Merry Christmas to all...

My two guys in their sweaters...

GO KG!

Only to good stuff for Christmas

Family Shot

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!  

Hope the holidays have brought nothing but cheer!!!  Cheer has certainly come to us.  Ty and I had "our" Christmas last Sunday night, as we both had to work today, the 25th.  We decided to scale down Christmas this year, due to the economy, our wedding, and everything else.  Ty, obviously, did not get the memo.  He got me so many nice things, I dont even know where to begin.  The one think I know is that I sure do have the best husband in the world.  All the photos you see above were taken on my new camera...something I have been begging for since I dropped mine in France.  Anyway, long story short, we have a great Christmas together.  

Last night, Christmas eve, we invited the other half of our Boston family over: Sasha, Brooke, & Rocco.  We ate, drank, and opened gifts.  Ty and I got a laugh out of our gift to them.  Lets just say, it didnt turn out the way we hoped, but I think they like it.  (Or they are great at faking! ha ha)  After gifts, we exchanged stockings...so much fun!  As I said last week, stockings are a super iportant tradition in the Olson family, so it was fun to have stockings even when away from the Olsons.  We also had our traditional meal: mussels.  Mmmmm!  

Today, Ty and I woke up at 5AM, to no electricity! Merry Christmas to us! Our whole street was without power.  One of my patients told me that Santa probably got drunk and ran into the power lines.  I like that idea!!!  I have no idea when it came back on, as Ty and I both were at work by 7 this am.  I spent the day at Tufts, and Ty at Childrens.  As much as I dislike my job, I spent the day with a very special patient to me, and I was actually happy I could be with him on Christmas.  I dont know if he will see Christmas 09, so it was nice to be there.  He has a special place in my heart.  (See, I am not coldhearted ALL the time!)  I got a chance to talk to my parents in MN and Kirk in CO.  Oh how I miss them.  I miss them all the time, but the holidays really make me appreciate and love all of my family and friends...near and far.  

I hope Santa brought all of you all your hearts desire and I hope you are all well and happy!  Love to everyone!!!!

Winter fun

The two cutest guys ever!

Mac is really in the Christmas spirit!

Our Christmas gift from the girls--Snowshoes!!  Great timing!

Ty opening his stocking from my parents!

Mac & his stocking!

Well, winter has hit Boston.  They declared a "snow emergency" like a day before the snow actually came.  I am not used to seeing the schools called off two days in advance.  The really freak out when the snow comes.  Not like MN. :-)   That being said, we got a pretty big storm...lots of snow.  Last night it was blowing and really pretty miserable, but today is BEAUTIFUL!  Last night we hung out with our favorite girls and helped them with their snow blowing.   After that was out of the way, they decided to give us our Christmas gifts early.  Perfect timing.  They got us snowshoes!  The crazy thing is that I ALMOST bought Ty snowshoes for Christmas.  These girls know us!  When we left their house last night, we almost had to put the shoes on to get the 1/2 mile to our house...lots of snow.  I could barely sleep last night.  I was so excited to wake up and put our Christmas gift to good use.  Finally after I got out of bed, I looked outside and--surprise--a package on our doorstep!  My parents sent Ty & Mac & I our Christmas stockings.  (Stockings in our family are very traditional...and I love my mom so much for thinking to send ours to us!!)  We sat down and tore into the package to see what we got.  Besides all the other awesome stuff, we both got wool socks, which was perfect for our outing today.  After all the excitement of early gifts, we decided to head out for a few hours at Franklin Park.  We barely made it out of the driveway, but we did make it there.  THe snowshoes are a ton of fun, and the wool socks kept us perfectly warm.  Now, we are just taking the rest of the day to relax and get ready for a great dinner.  Our friends Jake and Anna (who also moved from Rochester) are cooking us dinner tonight.  I cannot wait.  From the sounds of it, these two know how to cook.  And we already know that they have excellent taste in wine, so good food, good wine, good company, it is bound to be a good night.  Hope all of you are doing well and staying warm.  

Another week...

Mac with Santa (he is dressed in his new sweater and antlers!--we are mean, I know!)

It is hard to believe that another week has gone by!  We had a big day this last Thursday.  Mac started what we are calling "boot camp".  We are going to obedience classes every other week.  He is no longer allowed on the furniture or on the bed, which means Ty and I have a lot more room in bed now.  Its been going pretty well except now that Mac isnt in bed cuddling us, he is ready to wake up at 6AM every morning.  All we have wanted to do is sleep in this weekend, and it hasnt happened.  Also on Thursday, we had our first meeting with our cleaning lady!  I cannot wait to have her clean once a week.  It is going to be so nice to have her around.  Merry Christmas to me! :-)  

We also recieved a bit of good news this week.  For Christmas from Pammy, we are getting a tan!  We will be bringing in 2009 with Pammy, & Sasha & Brooke in the Dominican Republic!  I am so excited!!  I can hardly believe it.  We leave in less than 2 weeks, so Ty and I are also in boot camp to get ready for our bathing suites.  Yesterday, we spent the day with the girls and the dogs at the Blue Hills.  It was a little chilly, but good to get out and get some exercise.  Afterwards, I volunteered Ty to make us all a healthy dinner.  Thank goodness Ty is easy going and always up for anything.  We had a fabulous dinner of Tyler made sushi!  It was sooo good and very healthy!  Thus begins the diet....

Hope all of you had a great week!

Fa la la

Mac is exhausted after decorating the tree...took a lot of out of the poor guy!

Ty putting the finishing touches on the tree--the star on top! And Mac, watching just like a good little boy should! 

Mac helped me to put up his ornament, which was a gift last year from his best friend Jen, who takes Mac to the dog park a couple days a week!  

Its Santa...wait, no...it's just Mac!!!

Mac has decided to follow the scarf trend that we have been seeing so much of lately.  He really pulls it off well.

2008 marks Christmas #2 for us in our own house in Boston.  It really snuck up on both of us this year!  After two weeks of saying that we were going to get a tree, we finally have one.  We woke up on Sunday to snow.  It was the perfect day to go to the farm and get a tree.  The farm? Yes, the farm.  Sasha & Brooke have a good friend Ryan who works on a farm near Boston, so we set out yesterday for the farm to pick out our perfect tree.  It was a little chilly, but so much fun to see Ryan and get our tree.  We came home and spent the night decorating, cooking, and working on Christmas gifts for our family.  It was a great night to stay home and work on all those things we have been meaning to work on.  I finally got our Christmas cards ordered.  I am hoping to have them out by Valentines day! Ha ha! I have been so behind in everything.  Please dont be surprised if your card arrives a few weeks late!  

As for what we have been up to this week...well, work.  That pretty much sums it all up.  Ty is on research this month, so he has a little more flexibility in his schedule, but he has still stayed very busy.  Me, there is no slowing in heart attacks and those needing heart surgery, so I have been busy taking care of all those in need of a good nurse!! (HA HA...for those that know me...you know better!!)  As for Mac, he is enjoying his last week of freedom.  On Thursday, he is going to what we have been calling "boot camp".   We have been referred to Francis at Compatible Canine, and we are hoping he will be able to tweek Mac's craziness.  We will update you as things hopefully improve...

Hope all of you are well and enjoying the holiday season.  

Thanksgiving!

The "last" picture of Brooke....

The feast...it was SO SO good!

You cant tell it here, but Ty was just one of the 4 of us who were bleeding...

Too many cooks in the kitchen? I think not! 

Ahhhh, the fireplace

Mac always finds the best places to lay

Believe it or not, this was relaxing BEFORE the meal! Everyone had a long day of cooking

YAY for Erica!!! :-)

The cuckoo clock....it actually signifies a lot...

Thanksgiving.  I have to admit, I have a lot to be thankful for.  I really have a great life, surrounded by the greatest people in the world, whether it those people be here in Boston, back in MN, Canada, LA, etc.  I really have so much to be thankful for.  

This year we were invited (or maybe we invited ourselves...) to Sasha & Brooke's new house in JP.  And we were lucky enough to have Pammy fly in for the festivites.  I, unfortunately, am back to working fulltime and had to work all day on Thanksgiving.  I was jealous that everyone was having fun cooking, drinking, and hanging out and I was missing it.  When I finally got to their house after work, I didn't realize how much I truly missed out on.  I wont get into details, because honestly, I dont even really know all that I missed, the one thing I do know, is by the time I arrived, I was # 4 out of 5 people who had an injury that involved blood! Yep, I said blood.  Blood aside, it was an amazing meal.  Stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, coleslaw, lasagna, and of course turkey.  I didn't think life could get any better.  I was wrong.  Then, came the pie.  Brooke made THREE pies for 5 people!!  Truly, it was heaven.  Apple, pumpkin, & pecan.  And yes, I ate a piece of all of them.  It was wonderful.   Unfortunately, the night came to an end shortly after eating...Ty had to work in the AM, and I think everyone was exhausting from not only working so hard at making the meal so perfect, but I think everyone was feeling a little lightheaded from the loss of blood! :-)  A night to remember....

Like I said before, I am so lucky and so thankful for all of the wonderful things and people in my life.  I dont know what I did to deserve such fabulous friends & family, but I do know that I appreciate you all more than you know.  Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ducky

Ducky came to Ty & I via Janelle (Kirk's girlfriend).  Her niece, who is in 2nd grade in Riceville, IA, has a classroom project to send Ducky to as many friends & family as possible in order to see how far & where Ducky can go.  It is based on a true story where  a crate of rubber duckys was washed overboard off the coast of Alaska & all the ducks ended up all over the world.  So, Ducky hung out with us for the weekend.  We were going to take him candlepin bowling on Friday night, but things got a little out of control.  It was a ton of fun, though to hang out with Jake & Anna, our MN friends; Chris & Kelly, our dogpark friends; and of course, Sasha & Brooke.  On Saturday, we didnt do much...just hung out around the house & Ty watched his UFC fight, in which Brock Lesnar, former Gopher national wrestling champion, defeated the current world champion for the title.  It isnt my type of sport, but I had to be supportive of Ty.  On Sunday, we slept in, got up, had lunch, went shopping, & took Ducky to the sights of Boston.  Our last stop was the ocean, so we stopped and picked up Mac for that leg.  Mac had a BLAST, even though the water was FREEZING and it was the windiest day I have seen in a long time (maybe ever).  By now, it was almost dark, the sun had set, so we figured it was time to go home.  We walked to the car, and oh shit...NO KEYS!  So, we looked around for about 20 minutes, and I finally found them laying on the sand.  We were lucky to find them.  Ty is no longer in charge of the keys... ha ha!  Today, Ty is back to work, and I have an exciting day of cleaning on the agenda.  Did I mention last week that I have 100% decided to get a cleaning lady?!? YEP! I have the name & #, I just have to call...

What a historical day!

What would our blog be without an election post!  Yesterday (election day), I was so excited to wake up.  In fact, I couldn't sleep the night before.  I was ready to get out and vote.  There are not many days when you wake up, that you KNOW it is going to be a day in history, and I can play a part in changing America & the world!  I could not WAIT to get out and vote.  Luckily, I didn't have to stand in line too long, and it was a beautiful Boston day to be outside.   As I was waiting outside in line, there was a couple school buses that passed up, and the kids were chanting out the window "O BAM A---O BAM A".  It gave me chills.  I have never seen/heard kids so excited about an election.  And even better, a couple elections from now, those same kids are going to be eligible to vote.  It was just a great feeling standing in line.  The school had a bake sale for all the people standing in line.  Of course, I couldnt walk by without buying something, so I bought some bananna bread for Ty, which Mac later got a hold of! A-hole!  Then, it was inside to cast my vote.  What surprised me more than anything, I was not ID'd once!  I couldn't believe it.  THey asked me for my address & my last name.  I was blown away.  It made me think of when Ty & I got our marriage license.  We werent ID'd then, either.  Truly, getting married was easier than getting a driver's license! Sorry to get off on that tangent.  After voting, I had a lot of "errand" type things to do, but luckily I was able to watch a lot of CNN.  When Ty got home from work, we made the short trip to Brooke & Sasha's new place where we watched the results come in.  I knew it would be emotional, but I had no idea.  Listening to Obama's speech, seeing his family, looking at the sincerity in his eyes, brought tears not only to my eyes, but I think the girls & Ty were feeling the same way.  I actually heard my husband say that he wishes he was an American citizen!  On the other hand, John McCain was very humble & had a great speech when he congratulated Barack.  I am very excited for January 20.  I am so inspired and so excited to see what great changes will come about.  I can't wait to tell my children that I was able to be a part of this amazing day in history!

Halloween Pictures...

Well, I got one picture to work....

Halloween!!

Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday! I love seeing all the kids dressed up, in good moods, stuffing their faces with candy.  And, I love getting dressed up and acting stupid.  This year was NO exception!  Ty and I decided to do a family costume.  We dressed up as Fred & Daphne from Scooby Doo, and of course, Mac was Scooby.  We painted some black spots on him (he was NOT happy!).  He is just as goofy as Scooby, so he was a hit!  We hosted a party at our place.  I think a good time was had by all (though the night was a bit of a blur for me...).  All I can say is that the next day, the place was TRASHED.  It was no fun to clean!  Hope you all had a great Halloween! I am hoping to get some pictures up, but blogspot isnt letting me upload them...Keep checking back.  

Fall in Boston

Just wanted to share with you some of the scenery of fall in Boston...

The view from Peter's Hill in Arnold Arboretum.  This practically sits in our backyard, but yet the first time we actually went here was just a week or two ago!  Downtown looks quite a bit further than it really is.  (Maybe 2 or 3 miles...)

My favorite guys!

No easy task...I assure you!

Ty & I took a Sunday afternoon & walked the freedom trail. I have become a freedom trail expert, but Ty had yet to partake in the fun!  I think it helped because I incorporated a freedom trail pub crawl into the afternoon! :-)

long weekends..

Mac & Rocco

Thank goodness for Christopher Columbus.  Gotta love long weekends.  Sasha & Brooke went to Montreal for the weekend, so we have a second dog for a few days.  It is great.  Rocco & Mac are the best of friends.  Over the past year, they have really learned to get along well with no real problems.  On Friday night, Ty & I left the "kids" at home and went to the Milky Way for some candlepin bowling & pizza.  Those of you who dont know what candlepin bowling is...it is bowling with very thin pins (candlepins) and small softball sized balls.  It is tons & tons of fun, but unfortunately the Milky Way is scheduled to close in March.  We are trying to get in as much bowling as possible.  It is really hard to be good at it...the lanes are warped, the ball never goes where you think it will, but it is a ton of fun.  Ty has proven to be pretty good at it, so when I BEAT him on Friday, we were both pretty surprised.  (My bowling skills aren't top notch).  He quickly challenged me to best of 3 games...Put it this way...I didnt need three games.  I beat him the second one, too! I couldnt wait to post my victory!! :-)  We spent Saturday hiking in the Blue Hills with the dogs.  It was so much fun.  The fall colors are really spectaular, although I am not sure they have peaked yet. The weather was perfect for hiking, & I think the dogs had a blast swimming & hiking.  On our way home, we bought some pumpkins that we are going to carve next weekend!!! Saturday night was supposed to be a "low-key" night.  We cooked dinner & started playing a little wii.  Well, that didnt last long...our friend Kelly dragged us out to the neighbors where we played beer pong & watched the Red Sox.  The house had THREE kegs on tap...the night got messy.  Kelly, thank you! We had a blast.  Today has been H-E-L-L.  Recovering from beer pong & Budweiser is not an easy task!  Hope all of you are enjoying your long weekends, my head is still pounding (yes, I know it is 6pm). 

More pictures!

Jen's got more up! Can anyone tell I am obsessed & so happy & excited about these pictures??? I cant believe how wonderful these pictures are!!!  I am still in awe...

www.jkphotographyonline.com

Go Red Sox!

Last night, I had the privilege of attending my first Red Sox game...and lucky me, it was the playoffs!!!  Brooke has season tickets, and she was drawn into playoff tickets, and I still cant believe she took me!  It was a lot of fun...especially because they won!  It was a nail-biter going into the bottom of the ninth, but they prevailed.  I was in complete awe of Fenway when we first got to the game.  I have driven by it a million times, but actually going in & sitting in the seats was truly spectacular.  I think I must have said it a million times, but it was the coolest thing ever!  Our seat were on the 3rd base line, up a little ways.  It was perfect because as you look out on the field, you can see Boston's skyline in the background, complete with the Pru & all.  What a great way to spend a Monday night!  Thanks so much, Brooke!!! 

Good to be home

So happy to be home with Mac...

Although it has been a busy week, it is good to be home.  I am happy to report, my interview is done...not it is just a waiting game.  As for Ty, he is really, surprisingly, enjoying his time at MGH.  He gets to go on transports to outlying hospitals, which is a new aspect to his fellowship.  It is great because he has the weekends off, which is great for me right now since I am currently unemployed (and enjoying every minute... ha ha...back to work on the 14th, though).  As for Mac, we have taken a couple steps backward with his jumping on people, but we are working to get that back.  I have mixed feelings when I say that I won the bet about his weight.  He is still as skinny as ever.  He just got back from the dog park & is snoozing next to me (shh, dont tell Ty he is on the couch! Ha!)  Last night, we hung out with our favorite Bostonians Sasha & Brooke for the VP debate.  Sorry to say, but Brooke won Palin Bingo with "special needs".  Kind of fitting once you think about it....KIDDING, Brooke! :-)  

Well, hope you all have a great weekend.  

Home

Well, we made it back to Boston.  Although it is so great to be home with Mac, we miss, miss, miss Europe.  Like I said a million times, it was such a fabulous trip. But, back to reality.  We made it back to Boston on Monday night.  We walked in to a clean house & a bottle of champagne thanks to Brooke & Sasha!  I cant say enough how lucky I am to have married into a family that I love so dearly!  We got up early on Tues & started sorting through things.  First thing, we went to sprint, & now I am the owner of a brand new phone (remember mine was in my stolen purse)! YAY!  I feel connected to the world again!  Anyway, Ty is back at work today.  He started a new hospital & is at Mass General for the month.  I am pretty happy because that means only Mon-Fri for him.  We should get to hang out most nights & weekends.  I better stop blogging now...I should be studying up for my interview on Friday! Wish me luck!!!!

More pictures..

More pictures up on Jen's blog! Isnt she amazing....

www.jkphotographyonline.com

Time to go home & see our Mac!

-Credit to Amy Carroll

Well, all good things must end.  Our month long adventure in France, Spain, Portugal, & then France again has come to an end.  We are currently in the airport in Marseille awaiting our flight to Montreal.  In a few short (or long hours) we will be seeing our Mac.  It has been an out of this world trip, despite a few "mishaps" at the beginning.  But, we made it to Portugal (with 25 Euros in our pocket &  1/4 tank of gas), and best of all, we got married.  Our wedding was one not to be forgotten, surrounded by our fabulous family & friends in paradise.  We even, at the last minute, acquired a flower girl & "flower" boy...Thanks little Jessi & Brandon.  Afterwards, we flew to beautiful Corsica, where we have spent the last memorable week.  I have to give all the credit of the honeymoon to Ty.  He did tons of research and planned the most amazing, memorable honeymoon a girl could ask for.  We spent the last day/night of our honeymoon 1st watching the presidential debates on cnn.com, then scuba diving in the Mediteranean & eating wonderful French food & drinking amazing French wine.  What a better way to round off our week.  It brought me to tears this morning as we flew over Corsica & said goodbye.  It was such an experience, the food, the drink, the culture, & the people.  I dont think Ty or I are ready for real-life Boston, although we are both pretty anxious to see Mac.  We have been placing bets on if he has put any weight on...I bet no, Ty bets yes.  We are in for some excitement when we get home also, as Ty starts his first rotation as Mass General on Tues, & I have an interview for graduate school at Boston College's CRNA program on Friday.  (Wish us both luck...)  Can't wait to talk to you all and share more pictures when we get home!!! 

More Calvi...

Near the old town & Marina

Marina

While eating lunch, we met a new friend. She was eating peanuts first out of Ty's hand, then she was just helping herself at the dish!

Posing for a picture..

A picnic in the room

Just wanted to post a few more pictures from beautiful Calvi.  I am currently trying to convince Ty that living here wouldnt be too bad, despite the fact that there isnt a hospital!  Who needs jobs, right?!

Calvi continuted...

Me, taking in the beautiful view!

Ty on our picnic

Ty trying to get the "present" in the water! (He was convinced that some dude on a yacht dropped a present into the water...he was ready to swim out to get it when he realized it was a buoy for some sort of a trap! :-)

Getting ready for our afternoon by the pool...

We have been having such a great time in Calvi.  The weather has been a bit on the cool side, so we havent had much beach time, but it has been extrememly relaxing nonetheless.  Yesterday, we slept in...again...and woke up just in time to head out for a picnic.  We found the most amazing spot for a picnic.  We bought a couple sandwiches from a street vendor, put some wine in a 2 L coke bottle and headed out.  It was beautiful.  The point we found was a huge bunch of rocks jetting out into the sea, and we were able to look back on the town, and just out to the ocean.  It was beautiful.  After filling our bellies, we decided that a relaxing afternoon by the pool was in order.  We were staying at the most amazing hotel, with the most amazing infinity pool.  Then, of course, it was time to eat again.  Our hotel was home to a 2 star Michelin resturant.   Ty was in heaven.  We decided to splurge and get the NINE course, yes NINE course meal.  It was SUPERB!  But, when they said nine courses, I think they meant more like 12 or 15.  (The chef must have lost count...ha ha!)  Either way, it was a great meal.  And you would all be proud of us...we made ONE bottle of wine last all nine (or 15) courses...we wanted to remember the meal.  It was a great day! We checked out of our hotel this morning, and moved on to our current place.  We are staying in the middle of Calvi at a CUTE hotel.  Much more quaint than our last one, but in a great spot.  We are pretty excited to be down here on a Friday and Saturday night...I think things could get a little rowdy, and we are always up for rowdy! Well, Ty is ready to get out and explore, so I better get going!!!

Pictures....

Looking out over the mountains on our drive to Calvi! It was the most scenic drive we have ever done together!

We saw some ruins from the car, stopped, and hiked up to check them out!

One of the AMAZING beach near Calvi!

View from our own private patio...big patio! Looking out over the city of Calvi!  BEAUTIFUL!  We have an "apartment" at the hotel.  I am never leaving...it is bigger and WAY nicer than our place in Boston!!!