Out with the Old... In with the New!

So today we helped Dad move his pharmacy to its new location. After 20 years of keeping his practice in the Ogden Regional Medical Center Plaza we picked up camp and hauled it all two blocks down the street into the Family Fresh Market. After some neglect and rent raising most of the doctors in our old building moved out into new offices nearby; so we took that as a sign that we too should head out. Luckily our new friendly neighborhood grocer invited us over.

Some of our empty shelves.

Its amazing how fast candy will sell when you announce 50% off.

This is our new place!

We sure hope that we like our new location. Wish us luck!

A UTAH MAN AM I

So the months of application filling outing, essay writing, good grade seeking, and interviewing have come to an end. We are three for three on interview to acceptance and did not even go to two interviews. Brad was accepted to the PharmD programs at University of Southern Nevada, Midwestern University, and University of Utah. After much deliberation we have decided to go to the University of Utah!!!!

And the sweetest part of all is the fact that I am not going to the Y!!!! Take that Grandma Winter, Susie and ElRay, Todd and Debbie, Jerron and Jeremy!!!!!!

A Utah Man Am I!

Much toTell

Aagain, it has been a long time since my last blog post. I might just become a once a month blogger.

Much of my absence is on account of me working full-time right now. The health department has needed some extra help to get through the H1N1 mess, so I have been able to pick up full-time status temporarily. It has been wonderful: I'm not in school anymore, our apartment is cold and lonely, and who couldn't use the extra money?

Brad has been going through the interview process for pharmacy school which has been an experience. It is fun, yet such a long drawn out process, and I just don't exactly love the waiting game we have to play. He has interviewed at the University of Southern Nevada-South Jordan campus, Midwestern University-Glendale, AZ campus, skipped the interview at University of Wyoming (who would want to live in Laramie for 4 years?), and has interviews at the University of Utah and Idaho State University in March. So far, the 2 schools he has interviewed with, he has been accepted to. We went down to Arizona together last week for the Midwestern Interview and absolutely enjoyed ourselves. We stayed with Brad's brother, Rob, and his wife, Kristen. Brad loved the program at Midwestern and would probably pick that program over Southern Nevada. Rob and Kristen were so fun to be with, and Joel, their little boy, is such a character. We didn't remember to use our camera, but at least Kristen took some great pictures while we were there. You'll have to go to their blog to see a couple priceless ones (can you tell they're brothers. They're actually twins born 5 years apart!)

The last and best news of the blog was saved for last. Can anyone guess what it might be? Well, if you couldn't, we hit the half way mark of our pregnancy this week. I've popped out quite a bit in the past couple weeks. Half way means that we also had "the big ultrasound" this week. It is so fun to see our little one swimming around in my belly. We found out that we are going to add another girl to the Winter family (the odds are really against the guys in the this family: in Brad's family 2 boys 5 girls; of the Winter grandkids so far: 1 boy 5 girls). Baby is due to arrive on July 11, and our doctor nick-named her "Slurpee" (get it! The due date is 7-11). We are so excited to be calling "it" a "she" now. And now we can think of a more permanent name. I'll be adding some ultrasound pics when I can get to another computer.

Sorry this was such a long post. I like to break up posts with pictures, but they were in short supply for many of my blogging topics. Anyway, all is well, with the Winters. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more news of the future pharmacist.

Nerf War

There is a long standing Christmas tradition in the Winter family. Most families traditions include things such as acting out the nativity, making homemade fudge, or decorating your house with the most lights on the block. The Winter family tradition is nothing of that sort. The Winter's tradition is to have a full out Nerf war in the living room with the whole family. This year the tradition was a little delayed, but it was a big success nonetheless. We met the family at a Kaysville church cultural hall, and had a splendid time with the festivities.

As you can probably tell, I have been quite occupied with other things for the past couple of months hence my hiatus from the blogging world. But now there is reason to rejoice! Rejoice with me all! For I am now Weber State alumni instead of a Weber State student. That is right, my friends, I have finally graduated with my bachelor's degree. Friday was the commencement ceremony, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with all of my nursing friends. To make it even more fun, Brad graduated with me. He wasn't to keen on the idea of walking in the ceremony for his associate's degree, but I said "you're going to be sitting through the long ceremony anyway, you might as well walk." So he did. Besides, he got to wear a purple robe, and he was pretty stoked about that too. My parents took us to lunch before the commencement ceremony which was a great idea because I had to leave about 45 minutes after the ceremony in order to get to Salt Lake before call time for the Tabernacle Choir Concert. Which, by the way, was wonderful. Natalie Cole did a great job. She definitely had a different style than past artists, but I guess each artist has been quite original. She was very captivating on Friday night. David McCullough was great to have at the concert also. He seems like a very down to earth type of guy. He's a great story teller, and just has so much knowledge to share. And of course Richard Elliott gave an amazing performance on the organ. He can just fly! I can't understand how his mind can keep track of so many things! I love being a part of such a great production.
In other news, Brad has all of his pharmacy school applications in, and we are now awaiting the invitations to interviews. We hate the waiting game, but it has to be done. So, anyway, there is a little bit of catch up in our lives.

September

So, school started, and now I never post. It is a sad fact of life that school takes up time. Anyway, I thought I should at least take the time to post a least once during the month of September. And guess what is so special about September? It is my birthday month! My birthday is actually on the 3rd of September, but we have pretty much been celebrating it all month long. Brad and I actually celebrated my birthday on my birthday. He took me shopping for some new clothes which I truly needed. I had a bell recording that night, but when I came home, he had made cupcakes. The funny thing is, is that we only had one egg in the house, and the cupcake recipe called for 3 eggs. So what did Brad do? He used his awesome conversion skills that he learned in pharmacy tech class and convert the whole recipe to 1/3 the size to account for the lone egg.


The next birthday celebration was about a week later with the whole fam. We met is Salt Lake and went to this delicious pizza place called Setebellos. I highly reccomend it. Guess what my siblings gave me? New KNIVES! We have a pretty shoddy set of kitchen knives and I constantly complain about how I can't even cut a carrot decently. So thank you fam!

The final birthday celebration was on Sunday. Mom made angel food cake, and we had fresh peaches on top with whipped cream. MMmmmm... that is so good.

This month has really just flown by. We are already in the 5th week of classes at Weber State. That means we're almost a third of the way through the semester (can anyone tell that it is my last semester of school, and I am a little more than eager to be done?) . Brad has made wonderful strides on his applications for pharmacy school. He is meeting with his professors for letters of reccomendation and for guidance on his personal statement. I am very impressed with how ahead of the game he is. He is really doing great despite his very hectic school schedule. So, all is going well for us.


This is the only picture I have of all the birthday festivities. Isn't it a becoming picture? Brad's pose in the background is also one in a million don't you think?

Pictures

Hawaii 2009

Here are a few pictures from our Hawaii adventure with the whole Winter family. It was such a fun experience, and we are so grateful to Mom and Dad for planning the whole thing for us! This is Brad and me being Tahitian warriors. I know, we're fearsome.We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center while we were on Oahu. We got to go to a really fun Luau and drink mango shakes from a pineapple. We ate fresh shrimp from Remy's shrimp shack. It was literally a shack on the side of the rode. But the shrimp was fresh, and it tasted great. It was a messy meal though.

When we got to Kauai, we went on a awesome hike along the Napali Coastline. It was so lush and green and just full of spectacular views. The whole trail supposedly takes about 3 days, but we only took the first stretch. It landed us at a very pretty beach, with some severe warnings

The last day, we went Kayaking along a river after playing on the beach. The kayaking was way fun, and that is where I received my sunburn of all sunburns (see previous post). It was totally worth it though.