Almost There

All the studying is over for me! I finished my 4 hour oral presentation yesterday. It was the worst anxiety I've ever encountered. I am so relieved it is over with! Now, all I have to do is complete my 68 hours of preceptorship on the ICU. Bryan should be visiting me next Friday and our class graduation day is the April 25th. After that, we are off to drive down the west coast. This time I won't be driving by myself the whole time. I don't have any set plans, but I do want to go camping at the Red Wood Park and I want Bryan to see where I grew up in San Francisco. I've got about 12 days before I need to report back to Fort Hood, so I hope to get some good relax time.

Critical Care Emergency Nursing Course 2011-A

40 Days

That is how many days I have left of school. This course has taught me a lot. I am not sure if I ever want to go back to school again. It has been more than tough. I feel like I don't even have time to go to the grocery store or put gas in my car. I am so ready for it to be over. I know it will be well worth it in the end. I am just tired.

Out of Office

I made it safely to Tacoma, Washington on Monday night. It was a very long drive. I stopped in Phoenix, AZ (15 hour drive) for 2 days to visit my brother Brandon and his beautiful family/new baby boy Benson. My mom and dad were down there as well for the baby blessing that Sunday. I wasn't able to make it due to the long excursion to come. I headed up to Utah on Saturday (10 hour drive) and visited my youngest sister Linsey and her cute family for only 2 hours. Boo. After the short visit, I spent the night at my oldest sister Kim and family's house, went to church, and then we hit the road to Eagle, ID (5 hour drive). Kim was such a sweet heart to offer to drive with me the rest of the journey. She brought her sweet baby Norah, and we trekked the rest of the way together. We stopped at one of Bryan's sisters house (Wendy) for the night in Eagle, ID and then made the last leg to Tacoma, spending the night in the hotel (8 hour drive). Kim helped me to get all settle into my nice hotel room for the next 14.5 weeks. This course is going to be one tough journey, so I probably won't post anything for the next 3 months or so. Thanks to everyone for letting me stay with them. Thank you Kim for ditching your family for me. I had fun catching up! Please pray for me on this educational journey!

Home Defense

Bryan and I just got home from a nice Sunday dinner with some of our friends from our Houston ward. It was our last night together before I trekked up to Washington so I wanted it to be special. Before we settled down to bed, I brought Bryan to the computer to watch "Provo, UT Girls" on youtube. Before we finished the clip, we here a... "pop, pop, pop" {broken glass} "pop, pop, pop". We both drop to the ground as we realize someones shooting outside our bedroom window (I promise we don't live in the ghetto). I stayed on the ground, scared. Bryan was proactive. He grabbed his phone, called 911 and our property's security guards, grabbed his 9mm and ran out the door. 5 minutes later, I finally decide to get up and scope out the damage and find the bullet.
The bullet ricocheted off the metal window thing and into our closet (the opposite direction of us). That was all the damage, which is cRaZy considering it was a hallowed .45 round. Cops showed later, took down our report and snatched the bullet. Apparently, the police were at other residents in the area for the same reason. Some one is shooting at apartments/condos/homes from the freeways and this wasn't the first time this week. Same weapon too. What a crummy way to end our last night together! We are blessed for being safe and protected that night. I am so grateful to have a husband with multiple weapons for our personal protection (never thought I'd say that). Situations like these really make you think about how precious our lives really are here on earth. I love you Bryan! Stay away from the window please:)

Happy New Years! (Our Christmas Card)

We want to wish you a Happy New Year and hope your Christmas was merry and full of magic.



Not too many changes for us. Bryan is in his 3rd year of optometry school in Houston. Only 16 more months to go! He has plans for internships in Temple, Texas (near me!) and Tahlaquah, Oklahoma for his fourth and last year. I continue to work on the intensive care unit at Fort Hood and have plans to advance my career at Fort Lewis, Washington with the Army's Critical Care Nursing Course for 4 months.



We were able to enjoy some vacation time between Bryan's school semesters at the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona with family in May. What an enchanted off-the-map village! My mom offered Bryan a tile job in Utah to get both of us out in August. We had fun visiting with family and hiking the canyons. For Christmas, we splurged on a Western Caribbean Cruise for our 5 year anniversary. We have talked about it for 3 years now, and finally did it! Totally worth every penny.



We hope you make 2011 the best year yet! We'll see what surprises it brings for you and your family.



Love, Bryan & Rebekah Ahlborn

Thriller

I am in the peach cardigan behind the pole.

Cruising

For our 5 year Anniversary we sailed into the Western Caribbean on Carnival Conquest. It was the first for both of us and it was awesome.

We enjoyed yummy food all week long: lobster, shrimp, red snapper, steaks, lamb, salmon, mahi mahi, tilapia, es cargo, oysters, sushi, chocolate melting cake, bread pudding, and apple pie... just to name a few. Neither of us gained the ten pounds from cruising luckily (we did workout every morning).

We enjoyed beautiful views of Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Cozumel sunsets. The weather was a little chilly leaving Galveston, but each day got warmer and warmer. Mexico was the hottest.

We learned to dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller. We also attended salsa and country line dancing classes. We enjoyed the singing/dancing shows the cruise puts on, as well as the magic show. The comedy shows were mostly crude. Bryan videoed me dancing to thriller...I will post that one on a different blog:)

In Jamaica, we hiked the famous Dunn's River Falls...
went on the tranopy to Mystic Mountain,...

and free glided down the Jamaica bobsled.
Jamaica wasn't our favorite place. Very commercialized. Plus, everybody asked Bryan if he wanted some pipes or special "Bob Marley" smokes. It must of been because of his long hair.

In the Cayman Islands, we went scuba diving for the first time since we got out scuba certification in 2007. The water was a bit cold after an hour underwater. We saw lobster, a sea turtle, barracuda, rainbow fish (tons more, I just don't know their names). The Grand Caymans have awesome coral. We will definitely go back there again. Loved it!

Cozumel Mexico was warm. We went snorkeling on our own here without a tour. The reef was close to the port of call. The water was pretty warm as well. We saw sting ray and lots of fish. We also found some shells with hermit crabs inside that we brought back to clean (accidentally killed) and they stunk up our room. Does anyone know how to get a dead crab out of the shell without breaking it?

We had loads of fun. Lots of great pictures and lots of great memories. 7 days was definitely enough. We don't think we would ever do more than that. Happy Anniversary to us!