It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well Christmas is over, for the most part. Pat and I have yet to exchange presents. He will be in Coshocton on Tuesday so we will get to do our gift exchange then. We have already exchanged one present, I gave him his ornament (fishing lures) and he gave me my "meaningful" present, as he put it. I was very impressed when I opened My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and saw that is was autographed! Pat emailed her and asked her to sign a copy as well as put a personal message inside. I almost cried when I saw it because of the thought he put into the present!
Pat received his bow for Christmas! Thank goodness!! The poor boy begged for it for months and then eventually gave up on it. I wish I could have seen his face when he opened it because I am sure it was priceless. He is hoping to try it out while he is here this week. I figure by the time he is done hunting is about the time I will be waking up so it will work out. He also got a remote car starter, YAY!!! and a wine making kit. If you haven't been told by him already he would like to make a wine just for the two of us for the wedding and then make multiple bottles for anniversaries and other significant events in our lives. It is a pretty neat idea and it will be very unique since we will be the only ones with that wine.
I got a wide variety of presents, including vintage paper dolls of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez! A very unique present and one I really enjoyed. Anything to add to my Lucy collection, I love. I also added about 7 games to my game collection, a Sirius radio and teaching clothes. Those are just a couple of the things I got, I'm not going to list everything. I had more fun watching the two boys open their presents and their reactions. While Layton is still a little too small to open his presents, once we actually got them open he was so happy. Mom and Dad got him a riding Buck that he loves and Grandma and Grandpa Potts got him a life-size dog. While Paisley wasn't entirely sure about a new dog in our house, Layton loved it and is now at their house.
Layton turns 1 on Tuesday! It has been a pretty quick year and he has changed a lot! He is such a happy baby thank goodness! He is definetly not the same baby I babysat and would sleep most of the day. Now it seems like we have to say Layton, No, a lot more because he is so curious and wants to touch everything! That is how he will learn though.
I think that is all for now! I will post again after the gift exchange hopefully!

Another Goal Achieved

Well it was close but I did it! I read all of Jodi Picoult's books and Nicholas Sparks' books this semester. The only reason it was really close had to do with my obsession of reading the entire Twilight series. So in reality I just added to the challenge and read 3 authors works.

Another semester is over and we both made it out alive! Nothing really too eventful happened this semester which is good and bad. We are now getting ready for Christmas. Pat has had his shopping done for almost a month now, but I am just starting mine! Less then 2 weeks to go and I only have 2 people done. At least I do have some ideas now as to what I want to get some people. I always hate to get people what they ask for, as stupid as that may sound. I just think that is so easy and that gifts should take some thought. Also I like the surprise people get when they open something they never thought of!

New Year's is coming as well! We are hoping to do something exciting, but so far we have nothing planned. We would like to go on a mini trip but it's not looking good since we are just now planning it. I am sure we will figure something out.

Well only one more semester for me and 3 more for Pat. Kinda crazy if you ask me. I will be starting my student teaching in late February and there is no turning back after that. I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. I really just can't wait to have my own classroom so I can really do what I want. Hopefully I will be with a teacher this semester that I can really try a lot of different things with the kids. Who knows though. I hate to go into a classroom and change things, especially this late in the year, I don't want to step on any toes!

That is all the updates for now! Merry Christmas to everyone!!

It seems to fit

So in case you were not aware, I have been working on getting my Jr. Field hours (90 hours) done for the semester. I have been truly blessed to be placed with a teacher that has a true passion for teaching and loves what she does. I have learned so much from her and she has helped me out so much. Luckily, I was placed in time to do the Holocaust unit with the 10th graders. For their novel, they read Night by Elie Wiesel. The book was made famous, by none other than Oprah. It is about Weisel's time spent in various concentration camps during WWII. It is very powerful, and if you have not read it I suggest it. It is only about 112 pages so it is a quick read.
I am down to my last week and I know that I have made the right decision in become a teacher. Sadly, my teacher has not been at school for the past couple days because of family issues, but the substitute gave me a great compliment. She was a previous teacher of the school system and told me that I seemed extremely comfortable in what I was doing and that I was doing a great job. Coming from someone that made a career out of teaching, I felt that was great!
Next week is my last week and I am going to miss the kids. In just a short time, I have gotten to have a lot of fun with them and there really hasn't been a day I have dreaded going to school (although I could go without the early morning wake-up call.) I have tried to make the lessons interesting for them and really get them involved and they have truly embraced it and are coming in the classroom excited about what we are doing, which is all a teacher can hope for. While it has been a lot of work (ask Lora, Pat or Andy) it has all been worth it! Now let's just all hope I can find a job when May comes around!

New experience

Today Andy, Pat and I ventured to Point Pleasent, WV. If any of you have ever heard of it, I am sure it is because it is the location of the infamous sightings of the Mothman. The Mothman is a winged creature that has been sighted a couple times around this area during the 60's. This year is the 7th Annual Mothman Festival and since this is my last year here, we thought we would check it out. While it was a little small, it was interesting none the less. People from all over came out to check out the festivities and the Mothman even came out for some photo opts. We listened to some paranormal speakers and went through the Mothman Museum. We didn't get a chance to go out to the TNT area, which is where the Mothman was spotted, but it was ok.

So thanks to some of my friends, my attempt to reach my goal has been given an obstacle. They have been suggesting for some time that I read the best-selling series, Twilight. When even Shyanne recommended it to me, I decided it was worth a try. Now I am hooked. While all the hype says it is just a book about vampires, that is not it. They may play a major part in the book but it is almost like the witchcraft aspect in the Harry Potter series. I don't know how to explain it but I would recommend the series! So even though I do have the second book in my possession, I am going to fit in a Nicholas Sparks book before I divulge in it!

The List

So nothing significant has happened that has mad em write this blog but I thought it was time to write another blog. While "stumbling" upon websites I have recently found one that intrigued me. It is called My 50. Now I don't know how many of you have seen the Bucket List but the plot is about 2 older men that are at opposite ends of the social ladder and both find out they are dying. One starts to make a Bucket List which contains a list of things he would like to do before he kicks the bucket. The other man finds out about this and since he has more money than he know what to do with (what a problem huh?) he funds both of them to experience everything that is on the list. While I thought the movie was a little slow paced and my sister slept through most of it, it is a good movie with a good point.

Now I don't think you should have to be told you are going to die soon to make a list, and that brings me back to the website. This site is a place where people can list 50, or more or less, things that they would like to do. There is the option of setting a deadline or just leaving it open till fate sees it fit to happen. I have started a list and have not quite made 50, nor have I accomplished any, but I think it is interesting to read other peoples' lists as well. Not only do they serve as a springboard for my own ideas, but I think it is intriguing to read what other people are aspiring to do with their lives. Just some food for thought....

Oh and I have read 1 book of each author so far and now am down to 3 Picoult and 4 Spark books! I just ordered A Bend in the Road from the library so hopefully I will be starting that next week!

Something to make you smile!

Ok this video isn't new, because obviously I am no longer at home, but it is a video from this summer and Lora stumbled upon it last night while going through my camera and I thought it was worthy to share with all of our dedicated readers (the three that I know of!). And it may just make you smile or laugh at and when you have a bad day you can come back and watch it over and over! Hope you enjoy it! (Sorry it is a little dark!)

I Made It!!

So I achieved my goal! I read 20 books this summer. I had to squeeze the last one in the day before I moved back eventhough I could have gone till Sunday but I had to give it back to the library before we came back! Here is the list of all the books I read:

1. Teach Like Your Hair Is on Fire

2. Harvesting the Heart - Jodi Picoult

3. Sisters - Danielle Steel

4. The Rescue- Nicholas Sparks

5. The Essential 55- Ron Clark

6. The 10th Circle- Jodi Picoult (Now a Lifetime Movie)

7. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein

8. Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin

9. One for the Money- Janet Evanovich

10. A Long Way Down- Nick Hornby

11. Two for the Dough - Janet Evanovich

12. Second Glance - Jodi Picoult

13. The Wedding - Nicholas Sparks

14. Girls in Pants The 3rd Summer of the Sisterhood- Ann Brashares

15. The Glass Castle- Jeannette Walls

16. True Believer - Nicholas Sparks

17. Forever in Blue 4th Summer of the Sisterhood- Ann Brashares

18. Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen

19. Morrie: In His Own Words- Morrie Schwartz

20. The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards

The only ones I wouldn't recommend are A Long Way Down and In His Own Words!

So now my next challange is to read all of Nicholas Sparks' books and Jodi Picoult's books. I am aiming for the end of the semester of this one because usually Picoult's books are pretty lengthy and I have some other reading to do for my classes. Wish me lucK@!

Just something I found

So today instead of finishing packing, I was pushing my Stumble button, (for those that do not know about Stumble, it is a great application that you fill out our interests and when you are bored all you do is push the Stumble button and it comes up with webpages that you may be interested in!) and came across the 36 rules to life and wanted to share them with the people who may read this! My favorite in number 26


The 36 Rules of Life
Aug.18, 2008 in Random Jokes
1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.
6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
1 4. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.
17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.
18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.
25. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.
26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.
27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’
28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
29. You should not confuse your career with your life.
30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
31. Never lick a steak knife.
32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.
36. Your friends love you anyway.

Almost There

Well school starts in just one week! While I am excited to start back and be with my friends once again, I am a little worried. This is my final year of being a college student. I always thought that my last year of high school would be a huge change, and it was, but college is a whole different story. After this year I will have a job to go to everyday. I will have bills to pay, a house to clean, and meals to cook. Grading papers will take up my time and I will spend countless hours trying to figure out ways to make my students excited about reading. While I can't wait for some of this, I can also wait a while for it. There will be no more lazy Saturdays with my friends just watching movies and only going out of the room when the cafeteria is open. No more midnight trips to McDonalds to get Sweet Tea. No more spending hours that we should be studying, watching YouTube videos, and so many other things that we do! It is inevitable that this is going to happen but it doesn't seem like this is the third year that Lora and I have settled into "our home." I guess all this came about as I am getting ready to go down to Rio to help with Orientation and packing up some of my stuff. In just a year we will not only not be living with each other but we will be 2 1/2 hours apart. Kinda crazy if you ask me! Wish I could go to Never Never Land and never grow up, at least for a little bit anyways!

It's really late

It is currently 1:25 a.m. and I should be sleeping peacefully in my bed with dreams about having lots of money, traveling all over the world, and owning a library, but instead I once again became mesmerized by a book and was unable to put it down until I was finished. When I started reading tonight it was probably around 11, maybe a little after. I then had over 100 pages to read. I am now sitting here finished with the book and too excited to sleep.

The book that is causing all of the hullabaloo is "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks. If you are not familiar with the author, I am sure you have heard of some of his works that have been made into movies such as, "A Walk to Remember", "Message in a Bottle," and "The Notebook." If you have seen these movies but have not read the book I highly suggest you read the books, because as always the movies never do the books justice. "The Wedding" is the sequel to "The Notebook" because (spoiler alert) contrary to popular opinion Noah does not die in the end of "The Notebook." "The Wedding" follows his daughter and son-in-law who seem to have forgotten why they are together. The story starts with Wilson forgetting their wedding anniversary and follows the next year as Wilson attempts to get the love back in his marriage. Close to their next anniversary, their eldest daughter announces that she is getting married and wants to plan the whole thing in just 2 weeks. As the wedding plans are made Wilson continues to try to make his wife fall back in love with him again.

Ok, so if you haven't gathered on the context clues yet, this is a romantic novel, and an amazing one at that. I am not ashamed to say that at a few times I found tears rolling down my cheeks. I guess what made me want to write about it was that I hope my love never falls out of my marriage. I understand that a lot of the initial feeling of being married will pass and like in the book, once kids come into the picture the marriage is forever changed, but I would like to hope that neither or us forget the feelings we have right now for each other and the small things we do. I hope that we still set aside nights to have a date night, I hope we still go rent a movie every now and then and sit around in our sweats to watch them. I hope that we still send each other greeting cards just to say I was thinking about you. I hope that we still dream and plan vacations even though we may never take them. I hope for us to grow together and not apart and to always remember why we are together and how we got to where we are.

Ok so that is how the book effected me. If that does not make you want to read the book I don't know what to tell you. Now I think it is time for bed! Sweet dreams!

A little TLC

Last week was a great week. I headed up to Woodville on Saturday after thankfully getting called off work early because of rain. Sunday morning we headed to Brooklyn, MI to spend a few days at the Snyder family cottage. While it was a little rainy to start off with we did get to see the whole family which was nice. Katie and Mike were there so that meant of course Matthew was too, who I have not gotten to see in such a long time! He is growing so fast and I can't believe how much he has changed in just 2 months. Once the rain did go away we got to go out on the boat and the jet skis. Even though Pat tipped us off the jet skis once, it was ok. (In case you aren't aware, I am a little weary of seaweed and the lake is full of it) It was so nice to just relax at the cottage and not worry about a thing. I got two books read so now my official summer count is at 10, halfway there! I forgot my camera though so there are no pictures to share. I know, I was disappointed too!

On the way home we stopped at Books a Million because I needed to pick up my next book on my list and I wasn't going to wait to get it from the library. I decided to pick up an audio book while I was at it, and thankfully I found a book that I wanted to read that was fairly cheap. Others were up to $40! I wasn't sure how well I would like the audio books because I thought I would start to think of other things and miss most of the book. I ended up completely intrigued in the book and only had to rewind 2 times throughout the whole 3 hour ride! That means I got another book "read" and puts the total up to 11.

Other than that there is not much more going on with us. Only 7 more weeks till school starts and while that seems like a lot, I know it will be here soon! I am very excited to be back at school and away from this working everyday and dealing with difficult people! Everyday that passes my belief that everyone should have to serve tables for one day grows even stronger! If you have never served tables please be considerate of your server, it may not be their fault that it isn't cooked to your liking. We can only ask the kitchen to do it, that doesn't mean they listen!

Well that is all for now, nothing I know, but I thought I would at least write a little something!

A Whole lotta Nothing

So here we are almost done with June!! Hard to believe it has been almost 2 months since we left Rio and another 1 1/2 till we are back!! Honestly, neither of us have been up to anything that is all that exciting to write about but I thought I would write a little something for those that are checking our blog and are disappointed when there is nothing new.

Pat come down about 2 weeks ago for a few days which was very nice. We didn't do anything too earth shattering other than going to Zanesville so I could shop and then going to Red Lobster (I love the cheddar bay biscuits) And now on Saturday I am headed North so we can spend a few days with his parents at their cottage in Michigan. I am pretty excited to get a few days of doing absolutely nothing and getting lots of reading done!!

I have started a new challenge or goal for myself for the summer. I am going to read 20 books before school starts. I think I am up to 10 at the moment. I just finished "Something Borrowed" last night, which was a very good book. Mom told me it must be good because I was very anti-social and Luke agreed saying that I would not even play with him... The book is the first in a series and is about a girl, Rachel, who falls in love with her best friend's fiance. The fiance feels the same way and it turns into an all out affair. Rachel must choose which she cares more about, her best friend from childhood who has drifted away and is selfish or her one true love. It is a great book and I am hoping to get to read all of the other books in the series soon! I have a list started of the books I want to finish out my challenge, which include the remainder of Jodi Picoult's books I have yet to indulge in, "Water for Elephants" which Larene is constantly telling me I need to read and a few others, so any recommendations are welcome!

Pat had inherited a new truck for himself. His Dad has bought a Jeep Wrangler and so Pat was able to get his old one. While his truck is still not as big as mine :) he is a step closer!

Other than all that we have been up to is working to make some money! I work 6 days a week at the Warehouse so if you are looking for a nice dinner come on in and make sure to request me!! Pat is working long hours as well and while we both like to complain about our jobs, we both know we are lucky to have one.

I am also playing in a co-ed softball league in Lake Park on Sundays. It is a lot of fun and I am really glad to be back playing softball. I really got rusty not playing for years but I am finally starting to get back into it, I think.

Well that is all for now. I have a little 5 year old beside me begging to take him swimming so I better fulfill my auntly duties!

AMAZING!!!

So this weekend was the big Kenny Chesney concert!!! Pat came down on Thursday and thankfully I got called off work. We went to the Lock anyway to eat and then headed to the theatre to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I thought it was pretty good, but I hadn't seen the others. The end really took me for a spin. Pat said he prefered the other movies simply because there was more action, so overall I think we agreed we were happy we went to see it.
Friday night we headed up to Kent to stay with Joe. We were going to rent "National Treasure 2" but the Redbox didn't have it. (If you have not discovered RedBox yet I suggest you do because it is very very nice!) Joe made us a very nice dinner and then we watched "The Italian Job." Another good movie.

Saturday it was time for the concert. We decided to leave around 1 so that we would avoid the situation we ran into last year and miss most of the acts. We ended up getting there in plenty of time and not having to sit in traffic at all. The concert started at 3:30 and lasted till 11:30 so I would say we got our money's worth. In between Leann Rimes and Sammy Hagar's acts, Pat and I decided that we were ready to get something to eat. Good thing we went then since neither of us wanted to see Sammy Hagar because Pat waited in line about an hour before we actually got the food and we completely missed his act.

So overall it was a good weekend and now we are both back to working.... not as fun but I guess we need to make money for all the fun stuff we get to do! We will update you next time something exciting happens, which who knows when that will happen!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Well today is Mother's Day of course so our days were spent with our families. Pat got to stay at his house and enjoy some bonding time with Matthew and I went to both Grandparents' houses to see the family. All in all it was a good day.

Our second day of vacation was just as much fun as the first. We headed over to Mackinac Island to spend the day. After walking around for a little while we decided to rent a carriage to drive around the island. Pat got to the privilege of driving the carriage and did a pretty good job of it. Though it got a little cold it was still enjoyable and we got to see a lot of the island. Pat and I also went up to Fort Mackinac to look around and got to experience a rifle demonstration. Before our day was over we hiked out to Arch Rock. We really didn't think it would be that bad of a walk until we were almost there and realized we had to climb stairs that were placed in the side of the mountain till we reached 744' above sea level. Once we got up to the top the view was gorgeous! We barely missed the 5:30 ferry and spent our last hour going through the stores on the island.

The ride home was a long one but Pat and I got a few movies watched and quick naps!

I start work Tuesday! Tomorrow I am going to be watching the boys while Jennifer is running around. This first week should be interesting because I work everyday except for Friday, so anyone that is hungry come on in to the Warehouse!

Here are some more pictures from the vacation!

Day One In Mackinaw

So today started off our vacation in Mackinaw. We started off early and went walking around Mackinaw. There were a few stores open but some aren't open for the season yet and others weren't open that early. After we went to fort Michimackinac. It was pretty neat to see and we got to watch a musket and cannon demonstration. It was interesting to here about the British in America rather than our own troops and what they went through. Pat went trash picking and got a bottle to fill with sand and water from Lake Michigan to add to his collection.

Next we headed over the famous Mackinaw Bridge to see Paul Bunyan and Babe. Unfortunatley they were closed so we couldn't get very close. Then we went to one of the many casinos up here. Stephanie lost her $20 in probably 45 minutes and Pat let his go a little longer, about an hour. About the time dinner came we were both exhausted and came back here to take a nap. We thought ice cream sounded good but when we drove around trying to find an icecream place everywhere was closed, surprise surprise. Just kidding. Bob and Denise were nice enough to drive to the grocery store to get us Klondike Bars so we got our fill. The rest of the night was spent watching TV and talking to Joe on AIM (that's just for you) and writing our blog. Tomorrow we head over to the island! Here are some picture from today, hope you enjoy!

In The Big Blue State

We are sitting in our room in Michigan right now. We just here about an hour ago, after around 6 hours of driving. The drive up wasn't too bad, we watched Walk Hard (not a very good movie) and P.S. I Love You (I, Pat, think it is a great movie). We also stopped and ate at Big Buck Lodge to eat which was pretty much amazing!

Yesterday Stephanie used her spa package and loved it. She got a massage, manicure, and a deep conditioning treatment. Pretty nice after finals and before going to work. After that we headed to Toledo to watch the Mudhens play. It was a pretty good game until it started raining in the 5th inning. We just moved up a couple rows to under the deck and watched the rest.

The little boy in front of us asked where "the big chicken" went after Muddy was done dancing!

Tomorrow is going to be used to explore Mackinaw and just relax. We will try to get on here and update how the day went!

Almost There!

And so finals week begins.... I am currently sitting in my first "final" if that is what you want to call it. Currently we are all sitting at our computers while our professor is running around having no clue this is the last time we have class. But hey there is nothing new there. My only real final is on Thursday so the next couple days will consist of sleeping in, getting stuff packed up and doing a whole lot of nothing! I love it! Pat has finals today, tomorrow, and Wednesday and then he is done. We are both staying down here for graduation because Jennifer is graduating, I am a marshal, and Pat offered to work in the Red Zone.

So this weekend I took the PRAXIS! Glad to say it is over. My brain is still a little frazzled after it. I feel a little more confident about the PLT part of it than the English but I guess we will see in 4 weeks when I get the results. Let's hope I passed them both and no longer have to worry about them.

Mackinaw is a little over a week and I am getting pretty pumped. A nice vacation to start the summer off is going to be nice. Plus I get to start off by redeeming my spa gift certificate! Yay!!

Got a chance to see Juno this weekend. It is a great movie I thought. Definitely not a Lifetime movie. The girl in the movie reminded me a lot of some of my friends and just how her humor was made the movie even better. Very sad in some parts but I loved it!

Other than that, not a whole lot here.

Down to the wire

So tomorrow is test day for me. The PRAXIS! I feel like I am ready but then again who knows what they will throw in there. I feel like I have read a lot, especially through my college literature classes but there is so much out there that it is impossible to read it all. I have tried to study for the past week and mainly the past two days and now am at the point where I don't think I can possibly remember anymore. 7:30 is when the Content Area part begins and then I get a break until 2:15 for the PLT part. I am hopefully going to try to study some more of the Ed. Psych stuff in between and focus the rest of my time tonight on English. I know I shouldn't be too worried about passing it the first try because I have a whole year till I need to pass it, but it is a pretty expensive test to take very many times. All I can do at this point is pray that I do my best and think that if I don't do well this time at least I will know what is coming at me the second time.

Tonight we went to Courtside as a sort of last Hurrah for all of us. Kinda crazy to think that this time next year we will be getting ready to leave each other for longer than just a summer. We really have developed a family down here, we live with each other more than we do our real families. As much as I want summer to come I don't think I am ready to believe that I only have one more year at Rio and then I have to be an "adult" and go to work everyday. No more just sitting around all day watching all of our shows, playing Nintendo for hours, or playing racquetball with each other. High school may have seemed to go by quickly but college has been faster. At least with high school I will go back home and see the majority of my friends, with college I will have to travel all over the state to see them. I guess that is everyone though.

Last night we went over to watch the Shakespeare class put on "A Midsummer's Night Dream." They did such a nice job and we had a really good time. It was nice for Lora and I to get to do something just the two of us. We haven't gotten to do that a lot this year. It is almost like we are growing apart which I hate. Though we live together we are both so busy with work, school, studying and everything else we just don't have time to do anything else. It's neither of our faults it just doesn't seem like we ever have time.

On to happier news, CLASSES ARE DONE!!! Finals start on Monday and I don't have one till Thursday which will be nice after taking this PRAXIS, just to have some time off. Graduation is on Saturday and I agreed to be a marshall and Jennifer will be graduating for the second time so the whole family will be coming down. Probably a good thing so I can get all of my stuff home. I am dreading packing up all of my stuff because there is a lot of it. This year though we are going to hopefully store a lot of the stuff we don't need down here so we don't have to haul it so far which will be nice!

Well I better get back to studying. I will let everyone know how the PRAXIS goes! Wish me luck and pray for me please!

Blog while you work

Well I thought that while I was sitting at work I would write a little. Though work is VERY boring, I do get the chance to do most of my homework. Seeing how it is the last week of class though, I don't have very much to do, so I am sitting here doing a whole lot of nothing, other than listening to all the English boys playing pool and ping pong. PRAXIS is Saturday, and I'm not going to lie, I am terrified. As expense as the test is I would really like to pass it on the first try. The English part will start at 7:30 Saturday morning and then the PLT is not until 2:30. Haven't decided yet if that is a good layout or if I would rather take one right after the other. I guess I will find out on Saturday.

Getting ready to pack all of our stuff up to go home. I have so much stuff down here! I am glad my whole family will be down for graduation with multiple cars so hopefully I can get it all home. Even though I have a truck I still have difficulties getting it all to fit in there. I do live here for the majority of the year so it only makes sense for me to have most of my stuff here. It would be nice if we could just leave our couches and stuff that we don't need at home, which is most of my stuff, here so we wouldn't have to worry about it. I know that will never happen though because of liability, blah blah blah. Whoever came up with the idea of suing really should have thought things through, because now it is just ridiculous what people are suing for.

So a little bit about the wedding. Nothing is concrete! I would like the colors to be orange and yellow and I think that is appropriate for a July wedding being all sunny and such. Those are still up for debate though. I will of course be wearing flip flops because I will trip and fall in most heels and I would like to be comfortable. Plus why spend any extra money on something that no one is going to see at all? Not such a bad idea now, is it? We do know that it is going to be in Coshocton though who knows what church it will be at. We can't have it at Keene because 1) It is too small and 2) it has a double aisle and I'm not a fan of that. I don't really want to have it at Roscoe though just for the simple fact that everyone has theirs there. Same goes for the Pavilion as a reception hall. As for alternatives who knows. Anyone who has suggestions, again they are welcome!

Fun before Finals

Today Pat and I decided to take a day away and go to Huntington. Our original plan was to go to the Japanese Steakhouse but as always nothing goes to plan for us. The restaurant was closed so we decided to go to Max and Erma's. I have never been there before and had been wanting to go for some time now so it all worked out. We tried Pretzel Logs for an appetizer hoping they would be like Coshocton's famous Pretzel Nuggets, but they weren't. They were really good though. They just took a soft pretzel and instead of making into a pretzel, made it into a log. They came with some kind of cheese/tomato sauce that neither of us could figure out what it was, but it was good. I then tried some kind of Cajun Shrimp Pasta which was AMAZING!! Pat stayed safe with an onion cheeseburger.

Next we decided to explore the shopping center that Max and Erma's was located in. It reminded us of a miniature Easton. There was a bookstore so of course we went in. I was very good and didn't buy a book, but they did have an amazing children's section!
Later on we went to the mall. Pat needed new shoes and I needed a new pair of sandals. Those of you that have known me for at least a year now of my white adidas sandals that I have had for about 7 years now and I finally had to retire them (tear). I finally broke down and bought another pair that will hopefully last me as long! I also looked for a dress for graduation because I was chosen to be a marshal for this year's commencement. Again we went into the bookstore and I came out with nothing. Every time I would pick up a book, I would think of the pile of books I have waiting for me to read and then walk away.

When we got back it was time for homework. I have just finished up planning and compiling my first unit. It really made me realize that I am getting closer to living the rest of my life, if that makes sense. I will no longer be planning lessons for my classmates but for my students. Kinda scary but I am excited. I hope that all my ideas I have will be able to work and my students will enjoy. Never know till I try!

I had the chance to see our Welsh exchange students put on their play "New Worlds" last night and if anyone ever gets a chance to see it I highly recommend it! The actors were so great in it and the story was very interesting. The students had researched the true story of the first Welsh settlers in this area and wrote a play for it. I will warn you it is very sad and I cried multiple times through it!

Well three days having a blog and I have been successful in writing everyday!

This one is for joe

Hey Joe i just wanted to let you know that nothing has changed in the passed 24 hr.

And so it starts

So as most of you know, Pat and I are engaged!!! He proposed about a month ago by total surprise. He convinced me we were going out for our year and a half anniversary but refused to tell me where he was taking me. I couldn't figure out what the big deal was seeing how we would be in Coshocton and there are only a few restaurants there. Well when he took me to Raven's Glen I was pretty impressed, but still had no idea what he was up to. When we were done eating Pat got up to leave and came to my side of the table and starting taking something out of his pocket, again I was oblivious, I just thought he bought me a present. I came to find out he did buy me a present it was just a much larger and more meaningful one than I was expecting.

We have decided to wait till Pat graduates to get married so it will be 2010 when the big day happens. That will give us plenty of time to plan and change our minds about 50 times on everything. I thought I would keep this blog for those that we don't get to talk to very much and keep them updated on what is going on. There probably won't be a lot on here for a while, but I have been planning this since I was in 5th grade so I have some ideas already! If anyone has any advice or ideas we will gladly take them!

Summer is almost here (thank goodness). We only have one week left of class and then a week of finals. I will only have one more year now and most of that will be consumed of observing (90 hours in the Fall and then Student Teaching in the Spring). Pat still has two more years but will be getting his internship out of the way this summer. No big plans for us this summer as of now. Pat's parents are taking us to Mackinaw, Michigan our first weekend off for a little mini-vacation before we start our summer jobs, which will be really nice! Pat will still be working at the Jet and I will keep up my 3 jobs at the Warehouse, the Garden Gate and at the bookstore when I am needed.

Well I think that is about it for today. Hope everyone has a great weekend!