Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, June 6, 2009
I'm so bad at this.
Dear family and friends,
Anyone reading this already knows all of our exciting news that we have had lately. We bought a house in November and enjoyed our first Christmas in our own place. Ian's sister Rebecca, her husband Chris and their son Aubin shared their Christmas with us and it was great fun. Fall semester flew by and before I knew it I was in my last semester at UVU. It was a really tough semester with several emotional breakdowns. If not for Ian, I would not have completed the semester alive. He is truely my best friend for helping me so much through the last of my schooling and I can't wait to focus on him.
We planned a cruise to Mexico as a graduation present. Due to the Swine Flu, they re-routed us the other direction. We visited Astoria, Oregon from the deck of the ship. The next stop was Victoria, Canada. It was a beautiful day and we walked all around the city to take pictures and enjoy some land time. Vancouver, Canada was pretty but we were too tired from our previous day's trip to want to walk anywhere; even to a cab. We dined with 2 lovely retired couples who loved Ian and watching all he ate at dinner. We exchanged information with them so we could keep in touch. They live in southern California, so we will most likely see them again at some point. Ian and I enjoyed relaxing together and not having to stress about homework, work, cleaning or cooking. It truely is the best way to vacation, though we have plenty of tips for any first timers thinking about going on a cruise.
After our 7 day cruise we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Stites, and it was great to see them for a few days. We went out for ice cream one night with Aunt Kath, Kaelyn and Natalie after Natalie showed us her original choreography with a friend of hers. As a professional I must say she has quite the potential. A trip to Southern CA would not be complete without visiting the Magic Kingdom, so we played at California Adventure one day and Disneyland the next. My best friend fro high school, Lisa and her husband Bill, joined us at the parks both days. It was so fun to be able to spend time with them again. Lisa sends her love to all the Wyckhuyse clan and always asks how we are doing. Ian treated us to the Blue Bayou resturaunt, which is the one you see while on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It was fun to see him enjoy it so much.
Though I couldn't wait to see Tribby again, it's been hard to be back home and go back to work. When we get tired of it, we just take a deep breath and remind ourselves to be thenkful that we both have a job. We have worked hard for what we have, but it is not without the Lord's help that we have the things we do. We are making arrangements for an insurance plan for a baby McCarter soon, though we have no announcements at this time. Sorry. I have to get a real job that has benifits so we can have some kind of income from me when we do have a baby. We couldn't be more excited at this time in our lives and can't wait until we have great news to share!
Anyone reading this already knows all of our exciting news that we have had lately. We bought a house in November and enjoyed our first Christmas in our own place. Ian's sister Rebecca, her husband Chris and their son Aubin shared their Christmas with us and it was great fun. Fall semester flew by and before I knew it I was in my last semester at UVU. It was a really tough semester with several emotional breakdowns. If not for Ian, I would not have completed the semester alive. He is truely my best friend for helping me so much through the last of my schooling and I can't wait to focus on him.
We planned a cruise to Mexico as a graduation present. Due to the Swine Flu, they re-routed us the other direction. We visited Astoria, Oregon from the deck of the ship. The next stop was Victoria, Canada. It was a beautiful day and we walked all around the city to take pictures and enjoy some land time. Vancouver, Canada was pretty but we were too tired from our previous day's trip to want to walk anywhere; even to a cab. We dined with 2 lovely retired couples who loved Ian and watching all he ate at dinner. We exchanged information with them so we could keep in touch. They live in southern California, so we will most likely see them again at some point. Ian and I enjoyed relaxing together and not having to stress about homework, work, cleaning or cooking. It truely is the best way to vacation, though we have plenty of tips for any first timers thinking about going on a cruise.
After our 7 day cruise we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Stites, and it was great to see them for a few days. We went out for ice cream one night with Aunt Kath, Kaelyn and Natalie after Natalie showed us her original choreography with a friend of hers. As a professional I must say she has quite the potential. A trip to Southern CA would not be complete without visiting the Magic Kingdom, so we played at California Adventure one day and Disneyland the next. My best friend fro high school, Lisa and her husband Bill, joined us at the parks both days. It was so fun to be able to spend time with them again. Lisa sends her love to all the Wyckhuyse clan and always asks how we are doing. Ian treated us to the Blue Bayou resturaunt, which is the one you see while on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It was fun to see him enjoy it so much.
Though I couldn't wait to see Tribby again, it's been hard to be back home and go back to work. When we get tired of it, we just take a deep breath and remind ourselves to be thenkful that we both have a job. We have worked hard for what we have, but it is not without the Lord's help that we have the things we do. We are making arrangements for an insurance plan for a baby McCarter soon, though we have no announcements at this time. Sorry. I have to get a real job that has benifits so we can have some kind of income from me when we do have a baby. We couldn't be more excited at this time in our lives and can't wait until we have great news to share!
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Latest And Not So Greatest
Ok so it's been a while since I've updated our info. Sadly not much exciting has happened since Europe. We are both back in school, and hating it. :) No really, we do. I am drowning in Anatomy, while Ian is wanting to throw things at his Accounting teacher. We miss all the family we don't get to see. We are still rooming at the Wyckhuyse Boarding Facility, but starting to look for houses. We make "house payments" to ourselves but after this, have no money for dates because we spend so much on gas still. We will be looking into some houses that are foreclosing. Nothing like capitalizing on someone else's missfortune! We will have a house warming party, where we plan to rewrap all our wedding presents and open them for fun. We figure they've been in storage so long that it will be like getting them the first time cause we forgot what we have. But we could always use more, so start looking for what you will give as a house warming gift.
I'm sure I'll ramble too much if I don't put an end to this soon. It's late and I'm not on enough sleep. I ahve to get up early for team, as usual. I am choreographing a routine for a beginning team that will be performed at the ballroom concert in December, so plan on that too. Oh and my Birthday is right before the concert. You know what? Just send cash. I think it's so much more personal. Don't you? You do. Oh and by the way we have the cutest cat there ever was. I can't wait til we own a house and she can roam free. She deserves so much, she's had such a rough life so far. I love my cat!
I'm sure I'll ramble too much if I don't put an end to this soon. It's late and I'm not on enough sleep. I ahve to get up early for team, as usual. I am choreographing a routine for a beginning team that will be performed at the ballroom concert in December, so plan on that too. Oh and my Birthday is right before the concert. You know what? Just send cash. I think it's so much more personal. Don't you? You do. Oh and by the way we have the cutest cat there ever was. I can't wait til we own a house and she can roam free. She deserves so much, she's had such a rough life so far. I love my cat!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Our First Try
Hello to all our families and friends! Since I'm the wife, I think it's officially my responsibility to create and regularly update our blog. We just got back from Europe and had a marvelous time. My Ballroom Team prepared all last semester to be able to compete at the prestegious competition in Blackpool, England. There is not much in Blackpool, but we enjoyed the small city more than expected. The weather there was much like Washington, so Ian felt right at home. We saw rain all but 2 out of the 6 days we were in Blackpool. The Standard Team(not including me) received 2nd place out of 3 teams. The Latin team(yes this is me) got 4th out of 8 teams. Unfortunately our music kept skipping in the final round and a few team members could not recover, but we did the best we could and I was so proud to be there. Ian was a great support that week and I can't imagine doing what I did without him there. While we were in Blackpool we traveled to Scotland and saw some amazing sights. Ian now owns an authentic Scotish kilt and wore it down to breakfast for the next 3 days. ANd every night we would walk accross the street to the liquor store with dirty magazines to get our Magnum bars. The best ice cream bar I have ever had!
After the competition, we traveled to London on a bus. On our way we stopped at Warwick Castle for more sight seeing. We had a lot of fun taking silly pictures with a few friends. Once we got to London, some friends of ours took us under their wing and showed us how to use the "tube." This is the underground transportation or subway if you will. The night came to a close due to traveling all day and we fell into bed thinking we would get a good nights rest. Since it was a weekend night, the drunks were out and making plenty of noise to keep the city awake all night. No, this was not a good first impression of London. We couldn't close the window because it was too hot and Europeans have not all discovered air conditioning. Or deodorant. Or dentists. Or that smoking is bad for you. Or Really hot water to shower in. Or anything cheap!
Tired as we were the next morning we got up and readied ourselves for the trip of a lifetime. We took an expensive train ride all the way to Paris. This took about 2 1/2 hours and it goes under the water. Now when I say expensive I'm not kidding. After we were given the price, Ian's heart stopped and I quit breathing. What we didn't know is that it is much like a plane ticket and purchasing those at the last minute are pricey. We both decided that this might be our only chance to see Paris and that we had savings for surprises. So to Paris we went!
WE LOVED PARIS! We wouldn't have survived if we weren't shown how to use the tube system already and if Ian couldn't read the map. Words cannot describe the amazing sights we whitnessed and we both agreed it was worth every Euro. Word to the wise: Once you convert your American money over to Pounds or Euros, don't add up what you're really spending in American money. It's too depressing. Our hotel was so cute and quaint. It was reccomended by a friend and they were very hospitable. Our favorite things about Paris was the desserts and the Eifel Tower. Oh and they drive on the right side of the street! @ days was not enough time but we were so glad to have the time that we did. Being literally squished on the tube to the train station was the icing on the cake. I was made fun of by some old french hag but my husband pushed her out the tube door with his backpack at our stop so we could both get off. We still don't know if she got back on, or if she was left standing on the platform for the next tube.
Back to London we traveled and it was a releif to hear English again, even if everyone did have an accent. We saw Wesminster Abby, Big Ben, The British Museum, Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. My favorite part about London? "Wiked!" It was fun to get tons of pictures but we found some odd signs that we laughed at mostly because their English is a bit different from ours. We also got our pictures taken with a guard and Ian is very proud that he got him to crack a smile. Our last day we saw the London Bridge, I saw the crown jewels while Ian visited the London Dongeons, and we walked around Hyde Park. Ther we found, after much walking, The Peter Pan Monument. To our delight there was an artist nearby who gave us the entire history of the monument, so that was a bonus. We wished Ian's Dad could have been there because we know the 2 artists could have talked for hours. We visited Platform 9 3/4 for Ian's sake and crashed when we got back to our room.
I accidently left a duffle bag full of dirty laundry on the train from London to the Airport and it was never recovered. We also were missing a suitcase when we arrived in Salt Lake. That was returned to us within 8 hours. Oh yes. Europeans are not exactly honest as we discovered. Someone is enjoying that new duffle bag. :( It took us a good 3 or 4 days to get used to the time difference once we were back. I really struggled in Europe with being sleepy every day. Ian had to drag me by the end of the day. We are glad to be back and making money instead of spending so much. We both want to go back so badly and plan on taking Ian's parents next time. My parents would not enjoy the close contact you have to have with strangers and all the smoke.
After the competition, we traveled to London on a bus. On our way we stopped at Warwick Castle for more sight seeing. We had a lot of fun taking silly pictures with a few friends. Once we got to London, some friends of ours took us under their wing and showed us how to use the "tube." This is the underground transportation or subway if you will. The night came to a close due to traveling all day and we fell into bed thinking we would get a good nights rest. Since it was a weekend night, the drunks were out and making plenty of noise to keep the city awake all night. No, this was not a good first impression of London. We couldn't close the window because it was too hot and Europeans have not all discovered air conditioning. Or deodorant. Or dentists. Or that smoking is bad for you. Or Really hot water to shower in. Or anything cheap!
Tired as we were the next morning we got up and readied ourselves for the trip of a lifetime. We took an expensive train ride all the way to Paris. This took about 2 1/2 hours and it goes under the water. Now when I say expensive I'm not kidding. After we were given the price, Ian's heart stopped and I quit breathing. What we didn't know is that it is much like a plane ticket and purchasing those at the last minute are pricey. We both decided that this might be our only chance to see Paris and that we had savings for surprises. So to Paris we went!
WE LOVED PARIS! We wouldn't have survived if we weren't shown how to use the tube system already and if Ian couldn't read the map. Words cannot describe the amazing sights we whitnessed and we both agreed it was worth every Euro. Word to the wise: Once you convert your American money over to Pounds or Euros, don't add up what you're really spending in American money. It's too depressing. Our hotel was so cute and quaint. It was reccomended by a friend and they were very hospitable. Our favorite things about Paris was the desserts and the Eifel Tower. Oh and they drive on the right side of the street! @ days was not enough time but we were so glad to have the time that we did. Being literally squished on the tube to the train station was the icing on the cake. I was made fun of by some old french hag but my husband pushed her out the tube door with his backpack at our stop so we could both get off. We still don't know if she got back on, or if she was left standing on the platform for the next tube.
Back to London we traveled and it was a releif to hear English again, even if everyone did have an accent. We saw Wesminster Abby, Big Ben, The British Museum, Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. My favorite part about London? "Wiked!" It was fun to get tons of pictures but we found some odd signs that we laughed at mostly because their English is a bit different from ours. We also got our pictures taken with a guard and Ian is very proud that he got him to crack a smile. Our last day we saw the London Bridge, I saw the crown jewels while Ian visited the London Dongeons, and we walked around Hyde Park. Ther we found, after much walking, The Peter Pan Monument. To our delight there was an artist nearby who gave us the entire history of the monument, so that was a bonus. We wished Ian's Dad could have been there because we know the 2 artists could have talked for hours. We visited Platform 9 3/4 for Ian's sake and crashed when we got back to our room.
I accidently left a duffle bag full of dirty laundry on the train from London to the Airport and it was never recovered. We also were missing a suitcase when we arrived in Salt Lake. That was returned to us within 8 hours. Oh yes. Europeans are not exactly honest as we discovered. Someone is enjoying that new duffle bag. :( It took us a good 3 or 4 days to get used to the time difference once we were back. I really struggled in Europe with being sleepy every day. Ian had to drag me by the end of the day. We are glad to be back and making money instead of spending so much. We both want to go back so badly and plan on taking Ian's parents next time. My parents would not enjoy the close contact you have to have with strangers and all the smoke.
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