Merry Christmas!

Christmas is finally here! We are off to celebrate Christmas Eve with Danny's family this evening and then we will head over to my parents' house for Christmas Day in the morning. We are looking forward to spending time with both families!! I don't know about Danny, but I am ready to play some games!

Pregnancy update: I have been battling "morning sickness" almost all day lately. I got some advice from family and friends to eat/drink sour stuff and use Preggie Pops to help alleviate the nausea. So far, the Pops and lemonade have helped a bit. Unfortunately, the situation makes it difficult to eat, so I've been eating ramen soup, pretzels, popcorn and tuna casserole. I hope I don't get tired of these too quickly :)

Changing the subject back to Christmas, we are both so very thankful for all of God's blessings this year - two of the most notable being our 1st anniversary on December 28th and expecting our first child! We hope and pray that all our family and friends feel God's blessings also!! Merry Christmas to all!!!

More symptoms...

Well, it's been a couple more weeks and I am now experiencing more symptoms of pregnancy. Along with a few changes in my body, I am hungry often and have even begun to experience a little nausea. I am not so fond of the last part, but I'm dealing with it the best I can! Danny has been very helpful when I'm not feeling well and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband! We are both looking forward to our first prenatal visit with the midwife in January.

So excited!!!

I got up on December 3, just a regular Thursday morning, and debated on taking a pregnancy test even though I really didn't have any symptoms. I decided to go ahead and take the test...very glad I did because it turned out positive! It was really fun getting to wake Danny up to tell him :) He wanted to have confirmation so he asked me to get another brand and take one more test on Friday morning. Well, I got to wake him up with another positive test!

Now one week later, I am beginning to have more symptoms and it is so exciting!!! It is still a little hard to believe, though :) It is nice having such a large and wonderful support group to go to for advice and help. We look forward to sharing the journey...

Holiday Season is here!

Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post!! Life has been moving at an incredible speed! I am so glad that it is finally the holiday season. Why do I love this time of year so much?

1. Time spent with family
2. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!
3. A&M/tu football game
4. Time off of work for a little relaxation
5. Round-the-clock Christmas music

And my new favorite reason...

6. My 1st wedding anniversary!

I have been blessed with, and am so thankful for, a wonderful husband!!!

College Football Saturdays!

College football and cool weather...what a great combination! It is so nice to spend a relaxing day on the couch with Danny watching and enjoying the NCAA. Of course our favorite games to watch are the Longhorns (Danny) and Aggies (me), but we will also watch any other games that are really good. I'm so excited that the Aggies have earned tv time for the last couple of games and again tonight. We aren't subscribed to the channel they are on tonight, so we'll be heading to Danny's parents house to watch my Aggies btho Kansas State :)

Now that Danny's game is over, I will need to spend some time grading papers before heading out tonight. Despite the fact that it is Saturday and supposed to be one of my days off, I still have work to do...it never seems to end. On a more positive note, I was able to get myself almost completely ready for next week before I left work Friday, which is the first time all year! I am usually starting the week out behind and feeling like I have to play catch up all week, so I'm hoping that starting the week out ahead will make for a better week!

Busy...

Okay, it's kinda sad how all my posts are about school! It just seems that school is all I have done in the last month! It is getting slightly easier as each week passes, but there is still way too much stuff to do with 23 kids. My students still need so much one-on-one time to really understand and do the work, but there isn't enough time in my day to do that, individually TPRI test, individually do a couple of graded assessments on every student, do reading groups, and whatever else there is that I'm not yet aware is coming up!!! Whew...I'm tired just thinking about :)

I did go to Walmart yesterday to get a few things that will help me to further organize my way of grading. I also spent a little time thinking about ways that my team can organize our home reading program to be more efficient. I find that it sometimes requires a little extra time and effort at the beginning in order to make the rest of the year smoother. Once this initial round of testing, parent conferences, etc. are done I really think it might be more manageable.

Danny is looking forward to October because he has a 3 week break from classes. It will be nice to have all our weeknights together without school or homework :) We have been talking lately about our options for when/where to buy a house. We like the area we live in now, but we need to do some research to find out what neighborhoods are in the vicinity, what we can afford, and what we really need in a house. We probably won't do any serious shopping around until at least January, but it's fun to start thinking about :)

Life in the fast lane!

Well, after my last post things have NOT slowed down! :) With my first ever set of progress reports, I had to stay at work until late this week (last night was 10:30!) just to get things done. It has been a real challenge to learn all the new things I have to teach, ways to grade, and so on, but I am still holding on to the hope that it will get easier! At least I have teammates that are always willing to listen to my questions and help me out when I need it.

Today I cleaned upstairs, did some "hand-wash only" laundry that I had been putting off, played on Facebook for a while and now am planning to spend a little time fiddling with PhotoShop before heading back upstairs to get myself ready to go to the store :)

Aggieland!!!

No matter how many new buildings are added or how much the town changes, I still love being back in Aggieland again! What wonderful memories :) Danny and I headed to the football game with Lance for Danny's first time to see an Aggie game at Kyle Field. We had a great time watching the Aggies win 41-6 over New Mexico! Being a Longhorn, Danny acted like he wasn't going to participate in the special tradition we Aggies have when we score, but the Aggies scored enough times in the game that he knew just what to do by the end of the game...he really was a good sport ;)

Life at school is still moving at a pace that I am trying hard to keep up with. Hopefully I get used to things quickly so my schedule can smooth out to something more normal. I would like to start leaving work earlier...I sometimes feel like I should have a cot stored somewhere in my room right now!!

We Made it!!

Wow! That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of the first week of school :) It was a whirlwind!

This is my new classroom.

I think giraffes are too cute so the theme in my room is 'Reach for the Top'!

The board by my work area...I love having my married name posted ;)

There is so much that I have to learn about first grade. I can't wait until I get into a routine and start getting used to all the new things. Hopefully, that will help things go smoother and keep me from spending so may extra hours at work!!! My feet were barely hanging in there by Wednesday, I pushed them another day and by Friday I was back wearing the 'special' doctor shoes. My kids are really cute and it's nice that they come into first grade at least knowing how some things go already. We still have to work on learning the routines and getting down to work! It will be an exciting year!

Danny has been back in school for a couple of weeks now. Between both our school schedules, we barely saw each other this week!! In fact, he is sitting at the table doing homework as I type this post. Luckily, we just have to do this until May and then he will be finished! :)

It's finally here...

There has been so much to do to get ready for school this year! Lots of meetings/training sessions have meant that I have had to stay late several days in order to prepare for the first week. After working all day yesterday I still have a number of things that aren't finished, but I feel better about starting school tomorrow.

We had 'Meet the Teacher' on Friday and I am more excited about the first day now that I have seen, talked to and hugged my students! Seeing the kids again always puts me back into focus and reminds me why I do what I do...

I have enjoyed working with the teachers on my new team! They have been very helpful, encouraging and fun to be around! I am looking forward to a great school year!!! I send those same wishes to all the teachers reading this :)

Summer's over!

This has been a busy week! I am finally out of the clunky doctor shoes and now have tennis shoes. I still find that I need to do plenty of sitting during the day and put my feet up when I get home, but I am getting better at being on my feet more. I get to walk around the house barefoot or with socks on now, which is so much nicer!! Also, I drove today for the first time in over a month!!!

Mom and I went back to school on Saturday to work in my room and we got a lot done! The room is finally looking cute :) I still have work to do, but I feel much better about the beginning of the year now. School officially begins tomorrow with 4 days of inservices and then on Friday we will have 'Meet the Teacher' and a workday. I'm really curious and excited to find out who will be in my room!

Work, work, work!

Wow! Mom and I went to school right after lunch and worked until 7:30! We moved the furniture, decorated the bulletin boards and put stuff on the walls. I was very glad to have the help because I couldn't have climbed up and down or stretched up high to hang the stuff Mom did and I definitely couldn't have moved the furniture by myself! My feet were really tired by the time we left (along with muscles that my body forgot it had!), so I had to put them up for while when we got home. I was going to try to go back to school today, but my feet aren't ready for that much work 2 days in a row yet! I will go back on Saturday because there is still SO much that needs to be done!!

Another week

I went back to the doctor today - I am so glad Dad was available to take me again! X-rays looked good, so all is progressing as it should. The doctor says I need to wrap my feet and wear the clunky shoes for one more week. That means I get to start wearing tennis shoes by this weekend!

Mom and I are going to school to work on my room tomorrow. My first day back to school is Friday because my school scheduled a special inservice. Monday the whole district will be headed back to work with inservices all week. I can hardly believe that I will have a new crop of students in less than 2 weeks!!! I have a lot to do to get ready!

Danny has been back to school for 2 weeks now and we are trying to get back into the swing of juggling job, homework and school schedules. It's not easy giving up the summer, but we are hoping the fall will bring about some exciting things!

My road to recovery

Well, Monday was the 3 week mark since my surgery. I am so glad I chose to go ahead and get both feet done at the same time. God has been very good to me - my feet have been uncomfortable at times during the recovery process, but I haven't experienced any real pain! The doctor says they look good (I think they look a little nasty myself, but I know he's not talking about the superficial) and even gave me permission to practice driving around my neighborhood. I still haven't tried yet!

I am pretty tired of the house and couch by now, but I have learned that getting out for more than dinner or a trip to the doctor's office is still not that easy. I had an inservice for school that I was signed up for and I was exhausted by the time I got home! I am getting around the house well, though, and have even been able to cook dinner a few times and bake cookies once. It feels good to be able to help out again. I hope that I will get the green light to wear regular shoes and do more after I see the doctor again on Tuesday.

I am very blessed to have so many people that were (and still are) willing to help me with all the things I couldn't do for myself! Thank you so much - I am truly grateful for all your love and support!

Finally decided to give this a try

As I've followed my mom and sister's blogs I always thought it would be fun to have my own, I just never got around to starting one. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this! The school year is about to start for me and that will put me to the test! As I said in my mini-bio, I am moving from Kindergarten to First Grade, so I will be busy learning a whole new ball game.

Here's giving blogging a try...