Kaleb's new blog...

He made a new blog dedicated to his woodworking projects! It's pretty cool and I think you guys should check it out... he just started it so not too much yet but more to come!




http://brentkalebaker.blogspot.com/

It was time for a change...

before


after


I decided to chop my hair off and I donated it to Locks of Love! I cut off about a foot of hair! Jeez but it came out really good! I love it!

I love...

all of my sisters...

And the countdown begins...

4 Weeks until school is out!!!! YESSSS!!! I am almost done with Anatomy and I'm passing with flying colors! I guess marriage agrees with me! This class was so hard for me before and now... ok it's still hard but I'm passing it this time! I'm looking forward to not having to study every waking moment outside of class and work. I'll have about a month's break and then I get to start the next Biology class... PHYSIOLOGY! So excited... kind of. This is one step closer to applying for the LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) program and being able to work as an actual nurse... woo!

1 year ago....

We got engaged! Boy how time flies! I can't believe all the things that have happened in the last year.... Well, one year ago was a great day! And we've had many more great days and many more to come <3 I'm so happy he asked me to marry him!

snip snip

Kaleb cut his beautiful curls and he still looks handsome! :)i think he's going a little a-wall now Obama is president! As soon as he got home it was straight to the bathroom with the scissors! yikes I hardly had any warning! but it came out great I really do like it! he's a new man!


before


during



after

for dana

Pretty drives, good coffee, & lots of relaxing!

So this is a little late, but I wanted to share our weekend getaway with you guys.... Carmel is beautiful, a little weird but it was nice to get away for a couple of days. We spent all day Friday taking our time driving up the coast on Highway 1. We stopped in Cambria for lunch and coffee, and pulled off on a couple spots to take some pictures and enjoy the views. On the way up I realized that I had forgotten the directions to the hotel but thought we would be okay. I was wrong.... we got lost and it took us over an hour to find it! Both of our cell phones ended up dying on the way up and we couldn't even find a coffee shop to plug into so I could call my mom for help :) We finally found a random plug outside of a grocery store, and the hunt for directions began. I'm just saying, the hotel DID NOT have an address and when we called the hotel they told us we didn't have reservations there so we thought we had the wrong phone number. That was an adventure...ha.
Saturday we walked into downtown Carmel and walked around all day had lunch, didn't buy anything because everything was so expensive! But we enjoyed looking at all the cool buildings and just being together. It was really nice. We left Sunday morning and decided to take our time driving back. We stopped in the tiny town of Gorda for breakfast. The most expensive french toast we may ever eat :) It was fun though. Kind of felt like something you would see in a movie with the weird small town waitress and only like 5 other people in the restraunt, but we really enjoyed it! So all in all we had a really good relaxing weekend that was very much needed. We had our own little private cottage to stay in with a fireplace which was nice because it was really cold at night....
We drove through Big Sur and decided that we are definitely going back for some camping and hiking. It was incredibly beautiful! The trees up there are amazing...
Now I need to go study for my test that I have in the morning, and from there I need to study for my other test that I have next week! Yikes it never stops :)

Tears to laughter

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hard emotionally.... God is growing me in more ways than one, and of course it's painful! I am so grateful for times like these that reveal my true heart, and reveal things I didn't even know about myself! Bringing things to light that need to be fixed and dealt with. I am a selfish sinful person! I am realizing more and more as I grow and life changes, my need for Christ. Without Him I am unhappy and empty inside. I can't imagine life without Him. I'm pretty stressed out with work and school... school is hard and work is just frustrating! Trying to get through this on my own is just stupid... I will just continue to be stressed out, and constantly worrying about everything. Surrendering is often the hardest thing to do, but in the end so worth it. Nobody wants to admit failure and imperfection, but no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. In the end the growth that takes place is worth every tear and time of distress. I am so grateful for my relationship with Christ....

I have been pretty irritable by the people around me and the situations I am put in. Mainly at work, which is very wrong of me. I need to extend grace to people just like grace has been extended to me. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes! I think that work is a test of my patience and very humbling at times. Working in a place where no one shares the same beliefs or even standards of what is appropriate is very challenging. I am trusting Christ will change my attitude towards the people I am placed with. I want to be a light in a dark place and allow Christ to shine through me.... lately that hasn't been the case, and I am ashamed of that... I am so blessed with this job!!! We get great health insurance, it pays really well, and is so flexible with my school schedule! I couldn't ask for a better job. (well until I get my RN :) )

So I am learning and growing and am constantly in need of prayer....

my poor husband has to deal with me... but I love him more than words can explain.

Weekend getaway.....

So excited!!! This weekend with my husband, it's going to be beautiful and relaxing. I can't wait!
It will be a good time for us to spend together :) I love him....

Nice & Sunny

I went running today...yay! It was nice and warm and felt so good to get out and get some good old excercise :) Starting out kinda slow because I'm so out of shape...so sad. But working my way up! We're going to the lake on Wednesday with some people from church and we're really looking forward to it.... maybe i'll even get my tan back! I get to work tonight til midnight and wake up in the morning to go take a test! I've been walking to and from school everyday and I really enjoy it! So much better than jumping in the car and driving in circles looking for a parking spot! And it's better for you...Looking forward to not having to work until Friday and having this next weekend off! Better get back to studying!!

New Tattoo!!

It was fun, it hurt, and it turned out awesome!

Home Sweet Home

So for those of you who didn't get to see our cute little apartment while you were here, I thought I would post some pictures to show where we're living! It's nice and cozy we really like it. It was fully furnished when we moved in so we've only done some little things as far as decorating goes. We have an amazing walk in closet! I absolutely love it...there is so much extra room so I seem to keep filling it with new clothes :) We have a king size bed which is awesome...when little Beth comes over she likes to sleep right in the middle! ha She's hilarious. Our apartment is close enough for me to walk to work and school which is really nice since we only have one car. I can even walk home for dinner on my 30 min lunch break to see Kaleb! All in all we've really enjoyed it so far, and are very grateful for my grandparent's generosity. They have done so much for us! 

It's True...

I'm going to start running and working out again...

I was pretty good about keeping up with it until right before the wedding and all went downhill from there! But since all of that craziness is over, I'm going to start again. Me and Kaleb took my sisters to the park on Saturday since we were watching them for a couple of days and let them ride their bikes while we ran behind them. It felt really good and the weather was awesome...I was sore the next day! What a fatty....ha! So yes, it's true I'm leaving my laziness behind me and starting fresh...

School starts tomorrow! I really just want to get this semester over with...and this is just the beginning of my hard classes...oo I have this entire next week off! I am so excited. I get to see Kaleb all night every night this week?? Yes!!!

I love him so much. He is so supportive and encouraging...he knows how nervous I am about taking this class again and he has nothing but encouraging things to say. He's always willing to stop what he's doing to help me in any way that he can...I am so blessed with an amazing husband. 

I'm going to have coffee with my wonderful sister today...

&

I hope everyone who started school today is having a good first day back :)

We got an imac!!! Woo!

August?

I cannot believe it's already the middle of August! I start school again in less that two weeks...this summer has gone by way too fast. I'm trying to enjoy my last couple weeks of freedom with Kaleb before i return to having no life outside of work and school! I hate busy-ness but it's only for a time, i just need to get through it. I heard that they froze the LVN program's waiting list...which means they aren't accepting anymore applications for a long time! I really hope it's not true, but if it is I will be really sad...it's already going to take me FOREVER to get all of my prereq's done and then to have to wait to even apply! Thats depressing...I really just want to be done with school and be able to just work, but I'm only beginning! Goodbye to nights and weekends off! 

I have been working alot the past couple of weeks...between picking up shifts and one night I worked from 3:30 pm to 5:30 am. I think that gets easier each time you do it I wasn't too tired by the end of it this time. By the time school starts hopefully that will be cut in half. There's no way I could work this much and still have time (& energy) to sit down and study for hours. I don't mind working this much, I kind of like it but not with school. Especially since me and Kaleb are working opposite schedules, he works days, i work evenings...he wakes up early to leave for work, I leave before he gets home, and by the time I get home at 12 or 1 he's already asleep. So 3 or 4 days in a row like that are not fun.

Everything else has been going really well. We've had Kenzie and Bethany over to stay the night a couple of times so far. It's pretty fun, Kaleb has fun going to Toys R Us and buying little cars and animals for Bethany! She has her own stash here at our house so she's always excited to come and play with them. We have been visiting a new church that was started just a couple of months ago and its pretty cool. We really enjoy listening to the pastor and some people that I work with also go there. It's really encouraging to have other Christian coworkers! 

Well, that's all for now I guess. I thought I would give a little update and share some of the stuff that has been going on....

Honeymoon & A New Life Together

We really enjoyed our Hawaiin honeymoon, laying by the pool and doing absolutely nothing for an entire week! It feels really good after a chaotic wedding week, although that was also alot of fun too! We both really enjoyed seeing our families, and I enjoyed meeting all of the Baker side. I am definately blessed with an awesome fun crazy family!

After a week in Hawaii we were ready to come home and start our adventure together. The trip home was an adventure in itself. We had a red eye flight from Honolulu to LAX, but we had to check out of our hotel by 11 am.....that left us with wandering the streets for about 8 hours, flying for 5, and once we landed at 6:30 AM we got to wait for our shuttle back to Santa Maria for 9 hours!!! We were so stinkin tired we layed out our beach towels on the airport floor and slept...that may have been the longest trip ever, but it was fun!

We have been super blessed with a place to live that we can actually afford and still be able to save money! We are renting our apartment from my grandparents for super cheap and it's fully furnished so we won't need to buy any furniture for awhile! How awesome is that? We spent a couple of days organizing and getting settled in and have really enjoyed it so far. It's a cozy quiet little apartment that we are very grateful for!

Well, thats all for now.....

oh and being married is amazing...i love it.

It's True.

We're married.

6-20-08

My Life in a Box...

In two weeks I will be getting married and of course, moving out. I started packing today and am probably only halfway done and the pile already looks like this! So much for living simply....I never realized how much crap I had maybe because all of it was stashed in drawers and corners that haven't been touched in a couple of years, but hey! I threw so much away thanks to Kaleb, even though he still collects junk that he think he will one day need (no comment)....:)

I'm very excited to move out, but of course am sad at the same time. I've been really enjoying these last couple of weeks with little Beth. I won't be able to spend my days off with her anymore, and there will be no more early morning wake up calls from Beth yelling because nobody will come get her out of bed......awww little Beth. We watch animal planet togther and I've been teaching her how to play checkers the past couple of days. She's pretty good I'm sure she'll be beating Kaleb in no time.

I'm REALLY looking forward to having a quiet apartment to study in. No matter how amazing starbucks is, it's not the best place to study the hardest class ever! I will defeat that stupid class next semester I'm determined...anatomy has killed me two semesters now and I need it to move on to other classes and not to mention the next step in the nursing program!

Well, I better get back to cleaning....

Keep in Touch

So I have had many complaints from family that they don't know what's going on in my fiance's life because well, he never updates his blog. So, I decided to create my own and try to keep it updated with anything fun and exciting going on in our life.....plus it's a good way to keep in touch with everyone!

We're getting married in 18 days! We're really excited to see everyone, and I'm excited to meet the amazing family that I am blessed to become a part of! Thanks to everyone who sent gifts for our "International Shower" that was so much fun! Dave and Kari barbequed some amazing tri tip! It was fun spending some time with them. We got some very cool and interesting stuff! We'll post pictures later! The video messages were the best part! I absolutely loved the messages from the Klose kids! Sadly, I won't get to meet them in a couple of weeks but hopefully sometime soon.

Time is going by fast...I can't believe its already been 8 months since we got engaged! The last few months have been amazing as far as planning goes! We are so blessed with amazing friends that planned the entire wedding and coordinated everything for us. SUCH A BLESSING! I could not thank them enough....now all we need to do is wait for June 20th to come around!