Camera

Well, I can't seem to find my camera cord that plugs into the computer. It is probably in a random box or something somewhere. Needless to say my blog will be very boring without pictures...I will try to post the best I can!

~N

Friendship and misc...

Do you have a friend that at one point you spent countless hours with and then drifted apart? Now with this same friend do you get together and feel like you know each other and can pick right back up where you left off? I have a couple friends like that. Specifically, Alexia. Alexia and I became friends when we were at The Dance Gallery 2. We would love and make up ridiculous things and eat Frosty's all the time! In fact one time we went to get get a Frosty from Wendy's and the guy offered to sell us the Frosty machine after hours. We still laugh about that to this day. A lot has changed since our DG days. Alexia has had a tough loss in her life and I've watched her grow from it. We both got married, friends came in and out of our lives, but we have remained friends. Sometimes we don't talk for months because our immediate lives become too busy but we have always found a way back to each other. Every time we say, "let's not wait so long next time." Maybe, this time it will be true! :) Either way, it doesn't matter. Alexia gets me. I can cry, pig out, laugh, talk about sex, get angry, say something crazy, babble on forever...and she still gets me. What's really cool is, I get her too. Friendships like that, friendships that are true and raw, and real, friendships that make you feel lifted up, loved, friendships that would truly hurt if they were over are rare, special...

Well, what brought up this sense of nostalgia tonight was the fact that the other day Alexia texted me saying we needed to get together. So we did! Tonight we had some Thai food. I have never had Thai food before...it was interesting. My meal smelled like dog food. Alexia's was definitely better then mine but I still wouldn't CHOOSE to eat Thai food.

What is funny about me not liking Thai food (and I will admit I only tried 2 things, I'm willing to give it a second chance) is that I am going to Thailand in July! Totally crazy! Matt's older brother Robbie is getting married in Singapore on July 4th. After the wedding the family is flying to Thailand for what Robbie and his fiance are calling the Familymoon! Matt and I went back and forth on whether or not I was going to go. It was almost always for sure that we were going to be able to send him as he needs to support his brother. Well, really on a whim, we decided I would go too. Matt's mom had give Matt some money for graduation and we are able to use that for the Thailand trip so that really helped. (Let's be honest, a trip to Singapore for two across the world is not too cheap...it's been struggle!) But I am going and I am excited to share in Robbie and Felicia's special day.

So, I've heard (and seen pictures) that Thailand beaches (we are going to Phuket) are amazing ~ Hawaiianesque or better! This is exciting as I have always wanted a tropical vacation. Though I never thought I would go to Thailand for it!

On a side note next week Matt and I are celebrating our one year anniversary! WOWOWOW! I cannot believe we have been married a year. Now as we are being UBER frugal and saving every last penny we will not be doing anything too crazy. But, remember this post? I don't think I mentioned at the time that when we went to the hotel the room we got was kind of gross. Used towels on the floor, and a ketchup like substance left on the wall in the bathroom...I know gross. Well, we complained and got a free night to stay there again. (I know, why would we want to do that!?) So, I think we are going to take advantage on the 22nd. I mean, it's free, right!? Maybe we will play Roulette and win big so that when we go to Singapore/Thailand we can actually DO something!

I am excited about our trip...we have a busy month ahead of us:

June 28th-30th: Family camp at church
July 1st-???: Thailand/Singapore for Robbie's wedding
July 13th-18th: Church VBS
July 15th-17th: Tahoe with my teacher friends
July 26th-August 1st: Mexico Mission Trip

Have I mentioned that I am taking a class where I have to log 150 hours of work time in my classroom? Oh man, that is another entry!

Organizing my life...

So, I have mentioned before that I am not a naturally organized person yet it is my biggest desire to be. Especially since we are going to be getting a new house and I am going to be starting a new school year.

Laundry is a big thing that Matt and I both struggle with to keep organized. (I know, I know it seems silly but...I'm being honest!) Randomly Matt said to me, "Do you want to get a laundry sorter/organizer?" Um, when Matt suggests that we buy something we DO it! He is such a minimalist, which is really good for someone like me, but it can be hard sometimes to convince him of a good idea. My friend Laura had been talking about this new organizer thing that her parent's had got for her and her husband. She LOVES it! We went to check it out at Costco and sadly they did not have it. BUT, we found it online and it seems perfect! It even has a hanging bar for my clothes that I like to air dry, which I have a LOT of! I will let you know how it is working out! Check it out:




Matt cannot stand that I buy baskets or tubs to organize. He had never told me WHY he didn't like it but he just doesn't. Honestly, I thought it was because I don't use them correctly. I buy things like tubs and baskets with good intentions but I never really put them to good use. So we have "junk" baskets around the house. My opinion is that at lease the "junk" is in a nice basket! However, I understood. Well, today, again we were in Costco and Matt found something similar to this:



I was so excited! The reason Matt hates my baskets is because we have no where to put them! He has no problem putting junk in baskets but when they just sit open he doesn't like it. I TOTALLY get that. So, he said that the drawer baskets would be a great compromise! Plus, it looks super cute! Housewarming gift...? Maybe! :)

~N

School's Out for Summer!!!

I feel as though a million trillion bazillion pounds has been lifted off my shoulders. I don't know what it was about the end of this school year but ooooooooh man was I aching for it to be OVER. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork...that's what the end of the year looks like a teacher this day and age. Assessments, inventories, report cards, CUMs, etc. I made it through and I feel 10 times lighter.

I don't think that I have realized fully that my 20 little ones will not be MY 20 little ones anymore. I did get a little emotional when Matt came in to say good bye to them. I also got emotional when I read them a poem called "I'm Glad I was Your Teacher." When I teared up 3 of my little ones teared up too. Oh how I love them.

On the last day of school we held a graduation and invited families. So many families showed. The kids all painted graduation caps and each received a diploma. My curly haired little boy yelled out, "This is the best day of first grade!" It was definitely special and a great end to a great year.

So, goodbye first graders! Thank you for being my students and letting me be your teacher. You have taught me so much and I thank you for that. Remember to always try your best, be kind to others, and that I will always love you!

And 20 new ones will be sitting nervous and ready to learn on August 26th. With all that I have learned this year, I am really excited to start next year. Until then...it's VACATION time and Matt and I have some exciting things planned! Stay tuned!

~N

Goodbye Shearer Street...hello mom's!?

Matt and I have had a very busy weekend. We moved out of our little house to move in with my parent's for a little while. We have a goal: save money for a down payment for our own home.

We spent this weekend packing and packing and moving and moving. We were blessed that our church let us borrow their extra trailer to store all of our things. We took as little as possible. Our bed, clothes, and other "necessities". Bathroom stuff, a dresser to put the clothes in, and of course Banjo. :) It is absolutely amazing and a little disgusting how much CRAP accumulates is such a short amount of time. We only lived in our house for 10 months and have been married for 11ish and yet there was so much stuff! We took LOTS of bags to the Goodwill and will take more when we move into our new house. It's funny because earlier this week we had gone to our friends Jennie and Jesse's house. There house was amazingly clean and clutter free. This is something Matt and I know very little about because we weren't raised that way! My parent's keep everything and store everything. Instead of putting something away immediately we wait until we "want" too or until it must be done. Wow, what a difference. Now my desire is to change our ways. I am not a naturally organized person. By nature I guess I am a pack-rat but I am not too sentimental about things. I think my moto should be take a picture and then throw it away! Matt however is VERY sentimental about things and he wants to keep EVERYTHING! (Yet, he isn't very willing to let me buy tubs and put these things away, organized and safe - he's so funny!) This weekend though Matt changed some of his sentiments...we trashed a ton!

Anyways, I'm rambling now. I am so tired. A lot is put away but there is still so much more to do. I think I will be doing laundry forever. That's okay though because on June 4th I am out of school for the summer and I am SO happy about that.

Matt's a graduate!

Earlier this month Matt and I traveled to Birmingham, Alabama so that Matt could graduate from Beeson Divinity School. We were blessed because last year when our honeymoon was canceled due to airlines going bankrupt we were given vouchers for airline tickets. We used them for this trip. It was such a great escape away. We had a great time visiting with Matt's friends, catching up with past professors and really just relaxing. I felt so stress free! (Well, then I got really sick!)

Now, Matt has a masters in divinity and as one lady in our church asked, "Does that make you a pastor now?" We have no idea!







~N

Hayden! again...

My nephew Hayden is my pride and joy! I love him so much. He is such a good baby and so much fun to watch!

Now, I wish I could watch him more but I will take what I can get, I suppose. I never knew how much I could love a little person! I cannot wait for our own baby!