Waiting for Wednesday

Let me start this post stating that I have a new perspective for couples who regularly have to spend time apart. I never realized how lonely it can be. This is the longest that we have been apart since we got married. Josh left Friday afternoon before I got home from work and won't be back until Wednesday night. He is a chaperone for our youth group's trip to camp. I will also say that I think that sometimes couples need to spend some time apart to help them realize how much they truly treasure the other. I feel very blessed to have Josh as my husband, but there are times when he does things that drive me crazy. I am also sure that I do things that make him nuts too. I really miss him right now. I know that he is having a good time, and I'm glad that he is able to go. I just hope that the next four days pass quickly so that I can hug him and kiss him and let him know how glad I am to have him home.

Since I'm alone, I went and visited my sister and best friend yesterday, but I came home this evening. We went to dinner and then saw Toy Story 3 in 3D. It was awesome!!! I won't tell anymore about it as not to ruin it if you haven't had a chance to see it, but I will say that I cried. It is very likely the end of the Toy Story era. At least that is my opinion....I end on a high note.

Also, Wednesday is the last day of school for this year (I teach year-round). I am looking forward to watching my kids dress up and receive all of their awards. I'm almost finished with all of the things I have to get done for this school year. Bring on the new school year!

Long Time

Time has flown since I last posted. Here's a quick recap: we had several friends visit during the middle of May, Josh and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary, and we've been involved in lots of youth activities.

This last week the Student Ministry at our church kicked off the summer with an event called Ignite. It is 3 nights of worship, a message and then fun. The first night there were inflatables, the second night was and Illusionist and the final night was a cookout/pool party. I have a ton of fun with those kids. They are all so special to me. Here is a picture from of one of the inflatables.

I still have several weeks left of school. We've finished EOGs so I've gotten to the point where my students are restless. I do not like this time of the year!!! I am ready for it to be over.

I am going to go see Toy Story 3 in two weeks. I can't wait!!!

Our house

We're homeowners!!!

The House!!!

Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Dining Room

We still have some putting away of stuff to do, so you'll have to check back for pictures of the second bedroom, second bathroom and office.

Track-out, Weddings, Handbells and more

I haven't blogged in several weeks, and now's the time to get caught up. Josh and I have been very busy since we moved into our house, so it still isn't picture ready. Sorry for those of you who have been waiting to see pictures. Hopefully picture will be taken this week because I am tracked out and will hopefully get a lot of stuff put away. So it's track-out...I am super duper excited that I don't have to go to school again until May 17th. I was beginning to feel like track-out would never get here. I don't have many plans for the next 3 weeks. Let me know if you want to do anything.

Several weeks ago we went to my brother's wedding. It is hard to believe he is old enough to get married. (He's 20.) I can still remember when couldn't walk. It's amazing how quickly time flies. Below is a picture of the bride and groom, my grandparents, my mom, my two sisters and me. (Not shown in the order listed.)

Last weekend, Josh and I went with our handbell choir to PraisRing in Charlotte. Praisring is a handbell festival. At Praisring there were about 750 people in one room playing the same song on handbells. It is truly a unique experience. Today our handbell choir (The Caryllons) played at Spring Daze in Cary.

Last night we went to a going away party for one of the Youth at our church. She is from Germany and it has been awesome to have her as part of our group. She will definitely be missed by many. I know that I will miss her bubbly positive personality.

I guess that's about it for now. Like I said, I will do my best to get some house pictures posted. Have a great weekend!

Getting Settled

We've officially lived in our house for 5 days now. We have gotten a lot unpacked, but there is still a lot to get done. I think we have about half a dozen boxes left to unpack. The organizing is the part that takes the longest. I have a hard time deciding where I want things to go. I analyze every little thing and wonder if I am really putting it in the best and most useful place. This is mainly for the things that I put into the attic. Speaking of which, I LOVE THE ATTIC!!! It has so much storage!

I cooked my first meal in the kitchen tonight. I decided to keep it simple and make tacos. There is so much more counter space. I think I am going to like cooking in there...as much as I can.

Josh mowed the grass tonight and I am so thankful. I was getting pollen all over my shoes everytime I took the dog out for a walk. Our grass is so pretty; it is thick and green. I LOVE the way that it feels between my toes.

I will try to post pictures when I get more stuff done and the house doesn't look like a wreck. My goal is to have some up by this weekend. Until then...

Moving

This week is moving week. I still feel like I have so many things to get done. Wednesday we are signing papers for the house. They will be filed on Thursday. Friday is moving day! Yesterday, Josh and I bought major appliances yesterday. It still doesn't feel real. There are so many boxes all over our house. I can't wait until we are all moved in and settled. Moving is exhausting!

School and other thoughts

I didn't realize that it has been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted. It seems as though I posted just a few days ago. I knew that a blog was going to be a challenge for me. So what has happened recently? I guess nothing to super exciting. Last Friday I took a meal to a couple in our Sunday school class who recently had a baby. It was nice to sit down and chat with them for a little while. That same night was the Guys/Girls Night for the kids in the Youth Group at our church. Josh and I were chaperones. The girls had L.Y.L.A.S. night and hung out, played a little and ate some snacks. It was nice to spend some time with those girls in a more relaxed environment.

We've been super busy with our day to day lives. School is very stressful right now because next week is report card week. I wish people understood how challenging my job really can be. It is really frustrating when people talk about the "perks" of being a teacher, but have no real knowledge of what I do on a daily/weekly basis. Most of the time my patience is nearly exhausted by the time I make it home. I generally spend at least 9 hours a day at work. This week has been pretty good, the added stress has me drained. Monday my kids worked with a partner and just watching them was amazing. We were working on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. This is a hard skill for a lot of kids to grasp. One of the partners already had a good understanding of how to solve these problems, and the other partner still needed a little bit more support in order to be successful. Watching the kids teach the others was quite touching. All of my kids worked together to reach a common goal. It made me very proud to be their teacher.

Today my principal affirmed that I was doing good things in my classroom in front of the faculty. I had never had that happen to me, and it felt really good. I'm glad that my hard work and dedication to my kids is evident through my teaching and that others can see it.

We are still packing. I've found that it is difficult to keep your house clean when there are boxes everywhere. Sometimes I just don't know what to do next. We still have 2 weeks before we move and I'm afraid that I'll pack something that I'll need. I did make a list of things that can be packed, and that has helped. I just can't find it. Typical.

My back has started acting up again. It twitches when I sit down and don't have something to lean up against. I'm sure that all the stress doesn't help. On top of that I think I might be catching a cold. Pray that I don't. Maybe a good night's sleep will be the trick. I think that's enough rambling for one night. I'll try to write sooner next time, but no promises.

Full Speed Ahead

I have been a little slack in updating this blog. We are so busy that time just flies by. I can't say that anything super exciting has happened in the last couple of weeks either. We are still in repair negotiations with the house. The gas pack (heating) for the house has a hole in it and because it is thirteen years old we would prefer that the whole unit be replaced. We found out that the current owners are going to have their home warranty company take a look at it. Yesterday we were told that they were going to go ahead and replace it, rather than repair it. We are so excited!!!

Sunday we got more good news! We put in our 60 days notice several weeks ago so that we could move out at the end of April. Because our lease isn't technically up until the end of May we are obligated to pay rent unless the apartment is leased before that. We got a phone call on Sunday afternoon from the manager of our apartment complex. She asked us when we wanted to move out. She told me that they wanted to lease our apartment for the 23rd or 24th of April and in order to do that they needed us to be out by the 15th. This means that Josh and I will not have to pay May rent, and April's rent will be prorated!!! This will save us a good chunk of change! It's amazing how God works things out!

I am really excited to see God working in and through our Youth at church. They are doing and planning some really awesome things. They are taking their time to help other people. I love it!

Odds and Ends

We've had a lot going on the last week or so. One of my college roommates came to visit Valentine's Day weekend. She is getting married in October, and that is really exciting! Friday we went to a Campbell Basketball game. It was the first game that we watched in the new convocation center. It is so different that the old gym; it actually feels like a real college basketball arena That night when we walked out of the game there was almost two inches of snow on my car. I then had to drive home on snow covered roads. It was an interesting (and long) trip. Campbell won their game that night so it was all worth it. The next day we hung out together and went to the Flying Biscuit for the first time. The Flying Biscuit is amazing!!! The cranberry apple butter is out of this world!

In other news, Josh and I are under contract on a house. We actually found out that our offer was accepted as we were leaving the Flying Biscuit. We are super excited about the house!!! Our closing date is April 1st. I never realized how stressful this whole process is. There are pre-approvals, offers, counter-offers, loans, good faith estimates, home inspection, contracts, closing....ahhh, so many things. The home inspection was today, and everything went well. I can't wait until we can move in and this whole process is behind us. Below is a picture of our house. :)

This past weekend Josh and I went on a Volunteer Retreat weekend. We had a blast!!! We didn't get a whole lot of sleep because we played several games, including Mexican Train. We also learned a lot about ourselves and things our ministry needs. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our group!

Neti-Pot

For those of you who have not heard me talk about the Neti-Pot, this post is for you. Just so we are all on the same page, the Neti-Pot is a sinus irrigation system. It is a little pot that you put a saline powder in, and then add warm water. You then let the water drain through your sinuses. The results are amazing!!!!! (I don't think I can emphasize that enough.) It gets rid of congestion without having to take a decongestant (which don't really work anyway). You can use the Neti-Pot as often as needed and there are no side effects. Josh still thinks that it is gross, so I haven't convinced him to use it...yet...but there are other people who will attest that it really is wonderful. You can use it when sinus congestion starts and I truly believe that it helps the common cold from taking over. It will also helps with the ability to breathe more easily. I personally have always hated only being able to breathe through only one side of my nose, especially when I sleep. When I feel congested, I use the Neti-Pot before bed and I sleep much better. That is all that is on my mind tonight. I'm going to use my Neti-Pot and hit the hay. I went back to school today and I am exhausted!!!

Lets give this a try

I've always wanted to have a blog but for several reasons I've never committed to it. The main reason is because I don't think my life provides enough interesting material for a blog. The second is due to the fact that I am not really disciplined enough to keep it updated. I figured I'd give this a try now so that I have a written record of all of the exciting adventures in our lives.

The next adventure of our lives is buying a house. Josh and I have looked at quite a few houses recently and have found one that we would like to make an offer on. We are waiting to get all of our ducks in a row and will hopefully be making an offer in the next couple of days. I am so excited!!!!

In other (not as interesting) news, I go back to school this Thursday. I have been tracked out for the last three weeks. In those three weeks I've gone skiing for the first time, watched it snow/sleet, had my mom and grandma visit and watched the Saints win the Superbowl. (Okay so the lat thing was the least interesting, but I did get to hang out with a bunch of cool people.)


Our skiing group
The snow/sleet



Josh is working a the Director of Billing and Technology at Family Legacy Mental Health Inc. He has been working there since August when he finished his Master's Thesis.

That's all I have to say for now. I'll update when I have something more to add.