Happy Birthday Babe!

Tomorrow, my fiance will turn the big 32... we don't really have anything special planned... at least yet! We have talked about driving up to Boulder and checking out this mountain where our photographer took me during my bridal shoot but that is about it on the excitement scale!

This week we will celebrate Ian's birthday for most of the week... a brief trip to the valley at the end of the week... a movie with friends on Tuesday... dinner... oh and a honey-do list that I really want to be finished before our families get here next week for the wedding!

It is crazy to think that two years ago I posted a birthday blog for Ian that highlighted 30 reasons why I love him... and after reflecting on that post, I honestly couldn't say that there was anything that I missed when I originally sat down to make the list!!!

I love you and am thrilled beyond words that in just under 2 weeks you will be my HUSBAND!!!!

TWO!!!

Our wedding is a mere 2 weeks away... well now 13 days and something like 22 hours... but still... It is crazy to believe that we are only 2 weeks away from something that we have been planning since September! This past week I set out on the task of completing the bridesmaids and mother's bags... they were from the "Sew Easy" Projects and were pretty easy to make... My friend from work (one of the few friends I had at my previous job) allowed me to come over to her house for two afternoons and take over her kitchen table and sewing machine. Karin had no idea how scared I was of using the sewing machine... I hadn't used a sewing machine since before my grandma passed and using it now made me afraid I would cry! Karin was super patient with me and assisted me in making not 3 but 8 bags... and one of those 8 we made smaller for my youngest niece.

Once that project was complete, I set out to make wedding favors at home, and on my own... This was the majorly daunting part of the process... using my grandma's sewing machine, on my own... I locked myself in the basement for about 3 hours while I cut fabric, ironned it and then sewed it together. After 3 hours I had made all the bags that I could out of the fabric that I had. The hardest part was turning the tubes right side out... I went to a feed store and bought 50 pounds of millet, a small grain that is easier to manipulate than whole kernel corn. I also bought more fabric from the fabric store across the street. After another afternoon in the basement and a few hours the next day, I found out that a 50 pound bag of millet would fill 50 corn sacks... 20 tubes (all about 22" long by 2-3" wide) and 30 bags (various sizes ranging from 5-8" wide and 6-10" long). I now need more millet to finish the project. I am very proud to say that I only have like 25 bags left to fill and that should be a breeze now! (Now that I figured out that I could use my sewing machine to finish the seam that I left for filling rather than hand stitching each and every one!)

Other projects going on that are wedding related. We ordered the guys gifts this week and I am so excited to get them soon! I can't say what they are since there is a chance that one of the guys reads my blog (highly unlikely but you never know)- but I will say that since we have thrown tradition and seriousness to the wind with the wedding this gift will define whimsical and fun...

I also ordered the willow for our center pieces and the sand for our sand ceremony portion of the wedding. Those should arrive early this week! Centerpieces finished... YES INDEED!!!

The last project that we have to complete is assembling the bags for guests at the hotel. We ordered labels for water bottles, neat blue plastic gift bags, and stickers to put on candy last week. These should be at our house the end of the week! Once my nieces get here with my parents we will have them help us to remove labels and replace them with our custom labels, placing them in the bags along with various snacks (with wedding related stickers on them) and a cute label on the bag with ribbon. And we will have them help us to put cute instructions on the favors... I am so glad that we will have help with these projects!!!!

On other news, I am as calm as a cucumber... I know that I will more than likely cry during the ceremony and definitely during our vows... I can't even watch a silly wedding related show without tearing up during the vows! Ian is starting to get a very small case of the nerves in relation to the ceremony. Hopefully meeting with the minister this week to go over the ceremony and etc will help ease his mind! We also have a walk through with the caterer and venue this week as well to determine placement of tables and such.

Here's to a wonderful 2 weeks... filled with appointments, house projects, cleaning house and traveling!!!!

Random thoughts while driving...

So I drove to Tulsa and back to Denver roundtrip over the course of 9 days... that is 21-22 hours roundtrip in the car just to-from Denver/Tulsa. When I got near to Oklahoma, I started to see the wonderful orange cones, barricades, and poles, not to mention the orange detour signs, reduce speed ahead and roads closed... Kansas must think that since Oklahoma is doing so much road construction that they need to follow suite... yea Dear Kansas... just because Oklahoma is doing it, doesn't mean you need to as well...

While on the road I had some random thoughts... first of all, if our GPS has the option to avoid highways, tollways, traffic and main roads, why doesn't it have an option to avoid construction? But on the same random thought, it is probably a good thing that Sami, our GPS, doesn't have an option to avoid construction... she would have told me to turn off my car and go inside when I set the destination when leaving for Tulsa!

Another random thought... you know those little lines you see in groups at the sides of the road just beside the lines in the shoulder... ever wonder what they are for? Well I used to... and the memory came back to me while driving to Tulsa of these ridges being explained to me by one of my close friends in high school... the memory came back to me in the construction zones in Kansas where I was becoming peeved at construction knowing that I would encounter more when I hit the OK stateline... I remembered being in high school on the charter bus traveling somewhere with the band... Shane and I always sat together and I remember waking up one night on one of our trips hearing the "rrrrrr" sound as we approached the turnpike toll gate. I recall sleepily mumbling to Shane something about what made that sound and why. (Sleeping on the bus was a rarity and when I could grab an hour of sleep it really upset me to be woken up, especially by a sound that is so horrible!). Shane's explanation of the ridges and the sound still rings in my head when driving... he told me that night (not sure if he was thinking on his toes or if he knew the real reason) that the ridges are there to wake people up if they fall asleep while driving and drift over the lines...

Another of my random thoughts... if Oklahoma were to take all of the orange cones, barricades and poles that they have placed throughout the state and went around the state, we could totally have an orange border around the entire state with some orange cones left over!!!

More thoughts while driving through Kansas... sign that read, "If you die today, where will you spend ETERNITY?" My initial thought- "Hopefully not here... this would be HELL in my book!" Saw a sign that I had to take a double take after I read it... I swear it said DRUNKARD Brethern Church... it really said DUNKARD...

Driving in and around Tulsa is not fun... I left the movie theater at 71st and Lynn Lane headed back to my parents house in Skiatook... to get home I took 51/64 (the BA) to 244 to 75 to 20... my GPS wanted me to take 51/64 to 244 to 169 to 11 to 75 to 20... does anyone else have the urge to shout out "BINGO" or "You sank my battleship!" right about now? The highways being closed and/or rerouted made going to my dad's fire station quite a road trip! Instead of taking hwy 75 from Skiatook to the 244 curve and back to 75 S all the way there, I had to take 75 S to 244 W to the 244 E/ 51/64 E turn off, exit at downtown because I realized I should have taken the West bound option, drive through downtown until I came to the other 75 S on-ramp (the one m GPS sent me to was closed...) so that I could go a mile on it before being rerouted back to city streets to get back on the highway a little ways up... good grief!!!

Who knows when all the construction will end, but hopefully when I come home in August for the Tulsa reception I don't have to endure all the construction in Kansas AND in Oklahoma!!!

Livin' on Tulsa Time... Briefly...

Last week I finished school on Monday (June 6) and loaded up my car to head home to Tulsa early on the 7th. I had a phone interview scheduled with Jeffco Schools at 11:15 am, so I had to plan my trip wisely so I would have phone signal when my interview time arrived. I left my house just before 9 with the intention of being in Burlington, Co for the interview. I passed the time practicing what I was going to say in response to the questions that they had sent me and listening to my awesome new playlist on my ipod from Tracy. My interview came and I answered the way I had practiced, forgetting a few details that I really wanted to kick myself for forgetting and the interview ended... 20 minutes... no idea as to how it went... I called my mom and while talking to her (about 45 minutes later) I had a call come in that was a 303 area code so I took the call... only to realize that it was the area Sped Director calling me back offering me a job!!!! Uh yes I am interested I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for all to hear!!! So... I left Denver at 9 am (MST) without a job lined up and arrived in Tulsa at 7 pm (CST) with a job in place with Jeffco Schools!!!

The 7 days I was in Tulsa were a blur! I honestly feel like I didn't stop moving or sleep while I was home, but the trip was a success!!! I was home the 8-14th... during which time, I had a hair appointment, meeting with the seamstress to alter my dress for the Tulsa reception, a first "fitting" with the veil and Ian's mom, a final "fitting" with the veil and Ian's mom, two bridal showers, a dance recital, dancing with my little brother, a bbq, two hair run-throughs with my mom, dinner with Jason's family and a movie, shopping and time with my nieces!

The wedding details are coming along super smoothly! Regina Banks of Arjaybi's Stationary in OKC (and one of my good girlfriends) brought me the thank you notes and programs for the ceremony! They are amazing and beautiful and I couldn't ask for a better person to create our invitations, thank you's, programs, etc than Gina! She was super patient with me and shared ideas with us to make our stationary one of a kind!

The first bridal shower was hosted by the McMahon/Thomas families and Emily Renberg. I have always looked up at Carolyn (McMahon) Westervelt, Mary (Thomas) Trotter, and Martha (Thomas) Cobb as aunts and their children as my cousins... Emily has been like a cross between a second mother and an aunt... and Ms. McMahon, another grandmother figure in my life. These ladies are beyond amazing. The things they have done for me since I was born, I will always be indebted to them for their love and compassion, as well as role models for how to live throughout my life. We received some awesome gifts and I had a great time seeing these women that I have called family for the last 31 years.

The second shower was hosted by my "grandma" Glenda and my mom at the church where I was raised. This shower was mainly high school friends and co-workers. It was great to see so many of my Hornet girls!!! I had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. I will post pictures later as Tracy Smith took a few cute shots of her, me and Regina...

The week also brought McKenzie and Syrina's dance recital which I was beyond cloud number 9 to be able to attend! Both the girls looked AMAZING on stage and performed their routines without error! To think both of my girls are shy!!! Ana got to go with us to the recital to see Kenzie, which was fun for both girls!

Mom and I got our dresses ready for the wedding, took Kenzie's back to be re-altered and corrected the error with Syrina's dress. I am looking forward to seeing them all dressed up, and my daddy in his dress uniform for the fire department!

I also spent 2 different times with Sherry, Ian's mom figuring out how to place the veil in my hair! I am so excited about this veil!!! Not only will I be the 21st (that is unless there are other bride's whose pictures are missing from the album) bride to wear the veil since 1934, the veil is going to be a perfect fit for my dress!!! Words can't express how beautiful the veil is, or how honored I am to have been asked to wear the veil! I can't imagine NOT wearing the veil in the wedding!

I drove home on Wednesday just before Oklahoma and Kansas were hit by thunderstorms all day on Thursday! Thursday, my first day back in Co wasn't the most relaxing... it seems like it should have been... a mani/pedi in the morning... spray tan at noon... lunch with my bestie Ilene, drop off and pick up wedding dress from the dry cleaners, pick up jewelry for bridesmaids, pick up flowers for my practice bouquet and bridal portraits and finally relaxing time with Ian... Friday we got up before the sun (or at least before the sun in summer) and had Buddy at the clinic by 8 am for his surgery... came home, took a brief nap (thank goodness I did this!), started doing my hair, finished my hair with Ilene, had a 3 1/2 hour bridal portrait session in Boulder, drove back just in time to start our jewelry party at my house!!!

I can't wait for the wedding! 22 days until we say I DO!!! Until then, we need to order the willow, finish paying the caterer, schedule our final walk through of the venue with the caterer and event coordinator, write thank you notes, clean house, and pick up our flowers to make the decorations for the wedding!!! No stress here!!!

Engagement Pictures

We finally had our engagement pictures the last weekend of May before Memorial Day... the weather decided to cooperate and let us have some fun! We enjoyed our time with Eli, our photographer, and we LOVE the outcome of our shoot! Here are some of the shots... To see his blog and some of the shots he posted, click here

I wanted a shot on the bench... Not sure what I was going for but this is cute nonetheless!

The bridge... this shot looks great when viewed as a bigger shot... click on the picture to open it up larger...

We found a quiet place to sit and rest on campus. A cute Victorian house that is used for the Women's Study program...

I just love this backdrop... we look like we have been photoshopped into the backdrop!!!

So sweet... I love how we both are smiling and you can see our eyes!

I surprised him and he surprised me by flipping me over!!!

Me surprising him... before he flipped me...

My absolute FAVORITE picture from the session!!

These pictures were taken at University of Colorado Boulder campus...

46 days... and counting

Well fans... we are in the final days until THE WEDDING... 46 days to go... or rather 1 month, 14 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes and 50 seconds to be exact... but who's counting right?

In the next 46 days, I have 4 more days of teaching (I'm taking tomorrow off again), 1 day of moving my stuff home, 2 days of nothing but driving to/from Tulsa, 1 day of bridal portraits, 3 days with my nieces, 7 days in Tulsa, 2 bridal showers and a lot of last minute details!

I'm not getting nervous or scared. All we have left to do is put the ribbon on our programs when we get them, write thank you notes from the bridal showers, create our photo slideshow, set up our play lists for the ceremony and reception, order our flowers and other floral items for the center pieces and show up! Everything has been so coordinated that I honestly feel like we will be stress-free the week leading up to the wedding!! This would be awesome since my parents and nieces will arrive early in the week and the rest of his family will arrive the end of the week!

It is looking like we will have about 55 people attending the wedding. Which makes for a really intimate event, right up our alley! We wanted to have an event that wasn't so big that we felt like we were unable to see our guests. We are hoping for clear skies the night of the wedding so that the ceremony can take place outside on the deck overlooking the lake in view of the mountains!

We finally had our engagement photo shoot last weekend. I have only seen one picture but I know they will be awesome! If you would like to see the "teaser" shot you can go to http://www.elipowellphotography.com/theblog/ . Our photographer is a lot of fun. He is getting married the end of June so he is well aware of the stressors in our lives as well as what couples are looking for in their photos! I am looking forward to my bridal portrait session in June when I come back from Tulsa!!!

Other exciting news in my life... I got my engagement ring 2 weeks ago! It is SOOO beautiful!!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers- Ian is waiting to hear back from the company he had a second interview with last week and I will know something by Friday as to whether or not I am being offered a job with Denver Public Schools. I have applied to several other districts in the area, I would LOVE to be contacted by 2 that I can think of off hand!

Updates on Grandma Austin

So mom has been a frequent flier to the various doctors offices and their phone systems in the past two weeks...

Grandma had her appointment with the Oncologist that specializes in the wonderful world of women's reproductive systems. He confirmed that Grandma has a non-aggressive cancer that has attacked her womb and that it is likely late stage 1 early stage 2. His has already laid out several plans of attack- all without any treatments of chemo or radiation. All plans include a complete hysterectomy with the removal of 2 lymph nodes and a biopsy of 3 or 4 others to be safe. He wants to make sure that there aren't any cancer cells potentially lying dormant in her body to wake up later and make another come back.

Plan A: Complete hysterectomy by way of laser incision and robotic camera/arm. This plan would have grandma back up and on her feet within 72 hours... This is the best case scenario...

Plan B: Same as plan A but with the additional removal of the other lymph nodes which would mean a little more pain and a little longer procedure... but still up and about rather quickly.

Plan C: Worse Case Scenario- A traditional hysterectomy with the removal of the various lymph nodes... this is the worse case because the recovery time would be upwards of a month... this scenario would take place if once they get the robotic camera in and they realize that the previous radition not only left painful scar tissue but also adhered the organs together (bladder to the uterus, intestines to the uterus, etc).

The surgery has been scheduled for next Friday, May 27 in the morning... please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she prepares for the surgery and recovery. I am hoping for plan A... not to be selfish but I want my mom and dad to enjoy themselves in Colorado when I get married in July and if the surgery ends up being Plan C, my grandma might still be under their care when they come out... and trying to get home health set up is not an easy feat, especially with Medicare...

Remission No More...

If planning a wedding and being within 60 days of the big day isn't stressful enough for any bride... or the final 20 days of school with IEPs to finish, evaluations to complete, progress reports to update, folders to organize, rooms to pack/move/clean isn't stressful enough for any teacher... or looking for a job (for yourself or your significant other) isn't stressful enough for any unemployed person... or having a close friend or family member deploy (or redeploy) to the Middle East isn't stressful enough... we find out that my mom's mom (my Grandma Austin) is no longer in remission from cancer. What a wonderful time in my life right now! If I happen to spontaneously burst into tears, you will understand hopefully...

Grandma had been in remission from renal cancer since 2004. She was diagnosed in the Fall of 2002 with late stage 5 renal cancer, one the doctors didn't think she would fully recover even with radiation and chemo... by Spring of 2004 the Oncologists announced that she was in remission... and has stayed that way until this year...

My mom noticed that Grandma hadn't wanted to make her annual "cancer doctor" appointment in January and that she had been complaining about various ailments that were out of the ordinary for her. Mom FINALLY broke down and made the doctors appointment for her mom... only to find out that the doctor had some SERIOUS concerns and he wanted Grandma to complete a CT/PT scan, a visit with the "cancer doctor" and an appointment with the OB-GYN for more tests... all were scheduled last week for the next few weeks (one a week for 3 weeks).


Today was Grandma's CT/PT scan (not sure which she had) in the morning. By the time they were finished with the scan, the doctor's office was calling mom asking them to come into his office that afternoon. My dad met my mom and grandma at the doctor's office this afternoon to get the first round of news. The scan showed renal cysts (doctor isn't worried about these), some diverticulitis (not concerned either since it isn't inflammed), and uteran cysts (very concerned). Not to mention her blood pressure has been higher than the doctor would like and her blood work showed high CSA's (an indicator of the presence of cancer). Her OB appointment has been changed from 2 weeks from today to Friday- well woman appointment has turned into an appointment complete with a biopsy and other tests... Cancer doctor appointment is next Tuesday.

Please keep my mom and grandma in your thoughts and prayers as they re-embark upon this voyage again...

Redeployed

One of my best friends, Ed Johnson, is a member of the Oklahoma National Guard (as well as being an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper). He is a Staff Sergeant with the National Guard/Army and an amazing man!

Ed is getting ready to redeploy to Afghanistan for a year with his unit from Oklahoma. He has been participating in training since mid-February and creating a family out of his new unit. He is coming home for 3 days next week to see his family and have a grand shin-dig celebrating life and friendships! I am incredibly bummed that I will not be able to be home for this party!!!

Today, I asked my students in my "Severe Needs" program to write a letter/make a card/draw a picture for my friend and I told them about Ed. The kids all did a great job of writing notes, although most were "too mature" to draw a picture or add color to the pictures they were drawing...

Here is a card that was made by one of my 5th graders. He is a very straight-to-the-point kinda guy... very sincere, very straight laced...



I love you Ed and I know you will come home to us safely!

Progress... as Promised!

Over Spring Break I created a "Honey Do" list for us to use for our "free time"... We made daily trips to Home Depot for supplies and/or to return supplies. But... at the end of the week, we now have...

A functional dining room table - Ian took the base that we already had, cleaned it up with wood oil, leveled the top, stained a piece of wood, tacked it onto the base and put a large piece of glass over that!

A garden in the front yard- Ian put his new tiller attachment for the weed-eater to work and tilled the side border and the small "garden plot" in the front. We now have a much larger garden in the front yard. We are planning on planting some seeds and bulbs later this week. We had hoped to plant today, but the weather changed and started snowing, guess that was a good sign to NOT plant yet!

An awesome desk complete with file storage and shelves! We use the two two-drawer file cabinets as a base and bought a piece of laminated particle board which we had cut to match the depth of the file cabinets... then took the extra board cut so that we could make 2 shelves that run the length of the new desk.

A clean house- I spent most of the week cleaning house, doing laundry, putting clothes away and organizing. I spent a better part of the beautiful day yesterday in the basement moving my scrapbooking supplies from their tubs and boxes to the desk and shelves! Now we only need to move the bookshelves from their current resting place to a new spot in the basement... that will open up some floor space when we empty the boxes of books!

We only need to finish the painting projects in the kitchen (needs one wall primed and painted) as well as the one spot in the office above the door. Then install the backsplash in the kitchen and I will be a happy girl!!! We also plan on planting a garden in the backyard with flowers and food!!! With any luck we will have a beautiful house for the rehearsal dinner in July!!!

Pictures coming soon...

Big News!

Well this weekend and week have been busy for us! Over the weekend we got the BRILLIANT idea to have our rehearsal dinner at our house instead of at a restaurant. Why, you might ask, would we want to have everyone at OUR house just before our wedding????? Well, we are getting married in a remote location and there are only a few restaurants in the area that are nice, only problem is they all end up being too expensive or out of the way from the hotel. So... we thought we would just host the dinner at our house so we can show off our beautiful home as well as save money! This way everyone we love gets to see our house and what we have done with it and meet our children (Kodi and Buddy) as well as hang out in a comfortable setting. No worries about dress code, no worries about closing time, nothing, nada... We talked it over with Ian's parents and they seemed to like the idea, so now we need to get some catering quotes together and sent to his parents and this portion of the wedding will be complete! Ba-da-bing...

Other wedding related news. The Tulsa reception is coming together. I ordered the post-card invites on Saturday. My dad is getting too excitable about the plans, he has already arranged to have cakes made for the reception (he didn't like the idea of getting a cake from Sam's...) and wants to have food catered in. I don't know what has gotten into him, but alright! I got the cool customized cocktail napkins in the other day for the reception and book 2 (volume 3) of our photo books last week! I am working on making book 3 (volume 2- 2010) now so all I have left to do is our engagement book. I am planning on having the engagement book be our guest book so people can write whatever they want instead of signing on the line of a book that will never be looked at. We have decided on a caterer, we just need to call them back to confirm everything! We are still deciding what we want to do about flowers- order them from Costco and make our own bouquets/boutonnieres/corsages/centerpieces or have a florist do the bouquets, etc and us just make the centerpieces. My final dress fitting is this Thursday and then I will have my entire wardrobe together in one place minus the veil which Ian's mom will receive in May.

We have started working on details for two different bridal showers and I can only hope that Ian can go home with me in June so he can be apart of those (also so we can have a couples event too)... I am extremely excited about seeing everyone in June! We have received quite a few reply cards back in the last month and are up to 39 attendees I think. And of course, me being lil' Miss O.C.D. I have made a master copy of the guest list for all events... Ba-da-boom!

Since is it Spring Break and we are broke, we decided to spend the week together working on projects in the house. We have purchased the wood to put together a desk for me (using our pre-existing file cabinets as base support) so I can not only have my filing cabinets for organization but also organize and store my scrapbooking supplies in one spot! This will also free up a bookcase for books... and unload several more boxes! We set up our DVD shelves the other night and that made a huge dent in the room! Ian has also drawn up plans to fix our dining room table (stain the top piece of wood before adding the glass over it) and has that project going... with any luck we will have the table finished this week, my desk together and organized as well as our gardens started!

Gardens... yea... we are growing up... we bought a lawn mower and a tiller attachment for the weed-eater this week along with flower bulbs and seeds, soil conditioner and fencing... Ian worked like a crazy man yesterday raking all the "decorative" rocks from the border garden between the garage and sidewalk as well as in the bed beside the house... weather permitting we are going to till these areas, put up the border around them, mix in the soil conditioner and plant some flowers! I am super excited about this! We bought colorful decorative Indian corn, miniature pumpkins, miniature gourds, colorful cacti, along with an assortment of colorful flowers in the last two days!

I better run, I hear that it is time to start putting the shelves together for my desk! Pictures to follow sooner than later I hope!

Love and hugs!

March Fun

So far March has been a fun month! We have had one catering tasting, and two flower consults. We have one more caterer tasting this weekend... then to contact our original caterer to get a similar proposal to the other two and make our decision! The florists both said that they would email us the proposals within a week to ten days...

In other wedding news, we finished our invitations last weekend and have already gotten five response cards back!!!! So far only four people are going to attend... should lead to a fun night! :) I am sure we will get more cards this week from other family members... the wedding isn't for 125 days. I realized after we got our first response card back that I totally forgot to put the ribbon on the card to coordinate with the invitation! Oops! Guess I can always add the ribbon now right?

Yesterday we drove to Colorado Springs to spend the afternoon with Jen. It was good to see her after not having the chance to see her for almost a year! Sight seeing in Manitou Springs was fun, even with the horrible wine tasting that we attended...

In other news, Ian has had an in-person interview and a follow up with one company, hoping to hear back from them soon on whether or not he got the job... he has another in person interview tomorrow with another company... Keep the prayers coming that he is able to find a job. Lord knows he wants to find one!

I have also been hired by a home health company based in Denver. I need to contact the other speech therapists to shadow them before I get my first clients since it has been 7 years since I have dabbled in the medical side of my profession, mainly swallowing and some of the more cognitive therapies for post-CVA patients.

CSAP season is officially in full swing and once we are finished with CSAP, we will have SPRING BREAK!!! THEN... 100 days!!!

What a week!!!

What a week I have had! Monday, on my day off, we spent the day Spring Cleaning... vacuuming, shampooing carpets, moving furniture from one floor to the another... only to end up beaten, bruised and incredibly sore... BUT...

It all paid off... the house looks great AND the even bigger news...

MY BOOK arrived yesterday! I made a book, totally eleventh hour, on mypublisher.com that was filled with pictures of Ian and me from 2009 when we first started to date... the book took me about 4 hours to create from uploading pictures from multiple cds/computers/and places to downloading the 276 pictures and 61 page book to the website! I created the book on Feb 9 and received it Feb 23! Not bad at all!!!

http://bookshelf.mypublisher.com/?e=OHm3Q8zJl3TFCSldL124LXSEKhrSgo3r&s=fb

THEN... after a full day at school, I went to South Denver for the beginning of my training for home health services, got home at 7pm... to... a box in my mailbox... a box of what you might ask...

MY WEDDING STATIONARY!!!!!!! They are AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!!! Thanks so much to Regina Banks with Arjaybi's Stationary in Oklahoma City! (www.arjaybis.com )

Birthday Wishes and More@

Thank you family and friends! Words can not express how wonderful you have each made me feel today with each of your birthday wishes. When I feel like I am not as successful as I should be, or getting enough done at work or making progress like I could or should... I get 100 or more birthday wishes from close friends and old friends alike! I know that I truly AM blessed with such wonderful family and friends in my life!

Although I had a 12 hour day at work between teaching, professional development/staff meeting and induction class, I had a marvelous day with such sweet students! Although I have felt like I am not truly part of the family at my building, I had a lot of wonderful, heart-felt wishes for a happy birthday from my co-workers. I miss my Zebra family so much on days like today... I had messages from almost all of my former co-workers from Claremont. You mean the world to me, thank you.

To my Zebra family. Words can not describe how special you have made me feel, not just when I was a member of the Claremont family, but since I moved. You continue to make me feel like a TRUE Zebra. I miss you all and am so glad that I have such wonderful friends like you in my life!

Another update... I finished another of my goals that I had created last year... I finally created a book about me and Ian for 2009... AND I managed to save $45 in the process! I am hoping to have all of my pictures uploaded and on a cd/dvd from Ian's computer when the next special comes up from Mypublisher! I should get my book this week!

Also in terms of goals completed from the list of 101 things I wanted to complete in 1000 days... I am engaged, almost have my wedding planning finished... I will find the list of goals that I made last year (365 days ago) and will update them this week!

Happy Valentine's Day and mid-February to all of you and THANK YOU again for making me feel so loved and special!

Saying Good-bye is hard to do...

This month, I have had 3 friends have to say "good-bye" to very important people in their lives. Well I take that back, it is more than 3 friends, so I should say 3 families...

January started with a Hallelujah Moment for Gran I. The Reynolds/Blakemore families celebrated the rich and long life of Ida Pondarae Reynolds on January 3, 2011. Gran I was 99 years and 4 months old. She was an amazing woman and I feel blessed to have met her and to have had her in my life as a role model for 26 years. Her legacy will live on in her wonderful grandkids, great grandkids and GREAT GREAT grandkids who also had the joy of knowing her.

A week later, my friend from TU, Whitney Baab Bennett, along with her family said "good-bye for now" at a life celebration for her father. Whit's dad had battled cancer for a little over 2 years. That road was a long and arduous road for the entire Baab family. About the time that they thought that Bud was in remission another scan would state the opposite. Throughout the entire ordeal, the Baab family stood firm in their faith and knew that their father/husband/grandpa was in the hands of God.

This week, I saw on facebook that another of my close friends, Crystal Smith Lattimore, had lost her father. Having grown up at the Smith house throughout my childhood, I knew the pain that Crystal was feeling. Crystal and I were always super emotional and super close to our families. Like the Baab family dealing with cancer for 2 years, the Smith family has dealt with heart problems for the last 15 years or so. Through all the hospital visits and stays, Crystal and her wonderful mom, Lavetta, always stayed firm on their faith that Lonnie too would be taken care of by his Lord and Savior.

Although I haven't lost one of my parents, I think I have an idea how my friends are feeling right now. LOST... maybe not right now because they are unreeling from the adrenaline filled roller coaster of ups and downs and exhaustion from the last months of hospital stays, they will feel lost and alone sooner than later... I am impressed by the displays of faith that all the families mentioned above have shown through these times of trial.

I have had my faith renewed by the love and devotion shown by the families of the ones lost this month. I pray that they will continue to feel the calming presence of their loved ones when they hit bottom and start to grieve for their dad and grandma. I ask that my friends continue to pray for these families (Reynolds/Blakemore, Baab and Smith) for strength and comfort in the days and weeks to come.

Pining for the Good Ol' Days...

Who remembers the tv show "Cheers" where the opening song went something along the lines of "We all want to go where everyone knows your name..."

I pine for being in a place where everyone knows my name... and everyone worked together for a common cause, the common good of our students. I didn't realize what good thing I had at two of my former places of employment until the last 6 months. Let me start from the beginning...

Fort Worth... my first job after college. My first year was full of struggles, what person has an easy first year teaching right? I had teachers say that they didn't think that I was a professional because I was young... I was inexperienced... I was new to the state and/or district... I was the same age as their children, and Lord knows that their grown children are NOT professionals... but things worked out, I persevered. I made it a point to do my job and do the best I could at everything I did. I changed schools my second year for a position I was stoked to be offered! I was going to work at the Regional School for the Deaf in my district! I was going to put my love for working with children that are hearing impaired to use! Unbeknownst to me, my principal had other ideas for my future career... she made it a point to make my life a living HELL, literally. I moved back to my first school for my third and last year in Texas. I loved being back with my kids and with the staff that respected me and came to me for consultation, regardless of my "inexperience." I had an amazing support system in Ft. Worth... I could call any of the 70+ SLP's in our district for advice, had access to just about any standardized test or materials I could think of... had team members who wanted to help each other learn, grow and become better teachers. People who cared about each other and about the future of our kids... who worked together to come up with interventions to help our kids... who actually listened to other professionals when they asked for advice and suggestions.

After my grandma passed away, I decided I needed to be closer to my family. I was missing too much of my nieces lives. I got a job in Claremore. A SMALL town in comparison to Tulsa or Fort Worth! The district superintendent knew each of the teachers that worked for him and he personally signed each contract, not a stamp used by a secretary! The staff at my school was (and still is) AMAZING! The Zebra family was just that... a FAMILY. Everyone supported the other and truly were friends and professionals. I am still friends with most of the staff that I worked with in Claremore. Our building oozed professionalism, friendship, loyalty, and unity. We were ALL Zebras, from preschool to 4th grade. We all lived by the same code of conduct... from how we walked in the halls to behavior in the cafeteria.

Then I moved to Colorado... I am still searching for a home where I feel like I am part of the professional community as well as part of the family. Last year in the Aspen Valley I was trusted about as far as my students could throw me professionally speaking. My every recommendation was questioned and doubted by teachers, parents and my supervisors. Leaving the valley was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life... which brings us to the present day...

When I was hired for my current job I was excited! I had a principal who was young and enthusiastic about her job and teaching. The district was going about teaching students in a new way... rather than focusing on grades they were looking at what level the kids are working at and filling those gaps and moving the kids up through various academic levels. The downside to this plan is that the classroom teacher is still responsible for teaching grade level materials and state standards as well as the various level learning targets, which may or may not be on grade level. As an SLP, I have a broad scope and sequence for what I can teach. I can work on oral language, articulation, fluency, voice, reading comprehension, phonological awareness, oral comprehension and writing. When I say writing, I am referring to the parts of writing such as the grammar, semantics, and structure, NOT the formation of handwriting... I wish I could say that I am as stoked about this position as I was 4 months ago... I am becoming frustrated by the politics and lack of support, or at least the feeling of no-support from all levels.

When will I find my dream job? The one that I feel like I am accepted and am one of the family? The one where the other professionals support each other and trust the other? A job where I am able to do what I am trained to do and do best? Where I can support the various grade level teachers for literacy development? Where I can actually collaborate in the classroom and have teachers truly WANT me in their classroom for assistance???

Why can't I be a ZEBRA in Colorado with the material/assessment support from Fort Worth???

Our "lil man" Buddy

In October we adopted our son, Buddy. Kodi needed a playmate when my parents left with Zoe so we went on a search to find a friend for her... after deciding to save our money and keep looking we went to a bridal show and on the way home stopped at the pet store in the local mall. Little did we know we would leave with our son... Buddy was then a 5 month old Yorkie trapped in a little cage all by himself while all the other puppies were being looked at because they were between 8-10 weeks old... Here are some of our first few days with our growing family...

Introducing Buddy to Kodi... She wasn't too sure of him and vice versa!

Sisterly love... Kodi giving Buddy some puppy kisses to show that she loved her new brother!

His toy was almost as big as him!

Sleepy time... our dogs love to snuggle up together!!! Even the first night we brought him home!

He even likes to snuggle with momma... although at the point of this picture he was almost sitting on my head!

Our little Mini-Benji!!!

Reflections...

It is the new year and the perfect time to reflect on life and how things went in the last year and what we want in the upcoming year... so... here I go...

I am a very caring person who trusts instinctively and who tries to do whatever I can for other people... since Ian and I started dating and more recently got engaged, it has become more obvious to me that some of my "friends" are not as good for me as they seem... I have "friends" that say that they are happy for us and are supportive of our relationship, but don't show it... We have some friends who are so in "shock" that we are getting married that it shows in remarks made on social networking sites. These are the people that I don't need in my life. I need people that are going to be supportive of me and my future. Supportive of the choices that I am making in my life and who actually care enough about me and our friendship to return calls and texts, who actually send an email just to see how things are going, not send mass emails as their way of "keeping in touch."

I know that I have plenty of friends that are supportive and encouraging of the choices that I am making and who truly want to be part of my life. For those that have not shown their best sides in the last 2 years, I am sorry that it has come to this, but I don't need people who pretend to be supportive of me and when I need you the most for support (be it during times of crisis or happiness) you are MIA or otherwise too busy to show your support. I need friends surrounding me that when they say they are excited about something they show it by actually returning calls/texts/emails, who actually want to take the time to see me when I am home, even for a quick trip... I need friends who aren't so wrapped up in their lives to remember to think of others.

For those of you who are those friends to me, thank you for your love, support and encouragement. I know that there are people out there that are not supportive of mine and Ian's upcoming marriage for various reasons, but we are getting married and we are happy about our upcoming union, so basically deal.

These are reflections from Tracey Barnes... soon to be Stiller

2010... oh what a year... 2011... I welcome you!

What a year 2010 was! I finished my first year teaching in Colorado and changed jobs as a solution to my stressful and unhappy situation. I moved myself and Ian across the state for a new job that I was incredibly excited about... Ian and I got engaged on a very spur of the moment moment! We started planning our wedding and have had a lot of success with planning our wedding...

There has been a lot of heartache and worry in 2010... my extended family (the Blakemore/Reynolds family) endured more pain, heartache and stress than one family should have to in a lifetime and somehow still managed to end the year with a smile on their faces and celebrations of the life of a very special woman who went on to heaven on Dec. 30, 2010.

Yes, our dear and precious Grandma Ida went on to heaven to be with her Lord and Savior after 99 years on this earth. I am heartbroken, as I never thought of life without her, but I am happy that she is no longer suffering and in pain and that she is in God's hands now. I am saddened that she passed away on the day that Ian and I left to drive back to Colorado after an extended stay in Tulsa.

2011 promises to be an amazing year... We are finishing our wedding plans and will be married on my late Grandma Alan's birthday... discussions are already taking place on when we want to go on our honeymoon and where... not to mention when we want to start a family... our growing family with Kodi and Buddy... potentially a new car for me (I need something that we can put the dogs in when we travel)... and making life changes for the positive...

Pray for us as we continue to grow and make plans for our wedding... and as Ian attempts to stop smoking and drinking any alcohol... (I am thinking that I should not ask him to make me drinks now...) and for making new friends and realizing, although painful as it is, that not all of my friends are good for me.

Welcome 2011... I look forward to eventually posting pictures and updates on my goals of 101 things to do in 1001 days...

Updates Coming...

Hey gang! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Westminster and have pictures to show for it! Just the pictures haven't been uploaded yet... I flew home Monday night and spent 60 hours in Tulsa with the family before flying back to Colorado for the rest of the weekend with the boy and dogs!

Tulsa time was fast and furious! Mom and I did a little Christmas shopping, a little wedding stuff (setting up the tuxes) and a little cooking... had lunch with Davie and some more shopping with the girls! Kenzie and I made the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and we all watched a movie before going to bed. Kenzie being the "Aunt's Girl" that she is, kept me up until almost 11:00 talking about school, dance, soccer, life, love, the meaning of life, seeing Ian again at Christmas, her birthday and everything else under the sun! Finally she fell asleep and I was able to get comfortable and fall asleep myself before being woke up at 5 am by mom! While in Tulsa, the weather was balmy and warm... to the point of wanting to ditch the long sleeve shirt and wearing only my tank top while out running around! Arriving back in Denver I found temps in the single digits...

Ian was amazing as he prepared the turkey, I made the pumpkin pie, then we together cleaned house and made the rest of our first dinner together (last year we had dinner with cousins and they cooked...).

Pictures will be posted soon of our turkey and dinner...