Monday, January 27, 2014

Some Furniture and other Happenings

Monday night after ample complaining from me, we finally started taking a serious look at getting a couch. At 6:45 Justin got on Craig's List. A few minutes later a sectional was posted for $200....we decided we'd go take a look and it was just down the street! So at 7:00 we went over to their address right away and took a look. It just so happened that the guy was moving his new furniture in. That was lucky for us since we were not about to take a sectional home with our car! We liked it, but told him we'd need to wait until the next day to take it away. He said, "I tell you what -- I'll sell it to you for $100 if you use my moving guy to take it to your place." We immediately agreed, got the $$ out of an ATM and just a few minutes later, we had a new couch for our apartment!!! WE LOVE IT! It was a total steal. Next objective: dining table and chairs!
I fixed the pillows after the picture was taken...



First week of student teaching has been a total breeze because I haven't started teaching yet! Excellent. The reason is last week my mentor teacher was still showing a movie ("Supervolcano" AKA the dumbest movie ever. If you want to know what would happen when Yellowstone erupts it's this: everyone dies. Period. Just pray you die quickly in the eruption rather than slowly starving and freezing to death in resulting ice age! I was cringing the whole time...) and for this week she wants to finish a unit on her own so the teaching lately hasn't involved me. So what have I been doing in my spare time? I show up for school and I lesson plan, lesson plan, lesson plan. Last week I cranked out my scope and sequence for the rest of the semester: I teach until May 14th and I'll be teaching five units: water, weather, climate, Earth history, and astronomy. I figured out which weeks I'll be teaching each topic, and I cranked out all my lesson plans for my first unit - water! Talk about power start to student teaching. I feel way ahead of the game and my lesson plans rock! I've already talked to my administrator and asked him to come and observe me so he can put in a good word for teaching in the fall.

I'm really excited to teach the bunch of kids that I have. I have five classes and each has 25-40 kids. I know! These classes are huge. Today I memorized everybodys' names (I have a wonderful gift for memorization) and they were all surprised when I'd call them by their first name - in a good way! I'm slowing winning over their hearts.

We had a co-teaching training Wednesday night with our mentor teachers. They want us to co-teach the whole time for student teaching which is very frustrating to me. I want to take on the classes on my own! I'm so sick of co-teaching. Luckily my mentor teacher and I are totally on the same page and she is willing to let me take over whenever I want. I've been well prepared and I am ready to take on these classes on my own. I don't need to co-teach! I feel like I am a great teacher, so I've asked to take over starting next week. I can't wait!

Justin is doing very well at work. After 90 days we'll be able to purchase our own health insurance and Justin will get a raise. He's been heading up a new project at his work which is exciting to him. His bosses call him in for meetings and listen to his ideas. He feels like "a real adult!" with all these important people listening to him and his ideas. The project in a nutshell: right now everyone has to input their data several times into different programs and Justin is figuring out a way to have everyone input everything once and have it go to all the programs they need. He's a wiz! Love him.

We got church callings this Sunday. We are ward missionaries! I am so excited. This is such a perfect calling for us right now. Our ward mission leader is on top of it. Our whole ward is so great. Everyone is totally committed to their callings and it's exciting to be a part of it all! During Sunday School we meet for Gospel Doctrine with the missionaries and the investigators. Last Sunday was my first time ever sitting in a lesson with an investigator. It was cool! We get to teach the class in a few weeks. The nice thing about having early church is we get to study the Sunday School lessons Sunday morning together, so it's been fun reading the Old Testament with Justin and sharing our insights.

As for our weekend, Friday night we met up with the Brooks - our best friends for life! Justin and I ate out and then they came over to play some Risk. That game is impossible to play in less than 4 hours. We played for about 3 and were too tired to keep going so we called it a night. Saturday morning my Relief Society had a temple trip so we did a session in the morning and met for brunch after. In the afternoon we went grocery shopping and just laid low. It feels good to just relax. Sunday evening we got together again with the Brooks for dinner and dessert and games. We played some hand and foot and ate fried chicken! This was my first time every frying chicken and it came out very well if I do say so myself. I have been little miss homemaker lately with all my cooking! Every Monday I make a huge casserole that Justin and I eat every night throughout the week. Justin has loved everything I've made so far.

Other than that we are doing very well. We play ultimate on Saturday mornings and Monday nights, we exercise every day for 30 minutes together, and I've been reading Harry Potter again. I need to be better about taking more pictures...until next time!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Update

Last Monday I took Justin to the eye doctor. His vision has been wiggity-wack lately. Some days he sees better with his glasses (as he should) but other days he sees better without his glasses...considering he's pretty much as blind as Velma, that's saying something. The doctor examined his eyes and determined he has burned cornea!! What? How does that happen? Well, if you don't change your contact solution every single day, gunk will build up in your old solution and "with age" (age? he's 25 years young doc!) our immune systems deteriorate and our eye balls can't fight the stuff anymore, resulting in  damaged cornea. I, of course, being the wife know he doesn't change his solution like he should. Well he didn't listen to me...hopefully he will listen to the doctor. Isn't that always how it goes? Love you sugar! She gave him some special eye drops and we have a follow up appointment today. We'll see if anything else is going on.

Up until Tuesday we were going without heat but Tuesday was the day for the gas man to come in and fix us up! They told us to expect him between 7 and noon....that seemed like a weird window, but I wasn't judging. I wanted a hot shower! So I anxiously awaited the gas man to come....and he didn't come all day! What the heck? They didn't show up until 4 o'clock, and it took less than five minutes. What the heck dude? It was annoying because I couldn't go anywhere all day because I had to wait on him. If I had any bit of my sister in-law Rachel's spirit in me, I would have demanded they put it in free of charge and to have the rest of the month free for their inconsideration! Oh well.

Wednesday we did some furniture shopping at some thrift stores. Right now we're getting an idea of what kind of comforter we eventually want to get. You can find surprisingly stylish stuff at places like Ross and Kohls. We hit both and walked through the HUGE mall on Sunset Drive. That was fun, but man...talk about taking a quitting alcoholic to the bar...I haven't gone shopping for myself in AGES and seeing all my favorite stores was tantalizing! No, agonizing! But I am gazelle intense! We have been sitting on the floor for crying out loud! One of our camping chairs broke, so when we're both home we both feel guilty for sitting in the only chair so we both sit on the floor. It's getting old fast. We did see a $35 couch at Savers but how are we supposed to get it home without a pickup? #marriedproblems
This is our debt motivation board I made. It has quotes all over it including from Dave Ramsey to keep us motivated! I'm also trying to convince Justin to let us attend Financial Peace University classes. 
crouching works too...


We went to Dunkin' Donuts for my first time ever. I love that I grew up in a small town because now I have so many "firsts" to experience! We got a call to speak in church on Sunday. We finally got the ok to put nails in the walls so we put up all our pictures. Friday night we pulled our air mattress out to the front room and watched Netflix all night. Saturday I had my student teaching orientation meeting at 9:30. They gave us the same lecture as always..."You represent BYU-Idaho! Look professional! Be on time! Be dependable!" My first day is tomorrow and I teach until May 14th. I spoke to my supervisor today and she said she's never seen a student teacher who wanted to get a job not get a job here, so I'm excited about the possibilities to teach next fall.

My friend Christine and I went to the orientation together and we both realized we don't have sufficient "teacher clothes" to get us through the semester, so our gracious husbands gave us the go and we went shopping for teacher clothes! Huzzah! That was a lot of fun so we spent all day Saturday looking for the best deals. That night Justin and I spent the evening perfecting our talks. Sunday morning we did the same thing. We got to church 20 minutes early because we wanted to be sure to have plenty of time before church started. We got inside and found the program to read the following:

What's that? No "Sister Rose" and "Brother Rose" on the program? I asked Justin "Did they say it was for this Sunday?" We just assumed that if they call you on a Thursday to speak, they mean for the next Sunday. Oh well, we thought, it must be for next week...and then our wheels started turning. Oh no...the guy that called us to speak...I remembered his voice...it was the clerk from our old ward on Tropicana Avenue!!! We were asked to speak in the Tropicana Ward that day, and we weren't even in that ward!! When we realized the mistake we felt awful. How awkward was that sacrament meeting? Can you imagine? Well we will never know because we realized the mistake at 1 PM and their church is at 9 AM! Whoops! An honest mistake...we felt terrible but it makes for a very funny story. Next time you get asked to speak in church, be sure to confirm which ward you've been asked to speak in!

Sunday night we had game night with the Brooks. We love having friends close! We ate cookies and popcorn and had a good game of Settlers which Christine dominated! I did terrible, but that's okay. We are in the works to plan a Havasupai Falls hiking trip with them during spring break. The Grand Canyon is calling me...

That's it for the week. Wish me luck in my student teaching adventure. It's going to be a blast...!??!......

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Last Week of Freedom

This week is my last week before I start student teaching. I actually don't know when I officially start taking over the classroom. All I know is I have an orientation meeting this Saturday. I'll probably be stuck observing for a week or two before I actually start teaching. I feel like the people in charge of student teaching could utilize this down time way better than they do. How hard is it to ask the coordinating teachers what should be taught in the next 14-18 weeks so we can use all this down time to start brainstorming how to teach? Makes sense to me...

We finally MOVED!!!! I am THRILLED. I thought we'd be stuck at Paradise Square for the rest of the month, but the stars aligned themselves this week and we made arrangements to move. All day Thursday and Friday I packed and cleaned like a mad woman. Justin and I agree that that apartment has probably never had a deep clean EVER. It was awful. I'm so glad to be gone from that yucky place!!!! Todd and Christine helped us move and they noticed the blood on the sidewalks...yeah....

I cannot express how happy I am in this new apartment!!! WE LOVE IT! This apartment is huge compared to what we're used to, and it's really nice! It has new carpet too! We could easily have our first two kids here. Electricity transferred over no problem but our gas isn't getting set up until tomorrow (Tuesday) so we've been freezing! We boil water to do dishes and bathe....brrr!
Sitting in blankets, pjs, coat and hat

Trying to stay warm!
We were so blessed to have our friends help us move. They have a trailer so we were able to take everything in one trip. They moved into a friend's apartment who left their TV and a nice shelf so our friends gave it to us for free!! After a year and four months of marriage, we finally have our first TV! Still no channels, but we got a Chromecast for Christmas so we've been playing netflix and pandora from our smart phones and it plays on the TV.


Still in our camping chairs... Through the glass doors is a patio with another huge storage closet and another closet that has our own WASHER AND DRYER!!! They keep it outside because having the washer and dryer inside adds a lot of heat (not good for summer time). It also keeps the noise down in the house. 

Lots of room for our future couches/sectional

Another huge closet for storage.

New TV and shelf - with pictures of Christ, the Rexburg Temple, and a framed The Family: A Proclamation to the World

There's so much room in the kitchen. We don't have enough stuff to fill all the shelves! And it comes with a microwave and dishwasher (last place didn't have either of those)! Woot!


Future dining room...


Our new shelf


Our huge bathroom!


Our trusty air mattress. It is surprisingly cold to sleep on an air mattress...


Our bedroom has two closets. Naturally, I claimed the huge walk-in closet...
Justin's closet. Ha!






The apartment complex has a very nice lounge. There's a theater room, fitness center, pool, racquetball court, tennis court, basketball court, and sauna. It's unbelievable! 

We went to our new ward yesterday and loved it. The family ward is huge and there are tons of kids. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. A few sisters teach in the surrounding schools. They said they have science openings in their schools so I have a connection for teaching in the fall if that's what I choose to do! Awesome.

Saturday night we got together with the Brooks and hit downtown. We walked up and down Fremont Street watching magic tricks and looking for a place to eat. You have to be selective when you breathe - someone blew cigarette smoke right in my face. Ugh! 3,000 people die every year from lung cancer from second hand smoke. We went to Container Park which is an area where all the shops are constructed from left over train box cars. Outside the park there was a giant prey mantis that blew fire every few minutes. It blew fire right as we were walking out - I screamed so loud! We finally picked a place to eat: The Heart Attack Grill. A man actually died of a heart attack after his triple by-pass burger! You can read more here. The restaurant plays up the fact that it's so unhealthy. First thing the waitresses do is put you in a hospital gown - and they're all dressed like nurses! Oh, and if you weigh more than 350 pounds you eat for free...


Single by-pass burger...meaning it has ONE patty. Double has two, triple three, and so forth until it maxes out at 8!! The quadruple by-pass burger alone is 10,000 calories!!!


A taste worth dying for...


The small writing says, "Calories? I don't give a damn!" Rhett Butler is wearing a hospital gown and Scarlett O'Hara is dressed as a nurse. 


All the other fast food mascots eating at the heart attack grill.





They put a slice of butter in the brownie shake....oh my.
Justin is now walking distance from work and my school is just a five minute drive down the 215 from here. Life is good! Now I'm thinking what I can do for my last week of freedom...what would you do?


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year all! What are you new year's resolutions? I don't usually set resolutions, but this year was different thanks to Dave Ramsey - more on that later.

Our New Year's Eve celebration consisted of staying at home. Everyone and their dog goes to The Strip for the celebrations there. They shut the city down on and a few blocks away from The Strip (I think to allow the drunks to walk in the streets without being killed) to serve the influx of people that go there, so the only way to do it if you DO go to The Strip (we've heard) is to get a hotel room so you don't have to worry about getting in and out and you can go to bed whenever you want. Since we're broke we will save that for a later time. We used a birthday gift of Justin's to see a free movie and we went to Frozen! We loved it. I thought there was a little more singing than I expected but we were in a theater stuffed with kids and it made it so much more fun. They would GASP and LAUGH in all the right places making the movie so fun. I've been doing purple eye shadow since inspired by Elsa! We got home at 10:00 and made sugar cookies and finished the final season of 24. At midnight the six minute firework show at the strip started going off and we could hear and feel the explosion from here - ha! New Year's morning I made a yummy breakfast again and we just had a low day. Nothing special there.

French toast with strawberries and cream!


breakfast casserole muffins: hashbrowns on bottom, egg, cheese, and bacon on top



playing scrabble
Thursday Justin and I went to the temple. That was a great experience as always. Friday we did more furniture shopping and went to the library. I picked up Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover" and became gazelle intense! Forget buying furniture! What's funny too, is when we say "We're not buying until we can afford it" all the salesmen say things like "three month financing, same as cash" in a "we work with you" voice and I'm not fooled! It's been a lot of fun reading his book and now Justin's reading it so we can sit down and do the math together because I am gazelle intense to pay off ALL our debt by the end of the year and to have six months of savings in 18 months!!! I graduated debt free because my smarts = scholarships that paid for everything, but my sweet husband was not so lucky and so we owe some money. And I am gazelle intense! I review these motivations every day and every day I've been listening to Dave Ramsey's show. I plan to print off the pictures and our debt snowball and hang them in our front room. Everyday when I walk by it I will say, "I am going to WIN!" We will live like no one else (rice and beans baby!) so later we can LIVE like no one else! I love it. I'm so grateful I've read this book at 21 years young to start our life right.

All this rent-to-own for an affordable price...we don't buy it!!
Sunday our church changed its meeting time from 11:00 to 9:00. Turns out we won't be moving as soon as I'd hoped so we'll be here for a bit longer still. We played games together and read pretty much all day. We did make a fabulous cake from scratch which was fun! Monday our good friends got into town, Todd and Christine Brooks, so we helped them move their stuff in and then we went and threw the disc around. Next week we'll start playing with the team that plays down here. Tonight I'm working my Mary Kay business for the first time in this area so I'm excited and a little nervous about that! I still have two weeks of vacation until student teaching starts so I'm just enjoying life reading up on Ramsey and working my business.

That's about all our news. Something funny...I'm starting to feel cold. I can't believe myself - it's like I've conformed already - but I feel like I need a winter coat when I go outside and it's 40 degrees! What's wrong with me?