My dad came the beginning of October to our humble abode. We spent all waking hours building new walls and getting the plumbing ready for the new bathroom. I even got to use the miter saw before Ben did. I do have to say, if this nursing thing doesn't work out for me, perhaps a career in construction might work... Ben was on alert for part of the time while my dad was here, so I stepped up to the plate and got my hands dirty. I actually caught up on sleep during my work week rather than while he was here.
From October 15-18, Ben and I took a much needed vacation to Las Vegas. We met my parents and two of my sisters, Lisa and Laura, there. We stayed at the Mirage, which was awesome. It was a nice change from always staying at the Excalibur and Flamingo. The girls spent a lot of time getting tan, and the boys went and ventured off into the city. My dad and Ben rented a car and drove to Nellis Air Force Base and to the Las Vegas Speedway. They also did some other exploring around the area. On of my close friends from college drove in from Los Angeles for the day and we got a chance to catch up and do some shopping. Oh, the shopping... I did get a new winter jacket at the Columbia outlet store there, and it has not disappointed me so far, even in the below zero weather (that to come later).
This was our hotel room. NICE!
My friend Laura, and I, outside of Cesaer's Palace
The only picture I got of me and my sisters together.
Ben and I outside the Paris Hotel
So then came Halloween. We went over to our friends Pat and Jarret's house. They live in this enormous house which is where we actually stayed when we first got to Great Falls while we were waiting to close on our house. They have the best party house - huge rooms with lots of different areas to congregate. We didn't dress up, but others did. I was on call for Halloween weekend and got called in for a surgery after we left work Friday, and then got called for another surgery that Saturday morning. Overtime is awesome!!
November was another busy month. More working on the house, and I made a trip home to Wisconsin from the 12-16th. I drove 3 hours to Billings to catch the plane there since flights are cheaper out of Billings vs Great Falls (which is ridiculous because Great Falls Airport is just slightly smaller, plus they have the base right here so you would think it would be nice if flights were reasonable so military members could fly out to see family!). Ugh. Whatever. Anyway, I drove out late Wednesday night to Billings because they were supposed to get a snow storm Thursday morning and I didn't want to risk driving in nasty weather through the mountains. I had an awesome time at home. It felt like I never left home. I got to see all my favorite people. I felt like I was booked from the minute I got off the plane to the moment I went back to the airport, but that's okay because I had a great time and was so happy to see everyone.
I got see my nephew Joseph walk which I hadn't gotten to see before because he didn't start to walk until right after the last time I came home in February. He is just precious and makes me smile.
He fell asleep in the middle of the floor. Poor guy was so tuckered out after a day of shopping.
Seriously, if that face doesn't make you just melt...
I got a chance to see many of my favorite nursing school friend when I was home. We went downtown and did some of the nicer bars since we are older and more sophisticated now, ha! We had a great time. We later met up the next day for lunch downtown at the Water Buffalo again and I got to see two of my former roommates. Apt 203!! Mal, Lisa, and I lived in Campus Town West junior and senior year, and I was so lucky that they drove up so we could all get together.
My mom then had a big Packer party the day before I left so I could see a lot of family and friends. The Packers won, which is always a plus, and we had good food and got the chance to see one another. My best friend Amanda, and her husband brought their little girl, Layla, and she was playing with my nephew Joseph, and it was just priceless. So adorable.
It was really awesome to see everyone, but I missed Ben and Tootsee dearly. It would have been so much better to have them there too. Plus, Tootsee hasn't even met most of the family yet because not everyone has made the venture out to see us when we were in CA and now that we're in Montana. I hope we get some more visitors in 2010, but we do understand that we're far away too. Good thing for facebook.
Ben was thankfully home for Thanksgiving, so we spent it with our friends Ira and her children, and another friend, Stacy. Their husbands were working, so we made the best of the situation and had Thanksgiving dinner together. The food and company were great, and we survived our first Thanksgiving in Montana. Plus, the next night we had dinner with mostly everyone we came up to Montana with from California. Well, Ben was on alert, but mostly everyone else was there.
Sooo, December now. BUSY is all I have to say. I've been getting overtime almost every week because of all the surgeries before the holidays and New Years. Ben has been working almost every day with the exception of a few. It's been a lot of late nights at work, but like I said before, overtime is awesome. So now we're just preparing for the holidays. I did all my holiday baking, and we're trying to make our arrangements for Christmas. Ben will be gone Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, but I'm sure I won't be alone. We have wonderful friends and we all take care of each other.
On that note, I will go because this is getting really long. Until next time...
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