Happy June!

Wow, this was a fun fun month! We had lots of celebrations for Father's Day, My Birthday, Our 2nd Anniversary, and just celebrating June.

I wish that I was a better picture taking person, but I am not, so all of the blog posts are quite boring, and for that I do appologize. So...here goes my boring blog...

Today, I received my first check for over $1,000.00. It feels so nice to know that my schooling has finally paid off!! I love it! We finally are able to pay off all our credit cards (and stay out of debt), pay off Andrew's ortho bill, and pay off our bed! Best of all, we are finally able to save up for a house and get a 'good' pre-approval! I cannot wait to get started on being more financial stable. Now...I say this all without complete enthusiasm because I am only a teacher...but it is better pay than I received working as a T.A.

My birthday was on Father's Day this year. As much as I like to be selfish and have that day be MY day, I secretly love it! I love it because I get to spend time with my family. I love my family and I have been very blessed to have such great family members.

For our anniversary, we typically have gone to Park City (our honeymoon) and stayed at the same hotel for a few days. This year, we were out of money. Andrew got a deal for Real Salt Lake tickets. We were able to celebrate our anniversary a few days later having fun in the sun! I love spending time with him, and I cherish it even more since it rarely happens. I cannot believe how fast 2 years has gone, and I am so excited to spend forever more years with him.

I am excited to say that I finish my job tomorrow! This last week has been very hard to stay dedicated and keep the students busy. I have completely lost all motivation, especially since anything I teach will be lost over the next break. I teach at a year round school, but I am trying to get my classroom to be on a traditional schedule for next year. Partially because I think it is B.S. that my 'summer break' is three weeks long...not long enough!! But also because with my students, they forget a lot over three week breaks throughout the year.

This has been my June month. I look forward to July! :)

A Fresh Start...The Beginning

A lot, a lot has happened the last few months. It is always amazing to me how much the Lord is there to help us out, when we need it and ask for it. I am so blessed with all that He has given my little family.

First of all, I am almost finished with my degree! I am so excited to finally be finished with it! However, as soon as I finish my B.S., I will be starting at the U to get my M.Ed. I will be working full-time and going to school full-time, just like I have before. The degree is a 30 credit degree, which means I should be finished by Spring 2012. I am pretty stoked about this!

Secondly, I worked at STRIDE, which is the most restrictive behavior unit in Davis School District (best place to ever work!!). I was doing my student teaching at STRIDE, as well as being a paraprofessional. I was working on a teacher prep day, and the principal kept coming in and having private conversations with Angela (STRIDE teacher). I was getting very nervous because I thought it was something bad since Angela told me my student teaching may not count because she wasn't 'qualified' to be a cooperating teacher.

Well...the following work day, my advisor from the U, Kathy Hill, was coming to do a final observation for my student teaching. At the end of the observation, she told me that the principal wanted to talk to both her and I immediately following. I went into Glaucia's office, scared as can be. Well...it turns out that an elementary school had some problems and the teacher needed to be replaced. She told me that they were going to offer it to me!! I was sooo shocked and sooo excited! Of course, I accepted the offer immediately. She then preceeded to tell me the dynamics of the classroom. Then she told me that they would keep my pay the same, 11.18/hour at 6.5 hours per day. :( I was not excited about this, but I knew that it would be worth the experience. I have been working 8 hour days at Bluff Ridge Elementary, and getting paid crap! However, I have LOVED being here. I have learned so much and loved every minute of it.

Last week, I was able to interview for the position I am currently working in for next year. The interview went great, it was by far the easiest interview I have ever had. Traci, the principal, informed me later that day that they were offering the position to me. I immediately accepted the position.

Today, I got an e-mail telling me that the District decided to pay me teacher pay beginning May 18th, the day I accepted the position! I am sooo excited! This means that Andrew and I can start saving for our house sooner than expected. I cannot wait!!

Andrew's job at Stephens Hot Chocolate finally ended, and he quickly got a job at Taco Time in Kaysville. He has enjoyed working there, but the pay has been hard. He has also decided to continue his education at Weber State University come Fall semester. I am excited for him to begin at Weber again!

January

Wow, January has come and gone! It's always so nice to start off a new year with a fresh new start. Sadly though...scheduling doesn't really allow for a new start.

We started the year off at our house with friend and family around us. It's always fun to ring in the new year with those you love around you. We played games, ate food, and had fun together.

Then it was time for me to return to reality, after having a 2 week break. It is always hard for me to come back after a break, my poor students were a million times worse than me. :( At work, we've had a rough transition back to real life. We're finally starting to get back to the familiar scheduling of coming to school. I have had fun observing a new student and figuring out the programming for the student.

I also started a new semester of schooling. I will be walking on May 6th! I am so so excited to finally be finished. Although, I still have one class to take summer semester...which is a huge bummer. I am debating whether or not I should do my Master's degree. I am thinking I will do it, especially if it won't take me long. But...we will see...

Another change for me is that I got a new church calling. I used to be in the Relief Society activity committee. I loved the calling. I got to plan all the activities, and it was only once or twice a month, which worked well with my schedule. Well...I am now a Sunbeam teacher. The kids are adorable, but it is so hard working with students all week, then on my weekends, I have to be with more kids for two hours. It is rough, but they are cute to make up for it.

Andrew's schedule hasn't changed at all. He is still in Young Men's, going to DATC, and working at Stephen's Hot Chocolate. He will most likely change the last two this year. He was given two weeks notice that he will lose his job last week. He has been busy applying for jobs and he now has an interview with the county doing what sounds like GFS (Lagoon). He is debating about returning to a college, and depending on where his job is will probably determine his school. We are thinking Weber again, but he may go to SLCC, who knows...

We are anxiously waiting for the first week of April to come. Andrew and I have booked a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean. We were going to go, just us, but we decided to invite my family. Now that Andrew is out of a job, we are hopeful he can get the week off, but we will see. So if anyone wants to take his spot...ha ha

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