This is

HARD.

New job. New district. New town. New grade level.

Moving into a new house, out of our old one.

Busy time of year for Brandon at work.

My 45 min. commute one way.

I think I am reaching my breaking level. I know God only gives us what He knows we can handle. I know I can handle this. But I am asking for help. I ask him for patience with my kids a LOT. I have done things I'm not proud of. I have snapped at my husband and left things undone that need to be done.

But, I am doing what I can and asking for help with the rest. I have learned to say no to things. I have learned to understand my limit and stay within those bounds. I offer help when I know I can actually give it, and to take help when I actually need it.

I am excited for all of these changes. and trust me, I LOVE my job and I LOVE our new house. I am just ready for some of these chores to be over.

The packing

the cleaning

the endless laundry

the driving

the tired nights

the early mornings

the paper work

changing addresses

moving safety deposit boxes

changing magazine subscriptions

writing HUGE checks

forgetting birthdays

avoiding the stack of books my friend lent me MONTHS ago

I am ready for things to calm down, for Brandon and I to sit in our new house and just be. To laugh and talk and enjoy each others company. I'm ready for that.

On September 13th, 2002....

OK, so I read my friend Lindsay's blog today and felt and urge to 'copy' her. So you have to read mine, but also follow the link to her blog and read it as well. =) I thought it too funny to pass by.


On September 13th, 2002....
I met Brandon for the first time.
I took a picture of him sitting on the couch at his apartment.
I never got rid of it.
Our friend Corey (who I thought at the time was just MY friend Corey -- haha) took me to a party in Pendleton for the Pendleton Round Up. We were going to meet up with some of his friends and then head down to the Happy Canyon Dance.
Some how Corey and I had been friends for a long time (through most of high school). And Brandon and Corey had been best friends for a long time (through most of high school). And yet Brandon and I had never met.
We had a great time that night dancing and visiting with the rest of our friends. And then I went back to Eugene and Brandon stayed in Pendleton and Corey went back to LaGrande.
I didn't see or talk to Brandon again until January of 2003.
When we met up again at Corey's Superbowl Party in LaGrande that January of 2003 we hit it off again, talked the entire evening, road back to Pendleton together, and he came down the following weekend to see me in Eugene.
From there the rest is history.



happy {we met at the Pendleton Round Up} anniversary Brandon!

and thanks for the great idea Lindsay! =)

Wanna see?

Here is a little tour of my classroom! It's not perfect, and it is a work in progress... it isn't even done yet. But here we go!

This is my word wall...never really used one before, but after teaching kinder last year and 'part way' using one I think I am going to give it a try.

This is my calendar area. We do Number Corner in kinder and I have my 'helping hands' posted here also. The kids can track who was the helping hand yesterday, who it is today, and who it will be tomorrow. Both for a.m. and p.m.

A closer look..

Games, big books, supplies, etc.

The door to the hallway, storage for the reading program, my wagon, etc.

My 'Welcome Board'... we are going to be busy bees!



My classroom...





Enjoy. =)

Change

So things have gotten busy around here. There has been a lot of change, and more is on the way! A few weeks ago I met my family in Gold Beach, OR. for a {family reunion}. Now, our family is very small, and we usually all see each other once a year anyways... but it is always nice to catch up again. This time we met in Gold Beach because we have a lot of history here. My grandma grew up here and was married here, and my aunt and my mom grew up spending their summers here visiting my great grandparents. My sister and I grew up spending some time each year here with my mom visiting our great grandparents. The only family we really have left isn't technically family at all, but this woman (Joyce) has been {family} for longer than I have! We just adopted her because we love her so much, and she feels the same. She knitted the Christmas stockings that me and my cousins still all use each year. While we were visiting this time we went to the cemetery where our family is buried, we went to the Myrtle Wood store that was originally started by my great-great grandfather and my great grandpa. We also go to visit the 'old' house where my grandma grew up, the museum that is named for my family and few other cool things. Lots of history and lots of stories. And each night a few of us walked the beach.



While on my trip to the coast I found out that I had a new job offer... kindergarten full time in Albany, Oregon!! So exciting!
Not a week passed after my return from the southern Oregon coast before I was off to Eastern Oregon for my best friend Jill's bridal shower and bachelorette party. We had a great time and it was so fun to be back for a day or two. We can't wait for October 18th!

This past weekend Brandon and my best friend Kelly and I went up to stay at our friend Broc's cabin over east from here near Chemult, Oregon. There was a group of six of us (the old CEM group) and we had a great time. We floated the Dechutes River, had a camp fire, made big breakfast and dinners, watched the Duck game {go ducks!} and caught up on what we are all doing. It was so great to see them all again, and the smaller group was a fun change.

While we were on our way up the mountain, we found out some more good news.... our offer on a house was accepted! If all goes as planned, we will be moving into our new house in Albany the first weekend of October! This house is only 10 minutes from my new school.

{Reckless}

Got to see Reckless Kelly Monday night with my friend Claire in Portland at the Doug Fir. Had a GREAT time!

Mickey and the Motorcars opened for them, I loved seeing them for the first time.

This is the lead singer for Reckless, they were great and played a mix of older stuff and songs from their new album.

Gathering

As I laid in my comfy bed yesterday morning with a cool breeze slowly sifting through the window, I heard a squirrel gathering nuts from our trees in the backyard. They were loud. I was annoyed. I shut the window and rolled over. Why were they gathering for the winter months now? Didn't they know it was 7am on a Sunday? Didn't they know we had gone to bed really late? Didn't they know it was the beginning of August?
Well, those squirrels are smart. You know that? They think ahead. They plan, the prepare, they get their work done early so they can play later.
Friday night, after I had enjoyed a makeover, and was dressed up, my husband called and asked me to bring the pickup to the job site so we could load it with firewood. What? Don't you know I am looking kinda sexy right now? Don't you know we are young and without kids. We could go out, or stay in I thought to myself. Why do we need to do this now?
But, I grabbed the keys and made my way to the job site so we could load it up with firewood. And Saturday morning... my husband was up at 7am and off to cut, split, and stack firewood. At 10:30 he called me and asked me to join him. He needed my help gathering wood for the cold winter months. I didn't want to go, but I put on old jeans, boots,and a t-shirt and plastered the best smile I could on my face. It wasn't a believable smile at first, but I tried my best. I arrived, jumped up on the trailer, and started stacking firewood until we had about a cord of wood to haul home. We were tired, we were sore, but we knew we were planning, thinking head, and this work now would help allow us to have more time to play later.
So our beautiful Saturday afternoon was spent unloading the wood off the trailer, into wheelbarrows, and then finally into the shed in our backyard. It was a lot of work, and we were tired, but we felt good when we finally finished Sunday morning. We had started a project, worked hard, and finished something that will help us this winter. We were gathering for the winter, and now we are done.

Brandon showing me how strong he is, and me on the pile of wood.


The trailer that we used to haul it.


Me, finally in the picture! haha

fun, fun

So my girlfriend Kelly came down for a couple of days to stay with Brandon and I. We worked on a class we are taking distance ed, we hung out, we met friends for lunch, we went running and we ate good food. It is always so fun to be with her, she lifts my spirits and kinda just 'gets' me. I can be bitchy if I need to for a minute, and funny, and just mellow. I don't have to act, or pretend, or be happy all the time. We can just 'be' our selves. (this is reminding me of how I feel with my friend Lindsay too). =)
One of the things we wanted to do while she was down this trip was to go to the MAC counter and learn how to do our eye makeup. Kelly wanted to know more how to do make up for going out at night, and I wanted help doing just day to day makeup. So, we got to the counter about 11:15ish, and didn't leave until 2:30! We had the BEST gal helping us, and she was there by herself, so she had to be helping customers while she was teaching us makeup techniques. But we had a great time, and came away with cool makeup, good techniques, and some makeup to replicate the look on our own. =)


Here we are together... all made up.


My eyes went from 'day' to 'night' with some black (yes! black!) eye shadow and some heavy black eye liner. wow!


so this is a weird angle, but here I am. All glammed up with big earrings and all. Too bad the rest of my day is just eating dinner at home and house work. I need a hot dinner date! haha