Two People and Two Dogs

32 Weeks

2011-06-26T18:36:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a large squash -

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 25 lbs we will see the actual number at the doctors tomorrow.

Maternity Clothes: Just about everything, unless it belongs to J.

Gender: It's a boy!! Oliver Robert....

Movement: Total belly rolls. It looks so weird to see my stomach moving on its own.

Sleep: No complaints except for last night..Jame woke me up cause he said I was snoring. It took me about two hours to get back to sleep.

What I miss: The ability to bend over easily. Not swelling up in the humidity. My feet don't look normal after mid day anymore.

Cravings: Nothing major.

Symptoms: Congestion, swelling of the feet and ankles, heart burn at night.

Best Moment this week: Visiting Charleston, SC for a babymoon with J.

29 Weeks

2011-06-02T19:35:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 29 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a large squash

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Just about everything now a days

Gender: It's a boy!! Oliver Robert....

Movement: Moving all over the place. He is such an active little bugger.

Sleep: I am back to sleeping with the prego pillow. It is nice having something to hang onto in the night. J doesn't like the great wall of China much. I am sleeping pretty good, as long as I don't take a nap during the day.

What I miss: The ability to bend over easily.

Cravings: Fresh things, chocolate covered bananas.

Symptoms: Mainly just the rib spreading phenomenon.

Best Moment this week: Having family come to visit, being done with school, moving into the third trimester

2011-05-14T21:27:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a eggplant

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 17 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I bought some new shirts and shorts to hopefully get me through the summer.

Gender: It's a boy!! Oliver Robert....

Movement: Lots of movement now. Especially when I am sitting up straight or lying down. J can feel the movement all the time now.

Sleep:Still pretty good. I am liking my back, but know I have to switch to a side permanetly soon.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things and not be limited, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Cravings: Fresh things

Symptoms: Bad leg cramps at night, stuffy nose, and a little bit of heartburn, feeling like my ribs are being spread.

Best Moment this week: Having the nursery starting to come together.

I received a bunch of stuff from my mom to day. J helped me start to put it all together tonight.

My Best brand glider I got yesterday. I just love how comfortable it is. My mom made the throw pillow and the books are the recordable ones from my grandparents. On the ottoman are two receiving blankets my mom made.

My mom made the blanket, bumper covers, and dust ruffle. The storage boxes are filled with clothes from 6-12 months.

Changing table/dresser area. It is a little messy now. The pile of clothes are ones that need to be washed to see if the stains can be removed. The cute little overalls are from my New Jersey cousins.

Freshly pressed clothes hanging in the closet. It is fun to see it all coming together.

24 Weeks

2011-05-01T13:52:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a papaya

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 14 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am going to have to get some more maternity shirts soon. My normals ones are getting too short.

Gender: It's a boy!! Oliver Robert....

Movement: Lots of movement now. Especially when I am sitting up straight or lying down. J can feel the movement all the time now.

Sleep: I am starting to have on and off nights. Sometimes it is better than others. I am getting some wicked leg cramps.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things and not be limited, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Cravings: Fresh things

Symptoms: Bad leg cramps at night, stuffy nose, and a little bit of heartburn

Best Moment this week: Spending a fun day with J yesterday.

J and I hiked the Chimney tops trail in Great Smokey Mountain National Park. It was very slow going for me on the way up, but I made it just fine. It was four miles round trip.

The view from the very top. I didn't climb all the way because there was a steep rock face you had to climb. So J snapped this picture for me.

This was my view from the height I went to. It was such a beautiful day out. I had several people comment about how they couldn't believe I was hiking the trail pregnant. Some college kid made a comment about it and his friend jumped in with, " Your pregnant????" I guess he just thought I was fat or something. ha.... We had a fun time. Another lady said I was her hero and she couldn't complain anymore because I was hiking the trail. Hopefully all the exercise is good for Oliver.

23 Weeks

2011-04-22T19:43:00.000-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a papaya

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 14 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Seems to be about all I can wear. I bought some awesome stretchy skirts from Old Navy. Most of my regular shirts are getting to small.

Gender: It's a boy!! Oliver Robert....

Movement: Kicks are getting stronger and stronger. I can see my belly move and shake sometimes now.

Sleep: Is going pretty well. I am not using the prego pillow and am doing just fine on my own. Only getting up once to pee.

What I miss: Bending over with ease and not feeling so short of breath.

Cravings: Fresh fruit

Symptoms: Leg cramps, heart burn, ligament pain, backache, nasal congestion. I am starting to lose the belly button.

Best Moment this week: Feeling more movement, getting lots of hand-me-down clothes, and getting one of those recordable books from my grandpa.

Bedroom furniture

2011-04-10T18:44:00.000-04:00

J and I went a bought a crib and dresser/changing table combo today. It was not the cheapest, but definitely not the most expensive out there.

J pulling all the pieces out of the box.

The crib almost put together. It was really easy compared to the dresser.

Helper number one. He was a good little supervisor.

Helper number two now enters the picture. He wasn't quite as helpful.

Assembling the dresser/changing table combination. J was quite impressed with how many quality screws went into construction.

The finished product minus one knob that I am taking with me to match wood color on a glider we are getting.

The finished crib with mattress. Added the blanket my dad made to the front. I forgot about the one my mom made for the crib until after J said he was done taking pictures.

It is nice to have this little part done and put together. Thank you Grandpa Smith for helping us get the furniture!

21 Weeks

2011-04-08T20:32:00.001-04:00

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a banana

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 10 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Pants, only a few shirts, I am loving my yoga pants and stretchy shirts.

Gender: Well we should have know this past Monday, but the ultrasound tech was sick, so hopefully this coming Monday we will be able to announce the gender. It was really disappointing to make it through the day and then get the phone call that we couldn't fnd out.

Movement: Fairly active flutters, especially when music is played or someone is up front talking.

Sleep: Sleeping is pretty good. I decided to ditch the prego pillow several nights ago and I am sleeping much better. I will go back to it later on when sleep becomes uncomfortable the regular way.

What I miss: Bending over with ease and not feeling so short of breath.

Cravings: I have really been wanting a cheesy bean and rice burrito from Taco Bell this week. I might have to get one this weekend.

Symptoms: Leg cramps, heart burn, ligament pain, backache, nasal congestion. I am starting to lose the belly button.

Best Moment this week: Feeling more movement.

19 Weeks

2011-03-25T16:44:00.000-04:00

At my classroom.. Definitely starting to get bigger.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a mango

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 8 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am only wearing maternity pants now. I have a few shirts, but mostly I am still wearing what I already have.

Gender: April 4 at 4 is the big day. Hopefully there won't be any crossed legs.

Movement: Small flutters every now and then.

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay. A friend lent me a pregnacy pillow this week and I am liking it a lot. I am feeling a lot more restless and the crazy dreams are continuing.

What I miss: Being able to bend over with ease.

Cravings: Just food.

Symptoms: Leg cramps, heart burn, ligament pain, backache, nasal congestion. I am starting to lose the belly button.

Best Moment this week: Having my mom here for the week again and hearing the heartbeat at the doctors.

Week 18

2011-03-18T21:20:00.000-04:00

The belly is getting bigger. Sorry for the Opie butt in the background, James only does so well at taking pictures.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of an sweet potato

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I have been wearing maternity pants pretty much all the time. I have to find some pairs to wear to work. The belly band is not working anymore.

Gender: Will find out by the first part of April. I might try to talk the doctor into it at my appointment Monday

Movement: I think I felt the first flutters this week. I am hoping to be more sure of the movements soon.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good, except for the horrible stuffy nose I have had this past week.

What I miss: Feeling normal in my body. I am really starting to hate all the fat comments. They get old really quick. I am hoping I start to look more pregnant and less like I have eaten too much in the past weeks.

Cravings: J says it is honey barbeque twisted fritos. Everything is looking pretty good about now.

Symptoms: My energy is coming back during the day. I am very ready for my bed at night though. I have started feeling dizzy about 10:30 every morning and have determined I need to start taking more snacks to school. My school bought a blood pressure cuff for me, since my first feeling dizzy spell.

Best Moment this week: Just the week being done with. I am so glad for the weekend and that friends and my mom and Levi are coming on Sunday.

Week 16

2011-03-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

My first maternity top. Also in a pair of maternity pants borrowed from a friend. They kept falling down all day.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of an avocado

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 1 lbs

Maternity Clothes: My mom bought me my first maternity top this week. I also dug out a couple of pairs of pants that a friend lent to me.

Gender: Will find out by the first part of April. Can't wait!

Movement: Nothing yet...

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! I am getting woken up easily by small sounds and the need to use the restroom.

What I miss: Feeling normal in my body.

Cravings: Not much of anything. I am liking food in general. Cucumbers are about the only thing.

Symptoms: Feeling tired a lot

Best Moment this week: Getting a lot accomplished in the baby's room. My mom and I moved all of the office equipment down stairs into the basement room. We painted the closet with a fresh coat of white paint. I went through a lot of stuff and threw a bunch away and put others aside to donate. I also had fun getting baby gear from friends. I now have more slings/bjorns than I think I will need, a high chair, bumbo, car seat with two bases, bath tub, jumperoo, bouncy seat, and a variety of cloth diapers. Yay!!

Sabbath Afternoon

2011-02-26T20:46:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed the afternoon with our good friends the Kennedys. Potato tacos and then a hike.

Opie hung out in their backyard while we ate lunch.

J spent some quality with Henry before we left for the hike.

The boys try to figure out where we are headed. It didn't work to well.

Headed up the trail into who knows where.

A future student and I.

Puppy Time

Bear poop in the trail

Waiting for the boys to figure out where we are.

The bored face...

J and I after we finally came back down from our hike to no where.

The able bodied hiker, Mom, who came to visit.

Sabrina and her kids

Beautiful stream

Ava and I

J fording a stream that we had to drive through to get to the trail. It was quite rocky and bumpy, but we had a great time just the same.

15 Weeks

2011-02-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

It might be starting to look like I have a little belly. I think it just looks like I ate to many tacos.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a navel orange

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 1 lbs

Maternity Clothes: I am feeling uncomfortable in my regular pants. I am not ready to get maternity stuff yet.

Gender: Will find out by the first part of April. My cousin learned today she is having a boy.

Movement: Nothing yet...

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! I am getting woken up easily by small sounds though.

What I miss: Feeling comfortable in pants.

Cravings: Touch of Fruit Frosted Mini Wheats.... really just anything I see in TV that looks good.

Symptoms: Feeling tired a lot, I am starting to cry easier about anything.

Best Moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat at the Drs. on Monday. My mom also showed up to surprise me today. I am on spring break today. She showed up at school and had the pick up person call me over the speakers to come to the front door and there she was. Now I have someone to spend my break with.

Hen Wallow Falls

2011-02-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday J and I took his brother, who is currently visiting, down to Gatlinburg for some hiking in the Smokies. The weather has been really awesome the past week and yesterday also fit that bill.

We took a trail that heads up Gabes Mountain. The sun was out and the air was crisp. It was a perfect day for hiking.

J and Curt at the base of Hen Wallow Falls. It was pretty and just a tad chilly as we hiked higher in elevation. The falls are about 4.3 miles round trip from the parking lot. It wasn't a bad hike, but the jump in elevation was pretty significant. It would sure be a pretty trail when all the rhododendrons are blooming.

Curt taking a break. We were all pretty tuckered out when we got back. I was glad that I took snacks along as I started feeling light headed several times. Hiking with a baby on board is a little bit different.

Sure slept good last night though.

Week 14

2011-02-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

No picture this week as my husband is currently obsessed with Angry Birds.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a lemon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -2 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Just a belly band for work pants.

Gender: Can't wait to find out.

Movement: Nothing yet... can't wait to feel the flutters.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! Only up once or so to pee. I am starting to have some crazy dreams though.

What I miss: My back feeling normal.

Cravings: Tomato & Basil Samin

Symptoms: Lower back pain, starting to get a little belly

Best Moment this week: Starting to feel like I look pregnant. I had to wear a couple tight fitting shirts though.

Baby Things

2011-02-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

My lovely sis-in-law had some things that she was done using for my youngest nephew and decided to will them to me. I couldn't be more happy. Problem was that they were in NE and I live in TN. Well my smart mother who lives in MI found someone going to NE to bring the thing back to MI and then she will bring them to me next month. There are still a few more things to get from NE, but I am sure we will find a way before the baby comes.

New high chair. I love the little frog on the top.

The rest of the loot so far. I love the cute cloth diapers. Can't wait to see that fluffy bum.

My mom has also found a few neat things. She works at a local thrift store and comes across new things all the time.

This carrier came in. Does anyone out there own one? Did you like it? I like the price, but would like to know about the product.

My mom also found this contraption. It is mesh and can be used in the bath or someone told my mom they set it on the counter and placed their baby in it while they were really young. Has anyone used one of these?

I am excited to start collecting things for the little one. J is working on getting all the finishing touches done in our current office, so it can now become our guest bedroom. He is painting closet doors and getting them hung. Once that is done we can move everything into it and the baby's room will be ready to paint. Yay!!

Post Office

2011-02-14T20:51:00.000-05:00

Today, we had post office a school. All of the 3rd-6th graders made and sent valentines to each other. Their whole english project for the week before hand is learning how to address envelopes properly.

The whole master thing for the boys cracked me up. All the students picked a road to live on and had to hand address all the envelopes.

All the envelopes had to have a $.44 on them. This was my favorite one. Notice my last name is not Shumaker anymore it is now Shmaker.

Students all created a mail box. This was mine. I tried to make it nice, so I could use it for years to come.

In the morning, students mailed their letters in the post box. They then take turns being the postmaster and check each letter for the proper address and stamp. The letters are put into slots according to streets which then have mail carriers that deliver the mail. It took them quite a while today, since there were over 650 pieces of mail.

My mail from today. It was fun to hear all of the thank yous flying around the room today and the kids opened their mail. A very fun valentine's day.

Levi's New Hideout

2011-02-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

Levi has now decided he no longer likes to lay down in the normal part of the living room since he has gotten banned from the couch. He has taken to hiding out behind the couch, since our couch sits diagonally in a corner in the living room. James threw a blanket down there and Levi has now claimed it as his. He has to squeeze in between the couch and the wall on one side and go under an end table on the other. Silly puppy!!

13 weeks

2011-02-11T20:22:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a peach

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -2 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Just a belly band for work pants.
Gender: Can't wait to find out.

Movement: Nothing yet... can't wait to feel the flutters.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! Only up once or so to pee. I am starting to have some crazy dreams though.

What I miss: My back feeling normal.

Cravings: Cucumbers & pasta

Symptoms: Feelings of nausea and lots of lower back pain.

Best Moment this week: Finding out my sis-in-law is liscensed to make cloth diapers and will make all of the ones I need!!

Hurt

2011-02-08T23:43:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt hurt... inadequate... like you aren't good enough...that is how I am feeling right now..

I started working when I was thirteen years old. Summer job babysitting my cousins that eventually moved into working at a plant nursery. I worked for teachers during the school year grading papers and keeping track of their records. I worked at summer camps for five summers and during college I worked three different jobs.. one for a biology professor, one at the pool lifeguarding and teaching classes, and a third for the honors department. Once I graduated college I have worked in three different states teaching, including the one I am in now.

I have always loved my job, loved the people I worked with, the students, not always the circumstances that come with some of the kids and the family drama, but on a whole I have always enjoyed it.

In the sixteen years that I have been working, I don't ever remember receiving a negative evaluation or not having my supervisor like me until now. All of a sudden my happy little teaching world in which I fully thought I was doing a good job in, since the administration, parents, and students are happy, came crashing down on my head.

I hate feeling inadequate like I missed the mark. I have always surpassed the mark. I don't like failing especially when I have never heard from anyone in the past that I was doing something wrong. I know I am not the perfect teacher and I always have room for improvement and I try to be the best I can.

This time I just fell short... it hurts... nobody likes to admit they aren't good enough... well I guess I am not in this case.... I am going to try to meet all the expectations, but part of me doesn't even feel like trying to. Crawling under the covers would be so much easier, except for the fact that I can't sleep.

My dumb hormones aren't helping either... that is it... just how I am feeling. Hopefully I can pull my bootstraps up tomorrow and get on with life... right now I want to take a sick day.

Almost 12 weeks

2011-02-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

Almost 12 weeks...well on Friday, but due to my mom's pleading I had to get something up as it has been a really long time.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12ish weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a plum

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 0lbs

Maternity Clothes: I bought a belly band this week. My work pants are getting a little tight for comfort. My jeans are still great.

Gender: Can't wait to find out.

Movement: Nothing yet... can't wait to feel the flutters.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good! Only up once or so to pee.

What I miss: Being able to eat Clementines and store bought bread. Stuff not smelling weird. My back feeling normal.

Cravings: Cucumbers & tomato juice.

Symptoms: Feelings of nausea and lots of lower back pain.

Best Moment this week: Letting everyone know what we are expecting.

Biltmore

2010-12-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

J's parents were here for a few days before Christmas. His mom has always wanted to see Biltmore, so we headed over the mountains to check it out.

It was quite grand and beautiful. I wish I could have take pictures inside, but it is strictly forbidden.

J and I with Commordore the Lion, who guards the entrance to the house. It is very prettily decorated inside with lots of neat artifacts. The Vanderbilts sure had a lot of money.

The four of us after our tour on the way to another part of the acreage.

We had a great day and some good food later at Mellow Mushroom in Asheville.

Snow Day

2010-12-07T17:25:00.000-05:00

Another snow day today!! So excited!! I love how they close school for hardly any snow here. Growing up in Michigan you had to get eight inches at least to shut school down. A dusting here and it is closed.

So since I had nothing better to do today, I took some snow pictures of where I live and of my cute pups.

The view from my hill back toward town.

My neighbor's red barns

An old tobacco barn across the road.

Opie

He decided to make a meal out of the snow.

He wanted to go for the white muzzle look, so he could be older.

Our little house up on top of the hill.

Levi and Opie playing in the snow

Digging for a toy

Toys always taste better with your butt in the air.

Pretty pine cone

Hiding in the weeds

Down our back fence

My cute Levi boy

I had a fun snow day. Now I am just waiting for J to get home. He is hopefully buying his own shop next week.

Favorite Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-03T19:52:00.000-05:00

I love me some Christmas. One of my favorite parts is getting out the tree and decorating. I loved doing it when I was a kid because all the ornaments on our tree had a special meaning. They were bought at a special place or made by someone special.

I love this ornament. I have quite a few things that have Santa at the manger, lest we forget what the holiday is truly about.

Since I have no children to make ornaments for the tree, my fur-child has to do. My mom found this kit a couple of years ago and I love the footprint.

Old World glass ornament are some of my favorites. I have quite a few on my tree, but this lion and lamb is my newest one.

I made this owl last year in memory of my grandma who passed away last year. She loved owls and had quite a collection. Each of my family members received one.

I really like the unique ornaments. This is an oak leaf that was covered in some sort of metal. It has a really neat feel and appearance.

I am not a huge fan of just lights and glass balls. Ornaments should mean something and give your tree character.

Thankfulness

2010-11-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

Truth be told I am not much of a Thanksgiving holiday person. For some reason it has never been one of my favorites. I think it is just the all the family drama that tends to surround it. Regardless of the holiday, I have much to be thankful for this year.

1. A God who loves me no matter what stupidness I do.

2. A husband who is supportive and loves me very much.

3. A pair of wonderful dogs.. notice the word pair. J decided today to keep a stray boxer we found over a month ago.

4. A great job teaching grades 3-4.

5. A house that has everything we needed plus more.

6. New friends who have made our life so much more enjoyable since the move.

7. A church family that is full of life.

8. A new state that has had awesome weather so far. I was loving the 72 degree day today.

9. A set of parents that couldn't be better.

10. In-laws that appreciate me and are coming to visit soon.

And so many more things.

I am not however thankful for the price of our Thanksgiving meal today. J and I went to a local restaurant with friends. It is in a fancy hotel. We were told one price for the meal and found our grand total was a little more than what we expected it be. It was almost $70 for the two of us. Bleh... and the food wasn't even vegetarian for me or that good... Oh well we will do better next year. At least we had fun with our friends.

Free Christmas Cards for Bloggers!!

2010-11-22T16:45:00.000-05:00

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 .

I can't wait to make use of these this Christmas. I am always trying to find a cute card for Christmas and this is the answer.

Shutterfly has some beautiful designs such as:....

I love the simplicity of this card.

Or this great design:

I really like that this card is not done in typical holiday colors.

Or if cards are not your thing, maybe a calendar might do:

A very cute way to share the year with your family.

I will probably take a hodge podge of photos from the year and make one of the collage cards. I can't wait to get started. You should to!

My Back Hurts

2010-11-21T20:27:00.001-05:00

I spent a lot of time outside today. It was such a beautiful day weather wise in Eastern TN. I love the fact that it is the middle of November and temps are still hitting 70.

The person who first landscaped our house did a really nice job and then they let the plants take over the world. There was tons of monkey grass everywhere. The weed mat didn't work anymore. The rocks were so hard to deal with, but today I conquered the monkey grass and it is all gone from my front flower bed by the porch.

I also discovered that there was a massive rock ring buried around the base of our Japanese Maple. After a lot of digging I uncovered most of the large rocks and created a new ring around our tree.

I want to get some bark to fill in the ring at the base of the tree to give it a little more covering and hopfully prevent some weeds.

So.... my back hurts.

New Camera!!!

2010-11-20T23:27:00.000-05:00

I am so excited today that my new camera came in the mail. I have been wanting a DSLR camera for a long time. Over the course of the summer and fall, I have been putting a little money away every month and finally had enough for James to get me a good deal on eBay. Introducing my new camera......

a Canon 30d. I would have loved one of the higher models, but my budget couldn't afford that. So far I am really enjoying it. All of my old lenses from my SLR camera work well with it. It has been fun playing with it a little bit today.

Here are some of my first pictures:

Opie, our current foster dog.

Levi,our cute puppy.

Playing ball.. he has gotten such big legs muscles from running up our hill daily.

One of the UT Cooperative Extension farm barns across the valley from our house.

Opie watching Levi fetch the ball. He doesn't understand that concept himself.

Pretty fall leaves on our Bradford Pear trees. They are about the only leaves that haven't fallen yet or lost their color.

Levi in the leaves waiting for someone to throw them for him to catch.

Hopefully I will have a lot more pictures up in the coming days since I have the new camera to play with.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-11-20T23:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, J and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. We didn't do much since we both had to work and J got home late. I made him his favorite supper of lasagna, bread, and green beans. Today we headed down to Pigeon Forge, since we are so close. We went to Dollywood to see the Christmas in the Smokies Festival.

It was quite pretty with all the lights. We rode a few rides and saw two shows. It was a really good time. We got season tickets. The price to go twice is way more than the price of a season pass. Now we will be headed back several times to see what else the park has to offer in the daylight.

J and I in front of the large Merry Christmas wreath. The lady taking our picture did not understand the idea of getting it in the picture. Kind of the whole point of taking it there. Oh well, at least our heads were not cut off and we were in focus.

Frosty and I. The park was decorated really nice. It think it was recently voted the best Christmas festival at a theme park. They use over four million lights to decorate. I am sure glad I don't have near that many.

Overall it was a pretty good anniversary. It seems to be tradition to go to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge every two years, so next year we will have to go somewhere new.

Well You Should Have Studied...

2010-09-09T20:52:00.001-04:00

.... so says me to all my students today. But can't you help me? What answer do I need to put for this question?

Grrrr..... it made me so mad today. I have been warning them of their up coming science test over classification for the past week and a half. We had in class review yesterday. I typed up a study guide, which had all the questions from the test on it worded slightly differently.

I have never heard so much panic over questions on a test.

They should have studied.

I don't have much sympathy.

Fall Favorites

2010-09-07T18:50:00.001-04:00

Top Two Tuesday

I love the fall colors. It is so pretty to see the colored leaves and to hear them crunch when you walk.

I love the celebration of harvest with fun decorations,Thanksgiving, and yummy food.

I also can't wait for the weather to cool down a little bit!

Jog to the Middle of the State

2010-09-05T22:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning, J and I headed across TN to visit my cousins. We hadn't been there in a while, so a visit was definitely due. We were very excited to see....

Miss Lyla... She has grown so much since I saw her last. Quite the little talker of words in her world.

We made it just in time for church and the great meal afterward.

After eating, Lyla and her mom took a walk to see some of grandpa's cows. She loves them, but I never did hear her make a cow sound.

Lyla and her cousin Tessa get a ride from Andy.

Emeline, Lyla, and Tessa

The girls have so much fun playing with each other. Emeline likes to direct the little ones.

Lyla showing Tessa how to pick pine cones off the tree.

We headed out to some property for a walk and time to let the dogs swim. Levi loves to fetch sticks, but Jed was too big for him. He would have to paddle so hard to keep up and eventually grab the stick.

Bringing it back to shore. They were pretty good at sharing.

Lyla watching the dogs. I love the screwed up lip.

We walked out to some hay bales. Levi jumped up with a little encouragement to spend some time with Lyla.

Happy Girl! She loved showering Chantel with hay.

My handsome boy!

Lyla with her guardian, Jed.

Chowing down on the way home.

Bath time at home to wash all the hay off.

Splashing and playing.

Group picture before Miss Lyla went to bed. The Shumakers and the Litchfields

This morning Lyla discovered Levi's crate. She had a fun time loading it with toys. It reminds me of her cousin Scott when he was little.

My cousins happen to live right by the school where four of my girls from last year are attending. It was so nice to see them. We took Katie out to Sonic this morning for a drink and a visit.

Katie and I. I am so proud of her and my other girls there.

J and I had a great time, even though it was short. We hope to see the Litchfields in a few weeks in Gatlinburg.

Puppy Update

2010-08-22T21:38:00.001-04:00

Well a couple hundred bucks later the little pups are in Parkville, PA getting ready to go to a new home. It was so hectic trying to get done with school, taking the pups to the vet, and then an hour away to transport.

Tippy, the vet had me name the pups, was enjoying one last good chew before leaving. I named her that because she has white tips on all her toes.

Hershey, cause of his brown color, is so little compared to his sister. Just a little over four pounds compared to her six.

The pups are at their new foster home. They will get a little care for a while and then be adopted out to the right family. J and I are hoping the new owners will send us pictures.

Three Dogs Tonight

2010-08-19T22:02:00.001-04:00

We have three dogs at our house tonight. Levi, of course, but we also have two cute puppies. James was driving home from work today and found to cuties sitting in the middle of the road.

People around here just dump dogs that they don't want. I don't know how someone does that. Just heartless.

How could you get rid of these two cute faces?

He brought them home and we watered down some of Levi's food to give to them. They ate ravenously. Their gums were pretty pale, so hopefully the food will help them out.

We gave them bathes because they were covered, I mean covered in fleas. Dawn dish soap does wonders in killing the buggers. We called a bunch of local shelters and they are full. People just don't spay and neuter their pets around here.

This little guy hated the water. He wanted out so bad. If you blow the picture up you can see all the fleas on his head.

The little guys are head to the vet tomorrow after school, then tomorrow night they will hopefully go on transport up to PA to find new forever homes.

Hopefully we don't find these all the time. It could get expensive.

Going to sleep. They are all tuckered out in blankets in Levi's old crate. Hopefully they will get a new home soon. Maybe if you live in PA they could be yours....

Ooh ooh Who is a Slacker!! Pick Me!!

2010-08-16T22:06:00.000-04:00

So I have been in a blogging rut. Well actually I have just been super busy with school starting up. We had the first full get down to business day today. I have an interesting cast of characters to say the least. There are a lot of boys and wow are they talkers.

To get myself back into things I doing a top two tuesday from Undomestic Momma.

Top 2 Characters You Would Want To Play on a TV Show or Movie

1. Dr. Temperance Brennan from Bones

She is such a smartie and is so knowledgeable of her field. I don't dig the whole God does not exist thing, but I think it would be a fun job. Plus you get to work with Booth!

2. Bethenny Frankel from RHONY and Bethenny Getting Married?

She is so funny! I love to watch the show and see what sorts of ridiculousness she gets into. It would totally be fun to be her. I also like how she worked for the way her life is now. I wasn't handed to her.

Who are your top two?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-04T21:16:00.000-04:00

Enjoying the pool.

Lately...

2010-08-02T22:38:00.000-04:00

...we have been sooo busy. I have been terrible about blogging. School has started in full force. I have been busy in my classroom. The previous teacher left so much junk and such a big mess. It seems like all I have been doing is cleaning and organizing. I had my first set of meetings today at school. Listened to friendly arguments and discussion about kids I had not a clue about. The next few days will be nuts. Hopefully I can get a good blog up in the next few days...

Come stop by our front porch! I will be kicking up my heals there this weekend.

Happenings...

2010-07-27T23:17:00.000-04:00

J and I have been doing a lot of work around the house. It is slowly starting to come together. We are still waging war with the red wasps. J has made several contraptions to try and catch them, but they haven't been very successful. I think eventually we will have to get an exterminator out to the house.

I finally had time to get into my classroom this week. I spent several hours there today and yesterday. One of my fellow teachers came to help me clear things out of my room. It seems that I inherited tons of leftovers from the previous teachers of my grades. I have chucked a lot of stuff and still have more to do, but I feel like I am making some progress and might actually have room for my stuff in the cabinets.

I headed down to GA today for teacher's meetings tomorrow. It is some sort of new system teacher in-service. Oh the joys of being somewhere new and learning their way of doing things.

I stopped in Chattanooga on my way down to see my uncle and stop by a few of my favorite places. My uncle has done P-90X and is doing it again. He looks great!!

He was off bike riding when I left him. Hopefully I will get to see him more often since I live closer.

I hit up one of my favorite stores, McKay Used Books. I love being able to find books I loved when I was little and I love getting them for such a cheap price.

These were my finds today. I love children's books by James Herriot. He always tells such good animal story. I am trying to get all his children's books. Bill Peet is another favorite. He stories always made me laugh.

I also headed to the School Box. Since I don't know where my new teacher store is. I got some cute stuff. Little monsters.

Not a great picture from the world wide web, but you get the idea.

My mom washed stuffed animals today. The community service center she works at, had a fire. They always give out stuffed animals at the fair and with it being a few weeks away. They are trying to salvage as many as possible.

I loved this picture that she took of them drying on the line.

I monkeyed (not a word, I know) with it a little bit and made it look like it was made of plastic.

So that is what I have been up to lately. I am currently sitting in the Hampton Inn watching goofy TV and trying not to think about bed bugs, since I have been told that their infestations level is up 500% in the US. Gross.... I hope they don't live in my room.

Sunsets Off Our Porch

2010-07-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

J and I have the most beautiful sunsets off our front porch... Enjoy the view..

We also have some friends that live over the fence.

They are very interested in Levi.

Happy Sunday!!

New Nemesis

2010-07-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

J and I have discovered a new Nemesis since moving into our new home. Say hello to Mr. Red Wasp.

Our house has not been lived in full time for the past four years, so they have taken over the nooks and crannies around the outside of the house. Thankfully we don't have them on the inside, except for an occasional one in the pool room.

We have gone through at least ten cans of wasp and hornet killer. The stuff claims it can kill on contact, but it lies! While power washing the north side of the house this afternoon, we discovered a better way to kill the buggers. We discovered that if you hit them with the stream of water from the power washer it temporarily stuns them and they fall to the ground.

This is when they fall prey to the feet of J and I. I think we killed at least fifty or more this afternoon. J would often spray them with wasp killer after they got stomped just to make sure they were good and dead. I personally thought stomping was enough, but I have never been stung (knock on wood), so I don't have the fear that he does.

They seem to be a little less after we were done, but I think the war is far from over. However, we are winning in spades....Us 200 + (from when we started last Friday), Wasps 0 (no stings reported). Hopefully we continue those odds.

Trip to the Mountains

2010-07-22T08:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my in laws, J, and I headed up to the Smokey Mountains for some fun. We have been so busy keeping everyone unpacking that we figured our parents needed at least one day of fun. We aren't very far away from Gatlinburg and Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

J wanted to show his parents the views from on top, so we headed straight up to Clingman's Dome which is the tallest point in the state of TN at 6,643 ft. It is almost the tallest east of the Mississippi.

My in laws resting on one of the benches on the way to the top. It is a 1/2 mile hike up once you have made it to the parking lot. It is rather steep, but at least it is a good work out.

Once on the top, I found this plant covered in what looks like yellow jackets to me. It freaked J out because he hates all flying stinging things.

The Appalachian trail crosses the top of Clingman's dome. We all thought it was funny that we could say we walked the entire width of the trail. The trail is only about 10 miles from our house, so J and I would like to hike parts of it some day.

Beautiful butterfly on the walk up. The ranger helped me identify it as a Pipeline Swallowtail.

J and I at the top. The view behind us is looking back toward Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

Mom and Dad

The Smokey Mountains sure lived up to their name. It was a hazy day from the top. From the bottom to the top of the mountain there was a 20 degree difference in temperature. The upper sixties sure made for nice hiking. J and I can't wait to go back and do some more of the trails. However, we are going to wait for the tourists to go home this fall. July is the most active month in the park. There are over a million visitors in this month.

Trying to identify mountains from the map. I was trying to figure out where Cades Cove was.

After a good time in the park, we headed into Pigeon Forge for supper.

J got a burger that was bigger than his mouth. It was funny to watch him try to fit it in.

We wanted to go to the new Titanic museum, but at $25 a ticket we opted out. I don't understand why places think they need to charge so much.

We finished off the day with a walk around Gatlinburg. We browsed in some shops and got some ice cream from Kilwins. I learned that my favorite mud ice cream is Gatlinburg Mud around these parts, instead of St. Joe River Mud at home.

We had a great day! We are going to work on more unpacking today. It kind of seems like it never ends.

Back Online...Finally

2010-07-20T22:25:00.000-04:00

Today we finally got Internet. I am so glad to be back online. A lot has happened in the past few days. On Friday we finally closed on our house after a harrowing week of waiting and waiting. The former owners let us move in some things on Thursday which was great.

Here is a look at our move:

Unpacking the U-haul trailer. We made three trips with it full along with the bed of our truck. We had some great help from a parent and new student of mine. They made our lives lots easier. J needed help with the real heavy stuff.

Our packed garage. The av tower in the foreground is no longer. J tried to use it as a step stool today. It isn't rated for his weight.

J's parents came in on Friday right after we closed. We put them to work right away.

Levi did a great job of supervising all the activity.

J vacuuming our pool. It had been idle for a while and needed some TLC. We have been in it a bit. The heater has been useful.

In our new rocking chairs on our porch. We can sure see some beautiful sunsets over the hills.

Relaxing after a long day's work.

My MIL has been helping me alot with cleaning. The previous owners did little to none in the form of cleaning before they left. It has definitely been gross in some areas. Thankfully the kitchen is all clean and organized now.

We have done some major painting. The whole house was white except for our robin egg blue master bathroom. We painted the living room, kitchen, pantry, master closet, and hall closet. J and I still have more painting our future, but it is much better now than it was. There is a great view of our pink carpet in this shot.

We took a break from unpacking today and went to the local farmer's market. We got come awesome stuff and for only $12. My in laws got some awesome bread and local honey as well. The honey is so good. The lady at the stand said that if you buy honey that is made in your area of your local county and then cook with it, your allergies will almost diminish. I am not sure about it, but it sounds like an awesome research topic.

Yum!! We already got into these tonight. Potatoes, garlic, pole beans, bell peppers,tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn. The old man at the booth with the beans laughed at me when I asked out to cook them. They don't grow beans like that up north. I got a quick lesson in how to shuck them and cook them. We will see how they taste.

We are off to Gaitlinburg and Great Smokey Mountain National Park tomorrow.

The Pre-Moving Move

2010-07-14T19:27:00.001-04:00

Sunday J and I loaded up everything that was left in the apartment and headed to TN. We thought we were closing on Monday, but here we are on Wednesday and we still aren't closed. We have been told for sure tomorrow. J and I are doubtful. We will believe it when we sign the papers.

Here are a few pics of our journey so far:

The truck and trailer loaded down. You can see J's huge tool box and our new lawn mower.

My car was loaded to the gills. I couldn't see out my back window.

J with his packing marvel.

Driving down the interstate. Only one strap broke. =)

What we having been doing a lot of since Sunday. Waiting....

Miss Magally, she belongs to the Smiths who are graciously letting us crash their place while we are waiting to close. They are in the midst of packing themselves for a move. So we are grateful they haven't thrown us out yet. Yay for good friends!!

Updates

2010-07-13T21:34:00.000-04:00

J and I are in TN. We still haven't closed yet. Hopefully tomorrow. It has been quite the process.
We are so thankful for friends here who are letting us overstay our welcome.
We have gotten somethings done like transferring insurance.
I managed to get sick today. I think I got food poisoning. A plastic bag in the car was my best friend.
I got my eyes dilated today, so it added to my misery. I spent most of the day on the couch trying to feel better.
Levi is having a blast playing with his doggie girlfriend Maglly.
My dad is headed home from the hospital. Still haven't figured out what is wrong, but they don't want to do surgery until they figure him out better.
The crew is out walking the dogs and I am supposed to be heading for bed.
Thanks for all your prayers, hopefully tomorrow there will be a blog about our new house, but there may not cause we are not sure we can get dsl at our house, so that might be interesting.
Happy Tuesday!!

Goodbyes and the Zoo

2010-07-10T21:37:00.000-04:00

J and I went to church this morning with a heavy heart. We were going to be saying goodbye to lots of great friends.

J and I with Ms. Velma. She is such an awesome lady. She is always doing so much for the church. Her husband was great too. He passed away during our first year here. We will miss her hugs and cheerful advice.

With the Campbells. They will miss J greatly as he was always fixing their car after they got in accidents. Hopefully they won't have anymore.

Ralph is my church boyfriend. He is such a sweet guy. I will miss him a lot.

With Renee my fellow teacher for the past four years. We have had so much fun together. I will miss her lots.

After church we headed out to the zoo. They have been redoing a section and we wanted to see the improvements. The Louisville Zoo has always been a favorite. We have had some great interactions with some of the animals. J loves to make the lemurs howl.

Jaguar catching some z's. When they are so cute like this it is hard to remember that they are wild animals. I really want to pet one.

Titan the sea lion in the new section. The sea lions were so much fun to watch. They were playing tag. Titan was an absolute show off.

As we were watching, we listened to a couple try to determine if sea lions were a fish or a mammal. He was sure they are fish because everything that lives in the water is a fish. Wow!?! Where did he go to school? His wife was trying to explain they gave birth to live young, but you could tell she wasn't sure. Being the teacher, I had to jump in and say they are mammals. Did he see gills somewhere??

The elephants were out and about. We were sad seeing them though cause the baby elephant, Scotty, died a month ago from some disease. He was too cute!

There was a baby in the giraffe section. He was sure a cutie! He was scratching his head on the male giraffe and you hear another adult pipe up, "Look the baby is trying to get milk from the mommy giraffe." It was pretty obvious that it was not a mommy giraffe and the little one was definitely not trying to get milk. Oh well, we had fun listen to the remarks.

Goodbye Louisville... see you later... Tomorrow J and I are heading out to TN. Yay to finally be going. We are still not sure of a closing date. We are going to stay with friends until then. We are supposed to close by Thursday at the latest, so pray it is sooner.

*My dad is feeling better, only cause he barfed a flood. The doctor is trying to avoid surgery if at all possible. He is having a surgeon consult tomorrow with my dad tomorrow morning. So my dad will be in the hospital for a while until they figure this thing out. Thanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming. Thanks*

Talk to you next in TN!!

...

2010-07-09T20:18:00.000-04:00

My dad is headed into the hospital again tonight. He has a blockage where his small and large intestines meet There is a small chance he might not have to have surgery. Please keep him, my mom, and the doctors in your prayers. It is very stressful on everyone. This is the second time in three months. Hopefully they will figure out what is wrong this time.

Friday Fives

2010-07-09T12:44:00.001-04:00

I always enjoy Beth's Friday fives and today I thought I would join in. It is all about your five favorite blogs. I have recently gotten into reading more and more blogs. It is so much fun to make new friends from all over the country. Here are my favorites in no particular order.

1. Brittany at Living in the Moment is one of my favorites. I find I have a lot in common with her and I love all her funny stories and take on life.

2. Katie at Loves of Life is always so honest and she is a teacher too.

3. Ree at Pioneer Woman is awesome. Love her recipes, stories, giveaways (someday I hope to win one.), and her conversations with her brother Mike. They crack me up.

4. Mrs. Bluebird at Bluebird's Classroom doesn't have a lot to say during the summer, but during the school year she is full of stories and adventures in her middle school science classroom.

5. Kelly at Kelly's Corner always has fun stories and uplifting news/advice.

There are so many others I love as well... hopefully I will find some new ones today.

p.s. Beth, you lucky duck for winning the cookware giveaway.

My Daddy

2010-07-08T11:45:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago, my dad was in the hospital and had surgery for an intestinal blockage. It was a very painful for him and kept him away from work and doing nothing for quite a while. Last night my mom took him to the ER again. He was throwing up and had severe abdominal pain all day long in which he continued to work.

The ER really didn't have a whole lot of answers for him. They gave him some pain medication and told him he needs to stay on a liquid diet for the next two days and not work. He is scheduled to see his regular doctor on Monday.

My mom and I are racking our brains trying to figure out what could be causing his pain. We were thinking that maybe he is developing some sort of allergy to a particular food. Maybe he is lactose intolerant. He has been eating quite a bit of ice cream in the past couple of weeks to help him gain back some of the weight he lost with his surgery. (For those of you who don't know him, my dad weighs only around 120lbs on a good day. Surgery took 10-15 lbs off of him.) So that is one idea.

I was thinking that he might be allergic to gluten, since he eats a lot of homemade breads and my mom makes her own gluten meat substitute. (My parents and I are vegetarian.) But I really don't know much about that allergy.

So to all you people out there in the blogosphere, do you have any ideas? Suggestions? Questions we need to ask the doctor? Thanks for your help.

10 items or less...

2010-07-07T19:43:00.000-04:00

Doesn't 10 items or less mean just that. J and I were at Wally-world the other day and had just a few items. Seven to be exact. There were huge lines everywhere and this Wally-world doesn't have self check outs. So we headed to the express lane....where we waited... and waited... and waited... It seems that some thought that it was okay to go through the 10 items or less lane with no less than 250 items.. seriously. We were both so annoyed. The lady was talking on her cell phone and was ignoring the cashier who was trying to talk to her.

I don't understand this lack of courtesy. Do people just not care anymore?

Cricket!

2010-07-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

What a cutie!! Finally coming out of his prickly shell.

Teacher's Pet

2010-07-05T17:11:00.000-04:00

I got a new pet for my classroom today. He is a hedgehog named Cricket.

My new little pincushion.

There is a nose peeking out. He wasn't too happy about being awake. He is nocturnal and is currently sleeping the day away. Hopefully he will be more playful tonight.

Starting to wake up.

Exploring his cage.

He should be a fun pet to have in my classroom. Might have to invest in gloves for little hands though.

Beautiful Weather, Blueberries, and Boobs

2010-07-02T21:43:00.000-04:00

The weather around here has been absolutely beautiful these past couple of days. Highs in the upper 70s and low 80s with almost no humidity. It has been nice to sleep with the windows open. I will not be doing that this weekend though because the weather is turning hot and humid again and I live in a firework happy neighborhood.

Yesterday was awesome out! I got a call from one of my favorite old grandpa's in my church. He had some blueberries he just picked for me. I got Levi and headed over to his house. He has quite a few acres, so I thought Levi would enjoy the run.

Ralph was so excited when I got there and showed me all around his place. He has an awesome little gazebo in the back. I sat and visited with him and his wife for quite a while. Levi had a great time running around his yard with Gigi, Ralph's Jack Russell.

As we were sitting there I noticed a momma doe and her twins drinking from a dish in their back field. It was so pretty. Then all of a sudden Ralph started talking about boobs, well he called them breasts. I was slightly shocked. It is not usually a topic of conversation you think you would have with older folks.

Anyway... he has a niece that lives near where we are moving and she evidently had a breast augmentation and then got large. It was evidently a piece of information that found necessary to share with me.

Oh well... never a dull moment. At least the weather is still nice and the blueberries were excellent. I might have to smirk though the next time I see him and is wife.

If you don't know how to swim stay out of the pool!

2010-06-29T09:32:00.001-04:00

I have never felt more strongly about that statement since my recent trip to Holiday World. Holiday World is an awesome little theme park in Santa Claus, IN. It is so family friendly, no alcohol allowed, free soft drinks, free sunscreen, and lots to do for everyone. They have a roller coaster section and a water park.

J and I went this past weekend with two of our girls from church that are like kids to us. We had a great time on rides and playing in the water. One of J's favorite things to do is jump waves in the wave pool. I really enjoy it too.

It was such a hot day that there were lots of people in the pool. The four of us headed up near the deeper part because there were less people and the waves were larger in that area. The waves started and the four of us were having a great time riding them. The next thing I knew I was under water and it wasn't because I had not jumped high enough to get over the wave. Some person who didn't know how to swim decided I needed to be their personal floatation devise.

Talk about scary. Since I was a lifeguard for 10 years, I knew how bad the situation was. When people who don't know how to swim panic, it can turn bad really fast. I was luckily able to push the person back toward shallower water where they could touch. It just boggles my brain how parents let their kids go out into water that is over their heads when they don't know how to swim.

Learning to swim is something that everyone should learn how to do. Everyone needs to have the skill to be able to navigate themselves in water. At least so they can learn how to properly conduct themselves and not do anything that is out of their personal ability level. Swimming lessons can start as early as 6 months. I just wish more people would make it a priority to get their child taught how to swim.

Winner

2010-06-28T11:47:00.000-04:00

Jessica at Cress Life is the winner of my $40 giveaway from CSN stores. Congrats Jessica!! I hope you find something you like.

You need one of those...

2010-06-24T11:41:00.001-04:00

J is a body man (aka a fixer of wrecked cars). He does a really great job and is really well liked by his boss and co-workers. State Farm loves him, as well, because of the way his cars look when he is done. I like that he likes his job, but he is always bringing home the weirdest stories about the people that he works with. They are all pretty rough group of characters. Because of this J is always really hesitant about taking me out to lunch with the guys. Well yesterday we went out to eat with two of them. They were both really nice... but during the meal Houston pipes up and says, "You need on of those."

I turn to look to see what he is pointing at .... it was a little kid probably about 16 months or so. Grrr.... It is beyond frustrating.

If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me when J and I are having kids, we would be so rich. It is so frustrating to me because we have been trying. For over a year and a half. People just don't seem to get it. So I always have to come up with some sort of dumb excuse like my students are kids enough for me.

People just don't understand that the sperm does not always meet the egg like they expect it too. It kills me too because so many of my friends have recently had kids or are currently pregnant and so many of the blogs I follow are constantly announcing their great news. I want that to be me too.... I don't understand either how it hasn't been working. I know quite a few people who have gotten pregnant on birth control or can tell when they ovulate. Bah humbug.... don't get me wrong though... I am thrilled for these friends of mine and love their little ones to pieces. It is just frustrating to me, that the biology isn't working right.

I have started initial testing with my local doctor to see if there is anything out of whack like my thyroid or something that would prevent pregnancy, but alas it can't be that simple. So more tests are needed. J and I decided that we aren't going to worry about testing until we get moved and settled, but it still bugs me.

It really bugs me that even the guys he works with are pointing out the we should be having kids. So for the world to know.. we are trying... just don't ask me when we are having kids... cause I don't know and I just wish I did.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on the post below for a $40 gift certificate to CSN stores.

Giveaway!!

2010-06-21T10:50:00.002-04:00

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

I was excited when CSN contacted me to do a giveway. They offer a huge selection of just about everything online. From a bedroom vanity to dog products to linens to bathroom accessories you can find just about anything you would like. There are over 200 stores from which you can make your choice. You can choose to get whatever you want with your $40 gift certificate. Just head over to CSN's website and figure out what you would like to buy.

To enter head over to CSN's website and tell me one thing you would love to add to your home. For a second entry become a follower of my blog. For a third entry blog about my giveaway on your site. Just make sure you let me know, so I can check it out. The winner will be chosen a week from today, June 28, so make sure you enter by Sunday night. This giveaway is open to anyone in the US or Canada.

Our Proposal Story

2010-06-18T12:50:00.000-04:00

Kelly at Kelly's Corner is doing a cool show us your life this week. It is all about proposal stories.

J and I went to Florida for spring break. We stayed with my best friend Sarah at her family's condo in Fort Lauderdale. J couldn't stay the whole week because of work, but we still had the best time. We drove up to Disney and spent lots of time at the beach. On his last night there, a group of us went to paint pottery. J thought it was kind of dumb, but he went with it.

Our plate

It is pretty cool that we have a plate to remember our trip by and it also comes from the night we got engaged.

After pottery my best friend and her husband took us to eat at Cheesecake factory.

I was taking pictures like nuts, because I figured if J was going to do anything it would have to be that night.

You can tell by J's cheesy smile that something is up.

Upon getting back to the condo, J asked me to go for a walk on the beach. I pretty well figured he was going to proposed, so I grabbed my camera and off we went. We walked for quite aways, what we talked about I don't remember. The next thing I remembered was that he was down on one knee asking me to marry him. It all happened so fast. I of course said yes.

Right after he proposed.

J calling my dad. I had him call as soon as he proposed. We woke my parents up. I think it was a good thing though. =) My best friend's little brother was the first person that we told, since he was the only one still awake at the condo when we got back.

J had to leave the next day to go home. I sadly took him to the airport. I spent the rest of my time there combing through bridal magazines and trying on dresses.

Hot, Hot Hot!!

2010-06-15T17:24:00.000-04:00

J and I discovered last night that our AC blew in our apartment. Luckily the sun was going down, so the temperature wasn't as intense. Needless to say it was a stuffy sleeping situation. I love sleeping under lots of covers, but it was even too hot for me to do that. Totally a gross situation.

I called the apartments this morning and they set the fix it guy over. He determined that our AC had a broken fan motor. They talked with the company that contracts with them and they can't come out until tomorrow. It wouldn't be that bad, except for the fact that it is around 97 out with heat indexes over 100. By around one I was so hot. I went up to the manager's office and they set me up in the model apartment. Yay!! I have been relaxing in the AC for a while now. Levi is totally not sure what to do. I think he is weirded out with all the being in different places in the past couple weeks.

The model is furnished. It is so nice to be relaxing on a couch while watching TV. Furniture is so nice after not having any for a while. J and I will be spending the night here until our AC gets fixed tomorrow. Yay for model apartments with AC.

I am ready to be back in Michigan though without this heat and humidity. Hopefully moving to the mountains in a couple weeks will help out with the temperature thing. We are getting the inspection done today and everything is getting set with the lender. We are really hoping we could be in around the 4th of July, but that might be wishful thinking. I can't wait be fully moved!

Bad Dog Levi

2010-06-14T22:20:00.000-04:00

I have a funny puppy. He punishes himself when he is in trouble. I came home from Walmart today and upon opening the door to the apartment he ran out onto the landing and sat by the stairs. His tail was tucked under his hiney and his ears were down and he looked busted. Seems someone decided to help himself to the dog bones I made for him the other day. Needless to say he didn't want to come back inside the apartment. He finally came back in and all it took was one "Bad dog Levi" and a glare and he was in his cage for a while. It is so funny that he punishes himself. I just show him the bag he chewed and he hunkers down again. He won't even take the bones from it with out his I'm busted smile. Funny puppy!

Home Again, Home Again....

2010-06-13T21:43:00.001-04:00

I am back in the good ole land of KY. It was sad to leave my parents, but good to be home. We should hopefully be closing on our new house in 3-4 weeks at the latest, so I will have a few more boring days here at the apartment. J's work is slowing down for now. Lucky for me, he shouldn't be working the crazy hours he did while I was gone.

I am glad to be done driving for a while. It is not one of my favorite things to do. I wish I could just sleep like Levi.

New Things

2010-06-11T22:59:00.000-04:00

I was very privileged yesterday to meet Miss Ryleigh Kate from Jorden and Kristin's blog. She is just too cute!! I went to high school with Kristin's brothers and have gotten to know her much better through her blog.

I nabbed this picture from Kristin's blog, since I was dumb and didn't take any pictures. I got to hold the little sweetie for quite a while until she determined I didn't have what she wanted to make her happy. Gotta love the rooting instinct. =)

It was so much fun to cuddle the little one. Kinda makes me want one of my own.

While I have been here visiting my parents, I worked on a project for my mom. I found a cute design online for a bird feeder. I thought I would give it a try since it looked easy.

The finished product is now in my mom's garden. We will see how long it is before the birdies find it. You put water in the cup and seeds in the saucer. I thought it was cleaver. It is always fun to try new things.

Three Girls and a Truck

2010-06-09T23:15:00.001-04:00

My parents heat their house with wood, so summer is always spent finding downed trees and hauling the wood home to be split and stacked for winter. With my dad being in the hospital and laid up for a month, this collection process didn't start as soon as planned. Well today my mom, Mrs. Atkins, and I got a jump start for my dad. He had a cut up a bunch of wood where he works, but needed a truck to haul it home, since he doesn't have one.

This is us with load number two for the day. My dad was greatly surprised when he got home from work. It is always fun to do that for him. He gets such a kick out of wood. Hopefully he will be like his dad still getting and splitting wood at 95.

All that work makes me tired... and did I mention I baked two batches of dogs bones and weeded all the beets in my parents garden. Which is no small task. I also finished up Bible lessons plans for next year. Yay!! Now onto science...

So Excited

2010-06-08T23:22:00.000-04:00

We got the accepted offer papers on the house today. Yippee!! So hopefully a month from now we will be homeowners again. J and I are already plotting about what we want to do to the house. We both just want to live there, pink carpet and all for a while. I will probably get into doing stuff in the yard right away. I love puttering around in the flowers and such.

There is a part of the three acres that is left unmowed like a prairie. I want to sprinkle seeds and plant a few flowers that will spread like nuts in it. So next spring and summer, it will be a blaze of color. I also have a bunch of flowers that need to be planted in the yard right away. I divided a bunch of flowers at the old house to take with me, seeing how they were by birthday present one year. It didn't seem right to leave my present with someone else. My dad has also brought home a bunch of free stuff from his work. He works at a plant nursery. So I will have lots and lots to start making the yard beautiful. The excitement has definitely started to set in. I can't wait to get down there and get started.

If you didn't see the house click here. It will take you to the post about it.

Update

2010-06-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

So I realize I need to post.
I am tired, so I don't want to.
I found a squished, dehydrated, dead baby mouse today in a box at the thrift store that my mom volunteers at. Ewww.....
We survived the tornadoes. Some buildings and trees and block or so away ... not so much.
Yard work is hard work.
Levi is way to obsessed with his ball for his own good.
I am thankful for people who do their job well and by doing so make my life easier. Thank you Connie (not to be confused with my mom).
I am also thankful for my mom who happens to be named Connie.
I need to go to bed!! Night....

Silent Saturday

2010-06-05T22:55:00.000-04:00

Today was a nice quiet day. Tonight on the other hand might be quite loud. There is a huge band of thunderstorms rumbling in the west with tornado watches until morning.

There's a Mole...

2010-06-04T22:13:00.000-04:00

Today while out in the yard, I noticed Levi acting strange. He had his nose buried in my mom's hostas and was standing still doing the typical dog point. I went over and pulled back some leaves. Hoping it wasn't a snake, cause those are the devil. Can't stand them at all. Thankfully it wasn't, I just saw a small fuzzy butt. I got Levi to back up and then started pulling back leaves again. The little critter burrowed underground, but I nabbed him before he got to far into the ground. I pulled out this...

Isn't he cute, Mr. Mole. He has the softest fur I have ever felt. Even better than a rabbit or chinchilla. He was not to keen on being out in the sunlight though. I relocated him up in the peach orchard away from my mom's flowers.

This evening my parents and I went to my friend Kim's house. We got to know each other in high school. We were known as Kim #1 and Kim #2 since we became biology lab partners right off the bat freshman year. We have stayed good friends over the years. She has the cutest little girl, who was not to sure of us at first, but warmed right up and gave us some awesome belly laughs.

Samantha is modeling my mom's shoes. She did such a good job with them too. Took them right off my mom's feet matched them up with her right and left foot and started walking. It was too cute. She seemed very proud of her accomplishment. We had a great evening and some good visiting. Now time for bed.

Dog Days of Summer

2010-06-03T23:11:00.001-04:00

Well it is not really summer yet according to the calendar, but once school is out it is summer no matter what month we are in. My mom and I had a relaxing day today. We didn't really do much except piddle around. She caught up on a bunch of stuff from being gone. I tried to get my new work contract. Come to find out, for the dumb I-9 form then need two pieces of id. Well one is in my purse and the other is in a fireproof box in KY with the keys for the box in TN. Ughh....luckily I was smart a long time ago and gave a spare to my mom, so when I return to KY, I will be able to retrieve the second piece. Here lies the next problem. I am employed by a private school system that covers Eastern TN and GA for next year. Well the head office is in GA and they say I have to let them see the hard copies. Seriously.... I have to drive all the way there to let them touch the pieces of id so I can get paid for July. Blahhh.... I will be there for meetings in late July. I am hoping tomorrow I can convince the payroll department that waiting until I get there and still paying me with only photocopies of the id is a good idea. I hope they understand the concept of moving and things in many places.

My mom and I went up to St. Joe and took some pictures with and of the dog statues. We tried to get Levi to pose. He was afraid of the dogs at first and then he eventually got to the point of peeing on the dogs. Goofy pup!

It's all about me.. That is for sure. He got spoiled today with some new toys and a rawhide bone.

He loves the little koala. He is currently sleeping with it.

I am going to be teaching art next year in addition to science and math. I saw Martha Stewart make these cute flowers yesterday out of pipe cleaners and decided to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty well.

My mom also made some blackberry freezer jam today. It tasted so yummy. When we get in our new house I can hopefully make some because it is so easy.

Hopefully tomorrow is as relaxing as today!

Potential New House

2010-06-02T11:17:00.001-04:00

J and I put an offer in on a house on Monday. Yesterday it was verbally accepted. Yippee!!! The contract is being overnighted to the sellers and then they will overnight it back. We are really excited because we are getting it for 40K less than asking price. So hopefully by Friday at the latest we will have everything in hand. Then the inspections can begin. The sellers are already talking about getting all their stuff out (which is a lot! They had more knickknacks set all over than I would ever want.). The house has been vacant for three years which probably explains why they were willing to take such a hit in price.

This is the front view of the house. It sits on three acres on the top of a hill. I love the wrap around porch on two sides. It will be perfect for my two new rocking chairs.

It has a drive under garage for me. The door on the porch leads into the kitchen. There is also a huge room on the back....

Opposite of the house is this huge three stall garage/barn. It is absolutely perfect for the type of auto body work that J does. It has really tall ceiling so he can put in a huge lift. It is will also be nice that his mess can stay in there and not in the house garage.

Porch view. I can't wait to find a table and chairs to go out on the porch for eating outside. I also promised J can he can get a grill. There is also the door that leads to....

Kitchen - I really like breakfast bar and counter color. The dinning space is directly behind the picture if you understand what I am saying.

I love, love the fridge. I wish it wasn't white, but it is a fridge on top with french doors and an ice maker for J. I hate bending over to look in the fridge. There is also a pantry in the space between the fridge and the back door. The stove and dishwasher will eventually need to be replaced, but over all it is a nice kitchen.

Don't you just love my new pink carpet! Ugghh... it will get replaced eventually. There is a nice bay window behind the pink shades. Seriously who would do this to a house.

This is the mystery room on the back of the house. We will have our own indoor heated pool. Can you say swimming in the winter! It will be fun, but also a lot of work. From having a pool growing up I know. J and I didn't really care about the pool, but it is a kind of cool feature. It is eight feet at the deepest and I think three feet in the shallows.

The house also has three bedrooms and two full baths. There are also two half baths. One in the basement and the other in the breezeway between the kitchen and pool. There is one finished room in the basement and the rest is unfinished.

J and I are definitely hoping all works out and goes well.

All pictures were borrowed from the house listing website.

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-30T20:16:00.000-04:00

J and I decided that we needed to do something for the holiday weekend. We had thought about a wedding in DC, but at the last minute we decided to come to my parents. J will be leaving me here for a week or so, since I have been so bored at home with nothing much to do. We left Louisville yesterday morning and got in around 3. We decided to head up to one of my favorite places the beach. Well some don't call it a beach, since it is not the ocean, but I think it is just as nice because you don't have to deal with the salt water. Levi loves going to the lake.

We found him a stick and he got busy rescuing it. He hates it to be covered in sand and digs frantically around it to get it out, but alas... he never succeeds in cleaning it.

Daddy brought his sling with him and got busy chucking rocks into the lake. He didn't do that many because the twisting motion hurt his stomach because of his recent surgery.

He also threw the stick for Levi a lot. You can see how devoted Levi is to whoever has his stick. He would not let it go to even met a dog that was passing by.

J raced Levi into the water for the stick. The water was still pretty cold and I could not be convince to go in very far.

Stick rescuer

Levi had so much fun in the sand. He just dug and dug. We had to quit throwing the stick because he got too cold.

J and I enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

We ended the day with some good food and a visit. My dad had to work this morning, so J and I headed up to the beach for a walk and some more sunshine. At ten, there were a lot of people starting to gather at Silver Beach. We found a good parking place at the top of the bluff and walked down to the lake.

The lake was calm, the sun was warm, and the scenery beautiful. The lighthouse is one of my favorite things to take pictures of. There were lots of people out walking on both piers.

After the beach, J and I walked downtown St. Joe. They have their new statues out for the summer. It is all about the dogs.

I loved this little corn dog.

J and I headed home when my dad got off work. Since my mom has been gone to Hawaii, he has been alone to attend to the garden. J and I decided to help him out with the weeding. I took care of the front bed and then went and helped in the main garden.

J tilled through rows of cucumbers, green beans, potatoes, and much more. I wish we lived closer to share in the produce.

Levi tried to help with the weeding, but eventually had to go into the back yard since he was so anxious to get to the weeds and chew them to shreds.

The tomato end of the garden. Only sixteen varieties this year; down from twenty-three last year.

Some greens in the front bed: collard, kale, beets, and lettuce.

The Japanese dogwood in my parent's front yard is in full bloom. It sure looks pretty. We are relaxing now after a good supper watching the Coca-Cola 600. J and I hope to be at the next race in Charlotte come October. Happy Memorial Day!!

Things that Make Me Happy

2010-05-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

Show us your life this Friday is all about what makes you happy. Head over to Kellys blog to see other lists.

Family - J, Levi, & I

A good song on the radio.
Something yummy to eat.
A good night's sleep.
Students getting a concept that they have struggled with or realizing that it really isn't as hard as they thought it was.
New clothes
A sunny day or a fast and furious rainstorm.
A good book.
........

Weekend in Greeneville

2010-05-24T17:43:00.000-04:00

J and I had a good weekend in Greeneville. Well Saturday was great and Sunday as okay, so they averaged out to a good. We drove down early Saturday morning to get there in time for church. We were introduced up front, so J was scared. He didn't have to say anything, but he does not mix with getting up front of people. After church we hung out with some good friends of ours. We had an awesome lunch and then went to do a little hiking in the Cherokee National forest. J and I are so excited to be moving close to where we can do lots of hiking and such. We like hikes were there is a reward at the end, so of course we did a waterfall trail. The trail was really easy and short so it was a nice hike.

Our friends, Matt and Jenn, have an awesome boxer named Maglee. She and Levi became best buds instantly. They had a wonderful time chasing each other all over the trail.

Levi and his girlfriend

At the base of the falls

Sunday was a headache of a day. First we went back to the house that we currently have an offer on. J did some serious looking around at the wiring, attic, and crawl space to make sure that everything is in order. I walked around and took a lot of video of the inside. We are currently in negociations with the bank. They will be getting an ultimatium from us tonight saying that we must have acceptance or denial by Friday or we are walking away from the house. Our offer has been on the table for over a month, so we are getting anxious and sick of waiting. Don't do a short sale!!

After looking it over, we headed to some other houses that have potential if our current offer falls through.

House 1 - 3 acre, nice size house with part of the basement that could be finished, wrap around deck on two sides, ugly rose carpet, awesome shop for J, indoor swimming pool, way over priced. It is also near the local sewage treatment plant, so we would want to know about any smell before making an offer.

House 2 - 1 acre, for sale by owner. The house was thought out really well. Every two outlets in the kitchen has its own circuit. It is nicely laid out with a fair amount of space and a full basement that can be finished. It has a decent shop for J. It is also really over-priced because the owner had so much to do with the building that he is really attached.

House 3 - Cute log cabin on 3 acres. We didn't get to see inside as the house isn't on the market yet. It looks great from the outside and our realtor is getting video later this week of the inside. It doesn't have a shop, so one would be built. It sounds like the price will be reasonable.

So the waiting game is still on.... Grrr... I am so ready to be moving down there, but it looks like it won't happen for another month or so.

Last Day of School

2010-05-20T22:38:00.000-04:00

Yay for being done with school! I was so glad that my students caught me in this one.

Thank You

2010-05-19T22:33:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it is so nice to hear those words. Tonight was our graduation/awards ceremony at school. The program went well with only a few hitches. Probably my favorite part was the very end. Two of my girls, who are very dear to my heart, got up and sang a song. They dedicated the song to the people who have helped them grow over the years. They specifically mentioned J and I. They sang "Thank You" by Ray Boltz. It is one of my favorite songs and boy it sure started the waterworks. I cried my way through the song and then had to get up and do closing prayer. Bother... I sounded choked up and I am sure I looked lovely. It was nice to hear 'Thank you' though. Sometimes you don't hear it enough.

Check out this video for the song.

So It Began....and Ended

2010-05-18T13:48:00.001-04:00

Class trip was great. I am glad to be back, but I wish I was still there by myself with J and Levi. You see my students are driving me nuts. There is enough pettiness, stupidness, and just plain meaness going on in my class room right now that I just about can't handle it any more. Most of it is happening at home and it is getting brought to school. I am so ready for the next two days to fly by. Then I am home free for the school year.

The trip was really good though. We had an awesome time at Wonderworks. You really should check it out if you are in Gatlinburg. I have been three times and have always enjoyed it. We went whitewater rafting with Big Creek Expeditions down the Pigeon River. They are totally awesome and will get a post of their own soon. The girls loved it. We also had fun hiking in the Smokies and seeing the wildlife. Here are some of my favorite trip pictures.

Before rafting

Mama bear and triplets

Abrams Falls in Great Smokey Mountain National Park

Matching shirts

View from our condo window. The drive up to this place was killer.

I'm Back... and Oh So Tired...

2010-05-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

Well I survived the Gatlinburg trip. We had a great time even though it rained everyday that we were there. I am still waiting for some of my students' pictures before I blog the trip. So instead I will give you my Crazy Eights!

Brittany at Living in the Moment tagged me to play along. It doesn't require much thinking, so that is good.

I have always liked the number eight. It is my second favorite number behind thirteen and that is all I really think about it! Hum... can you tell I am tired tonight.

8 T.V. Shows I Watch

Bones
Big Bang Theory
How I Met Your Mother
Holmes on Homes
The Mentalist
The Parenthood
Say 'Yes' to the Dress
Billy the Exterminator (on A&E, this guy and his family are funny!)

8 Favorite Places to Eat and Drink

My mom's house
Cheddars
BD's Mongolian Grill
Subway
Kilwin's in St. Joe
Boom Boz Pizza
Macaroni Grill
Old Spaghetti Factory (I will be very sad to leave this behind in Louisville.)

8 Things I Look Forward To

Getting out of our apartment.
Finishing the school year.
Moving to a new house.
Going whitewater rafting again.
Seeing my parents again.
Having babies.
Meeting Jesus.
Going to heaven.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

I hiked to two waterfalls.
Walked in the rain for at least a mile.
Saw a momma bear and her triplets.
Sat in traffic in Cades Cove because of the bears for at least two hours.
Yelled at some dumb boys who were hollering at my four girls.
Drove up and down the steepest road to a condo ever twice.
Got J's and my name and anniversary written on a grain of rice for free. The man was trying to get me to buy a necklace. Didn't work.
Ate smushed PB & J sandwiches for lunch at one of the waterfalls.

8 Things I Like About Summer

No School
Wearing flip flops
Water activities
Getting a tan
Using all my cute shirts after the long, cold winter
I get to travel more often.
The days are longer.
Thunderstorms.

8 Things I'm Passionate About

God
My marriage
My students
Church
Levi
Outdoor Activities
Shoes that are comfortable (hello Merrel)
Reading

8 Words or Phrases I Use Often

"Seriously??"
"Who is the genius who did...."
"A million years or less."
"Ball, ball.."
"__________ what are you supposed to be doing?"
"You really think that is a smart idea?"
"What????"
"I was listening."

8 Things I Have Learned From the Past

Cherish things while you have them.
Try it, you might like it.
Children will reach the bar set for them.
People take things you say seriously, whether they were serious or not.
Not to worry about what others think.
The past is the past, don't live in it.
There is always room for more love.
To always do better than people expect.

8 Places I'd Like to Visit

Australia
Ireland
Colorado
South Africa
Fiji
Japan
Madagascar (I want to see lemurs.)
Iceland

8 Things I Currently Want/Need

Lots of sleep.
The school year to be over now.
A house to move into.
A sweet tea.
My puppy to snuggle with me.
A shopping spree for hiking gear.
My legs to quit hurting from hiking yesterday.
My mom to cook food for me.

8 Bloggers I Tag to Play Along

Jessica at Cress Life
Kristin at Jorden and Kristin
Beth at Just Me and My Life
Kristi at K2 +K
Jill at Soldakte 6
Kelsey at The Seattle Smiths
Katie at Loves of Life
Chantel at Litchfield Times

Off to Gatlinburg...

2010-05-13T13:35:00.000-04:00

As of an hour and a half from now I am headed with my eighth graders to Gatlinburg for a weekend of fun. We are going whitewater rafting and spending time touring some museums and such. We rented a little cabin up in the woods. It will be nice for fixing meals and such. I don't know if I will have Internet or not. I hope so that way I can up date you all with pictures of what we are doing. Have a great weekend!

Great Neighbors

2010-05-11T20:46:00.001-04:00

One of the saddest things about moving is loosing our neighbors. J and I were so blessed to have awesome ones. When we had a tree come down in our yard and on our house, they were immediately out there helping us cut it up and get it down. They were always will to lend a hand or tool or an ear. It is so nice to know that there is some to turn to when you need something. I have a neighbor babysitting some plants for me right now until we move. Another neighbor mowed our yard in the three weeks we were waiting to close. I just hope that when we move, we get some awesome neighbors like those we had on Farm Oaks.

J and I went to supper with Dave and Linda tonight. It was nice to sit and chat and just enjoy each others company. We are headed out to eat with another couple soon as well.

We had a great meal and conversation. We will sure miss them.

Camping Trip

2010-05-09T22:44:00.001-04:00

This past weekend J and I took some kids from our church out camping. We have done it a lot in the past few years that we have been here and this was our last opportunity before we move. Friday night we packed up and headed to Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, IN. The park has been one of our favorites while we have been here because it is close and it has some nice trails. The weather was awesome when we left. It was in the 80s. Well after we got to the park and set up camp, we noticed the wind picking up and before you know it there was rain coming and the temperature was dropping. The wind was a little bit scary. I would say there were 40-55 mph gusts and when you are in a little tent it is kind of scary. The girls were screaming a little at first, since their tent didn't get its fly staked right. J soon fixed it. Needless to say we all didn't get much sleep.

It continued to get colder over the night and by morning the wind was still howling.. Yikes!! It was cold, cold, cold. We let the girls sleep in for a quite a bit, since it was so cold out and the fact that it was a pretty sleepless night for all parties. J and I finally got a fire going thanks to many napkins as we forgot newspaper. We gave the girls an option to go home after our afternoon hike and they decided to stick it out.

Getting ready to start our hike down to the creek trail. Cheetah is already lagging behind. Yes the name is Cheetah...that is all that needs to be said..

Blackberries blooming along the trail.

Starting out in the creek bed. The main trail at the park is the creekbed. It is about five miles from start to the two waterfalls at the finish. There are also two other falls that branch off from the trail.

J and I rocked the rolled up jean capri pants. He hates this picture, but I think they look cute on him.

Ashley on her throne. She isn't a PETA fan though... it stands for people eating tasty animals.

On a fall in the creek. Cheetah, Jessica, Katie, Ashley, and J.

A very cold dragon fly. I touched it and it didn't move.

One of the many logs the girls walked across. We tried to stay out of the deep water.

A box turtle. Levi was so freaked out by it.

Katie fell in the creek. It was oh so funny.

She was so sad that she got wet. We laughed and laughed though.

My boys. Levi had a blast playing in the water.

Dinosaur head or in J's case an eagle's head.

Walking in the flora of Southern Indiana.

Creek crossing

Little Clifty Falls. We couldn't get close to the large fall as it was blocked off. We walked about 8.5 miles total. The girls were sure sore and ready to relax for a while back at camp. We had a great supper of hot dogs and really started to enjoy the evening when the wind finally died down.

Jessica got ambitious and decided to hack a log in two. She was very proud of her accomplishment.

Levi was one cold puppy this weekend. The nights were kind of hard on him. He doesn't have a lot of fur and absolutely no fat, so he shivered through the night. He is definitely getting a doggy coat for camping. J hates dog clothes, but when he saw how cold Levi got he caved in. Levi slept in between J and I last night and was still cold. He basked in the sun this morning to get warm and has been sleeping ever since we got home. It was a fun weekend, but my bed is going to feel good tonight.

SOLD!!!!

2010-05-06T20:50:00.000-04:00

Check out what is says on the bottom of the folder Levi is holding. Sold!! We closed on our house tonight and are 100% debt free, until we buy our next house that is. J and I are so excited to have it done. Almost three weeks later than it was supposed to be, but done and over with none the less. We are now in hunting mode for our new house in TN. Can't wait to find our new home!

Thankgiving and Prayers Needed

2010-05-06T20:41:00.000-04:00

Thank you to all of you that prayed for my dad. He is coming home tomorrow. Yay!! He will have a long recovery time at home and can't go back to work for a few weeks. Thanks so much again for your prayers.

I am asking for payer for another little lady today. I blog I follow and found through my sis-in-law has had some troubling news today. Cayman has hydrocephlaus and had go to the ER today with complications. She desperately needs prayers for healing, doctors work, and recovery. Check out her mom's blog:

The Beautiful Cayman Cindy

I nabbed the picture from her mom's blog. Keep this sweet girl in your prayers for the next bit.

Shopping Fun!

2010-05-06T20:31:00.001-04:00

I had another day off school today. I love days off school. I took three of my girls and went shopping today. I don't go shopping a lot and when I go J usually goes with me. He tries to be nice and enjoy it, but it doesn't really work. So it was nice to go with some females, even though they were fourteen. We hit up three of the local malls. They decided to build two different malls on opposite sides of the freeway, so the traffic in the area is nuts. We hit up lots of store and I found a few nice things. Most of them came from the graduation gift card to Old Navy from J's aunts. Thank you Aunt Darlene and Deloris! The clothes were such a good deal that I still have a little more left on the card.

Awesome little sun dress that was only $15. There might be a color theme, since I love the aqua blues and teals.

Cute top that was 70% off from Aeropostale. I normally don't shop there, but with three fourteen year-olds we had to go, so I looked to entertain myself. I love the flower embroidery on this top.

Cute little white t-shirt from Old Navy. It is a little flouncy on the shoulders when it is on, so it makes it quite girly which is nice. It was on sale for $6.

Another cute embroidered top. It was on sale for $10. Two of my girls liked it so much that they got ones in purple and yellow. So they now think we need to share. Not so sure about that. I also got a new pair of white flip flops to go with the sun dress.

My new Tevas. I have been wanting pair of dark brown flip-flops again, since Levi destroyed my last pair when he was a pup. These are so comfortable and they were a great price.

Shopping is oh so fun, when you are not looking for anything and are just out to have a good time.

A Day Off

2010-05-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to not have to go to school today. It is a teacher in-service day, but since I am not working at my current location next year I don't have to go. Yay!! So I get to hang out with this cute boy all day.

We haven't done much and don't plan on doing much. He is currently sprawled on the bed recovering from playing ball. He loves the ball, more than me or J.

I got Mexican food for lunch in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I might lie out on my porch later. Dunno... it is nice not to do anything.

Funny Saying

2010-05-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Kindergarten student to a third grade boy and sixth grade boy at lunch: "Third grade boy you are white and like chocolate. Six grade boy you are black (he is not black he is Filipino) and like vanilla. That is funny."

Third grade boy refering to sixth grade boy: "He is not black. He is just mixed up."

Hee, hee... it made me smile.

My Daddy

2010-05-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

My daddy is not doing good again. He had a bad night last night and they are afraid that his intestines are twisting again. So they will be doing x-rays today, maybe a ct scan, and he might have to get the ng tube back in his nose. He is quite discouraged and miserable since he thought he would be out of the hospital by now. Keep him and my mom in your prayers today. My mom is having to cancel plans for a trip at the end of the week and it is throwing everyone at the other end for a loop. Delta is being great and is letting my mom reschedule her flight without a fee. Yay for that at least. I am hoping we can close today or tomorrow on the house and then I will be free to go see my parents for a few days. I have Wed-Fri off school for a teacher in-service that I don't have to attend since I am not going to be working here next year. So hopefully it will all work out.

Today's Rant

2010-05-02T16:46:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about consequences for the decisions that we make. It seems that the more I look around me I see people making decisions and not wanting to accept the consequences for them. I watch my students get mad at each other for things that are their own fault, and then turn around a blame another person because they don't want the responsibility of their actions.

I am so thankful I had parents who made me take responsibility for the things that I did when I was young. If I got in trouble, I was punished. If I didn't step up to the plate and take responsibility for my actions, I wasn't given special privileges for not doing my part. I see my students misbehaving terribly and there are no consequences given at home. Bleh... it frustrates me. I only can police what happens at school, but sometimes I feel like I have to police what is happening at home.

I really think that kids need to be getting jobs during the summer and working. So many skills come from having a job and having to answer to a boss. I started working when I was thirteen during the summers and have held a job since then. My parents had me open my own checking and savings accounts and taught me how to balance a checkbook (I am so thankful now for the whole real time online thing. I hate balancing a checkbook, but I know how.). I had to purchase a good share of my clothes and pay for any extras like cds, movies, and trips that were beyond normal school and pathfinder expenses. I have had to do my own laundry since I was quite young. It taught me to follow directions the first time or I ruined my clothes. I know it sounds like my parents made me do a lot, but they really didn't. They helped me if things got to be too much. My parents always pushed me to do my best and I like to think that I did pretty well. I finished college in a timely manner and was out on my own, learning the whole responsibility thing further.

All of this has given me the attitude of: "As you make your bed, so you must lie in it." Everything has consequences, cause and effect. Everything I do has a consequence good or bad. I have to learn to live with the results of the decisions I make. It is part of being an adult... I just wish the rest of the world would catch on to the idea. It doesn't matter how old you are you must accept the consequences of your actions and not make others pay for your mistakes.

Plane Ride

2010-04-29T17:22:00.000-04:00

J and I had a fun adventure last night. A neighbor of ours was going up to do some flying and invited us along. We headed out to Bowman field for the flight.

Jeff gets the plane ready while J looks on. J loves to fly and would like his liscense, so he was busily checking things out.

Getting ready to take off. It was a beautiful day for flying. We were headed to Owensboro for some supper.

Downtown Louisville. It was pretty hazy once we got up. It was a lot of fun to see stuff up close from the air though.

Where the Derby will be held in just two days. Louisville is in the midst of Derby fever.

Looking back on Louisville, heading to Owensboro.

Getting ready for a landing in Owensboro.

Leaving after a wonderful meal and good conversation.

Camp Au Sable

2010-04-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

I loved working at summer camp. I would go back to that job in a heart beat. We would start the first week of June and would end right before school started again in August. Camps would go from age 6 to family camps. The kids that camp through the camps were amazing. I have so many memories of the goofy things that the kids did:

There was one counselor who would threaten his little boys into behavior by saying I would kiss them if they didn't behave. Being 6-8 this was the most terrible thing in the world. They were so good for the rest of the week.
There was one cabin of girls who put on a Britney Spears show during rest period.

There are many more, but I can't recall them at this moment. I just remember being so happy during those four summers. They were not without their share of problems, but I learned so many life lessons.

Some of my favorite memories: slurpee runs, canoe trips running drag down the Au Sable, plays, watching movies late at night, walks around the board walk, teaching kids to wakeboard, swim, water ski, climb the wall, and to over come their fears, Stevens, days off and going to Traverse City, goofing off with people, dumb introduction skits on Sunday nights, watching kids come to Christ, taking pictures... I could go on and on. Bottom line I loved camp... I still do and can't wait to send my future children there some day.

House Hunt

2010-04-27T09:54:00.002-04:00

Well the good news is that we finally got word from our buyers, buyers, buyer that they have the okay to close. So hopefully we will be closed on our house by the end of the week, before Friday since that is when our next house payment is due. That was a welcome piece of news yesterday.

Yesterday was just plan rotten!! I am still waiting this morning to hear if my dad will have surgery or not. Just keep praying please.

Well this past weekend we went down to our new hometown. We went to church on Saturday and then had a great afternoon/evening hanging out with the associate pastor and his wife. Unfortunately they will be moving soon after we arrive there. They are headed up to my old home town for them to attend seminary. J and I are both pretty bummed about that, but hopefully we will see them when we visit my parents.

Sunday morning we met with our realtor bright and early (7:30) to be exact. The houses we liked were spread all over the place, so we had to drive around a lot.

House 1 - 16 acres, a view to die for, and a whole lot of nothing else going for it. It had an awesome garage under the house that had no inside connection. Why would you want to walk back up the hill to carry in your groceries? The house was crossed off the list pretty quick.

House 2 - 15 acres (only about 2 livable, the rest is wooded), awesome house with lots of space except the master bathroom which was incredibly small. The problem is that you can't fix it easily because the house is on a slab foundation. Also there is a water drainage problem that would have to be fixed behind the house. We liked the house really well, but one other problem we realized upon leaving was that the road to get to the house was so little, I mean it was no wider than one car and twisted and turned like you wouldn't believe. The house is still pretty high on our list.

House 3 - 4.75 acres, an awesome out building for J, but the house was the small size as the out building, only 1212 square feet. It felt so little inside. It has gotten crossed off the list.

House 4 - was a double wide trailer. I don't remember how many acres, but walking into the house killed it for me. It was just typical of a double wide inside. The funny plasticy walls and just no real room for improvement beyond building another house. It is off the list.

House 5 - Another awesome building for J, a killer view, and a house that was in really terrible condition and really too small for us. X off the list.

House 6 - This house was just strange. J and I could not figure out if we liked it or not. It has 8 acres, a slab where J could put a good out building, a little barn and several sheds, a huge green house, outdoor dog pen, and then comes the inside. It is an old farm house. The kitchen is strange; I really don't know how to describe it except to say a canary meets a barn. There are only two usable bedrooms and it is a little house. It is still on the list, but not very high up there. It was pretty over priced.

House 7 - only 1.5 acres, has a great building for J, and is huge. The finished and unfinished square feet total over 5200. It was made in the 50s and was super high class for that time. It is priced amazingly well, so we are going for it right now, because it has so much potential to be an awesome investment for us. We put an offer in on it last night and will wait to see if it is accepted.

House 8 - was very crowded inside. Everything just felt shoved together. The house we have now is so open and even though it is small it feels open and large.

We might have seen one more. I don't remember. It was a very long day and then J and I had to drive home. Hopefully our offer gets accepted because there isn't much else out there that we like. Keep praying that we find the right thing for us.

Update

2010-04-26T09:29:00.000-04:00

House hunting went well. I will hopefully have a post about that later today.
Please pray for my dad. He is in the hospital. He has a twisted bowel and may have to have surgery. I guess the twisted bowel is cause by your intestine wrapping around scar tissue and he has some from a surgery when he was 6 months. Please pray for mom as well that she has strength.
We are down to one dog as of this morning. Izzie attacked Levi and when J went to pull her off she went after him. Needless to say it was the last straw with her for J. He took her back to Metro Animal Services this morning. I am pretty sad by this, but it needed to happen. We can't have a dog that will go after you.

So needless to say my morning has started out pretty stinky. It doesn't help that we got back really late last night from Greeneville and then had to wash the dogs since they were so dirty from being outside. Bother... I hate Mondays!!!

Thankful Thursday

2010-04-22T14:12:00.000-04:00

Today I am thankful for:

Me -especially all my fingers and toes, because life would be very hard without them. I decided I need to thank God for things like this. A church group yesterday and I were discussing about how we ask God for so much, but forget to thank Him for anything besides the good weather and our food. So I am thankful for myself, that I have all my parts working correctly.
Getting paid tomorrow. It is hard to get paid once a month. It make budgeting weird.
Our house almost being totally sold. We are still waiting on our buyers, buyers, buyer's underwriter to approve everything. Hopefully by this weekend.
The fact that apartment living with two dogs hasn't been that tragic so far.
I am excited that we are going to Greeneville this weekend to look at houses. The house we like the most just got dropped in price by 15K. Smaller house payments sound great.
Most of my students did well on their tests in the past two days. It make me feel pretty good when they do well when it was a hard test.
I don't have a lawn to mow for a while.
For the washer and dryer in my apartment. I would so not want to go anywhere to do my wash.
The sun. The warmth is lovely and it makes me happy, unless I forgot my sunglasses.

What are you thankful for today?

Bats Game

2010-04-21T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today was a fun day at school. We went on our annual trip to the Louisville Bats game. They give local school cheap tickets and have an early game. The kids always enjoy seeing the game, but more so eating junk food.

The Bats are a AAA farm team for the Cincinnati Reds. They were playing the Toledo Mud Hens who are a AAA farm team for the Detriot Tigers.

Me and the Bat's mascot. One of my students took the picture, so the lighting isn't the best.

Stadium view - my kids are in the row right in front of me.

There was a nice waterfall at the entrance. These are two of my girls Ashley and Jessica.

My beautiful girls and I. After the game we went to a local park. There is a large rock there that the kids like to climb.

Playing on the playground.

Feet! I love feet pictures. I always have taken pictures of them. A lot of the time they are mine, but these belong to my students. Ashley didn't like the fact that her shoes didn't match.

Cheese! This was taken by one of my students.

Have a happy Wednesday!

Waiting....

2010-04-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

....I hate waiting. I am not good at. I can be patient on somethings, but I hate waiting for other people most of all. Well that is were J and I are at now with the house. We were supposed to close yesterday, but...(see if you can follow me here) our buyers, buyers, buyer didn't have some paperwork turned in showing how much child support she gets. So now we are waiting for that to happen so she can close with her seller, who can close with our buyer, who can finally close with us. Bleh!! They told us maybe at 3 p.m. today, but we still haven't heard anything yet. So send up a prayer that J and I can be patient and that we close soon because we both are impatient.

Moving Day

2010-04-19T11:45:00.000-04:00

This was moving weekend. My parents came down from MI on Friday to help us out. J and I were so glad to have the extra help.

Saturday after church we did our typical photo shoot. This is our last picture in our back yard. =(

After a yummy lunch, we headed downtown for Thunder Over Louisville. It is quite the experience if you have never been. From three until dark they do an air show. There were some really cool planes like the F-16 & 18 and some not so cool ones. We had a great time watching.

My mom and dad watching the show. They were so proud of their funny hats. It was cool downtown so they were thankful for their hats.

One of the planes flying almost at sunset. It was pretty out, but so cold. We wished that we had brought more blankets with us.

J and I. I was so cold that I was using the blanket we were sitting on as a cover up. The snowmen on the blanket fit the temperature nicely. We really enjoyed the fireworks, but then came the long hike out. Next morning came really fast.

Our moving semi showed up around seven in the morning. That was way to early.

My new job is moving us so that is a great benefit. We had the whole semi to ourselves and didn't have to pay for it. =)

My daddy helping the semi back into our street.

Putting the ramp down for loading. The man on the left is the semi driver and expert packer of our goods.

Loading up our hanging clothes that we will not need while still here in Louisville.

The Neuners were an awesome help. Chris is helping J in this picture move our couch.

Austin and my dad

Packing it up. Our driver was an expert packer. He wrapped up everything in blankets.

Sherry and I. I have her daughter in my class. She and her family have been good friends to J and I here.

Putting mattress covers on our mattresses. I really didn't want to put them on as you can tell by the expression on my face.

Sherry helping me up the ramp. Sometimes the cart loads were so heavy I needed some extra help.

Getting it all packed in.

Our new rocking chairs. I am so excited to have them. Some of the parents/grandparents of my students pitched in and bought them for J and I as a surprise. It is one of those nice teacher gifts. Totally unexpected and from the heart.

Now we just need a front porch on our new house to put them on.

The puppies were inspecting our progress. They thought for sure they were going to get let behind.

The moving crew. We were done in only three hours. Then the cleaning began. J and I are so glad to be done with everything. We are still waiting to hear if we will close this afternoon or tomorrow. We will both be glad to be done and soon looking (next weekend) for our new house.

Teacher Gifts

2010-04-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

Today on Kelly's Corner the Show Us Your Life topic is Teacher Gifts.. Being a teacher I figured I knew thing or two about good ones and what doesn't make a great gift.

The Good

Anything unexpected, meaning not during a time when teachers normally receive a gift. A thoughtful note from a child or parent is great.
Plants, especially perennials because it will be a gift that continues to remind you of a particular child. I have actually dug up a plant in my yard to take with me to the new house because a student gave it to me.
Gift Cards - people like to be able to pick out something themselves. Cards to any book store, teacher store, department store, restaurant...etc.. are always welcome.

The Not So Great Ideas

Teacher stuff, the mugs, note pads, clothes, pretty much anything with crayons, apples, rulers, and anything like this on it. It is really just stuff that collects dust and has no real meaning.
Lotions, potions, and soaps.. sometimes these can be great, but a lot of time I think teachers get the rejects from home. They are never the best scents and are often hodge podge. I did have a student make me peppermint bath salts this year, those were great.
Candy, sweets.... I already eat enough bad stuff I don't need anymore, especially around the holidays. I have however appreciated students who make me a sweet bread.

The biggest thing when doing a teacher gift is to get to know your child's teacher. Some of the things I have appreciated the most are gifts from students whose parents have gotten to know me and have an idea of what I like. I really like the Chicago Bears and was suprised one day by an autographed football of my favorite player. I also received the softest set of gloves, a hat, and a scarf because the parent realized my love of soft things.

I try to think smart when getting gifts for my students as well. I know parents don't want more junk in their house. This year I crocheted scarves for my girls. They loved them and wore them all winter.

Update

2010-04-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

J and I are busily packing away. We really don't have that much left to do which is nice. We have been moving everything into the garage, so we are no longer parking inside. The semi from GCC will be coming on Sunday morning to pick up all our stuff. We close on Monday at 4:30 p.m. It is coming so fast. I have board meeting that night and I just remembered that three weeks ago at board meeting I found out we had an offer. Everything has just flown by.

J and I will be signing the short term lease on our apartment. It is just a small one bedroom job and we will only be in it for a few months. It is in our old complex. I am a little worried since there was shooting at the entrance last night, so please pray that nothing bad happens while we are there. We only wound up going back there because they will accept our dogs since they are pit bull mixes. Most places are too afraid to have our dogs. Bother... so I am nervous now.