Random Chatter

~ Last weekend Ethan and I painted the spare bedroom in his house. I wanted to go with a neutral color that wasn't too blah... We decided on "Dust Storm." Which according to the little paint sample looked like a light brown/beige color. Well after getting it on the wall, there is the tiniest, teensiest, hint of pink in there. Ethan is not completely satisfied with the color, but we are NOT going to repaint it.

~ With the completion of the room I finally feel like I'm all moved in. No more unpacked boxes laying around the house!

~ This was my first official week back to work. Beginning with three long days full of in-service (yuck!) and then it's into the fire on Thursday as 197 middle school kids come filing into the building. It was a great first two days with kids and I am looking forward to all the learning will take place this year!

~ Apparently KC and Breck have not enjoyed my return to work. They have been quite spoiled this summer with lots of attention and a walk every morning. After a very busy week for me, and not even seeing the girls in the daylight until Thursday, they let me know how they felt loud and clear. One of the hay bails was somehow dragged out from the shed and into the middle of the yard. I believe it is their way of saying "take that!"

~ Ethan and I are planning a trip to Colorado over Labor Day to take in a Rockies Baseball game and enjoy the Mountains of Denver! I'm sooo excited I've never seen the mountains of Colorado!

~ Volleyball season has started and we have 33 girls out for the team this year. Should be a very exciting season with many new things brought to us by our new coach!

~ Anyone want to buy a boat??

~ I am in need of some new athletic shoes. This usually turns out to be a difficult venture for me. I wear a size 12 women's. How many stores do you think carry a 12 in women's? None. And if by chance they do, the shoes are always ugly. So in order to find the shoes I like, I have to order them off the internet...paying for shipping and the extra cost. The ones I found that I love are 109.99, not good. I have found a similar shoe that is on sale for 59.99...that will have to do.

~ FYI. If you are planning a trip to Brazil they charge the US 100$ for a tourist visa. They do this because the US charges Brazilians 100$ for a tourist visa. Gee-wiz!

~ I finished watching Alias...all 5 seasons. I feel sad that it ever ended. Good shows should be able to keep going, look at Law and Order.

~ Speaking of TV. I know my days of the week by what TV show I watch each night. Mondays is CBS and it's comedy line up, Tuesday is Fox with Fringe, Wednesday is Fox with Lie to Me, and Thursday is NBC with The Office (Friday I do have a life...or try to). Well Fox has decided that Fringe should be opposite NBC's "Must See TV" of The Office. Not good.

School Year's Resolutions

Being a teacher causes you to have a totally different calendar than the rest of the general population. Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks are two of your favorite times of the year because you get a well-deserved break. Spring Break is for visiting family you don't get to see too often. While Spring cleaning and big household projects are usually done during the summer months when you actually have time. And finally, probably the biggest difference is as a teacher is "New Year's Day." Yes we celebrate with champagne, confetti, and a kiss when the clock strikes 12 on January 1, but that really isn't a teacher's New Year. Our new year starts on the first day of school. A chance to start your classroom over again. New ideas, new materials, new students.

Every August, like every January, I think about the things I want to improve on from the last year and how I can make myself better. Only in August those items are school related and usually don't involve counting calories or heading to the gym. I make "School Year's Resolutions," and like New Year's resolutions, I tend to follow through with them until around October, if I'm lucky... Yet every year I still make these new promises to myself. Maybe this year I'll stick with them.

2009-2010 School Year's Resolutions:

1. I will NOT get behind in grading papers. I will keep the kids' grades updated hopefully every week, BUT will not go two weeks without entering a new grade.

2. My desk will have some sort of organization to it. No piles of ungraded papers in various spots on the desk and floor...see resolution #1

3. I will try my very best to not let those one or two VERY difficult students get to me. I will try anything I or my team teachers can think of to get positive results out of him/her.

4. I will not complain about my co-workers and their teaching habits. However I am aloud to complain IF something they do affects me negatively! (Gotta leave a little room to vent)

5. I will not hate my advisory. (Advisory is like a homeroom class at the end of the day...I have the same students every day for the last 25 minutes, and EVERY year so far they have been hell to end my day. This year it will NOT be like that!)

6. I will NOT go school supplies crazy and buy more of the same thing...I have more pens and sharpies, and rulers and notepads, and fun office gadgets than anyone I know!

7. I will not talk too much about my upcoming wedding. I will wait until someone specifically asks me a question to bring up the topic. (this one will actually be hard...I'm kinda excited and tend to over-talk it I think :) )

8. I will try not to get frustrated with all the IEP meetings for my special ed and gifted students. (Since I have a subject that can be easily modified...I have ALL the students, no matter what their disability, and I love them...but that means that I have to attend ALL the meetings...ugh!)

9. I will limit myself to only bringing home projects to grade. I enjoy my evenings and need that time to step away from school stuff. But projects tend to take me a long time to grade...so grading a few of those each night is ok.

10. I will use my planning period wisely. I tend to take that time to chill out and do a crossword. That, as Dwight from The Office puts it, "is stealing time from the company" (or in my case the school). I will use my planning period to grade papers so I won't get behind!

And there you have it. 10 promises I'm making to myself for my New Year. Maybe I'll re-evaluate these after the real New Year and see how I've done...

The Truth About Marriage

Now that I'm getting married I am constantly getting "advise" from my married friends or coworkers. Sometimes the advise is good and I think "yeah Ethan and I will do that!" Sometimes the advice is funny and I think "oh I can't wait for those silly things to happen to us." And some of the advice is sad or depressing and I think "I am not going to let that happen!"

Here are some of the best...

~ At your wedding make sure you eat something. The first thing your dad and I did when we got to the hotel after the dance was go to the hotel restaurant (it was open 24 hours) and ordered dinner, your dad had stroginoff.

~ The key to a happy marriage is laughter.

~ Once you get married the romance stops. (I highly doubt that one...it doesn't take too much for us to feel romantic. It's amazing how simply holding hands can make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...I hope that never changes)

~ While you're dating everyone keeps asking when you'll get married. After you get married everyone will start asking when you're going to start having babies.

~ Marriage is about communication and sacrifice. You are no longer living for yourself.

~ Once you get married you won't have to have as much sex with him. HA (that one always makes me laugh...)

~ You will both be obligated to accompany the other to faculty Christmas parties, family gatherings, friends weddings, and anything else that he or she commits you to!

~ A family that prays together, stays together

~ If your marriage can survive long road trips and home remodeling projects, it can survive anything!

~ The best Valentine's Day gift for your husband is a new teddy.

~ After you've been married 30 years you can cut your hair as short as you want. He's stuck with you for that long, he's not going to leave you cause your hair is short.

~ After you have kids make sure that you have a "date night" once a month for just the two of you. Don't wake up 20 years later with the kids off to college and you having to get to know each other again.

~ Make sure the anniversary date is something easy for him to remember, close to his birthday or any other major holiday!

~ Go someplace on your honeymoon that you may never get to go again. It's your honeymoon...you really only get one.

~ You will both lose all sense of Modesty. Once closing the bathroom door to go to the bathroom, you will eventually have one of you on the pot while the other is bushing their teeth. (HAHA)

~ He will want a shop, a man-cave, or some place to "get away"

~ You will want him to have a shop, a man-cave, or some place to "get away"

~ You now have to start shopping for items that are "neutral." Girls don't want to live in a house that looks like a bachelor pad, and Guys don't want to live in a home that looks like a flower garden exploded onto EVERYTHING!

~ With marriage you will work harder than you ever thought. Not just emotionally to keep your relationship strong, but real work. You will fix a toilet, paint walls, plant gardens, help move, and all sorts of physical labor that you didn't think about.

This is just some of the things that I've been advised about marriage. I am sure that Ethan has heard some wonderful tips from his married friends...hmmm, that could be an interesting blog...

The Perfect Moment!

I have mentioned before that Ethan and my engagement wasn't the typical Hollywood story that people seem to expect. Life happened. Ethan got laid off, we knew we wanted to get married, so after Ethan talked to my parents we announced our engagement. We decided to wait and get rings later after he found a job. (House payment or diamond ring...not a hard choice).

After months of praying and sending out resume after resume, Ethan was offered the full time position in Lincoln, NE where he had been doing contract work for the summer. Even though it isn't the ideal location or where we want to live permanently, Ethan accepted the job and we made plans to go ring shopping this Saturday. I was very excited, talking with Ethan all weekend about styles I liked and where we would go. All the while Ethan having quite different plans...

Ethan usually works a little later Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays in order to be able to leave work around 2 so he can be back in Wichita by 6. This week was no different, but he thought he might be able to sneak out of there by 12! I was excited :)

Well, I sure was surprised to see Ethan walk through the door 30 minutes early, claiming to have left just a little earlier than he had me believing. We enjoyed the extra few hours sitting on the couch and just enjoying being with eachother. Then Ethan suggested we practice dancing to our song we've chosen for the wedding. This isn't the first time we practiced...I can't seem to make it through the song without crying at the end, so we have to keep trying and trying. There we are dancing in the middle of the living room at 5:00 on a Friday, me trying to make it through the song without getting all teary. Finally the end of the song rolls around, and this is where I usually lose it...Ethan then slips a ring on my finger! I just cried and cried as he hugged me. For that little moment everything was PERFECT!

Ethan had it all planned out from the beginning of the week, when he was leading me on about Saturday and ring shopping together. He left work 4 hours earlier than normal and arrived in Wichita at his friend's Jewelry store. He picked out the PERFECT ring. It's a beautiful round diamond in the middle with 5 tiny diamonds on each side of the band. It was EXACTLY like something I would have picked out for myself. And what makes it better...he did it all by himself. I can't really describe in words how much more special this ring is that he picked it out. I just look at it in awe...

I have now caught myself staring at the pretty diamonds shinning on my finger many times through the weekend. I find myself waving that hand around more so that maybe someone will notice and I can show it off and tell the wonderful story!

Random Chatter

~ Last weekend my mom had a get-together with her college sorority girls (they do this every summer) and this year it was in Wichita. I didn't have anything to do on Friday so I went out to the lake house (VERY nice house...). We played on the lake and after a while a bunch of us decided to go over and try the rope swing into the water. It finally got to my turn and, either very stupid or brave, I got up on the 6 ft. plank to swing into the water. Problem: My legs hit the ground before I got to the water...NOT GOOD. The entire left side of my right knee is bruised and skinned up. My right shin is all skinned and since there's no where around the shin to really swell, it went to my ankle. Moral of the story...If you are a klutz do play on the rope swing!

~ Ethan laughed at me when I told him that story...no sympathy!

~ My wedding dress came in...so pretty!

~ I am in the process of moving into Ethan's house. There really was no point in continuing to pay 400/month + utilities when I'm never at the house in Cheney. Plus, with Ethan working contract in Lincoln, I'm here all the time and that will have to continue through the school year.

~ Along with moving into his place, means I get the "girl it up" just a bit. Not too much though...can't shock the poor guy, have to break him in gradually! HA :)

~ I made zucchini bread for the first time yesterday, my grandmother's recipe. Considering my unpleasant experiences with baking in the past and that I can never get my banana bread to turn out right, I was very nervous. However, it turned out wonderful! I'm going to make up more loaves and freeze them for later :-)

~ I broke a nail today while moving my stuff...I hate that!

~ Ethan and I have Engagement Encounter this weekend. We get to spend the whole weekend at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita. I am looking forward to it, but something tells me I'm going to be very tired by Sunday afternoon...

~ School is starting in less than a month. I haven't done too much school work so far this summer since we're starting a week later than usual. Now, it's less than a month away, I haven't done hardly anything, I can't get into the school cause they waxed the floors, AND I have to pack, clean, and move!

~ I'm so very happy!!!

SKIMP and SPEND

In today's economy many people are trying to cut back and finding ways to save on certain items that they have been enjoying in order to pay bills, tuition, or survive on one salary. I like to consider myself pretty good at watching my money and saving. Lately I have been trying to save a little more each month. Through college I was able to have more than one job, take 16+ credit hours, have a social life, and still manage to save a little each month. Through those college years I learned very quickly which items were worth skimping on and which ones were well worth the extra dollar. Here are some of the things I do to cut back.

SKIMP on Movies: it cost 10+ for one adult to go to the theatre, plus popcorn and a soda. By the end of the night you're looking at a 50$ outing. Wait till it comes out on video and buy or rent it. Pop your own popcorn and snuggle on the couch. (Although this is much easier for me when Ethan has the big screen in the basement and it's like going to the movies anyway...only more comfortable!)

SPEND on Peanut Butter: For the most part I am a true saver with the "Always Save," "Kroger," or "Best Choice" brands. Normally they are just as good as the original for less. With that said, the cheap peanut butter is terrible. The peanut taste is either way off or there's no peanut taste and you pay for oily peanut butter. I will spend the extra for Jiff. It's always Jiff.

SKIMP on Restaurants: Ethan and I love to cook at home. This is a cheaper option for us because we end up with left overs to last the rest of the week. Although when we really feel like something different or going out to eat, we look for the deals. Two entrees for 20$ and other deals like that.

SPEND on Jeans: I am a total convert to the expensive jeans. I thought it was ridiculous to spend 80$ on jeans. That was until I tried on a pair of Silver Jeans. They fit PERFECTLY! Although because they are expensive, I have two pair and wear them only.

SKIMP on Bottled Water: I don't buy it. The tap water is fine at my place and Ethan's. If I ever live where the tap water is undrinkable, the Brita Water Filter pitcher is what I'll use. Much cheaper.

SPEND on Razors: The better the razor the better the shave. The cheaper the razor the more the pain (razor burn sucks).

SKIMP on Car wash: And basically any cleaning type jobs you can do yourself. Skip the 10$ car was and bust out the hose and your bathing suit and get a tan :)

SPEND on Exercise: I golf and swim. Golfing cost every time I tee off and swimming is a monthly fee for the YMCA. Both are worth it. They get me out and about. Taking care of yourself is definitely worth it.

SKIMP on Cable: Get what you HAVE to have. I cut back from 120$ a month to 60$ a month. I get Internet for 40 and 15 for my main channels, add in tax and it's half as expensive as having the extra channels.

Random Chatter

Ha...I started out with Sunday Chatter, and that soon changed to "Weekly Chatter" when I realized I could not always blog every Sunday. Now after realizing it's been many weeks since my last "chatter" I have decided to call it "Random Chatter!"

~ Yesterday was my "-1 Anniversary." I love that Ethan and I are getting married around a Holiday. It means we will always have at least an extra day to celebrate free from work. He got me a card, I was very surprised! :-)

~ My sister has decided that she is addicted to chocolate. This is something most of us who know her are well aware of. I told her to accept it and enjoy some chocolate cake. Jamie however, cannot do that. She has had me bet her that she can't stay away from Chocolate for a month. The terms: If I win, she cooks me dinner, if she wins I cook her dinner.

~ Ethan and I are in the process of trying to pick a photographer for our wedding. It really is a hard decision, but we've narrowed it down to 3. Whoever we go with I am sure we'll end up with beautiful pictures!

~ Little Copper is getting bigger. He is such a good mannered dog, and I love asking mom how he is and hearing what funny or silly thing he did when I call.

~ I bought my first watermelon of the summer on July 1. It was a very sweet and wonderful watermelon, making me wonder why I waited until July to get one!

~ While Ethan has been working in Lincoln doing contract work during the weeks I have been trying to find things to keep me busy during the day to make the week go faster. One day this week I cleaned the entire house, cooked dinner, made a potato salad, did laundry, went to the store. I call that my "mom" day. It was a day that sounded very similar to ones my mother has. The next day I helped Ethan's dad load sod in the back of the truck at a grass farm, helped lay the sod, got very dirty. This is my "dad" day!

~ Speaking of Lincoln...I'm praying extra hard, it might work out!

~ I love KC and Breck! I don't think I could ever live without a dog again. Good thing Ethan agrees with me. However, I'll have to keep working on him if I'm ever going to get a little daschound!