Way Overdue

Well, we are way over due on some updates!

Biggest news: Carlie has survived her first work sample! It was rough...but I don't want to think about it anymore. It's done. Enough said. 

We had a great Thanksgiving break. We drove down to EP with our good/"old" friend Misty and had 3.5hrs of

 catching up on the way down there and 3.5hrs of more catching up on the drive back. It was great!

We ate 3 different thanksgiving dinners. One at my nana's, one at my dad's and another one with Dan's family. Our stomachs were pretty stretched, but it was good good food! 

We also did some quality Black Friday shopping with Miranda. Coupons lulled us in, and we bought a new wonderfully warm and cozy quilt for our bed. Now we are looking for the perfect duvet....

The best part of our weekend back in EP was playing with our niece and nephew...they are sooo 

adorable! They are just too much fun! But Dan says, not enough fun to convince us to move to that next step in our lives quite yet :) Maybe soon.... ;)

Moving on.....now, that I'll probably be banished from blogging ever again if Dan ever sees that I'm discussing this online.... jk!! HAHA!

Here are some pics from our weekend!

Here is Eddie hamming it up for the camera. We were trying to get him to smile earlier and he wouldn't, then out of the blue he looks at me, smiles and says cheeese. Too cute!

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skool rulz :)

Well, Tuesday is my last day as a Middle School Science Teacher. I've absolutely loved being in middle school for a little over a month. Yesterday, I finished up my last day on my Human Body Systems unit with the 7th grade science class. It was so much fun! I have had such a great experience at my school, with my supervising teacher and my 1st period students...they are such great kids. I am actually really sad that I'm leaving!! I'm lucky that I've had a good experience. Honestly, now I am considering being a middle school teacher rather than a high school teacher. Although middle schoolers can be frustrating because they really don't understand the whole responsibility issue and you constantly have to keep them in line...but they have such great personalities and there is so much opportunity to make an impact in their lives! I would like to get into content material a little bit more though...I've learned that they really aren't ready for too much of the details yet. They are also so funny and awkward...it makes me smile.

ALSO - I am excited to say that I ACTUALLY taught my students...they showed HUGE learning growth on my pre and post tests, which I am excited about. I had quite a few A's...but there were definitely just as many F's. Some kids....well, it's just difficult. There are so many struggling kids in schools right now, especially at this age. This experience has really strengthened my desire to be a teacher even more, so I can take the time to help those kids as well as stimulate the bored kids in class. It's a challenge, but it's worth it to try and reach each student.

Anyways, I just wanted to share my excitement as I am learning to be a teacher. I really do love it and I'm so happy that I've made the decision to be a science teacher. Best $20,000 purchase EVER!! :)

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October

Dan is busy applying to colleges, watching CNN (he can debate you about any and everything that has to do with the election...it's kinda scary), bickering with the government...and of course he's doing lots and lots of painting as well. Dan has been really great about taking care of everything that I don't have time to do...like all the awful tasks that I don't enjoy doing even if I did have time...like the dishes, cleaning house, etc. He also makes us dinner frequently...He's so kind! I don't know what I'd do without him!?! 

Currently, I am just getting into my practicum experience in the middle school. So far, it's really great. I enjoy being in the school helping students so much more than sitting in classes at Willamette. While it was great to get back to school and taking classes, I am anxious to be on the other end of things and be the one teaching the students. I've learned SO MUCH about teaching and the education system, and I'm still learning everyday. Starting Nov 4th (ELECTION DAY!) I will be teaching a 10 day unit on the Human Body Systems. It's really fun! 

So that is sorta what we've been up to... Hopefully, I'll get some more time and update more frequently.

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Hiking @ Silver Falls

Quite a bit ago now, we went hiking at Silver Falls with Dan's parents to celebrate our birthday weekends. It was really fun to get out and exercise and take pictures of the waterfalls. 

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Salem life

Well, we've been quite boring here in Salem the past few weeks. I'm completely consumed by the MAT program and talking about teaching, and whenever I'm not doing MAT stuff I am pretty much being as lazy as humanly possible, until I have to get back to doing MAT stuff. Dan is...well doing Dan things. Mostly painting, thinking of amazing things, yelling at McCain on CNN and enjoying his freetime. 

We've also been playing with our new camera. We got a Sony A350 and we love it! Pretty much, we decided to splurge on a new digital SLR camera because we didn't get to go to Europe and travel as we had planned. We are still hoping to travel, but we're unsure of when it will happen. So a new nifty camera is going to hold us over until then...hopefully! Plus, we've found a variety of good 'reasons' why we 'need' one :)

Here is a pretty cool effect we just discovered. Pretty creepy huh? We have like 10 other 'haunting' photos. FUN!

At the end of August I went to the temple with Nana for the first time. The Medford temple is SOOO TINY! 

Below are pictures from the Oregon Coast a few weekends ago.

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Finally Home

Here are some pictures from our week in Southern Oregon. We had plenty of time to rejuvenate from our long roadtrip, we stayed with Dan's parents and played with our nephew and niece (who we met for the 1st time!) and spent time with Carlie's family (mostly being goofy with Cheyenne...as you can tell from the pics below). We also were able to celebrate Carlie's dad's 50th birthday and took some family pictures. We are so glad to be closer to our family!

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Moving to Oregon

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We made it!

WOW! It has been a busy few weeks. There are so many details to our life to update our friends and family...but I think it's just too much for a blog entry. Hopefully, we will have some time to go into some of the details of our road trip and time visiting family and friends in Southern Oregon. Once I find my USB cord for my camera (it is hidden in who knows which box at our storage unit), I will be able to elaborate more on what we've been doing with pictures.

For now, we are safe in Salem. We are staying with Ellen, a great friend and old roommate from the yellow house, and trying to figure out our new life in Salem. Dan is of course currently taking a nap! :)

Today, we found a fantastic new apartment in SE Salem and we cannot wait to move in!

School starts on Monday for me...somehow I've got to move-in to our apartment, read a book and write a 2-3pg essay before then. Oh, how I missed college life!

We miss our Florida friends...and of course our other family and friends across the country that we haven't gotten to see. Let us know how your summer is wrapping up!

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