did you know...

1. I don't eat much chocolate, even though I love it
2. I love gobbstoppers, nerds, rock candy and gummy worms
3. I love ice cream, when I was little I ate it every night because my mom WANTED me to
4. I still eat ice cream all the time
5. I listen to talk radio all the time
6. I am addicted to email
7. I love sending cards
8. I love receiving cards
9. I would rather give a gift than buy something for myself
10. I love snow
11. I hate to be cold
12. I am a messy organized person
13. I rarely sleep all night long
14. I like getting up early
15. I am often productive at night
16. I only recently started staying awake through any given movie
17. I LOVE getting my hair done
18. I have never had a pedicure
19. I've only had one manicure
20. I want to be involved in everything
21. I yearn to be in small town in a rural area again
22. I've driven a log truck
23. I've loaded a log truck
24. I've driven cattle trucks
25. I've never driven a wheat truck
26. I love wheat fields
27. I wanted to marry a rancher growing up
28. I didn't
29. I love who I married, and that he came from what I came from
30. I grew up with timber, wheat, and cows
31. I don't have many clothes
32. I enjoy taking clothes to the dry cleaners
33. I love rodeos
34. I cry when I'm happy
35. I often laugh when something really bad is happening
36. I'm super shy
37. I am a good cook
38. who knew?
39. I can finally bake good cookies, it took years
40. I miss my friends in Hermiston
41. I had a sticker collection when I was little
42. I still have it
43. I always wanted a house I could paint and decorate
44. now that I have one, I don't know what to do with it
45. my house is still undecorated, and only half painted
46. that makes me feel retarded
47. I am now a kindergarten teacher
48. and a first grade teacher
49. that excites me
50. I have three friends who are pregnant, and a little tiny teensy part of me wishes I was too
51. that scares me
52. birthdays are a BIG deal
53. I paint belts
54. I love when my friends wear theirs
55. I could spend hours in a book store
56. I love journals
57. I love pottery barn
58. I can't afford pottery barn
59. I love jeans
60. it is hard to find the right pair
61. when I find the right pair, I wear them out and then search for a new pair
62. I went to school to study art
63. I can't draw

1. There's more...
2. I wish I read more
3. I have a stack of books ready for me to read, they are still sitting there
4. I want to understand more about the Bible, read it and discuss it
5. I love my wedding ring, it's fun to put on and wear
6. I love looking at other rings
7. I have two holes pierced in each ear, and never wear earrings
8. I love jewlry, but don't wear it much
9. I do wear HUGE necklaces
10. and HUGE belts
11. I am a dork most of the time
12. I'm OCD, and my husband knows it
13. I love flossing my teeth
14. I tie my dental floss in a knot before throwing it away
15. I told you I was OCD
16. I am a tooth brush freak
17. a girlfriend nicknamed me that in junior high
18. it's true
19. I love AC/DC, and I've seen them in concert
20. I love to sing with the radio
21. I like the radio way more than cd's or my ipod
22. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the country count down on Sunday mornings
23. I love Oregon Field Guide on OPB
24. Steve Amen rocks
25. Target is probably my fave store
26. I wish I was better at photography
27. I want a cool art studio/ craft room, by cool I mean organized and pretty
28. I'm tired of starting all of these with I
29. I am totally coping my friend with this list
30. I really like my mother in laws pumpkin dessert
31. I could eat steak and potatoes every night, I did growing up- almost
32. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cows
33. My favorite smell is fresh cut grass
34. I have major allergies
35. burning candles is relaxing and luxirious
36. I know how to tool leather
37. I miss my Grandpa more than anything
38. I'd like to be a wedding planner
39. I would like to have a work pickup, you know, with a flatbed and tools
40. I would like to be able to afford really cute cowboy boots
41. I can't
42. I've only been to one dentist in my life, and I loved him, sad to leave
43. I've gone to the same eye doctor my entire life, sad to leave
44. I hoped my red Kitchenaid mixer would get used more often in this house, it does
45. I have red, green, and yellow plates
46. A pink stove, and oven
47. it's ugly
48. I want a HUGE dining room table so I can seat my entire family at once
49. I think I would like three children, two boys and one girl
50. Know God has the plan, not me

November

Spent a fun night last night with friends; trick or treating, eating pizza, and having fun. In our group there were baby mice, bat man, Belle, Nimo, a ninja and a grown up dressed like he probably did in high school, complete with mullet. It was so much fun!
Today I am leaving for Portland to get my hair trimmed (first time in almost a year! yikes!), colored (it's been 4 months!), and to do some Christmas shopping with my mom. This our annual trip, and I think my sister might join us for part of the time. Planning to be back partway through the weekend so I can spend some time with Brandon.
I do have photos of my classroom- will post those next week. Other than that, not too much is going on... just doing some planning for my new job! I am remembering how much time that takes.
Enjoy the weekend!

Our weekend

Brandon and I spent our weekend near Goldendale, Washington at a 24 hour motorcycle race for Brandon's youngest brother Luke. He has been doing some serious races lately, and this was the most recent to add to his resume.

We woke up early Saturday morning to drive to Centerville - which is about 5 miles from Goldendale, Wa. The race was at Starvation Ridge, about 5 miles from Centerville. It was such a beautiful place, and it was like a Mecca when you broke over the ridge and saw the hundreds of campers, trailers, vans, and motor-homes parked along side pit row. It was amazing. We got to the race about 30 min. before the start, and Luke was racing first on his team of 6. He was so pumped, so excited, so happy! He was in his element.

The start of the race is exhilarating, so many people, all watching and waiting. There are several different of classes of racers, and Luke was racing in the beginner class this time. So you wait for your class to be called and you all lay your bikes down in a line. When the green flag flies you race to your bike, stand it up, start it, and you are off! I have never seen anything like it, and it was pretty crazy.

After Luke took off Brandon and I walked up on a hill to see if we could find Luke. The race track is 22 miles long, out in a CRP field, so we didn't find him easily. We finally decided to stand near this little pond, where the racers have to slow down and make a sharp turn, and what do you know, we saw him! I didn't realize it was him in time to take a picture, but he saw us and revved his motor so we knew he saw us.

He didn't have to race again until dusk, so we spent some time cheering his teammates on, checking times, munching goodies and visiting in the camper. It was so great for us to spend this time with him, and I know it meant a lot to him for us to be there for him. He is so knowledgeable about this stuff, and he is good.

A 24 hour race means the team races for a full 24 hours, some teams have as many as 7 members, some only have one! Luke's had 6, so he raced once in the daylight, once at dusk, and then plenty in the dark, as he had great lights on his bike and helmet. So I felt like a new mom trying to sleep in the camper knowing Luke was out racing in the dark! He would come in and try to get a bit of rest, and then go back out. Each time I would wake and wish him good luck. I can't believe people do this, but I guess it must be fun for them. He raced 5 times in the middle of the night (each time doing one lap= 22 miles, about one hour or so). He was tired in the morning! We hung around until the end of the race, they earned 2nd place!

Well, I'm sure this is a weird post, but it was just so absurd that people do this, but we loved every second of it. It was important to us, and to Luke. He did great-

Something to post about

Last weekend my husband's family came to stay with us. Saturday evening we were all worn out and decided to just hang out and visit at the house. Well... 4 boys can not just sit in the house, they need something to keep them entertained. When Brandon came to me asking where the rubber bands were... I knew it couldn't be good.
Turns out, it was pretty funny. Don't turn us in, just laugh and be thankful it wasn't at your house! =)

This and that

OK, I know it has been quite a long time since I last posted. It isn't that I don't have things to say, or photos to share, or anything like that. I just am not sure what to post about. Maybe I'm lazy, maybe I'm feeling boring, or uninspired... I'm not sure. I know I WANT to post, I'm just not sure what about.
I spent last weekend looking/thinking about furniture... thinking I might get a new kitchen table or maybe a china buffet/hutch. Not so sure... I'll keep looking/thinking.
I also spent last weekend with Brandon's family. It was SO much fun to have them all here at our house. It was pretty rainy, but we did do some shopping (at the ranch and home store, of course!) and Brandon had the chance to show his dad all around his job site and the bridge he is building. He loved that.
This week has been beautiful weather, feeling so lucky for that. Today I even got off my behind and took my dog on a walk. We saw piles of leaves, new people, and some cool houses.
Today I got the wonderful call that I had a new job--- very exciting!! I interviewed yesterday and got the call early this morning. I have spent lots of time on the phone sharing my joy with friends and family. I can't wait to start looking at the curriculum and getting into the classroom. This is going to be great. And I think my life will get busy again. big time.
So that is where I am. I also found a cool old chair at Goodwill and painted it glossy black. It is COOL. I have it in my craft studio and I love it. Can't beat a $10 chair.
Ok, I am going to organize some of my math materials. Now that I have a deadline again, maybe I'll get some stuff done!
Enjoy the day-

3 Months!

I can hardly believe I have been married for over three months now! I thought I would share a photo.

Today I am off to look at the school that I applied to. More on that later-

Then I am going to cook a few meals to freeze, make some snacks for this weekend, and maybe even mop my floors! Whew!

I love this one, I am wrapped in plastic, to protect my dress, getting my veil fixed (the wind in the wheat field did some damage to my hair), and drinking a beer.

Hardwood floors uncovered.

You just never know what is going to happen when Brandon and I have a few hours together. Brandon actually had the whole weekend off (amazing!), so we spent Saturday with lots of friends. The first part of our day was spent in Monmouth, OR. at a house warming party/ OSU watch party. The evening was spent at our friends Con and Sarah's at a dinner/OSU watch party. ( so we defiantly watched the OSU game. ) It was so fun to visit, relax and have some fun.

Sunday we had planned to lay around resting, working on the boat, maybe going up to Salem. Instead, we painted the ceilings in our hallway, living room, and some of the trim in our bedroom. Then, we ripped up the carpet in our living room and got the floors ready. All in all, it wasn't TOO much work, and we have beautiful hard wood floors in our living room. It's great! the rest of the afternoon was back to our original plan, boat work, couch, dinner, etc. All in all, it was a great weekend.

The picture on the left is the 'before' (I almost forgot to take it).

Almost done...

And the finished product.