Halloween Love

So I am officially the world's worst blogger. It has been TWO weeks since I last posted and so many wedding-related things have happened in that time. Last weekend was my bridal shower and quite possibly the most fun weekend I have had in years. I got to spend three days straight with Morgan and celebrate my approaching nuptials with thirty of my favorite women. Just today Christopher and I ordered the save the date cards (even though we still have some minor changes to make). He designed them himself... with a lot of guidance from me. I say that only to alert people to the fact that if he were designing on his own terms, they would never have been pink. :-)

Today is Halloween and Christopher is finally feeling a little bit like himself again. He was really ill all week and I worried that I had somehow brought the swine flu home from work and transferred it to him. (I, luckily, have been vaccinated). All his friends were dressing up for the holiday and he told them that he would not be joining in the festivities. He was really excited when I told him that I had made a Super Mario costume a few years ago with my friend Rick and never got the chance to wear it. He got all dressed up in one of my Maryland t-shirts, overalls, a wig, painter's cap (complete with an "M" I fashioned out of cardstock scraps), white gloves, and a super sweet mustache. Robin and I dressed up as well and went out for dinner. I pulled out my Snow White costume from a few years back (the last time I did Locks for Love) and Robin wore her Peter Pan costume from school yesterday. :-) Here are some shots from the night...

My Mario.

In action in the front yard.

Loving that 'stache.

Peter Pan minus her Tink Barbie.

Dinner.

I wonder about us sometimes...

With Dolores from the Golden Girls.

Nothing screams Halloween like an old lady and a video game hero.

Love From Afar

My bridal shower is a week from today. Gifts have been arriving in the mail from my wonderful and loving friends who were invited but unable to attend. This one I never expected.

Yes, it is a registry item. I fell in love with this set of dishes from Pottery Barn called "Emma." They are very "Kristi" as many people have told me. When I got home from work yesterday (field trip was canceled because of weather), I found a box from PB sitting inside the door. (Christopher knows better than to open anything). I thought to myself, "this must be from one of my aunts." Then I saw the shipping label note:

For always being so sweet to me. I am so happy you are getting married. I love you! Love, Rosie.

A SUGAR BOWL for being SWEET. How adorable. Rosie is my old roommate Stephanye's dog. I could not believe that Stephanye got online, looked at the registry, and ordered me something a month after moving to ISRAEL. She is such a good friend and both Christopher and I miss her so much. The house just isn't the same without her, Regev, and Rosie.

A wonderful surprise from a generally wonderful person (and puppy!). Thank you, Steph. Both Christopher and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and it means so much coming from you...

Save the dates are being ordered tomorrow. Woohoo! Christopher designed them and INSISTS they be printed professionally (oh, the woes of marrying a graphic designer). And I am counting down until next Saturday when all the ladies I love will be in one place. :-)

Man, I Love Kindergarten...

Man, that is one FINE looking five-year-old. How many apples do YOU have up on top?

Friday is our field trip to Carter's Mountain Orchard. I have a funny feeling that Miss Minsterman will have one too many apples up on top! :-)

CONGRATS JENNY!!

Earlier I posted that our pastry chef, Jenny Peterson, was voted the top personal trainer by the residents of Charlottesville. I was working off my 2008 data at the time. Hot off the press, the 2009 Best of C'ville Awards list Jenny AGAIN as Charlottesville's number one trainer. Congrats, Jenny! Hope you don't work off ALL that key lime cake!!

Presents and Cakes

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen - our very first wedding gift, courtesy of my Aunt Nancy.

Probably not the best photo of the actual SERVING WARE, but I had to capture the packaging for my dad. Although we always joke that Daddy is a "cardboard box salesman" - he really works for a transportation packaging company that specializes in corrugated materials. This box had more corrugated pieces than I have ever seen in my life. It was so well packaged that a nuclear bomb couldn't have damaged it.

ANYHOW - the gift itself was three pieces of serving ware from our Pottery Barn registry. It is all SO beautiful and I was so excited as I started to tear open the package. My Aunt Nancy was overly generous to purchase us THREE pieces, but let's face it - I'm not complaining. After years of using unbreakable Corelle (well, unbreakable by all except my mother - long story), I'm terrified to actually use "grown up" dishes. I'm sure I will soon get over that fear as I begin to load my dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets onto this beautiful dish.

This week we finalized a baker for the wedding cake. We chose a woman named Jenny Peterson who owns the company Paradox Pastry. "Paradox" comes from the fact that Jenny is not only a pastry chef, but also the top-rated personal trainer in Charlottesville. We knew immediately when we pulled up to the house that Jenny would be a great fit. There was West Virginia University stuff EVERYWHERE. She had a huge WVU sign hanging on her door, one on her car, and she was sporting a sweatshirt as well. Oh boy, I thought, Daddy would love her. Later we found out that she was also cousins with my aunt's best friends. The world is a very small place.

Jenny will be constructing some type of key lime cake for us. I'm really excited to see what she comes up with for the actual cake and filling. It will be a monstrous three-tiered creation that will serve around 175 people. The design is very "Kristi" as well as the key-lime flavor (key lime pie is my favorite dessert). I wanted a springy, light, citrusy tasting cake for our April wedding. Plus, I'm not really a chocolate and raspberry filling kind of girl. Jenny is an extremely talented artist - you can check out some of her fabulous work at her website: www.paradoxpastry.com. Here are a few of my FAVORITES...

We won't be using fondant, but come on. GORGEOUS simplicity.

Little too rugged for my taste, but perfect for a southern, country wedding.

Told you she was an ARTIST. That bunny is handcrafted and edible.
(I would never eat something that darn cute)

This is Ashlawn. COME ON, SERIOUSLY!?!?
I would totally gobble this up - I don't care if it's a president's house or not!

Speaking of our April wedding, yesterday marked the SIX MONTH countdown to the big day. WOOHOO! I am super excited and honestly, the day can not come soon enough. My bridal shower is TWO weeks from today and it will be so great to see all my friends and family. We will be having a full weekend celebration in Virginia! Hooray! I'm even trying to take a personal day the Friday before so that I can go pick Morgan up at the airport in DC on Friday morning and spend all day hanging out with her and catching up. And let me tell you, boy do I need a day off work!!! Kindergarten is hard! This week I pulled a muscle in my back and have been in excrutiating pain for days. But, as I've said before, teaching 18 little kids makes me want to wait longer to have our own. (I think that secretly makes Christopher VERY happy!) :-)

Mamas and Registries

Friday afternoon, my mama came to visit me! She stayed the entire weekend and we got SO SO much wedding stuff done. (Well, it at least felt that way!) It was so exciting to take a full two days away from work and focus solely on the wedding.

Mama came to see my classroom on Friday and meet my kids. They were in awe that 1. I had a mother, 2. She was there, live, in person, 3. She does not live with me, and 4. Her name is Mrs. Minsterman (in five-year-old language that is exactly the same as Miss Minsterman). She read them my FAVORITE book from when I was their age -- But No Elephants. Unfortunately, recess got a little behind and she didn't have time to read it to all of them, but they were super excited to see her nonetheless. One even off erred to let her ride on his motorcycle (we don't have an obsession at ALL).

Friday night involved chilling out on the couch, eating pasta and watching NCIS. My all-time favorite past time with my mother. Hehe. Saturday, both Christopher and I overslept until ONE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON. Whoops! So I quickly got ready and mama and I shipped off to Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Even though the wedding is still months away, the bridal shower is in a mere three weeks. HOW EXCITING! The girls and I decided that October would be a good time for a shower because it breaks up a very long engagement. Plus, we have a lot of people traveling from Pittsburgh and no one wants to do that in February. I have taken off from work Friday so I can go pick Morgan up at the airport and hang at Julie's with her all day while they set up for the party. Lots of people are coming in on Saturday for food, drinks, and cake. I love cake. I can not wait to see all my friends and family!!

Back to Bed Bath and Beyond. Christopher and I aren't really big on "registering" for gifts. We have both lived on our own for so long that we have everything we really need. But then I realized that it wouldn't hurt to have a set of matching sheets that actually FIT the beds we own -not some hodgepodge set from college. So off we went in search of "marriage materials." I had a lot of fun with the scanner and it was great to have my mom here to help me figure out some things that I will probably need in the future. It's very exciting.

After a long day of shooting the scanner gun (seriously, I need to be able to register at J.Crew - that would be AWESOME), we ran a few more errands and then headed home for dinner. Joey and Suzie came over and we had Pizza Bella (yum!) and talked about some wedding details. I really wish Suz could be a bridesmaid, but for those of you who don't know, she is due to have her first baby about 3 weeks before the wedding so I figure she may have more important things on her mind around early April. :-) We also got to watch a DVD of mama and daddy's wedding! Mama finally got it taken from 8 mm and put onto DVD. Unfortunately everyone's heads are chopped off (either a loopy uncle with the camera or something went wrong with the conversion). It was still SO fun to watch my grandparents dancing.. It makes me sad to think that they aren't alive to see me get married, but I know they're keeping an eye on us. :)

Today we had an appointment with a great pastry chef who will most likely be making our wedding cake. More on that another day when I don't have a week's worth of school planning to do!! :) Great weekend, thanks MAMA!

Karma and Mystery Mail

So wouldn't you know, two days after I write a post about wedding shoes - I have a kid take off both his shoes and throw them at my head. Yes, that is correct. A five-year-old. He threw a chair and as I was approaching to discipline the chair throwing, two little shoes came hurling toward me. Just goes to show you never know what you'll get in kindergarten.

Last week we had another shoe-related incident. One of my little girls decided to untie her shoes at rest time. She put her legs straight up in the air at a 90 degree angle, took all four shoelace ends and placed them in her mouth. She then proceeded to play them like a guitar singing loudly (in an otherwise calm, quiet, serene environment) like a banjo. Awesome.

Today we received a surprise package in the mail! ("We" being, of course, my classroom. Poor Christopher isn't my "we" anymore...) My future sister-in-law decided to "adopt" our class and each month will send us a book. The kids were THRILLED to get mail and we spent a good five minutes trying to guess what was in the flat cardboard package. First guess - motorcycle. Then a correction - "no, no - a BLACK motorcycle." Next guess, "your hair looks like my mom's." Needless to say, In the Small Small Pond was not provided as an option. We all LOVED it and it was a fantastic surprise! THANK YOU KATHY, Matt, Maddie and Molly! :-)

I got a super fun piece of mail at home today - MY BRIDAL SHOWER INVITE. I am totally jazzed. I'll have to scan it in and post it in the next few days (sans details of course), but it is too beautiful not to show off. HOORAY! Something non-school-related to look forward to! I'm so glad the girls decided not to wait until February!!

Back to work! :)

Rain and Websites

I've been looking for wedding shoes and came across these on Nordstrom.com today. I think they are the perfect alternative in case it rains April 9th. I have found that safety is a number one concern in wet weather and you can always rely on Sperry to keep you from biting it and making a fool out of yourself. And they are green. And pink. And madras. And they are SPERRY. Come on - I totally need them. If not for the wedding, than definitely for the after party.

So I finally have the wedding website up and running. I'll be adding to it as we get closer to the big day, but at least we have accommodations and a few other details listed. I am sad that my crazy work schedule has left little time for wedding planning. I had so much fun doing things over the summer and it has all come to a sudden halt. Balance is a difficult thing in life... ANYHOW - here's the website address. Enjoy!

www.weddingwire.com/chrisandkristi

It's a Beautiful Day for a Wedding

Today, Christopher and I are headed down south to Nelson County to attend his good friend Becca's wedding. It is an outdoor affair and the bride must be the happiest woman in the world because the weather is GORGEOUS. I can only pray and dream and hope that seven months from now when we get married, God gives us a day like today.

It's been a super hard week for me at work. Last night I came home at 7:30 and went to bed. Christopher got back from work around 11:30 and I got up, ate dinner (cereal), and back to bed. I'm finally starting to really get to know my kids which is amazing. Two told me yesterday that they didn't want to go home, they wanted to stay at school all night (and they come from good homes!) Those comments make my day a little brighter, especially because so many nights are filled with tears of frustration. Teaching is a very lonely job.

But today - it's off to a wedding! Who knows what I'll wear (my gown perhaps?) but I know we'll have a great time. :)

Backseat Blogger

My very first student-created gift.
A super sweet pencil holder. :-) I like how my name wouldn't fit around the barrel!

Like all the other things in my life, blogging has taken a backseat to work. I have been working 12-14 hour days and trying to teach five-year-olds how to sneeze into their elbows so I don't get sick. It was another hectic week - one fabulous day followed by one in which I wanted to quit, back to one great day, and then we bottom out again. It truly is a roller coaster.

Yesterday I was very frustrated when I left work. I have never before in my life felt like an ineffective teacher and I couldn't get even get five words out without all crap breaking loose. I called my dad and he told me that I need to focus on the accomplishments the kids have made - no matter how teeny tiny they are. I have a little boy from Burma who just got out of a refugee camp less than 2 months ago. He speaks zero English and I can not imagine how foreign American schools must feel to him. We use a lot of sign language in the room because of language barriers and I have one child who is deaf. Yesterday my little refugee signed bathroom and said, clear as day, "bathroom." I almost starting sobbing. It's funny - you never think you'll get emotional when someone says bathroom. The kid probably thought I was a freak - jumping up and down screaming, YES! BATHROOM! BATHROOM!!! Uh...lady - can I just pee already? Today he said yellow. :-D This is the type of success I see in my room and I need to remember these kids aren't Ivy League college students - they are five-year-olds.

Some funny moments from this week. One of my happy Hispanic children, K, decided to answer the question, "What is the month?" with "Michael Jackson dead." Z. woke up from nap today and told me I looked like a monkey. Q. told me that she had a hard time listening yesterday because she was tired. "My daddy made me stay up all night watching television and I just wanted to go to sleep. Why my daddy be trickin me???" Her mother told me she is in bed each night by 8:00 and her father works the evening shift. My favorite part of today was when O., another Hispanic student, pointed to my stomach and said, "I like the baby in your belly." She was sorely disappointed when I informed her I was, in fact, NOT pregnant - just fat. We had one girl take her belt off in P.E. yesterday and swing it around her head like a lasso. I wrote the parents asking them to send in one SMALL blanket or towel for rest time and all of a sudden our room has turned into the freaking Hampton Inn. We've got pillows, huge fleece blankets, rest mats, stuffed creatures... I shipped them all back home today. Some of those kids looked like they were going to topple over because their backpacks were so full. Lesson to be learned: don't bring sleeping gear that weighs more than you do.

It has been a week since my girls left for Israel. Both Christopher and I miss them so much it's ridiculous. Half of our four-"person/being" family is gone and it's lonely here. Christopher wouldn't turn the fan on for me last night because it reminds him of Rosie (she used to sit in front of the fan in our room when she got anxious). He is very concerned that she may not have a fan in Israel.

The house is extra lonely because Christopher and I do not get to see each other. I leave for work by 7:30 every morning and when I get home I can barely shower and pack my lunch before I crash. He doesn't get home until 11ish and by that point I'm waaaaay past being ready for bed. But since I never see him I try to stay awake and then I end up exhausted the next morning. Bleck. This work stuff is for the birds!

My apologies for the lack of "wedding" substance on my "wedding blog" but nothing has happened in the past few weeks. Well, besides AK calling and reminding me for the 80th time to send in a particular contract. Bleck. Oh well - one thing at a time!!!

Completed classroom library. :-)

176 Days to Go...

My first week of teaching is officially over. It has been the most difficult and exhausting week. I have an extremely challenging class - both behaviorally and academically. But I keep reminding myself, they are MY class. I have been waiting years to get here.

Over half of my class is English as a Second Language. Some children speak no English at all. Some children are deaf and non-verbal. My kids and their families speak Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, Kwai Kwai, Karen, and many others. We also use frequent sign language to help communicate needs. This has all been a challenge for me because I know very little sign, but I am learning.

Thankfully, a good majority of my ESL students do speak Spanish. I can speak moderate Spanish and at least get the main ideas across. Instead of "I love you" these kids get "Te amo." One little girl today said, "Te amo MUCHO" and stretched her arms out wide. They are very sweet and it's very funny to hear them attempt to say Miss Minsterman. Unfortuntely because of the ESL population I have to send all notes home in both English and Spanish (those families who speak other languages must fend for themselves!) This means all my newsletters, reminders, etc. need to be done 2-3 days in advance to allow time for translation.

This week has been filled with laughter, joy, frustration, and exhaustion. And although most of the children in my school suffer from poverty and many do not get enough food at home, they are amazing, resilient kids who love to come to school. This week my goal was to hug each one as they got off the bus, tell them I love them and I'm glad they are here and to hug each one as they leave and tell them I love them and I'll see them soon. This didn't happen on the first day of school and I was devestated. Now that we're into more of a routine the kids are getting the hang of it. 8:10 am and 3:00 pm are my favorite times of the day. I am so happy to see them arrive in the morning and very happy to see them off in the afternoon! I think Christopher and I will hold off on kids for awhile after we get married!!

My favorite moments from the week: one little girl with pigtails that jumps up and down and says, "I come back tomorrow. I come to school! I come to school tomorrow!!!" This is the same child who, during our fire drill discussion this morning, raised her hands and told me she and her mama had seen fireworks too! Oh the language barrier. When asked what we do if the fire alarm sounds (stay together, mouths closed, ears open, eyes on the teacher), one munchkin said, "Keep your shoes on." Solid advice right there. Solid. One little man lost his very first tooth today after school. He carried an envelope around with him all day just in case and it started bleeding at dismissal. His mother emailed me an hour later and said that it had fallen out. What a big week! Another little guy with special needs spent Tuesday morning in the hallway screaming, "I want Miss Minsterman's choo choo train!" Later that day, we found him eating crumbs off the floor in Spanish. He was getting very antsy so I took him into the hallway for a walk. I asked him how he could make better choices and he responded, "When your birthday? I throw you a spiderman birthday party." Sweeeeeet.

I'm sure this year will be filled with stories galore! Hooray! Oh, and pray that I find an abundance of patience.

Room Update

Today was Open House and we had a really great time. Janet and I finished our classroom (well, finished it enough for now) FIVE MINUTES before Open House started. I had just enough time to run to the restroom before kiddies starting filing into my room. We had 16/22 show up - which is a spectacular turnout. Thank goodness the Spanish translator was there because I needed a lot of help with parents. My favorite part of the day was when one little munchkin bopped in, hugged me, and said "I come back tomorrow. I get on bus. Come to school. I come back to school tomorrow!!" I could have just died. I love her... We've got a challenging crew but it'll be a great year. :-)

A few pictures and then I HAVE to get some work finished and get to bed SEMI-early since tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!

Morning meeting area

Manipulatives, ABC center and tables

Guided reading table, library and Ms. Danforth's desk

Writing center :-)

Listening center

Plus Five Overnight

This week has been exhausting. I have been in my classroom every night until 10:00 pm. I was there all day today, and I'm going to need to be there all day tomorrow. It's starting to come together but there is so much extra furniture and "stuff" that it's taking forever. I know that everyone says it doesn't have to be perfect the first day, but honestly I'm not going for perfection. I'm simply hoping my kids can walk across the floor without tripping.

As of Thursday night I had 17 kids in my class. Friday morning I found that had gone to 22. That is a lot of kindergartners. Those of you who have taught in the primary grades understand that 22 five-year-olds are very different than 22 eight-year-olds or ten-year-olds. Everything is new, they have to be taught how to line up, how to use the restroom, how to hang their backpacks, etc. It is definitely a journey. A good majority of my class does not speak English as a first language and I have three special needs students. I'm excited to be able to help a really diverse population, but if I'm this tired now, can you imagine how I'm going to feel this time next week?!?!?

Monday is open house and school begins on Tuesday. I'll be sure to take some more pictures soon of the classroom as we slowly find the floor. Wedding planning has come to a sudden and immediate HALT as I am completely absorbed with work. I suppose that's why God gave me AK and Julie. :-)

Thanks to Suzie, Christopher and Stephanye who have all pitched in and helped me scour, organize and move a classroom full of materials. (The oldest thing we have found so far was published in 1962... Sweet).

How Sweet It Is...

Finally -recognition on the web.

It's sad when you don't TRULY believe you have a job until you see your name posted on the City Schools website. Too bad that e-mail address isn't functioning yet. Oh well - ONE THING AT A TIME! Off to professional development for the day and then back into my classroom for the rest of the night.

Happy first day back to my girl Suzie Q who is a middle school Spanish teacher. :-)

Hello Mr. Recycling Man

Seriously?!?! I attempt to clean out the closet and pennies come flying off the shelves?!?! Where are the hundred dollar bills when you need them??

The closet. Can't even BEGIN to think of how I'll get through this.

This will be a short post since it is 9:20 at night and I just got home a few minutes ago. Today I met the faculty at my new school and got to work with my assistant for a little bit. I'm still slaving away and although I don't think it looks much better, everyone else says I'm getting there.

Room as of 9:00 pm Monday night.

I did have some success today. We went through two tall bookshelves and a few shelves in the teacher's closet and recycled 99% of what we found. The "litmus" test was - if it was made before I was born, PITCH IT. Let me tell you - most of it was.

Bookcase #1 - empty, Cloroxed, moved and ready to roll.

Bookcase #2 - most of the stuff on here went to recycling. So therapeutic.

This is going bye-bye. Along with 2 of those filing cabinets. The stuff that WAS on here is now on my floor. Oops!

Semi-success. Got a few shelves done. I'm hoping to only use these and the few behind my desk for my things so the rest of the room belongs to the kids.

I'm staring to get really excited to start school. I need some furniture removed from the room and can't even BEGIN to think about curriculum yet, but I got my class list today -- hooray! It's bound to change but right now I can only pronounce 1 name. Oh boy....

Adventures in Sewing

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions and activities. New teacher orientation was really nice - I met a lot of transfer teachers from other areas (new friends!) and started to get a little settled in my new job. Thursday night I was in my classroom until 9:15 pm and Friday I went over for about three hours before Bubby came to see me. :-) It is still VERY overwhelming; I have brought a ton of stuff home with me to sift through and recycle and some curriculum resources to peruse as I start to plan out the first few days of school.

Because my room has zero natural light, I have been working really hard to make it a happy, colorful place for my new kindergartners. I must admit, I am very jealous of my friends in the county with nice furniture and resources - but you know what? We'll make do, it just may take a little longer. I'm merging the safari theme idea with stick figure kids to get lots of primary colors and happiness to my brick walls.

One thing I have wanted to do for awhile is learn how to sew. I wanted to make pillows for the reading corner that coordinated with the theme and gave the kids somewhere soft to go. As mentioned in an earlier post, I went and got lots of fabric and mama brought down her sewing machine for me to use. I had no clue what I was doing and had to read the manual step by step to learn how to thread the darn thing.

I ended up making two pillows last week before I even knew I had a job. I must say, I am extremely proud of myself - I even put zippers in so I can take the covers off and wash away the kindergarten boogers! The zippers were really hard but I got them in nonetheless!

Safari pillow.

Zipper skills.

Yesterday I went and bought some more fabric - 2 yards - that matched my patchwork safari fabric but is white. The only window in my room looks into the special education hallway and I've determined would be MUCH too distracting for my little ones. I wanted to make a curtain that would still let in a little bit of light - hence the white fabric.

Pinning a hem - go me.

It definitely is not a professional job, but I have to say that I am SO proud of myself. If only sewing was one large mathematical program it would have been simple, but I am not what you would call "domestic." Hip hip hooray! More photos to come once everything is up in my room. This week we're all working in our classrooms so hopefully a little order will come to room 10.

Empty or Overflowing? Your Choice.

My classroom - sort of...

Today was my first day of work for the city. We had a long day of orientation (benefits, network accounts, etc.) and also got to go on a bus tour of the city to see where our kids live. I have probably the highest poverty school in the district and it is super diverse. At least 20% of the children are English as a second language learners!

After district happenings, a nice woman I met at orientation and I went over to school so I could see my room. She is now a fourth grade teacher at the school but has volunteered and worked as an assistant (I believe) for many years. She'll be a great resource (and we have the same name!) My school is old - it was the first school in the city to purposely be desegregated. I don't have fancy furniture or materials. But I do have a lot of STUFF. The teacher who had my room before had worked for TWENTY-SEVEN years in kindergarten. Isn't that amazing?!?! The patience required is incredible.

The empty portion of the room... windowless with some old furniture!

Holy cow, Batman! There are at least five bookshelves that look like this. YIKES!

But, after twenty-seven years you tend to accumulate a lot of materials. Anything purchased with school money belongs to the school and was left behind. Along with twelve filing cabinet drawers full of papers. To say the least - I was TOTALLY overwhelmed. Half of the room was empty and the other half packed with furniture stacked on top of furniture. The main furniture already has a home, but I want to move some things around to better suit my personality and teaching style. It will be a challenge. I have no clue how I am going to have this room ready for a bunch of kindergartners in less than two weeks. Lots of nights I suppose! I am thankful I have so many materials, but I have no idea what is where. I just sat and stared... And then I came home to be with Christopher. :-) He has to work tomorrow so I can labor on my room then!

I got fingerprinted today and the man was rolling my left ring finger and said, "WHOA! Congratulations! Wooowee, ma'am, he must have worked a lot of overtime to buy something that pretty." I love strangers. :-D

More orientation tomorrow - benefits (hooray) and blah blah blah. We also have district orientation next week too so very little time for classroom work! I have procured Steph's help for the long haul. Hehe.

BUBBY COMES TO VISIT FRIDAY NIGHT!!

EMPLOYED!!

Break out the 5-year-old-kid cake!
It's kindergarten time!

Hip hip hooray! I am finally employed! I got the call at 5:15 this evening that I am Charlottesville City's newest kindergarten teacher. I am SO excited, but also exhausted. The stress of the entire summer has fallen upon me and when the weight was finally lifted I just felt TIRED. I did drive down to Christopher's restaurant to tell him in person though. :-)

New teacher orientation starts on Wednesday so I officially have ONE day of summer left (in which I'll probably have to go to HR and fill out forms). I can't believe God decided to wait this long! But I got a job that I am hopefully going to LOVE in a school where I am really needed.

Thank you to everyone who prayed so hard for me to find the perfect teaching position. This has been many years in the making and I cannot wait to get started. HOORAY!! :-D

Holy Guest List Batman!

Current Head Count: 204

This is the not-so-fun part of the wedding planning process... Creating the guest list. Yes, I am super organized. Yes, I am trying to get everyone the information that they need and get information I need from them. Is this an easy task? NO.

Even with Facebook and e-mail it's difficult to find the addresses of those whom you wish to invite. It's even more difficult when you don't know the people and have to pry "formal names" and hotel preferences out of those helping you.

The worst part? Having to cut people because there's no room. Actually making a decision that someone can't come to your special day because the church only seats 185 is a horrible horrible decision to make. I knew this wedding would be large (my mother is Irish Catholic), but the fact that I can't invite a lot of my friends is difficult. Plus, collaboration with several different people has proven extremely difficult.

It will get done. I will get everything I need. And until then I will just try to keep making it easy for everyone else involved. :-)

Bridesmaids Gifts - Check

In the midst of all the job searching and pail making, I found the cutest gifts for my bridesmaids. I know this is probably something the bride shouldn't do until the week before the wedding, but I just could NOT pass this up.

Yes, I may have purchased one for myself as well. I COULDN'T HELP IT - I NEEDED IT.

Therefore, thank you in advance to AK, Morgan, Lindsey, Joey, and Robin. I have gotten you all a little something to thank you for the hard work I am forcing upon you during the next 8 months. Now you have a little incentive to work EXTRA hard. :-) You'll get a reward at the rehearsal dinner - he he. I think Christopher is making me more impulsive. Seriously, I am SO on the ball with this wedding!! Planning makes perfect!!

Wow, I'm a dork.