receiving inches of snow everyday while we were gone. We stayed in one of Bryan's parent's time shares for 8 days. The back door walked right outside to a swamp with small alligators, turtles, fish, and all types of birds. Unfortunately it is against the Florida State law to feed the wildlife. There were signs posted everywhere saying, "It is against the law to feed or harass the alligators." It would have been fun to throw meat into the swamp and watch all the gators sworm and attack the meat. Bryan's mom found this out the hard way. She started feeding the birds "healthy bread" and some neighbor rudely informed her of the state law. The taller birds remind me of dinosaurs- they certainly made noises that sounded like the dinosaurs from Jurrasic Park.



The first night we went to Medievil Times, a dinner and entertainment show. We ate without any silverware because it hadn't been invented yet. We had 1/2 a chicken and ribs too! The entertainment consisted of dancing horses, sword fighting, and jousting. The dancing horses was my favorite part. It is truly amazing how a horse can learn different steps and keep with the beat.

Our Disney adventures consisted of Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Quest. We were able to do everything at Epcot because it was hardly crowded. Plus, the Fast Passes come in handy if the wait is over 40 minutes. Animal Kingdom was pretty crowded, but I think it may be a little more popular with the kids. We went on a Safari ride. It was kindof cool to see all the animals living together in one area (well, except for the cheeta and lions). We also went on Everest Extravaganza, which is in the background of the picture. That rollarcoaster is pretty cool. The tracks change and you are in the dark for most of the ride. It was hard to tell when the ride was upsidedown, turning, and twisting- very different from other rollarcoasters we've been on. Definately a must when your at Animal Kingdom.

It was hard to say goodbye, especially since we had to go back to freezing Utah and go back to our boring life. Don't you wish everyday were a vacation? Thanks Debbie and Robert for playing with us!

This one's for Katie

This song came on the radio and my thoughts turned to you. Everytime I hear this song, I cry. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes it possible to return to our Heavenly parents and loved ones once again. Bryan and I pray for your family everyday. We love you guys. I love you!

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, Forever worship You
I can only imagine

MercyMe

2007 Top 10 List

Happy New Years! One of my friends made a top ten list for 2007 recounting all her adventures and big accomplishments during the year. Since I am not creative and have few blogging ideas, I decided to follow the same pattern as my friend.

10. We won an Ipod
USAA comes to BYU every semester to sale ROTC students into their banking and benefits packages. Each time they come, there is some sort of drawing. Last year was a $500 travel gift certificate which our friend Brent Mangum won. This year was the 30gb video ipod. Apparently the odds are pretty good. Bryan and I both put our names in and one of ours was pulled- that never happens!












9. Moving into our very own Home
We lived in Bryan's sister's basement apartment for about 1 1/2 years and it was about 400 sq. feet. The apartment consisted of a kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, and a hallway with a built in book shelf. The price was cheap and it saved us a bunch of money, but after 1 1/2 years we needed some space. Our new home is about 1200 sq. ft. with two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a handicapped sized hallway- its awesome! Somehow, in the 1/2 year we have been there, our rooms have stacked with crap!

8. Rebekah got her LPN license
Unfortunately, I had to start working this year. But, I got a job on the Children's Surgical Unit at Primary Children's Medical Center and actually like to go to work (I don't like the 40 minute commute, but hey, its a job).



7. Two Family Missionaries
Amy left in January for an 18 month mission in Neuquine, Argentina. She has been down in Argentina for about 9 months and is returning sometime in June/July. Michael left in August for a 2 year mission in Montevideo, Uruguay. He has only been down there for about 2 months and enjoying all his experiences.


6. More nieces and nephews
Bryan's sister, Becky, had her 5th child in February. Rebekah's sister, Kim, got married to Jared St. Clair in June adding two more children (Lily and Bridger) to their family. Bryan's oldest sister, Stephanie, had a little boy in August and his sister Renae also had a little boy in September. In October, Rebekah's brother, Brandon, had another baby boy, 11.4 pounds! Our families are quite large...someone is always expecting.









Jimmy and Max











Felicity, Bridger, Lily, and Malachi








Timmy






Moroni and Steven

5. Trip to Zions Unfortunately we were only able to take one vacation this summer because Bryan was in school all summer with some tough classes. We love to camp, hike, swim, and mountain bike and Zions seemed like the perfect place to go. We hiked Angel's Landing and navigated our way through the Narrows. It was a fun getaway!

4. Scuba Diving in a Crater
One of Rebekah's goals for the year was to learn something new and useful. Both of us have never scuba dived and decided to make our last semester of college a little bit more enjoyable with a beginners class in scuba diving. Our certification included 5 dives in a crater located in Midway Utah. The water was unbearably hot, but we survived.

















3. Bryan's admitted into the University of Houston
Bryan called me in the afternoon of November 30th to tell me he had both good news and bad news, which one do I want to hear first. I told him I wanted to hear the bad news first, so he told me we owed the school $500. I asked why? He told me the good news was that he got accepted into the school of optometry.





2. Our Commissioning Ceremony
See 1st blog.

















1. Graduation!
Enough said.