Reflecting on 2009

Looking back I can’t believe that another year has passed. It does not seem like a full year has passed since we hosted the annual New Years Eve party at our house the first time. Likewise, I cannot believe all that has happened in the past year, or that it’s been a decade since I rang in the new millenium at Aron’s house with my best high school friends. Here’s a look back at my 2009:

* I learned how to quilt and fell in love with it. I took a class with Kim and Rita and while it was hard to give up a night every week to do it instead of plan lessons, I am so glad I did it. In the past year I completed 3 quilts: 1 for me, 1 for my sister and 1 to donate to Soldiers’ Angels for their holiday drive.
 

* Don and I spent a few days over my Spring Break back at the bed & breakfast where we were married. We were the only guests and did nothing but relax. Just before we left, Don was hired to work for the first phase of the Census. He verified addresses in our area for a few weeks. He also got involved with the volunteer fire department in our township and started training to join the force.

* I completed my first year as a teacher, and believe me, summer couldn’t have come fast enough by the end of the year! I loved my first year, but would never want to relive it. It was the most stressful, and hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Yet, most days, I couldn’t wait to go back. By the end of the year, I’d grown especially close to one of my co-workers and I count her among my very best friends now!

* We spent the summer working outside in the garden. We planted tons of tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos and green beans. We had so many tomatoes I was giving them away as fast as I could pull them off the bushes. We also learned how to can them, and made several batches of chopped tomatoes, salsa and even bruschetta. We also canned green beans, jalapenos, apple butter, and strawberry jam. A lot of them were used in homemade gift baskets for the holidays. In the process I learned a lot about gardening, including about quite possibly the ugliest worm on the face of the planet, tomato worms.

*  In May, a young, yellow lab was dropped off near our property. She was afraid of us at first, but after about a week of gaining her trust, I was able to catch her and we fell in love with her. They decided they wanted to keep her next door (which is good because she does not get along with our cat), and was named Lily after the spring since that’s when she showed up. In the last few months, she’s gone from being an outside dog to owning the house.

* A young girl was kidnapped and eventually discovered to be murdered in our town over the summer. As a firefighter, Don took me to join a search party in some heavily wooded areas. We discovered later that at the exact time we were out searching, police were on the other side of the county with her body. We suspected that they had found her while we were in the woods because they called us back really early, but we didn’t know for sure until much later. As of now, the murder still hasn’t been solved. It was really interesting to be a part of the search party, though.

* I saw Brad Paisley (for the 3rd time), Dave Matthews (for the 7th time), and the Kenny Chesney tour over the summer. Brad Paisley was awesome and it was so much fun going to a concert with Amy. DMB always rocks, even though the show wasn’t one of my favorites. I did get their new CD afterwards and love it. It was also cool to see Tim Reynolds on stage with the band again, too. As for Kenny Chesney, I suppose I enjoyed his performance, but I’m just not a big fan. I was happy to see Montgomery Gentry again, though. And though I’m still not a big fan, Sugarland was great live, too.

* Don and I went on vacation for a week with my family to the Leelenau Peninsula near Traverse City. It was awesome to see my family on an occasion other than Christmas and we had fun. My dad and I made the trek to Mackinac Island, and Don and I spent a lot of time reading. I was reminded of exactly how much I missed the Great Lakes while we lived in Denver.

* I made a couple of cool cakes and some awesome cookies over the past year. I bake a lot for my students (it’s amazing how easily high school students can be bribed to behave for a substitute with the promise of cookies or cupcakes!), but I did a cake for the grand opening of the new location of Permanent Images Tattoos, and cookies for Laura’s rehearsal dinner. I also made some cookie bouquets for Krista & Terrell’s anniversary and as a door prize for the Knights of Columbus trip to the Tigers game.
 

* In September, we started school again with 2 new teachers. I will totally admit that I wasn’t sure about either of them at first, but am happy that several months later, they have completed our group of non-tenured teachers, which we call “The Six-Pack.” I share a classroom with Ryan and can honestly say that I am so happy to have met him and have him working so closely with me in the expelled program. I think that our personalities match perfectly for working with those kids. We have what looks like a total love/hate relationship on the outside, but in actuality he is one of the best friends I’ve made in years.

* We attended several weddings this year, including that of my good friend from high school and her high school sweetheart. How awesome to be there, and see them get married after I attended senior prom with them. When I delivered Laura her cookies, we met at Cabelas and found that they were having a job fair so Don applied. He was hired a few weeks later as a seasonal worker, and just applied to a permanent job there.

* My aunt passed away this fall after a long time of poor health. She lived in Canada and I don’t have a passport, so I couldn’t go to the funeral. Otherwise, I was lucky enough to avoid losing other people I love this year.

* Don and I finally purchased the house we’ve been renting since we moved back to MI. How exciting! We’re finally homeowners! This officially completes “The New Plan,” which was set back in July of ’08 after I found out we were moving back to Michigan.

As always, I know there are lots of things I am forgetting, but that’s my year in a nutshell and it will be nice to look back someday and reread this and see 2009 for what it was!

All around update

By my quick estimation, it’s been 3 weeks or so since I posted about Lily finding a home with us. She’ll be living next door, though we are dog sitting right now. She’s always going to be “my” dog, but she’ll much better off next door. However, she quickly wrapped most of us around her paw, and she’s been spoiled rotten.

I am about to finish my first year as a teacher, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how things turned out. It’s been a long, hard year (complicated by the cross-country move, replanning and having the wedding) but it’s been very rewarding. I cannot imagine myself at another place in my life, and am surprised at how happy I thought I was before- compared to the happiness I feel now. For the first time in many years, my life feels truly complete and satisfied. I have a million plans for next year, most of which will probably never have a chance to see the light of day, but the fact that I have them and I am already excited about next year makes me happy.

In the last few weeks, our community struggled with the disappearance and eventual death of a small girl, and it’s been an interesting experience. Though I do not know the family personally, I do feel bad about the girl’s death. Don and I even went out with a large group of firefighters on a search through some heavily wooded areas and fields before her body was discovered. Right now, the police aren’t saying much, which I guess is ok. They need to do their investigation.

I was finally convinced to read the Twilight saga, and finished all 4 books in less than a month. Actually, the first took the longest to read, since I read the last 3 in the past 6 days. Yes, they were that addicting. Yes, I enjoyed them, though I did struggle through parts in each of them. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with how the final book went, and often found myself wishing it was just done already, but not because it was a page turner. There were parts where I was just ready to be done with it. I won’t give anything away, but I think the main problems in the first 3 books were much better in terms of a story. I bought the movie last week and rewatched it. I still enjoyed it, and even got Don to watch it with me. However, the Cullens will never replace Angel and Spike in my heart for my #1 vamps. Angel was just so much better at being a tortured, brooding vampire.

Don and I saw the new Star Trek, and were pleasantly surprised. We walked in expecting a C movie and walked out with an A… maybe a B+. It was GOOD. We have been and always shall be Star Trek fans (I’m a huge dork), and were pleased with the way that the movie played out. I have been itching to see that one again, as well, but will probably wait for the DVD. I am looking forward to seeing some of the summer movies (Harry Potter mostly), and am glad I will be able to take advantage of mid-week, mid-afternoon crowds and prices.

It’s been exciting to watch the Red Wings play in the playoffs. Last year, I was in Denver while they played the finals, and am glad to be back in Wingnut territory for the playoffs. Game 7 is always nervewracking, but oh-so-entertaining.

I am also looking forward to a slew of summer activities including a vacation with my family, at least one Tigers game, the DMB concert, some weddings and a few other things. I also have a dozen crafting projects that I need to get under way, as they have been sitting dormant for far too long.

The last month has been a whirlwind and I am ready for some relaxation! One more day!!!!!!!

Reflecting on the Past Year

Happy New Year! It’s been another crazy year. After the last few days of craziness and no power, I’ve finally had a chance to really think back and reflect on the last year and all that’s happened.

* First, obviously the biggest change, Don and I got engaged and married. Planning the wedding was easy, but replanning it after the move was more challenging. However, we pulled it together and had what I think was the best wedding ever.

* I continued to work with Soldier’s Angels, and for the first time ever, got a response from one of the soldiers I had adopted. To date, every soldier I have adopted has come home safe. <knock on wood> As the war continues, I have tried to keep with the program and help the deployed soldiers as much as I can.

* I continued teaching my cake decorating classes and even took a class to help me work on my cake decorating skills, especially geared toward wedding cakes. That helped, because about a month later, I did my first real wedding cake for my friend Justin and his wife Erica. You can see a picture and read about it here.

* I interviewed for a teaching position in Michigan and got the job. On the trip between Colorado and Michigan, we were able to stop at John Wayne’s birthplace for the first time. We also stopped to see the Freedom Rock, and
even got to meet the artist as he was working on it when we went by.

* The Mile High Music Fest= AWESOME! I got the tickets for me and Dan the day before the show from one of Don’s friends at a substantial savings… and couldn’t be happier with the purchase. We saw John Mayer, the Black Crowes and of course, the Dave Matthews Band. The show was unbelievable and DMB ended up putting out a CD of the show- just in time for Christmas.

* Our move back to Michigan went pretty smooth and I recommend ABF Relocubes for anyone who is moving or doing rennovations and needs a little extra storage space. They were awesome. Starting my new job went really well, and after a couple of weeks I felt completely at home at my school and with my students. I always knew I was meant to be a teacher, and that solidified that for me.

* A year of losses: Several people I knew passed away this year, and it was hard to deal with some of them. Two of my high school classmates passed away, Rachelle from carbon monoxide poisoning in her house and Joe from the cancer that had hindered him for so many years. Hearing about Joe’s death just crushed me, despite the fact that I hadn’t spoken to him in years. Likewise, Nichole’s death to an overdose of heroine also crushed me, though it’s been years since I had seen her. It’s never easy to lose people you know.

At the end of it all, this year has been amazing for me. I am loving being back in Michigan despite the fact that I miss my friends in Colorado very much. In the new year, I am hoping to keep improving my teaching skills, keep working on cake decorating and keep the positive attitude that I’ve developed in the last few months.

Countdown: 5 days to go

Part of me can’t believe that I’m going to be getting married in 5 days. Part of me can’t believe it’s finally here. The other part of me can’t believe that it’s taken so long to get here! But, with all of the time I’ve been focusing on school- the last few weeks have flown by.

So, we’ve got everything ready to go except for the dessert, which I actually haven’t finished planning yet. I know we are having cheesecake, and at least one flavor will be pumpkin. I’m planning on making one plain one, but after that I’m not sure. I also need to decide how many I’ll need. I’ll be baking after work on Wednesday for that.

School has been pretty good the last few weeks. We are over halfway through our first trimester and I am loving being a teacher. Even when it’s hard, I am still loving it. I know that this is what I’ve been waiting all these years to do.

First Month Down

I’ve completed my first 4 weeks as a teacher and things are still going really well. It’s now gotten to the point where I am doing most of my planning over the weekend for the following week instead of spending hours the night before I teach it. I still do some tweaking of plans the night before, but it’s getting easier and the stress is slowly melting away. Problems with a few of the kids are still there – and won’t ever go away – but some days I go through the day with literally no behavior problems. I figure that at this point, I am in good shape.

Now, I’ve got 4 more weeks to focus on finishing the wedding plans. The wedding is in 26 days. Holy crap. I’m not ready for that yet, though plans are coming together pretty well considering I just started a new job and we re-planned the whole wedding in less than 4 months.

We planted some bulbs today in my pots for the yard today, and this week Don is going to plant some more around the yard. I’ve never planted bulbs before, so I hope they take and show up in the spring.

One week down…

I’ve officially completed my first week as a teacher. I can honestly say that I wasn’t nervous once this week- except before I left for school. Once I got there, it was all good. I am teaching one regular class (world history/geography), and three classes in the Expelled Student Program. The whole basis for the program is to keep kids in some school when they get expelled. They can earn credits and even get to eat lunch with the “regular” kids in the school. And, thus far, I am enjoying the expelled kids even more.

It’s hard to believe that I finally have a teaching job. It may not be the most ideal job for me to be teaching expelled kids, but at this point, I’m happy to have a job, and even happier to have a job that I’m enjoying. I want to make a difference for these kids. I want to get them out of this program and back into a regular school without missing so much that they get behind and drop out.

Not all fun and games

I’m sitting in the kitchen for what I hope will become my own house some day, and I’m staring at the bits and pieces of things that have no where to go. I’ve been back in MI less than 12 hours and I’m already stressing. I have a stack of books to look through and start planning lessons. There are groceries on the counter with no organization or idea of where I should put them. We have our bags we brought in the car, but nothing else. We have some furniture in the house (table, some chairs, a TV) but nothing of ours, as the moving company will be delivering it sometime this week. It’s an odd feeling.

BUT- we are back in MI and our stuff is on its way. I have material to help me start planning my lessons for the new job. I’ve paid the deposit on the location for the wedding and am going to make appointments to meet at 2 places to check them out for the reception. And, we are in the house and even though it could be some time before we get everything worked out before we can buy it, we aren’t living in an apartment for the first time! So, the new plan is in action and it looks like we’ve already accomplished a lot!

The new plan

1. Move to MI
2. Teach high school social studies
3. Buy a house
4. Get married

So, that’s the new plan. For those of you who don’t know yet, I accepted a teaching job in southeast MI and will be moving back to MI in less than a month. Step 3- buy the house we are going to be renting. And, of course, get married. We’ve had to adjust all of our wedding plans and move the wedding to MI, which is not easy considering it’s in less than 4 months and it’s hard to plan such things 1200 miles away. We do have a location for the service, but no one to officiate. We have a couple of places that we might have the reception at but don’t want to say yes to either until we’ve seen them. We need to find a place to rent chairs and a tent, get flowers and find a photographer. I’m debating about getting a band or a DJ or having nothing at all. We may just have some music playing that we’ve provided. Changing our plans has changed our budget and not in a good way!

Not to mention that I’ll be spending most of August trying to make up lesson plans to teach classes that I’ve never taught before. Yipes!