Today I Was In Heaven

....that's because I went here:

Josh's Christmas present to me was an hour Swedish massage, and I finally took advantage of it today. It was heavenly! It was the perfect Christmas gift because Josh knows (first hand) how much I like a massage. I always try to make him rub my back, and he often gets tired of it. So this was great.

I also got a 20 minute hand paraffin treatment. Now my hands feel much softer. Hopefully it will last!

DRY HANDS

Lately my hands have been feeling like this:

and this:

This awful weather makes them so dry!!! And it doesn't help that I wash them like 50 times a day when I'm at work. They get so bad they start to crack and bleed. I can't wait (and I can't believe I'm saying this) for the humid weather to come back!

cactus don't belong in Illinois

Right before we moved to Chicago I bought these cacti because I wanted to have something to remind me of my desert homeland. I figured cactus would be low maintenance to care for. They don't need much watering. I watered them every once in a while, and for a long time they looked nice and green and healthy (I wish I had taken a before pic). Eventually one of them died, hence the emtpy spot. But the other two still seemed to be thriving. Then, one day I went to water them and they looked like THIS! There was no more hope for them. The cold was probably a little hard on them. I guess it's a good thing I have some pictures to help remind me of the desert. And the longer I'm away from it, the more beautiful it seems to be!

COLD!!

I don't usually walk to work, but when I have to, it ends up being -4 degrees!! Yes, 4 below zero. I know my AZ friends can't even fathom temperatures below 40 or 50 degrees, but sometimes nature does like to surprise us with inhumane weather. It was quite a frigid morning to say the least!

New Designs

Someone told me of a way to design your own blog background! I was ready for a change from boring black, so you might notice my blog going through a variety of makeovers before I find a design I'm happy with. It's been kind of fun to learn how to do it because it entails editing the HTML coding, which I've never done before. It's also somewhat time consuming finding designs I like and making the edits. You can feel free to give me your opinions on the designs I create. I'm not so sure I like this current one as the colors are a little "bland." I'll have to try something a little more colorful.

Not much to write about

I can't really think of much to write about that would be exciting or entertaining. I just felt like writing something, so here is a pretty boring post. No pictures either, sorry.

So far I've been enjoying 2008. Nothing to complain about. We've settled back into our normal routines after all the hubbub of the holidays. Work for me has been busier. Josh started his next rotation-surgery-at MacNeal hospital. He seems to be enjoying it. He sees lots of gallbladder, appendix, and hernia surgeries.

As for my school, I've recently put my classes on hold. You're probably thinking "didn't you just start??" Yes, but I decided the online environment wasn't for me, and I wasn't sure if I liked the program I was in. It seems to be geared toward management-also not for me. I had hoped to be able to take a photography class at a local art center, but the class I wanted was canceled due to lack of enrollees. I'll try again in the Spring. So I'll have a lot of free time, which could = boredom. I hope to find lots of things to keep me busy on my days off!

Something I hope to work on during my free time are my goals for the year. I want to overall become a better person. I know that sounds like a big goal, but I have lots of areas to work on!

*I want to be a kinder, more generous person. When someone needs a service, I want to hesitate less and be more willing.

*I want to grow more spiritually. That means more consistent, more in-depth studying of the scriptures and and other religious materials. I hope to be able to read the RS lessons in advance instead of trying to skim through them right before or during the lesson, or reading them (usually only halfway through) after church.

*I want to be a better wife to my husband. I hope to be nicer and be more willing to help when he needs or asks. I hope to speak less negativism (is that a word?) around him. I hope to always have a happy, comfortable home.

*I want to live healthier. I don't think I'm currently real bad at this, I just want to try to make more of an effort to eat less sweets, plan more nutritious meals, and plan a menu so I will actually cook more than once a week rather than eating out or grazing on snacks around the house, which we've been doing more of lately.

*I want to develop my musical talents. This is always a goal of mine that I never work on like I should. I have a keyboard, so I want to learn to play it better. Just to be able to play more of the hymns would be great. And I know I should practice my violin more. I have probably touched it once or twice in the past year. I'm playing it in church next week so I've had to force myself to practice, I just need to keep it up.

These are enough goals for now. They'll keep me busy enough!

There is one thing newsworthy that happened today. It's something that doesn't usually happen on a regular basis. We had a film crew come to our Sacrament Meeting and they filmed all of it! We had to be in our seats 15 minutes early, and most everyone was! Josh and I sat on the end of a row and I think one of the camera guys got a few closeups of us. I'm not exactly sure why they were there or why our ward was chosen, but it will be used for church stuff or shown on cable or something, and I think they just liked the diversity of our ward or something. I'll probably never see it, but it was kind of fun.

Well, LOST season will start up again in a couple weeks. Yay! Hopefully the season won't disappoint. Josh is pretty pumped for it. If anyone else is a LOST fan, I will look forward to discussing thoughts/theories with you!!

Our Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful time in Arizona spending time with friends and family for Christmas. We always enjoy our time there! Since I've posted quite a few pictures, I'll keep the writing to a minimum. We hope all of you also enjoyed the holidays!

One of our favorite desert activities is hiking. This was at South Mountain.

I love the views from South Mountain. We can see much of the Valley. This is the view looking west to Downtown Phoenix.

Taking a break for lunch. My sister Kim and husband Devin to the right (sorry I just got your backs!) and Josh's parents are sitting behind him. Oh, and their dog Teedo. While we were here we met another family, got to chatting, and Devin realized he went to elementary school with one of their sons! What a small world it is.

We got together with some good friends the Brinton's and Lamont's and their kiddos. We got to see Amy's new baby Abby who was only a month only, and she is so precious! We also had a white elephant gift exchange.

Josh got a cool pocket flashlight and circus animal cookies. He was quite excited! I got a fun Christmas CD.

This is something you don't see in Chicago in December.

Christmas tree at Josh's parents. I realize these last two pictures are the only ones I took at their house! Sorry guys! I wish I had more pictures of the family.

We enjoyed the temple lights. They are always beautiful, and there are always great musical performances.

At the temple lights.

Christmas Eve we spent with Josh family at his sister's in-laws. His sister's husband opened his Christmas gift early, and it was the game Rock Band. So, we of course had to play it! Josh was having a blast singing, and I had fun jamming out on the drums!

Christmas morning at my mom's house.

Me and my sisters Amy, Cassie, and Kim.

Grandma and Grandpa Jorgensen. My Grandma makes the best peanut brittle, and even though she was having problems with her knee, she was still able to make a batch. Yum!

Every year on Christmas night we have a traditional white elephant gift exchange with my mom's side of the family. There's always lots of people and it can get pretty lively!

Grandma Legler opening a gift, which I eventually ended up with! It's a chocolate fondue set.

Grandpa Legler showing off his gift, a cool neon orange hat.

The day before we came home we enjoyed one last hike in the desert. This time we were at the Superstition Mountains, farther away from the city.

Photo op!

Merry Christmas!

We are so excited to be leaving for Arizona in the morning! Yesterday we got about 9 or 10 inches of snow, had to spend 10 minutes digging our car out, and then we got stuck driving down our street because it wasn't plowed yet! I still love the snow, but it will be nice to be somewhere a bit warmer! We are also so excited to spend time with our friends and families since we only see them about twice a year.

This year I sent out Christmas cards/letters, mostly just to family (sorry guys!). So I decided it would be fun to post the letter we sent and the picture we included so that all of you can hear about what's gone on with us this past year!

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope this holiday season find you all happy and well! Yet another year has passed and we have so many things to be thankful for. We’ve definitely had a busy and fun year! Here’s an update on us:

Josh is already in his third year of medical school and has been learning a lot. In the spring he completed all his classroom work and began clinical/hospital rotations in the summer. So far he has rotated through internal medicine, OBGYN, psychiatry, and will soon be doing his surgical rotation. Each rotation has helped him decide areas of medicine he likes and dislikes, which is good. At the present time he thinks his preference is emergency medicine, but that still could change. At the beginning of November Josh traveled to Orlando for the American Heart Association conference to given an oral presentation on some of the findings from the CPR research he did last year. This was a great opportunity and learning experience for him! Outside of school Josh keeps busy as the Young Men’s President at church. We have a good group of boys in the ward and Josh enjoys the activities and scout outings he does with them.

Melanie continues to work at the University hospital, in labor and delivery. Even though her job can be challenging at times, she enjoys being able to help bring new babies into the world. She even got to work with Josh for a couple days when he did his OBGYN rotation. That was exciting! In her spare time has enjoyed developing talents and hobbies. She’s been sewing, is part of a card club, and likes to make new recipes. She’s been taking part in a church project by tutoring kids at a local school. She also recently started taking online classes towards her Master’s Degree in Nursing through the University of Phoenix. The stress of assignments has definitely been demanding and keeps her busy! At church she is on the activities committee and has fun planning various activities for the ward.

We have also been able to fulfill our love of traveling a little by taking a few vacations. In March we went to Florida and spent time in Key Largo, the Everglades, and Miami. We enjoyed SCUBA diving, kayaking, and we even saw some alligators! In the summer we were able to go to the beautiful White Mountains in Greer, AZ. We sure do miss the mountains! Then, in September we took a road trip to Niagara Falls. It was our first time to Canada, and the falls were so beautiful! We were able to visit some LDS church history locations-Palmyra and Kirtland- on the way. It was a great trip.

We continue to recognize all of our many blessings, and are most thankful for the blessing of the birth of our Savior. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!


We hope all of you have a very happy Christmas holiday!!

Winter Fun

One of the things that makes Chicago such a great city is the fact that there is always something to do, all year round. There are lots of traditional events the city puts on, and that makes it even more fun because everyone gets so excited for them! This past weekend we enjoyed some fun winter activities. On Friday we went with another coule to the Lincoln Park Zoo for their Zoolights. This is, in my opinion, one of the best zoos because it's FREE and there really are quite a lot of animals!

It was fun to watch this guy carve this giraffe. I think anyone who can carve something out of ice is incredibly talented!

On Saturday we went to the annual Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. This is a fun German Market with lots of German Christmas ornaments and other goods for sale, plus yummy German food! We enjoyed bratwurst and Wiener schnitzel. I told Josh we were celebrating his German heritage.

I really liked these stars and how they glowed so bright.

I wish I had a nativity scene this big.

After the Christkindlemarket we headed over to Macy's (the old Marshall Field's) on State Street. Every Christmas a different children's story is displayed in the display windows around the outside of the building. This year it is The Nutcracker. Everyone always talks about the window displays at Marshall Field's (Macy's), and the displays are always gorgeous and so elaborate! I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures of it. Then we went inside to see the Christmas Tree on display in the Walnut Room, which is a restaurant on the 8th floor. There's a viewing area to see the tree from the 9th floor. We've done this every year since we've lived here, and it's been fun to see how it will be decorated each year. The one on the left is this year's, and the one on the right is from two years ago.

To end the evening, we bought carmel apple cider from Starbucks along with my favorite Marshall Field's Frango Mint Chocolates. Yum!

SNOW!

We finally had our first big snowfall of the season! I love the way everything looks right after it snows, so calm and quiet and peaceful and pretty. I wish it would stay this way instead of just getting all slushy and dirty. And even though I don't really enjoy digging our car out of the snow, it is still fun to have snow!