In reverse order, I present April!
I can't believe all the exciting things that happened in this one month. It's kinda crazy now that I look back on it.
I decided to get licensed as a hygienist here in NC. I've maintained my AZ license all these years, but really had no desire to go back to work here. But I had some encouragement by Andrew's executive secretary, Scott Tucker, who is an orthodontist and manages several practices around here. It seems like a good time to go back! Hygienists are in high demand right now. And Caroline will be driving herself to school next year. So I'll have some flexibility.
It is a LONG process to try to get licensed again after being out of practice for TWENTY YEARS. Step one was to take a refresher course. The only one I could find was in CONNECTICUT! What the heck? It is only offered twice a year. I had thought about taking it a couple times before, but always had conflicts with the dates. This time, I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet, pay the money (it's not cheap!) and go for it.
That meant I got to take a solo road trip to New England!
I'm not used to traveling by myself.
It's ok, but I'd rather be with my loved ones.
Stopped in Virginia at Petersburg National
Battlefield Park to do some birding.
I didn't see a ton of birds,
but I did get to see one of my FAVORITES,
the Scarlet Tanager.
So gorgeous!
It had nice walking trails and the weather was good.
The setup they have for the refresher course is awesome.
You spend one day in a classroom setting.
Being updated on instrumentation and infection control.
We also got to practice on mannequins.
Then we spent two days at a dentist's office,
practicing on each other!
This is Lisa.
She was my partner, so we got to
clean each others' teeth and take
x-rays of each other.
It was just like hygiene school.
While I was in CT,
Andrew and Caroline flew to Utah.
I was so sad to miss out on being with them.
But I was already committed to my course.
Care Bear practicing juggling.
Cute girl in a beautiful canyon.
These three went up the canyon together.
Here were my classmates and teachers for the
refresher course. It was worth the expense!
I felt so much more confident after that weekend!
We had some time free in the evenings,
so I ventured over to Yale's campus.
Oh my gosh, y'all.
That place is GORGEOUS.
It was a rainy evening,
but I loved walking around.
You are just surrounded by beautiful historic
buildings the whole time!
Found a yummy place for an Asian bowl.
In Utah, these four were eating at Village Inn.
More of Yale
Haven't worn scrubs in a while!
Andrew and Care Bear snuck down to St. George
and got to hang out with the big kids for bit.
They went to Zions together. Lucky!
And at at Cafe Rio.
Double lucky!
One evening, I went out to eat with two of
my new fellow hygienist friends.
Andrew stopped by Green Gate Village,
where we stayed the first night of our
honeymoon 26 years ago.
They also got to eat at CupBop.
The reason for the Utah trip was
because Jane and Nick got married!
Yippee!
Congrats to them!
I was so sad I couldn't be there.
Instead, I was at some wetlands in CT,
doing some more birding.
I got to see a Mute Swan and an Osprey,
along with a couple other species.
I like the bridges in CT.
Aren't these pretty?
I had to drive through NYC.
Not my favorite.
There's just no easy way around it.
The happy couple leaving the temple.
NYC!
I stopped in NJ at Rutgers Gardens to stretch
my legs and look for birds.
No new lifers here.
Hi. I'm in Delaware.
I got to take that underwater tunnel near DC.
Doesn't my GPS look crazy?
Pretty landscape going by.
Maryland.
I got to spend two nights with the Buongiovanni's,
one on my way up and one on my way back.
They're so sweet and I loved catching up with Amy.
Listened to audiobooks while I was driving,
including the Curious Charm of Arthur Pepper,
which was a good one.
More views from the road.
So happy we could each take those trips.
Even though I wish the timing was better
and that I could've gone to both.
RS Presidency Meeting:
Rebecca, Mykie, Kaylyn, April, and me.
I LOVE serving with these awesome women!
We have beautiful hang-out-in-the-backyard-weather
in April! And I love watching the trees get their leaves.
Andrew's slowly getting back on to the tennis courts
with me. He can't move much yet, but I'm so happy to
have tennis date nights as an option again.
April is the time for baby ducks and geese.
I took LOTS of pictures of them on my walks this month.
Also the time for my Gerbera daisies to bloom!
GNO with Martha and Laura
My azaleas are finally getting a lot of blooms.
We bought this Ken Jenning's trivia books YEARS
ago. We would slowly go through it on road trips
and we finally finished it. I'll miss it. It was super fun.
Seen from the road as we drove home from the cruise.
That doesn't look good.
There's a hilarious stretch of highway in FL where
they have 100 of these no parking signs over and
over again. I don't get it.
When we got back to our car after our
week-long cruise, there was a FROG in the
little space where the hatchback opens and closes.
That's a new one!
The Price is Right Live came to town.
You could put your name in to be drawn to go
down on stage.
I didn't get drawn.
But I did make friends with these other two ladies
who were also trying to get on the show.
A cute turtle on our driveway
The dogwoods are in bloom!
My favorite!
We got to go to the temple with Mike and Emily.
Always love hanging out with them.
We tried to establish some new Easter traditions this year.
We got beautiful flowers to decorate.
And one Sunday we went to the Arboretum.
We took blankets and chairs and journals and
spent time studying the life and death and resurrection
of the Savior. It was a wonderful way to spend some
time reflecting on the importance of the Easter holiday.
I can't remember why C made this
fruit and veggie charcurterie board,
but it's so pretty!
Maybe for General Conference?
The skies were spectacular in early April.
Sunrise
Sunset
