Montana.for.the.holidays

Coffee in hand...check. Completion of ALL graduate classes as of yesterday...check. Christmas shopping done...check. Plane ticket that will take me to God's country...Montana...on Sunday...CHECK! Staying in Montana for two whole weeks...check!

Let's be honest here, it does not get much better. I am continually grateful for my loving, selfless husband. He has to work through the 23rd and then Jeff and Matt will be making a 12+ hour drive to Montana, not arriving until the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Matt knows how anxious I am to be at home and bought me a plane ticket to fly home Sunday to spend the next week with my family doing nothing but enjoying the holidays and precious time with them! The last time my entire family was together was for the wedding and we had other things to focus on at that time :) Now, I can just relax and enjoy their company. Could not be more blessed!

On another note, I am done with graduate classes! I begin student teaching on January 17th at Lynnwood Elementary in a 2nd grade classroom and will graduate April 30th. The job search is already underway even with a few leads this time...I bet Matt is sure excited for the months to come that will involve a dual income :) Once again, he has been so supportive, encouraging, and willing to work hard for the both of us over these past four months...another true blessing to be able to focus solely on school. It has helped me learn so much more from my classes and I could not be more grateful.

Well, Matt and I are definitely in need for some sunshine. I'm relying on Montana for that even though it may be cold. We have had nothing but rain, rain, rain, and more rain. I'm not talking about the glooms and drizzle that Seattle is known for...I am talking about downpours, side swiping rains that has continued to knock the power out multiple times over the last week. Not to mention flooding and landslides...awesome Western Washington! We are learning to love Seattle and its mild temperatures though. Don't get me wrong, it's no Montana but we never run out of things to do and we don't have to worry about mild frostbite every time we step outside our front door.

Well, that's it for now, I'm off to pack and clean my house! Also getting ready for yet another engagement party for our sweet friends this Friday...tis the (engagement) season!

Thankful.in.D.C.

1 final down, 2 to go. Did I mention I will be DONE with classes as of December 16th?! I still have January-April to student teach (I was placed in the 2nd grade!) but at least I won't be logging on to MSUB's distance learning website 5 times a day. I can't wait! Well, let's see...December 9th...really, where does the time go?

We were fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Washington D.C. visiting my dad which was SO fun. The time went quickly as usual, but we managed to squeeze lots of fun in including: Holocaust Museum (not fun, but VERY interesting and sad), Capitol Building tour (personal tour courtesy of Senator Dorgen's intern), Washington Monument, American History Museum, Thanksgiving dinner :), a piano bar, sushi, etc...this list goes on and on! But those of you who know my dad can believe that we also did our fair share of sleeping in which was much needed! Here are some fun photos of that trip...

We got back from DC on the Sunday following Thanksgiving and then we took off Friday for Denver to visit the Haagensons! You may be thinking we see each other too often...which is probably true beings plane tickets are involved each time! But, it's totally worth it...good friends are few and far between :)

We leave two weeks from today to drive back to Montana for Christmas and cannot wait! Pray that the roads will cooperate for us...blah. I'm just going to drug myself and fall asleep in the back seat...leave the driving up to the boys! Before we leave, we have Matthew's 25th birthday to celebrate, classes to complete, and Christmas shopping to do...busy....busy...busy.

missing.our.blog

I know it's been a while but with Thanksgiving, Denver, and finals in my classes, I've been a busy girl...I'll post photos and stories of our recent fun travels soon!

Only TEN more days of school!