House Hunting....

Many of you probably already know that we have been house hunting since March. It seems like it has been forever and nothing has worked out. Recently we decided to broaden our search and include condos. So, this week we will be looking at a lot of condos and hopefully making some offers. We both had a small epiphany that maybe all this trying and not suceeding was the Lord's way of guiding us where He wanted us to be all along, sometimes we are just too stubborn to listen to what we are being told.

Hopefully soon I will be able to put up a post about our new house, but until then the search continues!

Back to School I Go....

So last night was the first night of school for me. I am very excited to start another year and also to know that this is my final year. I never thought the day would come when I would actually be finishing my degree. This will be year 10 of going to school and I am extremely excited that it is the last one (Well, at least the last one for my bachelor's degree). I will still have 1 more year to get my teaching credential, but that is a completely different program so I don't count it as time until I am done. :)

I decided that I wasn't going to stress myself out this year so I am only taking 3 classes this semester and most likely 3 next semester as well. One of my 3 classes this semester is an independent study class where I have to write a 30 page senior thesis. I have decided to do my paper on the impact of high-stakes testing in the math classroom and how instruction is affected. It is a bit overwhelming right now, but I am feeling better and better about it each step I take. I am also taking a pre requisite course for the credential program about Content Area Literacy in Secondary Education and a Senior Seminar class that incorporates Literature and Science. It looks like it might actually be a bit interesting. We will see, since I have that class tongiht.

Wish me luck! :)

My Sister Megen...

Today is my big sister Megen's birthday and so I thought I spend a moment sharing with everyone just how proud I am of my sister! She is a mother to 4 beautiful girls and a wife to an awesome man! I admire my sisters determination and her resolve to be the best mom and wife she can be. She spends long periods of time being a single mother while her husband is over seas defending our country. She has always been someone I can count on to be there for me when I need her. I am very fortunate to have 3 big sisters and 2 big brothers, but Megen is my big sister closest in age and that makes her even more special. At times she had to sit back and watch her littler sister be the athlete she wanted to be and she always did it with pride and love for me.

I hope that one day I am the mother and sister that she is!

I love you sis, Happy Birthday!!!!

Alive and Well

I just wanted to take a minute and post a little blurb to let everyone know that I am alive and well. I have just been so extremely busy since Jackie's sister and niece were out that I haven't had time to post anything for a while. There will be a little bit coming once I do have a chance to actually take some time at home and do it, but with being gone to North Dakota and getting back to start searching for a house to buy, it has been a bit hard to find time to post. Also keep in mind that I am getting ready to start my final year of school and have some pretty big classes I will be undertaking this semester... One that will require me to write a 30 pages argumentative research paper on any topic that relates to my degree. If any of you know me, that will be the hardest thing I have ever done, with no real guidelines I tend to overwhelm myself and can not seem to focus my thoughts. I have at least gotten to the point where I have decided I want to write my paper on "The Affects of High-Stakes Testing on classroom environments and teacher's instruction." :)

Family Visits

Let me just tell you how wonderful it is to have family come and visit!!!!

Friday night Jackie's sister Mary and her youngest daughter Karmen arrived for an 11 day visit. We were extremely excited to have them come out and share our town with us. They arrived late Friday night and Saturday morning was the start of a pretty busy schedule (at least so far). Saturday Karmen and Mia (our other niece) went to a Jonas Brothers concert and were so excited about it that they couldn't sleep the night before. When we all caught up on Sunday about their experiences, they did not have enough good things to say about it.

Then Sunday afternoon, Mia tells us that she was able to get an invite for her and Karmen to be casted audience members for their 3D movie that they were shooting on Monday. The only hang up was they needed a chaperon to take them and be with them all day (11am-9pm). I was the lucky one chosen to go with them and I do have to admit I was a bit excited myself. Living in California all my life, I can't say that I have had that many opportunities for something like this.

So... yesterday I picked the girls up and we headed the the Honda Center in Orange at 10am for a day with the Jonas Brothers. The girls were so excited they just kept giggling. Once we were inside, they were assigned to the yellow group (which ended up being a not so bad group, but the girls will tell you it was the worst group to be in). After approximately 2 hours of waiting in lines, we were brought into the arena and the girls again had to wait to be called down as audience for some of the scenes in the movie. At one point they thought for sure they were not going to be picked to go down and they were just about in tears. Needless to say, they were eventually taken down and they were so close to the stage that the boys actually touched their hands!!! :) Once we finished with the taping portion of the movie, we were fed and asked to wait for a while longer.....Then the girls were taken down with all the kids that came for the day to the floor to watch the concert that the Jonas Brothers were doing that night. Mia and Karmen were up close to the stage most of the night and had a ton of fun from what I can tell. Mia made a cute comment that her life was now 95% complete. !!!

Here are a couple pictures from what I could see from the concert, but it was not nearly as good as the girls view!

This is of the boys up on platforms above the entire crowd. You can barely make them out!

This one is of the oldest brother Kevin coming down the stage with his arm up in the air.

This is a picture of the youngest brother Nick on the big screen they have up.

I figured I should probably give a description of what the pictures were so that you could kind of try to figure it out. :)

I am not quite sure that yesterday could be topped for Karmen, but I am hoping that the rest of Mary and Karmen's time will be as wonderful as the time so far.