Another interview!

I had another interview! I interviewed for a high school postition for an Autism program at Tempe High School. I think the interview went really well. It seems like a good program that has a cap of 15 kids with three teachers and 6 paras. Those are great numbers! I would love to co-teach with other teachers. :) I'll post as soon as I get a call, either way for either job. :)

No News Yet

No news yet from the guy from district who is checking on my references. I'm not surprised though. It is summer and hard to get ahold of principals. I will post on here when I hear more about my job. Then I will be able to start posting about my school adventures! :)

My job interview today!

I had my first job interview of the summer today, and hopefully my last. This job would be awesome!!!!!!!!!! It is through the school district, but located at a Christian private school. :) How perfect is that! I'm so excited. So here are some details for those of you who want them. :) I wore my dress that I wore to my mom and dad's vow renewal a few years ago. I haven't had too many chances to wear it since then, so it is still like new. I also wore a pink shrug with it, since the dress is sleevless. I go there and waited for a little bit in the lobby. Then the very nice head of special services came to get me. He seems like a nice laid back guy. I hope he is like that all of the time, because he will be my main boss, since I'm hopefully going to be at a private school. He asked me a bunch of questions, which I think I answered intelligently. Then he told me about the position, the school and the staff at the school. He explained the paperwork. One great thing he said was that the kids are very well behaved at this school. That is just fine with me! I don't like being direspected. He explained the salary and how it works since I'll be working 80% of full time. I still get benefits, which I knew since I read the teacher handbook last night. :) That impressed him. He said all that was left was to call my references. Sounds like I got the job! :) I'm so excited. I think my first day of work will be July 23rd. And I don't think I'll be working much for Bricks 4 Kidz after that, since there is low enrollment for the site I was assigned to for July. I'm so excited, did I mention that? :)

I have been so busy this summer working with Bricks 4 Kidz doing summer camps. I love working with kids and Legos. So far we've done an Olympic theme and a space theme. It has been fun, but tiring. I wonder how I'm going to do this for 8+ hours a day when school starts. Speaking of when school starts, please pray that I get a teaching job. I need to work more hours than I'm working now. I only work 10 hours during the week when schools in and 20 hours a week during the summer, and that isn't every week. So I need a teaching job. Plus I miss the classroom so much. I've been on Pinterest going over the educations pins. So many fun things to see and do. I'll keep you updated on the job front. Hopefully I'll have some news soon.

Bricks 4 Kidz

Big changes this year. Moving, new schools for the girls, new jobs for Joe and me. Well, Joe is with the same company but he has a new job. He is now working in Metrology. What ever that is, measurements of how the machine puts the memory on the wafer? I think. My new job is with Bricks 4 Kidz. They are a company that teach math and science through the use of legos. I've done transportation, space, natural disasters, and invention units. The kits we are are very cool and inclue gears, pullies, motors and battery packs. All very neat. We make moving models. We even made a dragster that the kids got to race. The girls are adjusting well to school. Jamie is doing well in middle school. She has adapted. She doesn't like middle school, but then again, who did? Not very many people. Faith is loving her school. She told me that I would love to work there because the teachers have so much fun. :) That is a sign of a good school. Both girls have made many friends. Faith goes out to play, even in 108 degree weather. I wish it was that easy to make friends as an adult! We are enjoying out house. The location is great. We live close to everything and are in a good school district. But most of all we enjoyed the pool this summer. It is rapidly cooling down though, and we aren't in it as much as we used to be.

Will this work?

I have been trying to publish a post for some time and it hasn't worked. This will be my last try. I'm thinking of moving to Wordpress, where my sister now blogs. We are now in Phoenix, and getting settled. I have a very part time job. It is only about 15 hours a week. So I'm still looking for a full time job. Joe is doing well at work. Faith loves school and has made a lot of new friends. Jamie doesn't like school very much, but who loves middle school, right? She is making friends, so that is good news. we live in a great neighborhood with nice neighbors and lots of stores around. I hope all is well with you. If I get a new job, I'll post all about it. :)

We're moving, Finally!

We have had the house packed, and cleaned our town house. Now we're ready to hit the road early in the morning! :) We'll be in Phoenix on Tuesday. And our stuff will come to our house on Wednesday. In the meantime we are staying in hotels, one room hotels. Jamie isn't too happy about this. She is really wanting some alone time. :) She has her own room in our new house, so she'll be getting some of that.

See you in Phoenix!

In a month and a week!

In a month and a week we will be moving to Phoenix, AZ! Wahoo! I will be closer to my family! Joe has to go down there on Thurday for a couple of weeks and will then come home to help us move. Just a month ago it seemed so far away! Now we're letting the rent company know, and other companies that we are moving. The movers came and looked at our stuff so they can give Joe's company a quote on packing us. That is right! I don't have to pack! Wahoo! :)

Here we come Phoenix! Here we come hot weather! And sun!!!!!!!!!!!

With this ring, I thee wed, again 25 years later

I went to Phoenix last week, by myself, to watch my parents renew their vows and have a grand party afterwards. It all went great. My mom had a huge suprise for us! A couple of years ago when she got the idea to do this, her and her best friend, Annette, went and bought a wedding dress. We thought she was going to get married in her dress that she wore to Katie's wedding. Which is a very beautiful dress, btw.

We had the party in my parents back yard and it was beautiful! The weather was perfect, and the help that volunteered to help my parents were great! It was nice for us kids to just relax and enjoy the party instead of having to do all of the grunt work.

One of the best parts of the weekend was that I got to hang out with my sister Katie for most of the time! We got to chat and just be together, which was my favorite part. She lives in Virginia and is about to have a baby boy. So I won't get to see her for a little while, unless I can fly out to see her this summer.

All is well and we should be down in Phoneix in a couple of months. It will be nice to get settled, although, we are renting a house and should only have to live in it for a year. So we won't be able to get too settled.

Jamie is about to go on a camping trip with school. She's super excited and can't wait to spend time with her friends.

I am going to go to the beach with some girl friends next weekend and am super excited for that. :) :) :) Luckily Joe has the weekend off so he can be with the girls while I'm gone.

I hope all is well with all of you. :)

Sunday Gratitudes, a day late

I haven't done these for a while, so I think it is high time I get back into it!

1. I'm grateful for the chance to fly to Phoenix to spend time with my family as my parents renew their vows for their 25th wedding anniversary. :) It is going to be a fun time and I'm looking forward to see my sister Katie. She's very pregnant, so that will be a fun thing to see too. :)

2. My girls are both healthy, and happy. Faith is steadily improving in school and Jamie is excelling. How blessed I am to have two such wonderful girls.

3. I recently started making a menu for the month, and am suprised at how much easier it is when dinner time comes and I know what is for dinner! I'm thankful that I'm able to feed my family and that it is a little easier now that I'm a little more organized. :)

4. I'm grateful that my husband has a good job and that this job can move us down to Phoenix so we can be closer to my family. In a little over 2 months, we'll be in Phoenix! :) I'm so excited.

I hope all is well with you. I'd love to hear what your grateful for! :)

Some of my Favorite Things

These are some of my favorite things:

To Drink:



To Wear:



To Eat:



To Watch:



To Wait for:

Falling down the hill

Ok, now that I'm 40, I'm falling down the hill that I went over last week. And it seems like I'm falling fast! I'm patiently, okay, maybe not so patiently, waiting for my Oregon Teaching certificate to come in the mail. They are still processing certficates that were received in December! Mine was received at the end of January, and expired in February. Luckily they gave me an extension until the end of school.

Next, the rolling down the hill continues. We are trying to clear our storage shed of all the clutter we haven't needed, but still want. This means that we are going through a lot of boxes and bringing everything to our house to store in our garage. The movers, which are coming in June, don't go to storage sheds. YIKES! We are about 3 months away from moving! I'm sure those three months will go by fast. It sure seems like a long time from now.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the friends that I've made here and trying to have a 1/2 way normal life for the girls. Jamie is still taking piano lessons and Faith love to play with her friends. Life is going pretty well, even with all that rolling down the hill. :)

Standing at the top of the hill!

I'm standing at the top of the hill! I'm looking down at where I'll start walking in two days. YIKES! I'm about to turn 40! Where did the time go? I don't feel 40, and I don't think I look 40. I sure don't dress like a 40 year old. Should I dress like a 40 year old? I like my converse, and vans. And the kids seem to relate to me better when I wear those shoes. :)

I don't mind turning as long as I don't have to act like it or look like it. :)

On my way to being a teacher in Arizona! and Oregon.

I am almost finished with all of the assessments I need for my Oregon certification. I passed the PRAXIS and Special education assessments. Now I just need one more assessment on Child Abuse prevetion and anit-discrimination.

Luckily these assessments work for the state of AZ as well! Whew! I want to take my assessment to be a high qualified Reading specialist as well before I get my AZ certification. I am pretty sure I need to take one class, and then I'll be set for AZ. Wahoo!

Joe is coming back from Holland tomorrow. Then he'll be off to Phoenix some time in March. We'll follow him in June when school is out. Which as of now is June 10th. There are a few days they can add on at the end of the school year if there is money. This is highly doubtful in my eyes. And why bother! It is the end of the school year, it isn't like there is a whole lot of learning going on the last few days of school anyway.

2 NY's resolutions

I have two resolutions for this year. 1 will be helped by me moving to Phoenix. I want to better my relationships. I have already started working on this by calling my mom and sister more often. I need to call people more often. I've been very lazy about this.

Number two is to try to get my triglycerides down by March. I am going to schedule my 80,000 miles check up, aka my 40 year check up. That's right! In March I'll be 40! OMGOSH! I would like for my doctor to be happy about my cholesterol this year. :)

So what are your resolutions for this year? Do you have any?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I think we all need to remember what this holiday season is all about. It isn't about the presents, shopping, trees, decorations, etc. It is about the time we can spend with our families, and most improtantly the birth of Jesus Christ. Without His birth, He couldn't have died for our sins 33 years later. And without that, we wouldn't be forgiven of our sins. It is through this grace that we can be assured that we are going to Heaven. Praise God.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish you and your families Happy Anniversary! We are here in Oregon celebrating just the four of us. The turkey is about to go in the oven, then the fun begins! Wahoo!

I'm looking forward to next year when I can help my dad and mom make Thanksgiving dinner, and clean up afterwards. And help my mom decorate for Christmas. It will be a great holiday season. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To settle in, or to remain on extended vacation?

I have been wondering if I should settle in here and make friends, or act as if I'm still on an extended vacation. I've decided that since the girls and I might be here until school gets out, I might as well make friends. I haven't been very happy just being in limbo, and trying to fly under the friend radar.

So what I've been doing is making coffee (Chai Latte Tea) dates with friends, and this weekend I'm going to go to a women's retreat for church. This retreat is specifically made to make friends. It isn't a retreat with a speaker. We are just going to chill out and enjoy each other's company. There are some amazing women coming to the retreat and I look forward to relaxing and getting to know them. :)

I'll post pictures of the girls on Halloween next week. Well, Jamie won't be dressed up, but Faith is going to be a dog! :)

Back to School!

It sure has been a long time since I posted last. I haven't had much to say this summer. Just a lot of hanging out with the girls and traveling around the Northwest to say goodbye to friends.

School has started and the girls are so excited to have great teachers this year. And to be back with their friends, of course. :) They both have men teachers, which is new to both of them. I hope and pray that they have a great year.

It has only been a week since school started, so I haven't subbed yet. I've been checking out what I need to renew my teaching certificate, and get a new teaching certificate in Arizona. There are a lot of hoops to jump through. I hope to have it all done by Christmas. We'll see.

Graduation pictures!

This last weekend I graduated from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. I am particularly proud that I graduated with a 3.9 gpa. It was hard and I'm soooooooo glad that it is done now. :) Here are some pictures of the fun weekend.



Joe, the girls and I



My parents and I