Lake Fun...

They tried, tried, & tried again...but only a few of them caught fish. And by a few, I mean all of the boys except for Tim. Poor Tim. My youngest cousin Liam caught a huge Catfish - that was definately the catch of the day!

Here are a few photos of the boys fishing from a nearby dock...


My dad & Tim

Dad

The boys (& Amanda) on the dock, fishing...

Where Oh Where Have I Been?!

Well, visiting Nana in South Carolina of course! Tim & I headed to SC 2 weeks ago with our dear friends Ben & Amanda. Ben & Amanda stayed one week, & Tim & I stayed two. It was a wonderful time filled with family (my Nana, my Dad, aunt, uncle, cousins, & extended family popping in & out) & friends & lots of relaxation. While I was there I interviewed over the phone for my job & accepted it in Charleston while we were visiting for the day. We also hit Myrtle beach for several days, went to Columbia to shop & visit the State House, & had pedicures. Lots of fun for a girl on summer vacation! Here is round one of photos:

A look from the lake @ Nana's house(s).

Ben, Tim, & Reese getting ready to ride the tube

And they're off

My feet in the Atlantic ocean - so warm - so nice!

Special Announcement!

Attention all blog readers...from today forward this blog is going to be maintained by a 4th grade teacher...

That's right! I just accepted a position at my same school to be a 4th grade teacher!! For those of you who don't know, here's the story...

A few months ago the district ran out of subs, so for 2 days I taught 2nd grade & 4th grade. I had a BLAST! I had forgotten how much I enjoy the 'regular' classroom (I did a double major with my Master's degree & did classroom & music) & so I started thinking...Tim & I chatted when 2 classroom positions came open in my school, but decided I would not apply. Then, the day after the kids left for the summer, the teacher that had originally taken the 4th grade job backed out. So I started thinking again...talked with Tim & many others & decided I would go for it.

We found out that I had to apply & interview since I was under the district music coordinator, I couldn't just switch over. So I applied, interview by phone on Tuesday, & was offered the position (which I took) yesterday afternoon. I'm SO excited. I'm a little concerned to watch someone else do 'my' job in the music room, but I think I will be so busy learning my 'new' job that all will be just fine.

Watch out 4th grade...here I come!!

Wicked Cool

...new hair that is. Did you know that is the new 'cool'? To say 'wicked cool'? I don't really like it, but it feels edgy just like my new hair color...so Laura & I decided to call my hair that. :) Here it is - self portrait style. Happy weekend!!

Tagged...

My friend Valerie tagged me - another thing I love about summer is that I have time to play around on e-mail/blogs whenever...so here we go! :)

5 things on my to do list: 1) Vacuum the living room/dining room rug 2) New picture for the mantle 3) Return a few e-mails 4) Return 2 phone calls 5) Mow the yard

5 jobs I've had: 1) Planet Kid 2) Babysitter 3) In-House Accounts manager @ a car dealership 4) Music Office/Choir Office 5) Music Teacher

5 Places I have lived: 1) Meridian, ID 2) Boise, ID 3) Albany, OR 4) Keizer, OR 5) Salem, OR

5 Favorite snacks: 1) Oat & Honey granola bars 2) Pink Lady apples w/ cheese 3) crackers 4) milk chocolate anything 5) grapes

5 things you may not know about me are: 1) I'm afraid of heights 2) I'd love to be a back-up singer for a contemporary Christian artist 3) I may be changing jobs next year...more on that later 4) I can't stand for my fingernails not to be painted 5) I despise the word 'behooved'

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire: 1) Pay off our house & student loans debts 2) Give some money to our immediate family & church 3) Buy a beach house 4) Buy a plane to fly wherever I wanted whenever I wanted 5) Fly all of my girls to somewhere warm & sunny for a week of playtime (every month). :)

5 things I love: 1) My husband 2) My amazing friends 3) My fantastic family 4) My church 5) Summer!!

5 people I tag: 1) My Andrea 2) My Erin (we need a new post!) 3) Andrea F. 4) Bethany 5) Nicole (I know you have a blog...) :)

That's all for now - I'll be back later for pics of my 'wicked cool' new hair...

The Many Faces of Kellie...

This is my lovely friend Kellie. Kellie is my Erin's younger sister. I've known Kellie for about 11 years now - wow, it's really been that long. Anyhoo - this past week when I was in AZ, I got to visit with Erin's family - & saw Kellie 2 times while I was there. This girl is hilarious. She makes snarky comments, she's super nice, & teases me about my girliness (which is ironic, b/c she's girlie too!). :) One afternoon while at Postino's (LOVE this place) Kellie decided to be silly for the camera. I've decided to share this silliness with you...although I'm sure I'll hear about it from her later... :)

Kellie:

Kellie pretending she doesn't want her picture taken:

Kellie caught it a funny face...

It was great to see you Kellie!! Thank you for all of the fun!

Well Hello...

...there! I am back! Back from where you may ask? Back from my un-announced blogging break, back from the land of crazy heat, back from visiting my Erin.

On Wednesday I left 72 degree weather to go to Phoenix, AZ - where the temperature was 111 degrees when I landed. While I was there we were under a severe weather advisory...the temp was around 112 almost each day I was there. Now to be honest, I didn't mind it too much - mostly because I knew it was temporary, and mostly because it meant I was with my Erin. I also got to spend time with her parents & sister...lots of fun.

We were low-key as Erin is recovering from a long illness, poor dear, so I went to help out where needed, hang out, hopefully cheer her up, & look her in the eyeballs. I miss my Erin. I went to work with her for a few of her kids, we layed by the pool, swam in the pool, had long talks, laid in bed, watched movies, scrapbooked, got manicures/pedicures, & tried to stay cool.

Here are a few pictures from our long weekend. I hope you're feeling even better today my Erin! Miss you.

my Erin...

my Erin with an attitude...

my Erin smiling (proud of herself for the attitude)...

More pictures coming soon!

PS

...and look what I picked from my garden yesterday afternoon!!! Yummy, yummy.

 

The First Days of Summer...

Happy 1st day of summer everyone! Well, okay, happy 1st day of summer to you school teachers out there. (Sorry Melissa, I just can't help myself). :) I finished up in my classroom yesterday & with my leadership responsibilities, so it's off to summer vacation I go today.

I'm so happy that the sun is *shining* today & it's suppose to be a balmy 76. The plan for today includes being lazy (I'm doing great at this so far today), a little bit of shopping, going to a nursery for flowers with my friend Amanda, & then going to a surprise birthday party (don't worry, the recipient doesn't read my blog)...

Before I go to enjoy these festivities, I thought I'd share with you a picture of our new friend. Meet Eric - the pet fish. He's now swimming happily in our pond.

 

And I found this yesterday evening for my table. I've been wanting something for the dining room table...& I'm very happy with my results. Thank you Pier 1.

 

And

...then there was 1.

Catching Up...

Two weekends ago (the weekend after Memorial Day weekend) we went to Seattle to visit Tim's family. Everyone was there...I think that's the first time in several years that this has happened, & it wasn't even a holiday. We all arrived at different times throughout the week, with Tim & I coming last - late Friday night. So Saturday we headed to Seattle to spend the day. Nikki (Randy's girlfriend - Randy is Tim's brother) had never been to Seattle - so she was in for a treat. We spent the day wandering through Pike's Market Place, a hat shop, having lunch, dodging the rain, drinking coffees, & playing around. It was a wonderful day - filled with lots of laughter, talking, and walking.

Sunday we took family photos & headed our separate ways. Thank you family for the wonderful weekend - we should do it again, soon!!

Then, this weekend, Tim & I returned to Seattle for a concert. We went to see Kurt Elling at Jazz Alley. OH, MY, GOODNESS!!! It was fantastic. I could go on & on about it, but I won't. Let's just say it's the best concert I've been to in years, & the venue was amazing. Like something out of a movie. So spoiled.

Sunday morning we got to play with our nephews. Eli knows that I will read him books - so for the last two weekends, when he sees me, he grabs a book & heads straight for me. I love it. We curled up & read book after book, after book, after book. You get the picture. :) He also learned how to say my name this weekend. It sounds more like 'yessie' - but I'll take it. Kim told me that he called after me after I left. Broke my heart a little bit - but I know we'll see them again soon.

Thank you again Jeff & Kim for opening up your home to us!!

And although our travels have been fun & exciting, I'm happy to say, I"M STAYING HOME THIS WEEKEND!! Hooray!

I'm also happy to say that tomorrow is THE LAST DAY OF KIDS!!! Oh my goodness, those children were going crazy today. I was a crabby teacher when I got home today...1 more day. I can take it.

Look!!!

...at who I got to hold last weekend...and this past weekend! Talk about a spoiled Auntie Jess. We went to Seattle for 2 weekends in a row & got to spend time with our wonderful nephews & family. Here are a few pics of Silas. The last one is Eli (the oldest). SOO, SOO, cute!!

I'll be back with more details in a bit...

 

 

 

 

Spoiled...

On Friday when I got home from school, Tim surprised me with this. I knew he was looking at them, but I certainly wasn't expecting one anytime soon. He is so romantic & sweet. And I think he loves the fact that his wife is now a gadget girl. I love them...

So - I'm off to play with my newest toy. Thank you Tim for the wonderful surprise! I will put it to good use - & I may even let you use it from time to time... :)

2 + 2 =

4!!! That's right people...only 4 days left. (Sorry Melissa).

Can't wait...

And...

for those of you keeping track, today being finished makes 9...

10

10 days left...

More Photos...

Here are some more photos from our weekend at the beach. I just finished making a little scrapbook from our adventures - I'll try to take pictures of it soon to share. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Nana & Nellie

 

Tim, Mom, & the girls playing on the beach

 

My Dad

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My Sis & Mom

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Memorial Day Weekend...

This weekend I was here...

 

playing with this girl...

 

staying in this house...

 

with all of these people...

 

it was a BLAST!! On Friday my parents & Nana flew in for the long weekend. They met me at our house after I got done with school & we left for a family weekend at Depot Bay. Oh my goodness was it fun. Too much to tell about here tonight as I'm still recovering/getting ready for the week...but it was great. We plan to make this a more regular occurrence. Last time we did this was almost 10 years ago. The coast was beautiful, everyone got along very well, & we had some much needed R&R with family. Thank you Mom, Dad, & Nana again for such a wonderful weekend. And thank you Laura & girls for all of the laughs & fun. I'll be back with more on our adventures later this week...

My Weekend

This past weekend Amanda invited me to come with her & her husband up to Powell Butte. Tim was out of town for the weekend so it was perfect timing. We drove up Friday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. It was a fabulous time of hanging out with Amanda - talking about important things & not so important things...painting fingers & toes, using the new Alba salt scrub, reading magazines (hey My Andrea, I have 2 more for you), scrapping, & just relaxing. It was perfect. And SOO nice to get away for a little bit. The area was beautiful & the weather was nice so we took a fabulous walk on Sunday. Saturday evening we went into Bend & Redmond to play. It was such a wonderful weekend, thank you again Ben & Amanda for having me along!!

Me & Amanda-Pants

 

Mirror Pond, Bend, OR

 

Ben & Amanda

 

Sunset from the deck

 

You Know You're a Music Teacher When...

...you have these in your dishwasher & drying on your counter top. 40 recorders to be exact (go ahead count them...there's 40). I am SO happy to report that we are officially finished with our recorder unit for the year & have moved on to keyboards...that have headphones...hallelujah!

 

30...

Here are some LO's I did a few weeks ago of everyone's 30th birthday this past year. Someone's 31st birthday is coming up soon.... :)

 

 

 

Eli & Silas

Here are my nephews. The picture is not very good - but the LO did turn out well - I love it. Especially the photo in the middle where Eli is kissing Silas on the head - so sweet. So sorry Kim - I thought I'd already posted this...here are your precious boys!!

 

For the Mom's...

...and anyone who's had a mom...