The NEW us!

Welcome to our new blog! We had one before but due to some technical difficulties it is no longer functioning. After countless tries to correct it, which ended up unsuccessful, we decided to throw in the towel and start a new blog.
Lots has been happening recently and we're excited to keep our friends and family updated. If you care to see what happened in our life prior to September 2011 check our old blog.Otherwise, visit here often and we'll update as much as possible. As for news in our life...
Travis is in the US Army and completed Infantry training in August after 16 grueling weeks. He is a great provider and a wonderful husband.
I graduated from SVU in April with a Bachelors of Arts in Family and Childhood Development and a minor in Spanish. Although I loved my time there and don't regret anything, I have always wanted to be a nurse; SVU didn't offer a Nursing program. We spent this last semester at JMU taking classes. I took nursing prerequisites. Someday soon I hope to get into a Nursing program and earn a second Bachelor's degree although it seems getting a job is a more pressing calling at this time.
We are very happy and love where we live. We miss SVU and the general atmosphere there but we've settled nicely into our new home and ward. We're glad we live fairly close to our families and feel blessed to live in such a beautiful valley.
So, instead of trying to backtrack and blog about every trip and activity we did this semester I'll just start from this past weekend to make it easier. As I said, we live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Our brothers, Javi and Todd, spent Friday night with us- thanks for coming guys! After they left we decided to take advantage of our first weekend without school so we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy some pictures

 ^Overlooking Old Rag Mountain ^

 ^Sunset on the Blue Ridge

 We get incredibly close to deer while driving through Shenandoah National Park^

Sorry if the video makes you sea-sick with all the movement.

We've come up to visit our family for Christmas and New Years. We went to visit the temple for the festival of lights. We saw a performance by a group called "La Navidad." It was nice to get out but the music was not optimal. My dad and I were the only ones who understood anything since it was entirely in Spanish. (I guess we could have figured that out by the title of the group). It's tradition to see the temple all beautifully lit. As Travis said when we left, "Now it REALLY feels like Christmas." Sometimes we get caught up in the commercial part of Christmas but visiting the temple helps to set us straight again. Here are pictures from our trip up I-495:

 ^Having a photo op in front of one of the beautifully decorated trees on display.

So far things are going great. We hope your holiday season is going as well as ours is!