Double Mission Call!

As most of you already know, Kyle and I both put our mission papers in. I received my call to the Florida Jacksonville mission in late July. Kyle received his mission call to the California Oakland Mission, Spanish speaking just this past week. I report to the MTC September 10th and Kyle October 29th. I am so excited to go, but also extremely anxious and scared. I feel ready but homesick and heartbroken. I miss Iowa and comfortability and Kyle already. How sad and pathetic is that? I know a mission is what I need to be doing right now, but the heart still aches. I could go on and on, blubbering like a baby but I won't. My life is changing fast. I leave in less than a month, and there seems to be a million and one things left to do. Wish me luck!

the summer after graduation

So this summer was a new and exciting adventure. Guy moved in with me in the end of May and made life interesting with his constant Good will stops on his bike. Amy came over most evenings and the three of us would just veg in front of the t.v. Then Kyle would get off work and the three of us would head to his much cooler apartment. There I would make dinner for the four of us and they would enjoy Mario kart and other fun games on the wii. I am not much of a video gamer, so I enjoyed my evenings cuddling with Ruby and reading a good book. (I read several books this summer, all of the Anne of Green Gables series.) This is how our lives went for a few weeks, then Guy got a job and amy was busy with work and I started my nanny job. From then on most evenings were just kyle and I. My job was fun. I nannied for a family with two children, a boy 11 and a girl 6. The family is from India, hence the picture of the Indian Hand art, henna. The grandma stayed for about a month and did the henna on my hand. It lasted for about 3 weeks. I taught "school" three times a week for an hour each, we did swimming lessons, weekly trips to the library for books and goods, Tuesday morning movies at the dollar theater, Friday afternoon movies at the Library and swimming and even bowling whenever we could fit it in.




Also, this summer, my brother Sam got married to his beautiful wife Amber. The first picture here is a picture Kyle and I took at the reception, obviously it was zoomed in too close, but I still really like it. The next picture is my cute family. Sam and Amber, Melissa and Morgan with son Eli, Emily and Pete, Gordon, Mom and Dad, Guy, Amy, me, Ginny and Beth. Such a nice little family.



After the reception, Kyle and I headed back up to Des Moines to go to Adventureland with the branch. I had so much fun. I loved all the rides and only wished the lines were shorter. We hung out with two of Kyle's friends from Boone, so it was nice to wait in line and chat with them. The next weekend Kyle and I met in Cedar Rapids to stay with some friends the Hansens. Kyle H and Jess met us down there too. Casey and Amber have a little pool behind their new home and we showed that pool more excitement then it will see all summer. The boys all took turns jumping off the small deck onto floatation devices. We have a lot of hilarious video of belly flops and leading with your butt. The six of us always have fun together and we have already scheduled a reunion party in November of 2010. Can't wait!

Graduation!

Well, as you can see, it has been a really long time since I blogged. I think after I graduated college, I decided that I really didn't need to do anything with my life. I surrendered to utter laziness for a few weeks.
So I graduated from Iowa State University on May 10, 2008. I am now a certified Special Education Elementary Teacher. Sounds pretty impressive, right? I didn't do anything for my graduation except have dinner with a few very special individuals (kyle, me, amy, mom, dad, pete and emily and kyle h, he took the pic). I didn't walk through with a gown and hat, I didn't care. I mean graduating from college is a big deal, but I was really just excited to be done. Done with student teaching, done with working at the Hawthorn and done with school work in general. Of course, I am a teacher, so the school work will never end. But I did want to blog just to commemorate the occasion.

THE END!

Today is my very last day as a student teacher. I am filled with many emotions. I am so happy to be done, I want to laugh. I am also sad to leave teaching behind. I have enjoyed it immensly. Teaching is something I always wanted to do but hadn't really experienced yet. I received great joy from teaching as well as frustration. But I can say with certainty, besides being a mom, this really is what I want to do when I grow up.

With the end of teaching comes thinking of the future. I feel confident in the direction I have chosen, but that doesn't mean I'm any less scared. My graduation is in two days. I will be finished with college. I can remember graduating high school and the anxiety that came when I thought about going to college. Being finished with college was the last thing on my mind. But now I'm here and I feel slightly emotionally unprepared.

After graduation, for the month of May, I have no idea what I am going to do. I will be a Special Education k-6 teacher. I could possibly substitute teach, since most schools will still be in session. But I honestly want to just lay low for a while. It may be irresponsible not to have a job but I feel like I have run long enough, I can take a little bit of time to catch my breath.

After May I would like to Nanny or in the least just find a job. At the end of the summer my lease will run up and I will once again be moving home. From home I will leave to go on a mission. I am excited about a mission and excited for the experiences I will have. I feel happy for seemingly having plans and aspirations. The only thing holding me back right now is my sorrow at leaving my best friend. I am filled with this inner voice that keeps telling me that my time is running out. It whispers to me to soak it all up, remember every happy moment, use my time wisely. It should be a blissful summer, but that will make the going even harder, and I'll miss him. But life goes on, things change. I have more adventure waiting just around the corner.

Thanks family and friends that supported me as I made it through those four years of college. Of course, I have graduated quite yet. :)

The Final Countdown!

  Well, folks the end is almost here.  I have literally seven days of teaching and seven days of work left.  Holy cow!  I can't wait for the sweet moment when I will finally be done.  Its been a good four years, but my time is drawing to a close.  This last month has been absolutely packed.  My schedule is still the same, teach all day and work until 8 or 8:30 four nights a week.  I have also added in the stress of getting my mission papers completed.  Why the time crunch, you may ask?  I lose insurance in two weeks.  At that point in time, all the doctor visits that are necessay would be way too expensive.  Now you wouldn't think going to the dentist and doctor would be that big of a deal, but as Kyle so clearly stated today, I am simply a baby in these matters.  I was explaining to him that I was hungry because I only ate about two bites of my lunch because I was so nervous for my 3:00 doctor's appointment.  Last week I went to the dentist and the morning of was spent in at least ten minutes in tears on the phone to my mom.  That's what mom's are there for, so their 22 year old daughters can call and cry about going to the dentist.  Seriously people,  I have an irrational fear.  Anyway, I go to the dentist again tomorrow for the inevitable fillings I will receive and I go back to the doctor's on Wednesday for test results.  Then on Thursday the day before I graduate, it is one more visit to the dentist to have my one and only wisdom tooth removed.  If that tooth ever gave me any wisdom, it will be gone soon.  And while I vent to you all about my hard life, there are three boys in the livingroom playing Nintendo Wii Mario Cart.  What a life. I love it.  Have a good day everyone, and I'll let you know how the rest of my semester ends up.  Love ya.

Kyle's Birthday Celebration!

I'm sorry to say that Kyle's Birthday was several weeks ago and I am just now getting some pictures up.

We had a great time together when Terry, TT and Katy made the trip down to help celebrate Kyle's birthday on a Saturday evening, just four days after the actual event. Kyle's actual birthday was pretty sad. I had to work, and poor Kyle was left by himself for most of the evening. I did come home eventually and promptly threw in a frozen pizza for dinner. What a sad state of affairs! He did appreciate hearing from several family members who remembered what special day it was. Saturday turned out to be much better. We celebrated at Red Lobster and as always, it was quite the experience. I always find it amazing. And Kyle and I have now been there three times together, these are the only three times ever. This just added to the excitement of Kent's gift. Thanks Kent and Kate and Afton! On top of the great dinner, Kyle also ended up with a nice jello cake and a lovely evening. The following pictures are just a few from the happy event. Of course, I had to put Kyle and I at the top. It actually is my blog, if you forgot. :) Thanks everyone! We love you all!