Merry Christmas!

Almost definitely my favorite time of year. Can't wait till Wednesday when we make the drive up to NorCal for Christmas festivities with family. I doubt I will post while we're up there so Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! ;) May you all have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our Lord. xoxo

Christmas tree 2009 and little Holly, our early Christmas present, under the tree hehe

Chase Ryan

Welcome to the world Chase Ryan Clarke! It's crazy to remember Kaylee this small and to watch how fast they grow up! Congratulations to our dear friends Daniel and Kristin - we love you guys!

Big sister time

Cherry Wedding

A few weeks ago my college roommate and dear friend Rebekah Burbage married the perfect guy for her. I was blessed to interpret the wedding and get a front row seat to the nuptials. Congrats to Luke and the new Mrs. Cherry! The Lord is going to do wonderful things in your life together. xoxo

A new addition

A couple months ago we decided to take the plunge into parenthood - with a puppy. Okay fine maybe it's more like a dip. into a puddle. But it has satisfied my need for something to mother for now while Matt works on his doctorate. She is absolutely adorable and keeps us laughing and on our toes. She weighs in at exactly 3 lbs, the perfect size for our little condo. The best part? She's an excellent snuggler - her and I have fallen asleep many a night on the couch while Matt works tirelessly in the office on his homework.

Holly on her first day home :)

Knee Update

For all of you who are curious as to what has happened with problems with my knee in the past months...

The injections that started with the appearance on The Doctors lasted for 6 weeks but were, in the end, unsuccessful. After more physical therapy and no improvement my doctor wanted to go in and take a look. June 30th I had arthroscopic surgery that discovered all the problems! I had a 20% tear in my ACL that had resulted in a blood clot lodging in the area, damaged cartilage behind my knee cap, and an inflamed gland (the ones that produce joint fluid - I forget the name). My doctor was able to remove the blood clot, shave off the crummy cartilage and remove the problematic gland. My ACL is still stable, slightly less so that my right, but nothing that should be a big problem.

Now, after 4 more months of physical therapy - I'm FREE!!!!! I have been discharged and am seeing a huge difference as I am able to get back to my normal routine and the things I enjoy. Matt and I went hiking last weekend, which was somewhat short lived as I still have to build up the knee muscles - but it was so nice to even be out there!

Thank you all for all your prayers and support. It's good to be back to the active world :)

The Great Outdoors

We had a wonderful time this summer going camping with our best friends Daniel and Kristin and their daughter Kaylee. Since this was in September and Southern California weather is usually quite WARM 12 months of the year - we didn't quite expect so much CHILL. Despite all of the adults not sleeping well due to the cold the first night (Kaylee wasn't phased at all haha) we had a very relaxing time of just being out and enjoying God's beautiful creation and the wonderful company of friends.

The guys wanted to try fishing at the local lake - let's just say it wasn't too successful ;)

Kaylee did enjoy the worms though - not sure how many died while she was "enjoying" them hehe...
I don't think Matt will ever try fishing again - his poor worms kept falling off
But the view was GORGEOUS!!!!

They did such a good job building this great fire set-up for later, which Kaylee knocked down before later arrived - at least she didn't try to play with it when it was lit....

Our campsite!
There was a town about 30 minutes away so one evening we decided to drive in and enjoy the goodness that is Schat's bakery. If you have never been here and at some point in your life end up in Bishop, CA - GO!

Long time coming

Hello friends,

I have to first off apologize for the lack of posts the past few months! I haven't been too good at keeping you all in the loop huh? Well I'll try and catch you up on as much as I can and now that my schedule has slowed down a bit at work after the crazy "end of semester" rush, I hope to be more faithful at blogging over the holidays.

I have to start with our trip to NC/TN back in June. We had an amazing time!! Tennessee became one of my favorite states after this trip. The people are so warm and friendly. Life is laid back and you aren't in the "big city rush" that I sometimes feel we get caught up in here in LA. The rush that just ends up in you being behind on everything and feeling like you're constantly playing catch up. After 3 days in TN we drove out to Matt's grandparents place in Murphy, NC, just over the TN/NC boarder. We spent the rest of the week there spending time with family (Matt's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and kids). Most of these people I had never met before because they were unable to make the trip out for our wedding, so it was a wonderful time of "getting to know you." Here are some pictures of our time.

This is the inside of one of the shopping centers in Franklin, TN...how cute!

We had to go to the Grand Ole Opry - and Montgomery Gentry was inducted! <3 country music

One of my favorites - I think we went 3 times while we were there - Cracker Barrel please come to California!!!

This was at a cider bar - yes that's right like apple cider. They had EVERYTHING apple, even apple cider doughnuts which were really yummy :) Just so quaint...this was right next to our hotel.
The Himsey grandkids with grandma and grandpa
The Himsey "kids" with Mama and Papa Himsey
Uncle Pete and Auntie Joanie - love you guys!!!
My dear husband....lol
The cousins went out for the night to hang out - Happy Birthday BJ!