Christmas Letter 2012

December 20, 2012

Greetings Family and Friends,

It’s that time of year again for the Prause family Christmas newsletter. Unfortunately due to procrastination and business, this probably won’t make it to you until New Years, but such is life.

Anyways, the past year has treated us well. I (Megan) started attended (online) Grad School at Gonzaga University in August. I am working towards a master’s degree in Nurse Education, and I am on track to graduate in August of 2015. In a lot of ways it has been fun to be back in school, as I love learning, but there are definitely times I question my sanity in undertaking this endeavor. I am still working at Jordan Valley Hospital in the NICU and nursery, and I still love it. 

Kevin is still at Discover Card. He has been busy this year finishing our basement, expanding our kitchen, and filling our house with marine life. Since last Christmas we have gone from one 125 gallon tank to three tanks, the largest measuring 600 gallons (10 long x4 wide x2 deep). Over Labor Day weekend we drove to Moses Lake, Washington and picked up six freshwater stingrays. Since then we have sold one and bought three more, so we are the proud owners of eight stingrays, plus all of the other fish. It is fun to show people our tank because they are mesmerized by all of our strange creatures. We are accepting tour groups at this time. :)

We had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas in May. It was actually kind of fun, even though it involved lots of walking and not enough relaxing. Kevin wants to move there because he likes palm trees and cacti, plus he could most likely have an outdoor pond for his fish.

We are still enjoying Luna. She has been a great motivator to go on walks, although she doesn’t do so well on long walks as she ends up lying down every five seconds to cool down. I’m not quite sure how much cardio benefit I am getting, but it is enjoyable.

We hope you had a fantastic Christmas and are able to have a fantastic holiday season.

Love, Kevin & Megan

First Semester of Grad School

I have survived my first semester of nursing school, and I even did it with flying colors as I received a 4.0. The last couple of weeks were a little rough, as I was sick the week after Thanksgiving, which put me behind for the remainder of the semester. However, despite finishing my final paper at 10 pm (which is significant because I worked the next morning) and missing a friend’s wedding, scouts, and a Relief Society activity (and I think a few other commitments I had that night), and running out of time to actually read through it and proofread it well, I still received an A on the paper. Such success makes me feel good, and not in a prideful way. In a lot of ways, I am in my element now. I think school Is my “special talent.” While it is hard, I am enjoying it so much. I may not be saying that come 2014 or 2015, but right now, I love it. I am looking forward to the rest of my classes. However, I am also enjoying the month off school, although I’ve still been pretty busy, but at least I don’t have any pressing commitments.

Thanksgiving

It was my year to have Thanksgiving off this year. We spent it with my parents and my aunt’s family out in Talmage. Due to dog care issues, we drove up to my parent’s house on Thursday and came back that night, so it was a really quick trip. It was fun to see our family members that we don’t get to see as often anymore, plus the food was really yummy.