Another Triple A!!!

Yup, I got 3 more A's in graduate school. My semester finished last week and final grades are out today. I am so happy to be doing so well in my graduate classes. It has been challenging to balance all the things in my life and doing well at school is definitely a nice reward for all the stress and hard work. In other exciting news I will be doing my Practicum or student teaching this Spring. Because I am already a full time teacher I can use that as my Practicum. I will just teach as I already do but now a person from the University will come observe me 3 or 4 times and I will have to prepare an extensive electronic portfolio. Once my Practicum is out of the way I only have 4 classes left til I graduate with my Masters. I plan on taking those 4 classes this summer. So YAYAYAYAY for me I will have my Masters and be done with school this Summer!!!!! HOOORAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!! The idea that I will be done with school before the new school year starts is THRILLING! I can not even tell you how much more I will be able to do at work when I don't have to run to class 3 nights a week! Plus I will have so much more time to relax with Evie which will be a VERY welcome change!

This week is the last week of work for me before we all break for 2 full weeks!! God, I love being a teacher!!!!! I plan to relax and spend time with friends and family and thoroughly take advantage of my break from grad school and work! Whoo HOO!! =)

In other news, I am happy to say that my final divorce hearing is January 8, 2009. If we have no issues between now and then I will be a divorced (free!) woman in January '09! YAY! I am very happy to be closing this chapter of my life and moving forward.

Evie is cute as ever and continues to delight and amaze me at every turn. She is getting very good with using the potty but only when we are not at home. I don't know if that is a normal thing for toddlers. She uses the potty a lot when we are out but then won't even ask or say she wants to go when I ask at home. Strange, but ultimately she will use the potty at home too.

In family news I am EAGERLY awaiting the return of BigBro and DocRom to the States!!! I super duper mega-ly hope they will come back to ATL but if they don't I will just be glad that they are not in a foreign country thousands of miles away!! I miss them SOOOOO much!!!! I can NOT wait to be with them and hug them and talk and laugh and connect!!!

Also, TwinBro is engaged!!! Congrats to him!!! He is with a very cool lady and I wish them the best!! =)

Evie Update: 2 Year Check Up, Potty Training, Vaccines

Yesterday was a really big day for Evie. She got her first vaccinations ever at her 2 yr old check up. Ben and I decided to delay vaccinating her until we felt she was old enough and actually needed to be vaccinated. Well she is going to school this year and because she will be exposed to so many new germs and kids we felt it was the right choice to start vaccinating her. She got 6 shots yesterday in her thighs, the total number of vaccines was 9. I was extremely nervous about how her body would handle the shots. She is completely fine so far (knock on wood). She is a little more tired and crabby than normal but otherwise she is doing great! I have been checking her temperature every few hours to make sure she doesn't have a fever.

At our appointment Evie's pediatrician talked to us about potty training. I have had Evie in Pull-Up diapers for months now and she has a potty seat at my house and at Ben's house. We each work with her to sit on the potty and in general to be comfortable with the potty. So today I got her a step stool to get on the potty by herself. I also started working with her to pull her pants and shorts up and down herself. Hopefully soon she will make the choice to pee and poop in the potty instead of her pants. =)



Other than all that she is talking up a storm! Sonya, our daycare lady, says Evie talks all the time and she is very excited. I am so happy at how much she has grown up in the last few months. A friend of mine recently gave me a small table and chairs set, a spinny thing for evie to sit on, 2 huge bags of clothes, and a huge box of books. I am thrilled because Evie loves all the books and the table and chairs and the spinny thing. And she looks ADORABLE in her new clothes! Yay for good friends!! =)





And in me news I start working tomorrow. I go to new teacher orientation tomorrow and Friday and Monday. I am very very excited and a little nervous. I can't believe I will be in charge of thirty 2nd graders in less than 2 weeks!!! Here is what I am gonna wear to my first day of orientation. What do ya think? Sorry the pic is so dark.

Changes...

Hey all,

Big changes are taking place in my life right now. To start I am moving into my parents cottage on the farm for the next 6 months with Evie. After 6 months I will either have enough money saved to get my own place in Grovetown or I will stay in the cottage for another 6 months. Ben filed for divorce and surprised me, he is trying to take custodial parent from me. When we first separated we agreed that I would be the custodial parent (the parent that has the final say on all issues and receives child support). As a result I am changing my plans so that I can get custodial parent. Ben and I will be going to court in September. I have a job interview set up with a local elementary school for next week which I feel very confident about. I already know the principal and teachers at the school. So I will be teaching full time and going to grad school full time starting in August. Life will be busy!

Evie is handling the changes really well. And tomorrow she will be 2 yrs old, holy cow! Sometimes it seems like she is 2 going on 12 but then other times she comes up to me and says "baby". When she says that to me it means she wants me to rock her like a baby in my arms and sing rock a by baby to her. It is so wonderful for me, I don't know if she realizes how happy it makes me to rock her. She is amazing, so so so perfect! She truly means everything to me and there isn't anyone or anything in this world that I would let come between me and her, ever.

Beach Pics

Evie and company at the aquarium and the pool and the beach =)

At the Beach!

Evie and I are at the beach all this week. There are 9 kids from Evie's age to 14 and 8 adults! We are a packed house this week but it has been sooo much fun!! Here are some pics of us at the beach and at the amusement park =)

My New Car

I love my new car, the Honda Fit.



Evie likes to drive it too ;)



My car smiles because it is happy =)

Still No Internet, No Grades

The internet at the Farm is still wonky for me. It works on Grammy's computer but the wireless won't work for my laptop. So I am having to update from Panera and school. I still don't have my grades for the 2 classes I just finished but I think I will have two A's. We'll see =)

This weekend is the Muddy Buddy race in Atlanta. I am soo excited!! It will be like the triathlon except instead of swimming in water we'll be swimming together through a mud pit! And we only have to bike 3 miles instead of 13 miles. It should be big fun! I'll post pics after this weekend.

Evelyn is talking up a storm! I will catch her on video if I can. She is adding words everyday!

Ok, I will update more later. =)

Internet Down, Classes Ending

The internet is down at the farm and my first 2 summer classes are ending next Tuesday. I say this to let you know that I will be MIA for a while til all that stuff ends or gets resolved. I will do a big update after Tuesday. I promise! =)

So, So, So Much to Say!

Hi Dear Readers!

As Cara graciously and astutely pointed out I have not posted new info in quite a while. Sorry about that! With the separation and imminent divorce and the end of the semester and the start of summer classes I have been swamped. But I am here and this post will be super long because I have a lot to report =)

I'll start with pics of Evie because they are always a crowd favorite. Here are pics of Evie at Grammy's friend's horse farm. There were chickens at the farm too which Evie loved!








The news here at the farm is that Gramper made an unexpected and brief visit home this last week. Grammy went to get him because this happened:

Yup, that is a tree in the swimming pool!



Now onto the nitty gritty. Ben and I were trying to get a separation agreement signed over the last 2 months but without being able to hire a lawyer I was not really ready to sign anything. The news on that front is that I will be getting my school loan money this week and I will use part of it to hire a lawyer to get divorce paperwork going. Ben and I have fluctuated between civil and not so civil but for the most part we are keeping good communication and Evie is being well loved and taken care of, of course!



In me news I am very pleased with my new gym. I joined the YMCA recently and they have great childcare and an indoor and outdoor pool and awesome machines! I am so happy to be going there. I was going to the gym on base for free but they are closing and their childcare cost extra and had awful hours. As a result of somewhat diligently going to the gym 3 days a week I have a small amount of muscle definition on my arms and legs and I have lost a dress size. I am very pleased. My next mission is to get good abs, I know it is probably impossible (see pics of me 9 months preggers) but I am gonna try.


In school news my classes are going great! I have my math midterm tomorrow night and surprisingly I think I actually will do well. I "get" what the class is about. I am not a total math idiot! Hooray! My other class is online and it is about classroom management. It is easy so far but I have 2 major papers that I have to write in the next 2 weeks before the class ends so I have to get my butt in gear or I will be sorry!



In job news there isn't much to report. I am still waiting to hear from the county. Apparently they are having major issues and that is why I haven't heard anything. I am trying to be patient. In the meantime I have applied in some other counties and I hope to hear from them soon. No matter what I will be working full time in the Fall whether it is as a teacher or as a retail clerk. I have to make money and get benefits to support myself and Evie. In the fall I will be taking 3 classes at night so whatever happens I will have to be able to go to school and work. If I am teaching then going to school at the same time won't be a problem at all. So please keep your fingers crossed for me!



In blog news I made this blog public again. People were having a lot of issues with getting to the blog so I just made it public again.



In more Evie news she is going with Ben to visit her Grandpop and Mimi and Oma and her Great Grandma Evelyn who she is named after. They are leaving Friday and will be gone for 5 days. I will miss her terribly! But I know her grandparents and great grand parents miss her terribly too! Luckily I have the fortune of being able to go to the beach the same weekend with Mike. I am so excited! I haven't been swimming in the ocean in over 4 years!!! I love the beach and I love swimming!



So I think that is all the news from here. If you have questions or want to know something I forgot to mention here you know the drill, leave a comment or email me. =)

Job Prospects

I wrote earlier about having an interview with the local school board last week. They called me and rescheduled the interview for April 15th in the afternoon. So the suspense will have to keep building on that. This past weekend I took the last teacher certification exam I need to take. I won't know how I did til April 28th. I hope I did well enough to pass but I really don't know. I am not very confident because I am not a great test taker usually. So we'll see how that turns out.

Today is exciting because I just got a job lead from Aidan's mom. I thought Aidan's mom hated me, but I guess she likes me enough to send me a good job lead. There is a community programs coordinator position open at the local arts council. So I emailed them and attached my resume. Hopefully I will hear back from them. I would rather be in a classroom but if that doesn't happen then this job would be really great for me too. And I think I would really enjoy it because I love doing art outreach. So we'll see about that.

I am pretty excited to have both these job prospects right now. I hope one of them works out!

And if you are in Indy then you might be counting down already. For those that aren't in Indy, I am leaving in 3 short days to go to Indianapolis and visit TwinBro and my bestest friends Shrimp Run, Off Gas, Cara and Co, Kara and Co, and Joanna and Co. I am sooo excited!!!!!

Interview and more!

I landed myself an interview with the Board of Education that hosted the job fair I attended. Yay!! This is the first step in a 2 step process. Once I interview with the board and they (hopefully) approve me then the principals at the schools can interview me and (hopefully) offer me jobs. The interview is Mar. 26th at 1030AM. I am so happy!! =) Thank you all for your very sweet and encouraging comments, they mean so much to me right now!!

In other news Evie has an appointment next Tuesday with her pediatrician to start the evaluation process for a possible speech delay. She only has 3 words that she says consistently right now. They are: No, Momma, and Bye Bye. She is getting more sounds everyday but not really talking as much as I think she should. Her signing is going really really well! She signs 15 words or more all the time. And she is developing normally or above average in every other way. So I just want to get her checked out to make sure there isn't something we are missing or something we can be doing to help her along. My fear is that she won't be able to talk when she starts 2 yr old preschool in the Fall. I don't want her to be signing and not getting any help when she needs it because no one knows what she's saying. I think I am just being an overly protective Mom but I don't care. It won't hurt her at all to be evaluated.

Also, I came through my midterms with flying colors. I got a 98 and a 99 on the tests I took. Yay! And I just got loan money to cover what I paid for school this semester and to cover me for my summer classes. So that is nice.

Couples therapy is seriously hard work and painful on top of that. But it is really good for us. We are both learning a lot and making great progress on many aspects of our relationship.

Ohh and I joined the local gym for free because I am a military wife. It is soo nice! I love getting back into shape and Evie loves going to the gym daycare while I work out. It's a win win for both of us =) And I am starting belly dancing classes on Thursday. I am really excited about that!

Long time...

It's been a long time since I posted, sorry about that. Life has been wonderful and crazy and up and down. Mostly up. I am just going to make a list because there are too many random things happening.

1. Paul and Karen are moving to Japan on Monday. To say I am sad is true but doesn't feel strong enough. I have loved having them so close and spending time with them. They supported me so much while Ben was in Africa. And this past weekend I went to see them for the last time before they move. I know it's not forever and I know they'll be back for Christmas (yay!!!) but I will still miss them so much!!

2. School is still totally fulfilling and wonderful! I haven't made any real friends but I am slowly getting to know people. My favorite class is my Special Ed. class. The prof. is very knowledgeable and encourages us to discuss the major problems affecting education and special ed. It is fascinating!

3. I am 6 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. I had my first appt with an OB nurse yesterday. I got blood drawn for tests and I pee'd in a cup. At my next appt. I am getting a pap smear, blech! Oh well, that's just what you have to do when you are a chick. The baby is doing great as far as I can tell. The queasiness has set in for me. It seems to be linked to certain foods at this point. I know I can't eat PB&J sandwiches anymore, I get really nauseous for a few hours after. And I think bacon might be out of the game too. I ate 4 pieces of bacon this morning and I felt queasy all morning as a result. I also am tired all the time and I have to pee every hour it seems like. Even with all that stuff I am doing great, I know I could have it a lot worse.

4. Ben and I had couples therapy this past week. It was wonderful!! We both felt comfortable with our therapist and she was able to clear some things up for us even in our first session. We are going to focus on couples therapy and wait on the individual therapy.

5. Evelyn learned how to climb onto the couch last week. It has made life really interesting and occasionally heart stopping. She loves to fling herself all over the couch but sometime she misses the couch. No permanent injuries so far. But boy, they should call toddlerhood, evil-knievel-hood. This kid is fearless!

6. Grammy and Gramper are doing great at the farm. They got a new dog to keep Bonnie company on the back porch. The new dog is a little boy named Hooch. He is sweet and Bonnie loves him!

7. Ben and I are hosting our first social event in our new place. Tomorrow afternoon 2 couples and their child are coming over for a game night. The adults will be playing board games while Evelyn and the other little girl her age play with toys and such. It should be big fun and low stress.

I think that is everything for now. Have a great weekend everybody! =)

We're In

We are in the new house. I love having space again and having all my stuff. Evelyn really likes it here and she is adapting really well. School is great! I have homework I should be doing right now but I am here posting instead. Tonight is the first night we've had internet since last week so I am totally catching up on my blog and other people's blogs. Ahh, procrastination is so sweet! I had my first visit with a therapist today. It went as well as one could expect. I like my therapist, she is nice and very involved in her profession.

So that's all I have for now.

So much news

So we are doing okay. We are trucking along. We decided that living in our own place would make the whole rebuilding of our relationship easier and preferable. So we are moving into a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a garage and fenced backyard. We move in Saturday. Yeah it is really fast but it just makes sense. So we are excited and stressed and financially stretched but it is all worth it.

Because of this...


We wanted to work this out before we knew we were pregnant. But certainly this is more incentive to do the hard work ahead of us so that we can have a strong love relationship for our children.

I am not very far along, only 3 weeks, which is barely anything at all. My due date is Sept. 18th. We thought it would take longer to get pregnant. We haven't been trying since I visited North Carolina. So this was a suprise to me. Ben wasn't suprised, he says he had a feeling we were pregnant.

Gramper's Retirement Party

My Dad aka Gramper is retiring from his 2nd job tomorrow. He was an Army officer for 25 years before he had this job. He is quitting because in the next 12 months he is going to thru hike the entire Appalachian Trail. For those that don't know, he will basically be hiking up mountains for about 2,000 miles. Yes, my Dad is freaking awesome!

Here's some pics from his retirement party. =)

Done and Done

1. I left a phone message for Aidan's parents this afternoon. I haven't heard anything so far. I honestly will be suprised if I hear anything from them at all. That's how bad communication is with these people.

2. Anyway, working with Aidan went well today. I think I was in a much better head space because I knew this was it for us. It let the tension and stress go by knowing I wouldn't have to do this anymore.

3. Also we will be going to visit Auntie V next weekend. That should be big fun.

4. And the weekend after x-mas I am going to visit my best friend Jen at her parent's house.

5. I have laid out a very tentative course outline for my masters. I have to take 17 classes to get the degree, including student teaching. So it looks like I will be done by Spring 2010. I'll be taking 3 classes this spring. A special ed class, an educational tech class and a science class. It looks like it will be fun and time consuming.

6. Signing is really really fun! Evelyn has picked up a lot of signs. Her favorites are bird, cat, and dog. She doesn't have perfect form but we know what she's signing. It's really awesome to be able to communicate with her more.

7. It has been in the 80's all week down here. Holy cow it is really really weird to be in shorts and a tshirt in December. Our Field Day party went really well but it was too hot to really play games, we just played with the equipment. Here's some pics.