Busily Back at School

"Back to School" night seems like it should be "Still at School" night. I like my job, that's not it...I just never left, so I'm not returning. The thing that has returned though is the busy, busy schedule. Last week I had something going on every single night of the week. And the weekend. I always like having a busy schedule in high school. The difference now is that I don't get done with school at 3:30 and have the rest of the night to have fun playing sports and doing theater. I really do miss those things. Soccer is still happening on Friday nights, but it seems like I'm too busy to even fit that in. My responsibilities are not burdensome and I am not complaining, I'm just making note of the fact that there is a HUGE difference between the summer months and the school year as far as commitments go.

Tonight we celebrated Erin's birthday...I love that girl. I think it's so special to have had a friend since birth that is still around and the friendship is still maintained. We've seen each other grow and know each other a little differently than anyone else could know either one of us. She is very special to me and so here is a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I LOVE YOU to Erin...

Homeward Bound or Home Bound?

My thoughts and emotions about home buying vary frequently between excitement, frustration, determination, and relinquishment. Any time we get close to buying a home, something changes that causes us to reconsider the property and look elsewhere or otherwise. Sometime it seems we take a step forward and sometimes it seems we take a step backward. I really just want it to be over with. Maybe we should just continue to rent until we really make up our minds. The back and forth really frustrates me though. When we first got married, the goal was to have our own property within a year. That year has come and gone. The housing goal still feels far in the distance even though it looks like it's right our fingertips. 

Other goals of ours have come to full fruition though. Goal 2 - Ashleigh finish classes to teach preschool. Accomplished. Goal 3 - Adam work his way into officiating basketball for a second income. Accomplished. Goal 4- Adam get accepted to and start MBA program. Accomplished.

My most desired goal, however, looks like it needs to be delayed until Goal 1 of owning a house and Goal 5 of Adam finishing grad school are realized. Boo-hoo.

At least I have things to keep me occupied while Adam is busy with his MBA...like fulfilling my calling, going to Ducks games, watching football at Mom's, reading, NOT going to the gym because they are raising my payments AGAIN and so I'm cancelling, trying new holiday recipes, maybe going to institute, among other things.

In the meantime, we have dinner tonight at the Fitzgerald's and I'm totally excited about that...plus I baked a cake...nice!

Oh, and since I didn't blog in July, here is a photo-recap:

A Lasting Impression...

Extra-curricular excitement has been low, I guess. I've been playing a sport the last two Fridays and got bruises both times. Last night, however, the impact was a little harder and left somewhat of an impression on me. Literally. Can you guess what sport I was playing?

This was taken over 2 hours after the fact. Still looks like this the next day!

Needless to say, I blocked the shot - no goal. This is the best exercise for me because I really don't like the gym. Anytime I can get together with people and play something like soccer, volleyball, softball, ultimate frisbee, basketball, tennis, or likewise, I get excited. Maybe I should start setting things up with friends mid-week. Like Tennis Tuesdays or something. At least I'd get more exercise!

I Wish It Were...

I wish this is what I was doing right now...relaxing on a Santa Barbara beach, not worrying about anything except for whether or not Zoe is going to play in the water and sit in my lap again.

Two Weeks Teaching!

The last of my required ECE classes and my first two weeks as a preschool teacher have been completed. So far, so great! I really like the staff I'm working with and I especially like the Lead Teacher I'm working with. Not to mention the kids are awesome! To top off the end of my first two weeks, I had an experience that to some is just cute, but to me expresses why I knew I would love teaching:

A little girl in my class was in the reading corner where there is a mirror. She ran up to me saying, "Ms. Ashleigh, I think my eyes are cracking." 

"What do you mean?" I say.

"My eyes look like they're cracking."

"They look fine to me. Why do you think they're cracking?"

"Look!" she says, closing her eyes.

I see the veins in her eye lids networking across her eyes and realize she thinks they look like cracks.

"Oh! I see, those are veins!"

"What are veins?"

And I got to enthusiastically explain what veins are for and how we have them all over our body. She was so eager to learn something she had discovered on her own and excitedly checked out the rest of her body for veins and told others about their veins. 

Obviously, the new job is going great! Now the hard part is getting a new living arrangement in place! We have been looking to buy and prices are still dropping. Pray for us that we can make it happen!!