a girl shower . .

This past Monday I had the privilege of going to a baby shower for Ashley Mehringer (Ryan). Some of her girl friends from college hosted it. It has been fun to be neighbors with Ashley so far from our "home" in Alaska now in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles. It really is a small world.

Ashley and Matt are expecting a little girl, Reese, on March 18th. I went over to their apartment tonight to see the work she's done on the nursery. Her colors are brown and pink. The nursery is super cute and ready for a baby. Can't wait 'till she's here Ashley! :)

Beth is HOME!

a sweet reunion


Christmas in February





Hultgren family: Meagan and Eric, Nick and Jennifer, Beth, Ed, & Becky




Last August my cousin Beth, an ICU Army nurse, was deployed to Iraq for a 6 month stint. I'm pretty close to all the cousins on my mom's side because of our triennial family reunions but I've grown a lot closer to Beth since living on the East Coast. Beth is from CA but lives and works at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC. I remember praying her through her ICU classes and going up to DC for her graduation. This past August the realities of her military job set in when she was sent abroad to Tikrit, Iraq.

We have skyped, emailed, sent letters and packages, and even had a few phone conversations during her deployment. Most of her time abroad was low key and uneventful which is a good thing as an ICU nurse, but there were a handful of events that have forever impacted her seeing war first hand.

Beth flew back to the states in late January to debrief and got to San Fransisco area to see her parents the middle of February. Ben and I drove up to the Bay area this past weekend to surprise her and give her months worth of hugs in person. The Sunday we were there all of her dad's family (cousins, aunts, uncles etc.) came over for a Christmas in February together. Beth gave us an American flag and certificate as a gift and tribute, flying it on December 25, 2009 in Tikrit, Iraq in honor of Ben and I. We are truly honored Beth and we are so proud of you. Thank you for the gift, we will treasure it for years to come.

company!

Cirque du Soleil


me and my handsome man :)


an afternoon spent at Oxnard Beach





Scene from the Terminator


3-D Terminator show


Marilyn Monroe made out of thousands of Jelly Belly's


Chocolate lovers piggy bank

Kari Smith, my college roommate from MN came to visit for a week this month. I was super excited for her to hang out with us in our new home (apartment) but then got sick the day before came. We ended up laying low around the apartment the first 3 days but did get out and do some fun LA sightseeing. We surprised her with tickets to see Kooza, a Cirque du Soleil performance. The contortionists were crazy! There were several acts that blew me away.

A couple days before she left we also got to check out Universal Studios. My teacher discount place this year (2 month deal) is to Universal. I get in free and can bring up to 3 friends/family members for half price. One of the perks to working in So Cal. We had a full day of shows, window shopping and soaking in the sun!

During some of our down time while I recouped she taught me and Ben to play cribbage. We love it! Thanks for making the trek out here Kari! I'm so glad you came!