Updating...

So for a little update on the Hoffmans...I did in fact pass the NCLEX almost two months ago now and have been diligently searching for a nursing job ever since. The market is tough right now despite "the nursing shortage" (I don't know who started that rumor). All hospitals, home health agencies, hospices, and clinics are searching for experienced nurses only, but how do you ever get experience if no one will hire you? That's the question. Let me know if you figure it out! Derek is nearing finals in a week and is extremely excited to get his summer started down in Riverside, CA.  He has a summer internship there for 2 months and naturally we will be doing long distance again :( Not the greatest thing, but we both decided it'd be best if I keep my job search going strong while he's away. Luckily Derek had a great opportunity to meet a group of the associates he'll be working with this summer after he was asked to join their Ragnar team in Huntington beach last weekend.  They did ask him only 2 weeks before the race so it was a good thing Derek is a naturally good runner...he did great, only getting lost once on his run. (He took the teasing well :) )  For those of you that are unfamiliar, Ragnar is a 200 mile relay race with 12 team members split into 2 groups of 6 that switch off over 2 days.  Overall the race was a success and Derek built some good relationships. I of course did some shopping while he was doing all that running and was able to meet up with my long lost friend Rachel.  Whenever me and Rachel get together we shop and lay out so why break the tradition.  We did that same thing this trip except we got a little added surprise.....Pelican Poop! Everywhere! All over us while we were laying out. It was disgusting and of course it happened while Derek was frantically calling me because he was lost on his run.  We stunk for the rest of the day and we're officially scarred for life!

Slacking

So I've been a little caught up the past two weeks with crunch time for my NCLEX studying and working here and there. (For those of you who don't know I've been working as a Pharmacy Tech at Walgreens for the past 4.5 years) I took my NCLEX exam this last Friday and I have no clue how I did.  The test is adaptive questioning and has a minimum of 75 questions with a maximum of 265.  I only got 75 questions and was the first one out of there. This can mean 1 of 2 things. I either totally BOMBED it and they knew at 75 questions that there was no hope for me, or I knocked it out of the park! They're two pretty opposite outcomes so I can't get my hopes up quite yet.  I'll find out sometime this week I believe so cross your fingers! After my results I'll either be waiting 45 days to retake the test or applying for every single nursing position available in the Sacramento area.  Can't wait! Derek finally finished up what were two awful weeks of school filled with several long, grueling, ridiculously boring papers (at least I think so). He's much happier now, but also trying to play catch up with his other classes.  Even though everyone is totally over Valentine's Day, ours was good! I did 10 days of Valentine's day for Derek so he found something new everyday that I had either made or bought. He thought it was great! He got me some beautiful flowers, candy, and wrote an absolutely tearjerking letter. Very thoughtful :) That's our lives as of the past 2 weeks. Until next time...

Thank Goodness! My CAMERA!

So I am so excited because my camera was found in the Hoffman Jeep where I apparently left it the last time we went snowboarding..pheww!!!! I'm relieved! Since I found it I feel compelled to share a few more pictures to round off the 2010 year.

 I thought this picture was only appropriate because this sums up every weekend that Derek came to see me or I came to see him while we were long distance. STUDYING! eek!

 We went to Texas Roadhouse several times last year and as much as we love it we've grown to become annoyed at the fact that the waiters come around about every 2 minutes to make sure everything is "Perfect", which is a word they put in our mouths. I would say things would be more perfect if they just let us eat our food...needless to say they've lost some of our business. :) Sorry TR!

 Witches Night at Gardner Village with some of the cute fam!

 Our first 5:30am black friday shopping session...it was NOT worth it because we didn't buy anything that we could not have boughten at a reasonable hour later in the day. At least we tried it and Derek was a great sport!

 After the Christmas production by Salt Lake Symphony. The first half was boring for me and fascinating for Derek as they narrated The Polar Express with live music and a single man singing opera the whole time, but the second half was amazing with upbeat, fun Christmas songs!

 Officially at my Pinning Ceremony.

 So the Dean of our college of Health and Sciences sculpted the head of Florence Nightingale while speaking to us about nursing..it was neat to watch.

My beautiful friends :) I miss them 

 A great teacher and nursing dept chair. She'll be missed!

 Derek gave me a great RN medical charm which I ended up turning into a necklace! So thoughtful and very creative :)

 Happy Sumo sushi! My FAVORITE!

 La Caille in the winter time...it's beautiful and makes me want to have a magical winter wedding now :) with Derek of course.

Beautiful snowy Snowbird!

1 More Year for Derek

 So Derek celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday on the 30th and though it was low key we had a blast! Derek's #1 priority is food, so when I asked him what meal he wanted for his birthday he said he wanted chicken enchiladas, "and lots of them so I have leftovers for the week".  Then when I asked about dessert he said dessert crepes which are definitely tasty, but I was hoping for something that would be more fun to bake, like some extravagant cake. I asked him several times if he was SURE that's what he wanted and he assured me it was. So I put aside my selfish desire to bake a cake and made the hubby happy instead. I found a great recipe for the chicken enchiladas and put some homemade spanish rice and refried beans with them. This was an absolute heart clogging meal, but it was DELICIOUS! Anything with 10 lbs. of cheese and sour cream will work for me! As for the yummy dessert crepes we loaded them up with anything we wanted from banana, nutella, whipped cream, almonds, chocolate syrup, carmel and powdered sugar! The entertainment for the night was putting Cale and Lana's dog Elle on the treadmill to see if she would run. It may have been a bit cruel, but it was hilarious and she surprisingly still loved Cale even after what he put her through. The day all in all was a success! A little bit of church, LOTS of food, some balloons, funny birthday cards, great gifts, Elle entertainment, and a pinch of studying that Derek couldn't escape :) And last but not least some great news from my inlaws in Draper, UT that they had found my camera! WOOHOO!!

So Lucky

As I'm sitting here on a regular Sunday afternoon I'm grateful to finally have my husband living in the same state as me! It's felt like a long road, but it was worth it and I appreciate the little moments like being able to relax on the weekends together or making breakfast together. It's been SOO NICE! It's time to actually be newlyweds! I'd take a picture to prove how happy we are, but unfortunately I can't find my camera so just believe me when I say it! :)

*Highlights of 2010*

Got engaged to Derek while snowboarding at Snowbird!

Lots of fun wedding planning

More wedding planning

Wedding SHOWERS! Thank you to all of my friends and family

JUNE 12th-Married the love of my life and the funniest person I've ever met!

Derek's summer internship for a federal judge in Utah


Our first apartment together in Draper, UT

Several trips to Utah Lake for wakeboarding including one where we went out only 30 feet and had to turn around due to major white caps

A total of 6 moving trips during the year, we're pros!


Mountain biking in Draper


Golfing at Riverbend

Snowboarding at Snowbird

My first time to Moab filled with Jeeping, camping, and a poor attempt at intense mountain biking on slick rock

4-wheeling at the cabin

Surprising Derek with tickets to see one of his favorite bands MUSE at the Staples Center-VERY FUN!

My first time carving pumpkins in like 10 years-it was definitely worth it

Family Lake Powell trip

  

My Nursing Pinning Ceremony

Honeymoon to ARUBA and the first stamp on my passport!

Derek applying and receiving a job for 2009-2010 school year and summer 2011, poor guy-the process never ends in law school, but he's doing great!


Our first Christmas together being married!


Finally the end of our long distance relationship as I moved back to California! Hallelujah!