Nicki's Baby Shower

My good friend Nicki is having a baby in a few weeks and today I threw her a baby shower. It was a lot of fun! I love the friends I have made living here, everyone is so helpful! There was so much food and I only made one dish! Nicki got a lot of really cute things for her baby girl and we all got a chance to sit and chat! I copied a lot of peoples creative ideas for this shower. Another friend of mine recently had a shower and wrote a cute poem in her invites asking people to bring a book instead of a card to attach to their gift which was such a good idea, Nicki left with at least 25 books to start her baby book library. I also copied my aunt Amanda by making a CD of lullabies and other soft music to give away as favors, they seemed to be a big hit too! Joanna came to visit me last weekend and helped me make a diaper cake that turned out super cute! I had such a great day and enjoyed hosting this party! Congratulations Nicki and John, we are all excited for your new addition!

Shawn and Paula Visit Oregon

My brother Shawn and his family came to visit us this week! It was so much fun! Although it felt a lot like I was on vacation because my sister in law Paula made dinner every night and Shawn built a step on our back porch! I had a great week but I think they had a good week too! We spent 8 hours at OMSI, we toured the submarine, played with the fun science stuff, toured the Davinci exhibit where Shawn read EVERY word of each sign :o), we watched an OMNImax movie, and we ate at a gluten free restaurant. We also visited Aunt Rachel and Jack.We went to Cannon Beach the next day. It was raining when we left but sunny when we got there so we all bought new sun glasses at the outlet malls and then we went to eat at Mo's! They have the best clam chowder!After Lunch we walked the beach and the kids found a lot of shells. They found a few sand dollars that we cracked on the bottom and 3 that were not cracked at all! That doesn't usually happen so it was a very fun and lucky day on the beach! We ran around on the beach for a while and saw some pretty neat stuff, star fish and anemones and other cool tide pool wildlife! what a cool thing to see! The kids had a blast!The next day Aaron took Andrew to the driving range and the ladies (Heather, Paula and I) got pedicures (Gracie got an at home pedicure) I am so glad they were able to come and visit! It was so nice to see them! I am hoping they come out every year! I love spending time with family!

Shamrock Run

About 20 people from my school signed up for Portland's Shamrock Run about a month ago. There are many different events, 3 mile walk, 5K, 8K, & 15K, so we were a little scattered. There were 18000 participants and it was CRAZY! I was so excited last night but got worried when I looked at the weather forecast. Only in Oregon would 18000 people get up at the crack of dawn and run in heavy rain in 40 degree weather. I woke up at 5:30am Aaron slept til 6:15. We got to the max station at 7:15 am and it took almost 45 minuted to wait in line to get our boarding ticket. By the time we got down there our "race" was starting in 2 minutes, we were about a block away from the line to get in at our "pacing" and then the guy says "walkers go!" so we just turned around and started walking! I am glad because it put us at the beginning of the line and the line stretched ALL THE WAY AROUND THE RIVER. If you have ever walked the Esplanade in Portland you know! By the time we finished there were still people just crossing the first bridge! My co-workers 10 year old daughter walked with us so she set a pretty brisk pace. My legs started to get sore from walking so I jogged quite a bit. I think next year I will do the 5K it is the same distance but you have to run/jog most of the way! At the end of the race they give you free clam chowder and beer. We tried the chowder, it was kinda cold, I guess that happens when you try to feed 18000 people in the windy rain! I didn't take any pics but I will just tell you that our clothes were so wet we were carrying extra weight, all of our pants were creeping down due to that weight! It was very funny, wet and cold. Then we came home and changed into some dry clothes and went out to breakfast with half of our group! Then I took a nap (I was tired)! I am so excited to wear my shirt to school tomorrow! Yay!

Stress!

WOW!! February has been a stressful month! Actually I have been stressed out since October! This economy has been a nagging fear and stressor since the beginning of the school year. I have joked with my coworkers calling the economic situation a big fiery asteroid that is headed toward earth, that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I have noticed a difference in my students behavior due to the stress that their parents must be feeling! Lately that stress has gotten much worse, more than a few of my students have told me that their fathers have "left", not specifying where or why, even more students have told me that one of their parents have been laid off, and the state has cut the amount of money they were giving the school district twice since December. Our district has already cut more than $18 million and then this month we were told they were going to cut even more! The Governor basically told the states teachers that it was our responsibility to work for free for at least a week (in some districts more) to make sure that days weren't going to get cut off the end of the year. Those "free" days would have cost me more than half a paycheck. It looked like we were going to have to lose that much money whether we worked those days or not! I was beginning to strategieze about how we would pay our bills if that was the case. Today we got some tentative good news...It looks like the state legislature is planning on passing a bill that will give the schools more money this year to avoid cutting school days... so it looks like I will get a normal pay check for the rest of this year! Whooooo hoooooo! (but we are waiting for the legislature to pass the bill) Next year the district has to operate with a 25% lower budget than this year so we are still looking at more cuts over the summer but because I have been in the district for four years I think I am safe from those cuts! I am hopeful that the economic situation will improve but I know it will take time. I will keep my fingers crossed! I really appreciated Obama's address to congress. "We are not a nation of quiters" Now is a time to look out for your friends and neighbors and try to help them emotionally through this tough economic time! A coworker and I have started a wellness challenge at the school to encourage our staff to take better care of themselves in these rough times! It is fun to listen to people encourage each other to do something for their mental health or their social emotional health! I am starting to ramble a little, I thought getting this all out might make me feel better! Thanks for listening!

Valentines Day!

"This one goes out to the one I love" In the spirit of being more economical Aaron and I decided not to go out to a fancy Valentines Day dinner. My birthday was last weekend and we did a fancy dinner then. We couldn't really decide what we wanted to do, but it came to us when we were at the grocery store. We rarely go to grocery store together so it must have been a perfect storm (brainstorming that is). We make such a great pair! We were getting the things on our list and we decided that we could make a nice breakfast together, we thought it sounded romantical enough for the holiday! It turned out great! So here is our Valentines Day breakfast: Asparagus and mushroom omelets and mimosas with fruit cups! It was such a fun and "fancy" breakfast, who needs to go out for dinner? Happy Valentines Day!

It's not so bad to be like your mom...

My mom spent a week on the Oregon Coast with her sewing friends and I went to pick her up last weekend so we could spend some time together. The weather on the day I picked her up was fantastic, it was about 65 degrees with almost no wind AND the sun was shining, these are things that don't usually happen at the same time here in Oregon so we felt pretty lucky. We went for a walk on the beach and then just sat out on the patio soaking in the sun and talking. She came to my house and we spent a day running errands and walking along the river in down town Portland. It was so nice to see her and hang out with her, she always makes me laugh! Spending time with my mom makes me think about how people always say the hope they are not like their mothers but then they end up like them anyway. I used to say that a lot when I was younger, but now I am thinking it is not that bad. Actually, in many ways I am glad I am like my mom. She is funny, outgoing, kookie and crafty! I've got some of my moms crazy traits too, I worry about the most random things, even when there is nothing to worry about I will find something, and sometimes we don't really know what we are talking about! We even have the same laugh (you should hear it when Keri joins in, it's a little scary) I am not all like my mom, I got some things from my dad too, but I didn't give my dad as hard of time in my teenage years as I did my mom. I guess I just wanted to thank my mom for being who she is, and not being afraid to! I hope I am as good of a mom as mine is and I hope my kids are nicer to me than I was to her in my teenage years!

Thanks for being such a good mom, mom!

WHITE Christmas 2008!

Well, after the "Great Storm of 2008" Aaron and I were worried about getting out of the airport to get to Idaho to see my family for the holidays! We only packed carry-on luggage and were so glad we did, the airport was a mess! The line to reschedule cancelled flights wrapped around the whole terminal! We kept our fingers crossed all the way up to the time we boarded the plane. We made it out! My parents and brother Troy picked us up from the airport in Salt Lake, we stopped to see my sister-in-law, Natalie, and some of my super cute nieces and nephews before we hit the road back to Pocatello! Once we made it to Pocatello, I had lunch (at BUDDY'S) with my old friend from college, Trish, and her beautiful girls!

We were laughing that maybe we had brought the snow with us from Oregon because Pocatello had a blizzard warning on Christmas Eve, and must have gotten at least 20 inches while we were there! This is what the snow at my parents house looked like!

Ginger, my parents dog was not liking the snow so much, but she sure liked sitting on my lap!

My mom and I made a ginger bread house that Natalie gave us on Christmas Eve!

I think we did a pretty good job!

On Christmas day we woke up and opened presents and then decided we should go Cross Country Skiing! Especially since we got 12 more inches of snow that night! So we drove down to the Riverside Golf Course and tried to ski. It was so deep that it wasn't the most fun, it felt more like we were snow shoeing with long skinny snow shoes! But we did it! It was Aaron's first time skiing (of any kind)!

Since the skiing at the golf course was not so hot, we went back to my parents house and skied around their complex... my mom decided that she wanted to ski down the steep hill and Aaron and I thought we'd rather not, but after she was gone a while we worried that she fell. We followed her tracks to find that she skied all around the Condos not only down but up the hill as well! We found a lot of deep snow as we trudged through it to find her! My mom is a trooper! She must be related to the energizer bunny!

That was Aaron doing somersaults!

Once we dug our way back to my parents house we sat in the hot tub and then got ready to eat dinner with Troy, his wife Dawn, and her mom Jean!
The next day we woke up and went down hill skiing at Pebble Creek! Aaron has wanted to go skiing for a few years, and every year I day eeehhhh.... maybe next year! So this was the year. Aaron had a private lesson and the rest of us spent the day on the bunny hill (the aspen run)! It was fun, I think it has been more than 12 years since I have been skiing!

Aaron did an awesome job! He only fell 3 times, and that is saying something! We are looking forward to skiing again sometime!

After our fun day of skiing we went home, showered, and drove back to Salt Lake so we could catch our flight the next day! We got the chance to visit with my brothers' (Mike and Shawn)families before we took off! It was so fun to see the kids and amazing how much they have all grown! It is a little sad that we live so far away and we can't see them more often, but fun to see them never the less! ANYWAY! It was a whirlwind trip, but we were so glad to make it! It is always fun to spend time with family and try new things!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!