A Day in Our Life: 2009

An Early Merry Christmas to All

Just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. We were supposed to be in Sioux City for Christmas Eve and then head out to Greenfield to hang out with the Browns for a couple days, but it seems mother nature has other plans for us. I came back from my parents' house yesterday afternoon with my brother to make sure Jerod wouldn't be stuck at home by himself on Christmas, I guess I love him! We're hoping that we'll be able to make it out to see the Browns on Sunday at his Grandma's soup dinner. It has really made me appreciate the time that I was able to spend with my family, it was all positive, we just enjoyed being around one another and that's all I could ask for at this time of year. So anyway, we hope that your Christmas is just as satisfying and full of the love of family and friends, and we also pray for safe travels for everyone who is brave enough to battle this weather out, God bless!

House Hunting Update

So far we've seen 7 homes in Nevada. I thought when we started looking at homes that it would be like magic, I would immediately know which one I liked the best and then we'd make an offer etc. and so forth. But now that I've seen 7 homes (2 of which we didn't request to see) I feel like if I don't see every home that's a could-be, I'll wind up wondering if this other house would have been better. I hope our real estate agent is up for some major showing after Christmas because we'll have a few days of "all day" where we won't have anything better to do but shop for homes! On the up side I've become less ambitious (Jerod is thankful) in that I don't feel the need to get a complete fixer-upper, I'm okay with just having a few things to remodel or whatever, and Jerod is becoming a little MORE ambitious, i.e. he doesn't feel like everything has to be move-in ready.

The 'Stache

The most hated man in my life for the past week (minus the usual suspects: Tom Brady, Tim Tblow, Tyler Hanborough), has been the debacle of a coach known as Dave Wannstedt. Wanny is a popular running joke due to the stupid shit his football teams routinely do. Well this week, Wanny gave me my worst betting loss of the college fb season by blowing a 31-10 lead.

While I do hate Wanny currently, I still love his twin brother.

Hunting for a House

So we're doing it! We're really, actually, literally going out to look at houses! It's so exciting, and scary, and so many things! How many exclamation points can I fit in this short blurb???!!!!!! (kidding, just ready to finally take that grown up step)

Thanksgiving

I have a new appreciation for how hard people work to get Thanksgiving dinner out on a table. We headed out to Sioux City for the holiday to see my side of the family. My mom was sick with strep throat and bronchitis, and was too sick to make dinner, so my dad and I embraced the challenge. I was SO stressed out all day. Lack of sleep (I was up by 6am to help) combined with the stress of getting everything together and making sure everyone was quiet enough for my mom to rest, made for an interesting day. Mom made it out to eat with us for a little while, it was nice to see she was feeling a little better. Black Friday proved to be kind of disappointing, we still haven't quite determined what we'd like to get our families for Christmas so I wasn't really looking for anything. Got a couple new blankets for around the house though, and I was pleased to find the Willow Tree Nativity scene on sale, 30% off! Otherwise, it was just nice to spend time with family, we spent the last two days of the weekend in Anita with Jerod's family. Hope everyone else's holiday weekend was just as great!

Fall Craziness

We have been SO busy these past few weeks! We had so many friends come into town and visit, and it was so nice, but we're ready for the Holidays to kick in and have some down time and quiet time with family and friends. Halloween was fun, we went out in costume two nights, Jerod was itching to show everyone his Macho Man costume, it was pretty good- and he sold it really well, too. Then we went to a tailgate when our friends came into town from California, it was really fun, both of us were sad to see the Hawkeyes winning streak end (yes....even me...). That doesn't mean I'm a Hawk fan, just that it was neat to see an Iowa team doing so well nationally. Anyway, we'll get to see family a lot these next couple weeks. My sister, Kristen made OPUS (middle school honor choir), a statewide thing, and she has a concert at Stephens Auditorium here in Ames. My parents are bringing her up...I'm not sure where they're going to sleep! Then, we're meeting my parents in Minneapolis on Saturday to do some shopping, see a football game Sunday, and celebrate 29 years of marriage for them...already thinking of what to do for them next year for their 30th. Then, of course, headed out to Sioux City and Greenfield for Thanksgiving weekend. I love this time of year, family and friends can't be beat!

Doug, Dylan, Jerod, and Spears, I apologize for Jerod's rude gestures!

My Sister and me before the 5k run/walk for Race for the Cure in Des Moines.

So much fun, totally recommend it!

October Date Night

So we love hanging out at home.....a lot....so much in fact that it's pretty much the only thing we do outside of attending West Marshall football games. Now that those are over, I thought we needed to get out and do something different every now and then. We had our first monthly, specifically, date night. The catch is that we each have to take turns planning date night, since it was my idea I took October. Needless to say, I had a heck of a time trying to come up with something Jerod wouldn't scoff or roll his eyes at, so I decided to go with the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze in Cambridge.....that did not fly- Jerod guessed what we were doing and did NOT want to go. So we compromised, dinner at Thai Flavors in Des Moines (they have THE best crab rangoons EVER, hands down) and then we stopped at the Ankeny Walmart and picked out two pumpkins to take home and carve. It was really nice to get away from the television and just spend time together without worrying about lesson plans or the score of the game. I am looking forward to his date night plans in November....wonder what they will be??

JB looks like he's having a BLAST!

The finished products (Jerod's was only a 1 pumpkin difficulty- mine was a 4 pumpkin)

Hey All!

This is a busy time for us as conferences for West Marshall run this week, and Carver's are next week. The big plus?? A couple kid-free days! We'll enjoy them now, since we don't have any little ones that have to be home with us yet:) We headed out to Sioux City this past weekend to see the Wyant family (it is still SO weird to not be a "Wyant" anymore). We hadn't been back to Sioux City since right before we left on our honeymoon in July, it was a long overdue visit, I missed my family tons. Also, Jerod gave the first two-armed hug to someone other than me that has ever been witnessed!! (GASP!!) My dad and I had to pick our jaws up off the ground when Jerod hugged my mom good-bye, he's coming around....

Jamie-wanna do something before the game on Friday? We can bring dinner this time, let me know (I can speak directly to you since you're the only one who reads this blog-haha)

Checkin In

Just a short update on what's up with us. School is going well, the honeymoon period with the preschoolers is over and everyone is revealing their true colors- but other than that, it's so much better than last school year, I can't complain. Jerod will be finishing up first quarter at West Marshall soon, and having fall conferences. Can't believe it's that time of year already! This past weekend we trekked out to Clinton, Iowa to visit our friend Tony, he was really excited to have everyone up and cooked up a feast for Saturday. It was nice to be able to finally see his house, it's so tiny! Not a whole lot else going on except getting ready for Halloween. We're going as the Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth- any tips??? :)

Remember to Breathe

Halfway done with the first week of preschool with students- they're really something, I'm not sure what though :) The first day was basically everyone, myself included, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was a crazy day. The last two have been much better and I am now beginning to see some personalities coming out in certain children, I have some sassy little ones. Overall though, it has been so much better than last year in that the kids get along pretty well and so far we haven't seen any major behavior problems besides some defiance. If that's the worst thing I see with them this year then I'll be very happy!

We just had a crazy weekend of football and friends!! How many people can fit into a one bedroom apartment? Way too many, my goodness people were passing out any and everywhere. It was an embarrassing loss for the Cyclones, but they were most definitely outplayed and didn't deserve a win. Let's hope that Paul Rhoads can bring us back to where Dan McCarney had them- at least a crappy bowl game! And if you're waiting to hear a congrats to that other team.....keep dreaming Hot Guys ;)

Otherwise, we're excited for West Marshall's homecoming game this Friday night, and hopefully a relaxing weekend at home. Somehow, that never seems to be what happens but I can dream right?

This is not why I went to college!

Diapers!! A 3-year old in DIAPERS!!! I know it probably isn't the easiest thing in the world to potty train a child, but for the Love of Pete, 3 years old?! Any typically functioning 3-year old should be able to pee in a toilet, maybe use a pull-up at rest time or overnight, but still in diapers? Now we're just lazy and not even trying to help this kid..... By the way, I don't have to worry about it because by our policy parents must sign a paper saying they will come to school when he gets a dirty diaper and change him. Thank Heavens!!

This is our moment, This is our time

I don't know how many times I have heard the above phrase since Thursday, probably about a million....College football is in the air again! We started out our weekend cheering on the Trojans as they battled Aplington Parkersburg on Friday night- a heart breaking loss, they played their tails off the whole game and almost had them. Then, on Saturday morning we trekked out to Johnston to watch the Iowa game and the rest of college game day, followed by a trip to downtown Des Moines. For me, it was either tag along or stay at home by myself all weekend because Jerod has his second fantasy football draft with his college friends tonight, woohoo....... At least we were able to spend time with some good friends that we don't get to see too often!

Classy look JB, very classy

New year, Same drill

So tomorrow marks one full week of work for me, and JB's first full week with kiddos. He's not worried about the school year, just pulling from his previous years' lesson plans- they don't change curriculum on him every year. I picked up my class list on Monday and a positive is that so far (knock on wood) I only have 14 students because they're really enforcing district boundary lines this year. However, almost half of them are only 3 years old- such a huge difference from having 4-5 year olds. My youngest student just turned 3 two weeks ago, my goodness the abilities are going to be across the board! But hey, as long as the don't hit me, kick me, bite me, or call me nasty names- I think we'll get along just fine. We'll have to, because I'll have them next year, too :)

3 Days and counting

The final countdown began today....officially back to preschool on Monday. That's okay, this past week I spent 4/5 days home by myself and I'm not quite sure how Jerod occupied his time while I worked at the beginning of the summer because I was SO bored!! I cross-stitched, ran errands, cleaned, organized, baked, read books about buying your first house, went to the library (where I checked out Saturday Night Fever, totally not what I was expecting, I hated it- it made me sick to my stomach), and basically all Friday afternoon I spent fiddling around with this stupid iPod I bought on ebay- dumb idea. And now, I'm going to bore all 5 people who read this by posting exactly what I did nothing of this week. I hope you enjoyed this post- it has probably been the most exciting part of my day.

What a GREAT day!

Just want to leave a little note about my great day! Drove to work with JB to drop him off, then headed up to see Brenda and Adalynn (who is getting SO big and talks so much now!). We got to shop at the Williamsburg Outlet mall and get some good buys ;) Then we had a nice lunch, just us ladies, Adalynn told Brenda, "This is a good girls' day mom!" It was nice to catch up with B, I miss when we lived together and she was just a bedroom away! Then, I trekked back to State Center and hung out with Jamie and the kids while Jerod and Aaron were at back to school night. It had been a whole month- it seems like a long time after you've spent 3-4 nights a week with somebody. I am really excited to go to more West Marshall sporting events this year and hang out with the Burdorf's before or after, they're some of our favorite people. That's all, just a little shout out to everybody, until next time!

Boo

I thought I was done worrying about wedding stuff, but alas, now it's our photography! The pictures in the online gallery look gorgeous and we are supposed to get a DVD of 4x6 images which was included in our wedding package. Today, when we picked up the disc and brought it home to check it out and start designing our thank-you postcards, we realized the images were super small and all grainy and fuzzy. Well, they had been shrunk and will not even make a suitable 2x3 let alone a 4x6!! I realize she doesn't want us to screw her over, but two grand should get me at least 4x6 images, goodness gracious, grrrrrr...... Not a happy camper that is for sure.

We're Back!! Round 2

It is that time of year again.

Football Gambling Season!!!!!!

St. Louis Rams 12.5-1 to win the NFC West

Coming off a 2-14 season, in which they lost their last 10 games, and went 0-6 in the worst division in football, this seems like a logical bet.

Good Times with Good Friends

This weekend was jam-packed with friends and fun. Our good friend Clint graduated from college in New York City this summer, and everyone is so proud of him!! He finally found a college and a major that he loved and we couldn't be happier for him now that he has graduated and moved back home to Iowa. His grad party was Friday night, and the night would not have been the same without his brand new Fowling (like bowling, except with an F) set. It is a combination of football and bowling that he first heard of on his annual treks to the Indy 500. Jerod and I spent a couple days this past week constructing the fowling boards (which are 8'x42") and painting them, needless to say- we are not the most experienced carpenters!! Anyway, they turned out great, and the boys set up a tournament and had an awesome time, Jerod and his partner Matt won the tourney.....does this kid not lose anything?! Saturday night we went to an I-Cubs game where they had over 10 hits and they won- free tacos at Taco Bell!! Then we went to our friend Stacie's going away party. Stacie and her husband Ryan got engaged this spring and moved their wedding up to this past June so that Stacie would be able to live on the base in El Paso with him. We are so excited for the two of them and wish them the best and we can't wait until they can move back to Iowa in a couple of years. We are so lucky to have such awesome friends to spend time with, love you guys!

Hmmmm......Hmmmm.....

I know I shouldn't be complaining about this because eventually we will have a family and virtually no quiet time for ourselves, but we are SO bored! The first half of our summer was me teaching summer school and then we always had baseball to fill our evenings. Now that the wedding is over and we (and by we I mean 'I') have nothing to plan or worry about. I'm not stressed about school because there's no way this year can be worse than the last one (knock on wood). It's not that we don't love spending time together, but as Jerod put it "we're with each other every waking moment", so true sweetie, so true. I suppose we should enjoy being able to spend this time together before school and obligations start to crazy up our life :)

We're Back!!

I can't believe how long it has been since I added to our blog! So sorry to leave all 2 people who read this thing hanging :) I couldn't remember my password to log in, I'm such a dork. We just got back this week from our honeymoon in Minneapolis, which although very close was so relaxing. I think in general it was just relaxing to not have to stress about trivial wedding stuff. We went to a Twins game, had lunch at View Restaurant & Bar (which had a beautiful patio view of Lake Calhoun in Uptown), did A LOT of walking, took the light rail to Mall of America (highly recommend it, cheap and we didn't have to deal with traffic, plus it picked up right from the Metrodome which was only a few blocks from the hotel), and we even got to stop at IKEA on the way out of town Wednesday. That may have been my favorite part of the entire trip, we picked up a new entertainment center and a sofa table, and other stuff- it was so fantastic!! It was nice to be away with just each other though, and I'm happy we took the time to do that even though it was only a couple hours away. Here's a couple pictures from our honeymoon, Jerod wouldn't let me take too many pictures, he was tired of smiling after the wedding day :)

Continuing the Edumacation

I think I must be crazy because I'm actually seriously considering returning to school to get my master's degree in education. I obviously wouldn't quit my day job, but I can't believe I'm considering this- I always said I would never go back to school. However, I'm hearing rumors of Graceland University offering their Masters of Education in Cooperative Teaching and Learning for under 9 grand for 2 years.....tempting if it is true, it would truly be worth it. I keep telling Jerod he should get his, too- there's some places offering Masters of Education in Sports psychology, will he take the bait?

By the way...under 3 months to go until the big shindig!!

Dessert dilemma......again

I should just not say anything about desserts until the day of the wedding. I emailed the Ames pie guy (he makes delish cheesecakes and pies, as stated in my earlier blog) and as it turns out the City of Ames has zoned them out of business. They were told they are too prosperous to operate out of their home, but they don't have the money to buy a building so they're done with their catering business now. Can I not just catch a break? Also, do you know anyone who loves to make yummy cheesecakes???

Check your mailbox soon!

So Jamie, I know you're the only one who actually follows this blog :) I want you to know that I appreciate it though! Anyway, everyone has been wondering what hotels we've blocked for the wedding so we've been working like the Energizer bunny to get invitations all put together, stamped, addressed, and mailed out and you should be getting them next week. Jerod's first BIG official job for the wedding is to buy stamps and stuff the envelopes with all the inserts, stamp them all, return address them (again, with stick-ons) and then mail them out! Woohoo!! There's no turning back now....

Also, Jerod just picked up this season's West Marshall baseball tees today and I'm SOOOO excited for the season to start because that definitely means summer is upon us and I get to hang out with Jamie and the kiddos again, can't wait!

P.S. Do you just love Jerod's choice of a beverage container for my friend's wedding? It held candy as a centerpiece before it held his drink.....what a dweeb.....

There is definitely a God...

I've finally figured out desserts for the wedding!!! Who would have thought this could be so difficult? Cheesecakes, pies, and cupcakes for centerpieces and cookies down by the small cake that we will cut..... seriously, this is what has taken me almost 3 months to figure out?!?

Also, we are doing fabulous- though I'm kind of starting to kick myself for agreeing to sign the lease for next year. I really wish we were buying with the market the way it is, so if anyone knows of someone looking for a one bedroom apartment in Ames- let me know! Life is flying by, and I want to cherish every annoying minute of my wedding planning, but after attending one of my best friend's weddings I am just so excited. I look forward to marrying Jerod so much, I didn't think that I would feel so ecstatic about all of this, but I am just loving every minute and I can't wait to say "I do". Okay..... I'm done with the mush....

Ahhhh.....This is the life....

11 days and counting until Spring break is over and my students return. God love them, so do I, but this is a much needed and totally deserved break. I am going to enjoy every minute of it, beginning with taking part in Dr. Seuss Day at West Marshall elementary. I did agree to tutor 3rd graders at my school for 2 hours each day of spring break though, they're getting ready to take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills for the first time, so we're helping them by providing strategies for taking the tests. However, I think 3rd graders for 2 hours will be a walk in the park compared to my little ones all day long. Plus, I can tutor just about anyone if they're going to pay me $25 an hour, right?!

Long Time No See :)

Whoa! We have been so busy lately, what with West Marshall's boys basketball state appearance and catching up on visits with friends- plus, we both had conferences these last couple of weeks. All that makes for absolutely no time to blog, oh no! Ha :) So anyway, thought I'd better give an update on what we've been doing so I'm adding some pics from our life these past couple of weeks. From the picture you can totally tell Jerod makes a great babysitter- and obviously I would as well in bachelorette party mode. Wedding plans are still coming together, and we are coming up on 4 months to go, I'm not sure if we'll get it all done, but I suppose we'll have to make it happen! I am on spring break, WOOHOOOOOO!! It could not have come soon enough, I love to teach, but these little boogers test every limit and have worn thin every last nerve in my body, so thank goodness for 8 school days without kids. Also, wish Jerod luck if you see him- he's started a new P.E. unit for the elementary grades and EVERYONE is rollerskating, I am not sure how he does it.......

Thumbs Down...

Q. How many of Miss Mary's preschoolers fell asleep during rest time today?

A. Out of 17? One stinkin' kid fell asleep-- what the heck?!? When did this become okay?! It was like my kids were having a little cot party with the lights off and one of them got bored! This is why teachers attend happy hour.....

Getting Motivated!!

After receiving the estimate for our flower arrangements for the wedding- which, by the way, didn't even include flowers for decoration, only flowers for bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres- I have decided that it's time to get motivated and do something personally for the wedding. So, I'm looking for bulk flowers now on the internet and, thankfully, I have found several promising sites. I'm trying to go with flowers that are easy to get in Iowa in July but I don't know if I can beat 30 stems of hydrangea from Costco for only $110!! So wish me luck as I and whatever poor bridesmaids venture out on this journey....and if you're at the wedding and the flowers suck.....shut your mouth. :)

A not-so-great reminder of Summer......Sunburn

So I'm not going to lie- I'm getting sick of my students passing around ringworm....gross. This is the third time they have given it to me this school year! Needless to say, I'm a little annoyed and about ready to try ANYTHING to get rid of it. I remembered something useful from my days of wrestling cheerleading --who knew all that time spent slapping dirty mats would yield some knowledge? There were always four or five of the wrestlers who would tan regularly during the season to kill any germs from the mats- why didn't I think of this sooner?! So, yesterday I went tanning........12 minutes in the medium pressure bed. Bad idea. I am fried and I've been smoothing on aloe vera gel and popping ibuprofen all day to keep the stinging at bay. Ouch.....

Bummer....(pout)

So we have started the process of looking for a house. We filled out the Pre-approval stuff, talked with a mortgage consultant at the bank, we had even been eyeing some houses already- just to see what the market was looking like. And if anyone knows me- once I find something or know that I want something it's hard for me to give up the idea of having it. Well, I found a house that I liked in Nevada and when we got back from visiting my parents in Sioux City this weekend I thought I'd check on it......but it had been sold :( I was so bummed! No worries though, I was back on the internet checking out the listings within an hour and saw some foreclosed homes that have been listed....cross your fingers for us! Also, if you hear of any reasonably priced homes in the Nevada area- let us know!

The Man Who Brought Us Together

>> 15.2.09 – Macho Man , Savage

If it wasn't for him, who knows where we would be today

The Importance of Family

We all know them. They are the ones who aren't afraid to tell us what they really think. They're the ones who moan and groan when we don't come home often enough. The ones who know us inside and out and still love us unconditionally. We went home to visit my parents this weekend in Sioux City, and every time we do this I remember how much I like having family around. I guess we had that beat into our heads when we were kids. If we were ever mad at our parents or one another, my dad would always tell us, "Family will be there no matter what, the whole world could fall down around you, you could ruin your life with bad choices, you could push away every person that you know, but your family will always be there." Luckily, I haven't had any major screw ups in my life to constitute the need for 'no matter what', but I have come to know that my dad was right. I also know that not all families are as fortunate as we are to have such unconditional love. Not everyone can say that their family would never leave them to struggle alone. Today I am thankful for the ones who know how to drive me crazy better than my fiance....here's to family.

Say Cheese!

We're Here!

So after finally being clued in to what a blog is....I've decided to take the plunge! Jerod doesn't really care about this whole thing, but Jamie is so right; it is a perfect way to let everyone know what's going on our lives and keep everyone up-to-date. Hopefully there will be mutual enjoyment in me writing these blog posts and you all reading them, I'll try my best to be interesting and informative of us.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any grammar or spelling errors in my posts. I never claimed to be an English major- being a preschool teacher is tough enough :)

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