B...E...A...utiful!

I have to tell the story of this beautiful couch before I move onto it's purpose in my life.

When Anthony moved into his duplex Jr. year at NNU, it didn't come with a bed...cool. So, his uncle graciously let him have this hide-a-bed couch. Anthony threw a mattress on top of it and slept on it for a year. When we moved into our apartment, it came with us. I really love it as a couch, it's nice and big to lounge in watching TV. And it's a great extra bed...not that we really need anymore beds in our house, but it has been used before...like last night when Anthony fell asleep on it watching a movie and he wouldn't wake up when I went to bed, even though I spoke his name very, very loudly... I think he was out there for a couple hours, while I enjoyed the queen bed to myself :) Alright, moving on...


The only part I don't love...the stuffing is gone from the arms (and ripped) and I'm not COMPLETELY in love with the cream floral.

(I have no idea why the picture turned this way...technology hates me)

So, I got an e-mail from Joann's this week about how they were giving 50% off their home decor fabric. SCORE!! I browsed for a couple of hours, narrow down the results to about 3 patterns and had Anthony help me on the final decision. I was very happy that he picked the same one I liked. I got my debit card out last night...AND!!!!..... Stupid Joann's lied. Apparently, 50% off until Friday...means Thursday night. By the time I got on to order it, they had lowered the discount to 40%. I was annoyed. Oh well...I bought it anyway.

I was debating on whether I wanted to do the whole thing, or just the outside and have the cushions be a solid color. Well, the lack of discount made my decision for me. I'm going with a solid (blue?) color for the cushions. I'm hoping it'll cost less that the upholstery fabric does. So, now I'm going to need some serious patience. (I'd like to add in here, my inspiration came from Betsy...yea, look what you've done...) I'm not sure if I want to rip the whole thing apart, or just put some extra fluff around the arms and cover what's already been done (I'm leaning towards the 2nd option). I'm not really as picky as I should be...so this is a great project for me, and not for Anthony, who will probably insist on measuring things and lining things up. pshhh...so not me.

Well, I'm sure you're dying to know which fabric won...so here is the one we picked out for our beautiful couch. We'll see how this works out...wish me luck!

Premature

My last post was a bit premature. Hours after posting it, I received a phone call letting me know I will be teaching 24 darling 1st and 2nd graders in August. I could not be more ecstatic! I am still wrapping my mind around the fact all my teaching belongings will finally have a home and not need to be packed up every few months to move to a new home.

More than anything, at this point, I'm happy to know I'll be somewhere this year. I'm sure the excitement of WHAT I'll be doing will come shortly after visiting my new room.

So...I would like to introduce all of you to my new home. Idaho Arts Charter School.

June!!!!

How I LOVE the month of June! I really do take it to full advantage, maybe I go a bit overboard…

First, it’s summer. Officially. It’s also my birthday, which I turn into a whole month J And, at the end of the month, Anthony and I get to celebrate our anniversary! The month of June is packed full of….well…let’s be honest, me!

Those of you complaining about the weather, you need to realize you’re in Idaho. I have lived many, many birthdays of both hot, hot days, and rain. This weather MAY be colder than usual, but not totally uncommon. There are no expectations for June weather.

I just text Anthony, and sadly, my camera is sitting in the car at his work, so no pictures today. But, I must go into my first week of summer. It started like crap. For those of you who don’t know, I didn’t get to keep my job at Owyhee due to lack of staff needed at our school. I was the last hire, and so I was the first out of a job. I’m not upset at the school at all, just at the situation. I really love the staff there, and most of all, the students. I’m going to miss the family that has taken me in and helped me grow SO much in my teaching the last 2 years. Thank you Owyhee Staff for ALL you have done for me J We’ll keep in touch!

So, due to a lack of a job, I started applying. I had an interview at Idaho Arts Charter School (thanks to Jen) on Friday. I think it went pretty well, but I’ll find out at the end of the week. I’m not so afraid of NOT having a job by the time school starts. I’m afraid of having no idea what I’ll be teaching. I just want to go into the summer knowing WHAT I’ll be doing, so I can prepare myself for all the fun adventures headed my way. I’m trying to stay optimistic and keep all my options open. I’m trying to look at this as a blessing in disguise. Maybe I’ll find something I never would have looked for before. And my experience and Owyhee just makes me that stronger of a teacher.

Ok, moving on from my job issues…

I was so lucky to have David and Rachel here for 2 whole days with us! Yay family! I love them so much!

We started by deserting David…yea, we’re that cool. Monday evening we all went to the Lund’s for hot dogs over the fire and many, many hours of Rock Band. I tried really hard to stay awake this time, but for some reason, by the time 2:30 am rolls around, I get tired.

Yesterday we set badminton back up and I think we determined Anthony’s the winner and Rachel lost both games. But honestly, I should have been the loser, I have zero coordination. Poor Rachel just got stuck on the wrong side of the net.

I then took Rachel on a shopping adventure to the grocery store, I know, how boring is that? But I hadn’t been in a month, and it needed to be done. The fun part came when I took her to Cash and Carry and showed her how I make my coffee cabinet the most amazing coffee cabinet you’ve ever seen. I believe I now have about 10 flavors of coffee. My reason for buying an espresso machine was to save money and calories. But, in order to do this, I need options. I can’t drink the same coffee over and over, so I figure…$3.50 a flavor x 10 flavors…that’s $35. But, that will last me at LEAST 6 months. Instead of $4.00 a coffee every day. It pays off J

So, this is a long post with zero pictures. And that being said, I’ll leave all of you alone to blog stalk someone else. Enjoy your month of June! And check back, now that I’m out of school, I’ll have lots of time to keep this updated J

School Night

Let's be honest...is anyone actually notice when I don't post anything for almost a month?

Well, it’s time to update anyway.

I’m kind of excited that I’m up at 11:00 on a school night. I’m taking a ½ day tomorrow to watch Michael’s state baseball game. This is what I’ve learned:
1. It takes WAY more time to prepare for a sub than just teaching the lesson yourself.
2. I have no idea how teachers ever take sick days.
3. I think Erik will survive :)

So…where have I been? Mostly, Anthony has taken over the computer. He downloaded a new game on the computer and the only reason I hate it is because I have nothing to do when he plays. I don’t mind him relaxing and enjoying a new game, but that means no computer time for me. I have mostly seen this from him in the last few weeks.

We have also been helping out with Little League baseball. That is so much more exciting than I ever imagined. I have had a great time watching these boys grow and improve over the last few weeks. I believe they are close to the number 1 seed in the league! We've had some ups and downs in the season, but over all it's been lots of fun to watch and learn.


Needless to say, Anthony and I are both ready for school to be out! We have whopping 5 days left! Woohoo!! Tomorrow is a ½ day, Friday is our field trip, then 3 days next week of field day, talent show and fun! But, as much as I’m ready for summer, I’m not quite ready to leave this class. I barely got to know them before sending them off to 3rd grade. I’m sure they are all going to do great, but I’m just not ready to let them go. I’m so anxious to have my OWN class for a whole year! Now, let’s just hope I don’t ruin I bunch of great kids :)

I also want to add in here how proud I am of Michael. Anthony and I just got back from his graduation. He graduated as one of three valedictorians. I wish him luck on his next journey off to NNU and “the real world”. Good luck Michael! We love you!

It is a school night, even though I don’t have to get up as early. So, off to bed I go! Enjoy the weekend!

Easter!

Easter was especially special for us this year! As most of you know, Anthony was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul's at the Easter Vigil Mass. I'll admit, I cried :) I was so happy! It was an amazing weekend with lots of family and GREAT food!

I'm not even going to elaborate more than that, the pictures will tell the story.

Easter morning

Anthony's gift opening time!

JJ helping

Disc golf!

What a perfect day!

Formal

I would like to give a quick shout out to all of your who had to deal with me at all this week....

I had a super crappy week at school this week. I was doing really well at being ready in the mornings, knowing what I wanted to get accomplished and all those wonderful things a teacher should do. But, every morning, as soon as my kids came in through the door they drove me CRAZY!!!

Monday I was cranky and wanted the kids to just work quietly, I'm pretty sure that really is too much to as of them (as I learned). I was having computer problems and was frustrated by how things were going.

Tuesday - my formal evaluation was scheduled for 1:30 - math. I had a solid lesson, I was ready for the day (and ready to be done stressing about being observed). First thing in the morning?!?! My computer freezes, and 30 min later, again...and again... Needless to say, my math lesson was not going to go very well that day. I also learned my kids have NO idea how to listen. I need to back up and give a side story... Every week we do a spelling worksheet. It has their spelling words and they have to read clues to figure out which word goes with each clue. Sometimes it's a rhyme, somethings it says to list all the words with a certain pattern...yadda yadda yadda. So, I always circle the key words in the directions on my Doc Cam and help them through the first few problems. Well...no computer means no Doc Cam. They were CLUELESS on what to do...My favorite part of the lesson was the 7 kids who said. "I'm confused because I was working instead of listening". Yea...cool. As I'm giving a talk about how they need to listen when I'm talking, I have a girl digging in her desk in the back of the room...I'm so glad I demand so much respect from my kids...uuug.

So, back to my story. My kids are driving me crazy, my computer isn't working, and the first part of my lesson is based on using my computer. I run into my principal at lunch and explain my issue. He suggests rescheduling my formal to a different day. I'm fine with that, but then realize I'm still stressed out that it's not over. So what do I do? I sit in my room and let the tears roll down my face for a few min. Yup, that's stress relief right there.

Anyway, yesterday was better. My computer has been fixed and with a few normal glitches in my day, things are back to normal. I also realized, my kids are not meant to work quietly. The do so much better when they are allowed to either work in partners, or be able to whisper and not SIT. My kiddos can't sit still for more than 5 min.


So, thank you to all of you who dealt with me the last couple days. I was subconsciously more stressed out than I realized. But, it's all over now and tomorrow is a pretty darn easy day. I'm just trying to figure out when I'm going to have time to hide and let them find their Easter egg :)





I had to show off my Spring gardening :)

Goal!

I just came up with a BRILLIANT idea!!!! Seriously, thought this up and started typing.

I've been trying to figure out a way to get myself more motivated to hit my goal weight, I'm stepping down about one pound every 3-4 weeks, lame...and I still have 7 (or so) to go.

So, I've also been trying to figure out how to reward myself once I reach this goal and I've come up with nothing. Buying new clothes is not really my reward, because let's be honest, I'm going to have to buy new clothes anyway, because nothing fits. But, what do I really, really, really want?!?! "Family" pictures (I use the phrase family loosely, they are more like, couple pictures, it's still just the 2 of us :)

That's my new reward to me. When I get to my goal weight, we get to have a photo session :) YAY!

Any thoughts? Ideas? I haven't really formulated this any further than the last 2 minutes of great idea popping into my head (including talking to Anthony about this brilliant idea).