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.

What You've Missed

This year has brought many changes for our little family. Bryan and Rebekah finished their last semester of college at Brigham Young University on December 21, 2007, our 2nd wedding anniversary. Bryan graduated with his BS in biology and Rebekah graduated with my BS in nursing. Rebekah has been working on the Surgical Unit at Primary Children's Hospital for about a year now as a LPN and loving it. She will be taking the NCLEX to be a registered nurse sometime in late January or early February, pray for my success! Bryan has been working with the National Guard's Reserve Sustainment Program, which basically helps new recruits get ready for basic training and the army way of life. This past summer, Bryan spent many hours at school studying for his Optometry Admissions Test (OAT) as well as his 400 level chemistry and biology classes. His hard work finally paid off when he was accepted to his first choice of optometry schools, University of Houston.
The light at the end of the tunnel has finally arrived! We have spent many months studying and not nearly enough time playing. We'd go without seeing each other for three full days because Rebekah would work all night and Bryan would be at school all day. Now we have three full months together before heading down the Texas! We have lots of small trips and adventures planned. Bryan's parents are taking us to Florida as a graduation gift where we plan on going to Disney World (Rebekah's first time) and using our new scuba diving license. We are excited for our upcoming move and other adventures that come with it and hope this blog will keep our family and friends in touch.

Rebekah, Bryan, and Brandon (Rebekah's bro) all graduated in August together.

We want to thank all our family and friends who made our experience at Brigham Young University successful. It has been one long adventure!

Rebekah and Bryan were both able to be sworn into the United States Army by their fathers.