Moving Day

Tomorrow is the day! Tonight is our last night in our cute little Capitol Hill apartment, and tomorrow night we'll get to spend it in our cute little brick house in Sugarhouse. As we pack up our lives (for the third time in two years...), there are a few things I am going to miss about this apartment. At the top of that list is the incredible view we have had. Observe.

I have loved being able to walk out our door and have the Capitol in our backyard. It has been fun to walk Bandith on the grounds and throughout the Capitol Hill area.

As we move into the new house, I'm not going to lie, there are some things that we are quite excited for. Namely, a full-size oven (we have never ever had one!), a washer and dryer (we have never ever had those either) and a backyard.

Bon voyage Capitol Hill and Bonjour Sugarhouse! Wish us luck with the big move!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today just so happens to be my incredible husband's birthday. Sadly, he will have to spend the night in meetings and I'll spend it in class. Nevertheless, it's a great day. Don is such an incredible example to me. I never will know how he finds the energy to do all that he does. (Plus look at his hand-man skills he has. He completely redid our new closet). Can't wait for the adventures this next year brings. Love you, honey!!

Well that's awkward...

The other night Don and I were heading over to the new house with our latest batch of supplies from Lowes (I am fairly certain we keep that place in business),and much to our delight the check engine light came on. So did the sliding hazard light (or whatever that car icon is) and the cruise control light started blinking. Fabulous! As we parked and I got out of the car I could smell gas. Even more fabulous. In true form, I start playng out the most dramatic scenarios in my head...such as the car exploding right then and there. We called the Subaru people and they insisted that the car be towed. Thus justifying in my mind even more that the car was going to explode any moment. The next day I was waiting to go into class when Don calls to tell me that the Subaru people called with a diagnosis. The reason I could smell gas is because the gas cap was unscrewed. Perfect. So glad that we didn't overreact or anything.....

Two Years

Today marks two years since Don and I got married. In some ways I can't believe how fast it has gone, and in other ways I can't help but think, "It's only been two years?" It just seems like we've always been together. The day we got married was perfect. We were one of 80+ weddings at the Salt Lake temple that day (thanks to it being the first Saturday of the University of Utah's spring break). It was beautiful weather and the tulips were in full bloom. Alot has happened in those two years, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next 70 years.

For your reading pleasure, here are our individual "top five moments" of the last two years.

Jen's Top 5 (in no specific order):

1. Honeymooning in the Mayan Riviera (and being fried to a crisp because it was March and I had not seen the sun in at least a year).

2. Giggling over what we wrote in each other's high school year books and the many letters we exchanged while Don was serving his mission (Including his letter "writing me off" from the MTC)

3. House hunting (and pretending like we knew what we were doing because we happen to watch HGTV...ahem, HGTV apparently does not always portray real-life time)

4. Spending the summer in Washington, DC (our favorite city) while Don was a Hinckley intern 

5. Adopting our little Bandith dog (please don't judge us, but we may or may not have become those people whose dogs are like their children)

Don's Top 5 (again, in no specific order)

1. Our wedding day where we were sealed together forever

2.  Our awesome honeymoon in Mexico 

3.  Both being accepted into our Master's programs at the U of U

4. Being in DC together during summer 2010

5. Buying our first house 

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!! Here's to many more years and many more adventures.

Going to 1st Grade

So, let's just lay this on the table. Teaching is hard. Teaching in a Title 1 school that houses the homeless shelter kids is hard. Not getting emotionally charged and wanting to chew some of the parents out is hard. I love teaching, but it is hard. (Ahem, Utah legislatures that don't agree with this, please come visit me in room 2226, Washington Elementary). 

This has been an interesting and extremely stressful/emotional school year over in the third grade. The year started off with a slight meltdown in my principal's office with lots of tears and then feeling like a complete idiot. Don't get me wrong, I love my little kiddies, but something just has not clicked this year. I have literally spent the last 6 months figuring out what in the world I was going to do for work next year and teaching was not on the "list of possibilities." I don't think an hour has gone by that I have not thought about this. (You may think that is an exaggeration...sadly, no. Just ask Don, my mom or my mother-in-law whom have had the pleasure of witnessing lots of not so attractive melt downs).  I will not bore you with the long list of job possibilities I have spent endless hours pondering, nor go on with this post that may or may not be a little dramatic. 

So, onto the good stuff....I LOVE first graders. Seriously, how could little people who still believe in leprechauns and Santa and try to sneak potato bugs in from recess not be adorable? Last week I found out that the district where I work would be giving our school funding to add a new first grade class next school year. I immediately knew this opening was an answer to alot of prayers and alot of sleepless nights. As you may have gathered, I will be teaching first grade next year. And I am over-the-moon excited!!!