THANK YOU 2008

2008 has been a very eventful year for us. We were able to travel to various places and even MOVE! We hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season. Like many of you, I love this time of year! I love being with family, I love the Christmas spirit that most people have in them, and I love ringing in a New Year b/c with a new year, brings new and exciting things! Here is a little reflection on what has happened this past year in the Turok home.

JANUARY:
We went up to Gatlinburg, TN with my family, rented a beautiful cabin, went to the Dixie Stanpede, Ripley's Aquarium, and walked around downtown Gatlibgurg. I love it there!

A week after getting home from Gatlinburg, we flew out to Colorado Springs, CO with Mike's family. Mike has an aunt that lives in Colorodo Springs. We then drove up to a little town called Pagosa Springs. There we stayed in a Condo and snowboarded at Wolf Creek Mountain. It was amazing! This was Mike's first time snowboarding, but he loved it!! He has now taken on new LOVE for snowboarding after this trip.

FEBRUARY:
This was not the most eventful month, although I did have a very HAPPY day when I was able to quit my job at MUSC. I was a tech on the General Medicine Floor there, I had been there 2 years.

MARCH:
I was hired on by US Airways as a Customer Service Agent. HELLO free flights and awesome benefits!

We also put our house up on the market hoping that we would get into school somewhere. B/c the market..well...sucks! We thought it was best to just get the house sold as quickly as possible.

APRIL:
I spent this whole month traveling back and forth from Charleston to Charlotte for my training with US Airways. I had 3 weeks of it in Charlotte. Luckily my parents live in Charlotte and so my mom was able to watch Addison for me and I was also able to stay at their house and not the crappy hotel that US Airways wanted to put me in.

On my birthday, which is April 18 (HINT HINT). Mike and I took advantage of my free flight benefits and we flew up to New York City for the night. Because of Emily and her Marriott discounts, we were able to stay the night on Time Square in the Marriott Renaissance Hotel....very POSH! I also surprised Mike for his birthay which is 2 weeks after mine, I surprised him by taking him to Bobby Flay's restaurant "Mesa Grill" for dinner. It was AMAZING! I recommend it.

MAY:
Mike flew out to Jackson, Tennessee where he had an interview with Union University to be accepted into their Nursing Anesthiology program. A few days after returning from Tennessee, Mike and I flew out to Miami, Florida where we got on our CRUISE to the CARRIBEAN! It was just wonderful. As you can see, we LOVE cruises! This was my third and Mike's second. We went to Grand Cayman; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Island, Honduras (our favorite); and Cozumel, Mexico. We had a great time and are ready for more!

After returning back to Miami, we drove over to Naples, Florida where Mike had another interview for school with Wolford College there in Naples. We really liked Naples but very expensive and lots of old people. (hahah no offense)

That same week we learned that Mike had been accepted to BOTH schools!! YAY!! Go Mike!! After doing some serious thinking and praying, we decided that Tennessee would be the best place for us.

Also, the day of our cruise we SOLD OUR HOUSE!! As we were checking out of the hotel to head for the cruise boat, our realtor called and said we had an offer, she faxed the contract to the hotel lobby, we looked at it, said a quick prayer, thought it was a pretty darn good offer, signed it, and faxed it back to the realtor, DONE! We were so blessed to sale it especially the way the market is today. Lets just say that it made our cruise that much better knowing that we sold our house!!

JUNE:
We packed up our house in Summerville, and moved it all down to an apartment close to downtown Charleston. Ugh, I hate moving!

JULY:
I love indepedence day! It is one of my favorites! Over the 4th of July we went camping with Mike's family to Lake Moultrie. We got to camp out right on the lake.

At the end of the month, Heather and Blaine made a trip to Charleston and hung out. We went to the beach and ate out at Coconut Joes's, mmmmm. Coconut Joe's is this little restaurant that sits right on the beach and overlooks the ocean. I love it!

AUGUST:
Can we say HOT HOT HOT!! If you have ever spent an August down in the South, well then you know what we go through here. We dont really get out much in August! Heather and Blaine did manage to make a trip to Charleston once again, we went to the beach and hung out with them for a couple of days. We also made another trip up to Charlotte to visit the parentals.

SEPTEMBER:
Labor Day weekend, all of us siblings came up to Charlotte for a big weekend together. Mike and I from Charleston, Em and Brad from Utah, Heather and Blaine from Mississippi. Ashley was also moving to Charlotte from Utah, so after the weekend together, I flew out to Utah with Ash and we made the big cross country trip back to Charlotte from Utah with her car. As long as that drive is, we had a lot of fun. We took 3 days and drove it. We were able to stop in Independence, Missouri and visit the Carthage Jail. It was really neat. The spirit is so strong there.

Then on Sept. 14th, my little baby girl turned 1 year old. I can hardly believe it! WOW how time flies by. She is turning into such a little lady. I cannot even express how much love I have for this little girl. She has blessed Mike and I's life so much. We are so grateful for her each and every day.

OCTOBER:
We made another trip up to Charlotte. Also of course you have Halloween. Addison was TinkerBell this year. She looked so cute. My parents came down to Charleston for Halloween so we were able to spend it with them. Mike had to work Halloween night so me and my mom took Addie Trick-O-Treating and then we went out to eat with some family friends from Mt. Pleasant.

NOVEMBER:
First week Addison, me and Grandma Linda were able to go to Disney On Ice. We went for Grandma Linda's birthday.

Second week of November Mike and I flew out to Tennessee to go house hunting. We were successful.

Third week, Mike flew back out to Tennessee for his class orientation. There he signed the lease on the house. We are renting a house b/c we will only be there for 2 1/2 years and we are not dealing with the whole selling of a house part, especially in these days with the economy.

Thanksgiving we spent with Mike's family. We had a great time and had a whole lot to be grateful for.

DECEMBER:
First week was another HAPPY day for us...Mike quit MUSC!

First weekend, we make the MOVE!! If you have read my previous blogs, y'all know how our move went....HORRIBLE!! I will not go into details, you can see those in my previous posts. We have enjoyed Jackson thus far. We love our new ward and the new friends we have already become aquainted with. We were lucky to move into a ward where the Elders Quorum President is a CRNA himself. Him and his family had us over for dessert and he was giving us tips on how to get through school....haha AHHH!

On Christmas Eve, Mike, me, and Addie flew out to Charlotte to have Christmas with my family. And that brings us to today!

We hope everyone has a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Again, we have so much to be thankful for. We had a wonderful year in 2008. 2009 through 2011 are going to be busy for our family. Mike starts school on Jan. 5th, and he will graduate in May 2011. Lets just say I will pretty much be widowed for the next 2 1/2 years.....BRING IT ON! We are so grateful that he has gotten into the anesthiology program and that it is only going to take us 2 1/2 years to get through school.

We will keep y'all updated as we always do. Again HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!