California Trip

We took a last minute trip to California for a family funeral, and were able to enjoy a few days visiting and enjoying the warm sun.

Loved getting to see my beautiful sisters!

And we seriously couldn't have asked for better weather!

For February, it was amazing!

And Sophia had SO much fun with her cousins.

She hasn't stopped talking about them since we came home, and asking when she can see them again.

Her and Samuel were absolutely inseparable. 

Day trip to Hollywood.

Sophia 'The Ham' fit right in.

On the rooftops downtown to see the skyline and the Hollywood sign.

Hipster Hollywood Photo.

And we even stopped in our favorite vacation spot- Carpinteria!

It was so perfect, it could have been summer.

You can take the girl out of Michigan...

Unbelievable how beautiful it was.

And we fit in a sun trip up to Santa Barbara and Solvang

Little cousins on the steps of the big mission

Our UBER romantic Valentine's Day dinner- no seriously.

I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Our last stop was a very special breakfast at Disneyland with Uncle Matt.

Sophia was SOOO enamored with the characters while we ate. It was beyond adorable.

Of course, her favorite person to meet. 

Pure childhood magic.

And one last childhood wish- a stop at the "giant donut" shop on the way home.

Neighborhood Winter Olympics

We had a LOT of snow. Like 18 inches at once.

And so of course, we paired with our wonderful neighbors to have the best snow day in our backyard ever!

Behold the 6 1/2 ft tall snowman!

The puppy jump!

And our own luge!

after dinner puppet show.

I got treated to a wonderful impromptu puppet show after dinner, and sincerely could not stop laughing.

Love these two goof-balls. 

First Clinical Done

I have finished my first of four clinical rotations.

I have learned SO much from my amazing preceptor, and love finding a fellow nurse passionate about helping those truly in need.

We are already planning our clinic and humanitarian trips together.

A person and experience I will never forget.

Beautiful morning to enjoy the snow all together!

Of course, snow angels.

And sledding!

Something so serene hiking through the quiet of a snowy woods.

So beautiful and peaceful.

This cute Michigan baby loves the snow.

An evening full of nerdy goodness

We got a chance to go to a speech by Neil DeGrasse Tyson- and it was as wonderful as I had hoped!

I want to be as cool as him when I grow up.

Sidekicks.

Petra may not be as excited, but at least she's a good big sister.

Study Buddies

I love that Sophia wants to come cuddle and watch my renal lectures with me.

She is the best.

Dance Party!

Sophia went a super fun dance birthday party, and at the end all the little girls put on a show for us.

Love my little ballerina and how many friends she has made in school.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

For MLKJ Day we went to the Henry Ford and walked through their great exhibit on the Civil Rights movement. We even got to sit on the actual bus Rosa Park's took her stand on and talk about what she did.

I love that Sophia is old enough to kind of understand what we're talking about. We read a children's  book on Martin Luther King Jr., and the take home message was even though he died we can still remember what he said and stood for.

Interrupting Cow

We've been working on the timing of this classic Knock-Knock joke for a long time, and she's finally got it!

Art Day!

Some of our favorite places to explore are the amazing art museums in Detroit.

We went and spent the morning at the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown. I love trying to understand contemporary art, and it was fun to hear Sophia's take on things.

Our key to success with a preschooler and museums is to bring crayons and paper for her to document what she sees.

We also went to the Detroit Institute of Arts, and they had a fun handkerchief puppet making activity. Sophia decided she wanted to make representations of our whole family. I feel like her "Rick" is pretty spot on.

No such thing as bad weather...

A few years ago I heard a Scandinavian saying that said:

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".

I love that. Living somewhere with a harsh Winter was a big adjustment for me, and I hate feeling stuck at home. But what I realized is we can go out if we choose to- get a good coat and go!

So yes, we'll be the ones at the park in 20 degree weather with the nice down coats.

Happy New Years!

This last year has been full of change and things we wouldn't have predicted.

I guess that's how life is!

Here's to 2014, and looking forward to 2015.

Happy New Years!

Nashville!

We took a quick trip to Nashville for fun between Christmas and New Years.

Since neither of us like country music, it seems random- but hey, we do like trying new things!

And guess what- we loved EVERYTHING about it!

First of all- THE. FOOD.

Real Southern food is amazing!

Our first Southern food stop was in Louisville, Kentucky- and it was the best chicken wings we've ever had.

Our cute loft apartment in Nashville- I felt like I was living in Ikea (a dream of mine)

A real Southern country breakfast- bbq'd pulled pork over corn pancakes, with eggs and cheese hash browns.

Oh so good. Can't even describe.

Belle Meade Plantation

Such a beautiful house (no pictures allowed inside) and grounds.

Completely random- but awesome.

There is a full scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville. 

It's modeled how the Parthenon would have looked originally.

And they have a replica of the Athena statue inside.

60 feet tall!

So amazing!

When we were in Greece, we kept saying how we wish we could have seen the Parthenon how it used to be. 

Who'd have thought we'd have to go to Nashville to do that!?

One of the many lines we stood in for food.

Southerner's don't mess around with food.

And this fried chicken was totally worth the wait.

This little hole-in-the-wall has won TWO James Beard Awards?! 

It was soooooo good.

Boots for days.

And there were stores like this ALL over.

Sophia not so sure.

But Rick fit right in.

"Howdy ma'am"

So lots of things about Nashville were great- but the MUSIC was phenomenal.

Like I said- we don't like country music, but all the live music all over, and just the pure concentration of talent was amazing.

No wonder they call is "Music City"

We loved cruising the Honky Tonk and seeing all the performers.

Some of the places had 4 bands playing at the same time on different floors.

Crazy.

This packed on a Monday afternoon…

Rick and Sophia dancing down on the Honky Tonk.

Southern Biscuits and Gravy- yum!

President Andrew Jackson's plantation.

It was so beautiful, and really interesting to learn about this complex man.

Country Music Hall of Fame

Very cool too see all the stuff from Elvis and Johnny Cash- but let's be honest. 

We didn't know 75% of the people in it- haha

Sophia playing in a giant guitar - haha

Ironically there was a free Trace Adkins concert downtown.

The only reason I even recognized that name was because we had just seen it in the Hall of Fame museum!

I had to google him.

Sorry, because I know that was totally wasted on someone like me- haha.

We also stopped at Mammoth Caves in Kentucky on the way home.

The worlds longest cave (over 400 miles?!)

We got to hike through it for 2 hours, and it was so cool.

The caverns were just huge!

And the formations were just phenomenal.

All in all, such a wonderful first trip to the South.

By the end we were listening to Blue Grass on the way home through the rolling Kentucky hills.

Love it.