A year called 2011

We decided not to send out Christmas cards and letters this year since our little baby is coming in April and I wanted to send out baby announcements after she comes. Following this decision it was decided that a posting of 2011 would be made available on our blog, this seemed like such a great idea! Well, now that it is February 10, 2012 I think it its time….Ok, past time! So, with no further delay please enjoy the readings that of a girl and boy and their year called 2011. 

To begin, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day! We have big plans this year, I will be at home, mostly alone (I do have a constant buddy who has recently discovered my ribs, she’ll keep my company) while Sean spends his night at the VA caring for the ill people that currently reside there. I know, you are probably jealous, wishing you could be as adventurous as us. We are living in such blissful time of life though, I am married to the most wonderful man. The way he makes me feel about myself and our marriage, it is as if everyday is Valentines. He truly cares about his patients and their progress so I will gladly share him.

2011 was a productive and exciting year for us. Our year started in Ohio in the dead of a very cold, very icy winter. We were wrapping up Sean’s 4^th year of medical school, anxiously awaiting the results of the match, and making plans for graduation that was just around the corner.

April was a time to celebrate! We took a 10-day graduation celebration vacation with Sam and JamiLyn to recognize all of Sean’s amazing accomplishments of the past 4 years. We were able to go to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios and then on a 7-day Caribbean cruise.  It was absolutely amazing. I was pleased that we were able to acknowledge Sean in such a magnificent manor.

May brought our big road trip! We would go from Columbus, Ohio to Reno, Nevada.  Stops were made along the way to visit the church historical sites and attended the much-anticipated medical school graduation! (I give you, Dr Sean D Anderson!)Such an amazing accomplishment. Such an amazing man!

Thank you to my stupendous family for helping us pack, clean, tour and drive across the country!

Thank you to Sean’s wonderful parents who helped us drive, unpack and organize in Reno!

We were able to spend the beginning of the summer in Utah enjoying the last few weeks of freedom before intern year started. Then in July Sean became a minion to the hospital. He works crazy hours and his knowledge is constantly tested as it I continually increases.  He keeps good spirits and we are grateful for the new intern parameters that were set this year so that he is not working 30-hour shifts.

July brought the best news of all….A baby! We have been adjusting to life as an expectant couple the last part of this year. I have had to slow down a bit. My body is growing accustomed to carrying a baby and sometimes it’s a little more than I expected but over all we have been lucky with a good pregnancy.  Sean is very patient with me and picks up the pieces when I let them fall. We were fortunate enough to have 2 baby showers while we were home for Christmas and got a good start on all the fun things babies need.

December was the mark of our wedding anniversary. We celebrated 2 years with a date to Peter Pan. Live theater is always fun and it was cute show to go to. I love that we get to wrap our year with a celebration of our life together. It was another amazing year; we look forward to many more. We love the adventures that we encounter and enjoy every minute we get to spend together.

Good luck with the remainder of your 2012!

Love, Sean and Makenna 

xoxo

Welcome to Reno

 

Reno: The Biggest Little City in the World!

We have sure enjoyed exploring and getting to know our new home. 

Sean is working crazy hours this year so we have had to be a little creative about our explorations but so far we have been able to see a lot of this great state.

I know that seeing our porch is not the most exciting thing about Nevada but seeing this grill outside of its box and in use is something we are very excited about! I got this grill for Sean for Christmas but with the cold winters in Ohio we decided to wait to it set up. Then we decided it would be easier to move it across the country if it was still in a box (good choice I think). So Sean and his Dad worked on getting it up and going first thing when we got here. Hooray for bar-b-ques!!

 

Tahoe is beautiful! We went for a bike ride in the mountains that surrounds this amazing area and then took the long way home so that we drove around it completely. This was a wonderful look out point and we were just enjoying being together when this random woman asked if she could take a picture of us kissing. Um....Yes, little weird but we decided to oblige her. The situation increased in awkwardness however when this woman's husband started shooting pictures of us with his fancy camera. So, if you see this picture anywhere except this blog let me know. I think we would like some compensation for looking so good together.

Virgina City was our next destination on our tour of Nevada. It's a little abandoned mining/gambling town that was really popular during the gold rush. Now all that is left of it is a little street with buildings restored for tourist purposes. Virgina City's claim to fame is the current ownership and display of "Suicide Table". It is believed to be the most unlucky card playing table ever. Four men owned the table throughout it's time in play and each man, whether already rich or trying to make his fortune ended up loosing so much money that they could not live to face the consequences and subsequently each one committed suicide.

 

Fortunately for us, we purchase regular gas.

Thrilled to report both arms and legs still in tact!

 

Pyramid Lake is on an Indian Reservation. It is another beautiful area that Nevada has been blessed with. It was not quite as nice as Tahoe but we enjoyed swimming and our little picnic lunch while we were there.

People bring their boats, campers, and cars right down to the shore line and just park there and camp out. It was kind of weird and little trashy to be honest but everyone seemed to having a good time so I guess that is what counts.

 

We love to hike! We have been on several trails all over Northern Nevada. On this afternoon, we wanted to enjoy the cool autumn weather so we set out to explore this wooded area. It was less of a hike and more of a stroll though the woods. We collected pine cones for Christmas decorating. I am excited to make a Christmas wreath out them!

 

Sean has been wanting to go camping for ages. The problem we run into is that he no longer knows what a two day weekend is, this has made it impossible for us to go. Well, it turns out his rotation in the Emergency Department created the perfect month for camping! On October 2-3 Sean finally had two days off in row! We are lucky we are in Nevada and it was still warm enough to camp at night. We loaded up the Kia with Sean's two man tent, lots of blankets (we don't have sleeping bags), warm clothes and our camping food and we were off! 

It was little chilly but we were able to enjoy a hike up the mountain side, games, talking for hours, and hobo dinners cooked in our campfire that Sean built for us.

We have decided that next time we will need a bigger tent. We were happy for the shelter and warmth that Sean's tent provided but it was a little squishy. Good thing we like snuggling!

 Another thing we have loved about in Reno.... We have a baby one the way! 

We are excited and nervous as we prepare for being parents. It's been a fun 4 months so far. Next month we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!

We are excited about  our new home. We are trying to make the most of it while we are here and so far, we have been very blessed! 

xoxo

Graduation and Road Trip

  Now that we have celebrated Sean’s graduation it was time to actually graduate!

Because we were living in Columbus and graduation was in Des Moines and we were moving to Reno, graduation also meant a road trip!!

 My wonderful family flew out to Ohio to help us wrap up the loose ends of packing, clean the apartment and pack up the truck.

 Before we could leave though we did some fun touring of Columbus.

We visited a park that houses Christopher Columbus’s ship.

and spend time with the animals that also live there. 

 We went to the book loft, spent toured German Village and ate at Schmidt’s. Best German restaurant ever. We also went to Hawking Hills, a beautiful state park were we took a hike through a small canyon with waterfalls, ponds, and lots of greenery. 

 Once Wednesday morning came we woke up early, loaded up the truck, my Kia and Sean’s Prism and we were off! Lucky enough, the rain held out. The gloomy Columbus skies were threatening all morning but it didn’t start coming down until we after we in the car. Such a blessing! 

Our first stop was Kirtland Ohio. There we took the tour our church offers and we got to see the Newell K Whitney Store, where the Whitney’s lived, we saw the School of the Prophets and also where the Joseph Smith and his family lived.  We got to see the sawmill and the ashery. It is so amazing to me the buildings they could construct and the things they could accomplish without the luxury of all the advances we have today. 

 We also took a tour of the Kirtland Temple. The Community of Christ Church currently owns it so it was interesting to get there rendition of Joseph Smith while we took their tour. 

On our way out of Ohio we took a small detour to Marble Head Light House. We wanted to show my family where were engaged and it was nice chance to see Lake Erie and stretch our legs before heading to Nauvoo. 

(These pictures are from the actual engagement but I wanted to show it off again!)

 Once in Nauvoo, we stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast suite that my Dad found us. 

 There was instant feeling of peace and serenity in this small town. The spirit was so strong and we were very grateful to have to opportunity to spend some here learning more about the early saints. 

 While in Nauvoo we spent some time on the grounds of them temple we were unable to go inside this time but just being there was amzing.  

 We visited the jail where Joseph Smith was killed and we saw the graves of the Smith Family. It is such an overwhelming feeling to be in the place where all this actually happened. We also took a tour of the old Nauvoo town experiencing a blacksmith shop, rope making, bread baking in a brick oven and making candles out of lard.

We also got to stop at the Mississippi River and put our feet in! 

We wanted to bring this little guy home with us but decided it was best to leave him. He was trying to cross the street and we almost ran over him!

 The last stop in our Church History Tour portion of our road trip was Missouri. It was definitely a highlight being able to see where Sean served his mission. He got show us where he used to live and some of the houses of members he was close to. He also took us on a tour of the Liberty Jail Visitors Center. 

 While we were there we also got to see the temple that is being constructed in Independence Missouri. That was a wonderful stop for Sean. He is so excited that members where he served are getting a temple so close by! 

While in Missouri we also went to Adam-ondi-ahman.  This is where the Saints will gather in the Second Coming. It was beautiful and so peaceful.

Up to this point in our trip we have experienced torrential rain,

 (rain boots required!)

 tornado threats, swaying moving vans, illegal left hand turns in construction zones and lots of laughing!  

Next Stop…. Des Moines!

(This is where you sing the graduation pomp and circumstance!)

We had a fun luncheon at Des Moines University. Sean was able to show us all around his school, it was fun for us to see where all his great learning took place.  We bought some DMU merchandise and then girls went to do some much needed shopping while Mom, Dad, Sean and I got ready for the banquet that was going to be held that night.

Sean’s parents and brother met up with us just in time for dinner and graduation.

The banquet was beautiful it was fun to be in the presents of all those graduating as Doctors of Osteopathy. It was nice for Sean to see all of his schoolmates that he had missed for the last 2 years and it was so nice to honor of such wonderful group people.

My parents, Sean’s Parents, Brad, Sean and I were went together and we met up with Mike, his wife Nancy and both of their parents. 

 The next morning we woke up to rain, for those who are unaware, rain in a good omen. It was the perfect day to have a graduation ceremony!

My family is wonderful and went early to save us seats.  We had perfect seats!

It was fun for me to help Sean get ready, take pictures and be with up to the last minute when it was time for him to line up. I am so proud of all that he has accomplished. He is an amazing man! 

 (This is what the hood looks like from the back)

After the hooding of each graduate was complete and every name had been read we returned Sean’s gown and received his official diploma. It’s so beautiful!

 Shortly after graduation was over we were going to have continue our trek to Reno but first we were due for lunch. Of course the graduate got to pick the place!

He picked the Manhattan Deli. It was his most favorite deli shop to eat as a student so My parents, Hillary, Madison, Emma, Sean and I went for a final graduation celebration. It was such a delight to be able to share with Sean some of his life as a medical student in Des Moines.

From Des Moines it was a mad race to Reno. We had made all of our tourist stops between Ohio and Iowa so the last stretch of our trip seemed the longest but we made it safely to Reno late Friday night.

The gate to our apartment complex wouldn’t open with the code we were given. Luckily there was a nice guy leaving that opened it for us. Then the furnace had gone out so we didn’t have any heat or hot water. The poor maintenance guy had to come fix it.  We had a campout on the ground in the front room. 9 people all snug as a bug in a rug in our one bedroom apartment!

The next morning, bright and early we unloaded the truck and I was having a hard time comprehending how we were ever going to find a place for everything.

 With Emma’s expert help we did it though!

 My Mom, Dad, Hill and Madi flew home that afternoon and Mark and Gina headed out the next morning. Emma was a trooper and stayed with us for a week while we explored Reno and got everything situated. She is a great organizer and it was so much fun to have her all to ourselves!

xoxo