can i just say that i work for some amazing people?! i was talking to the girls' mom about "crafting" a couple months ago and she offered me whatever fabric i wanted in their basement...i went down to explore during nap time one day and she has entire shelves with whole bolts of fabric on them! now, this may not mean much to you, but to the poor, beginner sewer this is amazing :) we don't have a ton of money to go stock me up on fabric...i know, you're shocked. so i went down today and picked a few scraps of materials that i liked and tried not to be greedy with the beautiful fabrics at my fingertips. it was so much fun!
the people i work for (well, pretty much EVERY family that i've worked for in the past) have been soooooooo generous. i just feel so blessed by these families. not only do i get to take a big part in raising their children, but i feel appreciated and respected and loved by the whole family in return. aka: being invited to birthday parties, staying connected, writing letters with the kids, and incredible surprise gifts of fabric :)
i am going to have so much fun playing with all this fabric and learning new patterns. soooo guess what y'all are all getting for christmas and your birthdays?!?!?!?! :)

my new hobby

ok, making jam is not really my new hobby but i hadn't posted these pictures yet and wanted to before i forgot :)
the beautiful berries before we smashed them all

here we are stirring the berries

ok, ella didn't let me stir

and here is my real new hobby. i'm learning to sew! :) now this is not perfect so don't judge me yet (it's a pincushion just in case you couldn't figure it out). i haven't sewn anything since my sophomore year of highschool and i wouldn't even boast about that. but since brandon seems to always have something to do in the evenings, i wanted something productive to do. enter: sewing projects. i have a TON of stuff on my list of things i want to try. i'm super excited!! ohhhh the possibilities :)

just a short post...we are still here. just busy :) here's a pic of us at Ella's birthday party last weekend.

Brandon has been studying like a mad-man. i just got a sewing machine! (early b-day present) and am having sooo much fun playing around with it. maybe i'll be brave and post a picture of stuff i've done soon...maybe.
hope y'all are doing good! we'd love to hear what's going on with all of y'all sometime!

summertime

this has been the first week of summer for me and the girls. preschool officially got out last thursday and that means that i have both of the girls all day until next fall :) needless to say, we have been suuuuuuper busy. i find myself a lot more tired in the evenings but it's been super rewarding as well. it's pretty much nonstop from 8am till i get off at 6. here are a few pics of us at the park today.






as i look at these pictures i can feel that my heart is beginning to really bond with the girls. how can i not love looking at those smiles :)

More Dancing!!

Last week there was a little parade in the neighborhood. the bands were just so good, the girls couldn't keep still! :)

dancing!

this is a video I took of Olivia this morning. wish I had her moves :)

Long time, no post

So I guess I'm down to only posting twice a month now :) It seems our life is just not exciting enough to post much more often than that. Seriously...sometimes I try and think of things to post but then I remember that you would probably get tired of hearing "..and today I went to work. Brandon went to class and to work. And now we're home eating dinner, talking, and maybe watching a movie..." See. I rest my case :)
Actually this last weekend I was able to take a lovely vacation down to Texas to see some of my dearest friends. One great thing about being a nanny is that when the family takes vaca, so do I! It was a great opportunity to relax in the heat, be refreshed with good friends, and eat LOTS of chick-fil-a. I left Brandon here all by himself, but instead of posting about his lonliness (like I did a few weeks ago) he rested and caught up on a lot of homework. :) Here are a few pics from my trip:

here I am on the 2nd night in Texas. Amy and I rented movies the first two nights and decided to splurge a little on the treats...I look so happy surrounded by junk food.

These 2 girls on either side of my are 2 of the most Godly and exceptional women you will ever meet. much of who I am, I owe to these ladies. (left-Amy right-MaryBeth)

On Friday, Amy and I ate at a cute little cafe in Dallas for lunch called Bread Winners.

Afterwards, we headed to this sweet cupcake shop for a sampling of their treats :) we also shopped a couple of super cute boutiques

Mary and I at the "BCS Cheerleader Reunion Party" :)

I used to cheer with most of the girls in this picture. We were all, at some point, cheerleaders at my old school in Texas. Our coach, Leigh (front row, middle) was sweet enough to host this gathering of girls. There is something so special about this group. After so many years (10, 11? wow) we were all still able to come together, talk about what God is doing in our lives and joke around like we were sisters. It was such a good time and was so fun to relive old stories again. One of the girls even brought an old scrapbook with some not-so-flattering pictures of old cheering days. I was super blessed by getting to be there and just basking in the comfort of "old" friends. Good times.



Of course, I was eager to come home to Brandon and get back to a routine. It's always nice to sleep in your own bed again. This week has been pretty usual for us. I enjoy our usual though. It may not be exciting enough to blog about, but I wouldn't have it any other way right now. Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous (for about the 10th day in a row!!!) so we plan on hanging outside while Brandon gets his homework done, then dinner with friends and going to a production of "The Wizard of Oz". I'll post pictures if you're lucky :)

All Alone

that's me this weekend... Brandon left yesterday afternoon for the land of the Rockies to be with his family while his brother graduates. It will be a great, although short, trip. He arrives back in Portland on Sunday night. I pray that his time is sweet and not too rushed.
that leaves me all alone this weekend. I already miss my husband (i know...i'm a sissy). But I am excited to be super productive this weekend. it's supposed to be in the 80's all weekend, so i have a little bit of spring cleaning fever. planning to air out/clean the apartment, grab some coffee, spend some time reading/sunning in the park, and watching a girly movie tonight. Oh, and last night i got to babysit for Titus so his mom and dad could spend a couple of hours alone. Titus, my friend Anna, and I ate dinner and watched a movie. so fun!
Brandon, you are very missed, but i think i'll actually be able to survive the 2 days :) love you.

Grand Lodge

Last week Brandon and I decided (very last minute) to book a nights stay at McMenamins Grand Lodge for the weekend. It was lovely. We both needed to get away and take time to relax. We grabbed coffee at a local shop, sat in the soaking pool, and took time to read. We were able to connect and talk and just hang out. The McMenamins Hotels are so unique and fun to visit (not to mention cheap!). Here are a few pictures from our trip. enjoy!

the front of the hotel

can you believe that we got to stay in the Tolkien room?! :) Brandon was so excited!

us next to Mr. Tolkien



the entire hotel has random murals EVERYWHERE! on the pipes, walls, doors...

the "soaking pool"..aka big hot tub :)

Job Update

Hey...I'll bet ya'll have been wondering what ever happened with the teaching job that I had ya'll praying for...

I went in for a 2nd interview with the chair of the Social Studies dept. and the Asst. Principal. It was a great opportunity to meet and interview with other people in the school system that have specific ideas. Unfortunately, neither of their ideas seemed to point to me....

They are doing some major restructuring in their Social Studies department in order to add two more AP classes and in order to do that well, they needed an experienced teacher.

The interview went well. I felt confident in who I was, what I was passionate about, and what I had to offer, but I am pretty sure they are going to go a different direction. I left the ball in their court to connect back with me (which was nearly 2 weeks ago now) because it seemed really sure that I was not what they were looking for. I might send them an email in another week to see what they were thinking. Who knows...they might still offer me the job, you never know.

I was a bit bummed that I will not get that opportunity, however I am still looking forward to begin student teaching in the Fall. I do not see not getting the job as a major setback. Student teaching does give me the opportunity to spend time with an experienced teacher and watch them practice their 'craft' of teaching and the mentoring opportunity to be alongside a teacher.

Another benefit....it looks like I am back on track (without the job) to graduate with both of my MA degrees next Spring 2010 and it still looks like we are looking towards returning to Colorado that late Summer. We will still see what God has for us out here and what doors he opens and closes for a future job...

Thanks so much for your prayers and concern. I should have updated you sooner, but as you noticed from Callie's recent posts, I have been sooooo busy finishing up the semester. I have hardly had a chance to breathe, let alone post...