Happy Easter!

Chad's brother and dad came down from Utah and stayed with us over Easter weekend.  Michelle (mom) was in Texas staying with my brother and sister-in-law because they just had a baby which means that we have a brand new nephew!  His name is James.  We can't wait to meet him!  Chad's brother, who came and stayed with us, just got home from his mission in France. 

Chad made a bunny cake, it's a family tradition.  It was very very good!  We'll definitley keep that tradition around with our children. 

Once Upon a Time

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Please read in a storytelling voice. ;)

Once upon a time, the Bullen's, the Aitken's, the Jurich, and the Falk's built a fire by the beautiful pristine lake of Lake Mead, surrounded by rolling hills and magical trees, where they had a weiny and a s'more roast.  The village men did a little fishin', and the little tiny munchkins also did a lil' fishin' - the handsome Bullen munchkin and the handsome Falk munchkin.  The littlest Falk munchkin, being the cute guy he is, would much rather hang with the maidens.  Oh yes, we mustn't forget Joey the rottweiler (the Aitken's munchkin), who loved following the little munchkins around and being thier protector. 

It was a very beautiful evening when all of a sudden a car full of wicked teenagers pulled up... or I should say,  accidentaly drove into the lake.  They got stuck on the gravel at the bottom of the hill.  They thought it would be wise to drive into the lake so that they could float thier way out of being unstuck... but, AT LAST... that didn't work.  So the teenagers, in thier sheer wickedness, sent thier most decieving princesses to come ask the men of the village to pull them out.  The men, being strong and mighty, thought they should be nice to the princesses, so they went and got them unstuck.  Luckily, the wicked teenagers decided to drive away and never look back, and leave the people of the villiage alone who were trying to have a weiny roast.  And they all lived happily ever after.

I musn't forget the story about the weekend before that. Chad and Mandy went to the majestic Hoover Dam with an army of great and strong men and women.  There's not much to this fable so I shall end it here, but there are some pictures.  They all lived happily ever after. 

The damn Dam

The new damn overpass... er, oops, I mean the new overpass (behind me).

Friends

This is a little late.  I've been wanting to put some pics up of some (out of town) friends that we got to see last fall.  My friend Leah, who I've been friends with since grade 5, came to Vegas from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta with her husband Curtis.  We had a fun night out with them.

We went to Los Angeles, California to an NFL hockey game, Calgary Flames vs LA Kings, with some friends who live there, Lynn & Jason and thier little guy.  It was weird being the minority cheering for the Flames while everyone else was cheering for the Kings.  I was cheering in hushed tones, mostly keeping my excitement inside fearing that I may get dirty looks for cheering for the "wrong" team.  It was kind of funny.  We also went to the observatory which was amazing.    

Red carpet for the CMA Awards behind us.

Lynn & Jason

Observatory

I was looking back on some of my posts from when I started my blog a few years ago.  I'm glad I decided to start one because it was so exciting to look back on it.  I can only imagine what it will be like to look at it a few years from now.  Especially once Chad and I are settled and he has started his career as a dentist.  It has been a great adventure here in Vegas so far.  Chad loves school but he's very excited to be done with it.  I can't say as I blame him!  I can't believe we only have a year (and a few months) left.  I just want to say thanks to everyone that we've gotten to know here who have helped to make our journey a more exciting and pleasurable one!  Thank you also to friends and family who have come from afar to visit us.

Accident Update

"It's not what you achieve in life that matters, it's what you overcome."

It's been four months and a few days since my accident.  I'm still going to chiro, physio, acupuncture, and trigger point therapy every week.  I'm still not one hundred percent but I'm managing to keep my faith and hope every day that I will be back to normal again.  It's like being on a roller coaster ride every day... an emotional and physical one.  I hit a plateau the last few months where I didn't feel good physically at all.  Just the beginning of this week I have been starting to see improvements again.  Finally.  For the most part I am doing good emotionally.  But when my pain sets in, I get depressed and lack enthusiasm.  It's a challenge going from being athletic to only walking on a treadmill.  I'll be fully recovered when I can run 3 miles a day and train with weights, 5 days a week like it used to be in the good ol' days.  So far I can only see that in the distant future.  I think I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Below are the pics of our Murano which did its job.  There are also some pics of some of my battle wounds below.

Scars from the side air bag.

Seatbelt

Christmas 2009

First off, I just want to say - in case you're confused as to why it hasn't happened yet... I was going to go private on my blog, but I discovered a bunch of friends/family coming out of the woodwork who look at it so there's no way I'm going to add everyone's email address one by one.  Mostly because I don't care who the heck looks at it.

We drove to Canada over Chad's Christmas break... yes, drove. We love driving. We had a certain rottweiler who came with us so we pretty much had to. We broke the trip up into several days so that made it more enjoyable.

We stopped in Utah for four days and stayed at the in-laws. Our nieces were there from Texas. We had fun.  It's always exciting to see those little girls. Chad and Joey (dog) pulled them around on a sled. Joey had a make-shift harness on, it was humorous to watch.

Then we journeyed to Canada stopping in Lethbridge (southern Alberta) to spend the night. We were so tired. I think we went to bed around eight. The roads were good for the most part. The mountains in Montana were covered in snow but we were still able to maintain a good speed without falling off.

We had a nice time in Alberta. My mom planned a family trip out to Goldeye Lake where we rented cabins close to the mountains way out in the middle of nowhere... very calm, quiet, and relaxing. It's hard to believe that Goldeye and Vegas are on the same planet let alone same continent! They fed us twice a day including turkey dinner so all we had to do is play for three days. We went skating (played hockey), played Wii, badminton, air hockey, tobogganing, sat beside the fire while my uncles, Chad, and my cousin Jesse played guitar while everyone else sang, and many more fun things! Whoever says they don't like winter and snow is crazy ;).

Enjoy the pics, they aren't necessarily in order but I'll blame Blogger's crappy pic uploader for that. I don't have much more to say other than labelling the pics... they pretty much speak for themselves.

The kids helping ice fish by examining the fish (Goldeye).

Sister with kids.

Niece & cousin.

 Part of the gang out at Goldeye.

My dad and nephew.

Shakin' my booty to Wii.

Aw.

My cousins and nieces playing Wii.

Hockey time (nephew & bro).  Goldeye Lake, Alberta, Canada.

Chad, Joey, Grace, Holly (in Utah).

The hockey gang.

Chad all Canadianed-up.

Cute nephew.

More of the gang (out at Goldeye).

Moi.

It's Complicated.

As most of you already know, I had to quit my new job.  I was only there for a few weeks, and while I already knew that it was questionable as to whether I should work there, I quickly had it confirmed to me as I put forth a real effort to make it work.  It was the best decision for me at this time.  The title of this blog is very appropriate... it is very complicated.  I will explain.  However, there are a few things that I need to focus on right now which I won't be disclosing.  Nothing serious, just a few things that are going to require a lot of focus and lots of my time. 

Let me begin by saying that this was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.  It was really a no-brainer actually but it was still a very, very tough decision to make.  After I spoke to my manager to resign I cried my eyes out.  Thanks for your reassurance that I made the right decision Chad.  Let me just make this clear... I wanted nothing more than to work at Aria.  The couple of weeks I was there were great.  I quickly made great friends with my co-workers and managers, and they were really fun people to be around.  The environment was great to work in and I LOVED the position I had.  I was working in casino accounting where I was responsible for DOR (Daily Operations Revenue).  I was responsible for all the numbers coming in from the tables, poker, slots, etc (everything from the casino).  Basically I analyzed and balanced ledgers to hand in to my accounting manager.  It was seriously one of the top 3 jobs I've ever had.  I talked with my manager about coming back, possibly in a few months when things settle down for me, and he said he would love to have me back. 

The only downfall of the job (well, there are a few) is that I was required to be there for 50-60 hours a week.  That would have been fine except I wouldn't have had time to go to my chiro & physio appointments.  Very important considering I'm still recovering from whiplash from my accident (I accepted the job offer before my accident).  Not to mention, I wasn't feeling very good by the time I got off work because my body's still healing.  I had no energy by the time I got off of work in the evenings and days off.  The other thing is that I wouldn't have gotten any weekends off.  Once I started training and getting to know my responsibilities and what was required of me (I was the only working in the Daily Operations Revenue Department), I quickly realized that it would be impossible for me to get weekends off.... that's just the nature of the casino business.  Accounting needs to be done on a daily basis... that also explains why I would have had to work so many hours a week.  Juggling that with Chad's dental school was just not going to work for us.  Before I started the job Chad and I were talking about if I should work there for the single reason alone that I would have to work during the day on Sunday's making it impossible for me to ever go to church.  He said that where one blessing is given and then sacrificed in His name, a greater blessing will be given.  He is so right, that's my husband.

There you have it.  It is complicated, and that's why I have written a blog about it.  It is the story of my life... that I come into a great opportunity only to have it taken from me due to life's circumstances, but at the same time it has put me where I am and made me who I am.  I have no regrets with any decisions I've ever made.  Where one opportunity falls another arises... and it's always for the better, and here I am.  My life is amazing.