And so it begins...

It has been a hectic last few weeks. Between school, the house, and Grammie being in the hospital I think my head was spinning. Grammie is doing fine now - thank you God. School is amazing! I love every minute of it and I know this is exactly what God made me for. The house - we move in Sept. 18th - is going good. We have some more meetings and things to deal with, but for the most its just packing now.

We've only been in the apartment a little over a year and I can't believe all the "stuff" we have! Our downstairs is all packed up, except for most of the kitchen and the TV. But upstairs feels like a never ending story. We'll get one box filled and then find a bunch more junk - and I'm even clearing things out. I would be pack and moved today if I could, but alas I must wait 2-3 weeks be for that begins. I'm hoping to put pictures up of our new house soon! Be watching!

My first week as a 1st grade teacher

My first week as a 1st grade teacher has been incredible! I have loved almost every minute of it - the only part I don't like is grade level meetings. My kids are so well behaved and are so sweet. I want to take them all home with me! (Brad won't let me though) I had one little boy tell me twice this week that he loved me - the first time it brought tears to my eyes. This is what I was meant to do! I love going to work every day and I love teaching them.

Last year I would come home in tears because of stress and frustrations, but now I come home in tears of laughter and happiness. Brad is very excited about this year as well - he's praying that I'm not as stressed out, he didn't care much for all the tears last year. But lucky for him he'll be working a ton of hours this fall due to cut backs at work just in time for the busy season. But all in all god is good - he still has a job that pays :)

We are going to look at another house tonight! We're sooooo excited about this one. If my grandparents and aunt like it then we're making an offer tonight. God has blessed us beyond belief!

This entire week God has been pressing on my heart. Over the last year we've had some stress - from either work, houses, or family- but he has continued to bless us. Although Brad and I don't make much money, we are paying for my masters with out loans. Yes we might eat more meals at Grammie and Grampies, but that's what family is for. God has a time and place for everything. I might of had to wait a year for this position, but now I have my dream job with coworkers that I love. We might of had to wait for 2 months on a short sale house to find this new house. So many times I forget to step back and trust that God is in control. I might need to start writing on my arm Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

School starts tomorrow!

Well school starts tomorrow and I'm super excited, but I'm also super nervous! I don't know why, but I am. I know once tomorrow gets started I'll be fine, but right now I'm too nervous to think straight. I already told Brad he's going to need to knock me out so I can sleep tonight. My room is set and ready to go. I have lesson plans and copies made. I have nothing to be nervous about, but I am.

Anyways, Brad has been working a lot which is good, but I haven't seen him a lot lately. Hopefully after the start of the year things will get better.

I'll let you know how everything goes tomorrow. :)

Some pictures from our trip home to WI

Here are some pictures from Brad's mom's garden...

Mom and I at the George Strait concert. It poured on us, but we still had a blast!

We gave Choco's a bath while we were in Monroe. She didn't like it much!

We stopped at the New Glarus Brewery. It was great time.

Brad and I at our one year anniversary dinner.

Recharge for the start of school

Well the start of school is less than a month away. Summer has flown by and I really can't believe it. I'm so excited to teaching in 1st grade, but I'm also very overwhelmed - I have so many things going through my head. Brad's been working hard all summer and still finds time to golf, although he never seems to have time to take me :)

The past few days I've been taking it easy - not getting up until 10 and catching up on some reading. Now I haven't been a complete bum. I cleaned the apartment and chased a lizard out of our apartment. Yes a lizard! And the whole time I was on the phone with Brad (who was crying he was laughing so hard). It was an experience I will not forget and hope to never repeat.

Brad and I have officially been married for over a year. This past year has flown by! And honestly, if the first year is the hardest year, then we're in great shape. I love him more today than I did when we first started dating, I look forward to coming home from work to him every day, and love the time that we get to spend together. God has truly blessed us and our lives down here in GA.

We're hoping to hear soon about the house...I'm getting nervous and frustrated, but Brad is cool as a cucumber. I guess someone has to be! Our realtor said we might hear something on Friday, but that came and went with our any word. Maybe this week, maybe not. God has a plan.

I'm a 1st grade teacher!

Well its official - I'm a first grade teacher at Haw Creek Elementary! I got the word on Sunday night and couldn't stop shaking! It was an answered prayer and a major stress reliever. I'll be working with some fabulous teachers and I can't wait to get started. My classroom already has a bunch of junk in it. I got to start moving in on Monday and by Tuesday my desk was basically ready to go - Brad of course made fun of me for that!

All I can say is that God is good! We've been praying for that a position would come open for about 4 months now. And the saying is true that good things happen to those that wait. It was very difficult for me to not to worry, but I knew that God would take care of us it would just be in HIS timing.

Now we await to see if we got the house...we should find out in 7 to 10 days. And so we wait again :) But at least this time we can handle it!

Brad, Chocolate, and I head back home to WI for 2 weeks and we couldn't be more excited. The drive will be long, but its been way to long since we've seen Brad's family. Plus we'll be celebrating our 1st anniversary back home! Man does time fly when you're having fun!

Maybe getting a house...

We've started the process of getting a house. We're excited, nervous and cautious all at the same time. I'm not going to give too much detail til we know more, but God is making things happen. He has been so wonderful through out this whole process. We just happened to find it, it was on the market when we first started looking, and its still empty. If the house is meant for us, God will make it happen. Pray that we can wade through the excitement and nerves to see what God's will is. I'll include a link to the house...

http://idx.imprev.net/74FB48F3/128/13031/index.ipv

God is good.

Diet Coke and Mentos.

Enjoy! (This is what we're doing in my class tomorrow!)

The End is near.

Well the end of the school year is only 5 days away.....hurray!! Don't get me wrong I love my kids and the school, and everything, but I need a vacation. Brad and I can't wait to go home! It's been a year since we've been back to Wisconsin.

I find out - hopefully- tomorrow about my job for next year. I'm praying that I'll be in first grade at a brand new school 10 minutes from our apartment. The suspense is killing me!! :)

We have a long weekend ahead of us...well I do at least. I have class all weekend, a musical that Kimmy is in, and Brad's working. Chocolate is going to lonely.

We had field day today and it was WONDERFUL!! I had the best time with my kids! Enjoy some pictures from today...

"Canny" the Caterpillar

Each class from each grade level at Chestatee was to create a project or creation that was a recycling theme. A winner from each grade level would then be sent to the Spring Fair (at the Dump!! - only in GA) to be judge against other schools.

Well my class won for 4th grade for Chestatee!! I was so proud of my kids and their creation - "Canny" the Caterpillar. Enjoy the next few pictures of it! I'll keep you posted on how it went at the fair! :)

"Canny" likes to smile!

Side profile...

It says "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." on top.

April showers bring May flowers!

I got the itch to plant some flowers on our "porch" last weekend and this is what we got! It look beautiful in person - I really wish I had a yard to plant in. We have flowers and then 2 veggie plants - eggplant and squash. I'm going to try to get Brad to eat them since I grew them :) I'll let you know how it goes.

Fightin' mad

This was on a fighter plane from WWII - but this is how I feel now.

I have to say that I'm very disappointed in how things are going in our government. Let's just take out the fact that I'm republican and Obama is a democrat. I don't understand how our government - everyone - can be spending the money they are?? My children will be in debt, and they're not even born yet! This has to stop some way or another. It's time that the United States comes together to figure this out. Our forefathers created this country with compromise and team work. They put what was best for the people. How can we teach our children how to work together, how to compromise, how not to be selfish, if all they see the exact opposite?!

A suggestion: Focus on our country, on the people that break their backs every day to help make this country the great country that it is. Foreign ministers, especially our enemies, should be in the back ground right now. We're losing a battle to regain our country right now. I have hope, most citizens have hope, but sadly I don't think our President does. But alas, they did get a First dog and Mrs. President has awesome fashion - what more could we need!

Ok I'm off my soap box.

Pictures from Savannah

Me with the Paula cut-out while waiting in line.

This was the line that my dad and I waited in for an hour. The beginning is at the far end of the street and it wrapped completely around the building! (It was 35 degrees with 20 mph winds)

Dad, Grampie, Grammie, and Mom out front River Stree Sweets - Grammie's favorite!

Long Weekend

It was another long weekend at class. At least this weekend went by a lot faster then the last 2 - thank god!! We did a lot with creating web pages, doing the codes, and what not. Very interesting, but I can tell you that there's no way I could survive doing a desk job. When I wasn't working on the computer I was snacking - a couple more days of that and I'd look like a boat.

I got my friend Lee to join Bodyplex with me so now I have someone to work out with! :) I'm pumped. I always wanted to do the classes but was too embarrassed to do them by myself. CRCT is almost done. 3 days this coming week and then its smooth sailing til the end of the year. I'm really proud of how my kids have handled everything so far. I'm praying, and feel pretty confident, that they did well. I'm going to get them all a treat after its all over - maybe Chick-fil-a breakfast (something I'll enjoy too).

24 days left until summer vacation! :)

The Deen Brothers

My mom, Jamie Deen, Bobby Deen, and me...Yeah we were excited!

It's been a while

It's been a while since my last post - sorry I've been sick and busy at school. Things over the last month have been good. I got the flu the week before spring break, missed two days of work, and then got everyone else sick over spring break. But spring break was great. My parents came into town and we went to Savannah for two days. My soul purpose of going to Savannah was to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant. We went Monday night to scope things out and to shop at her shop. My dad and I got up early Tuesday morning and got to the restaurant by 8:40 (they didn't start taking reservations until 9:30). Long story short we got reservations for lunch at got there a little early. I noticed a line in the gift store, but it wasn't for the registers. I did a triple take and what did I see....Jamie and Bobby Deen - Paula's sons!! I was pumped! My mom and I got a picture and autograph. It was great!

Anyways, break was great. Way to short. And Brad worked 124 hours in two weeks- yeah I didn't see him very much. We have 5 days of CRCT coming up and I'm really not looking forward to it. They kids are stressed, the teachers are stressed, and I still don't have a position for next year. But once CRCT is over with we only have 20 days (give or take) of school left. I can't wait for the summer!

Dinner with friends

Yesterday was a very relaxing day. We slept in until 10:30 and then went over to the mall just walk around around. Emily had a softball game at 1:30 so we got to sit in the nice 65 degree weather and soak up the sun. Then we headed over to friends of ours from church to have dinner. It was a great time of eating, chatting, and watching a movie. It's nice to finally have another couple, other than family, to do something with. They also made us feel better about having so many pictures of us around the apartment. They've only been married 2 years, so they still have pictures of themselves around too.

Georgia Snow

Here's a picture of the "snow" that we had two weeks ago. It was a Sunday and a lot of the schools in the area cancelled school. South of us, down in the city, there was actually enough snow to build snowmen. They still don't have a clue when it comes to real snow days!

The little wins in life.

Today was very, well umm, boring at class today. When we left I was ready to head home and veg in front of the TV until bed. But then I remember that I needed to go to the grocery store. We were really running low on a lot, so I was expecting things to get a little pricey. That's where my little win of the day came in. There was buy one get one free on a half the things on my list! It was awesome - or sad that I'm getting excited about it :) Brad missed out on the fun. He was having fun working in the pouring rain all day. Oh well, a little rain never killed anyone.

Here's Chocolate and her favorite ball. She loved it so much that the squeeker is gone!

A new connection

As I was sitting in my uber exciting class tonight, a friend inspired me to create this blog. This is a great way for my friends and family, across the county, to keep up with what's going on with the Schwartz's. Hopefully you'll enjoy the comings and goings of our lives!