Vacation recap

So vacation recap: sunshine, Gulf of Mexico, luxury hotel, fresh seafood, time alone with my awesome husband. How could it BE anything but wonderful!? It was awesome.

We had a great time, slept in, ate lots of yummy food, saw dolphins up close, took a terrifying (to me) jet ski trip up around some islands north of Clearwater, went to Busch Gardens, took a dinner cruise on a huge yacht, collected seashells, drank ice cold beverages and did plenty of people-watching! The only bad parts were being homesick for our furry boys which Bri and Tate did an excellent job babysitting and getting a wee bit burned.

here's some photos

I'll add more photos online when I get our disposable, waterproof camera back from being developed. Hopefully it has some great dolphin pics!

Hogan doesn't know best

When Tyler & I were in Clearwater we drove by Hulk Hogan's house (seen in season 1 of 'Hogan Knows Best'). We liked that show when it was on but holy cow, check out this video and you won't like the Hogans so much now.
CNN video of Nick's jail convo

so cute it hurts

On the side of my blog you may have noticed the "Daily Puppy" feature. As you all probably have guessed, I'm in love with dogs and so enjoy cute photos of them. Well, today's photo is too cute to miss. Check it out:
a mini English bulldog

ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS TIL VACATION! FLORIDA, here we come!!!!!!!!!!

Back to reality Tuesday (happy birthday to me!)

Hot stuff, seniors in the city

I love taking photos. I LOVE, LOVE taking photos when the subjects are this awesome.
My handsome bro Ty and hot stuff sister Tate, along with good friend and cutie-pie Kelsey made for perfect subjects on Sunday. And of course my trusty photo assistant Riley was a huge help and made it extra fun.

Ty, Tate & Kelsey's senior pics!

BTW, I now am staking claim to these three gorgeous models. I will, however, be their photo pimp and let you borrow them for a fee. :)

happy anniversary baby

Today is a special day for Tyler & I, and not just because Tucker turns 2! Today marks our second anniversary of marriage. And what a fun, action-packed, adventure it has been.

I can't imagine anyone I'd rather have at my side than my best friend and husband. He makes me smile, makes me laugh, holds my hand, keeps me warm, arm bars and tackles me, spoils me rotten, thinks I'm cool, puts up with my corny humor, takes off the day when I'm sick, eats the crappy casseroles I make up, watches dumb TV shows with me, works hard to make a life for us and equally hard to spend time together. He even once wore the shirt I made that says "I (heart) Courtney." He's adopted my family and lets me be part of his. He knows more about every topic under the sun than anyone I've ever met and can fix absolutely anything. Plus he's an awesome doggy daddy and takes care of our boys.

He's my favorite person ever. I love you, Tyler.

grads galore

This weekend was a very busy, exciting time for our family. We celebrated my brother Brandon's graduation from Grand View and watched Tate cross the stage as a high school grad. While Ty opted outta the ceremony, he's also an awesome high school grad. We'll celebrate the two of them fully in June. My aunt from Arizona even made the trek out here as a surprise which was lots of fun. As exhausting as it is, there's nothin better than hangin with the fam. Family and friends are a great blessing and Tyler & I, (as well as Tuck, Tank and Tonka) are very blessed.

The college grad, with a few of his partners in crime:


Two awesome high school grads:


We look forward to the end of the month when Tyler's parents will be back in Iowa for the summer and all our immediate family will be nearby!

I love taking photos of pretty people!

But that's only one reason I had so much fun taking my sister's senior photos - the girl's got style, class, sophistication AND looks. Plus we goofed around and had fun - her, me and my photo assistant Riley. I'm so blessed to have cool sisters.
Check out Tate's pics in my Flickr albums

I'll be shooting my brother Tyler's senior pics on Sunday so look for them next week!

more softball pics

Tyler and I love to go to the kids' softball games - it's a break from reality, good time with family and every single week it's good for a laugh! :)
all-star kids right here

I have a case of the MUNdays

I SWEAR I did not come in to work with a bad attitude. On the contrary, I BROUGHT CINNAMON ROLLS AND BANANAS AND COFFEE CREAMER. like a nice person, rarin to go for another week. And how do I get repaid? In stupidity.
I'm ready to head back to bed and start over. why do all the stupid people magnetize to bother me on the same day?

Swing, batter, batter, swing

To see some cute kids and studly ball-players, check out the latest gallery on our Flickr. Photos by me and my brother Tyler.
Softball '08

Research says first-born kids have it toughest

no shit, sherlock:
MSNBC Health report about how younger kids get off hook

blogging like it's my job!

oh wait, it IS my job. Check out where I blog for work: myspace.com/desmoinesuniversity
I either write the blogs or edit and post student blogs.

porch dogs

Four of the world's cutest dogs + Jackson:



Mastiffs mauling Uncle Stuart with kisses:

Part of the team

One of my fave. things to cover/promote here at DMU is our simulation lab. It's so high-tech the fake patients have been known to creep out visitors. (and rightly so, if you don't expect a mannequin to blink, drool, talk or react to light) I shoot photos/write stories about the lab as much as possible. We're one of a handful of med. schools with a lab and our lab is one of the very best west of the Mississippi so it's a key talking point! :)

They're always doing something new & cool in the sim lab with awesome plans for the future. So imagine my delight when the clinical coordinator said I could HELP WITH CASES!!! WOOOHOO!! (I know, I'm a nerd!) So come June I will start learning medical cases so I can be the voice of a "patient" while students learn. To make it official, I got some gear:

Blessings abound

After two days off work I have lots to tend to this morning but wanted to take a moment to share some exciting news from our lives:

My Uncle Mike had surgery on Wednesday. The surgeon said the surgery was very successful - the cancer had not spread and he may not need any further treatment. We are SOOO thankful for this prognosis and will keep praying for a quick recovery and cancer-free future. He went home yesterday from the hospital. My Mom & I were glad we could be there. It was great to see him, my aunt April, cousin Jared and his beautiful wife and new baby. Plus, as a bonus, once I arrived and realized he was at a Mayo hospital, discovered it was the same hospital my friend Miaka works in!

Also, we are no longer the owners of an ice cream store. You can not possibly understand how exciting this is for us!!!! No more ordering and wrangling with vendors, no more scheduling and juggling requests off, no more payroll and bill paying, no more cleaning and organizing a store, no more last minute trips to Sams, early morning stops at the mall or phone calls all day long. YAY! And for those who keep asking us what we'll do with our free time - the point of selling was so we'd have more time to focus on our apartments, full-time jobs and each other!! Believe me, it will not lead to boredom and tv-watching in our underwear. ha!

Thirdly, for today at least, my little bro graduated from Grand View. He didn't want to attend the graduation ceremony and he may not want the hoopla or attention but he can't stop me from being very, very proud of him.