Lucky Thursday

Today was a whirlwind kind of day. I drove up to Ryan's hotel last night. It's a long drive and I came up with the following poem as I drove past Tallahassee: Seminoles are ay-holes. I think it's worthy of an award.

Anyway. Ryan and I woke up bright and early to enjoy a lovely continental breakfast together. Afterward, I went to my interview with Target. I had a first, second and final interview across about an hour and a half. Before I realized what was actually happening I had a job. I'm considered a seasonal employee, though I am pretty confident I will prove my worthiness of a full hire fairly quickly.

We had planned to spend the rest of the afternoon checking out places to live. We visited one place, but the leasing agent was so busy that we decided to come back later for a tour and discussion of prices. Based on a billboard (advertising works!) we visited another place that we both fell in love with. Completely against my usual over-planning, over-researching habits, we applied for the apartment and gave them a deposit. All in one day, I have a job and an apartment. I am so thankful for how smoothly this process is going. To be honest, I'm still sort of in shock.

Depending on when my orientation is and when the moving truck will be collecting our belongings to move, I may or may not even be going back to Orlando at all. It doesn't make a lot of sense to drive 300+ miles, pay for gas and tolls, just to work a couple of days then drive back. Especially since Ryan will have to drive back separately to meet the moving truck and help me finish cleaning/packing. It looks like the best plan is for me to stay here until we can both ride back to Orlando together (a trip which Ryan's job will pay for gas and tolls), meet the moving truck, load things up, clean up, check out of current lease/apt and head back. We'll be living in a hotel for a couple of weeks. We're going to think of it as an extended vacation. I love staying in hotels anyway. The only glitch in the plan is that I didn't pack enough clothing for myself. Not exactly the end of the world.

In other news, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO DA CHEZ AND ISAAC.

Interview!

I have a job interview on Thursday! I am very excited that things could be settled a lot quicker than I ever imagined. I feel a little overwhelmed at how quickly and smoothly things are moving.
We spent Thursday and Friday cleaning and packing as much as humanly possible due to the incoming surge of friends on Saturday/Sunday. One day there was a mountain of things that still needed to be accomplished - curtains to take down, holes to fill, boxes to pack - and then the next day we were surrounded by full boxes and spackled walls. I'm in the midst of paring down the things that I will need in the next couple of weeks and things that can be tossed.

Thursday thru Sunday will take me away from the sea of boxes and into a time of apartment searching, job interviewing and meeting with advisors for the dreaded FSU. I will be an FSU student. It still hurts me deep inside to say that, to even think it. I am a GATOR inside and out. I have trouble even considering the fact that a degree from FSU could be valid and worth something. Obviously it is a wonderful school, accredited and all that jazz, but when you're a Gator trying to reconcile yourself to a Seminole degree, lines start to get blurred.

Either way, we're counting our many blessings. Things may not have been ideal in Orlando and may not be perfect in the new place, but you can bet that I'm thankful for all that I have in my life however hard it was to get here.

Perfection

My day began at 7:10AM when my phone started buzzing every 20 minutes for about 3 hours straight. When the first text message came in, I thought to myself, "Seriously people, my birthday is the entire day, why start so early?"

Truly though, I am blessed with a HUGE family and many friends who love me very much. My brother called and sang a very interesting rendition of "Happy Birthday to you" which ended in his wife begging him to stop singing. My mom and dad called me and sent their love. My sister called a little past the crack of dawn and my aunts each sent me lovely picture text messages. It's an amazing feeling to feel this special and I am so thankful to be surrounded by such love.

Of course, nothing beats the day that I am having with my Ryan. We planned to go to PF Chang's for lunch, then go see "He's just not that into you" afterward. PF Chang's didn't work out because we had a slow start to the morning and wouldn't be able to make the movie if we waited to be seated. So we wandered around the Winter Park shopping plaza and found this lovely restaurant that neither one of us has ever been to called "Brio - Tuscan Grill". We sat out on the patio with the most perfect weather that anyone could ever dream of! Our table was in the sun at first, but we were able to move under the shade of a big umbrella. There was a light breeze with a temperature of about 72 degrees. We had a slow and decadent meal. My exact idea of perfection. Words cannot even begin to describe my levels of elation at this time and the day isn't even over yet.

Thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes and thoughts of love and friendship. I hope everyone is feeling as loved as I am right now!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

L-O-V-E

Wednesday was a very long and challenging day. Substitute teaching can be rewarding, but challenging expecially when you introduce clinically diagnosed mental illnesses. It was a one-on-one day that just about absorbed all of my patience for the month! I texted as much to Ryan toward the end of the day. Being the sweet boy that he is he agreed to meet me at one of our favorite restaurants, Chili's, for a relaxing dinner out. We talked about just about everything for the entire dinner, after 4 years dinner out still felt like a first date.

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching which means 2 things - I'm turning 25 and we all get to celebrate love of family, friends and life. I am deeply in love with my Ryan and from the way he looks at me, the feeling is mutual. I have nooooooo idea what I want for my birthday. I never know what I want for presents though. Mostly, I just like to go out and have a nice dinner. Maybe some flowers. But after that, I don't have a book or a purse or a movie that I've just been dying to have. If he just promises to love me forever, I will have everything I want for my birthday and Valentine's Day. I'm such a corny sap.

Because so much has happened...

Since pictures can summarize things better... Here is how the last couple of months have been.


Ryan and I got out the tree right after Thanksgiving. We put it together:

Then, we decorated it and stood beside it proudly.

Also in December, Laney got married to Dennis:

She was such a gorgeous bride and we were so happy to be there for her wedding!I caught the bouquet! She actually threw it at me, but however it happened, it's mine! After the wedding, there was Christmas in Jacksonville:

I got old at some point and had to get glasses:

We got all dressed up so we could take our holiday card photo (very late) and only sent one card out...We celebrated the New Year at home in our PJ's with raspberry champagne: And finally, since I've gained a bunch of weight through all the holdiay madness, I got one of these from my sister as an early birthday present:

We'll be heading to Jacksonville and Melrose tomorrow to celebrate birthdays and a late Christmas, so there's more to come!

Success!

This was my first year actually making some part of Thanksgiving dinner. One year my mom let me make the gravy. When that failed utterly, she sent me out of her kitchen. My duties since then have not gone past preperation per her specific instructions. This year, since I made my goodies in my own kitchen then plopped them on her table, there wasn't much she could say to stop me. Sweet potatoes are not a huge thing in my family. My 2 cousins and brother had never had sweet potato casserole. I watched their faces turn from apprehensive to delightfully surprised as the yummy goodness reached their tastebuds. My aunts took all of the casserole leftovers home and my cousin asked me to make extra for Christmas dinner! I think my mom might let me back in her kitchen now; she might even let me do more than just chop the vegetables or tell her when the pot is boiling.

After dinner, I perused the 5 pound stack of Black Friday ads and planned "The Route". My alarm went off at 4:15 am (I went to bed at a reasonable 1:00am) and we were on the road by 4:35am. My cousin Jay joined us. He recently joined the Air Force and by the end of the morning he was comparing his level of exhaustion to a week in boot camp. We went eco-friendly and brought our own bags to fill rather using the store bags. It worked really well to not have 15+ plastic bag handles digging into your palms.

Around 12:45pm my sister and cousin were falling asleep during the drives between stores, so I offered to drop them off at home before going on by myself. I spent another hour or so out and about getting last minute things. After helping my brother and sister-in-law move some things to their new apartment, my mom and I went back out shopping. I was tickled by the fantastic deals I got on some really great things. I only have to get one more present and I can check everyone off of my list. My sister and I split the loot in half to save time on wrapping.

By the end of the day, I was utterly exhausted. It was completely worth it. I really enjoyed being with my family, eating with them, laughing with them and shopping with them. I am so thankful for all that I am surrounded by. We are all in good health, good homes and have good relationships. We know just how lucky we are to be where we are today and this weekend we sat back and enjoyed taking it all in together. Could Thanksgiving weekend have been any more perfect? I think not.

Hello Holidays!

We are well into the week of Thanksgiving. I have no work until next Monday and lots to do in the time I have. I'm heading home for Thanksgiving with my family. Then Black Friday shopping. Saturday we put up the Christmas decorations. And Sunday, I'm home again.

Ryan and I put the tree up the other day. Lights, ornaments, stockings, holiday clock. It's starting to look like Christmas around here. Now the hunt for boxes begins. In my family, we're big on disguising the contents of wrapped boxes. We add plastic containers of beads to add sounds, heavy items like bars of soap or lots of socks to make a box seem heavier or fuller. We put DVD's in obnoxiously large boxes. It isn't rare to unwrap a present only to find a cereal box with something fancy like an Ipod inside. One year, my sister was really hoping for this one movie that had one of those sleeve covers over the actual DVD case. I slipped the movie she wanted out of the box, then put in another movie and convinced her that I borrowed the sleeve from someone else who owned the movie. I hid the actual movie at the very bottom of her stack of presents so she didn't figure it out until way later. I love tricking her, probably a little too much.

Black Friday is seriously one of my favorite days of the year. I know a lot of people hate the agressive shoppers with seemingly permanent scowls on their faces or can't stand the mad dash for the "It" toy" or gadget of the season. For me, I love getting up at the crack of dawn, armed with my list of stores to hit and specific items to find, quietly making my way through the crowds of frantic people. I've had my disappointments where I've just missed the last item on the shelf, but then I've also had my triumphs in getting amazing deals on hot products. I just love it. We leave around 4:30am and are finished by around 10:00am, at which time I go back to bed. I can only handle this type of shopping with my sister. She and I shop very well together; she moves as quickly as I do and keeps her eye on the goal. After we get all of our stuff, we take turns standing in line while we check out the other deals around the store. By the end of that shopping time, I usually don't have many more presents to buy. In the end, I trade weeks of shopping and agonizing over where the perfect gift could be for a ridiculously early morning drving all over town trying to get the best deals. Not too shabby I think. Then, I get to spend the weekend after wrapping presents and we get to look at a lovely tree inundated with presents. Love it.

Hello Kindergartners...

Yesterday, I spent half a day in a 1st grade classroom and by the end of the day, my voice was practically gone from asking them to be quiet, close their mouths and sit down on their bottoms. They weren't a bad group of kids, but it felt like they should have known better for their age.

Today, I spent a full day in a kindergarten classroom. I once again nearly lost my voice from asking them to please, please be quieter, sit down, and no hitting! For some reason, the kindergarten behavior, though much rowdier and louder, didn't bother me as much as the 1st graders. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed kindergarten. Here I thought I was on a straight road to 2nd grade, but instead might be taking a detour in kindergarten or even pre-k. I think I was expecting very young children who would be unable to care for themselves in any way. Some of the pre-k kids could read and the rest were destined to be reading well before the end of the school year. The kindergartners I worked with today were a very smart bunch. Each of them knew the routine and behaved like responsible little adults.

They behaved until we went outside for a guest speaker - Mr. Paul, the karate teacher. He taught them that karate was about respect and discipline, then moved right on to punching and kicking. The rest of the day was spent telling kids to keep their hands to themselves and no punching. What can you expect though? The guy was dressed in his gi and was doing some neat things. Of course the kids would want to be like him.

I had great help from the more experienced teachers and found great comfort in meeting a teacher younger than me who is in her first year. They both looked like pros and helped keep my class in line. You could hardly tell that one had less experience than the other.

Substitute teaching has been fantastic. I know the kids are not on their best behavior because their normal teacher is out, so I also know that eventually I'll have my own classroom full of kids who know me. Thursday I'm going to be in a 4th grade classroom. This grade scares me, especially after being told that I'm getting a notoriously rambunctious class. I've seen the 4th and 5th graders in the cafeteria and some of those kids are as tall as I am. I realize it isn't a very difficult thing to beat 5'2", but when it's a 9 year old looking at the top of my head, I get a bit antsy. Time to find my most comfortable pair of heels (if there is such a thing).