Summer Update!

Soooooo…It’s has been WAY to long since I have posted on here! Life got a little crazy! Let me try to fill you all in on what has been happening in my life since March!

April was a VERY exciting month! As most of you know, Steve proposed to me on April 5th and of course I said yes! ☺ If you want to read more about that story, check out my note on facebook! It’s a pretty cute story if I do say so myself! The rest of April was filled with starting the wedding planning and getting all those little initial things taken care of! My mom flew down for a visit the last weekend of April! Me and Becky and my mom then set out on a whirlwind of a weekend wedding dress shopping! We managed to pick out bridesmaids dresses, find my mom’s dress, AND I found my dress all in 1 day! Shopping has always been one of me and my mom’s greatest talents! ;)

May was another crazy month filled will all kinds of fun things! The drama club that Becky and I led put on the musical Aladdin Jr. It turned in to quite the production! We had sets, and costumes, and props, and choreography, and let’s just say we were in a little over or heads! BUT…the kids did WONDERFUL! It turned out great, and everyone seemed to enjoy! I must say though that I will not be taking that on next year! The day after the performance of the musical, I flew home for a quick weekend in MN to watch my little brother graduate! It was a quick weekend, but a very fun one! I got to see lots of friends and relatives at his open house so it was good to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in quite a while!

June brought the ending of my first school year as a teacher! I felt very accomplished to say the least! As I reflect back on the school year, and I realize what a great year it was! I LOVED my class! They were the perfect group of kids to have for a first class, and I can honestly say that I will miss each and every one of them next year! I made them all promise that they would come back and visit! On June 11th, Steve and I flew to MN for about 6 days! While we were there we got lots of wedding planning done, and enjoyed relaxing and golfing with my family! It was wonderful to be home for longer then just a weekend, and to have Steve come with me made it even better! After our time in MN came to an end, we flew to MI for 6 days. I got to meet Steve’s family and some of his friends! It was so nice to meet them, and spend some time with all of them! We had a great time in MI too, but then it was back to AZ, and back to work for Steve! Krystal and Kim surprised me with a visit at the end of June! It was so much fun! I am so glad they came and I was able to show them around a little bit! They also helped me get the wedding invitations done, and I am very grateful for that! ☺

Now we’ve reached July! Let’s see….July has brought with it a few ups, and a few downs. Steve and I got the keys to our first house which was a very exciting day!! It is the most perfect wonderful house! We absolutely love it! The kitchen is gorgeous, and the rest of the house is just as nice! It has 4 bedroom and 2 bath, so it is bigger then what we need, but we got quite the deal on it, so I guess we’ll just live with all the extra space! Steve was scheduled to move in August 1st, and I am moving in in October after the wedding. We did run into a little speed bump with the house though. Last Saturday, July 9, Steve and I went to the house and found smoke and flames. We called 911, and the fire department came, and took care of everything. They told us we were very fortunate as the house was so well built that they fire actually put itself out because it could not get enough oxygen. The firemen are still a little unsure of how the fire started, but they think it was the thermostat. They said with the high temperatures down here that really anything is possible of starting on fire if it gets hot enough. The extent of the damage is as follows: We will need new carpet in most of the house, the dry wall around the thermostat will needs to be replaced, and the whole house from ceiling to floor needs to be cleaned as there is ash EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING. It is absolutely disgusting. We had brand new couches delivered 2 days before the fire started, and they are ruined because of the ash. Luckily for us, the insurance company has been awesome, and everything is covered, and will be taken care. So basically, the fire just set us back like a month, and Steve will now move in September 1st. We feel so very fortunate though that the whole house did not just go up in flames, and that neither of us were there at the time of the fire!

So that is the last 4 months in a nutshell! I am now preparing for school to start back up again! Spalding training starts back up on Monday, July 18, and goes for 2 weeks. Then one week of school training, and then the kiddos come on August 8th! Crazy how fast the summer has gone! It has been a good one though! God has definitely shown his faithfulness to me time and time again!

Hope that I didn’t bore you all too badly! Love to all!
Ashley

Where has 2011 gone?

As I sit here writing this, I can not believe that it is already March 5th. Where has 2011 gone? I feel like I just started back up at work again after Christmas break, and now it is already time for spring conferences! Crazy!

Life has been good though! Nothing to out of the ordinary happening! Still loving my job, and realizing more and more how much I am going to miss my class next year! I know I will get a great new group of kids next year, but I just really really love my class this year! They are the most perfect first class you could ever ask for! :)

We went on our field trip to the Tucson Zoo last week, and it was a ton of fun! It was a beautiful sunny day, and the kids loved seeing all the animals! My class and Becky's shared a bus for the hour and 15 minute trek, and it was hilariously fun! We taught the kids how to do the semi honk, so we spent the entire trip trying to get semis to honk! It was adorable! Every time we would get one to honk, the whole bus would go NUTS with cheering! So cute!

Drama club is well...still drama club! It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun! We are starting to prepare for the musical Aladdin that we will be performing in May! The kids are doing a great job so far, and I think it is going to turn out really well! Only time will tell though! Hopefully Becky and I will not have to do as much as the set work this time!

Life outside of work is really good! The weather has warmed up, and I am enjoying the beautiful sunshine! I got to lay outside by the pool today for a few hours and it was glorious! It feels a little bit like every weekend is summer vacation, and I love that! Steve and I are good! Having lots of fun as usual, and enjoying one another more and more each day! Our schedules right now are really compatible so that is nice because we get to spend a lot of time together! :)

So as you can see, things are pretty good right now! Me and Becky both received Teacher of the Month at our school for March, so that was exciting! We are known as the MN Twins at our school, so they thought it fitting that we win together! :) So work is good, drama club is good, and my life outside of school is good! Overall, I am loving AZ, and I am loving teaching! :)

Thanks for all the prayers and support! Miss you all and love to everyone!

Calm, Cool, and Collected

So it is now January, and I have not written in awhile! Where does the time go!

Our 100th day of school is this Friday! WAHOO! Everyone keeps talking about how the kids have made it 100 days, but I am considering it an accomplishment that I have survived my first 100 days of teaching! :) The kids are pretty pumped about it, and so am I!!

Teaching feels a lot more natural now than it did at the beginning! I feel like I am in the swing of things and like my kids are actually learning something! :) I don't go in so incredibly early every morning anymore, and I am actually able to leave at a decent time in the afternoon! To put it in to simpler terms, I actually have a life now!:)

The weather is 70 and sunny usually every day, and while you might think that it would get old...it doesn't! :) Steve and I are still doing good :) We have our weekly Wednesday Starbucks dates, and find time to do all different kinds of fun things! Museums, movies, dinners! I love being able to just sit and relax with him, and tell him all the funny things my kids say and do! And the wonderful guy that he is, he sits and listens and comments on all of them! :)

So all in all, I guess you could say life is pretty good! Nothing too exciting, just the same old same old! Hope you are all doing well!

Peace out!