I'm Back!

Well it has been about two years and a few months since I last made a post to this blog. The last post I made was in regards to my trip to Vegas with my Melissa during the summer of 2011. That was a VERY long time ago and we have done so much since then. This blog post is going to serve as a little catch up on the last two years and what has happened.

I'll pick up where I left off.

Rest of Summer 2011
Melissa and I after Vegas for July 4th weekend went to NC to have our open house, it was fun. We then went to Georgia to visit Melissa's sister and her family in Cedartown before heading back.

Fall 2011.
It was a normal semester without anything too noteworthy. We were both in school and I was a part of the integrated business core class where I had to run a campus business so it was a busier semester. I also lost 40 pounds. So yea...

Christmas 2011
Melissa and I spent a great Christmas in North Carolina with my Mom, Sister, and Baby Levi. He was so cute and on Christmas morning he was dressed as Santa so that was nice.

Winter 2012
Melissa and I spent this time in Georgia doing my internship for my awesome brother in law Spencer. He is a great businessman and I learned a lot from him in this time. I did not know at the time but the time I spent in Georgia and the things I learned about myself there would eventually change the course of my life. We also grew super close to Spencer and Nancy's family. They became so much more than just extended family to us.

With Macie

My Sweet Nieces

1 Year Anniversary Trip to Charleston, SC

With Macie on the Trampoline

Spring 2012
Melissa and I made the DEPRESSING move back to Idaho and commiserated for the rest of the season.

Summer 2012
Melissa and I went to Alexandria Virginia to visit her sister's family (they moved from Georgia to Virginia over memorial day weekend). We went to their beach house for a week in NC and then spent the rest of the time in VA. We loved this trip. During my internship in Georgia I went to Virginia often and fell in love with the city. Melissa and I decided to move there so I could go to law school in DC, which was only 10 minutes away. So this trip was a time where we looked at apartments and scoped out the area.
The entire rest of the summer was spent spending 70 hours a week in the library studying for the Law School Admission Test.

Fall 2012
This was the favorite semester of school for both Melissa and I. Melissa was doing her student teaching and she loved it. She was teaching 7th grade english at the local middle school. I was finishing up my last semester and was working hard. I was balancing school work with studying for the LSAT, taking the LSAT, filling out the law school applications and writing/editing my personal statement. It was very busy but it lead to......

GRADUATION 2012!!!
Melissa and I graduated from college December 15th 2012. Melissa's parents were there, her cousin Laura and her husband Sam drove in from Utah, her grand parents flew in, Nancy and Spencer flew in, and my mom flew in. It was very nice to have people there to support us on a big day for the both of us. Melissa had a Bachelor of Science degree in English Secondary Education and I had a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Finance. The graduation weekend was also a high point because I got admitted to my first two law schools the morning of. I was admitted to Hofstra University Maurice A. Dean School of Law in New York and American University Washington College of Law in Washington DC.
Right after graduation we had a celebration and then Melissa and I bounced and drove to Virginia with her cousin Dan to get the heck out of Idaho and move on to the next step in our lives.

Graduation with my mom

Christmas Eve with Erika and Levi

Christmas 2012
Melissa and I had just settled in our Apartment. We moved to Alexandria VA and were loving it. We got a nice apartment in a high-rise on the 10th floor with views of the potomac about 10 minutes away from Spencer and Nancy. This was a great christmas. Melissa's other sister, (Susan) her husband, and 5 kids came out to stay in Spencer and Nancy's house along with my in laws. It was a full house and though we love them all so dearly. It was nice to have our own place to be able to relax in at the end of the day. This Christmas we were also able to see my sister and her baby who we miss so much and don't get to see often because of the distance, along with my Dad who we had not seen since the wedding!

Winter 2013
Christmas ended and we all moved on with our day to day lives. We missed our family that left but got started with work immediately. While I waited for law school to start that fall I took a job at my brother in law's company Alexandria Yellow Cab working as a Financial Manager, and while Melissa waited for the school year to start in the fall she took a job as a substitute teacher for the school district. The winter was spent working more or less but we did get to enjoy the city. I love where we live. Besides where I have lived in Spain, Alexandria is the best place I have ever lived. It has everything we love or could ever ask for. In Alexandria there are more places for us to enjoy than in Idaho. We love the food and the shopping. Every weekend we try to make it out to a new restaurant and still are no where near running out of places.

Spring 2013
We did some fun things in the Spring. We went to New York City (only a 3 hour train ride!!) and visited some of our best friends Jason and Danielle and had the best meal of our lives at Butter, Alex Guarnaschelli's restaurant. We LOVED this place. The rest of spring was spent with each other and our family.

Central Park

Alex Guarnaschelli's Lamb

Alex Guarnaschelli's Duck with Strawberry Rhubbarb

Alex Guarnaschelli's Chocolate Semmifreddo sandwich w/homemade marshmallows

With Jason and Danielle :)

With My Mom at Butter

Alex Guarnaschelli's Rhubbarb cake with Ice Cream 

Summer 2013
This summer was amazing. Melissa and I both went through some tough decisions and definitely came out strong. Our love for each other grew immensely and and we have never been closer. This summer brought HUGE life changes but we are very happy with what lies ahead and I will get into that next time.