Three Christmases

We had (are still having) a wonderful Christmas. We were very blessed this year to be able to see both sides of our family!

Christmas #1 was in Roswell with Mom, Dad, and Abby last Wednesday. After Advent service we had snacky foods and opened presents. I got my new brown boots! Yay!

Christmas #2: On Friday we took an early flight to California to see the Toms side. Everyone was there and we had an amazing time hanging out and playing with our sweet nephews. I can't believe how big they are getting. We had a party on Friday, watched Donovan be a shepherd in the Christmas Eve service, and opened presents on Christmas. I also got to see high school friends! Katie, Ashley, and I met for breakfast on Tuesday. It was great seeing them and made me miss our high school group. We are now all over the country. Hopefully we can all connect someday soon.

Christmas #3:Tuesday night we took a red eye flight from California to Atlanta. When we got home we turned around and drove to TN to see the Jordan side of the family. We again opened presents but then played many many exciting games of Euchre, Wizard, and Skipbo. All the cousins were together and my aunt flew in from Germany.

Our family is wonderful and we are so blessed to be able to see everyone this year.

Merry Christmas!

Merry CHRISTmas everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Christ with family and friends.

I have been missing from the blog world but I am now ready to be more proactive in my blogging this coming year. I will be updating you on the past several months in the next several weeks.

Right now I leave you with our Christmas tree:

4th of July

We had a fabulous 4th of July! Went of over to our friend Jon brother's house which had a big enough yard to rent an inflatable water slide. Thank you Jon! It was a blast! A great way to cool off and have some "kid" fun.

We played games, played on the slide, and ate all afternoon. Then we walked to a park to watch the fireworks. It was a wonderful day to celebrate our nation's independence. It was also a great day of hanging out with friends. I am going to miss them soooo much! 

Moving!

So, some of you know that Adam and I are moving. I received a call from Faith Lutheran School in Marietta, GA to be their 4th grade teacher. Last Tuesday we accepted the call and so we are moving.


My parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousin live in Roswell which is 10 minutes from the school. My dad is the pastor at the other Lutheran Church in the area. My grandparents live 3 hours away and another uncle and his family live 4 hours away. We are so excited to be moving closer to family. Right now we are a 7 hour drive from Adam's parents and a 5 hour plane ride from mine. It will be so nice to be able to see both sides a little more (since we are only saving up to see one side instead of both). We will probably moving to Roswell instead of Marietta, but for the first few weeks we are living with my parents as we look for a place.


It is a very quick move. Teachers start having meetings on August 1 and school starts August 10. So.... I am leaving the 20th of July to drive out and start setting up my classroom. Adam needs to stay until the middle of August to finish work, so my mom is flying out to drive with me. I know it will be only a few short weeks, but Adam I won't be together for my birthday or our anniversary :(. And I only have a few weeks to say goodbye to everybody.


But there are quite of few things I am excited for and some things that I am sad about:


Things I'm Excited For:

• Being so close to family
• Living in a new state
• New job (and getting a raise)
• Being able to buy a house soon
• Starting a family sooner 
• Visiting our friends and family
• Traveling 
• Going to all the NASCAR races around
• Hopefully showing Adam where I grew up in WV
• Having a slower paced life
• Having friends and family come and visit

Things That I'm Sad About:

• Being farther away from Adam's family
• Leaving our friends
• Leaving a comfortable situation in OC
• Quitting our jobs 
• Moving so quickly

We are ecstatic but also a bit scared. Its a big move and we know we will be there for awhile. But we feel we can grow out there. We are looking forward to all the wonderful possibilities in GA! 

Lake Tahoe Trip

Last weekend, Adam and I went on a vacation to Lake Tahoe, CA with his family. Adam's parents, sister, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews all came! It was a great and relaxing weekend.

Adam and I left on Wednesday by train. We usually fly to Sacramento, but my mother-in-law was able to get us tickets on Amtrak. We took the train from Fullerton to LA, a bus from LA to Bakersfield, and another train from Bakersfield to Sacramento. It was so nice to not have to worry about driving! The train took a little longer, but it was nice to read, watch movies, and chat. I have to say though, there are some weird people that take the train!

We left Rocklin (where Adam's family lives) for Tahoe on Thursday. I had never been to Tahoe! It is such a beautiful drive there and around the lake. My in-laws used to go every summer, but it had been 6 years since they had been there. When we arrived, we met everybody for lunch at Steamers. Not the greatest food, but the best company :). We then found our cabin. It was really nice and huge. Enough space for all of us. That night was Jenny and Tim's turn to cook dinner. We had mock ravioli. It was really good. I have to get the recipe. We all played board games then went to bed.

On Friday we wanted to take the boys (Donovan and Jayden) to the beach. The sand and sun felt amazing, but it was quite windy and the water was freezing! The adults stayed on the beach while the boys didn't mind the cold and played in the water. My mother-in-law, Adam, and I walked around the arts and crafts fair and the little shops. We returned to the cabin for our turn to make dinner. Adam made his sausage and peppers meal! Yum!! We had caesar salad and mashed potatoes to go with it. That night we drank and played more games.

On Saturday we tripped down to the beach again for the boys. It was less windy so it was a little more enjoyable :). I wanted to see more of the lake, so Adam, mom, and I went for a drive. We saw Tahoe City, Fanny Bridge, and Emerald Bay. It was beautiful drive and we took a lot of pictures. When we got back, Cindy and Leslie made tacos. We had such huge and delicious burritos!

Sunday was our last day. In the morning we cleaned the cabin and packed up. After lunch we went back to Fanny Bridge. We fed the geese, played in the water, and saw the huge fish. We headed back down the hill to Rocklin after that. My best friend Katie came over to chat. I always love to see her when we visit. We walked around the block and chatted.

We left on Monday as we took the train back down to the OC. It was a wonderful weekend with family! I wish we could see them more often. But we will be back for 2 birthdays and a baptism in October.

First Year Done!

I know its almost July already, but two weeks ago I finished my first year of teaching! It was a roller coaster of a year but over all amazing! My fourth graders were great. A couple challenged me all year, but now I miss them. Lol! The whole class was sweet and I will always remember my first year.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had such a wonderful couple of weekends! Last weekend we had three days of fun!

On Saturday Adam had to work, so I decided to walk around Old Towne Orange for the day. I needed to find parent volunteer gifts and there are so many cute stores to look around in. As I was heading down there I saw signs for a new farmers market. The usual one in Orange is on Thursdaybmorning (which doesn't work for a teacher). So I parked and walked to the cute area. As I was picking through the corn on the cob, I saw our friends Josh and Kiera. We talked and finished our grocery shopping trip. I bought corn on the cob and the most delicious strawberries (my favorite food in the whole world). We decided to get some lunch at the sushi place. Adam doesn't like sushi, so it was the perfect time to enjoy some fish with out friends. After lunch, they had to go to a shoot, so I continued to wander around town. I stopped by several cute shops before stopping at Starbucks for a cool drink and time on my iPad. I got a toffee soy frappichino and FaceTimed with my dad.

After Adam got home, we went to BJ'S to help our friend Bridget celebrate her birthday. We had a wonderful time until I got sick. Last October I found out that I am lactose intolerant. With it being so new, I'm still trying to find food that I like but won't make me sick. So I tried their shrimp tacos figuring they should be safe. Unfortunately we found out after the fact that the sauce had ranch in it which contains milk. So instead of heading to the wine bar, Adam and went home.

I still felt a little sick the next day, so we slept in. At 11 had picked up Bridget to go see Water for Elephants. We both read the book and were so excited to see the movie. It was good! The next book/movie we are reading and will be seeing is Something Borrowed. After the movie, I came home and we cleaned the apartment. We were having friends over to watch the NASCAR race. Jon, Greg, and Jay came over for the race, pizza, and games. I fun night!

Then on Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day with a BBQ at Josh and Kiera's. We enjoyed great food, fun in the pool, and chatting with friends.

The whole weekend made me super excited for summer!

Nascar Fan

I am a HUGE Nascar fan. I love racing and I love Jimmie Johnson. The All Star Race is today and I am so excited to see my driver win a bunch of money (I hope). Here are my top 5 drivers (in no particular order except for #1):

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Joey Logano
3. Carl Edwards
4. David Ragan
5. Denny Hamlin/Jeff Gordon/Dale Earnhardt Jr. (A tie. It depends on the race.)

Adam and I have been to two races so far (both in Fontana, CA). Vacations will be planned around races around the country. Can't wait to visit every track!

Cleaning Day

Today is not very special, except it is CLEANING DAY! I love a completely clean place but lately Adam and I haven't had time to "deep clean." So Adam is working and I am a cleaning machine. My routine is usually this: bedroom, laundry room, bathroom, living room, dining room, and then the kitchen.

I am to the living room now and thought I would take a break. I know cleaning isn't the most enjoyable thing to read about in a blog, but it makes me feel so good. My parents laugh at how much of a neat freak I am now. Cleaning was not my fortay when I was younger and was the start of many child vs. parent arguments. I am very thankful for my upbringing now because I can feel proud about our place when people visit.

Before I get back to work, I would like to give a shout out to my favorite cleaning product:

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

I Know It Has Been Awhile

I don't even remember the last time I posted.... let's just say it has been way too long. It is not because I haven't wanted to, but I just have no time or strength to take time away to think about myself.

My first year of teaching has been such a roller coaster. I wish I could say I enjoyed it despite all the craziness. Between parents, kids, school, and life drama, I have never prayed so hard. Now I am probably not being fair to the awesome field trips, hugs, "ah-ha" moments, cute cards, smiles, laughter, "silly Fridays," etc. I am so blessed to have the class that I do. One moment I think I'm going to pull my hair out and the next I'm going to cry because my 5 girls (yes, I have 15 boys and 5 girls) created a song about their "Super Awesome Teacher." The best part about my job are the kids. Parents, administrators, and discipline problems just sometimes put a damper on things.

BUT I am already getting sad about the end of the school year. After tomorrow, we have 2 1/2 more weeks left. I cannot believe it is over. It seems like we just started. My students are finally getting into a great groove and days are "good" and "fun." I ask why at the end of the year, but I also know that it means that they are ready for fifth grade.

Speaking of next year, I will not be a fourth grade teacher. Last week I found out that I am being switched to first grade. I originally wanted first or second, but now I'm scared. I am very much used to the independence of 9 and 10 year olds. This is a huge switch. I will have lots of help from the other first grade teacher and other teacher friends, but the teacher aides are being cut. I may have help a couple hours a week, but it is not for sure. It is one thing to have 25 six year olds with little help, but I may have a student or two with specials needs. Lots of prayers please!

Because of all the craziness, Adam has been talking about finding a job somewhere on SouthEast coast. I have always talked about not staying in So Cal forever, but Adam and I have said we have jobs here which we are very blessed to have right now. Of course we wouldn't just up and move, we are too paranoid about not having a job and relying on family. We are very stubborn in the fact that we want to do/pay for everything ourselves. I would absolutely love to live closer to my family! I think it would get crazy if we lived too close, but closer than thousands of miles. The hard part is this:

1. I don't have my full credential. In CA you get a preliminary credential and then while teaching you have to do more research, seminars, etc. to obtain your full credential. I start that next year. Almost every state takes CA full credential, but some don't take the partial. 
2. Grants. Because I said I would become a Lutheran School Teacher, I received grants from the Synod to teach in a Lutheran School. You have to teach at least 2 years in a Lutheran school otherwise you must pay them back. We can't guarantee that I will find another call out there right away.
3. Work for Adam. Adam does technical theater. He wants to be a set designer, but right now he builds all the sets. He loves his job and eventually it will pay very well. BUT to move, he may have to start all over with contacts and his position. His jobs relies on contacts and we don't have many out East.
4. Moving!
5. Moving away from Adam's family. They all live up near Sacramento.
6. Moving away from friends.

The pluses:

1. Being near my family.
2. Being near some college friends.
3. New jobs (possibly better position for me).
4. Housing is cheaper!
5. Away from materialistic Orange County
6. A solid place to raise a family
7. ....... Any others???

I apologize for not posting in so long and then spilling my crazy life. Unfortunately this is calm right now. You should have heard what happened earlier this year. But another time. 

I will be working a lot harding to write more as it feels really good to do this. :)