Snow....in OCTOBER!

Those of you who know how I feel about snow (read this if you need a reminder!) Well, our first snow of the season happened WAY too early! Saturday October 10th was our first snow of the season. At first, I was bitter, but then realized it could be a lot worse (it didn't stick to the streets!) and really, when I actually gave the snow a fair chance, it did look really pretty. So, I will save my snow complaining for when it is hard to drive in! :)

No complaints, only pictures!

Total we had 5 inches of snow, even though it doesn't look like it. I like the way the leaves line the driveway, and how pretty the tree looks.

Animals Lovers :)

I am proud to be an animal lover. What brings this on? I just finished watching Marley and Me. Currently, I have ten snotty Kleenexes sitting next to me and I cried for the last 45 minutes of the movie. It was a great movie, very sad but kind of reminded me of why I love animals so much. At the end of the movie Owen Wilson said:

“A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?”

As corny as it sounds, it is very true and not just for dogs! I am so thankful for the animals we have. Erich and I are looking forward to having dogs someday, but in the meantime we love our kitties….anyways…that’s my ramble for the evening.

Moving Right Along....

What a crazy weekend! This weekend was Christa and Mike’s wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding! It took place at Joslyn castle. We had our bridesmaid’s dresses made by a local woman and she did a wonderful job! Another bonus to the weekend is that it was so nice outside, perfect for an outdoor wedding! I’ll post a picture of Erich and me, quite possibly one of my favorites ever taken.

At the wedding, Christa booked a tarot card reader just for fun…well, it was fun all right, but it was also very, very creepy. She hit a lot of things head on with me. I am not one to typically believe that kind of stuff, but sparing details, it seemed like she “knew” too much. Call me crazy, but you would’ve had to been there.

In other news student teaching is going very well. I have my first observation by my advisor on Friday and I am a little nervous about that. I am feeling more and more comfortable every day in the classroom. I have an awesome cooperating teacher, she is really helpful. I am enjoying it, and can tell already, come the end of December, I will be crying rivers when I have to leave these kids.

I miss my babies and co-workers though! I made a goal to go in and visit them every Wednesday, and so far I have held to that. This week might not work out though. See, I rarely get sick, but over the weekend I have come down with a sore throat, tight chest and a dry nasty cough. I think I am pretty immune to all the illnesses at work, but student teaching may be a different story because they are a “new” group of kids. Typically, I wouldn’t limit myself going out, but since there are all sorts of nasty things going around already, I don’t want to pass something really harmful to the babies. The whole “swine flu” thing doesn’t really scare me personally, but I do worry about young children, babies and older people getting it. So, I might have to steer clear of the little ones for a while.

Wanted: Kitten Advice...

Now, let me start with a little disclaimer….we love Otis, he is an awesome cat but he is N-A-U-G-H-T-Y! He is SO bad! We have tried just about everything to keep him off of the kitchen counter, but he insists on being up there. We went from a squirt bottle, to a super soaker to keep him down. The only thing that we have not tried is these little pokey mats that do not pierce their skin, but it pokes them so they do not want to hop up there again. We have put every single ounce of food into cupboards because he has eaten so much miscellaneous food….this weekend he ate THROUGH one box of mac and cheese, he ate THROUGH the box of pop tarts and he even did a little dabbling in the box of waffle mix. If it is out, he eats it. Personally, I want him to learn how to NOT MESS with those foods, but for now I have them put away. I just don’t understand it…the minute we kick him off the counter, he is back up almost instantly. It’s exhausting…like having a toddler, he JUST doesn’t get it. Does anyone have any suggestions for disciplining a cat? The only thing I have though of is that Otis is 10 months old and spent his first seven months being stray…therefore, he is likely used to having to scavenge for his food. But, he has to eventually learn. Is it just and age thing? Does he just need time? Or does he just have a little pea brain so he cannot help himself? (just kidding!)

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for feeding two cats together? The scoop is that we feed each cat a fourth cup of food in the morning and the other fourth cup in the afternoon. My Libs just slowly munches on it all day but Otis scarf it down and then moves on to Libby’s bowl….we obviously cannot be there all of the time (and he is hella sneaky!) but is this something they will just get used to? He does get in trouble when we see him go for Libby’s bowl. (also, Libby needs to learn to defend herself!)

Otherwise, Otis is an awesome and unique cat! So, we are looking for some advice. But, along with this story, I must share the picture from a few weeks ago when he got his head stuck in a box of crackers he was sneaking into!

Miss Jess...Student Teacher!

Student Teaching is offcaially in full swing! I started two-ish weeks ago and spent about a week or so helping to prepare the classroom for the students. Then, last Thursday...22 first grade students showed up! So far, it has been great! The students over all are really great and my cooperating teacher is very helpful! I haven't started teaching any academics yet, so far I have basically helped, observed and read some stories during story time. My cooperating teacher has me set up so each week I will take over an new academic subject until I eventually have the full day covered. I will do that for about two weeks and then I will be on my way to finishing! Yay!

My Babies....

Call me the crazy cat lady, but LOOK AT MY BABIES!!! :)

End of Summer....

Well, technically...summer does not end for a while, but I got my hair cut and colored today...so I am calling it a new fall color :) I love it!

The front, sides and back of my hair.



Also, today I spent a little time with Junior and got a nice toilet seat hat show! (in the nude I might add!)

*sigh* I just love him to pieces!

Almost Done....

Well, I am getting ready to sit in my last ever Peru State college class* here in about a half hour! Whew! I honestly never thought I would see the day that my classes were nearing an end!

Tomorrow marks my last day of paid work for about four months. I am terrified, not just about being moneyless but, student teaching and missing out on my work babies growing and changing. I don't think I truly realized how attached I am until I realized I would have to leave them temporarily. Needless to say, tomorrow will be a sad day at work. But, I have promised to visit as much as as I can... and I am hoping it will be possible with the work load and everything. If not, I will make it possible :)

I also went and slammed a small fortune this weekend on dress clothes. This is where having a "casual" job has its drawbacks! It was a whole lotta money on dress clothes!

Well, I am fully aware that most of this is a pointless ramble! I should move on to my LAST CLASS right now!

*unless I decide to get my masters and it requires in-class classes!

The Whirlwind Update...

Well, keeping up on this thing has proved harder than I thought! Things have been a crazy whirlwind for me, but it has actually been somewhat of a good thing because it has kept my mind off of my nerves related to student teaching! There have not been any major events lately, as I have spent most of my free time with my homework! These classes were a CRAZY combination to take together! I have 2 weeks left in my Peru classes, and then I start student teaching on August 3rd. My Biology class however, goes until the 15th of August...which could really end sooner :)

In other news, the kitties have now started to get along! I know all it took was some patience, but I was worried that we had made the wrong decision by bringing another cat in the household. The only issue is feeding them...Otis HOGS down all of his food, while Libby has always been more of a slow eater (ex. throughout the day.) If Otis sees food left over in Libby's dish, he "takes care of it" for her. I need some feeding tips! We get after him if he goes for it, but he is so sneaky, the minute we walk away he is nom-nomming away. Here is photographic evidence of love :)


In celebration of their new found friendship, we got them an awesome floor to ceiling cat tree! They love it!


Also, I should take this time to congratulate Rachel and Kyle on their engagement! Rachel is Erich's sister and long time friend of mine, and they made it official! They are getting married! They are planning a wedding in October of this year... I love Rachel, she sets her mind to something and she accomplishes it! Three months or not! I have a pretty busy ten months or so! I will be in Christa's wedding in August, Rachel's in October and Trish's in May! It is CRAZY FUN to be a bridesmaid and such an honor. I love being a part of people's weddings! So, so much fun!

Well, that is all in the land of me. I am hoping I have a little more time for updating and sharing Student Teaching stories once I am done with this crazy session of classes! But, until then, good bye!

Introducing......

Otis! Here's the story, we weren't really planning on getting a kitten. We had talked it over and over and decided that it just wouldn't be a good idea, given my allergies to get ANOTHER cat. Well, we went out on Father's day to get his Dad a gift card to Petsmart (we're slackers...waiting till the last minute!) and we were actually glancing at materials needed and the cost to get a lizard because we think they are pretty cool. Well, after looking at everything, we knew what we would need to save (upwards of $200 to get started) and we started to head out the door. Well...everytime I go to Petsmart, I have to "say goodbye" to the kitties (okay, go ahead...chuckle) so I told Erich just to come with me....he sighed...

Well...this is when we met Cheeto. He was a snuggler and he just loved us. I was googling over him, and I looked up at Erich and he had this smile on his face... and he said "We can get him!" This is about when I started jumping up and down saying "Really!?!? Are you SERIOUS!??!" And he was....so, we adopted Cheeto.

We got Cheeto home and decided we didn't like his name. So, he was nameless for a while. We observed him and realized that he has huge paws and he is very clutzy. Erich said... that he reminded him of an Otis....and so became his name...Otis. (Also, he has these very cool orange o-shaped marks on his sides :)

So, here is a little bit about Otis...he is 7 months old and was a stray picked up in a not so great neighborhood. Right now, he's a little sick. It is very common for kitties who have had an extended stay at the Humane Society to get a respiratory infection, he has been on anti-biotics and we hope he gets better soon so we can work on getting Libby and Otis used to each other because his "cold" is contagious to other cats and we do not want two sick kitties :) So, for now he has been hanging out in our bathroom some days and our bedroom others.

So how is Libby responding? Not so hot. I am hoping though with time she will come around. We looked into many sources about how to introduce cats and we are following them quite religiously. So, we hope they become life long buddies.


So...here are the pictures!

RIP Fridge.

There is one really, really nice thing about living in an apartment... if it breaks, we don't have to replace it. We've had a lot of experience with that lately, and really...it is nobodies fault because things break, but on Friday, our fridge when out. Everything spoiled in the fridge part before we could find a place to keep it cool. Total, we threw out 2 garbage bags worth of food. We were lucky though that the freezer part continued to work so we did not loose our meat. We were four days without a fridge...we were given the keys to an apartment a couple doors down so we could use that one, but by that time...everything was spoiled so it didn't matter.

But, good things come to those who wait....

We got a BRAND NEW fridge that is way, way bigger than our original one! Woo hoo!

So....rest in peace old little fridge...we'll miss you (not.)

Circus!

As I mentioned last blog, I have been slacking on keeping up with this thing! So, here is the update with me.

As I mentioned last time...school is trying to kill me...and the update is that school is STILL trying to kill me...no big changes there!

Also, a couple weeks ago Jen, Jaimie, Junior, my Aunt Janice and I went to the circus! I had never been to the Barnam and Bailey's circus. I have actually always been leery of circuses because of how they treat the animals. This time, I did not feel like the animals were mistreated, but I still felt very sad for them!

Junior had a blast! His attention span was WONDERFUL and he loved the "Lelephants." When the acrobats were doing tricks he would exclaim "Oh my!" He stuffed his face with popcorn and sat on everyone's laps for a little while! It was a lot of fun! Check out the picture show I made below!

Someone Cares!

I realized a few days ago that I have neglected my blog for quite some time, but then moved onto things I SHOULD be doing and forgot about it! Well, I thought that the only person who read this was my sister, even though I have sent this to all my family members to keep updated on me...well, I was wrong! I got a little friendly Facebook reminder from a good friend of mine that I needed to update! So, I guess there is someone else out there who reads this!

Anyways! I have some pictures I need to upload from recent events, but for now I think I will just do a little writing for now and maybe do those later (because I actually have the opportunity to go to bed at a decent hour tonight...)

So, why have I been neglecting my blog? SUMMER. SCHOOL. IS. TRYING. TO. KILL. ME.
That's why. I have a whole lot more on my plate than I thought and to be honest it kinda sucks right now. I am hoping for the best right now though, because noting would suck more than to call my cooperating teacher and tell her I cannot student teach because of not passing *insert any of the five classes here.* Embarrassing, especially considering I am typically an A student...but right now, I am in SURVIVIAL MODE (which is sad considering it is only week 2!!!) But, I am gonna crack down, BE POSITIVE and STUDY my TUSH off! I can do this!! :)

So...for now, that's all she wrote, but I do plan on uploading some pics and talking about stuff as of late here very, very soon! Thanks readers! :)

Memorial Day! (a little late...)

BBQ...
Water balloon fight...
Duck feeding...
What more could you ask for!?

Now for the good stuff...pictures!
(I've become a fan of these slide shows! So much easier!)

Back to Little House on the Prairie Times....

So, there is really no point for the title of my blog other than Erich and I have no AC in our apartment...and it seems like it is going to be quite a while. The guy checked it out today and said it is completely shot. So, according to our apartment, it could be "next week at the earliest" that we could get a new one. So, I could complain about not having AC... I mean, it sucks but here is my attempt to think positive:

1) While it is going to be the hottest weekend yet this season, it is not as hot as it COULD be.
2) I went to four years of high school without AC, so I am pretty sure I can survive a week "at the earliest."
3) We are in a place with windows in each room...which is a hell of a lot better than being in our old place which had a whopping two windows.
4) Finally, I just bought a new awesome tower fan, it is helping a ton!

In other news, Junior spent the night with me last night and the day with me today. It was pretty fun and he only peed my bed twice! :)

I have been a bit of a blogger slacker lately... I have some pictures to share, but sadly, this lappy resting on my lap is heating me up more than I need to be....so, maybe I'll upload them later on this weekend when it's a bit cooler in here.

I am a whimp, I know.

Quote I Love....

I love this quote...it's from Sex and the City.


"The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them, and others you don't. But, in the end, they're the people you always come home to. Sometimes it's the family you're born into and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself."
~Carrie Bradshaw~

It's so true :)

Busy, Crazy, Emotional Weekend...

This was such a busy, somewhat emotional weekend for me! It started bright and early on Friday, my day off…to make an extremely long story short my dad had to go the ER with some heart problems. Since this is public, I won’t go into many details but it was very scary. He is doing better now, but has a lot of work to do before he can be fully better. So, most of my day on Friday was spent in the ER hoping for the best.

Later that evening, Erich and I made it just in time to catch the Music as a Weapon Tour main stage. Performing was Lacuna Coil, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage and DISTURBED! It was amazing because it was all bands that Erich and I enjoy, but it kinda stunk because everyone but Disturbed had very limited stage time. I was lucky enough this time to be able to bring my camera in, unlike NIN in November where they sent me back to my car. I got some decent pictures, but our seats were not the best so some of them are hard to see.

Then, bright and early Saturday morning, me and quite a few of the girls I work with participated in the Angelman’s walk. This was the FIRST year for Omaha’s walk. A sweet little girl at work was diagnosed with this syndrome not too long ago. She is the sweetest thing and I would recommend to everyone to check out the Angelman’s foundation site to learn more about it. http://www.angelman.org/
She is such a beautiful “Angel” and I felt honored to walk on her behalf! I brought Junior along to give Jaimie a break from Mom duty and he froze his little hands off! Therefore, I did not take any pictures at the actual walk, but I did take some from our Village Inn stop afterward! My friend Sara had her 2 year old daughter, and my friend Rachel had her 2 year old nephew! Add two year old Junior and that makes a WHOLE LOT of 2 year olds at Village Inn! It was fun!

Finally, we spent our Saturday night celebrating a friend’s birthday! We played pool and it was an absolute blast! By the time Sunday rolled around, I was ready for relaxin, but I had to study for my finals! After this week, I am on break for a few weeks before my summer session of classes start… I won’t even really call it a break! It’s okay because I am ready to take my last session of classes by STORM!

This time, instead of waiting for this SLOW thing to upload all of my pictures from the weekend, I created a slide show! I thought I had some pretty awesome video footage from the concert, but listening to it now, I realize that my camera cannot handle that kind of noise! :( Enjoy!

My Addiction!

Seriously, these things are AWESOME! Now, when I say addiction, I mean 4 or less a month because at the price of $3.49 per smoothie they can get rather expensive. So ever now and again I splurge :) Pictured here happens to be one of my favorite flavors! :)

Slacking...Events lately...

I have been a bit of a slacker lately on keeping everyone up to date on what’s happening with me lately! First, I was finally assigned to my student teaching! Yay! As of right now, I think I will start on August 4th and I will likely be in the school until around the first week in January. I am working in a first grade classroom in District 66. I am pretty excited about the whole first grade thing! Wish me luck…..

On May 2nd, Jaimie and I took Junior to the Cinco De Mayo parade! It was SO much fun! I enjoyed listening to the music and watching Junior’s constantly changing face when all the “cool things” passed! I did learn something new…did you know that horses can be trained to dance? The parade had a whole crew of dancing horses there, and I was fascinated! I have video of it, but I have feeling it will take way too long along with the pictures to upload. So, maybe that will be something to share for another time.


"I wonder what's next?"

Jaimie kept catching shirts!

Jaimie and I being crazy!

Junior and I sticking out tongues out to keep us entertained!

Jaimie and Junior waiting for the parade!

Later that evening, we went to Kaylie's second birthday party!
She really loved her cake!


Jen, Jaimie and I had another little outing day with Junior! We took him to the Children's Museum! It is such a cool place and it has changed SO much since I went there years ago! Junior's two favorite things were the science ball area and the fire engine! It didn't take much to please him! Here are a few pictures!

This was his favorite fire truck!

He liked this piano too...you could push the buttons and it would light up on the big screen!

I love this picture of Junior trying to grab the ball that was being held up by the stream of air!

Whoops!
Then, this weekend Jen, Mike, Erich and I took Jaimie out for her birthday! She's 23, but it was intended to be a 21st birthday party that she never really had!

Erich and I at Roja!

Jaimie enjoying her margarita at Roja!

Sisters!

And....FINALLY....

Erich and I went to see the musical Wicked last night with his mom, sister and sister's boyfriend Kyle...and, well...it was AMAZING! I was entertained the WHOLE time and it did not seem like three hours had went by at all! I wanted to get Erich and my picture under the Orpheum sign, but we were not able too. I was not able to take picutres during the performance, but I did get this picture of the set...what a teaser for those of you who have not seen it! (and proof of the not-so-good-seats we had!) Ah, I just cannot say enough! It was WONDERFUL!

The Orpheum is such beautiful place!

Well, I guess I have learned my lesson in waiting forever to post about events! This has taken me way too long to write! Lesson learned!

So right...

Things have just felt so right for me recently....

I am finishing school in around six months.

I am so incredibly in love with such an amazing man...words simply cannot describe how amazing he is...

I have the best sisters a girl could as for. (and the best nephew too!)

I have the most amazing friends who have been there for me through it all...the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

I am just a really, really lucky girl :)