Where does the time go?

Fall has been good so far but so busy! I feel it's always this way at the beginning of the school year. I figure it will get better each year but it doesn't. Partly because I keep changing grade levels and schools and districts but I also just think that is the way it is! Oh well, at least I don't think about the upcoming winter as much :)

Erik, Mom and I went up north to Hayward, WI last weekend. We enjoyed our cabin on Teal Lake and have fun golfing at the course, Teal Wing, located on our resort. It was awesome. The snow fell on Saturday but we still enjoyed the remainder of the weekend. Here are some pictures to highlight our trip. Enjoy fall!!!!


Our cabin...Woods Hill


Erik and I on the golf course


Mom and I at Famous Dave's! YUM :)

Back to school.....

Well, I'm not officially back to school with kids but I am back to school. I've been working in my room most of August here and there to get things unpacked and arranged for kindergarten! This week I spend the past 3 days in New Teacher Workshops introducing myself, signed forms and learning the in's and out's of the district. Everything has been very helpful and the people are so nice. It's just been very OVERWHELMING! Of course, it gets worse when I start to think of all I need to do before the beginning of the year starts with kids (which is September 1st). Luckily, I have a great team of kindergarten teachers to help me out. I think I am really going to enjoy my new school and staff but I am sure happy it's Friday! I'll post some classroom pictures next week.
Enjoy your weekends and some summer weather....hopefully!

GO TWINS!

Last night Erik and I went to the Twins game. It was a GREAT game and we had so much fun. The Twins won 11-0! It was an active game especially when a yelling fight broke out between the Indians coach and an ump. Good stuff! Who knows...this may be our last game at the Metrodome so I got some fun pictures. I am very excited about the new ballpark but the Metrodome was a neat place. No more "Dome Dogs"....wonder what they will be called now?????



I have no idea who this is??? Anyone?


View from our seats of the dome


Line up for the night


Great Twin of all time :)


Mauer is up!

The Shed

Erik built an AWESOME shed out back behind our garage. We took a Saturday afternoon to rent a truck from Menard's to get all the supplies. It was quite an adventure.....wow, I didn't realize how much wood it would take to build a shed! We spend almost an hour just in the yard at Menard's getting all the materials! But we got it all home, unloaded and the truck back to Menard's all with in the allotted time.

It has really been nice getting some more storage space. This week I moved all my planting supplies and tools out into the shed. It's so nice to have room to organize things :) Here are some pictures of the finished shed:

Summer is here!

Wow! Time flies!!!! I guess the end of the school year is always busy. This year I was released from my current position teaching kindergarten. So, needless to say I was busy applying to jobs this spring and as luck may have it (hopefully some skill too) I landed a job in Hudson, WI....teaching kindergarten! I am super excited and will moving into my new classroom tomorrow! So, the door closes (for now) on district 833 and I will now be teaching in Wisconsin again. The school is only 15 minute away from home. How nice!

Erik and I have already attended two wedding celebrations this summer....and we'll attend a third in July. We will also be celebrating Erik's 30th birthday (which was yesterday) on Saturday!

I continue to work on my Masters in Education through UW-Stout and hope to have it finished by the end of the summer. It's busy though and as I said before....time flies!

Here are some highlights of the summer so far:

Mom, Erik, Paul, Char, Joey and I spent Memorial weekend in Hayward, Wi. Here we are enjoying some drinks on the patio at Karibalis.


Yum! Bloody Mary's at Famous Dave's in Hayward, WI


Rockin' out with my co-workers from Pine Hill at our end of the year party. It was a blast!!!


The Andracek's at Tyra and Kevin's wedding in Hayward, WI


Erik and I at Paul and Deidre's reception in La Crosse, WI.


Getting the Cricut from mom for my Birthday :)

Spring is HERE!!!!

It is definitely spring time....we've had very windy days, some rain, lots of sun, and even some 90 degree days!!! I have found some time after school or on the weekends to work in my gardens. I have basically been cleaning out the leaves and putting down new mulch. Many of the perennials are up and growing quickly. I've even had a few flowers on my Phlox. My Rhododendron also bloomed in early May and was beautiful. The lilacs are in full bloom now and smell so good. I wish they would last all spring and into summer.

This weekend is officially the kick off to summer! Erik and I are going to spend it with Mom in Hayward. We are so excited. I hope everyone else had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Here are some pictures of the gardens:


Front garden May 9th. All Perennials


Rhododendron- so pretty!!!!





Front garden and house May 16th.


Phlox

Weather

The weather today is nice. Not quite as beautiful as I thought it would be because of the wind. I was hoping to read on the patio this afternoon with a yummy beverage in hand but I guess it's a little too early for that yet! At least it's not like last Sunday (pictured).

Erik and I went for a nice walk today through campus and it was a bit chilly but so sunny! We saw a giant beetle of some sort, about the size of two quarters! I wish I would have had my camera on me. Tomorrow we will go to Mom's and enjoy grilling out on the patio in the warmth of spring!!! No more snow this season- YEAH!

Afton House Inn

Erik and I enjoy a wonderful stay at the Afton House Inn in Afton, MN on Friday night. The weather was decent enough so Erik and I walked along some trials behind the Inn. We had a delicious dinner in the Wheel room. Erik and I both had a Caesar salad that was made table side. For my main course, I had scallops and Erik had duck breast. It was so fun and a great experience. I think we both had a little too much wine but at least we just needed to stumble upstairs to our room. It was a nice, relaxing stay and so much fun!!! Thanks Charleen and Steve!

Spring Break 2009

I have had a great spring break. It was so nice to be able to have a week to visit friends and family and have FUN!!!! I also was able to do plenty of relaxing which was needed. I would have loved to have gone somewhere warm...because it definitely wasn't warm this week....but that's okay. Maybe next year???

Here are some highlights from my spring break week:
Dinner with Allison, her parents (Lynn and Bruce), my mom and Erik. Then it was time for some:

ROCK BAND!!!!

Underwater Adventures with Mom and Erik at the Mall of America. This was Mom's 50th time (probably!) to the M of A but her 1st time to Underwater Adventures and she loved it!


Erik and I also had a nice dinner with Michelle, Neal and Clyde. It was so fun to hang out together for an evening. Clyde is sure a talker!!!


On Thursday Erik, Mom and I went to see Allison perform in Chalkboard Capers. She did awesome and we especially loved the "Thiller" dance.


I also had some great lunches/dinners with friends and did a lot of scrapbooking.

New Car!!!

So, things were a bit busy last month and in the midst's of it all I got a new car. After visiting dad one night in the hospital right after he surgery Erik and I purchases our new car in Hudson. We were also able to return our rental at the same time which was really nice! I am really enjoying the new car and hardly miss my old one. Here are a few pictures from today, all shiny and clean, and from the day we bought it....snowy and cold!

The car is a 2005 Ford Five Hundred. It is spacious and very comfortable. There are a lot of fun extra features but so far I like the 6 CD changer and radio controls that are on the steering wheel. There is also an information center which tells how many miles before I will run out of gas. Very cool! The trunk is VERY large and even has a release for the latch inside just in case a person gets lock in. It is big enough for 10 golf club bags. CRAZY! I can't wait for scrapbooking in July. I'll be able to fit myself and 2 others and all of our stuff! Quite a change from my Saturn when I could barely fit 2 people and all of our stuff.

It's a bummer I had to loose my Saturn Ion, because I did really love it. However, I think I might enjoy this car even more.

Loss

The world I know has forever changed. This past week my dad passed away from complications due to cancer. He is in a better place now and at peace. No more testing, doctor visits or hospital stays. He gave it his all and stayed positive but it was time for him to move on.

The loss of a parent is so very difficult. I don't feel like I quite understand what it all means yet but it is already feeling different. I am devastated and very sad, however, I feel relief knowing that my dad is no longer dealing with cancer. While staying with my mom this past week I would come across things of my dad's. It made me miss him even more, especially with his death so recent. I am sure I will come to treasure things of my dad's more and more rather than feel sadness. For now, though I feel sadness.

Coping with loss is hard but I have found that laughing and humor are helping me through. My family and I have shared many wonderful stories about my dad in the past week and it helped me remember the good times. The process of grief is interesting. After this busy week of preparing for the visitation and memorial service and being surrounded by friends and family, I now prepare to go back to work tomorrow (my mom does too). It feels right to be doing that, going back to work, but feels weird too. Sometimes I feel like this experience is surreal, but I know that it's the way things are now. The world I know has changed....not really for the better or for the worse, it's just different and I will grow to accept it and appreciate that change as something that was meant to happen.

Here are some favorite pictures of my dad....


My dad and I at my wedding. We were being directed by the photographer to pose and Jennifer caught us in a funny moment!


Enjoying Bloody Mary's on Mother's Day 2004 at the Creamery in Durand


Dad water skiing on the Chippewa Flowage at age 61!


Mom, Dad and I at my rehearsal dinner, May 2005.

No more Saturn Ion

So, I got in a car accident on Monday. I am okay but what a great way to start a week...huh? Especially conference and Valentine's Week....so busy at school!

The roads were fine on my way to work Monday morning but I hit an icy patch and swerved out of control, did a 180 and ended up in a ditch on the other side of the road. Luckily, there was no on-coming traffic at the time! I was okay but my car was deep in the snow. I was so surprised because I felt like the ice had come out of no where (little did I know there was another accident about a block ahead just around the corned and that there would be more cars in the ditch...but that comes later in the story).

Once I calmed down, I called Erik. He said he would come and meet me to check things out and give me a ride to work if I wanted. Then I called AAA. They were very helpful and were getting me set up with a tow when the police and Erik arrived. I was glad to have the police there because that 2-3 block stretch was very icy and cars were all over the place, swerving and out of control like I was. I was so afraid I would get hit again.

The police officer said my car was far enough off the road and in the ditch that we could leave it until the tow came. So, Erik started to drive me to work. Once we got to Prescott, the AAA operator told me one of us would need to be with the car when the tow truck came (duh...but we didn't' think of it).....so Erik drove us back to my car and we decided I was calmed down enough to drive to work. We were coming back up to my car and the accident site when we noticed the police officer was back again, along with some other cars that had gone in the ditch (5 cars total now in the ditch with in about a block of each other.....BAD SPOT!). We also then noticed that one of the other cars had hit my car....bad. They had spun out the same way I did and hit the back and driver's side back door. My car did not look pretty. We were SOOOO happy that we had not been at the car when that had happened.

Erik stayed to work things out at my car and I drove his to work. All in all I felt okay but did have some back pain on Monday. It has since gone away and I feel great. My car ended up getting towed into Prescott and Erik was able to get a rental that will be reimbursed by our insurance :)

We found out last night that my car is being totaled out and we will need to get a new one. Just waiting now to see about insurance. The other person who hit me is 100% liable.

What a week it's been and it's only Wednesday!

Super Sunday and Better Days

Well, today was a super day here in River Falls. Erik and I got a ton of stuff done around the house. Some things were not all that great to do or expected....(like frost in the attic that is now melting and causing some minor leaks......solution: new bathroom fan and vent). We also got the Christmas lights down (finally) and did some grocery shopping. In addition, I did work for my masters class and got in some scrapbooking! YEAH.

It's almost time for the Super Bowl to being and I have to admit I am not all that excited. I am interested in the commercials for sure but can't say I am going to really pay attention to the game. I am not really a huge football fan anyway so this may not come as a big surprise. I route for the Packers when I watch a Packer game but that was far and few between this year???? Who knows why, it just was.

2009 is going well so far! Jennifer gave me the lyrics to a great song that is my theme for 2009:
Better Days
By: The Goo Goo Dolls

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I know this year will has it's ups and downs, of course....every year does but I felt like last year was such a down year. On to better days!

Celebrity Draft Winter 2009

Last night I participated in my second celebrity draft. What is a celebrity draft, you ask??? Well it's basically like fantasy football (I think, I've never done that) where you get together with some other ladies that love celebrities and then you draft a list of 10 celebrities to look for each week in US Weekly. This is my second time doing a celebrity draft. The first one just ended and I came in 7th out of 14. Not too bad for my first time. I am already feeling better about this draft and my pics. I have 6 girls and 4 guys........so we'll see how the season goes. I am hopeful that some of my celebrities will be out at the Oscars and on the red carpet looking good. I have really enjoyed doing this celebrity league so far and and hope to create my own league in late spring or summer.

Scrapbooking

This weekend was spend scrapbooking with friends at White's Wildwood Retreat in the Chippewa Falls area. This was my 6th trip to White's. I always enjoy these weekends away to scrapbook. It's so much more than scrapbooking. It's a time to catch up with friends, laugh, drink alittle (or sometimes a lot depending on the mood!) and remember the past through pictures.

Today I continue to work on my scrapbook. I am hopeful to keep up better than I have. I have the space to do it here at home, I just need to make more time!

2009....another try!

So here I am again trying out the "blogging" thing. Of course, it's easy today because I am home on a day off from school. But I am going to try and be better about keeping this up. With encouragement of course! I enjoy updating Facebook daily and think Iwill enjoy blogging too once it's in my routine. So......here goes nothing, for a second time!