My new adventures!

Since my last post, so many things have happened! The last time I said anything, I had just passed my Praxis test to get into the Master's program at WOU. Well, I am now in my final term of the MAT program! Every day is quite an adventure for me. My program began in January, with many classes on campus, and observing in a classroom. I moved onto my second term, where I took over teaching one Spanish 1 class. After term two, I had summer term, which was an adventure.... But I made it through! And now I am doing full-time student teaching! I teach two first year Spanish classes, and two second year Spanish classes. My mentor teacher is a wonderful teacher, and has taught me more about teaching than I ever expected! He has also given me a lot of spiritual guidance, which has been a major perk as well!

On top of student teaching, Mike and I have been going through some big changes as well. Mike did not have his contract renewed through Salem Keizer school district, so beginning in September, my hubby is a substitute again! We have come to realize that this is all a part of a bigger plan- Mike is now working on finishing up his Masters in Education (MS in Ed). He should be done by June. My hope is that with the completion of his MS, and also getting his Health endorsement, he will be more marketable and we will be able to find jobs in the Portland area, much closer to our families! We will miss our friends and family here, but if it is in the plan, we are ready to go!

The other big news in both our families is that in December, my sister has the sweetest baby boy, our nephew, Keegan Ajax! We are SO in love with him! We then found out in May that our sister in law, Elise, is pregnant with twin boys! We are so excited to welcome them into our family some time in December! Then, to top that off, in August, we found out my sister Jennifer is pregnant for the second time (a complete surprise!) and we could not be MORE excited to meet this baby in April! Life is so full of blessings right now!

By the way....

OH YEAH!!! I passed my test!!! Finally! I needed a 161 to qualify as a teacher in the State of Oregon, and the first 3 times I took it I got a 155. Great if I lived in Arkansas or Alaska, but not so great for an Oregon teacher... Lo and behold, this last time (#4!!), I FINALLY got a qualifying score!! Thank the LORD!!! I'm finally done taking the most useless test on the planet, AND I get to start my Master's degree in January!! I don't know why or how this is, but I am SUPER stoked to be back in college! AhhhH!!!! Must be the crazy in me...

Quilt Number 2!!!

Introducing... the second quilt I've ever made! My mother-in-law decided that it would be in Elise (my sister-in-law) and my best interest to take a quilting class, so she signed us up! Thank GOD for that because we have learned so much!!! The class was 'Beginning Quilting 101' and was at "Let's Quilt!" in Oregon City. It was one Thursday a week for a month, and the goal was that in the 4 weeks worth of class, we would be able to make an entire quilt! And, not just a wall-hanging size one either.. No, it's bigger than a twin! Well, guess what! We did it!!! The quilt here is again the same pattern, but very different fabrics. It is called a Nine-patch and rail quilt. Elise and I worked our BUTTS off each week to complete these and we are so proud of the work we did!!! My mom will be getting mine for her birthday in October. In fact, tomorrow I am going to my mother-in-law's house to start the finishing touches (machine quilting, backing, binding). The next quilt I'm working on is a quilt for my sweet baby nephew-on-the-way! It is going to be absolutely the snuggliest sweetest quilt ever! Sorry sis! No peeking! Also, Elise and I signed up for a second class, that starts on September 10th! We are going to be making a "Martha Washington Star Quilt". Mine is going to be made out of Christmas fabrics. I'll post pics of the fabric soon so you can all see the quilt from start to finish. So anyways, check out my pictures below and let me know what you think!!!

Quilting

Last October, my Sister In-Law Elise and I decided we would like to learn to quilt! Mike's Stepmother, Claudia, is an amazing quilter, and in fact, taught Mike's mom to quilt before she passed away in November of 2002. We thought it would be an honor to be taught by her, and asked if she would help us out! She agreed, and we began our first quilting project. We decided we would both do the exact same quilt pattern, but just use very different fabric. We went shopping in the "Shop of Claudia" (she has more fabric than anyone could imagine!) and both picked out very unique Batik fabrics. Mine were incredibly bright and almost tie-dyed looking. Elise chose darker, more subdued colors. For a few weeks, once a week we would meet at Claudia and Paul's house and work away! Neither of us had sewing machines yet, so we shared Claudia's machine and even got to use Claudia's mother Ann's antique Singer. After a short while, we were done! Check out my work below:

Pics of my accident

Here are some pics from my car accident!

Crashing my car... Not a good idea!

Last Tuesday, July 7th, I crashed my beautiful new car, a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser. Gasp! So here's how it went down... I went to my friend Mindy's to pick her up so we could go run errands for Vacation Bible School (yes I crashed my car while running errands for God!) And we were on our way to the Dollar Tree. Well, on the right hand side of River Road in Keizer, they are building a Sonic. So, I looked to the right to see the construction for a split second, and when I looked back, I was in the backseat of this guy's car. There was just NO time to even stop! It all happened so fast! The airbags didn't deploy, so Mindy and I immediately tried to get out of the car because Mindy's 6 month old son, Sylas, was in the backseat and we needed to get to him! Lo and behold however, due to the way the car crumpled, we could barely get the doors open! Talk about the most terrifying 20 seconds of my life! We managed to shove open the doors and get Sylas out of the car, (who THANK GOD was okay, and laughing and happy within minutes) and within seconds, the police were there.

The man I hit pulled about 3 car lengths ahead, and immediately ran back to me to see if I had insurance! Uh yes buddy, I have insurance! Now go comfort your daughter who is standing there crying! Talk about insensitive! Ambulances showed up, as did the fire department. They took our vitals and Mindy and I both declined to be transported by ambulance to the hospital. The guy who I hit, aka MOOCH, originally claimed he was okay. He was picking up his young daughter (who happened to be sitting in the FRONT seat in a booster), and moving about apparently pain free. However, once his wife got to the scene, he began limping and claiming he was hurt and needed to be taken in the ambulance. Right... Well, unfortunately, I couldn't get a hold of Mike, so I called my mom who came to get me immediately. Right before leaving the scene, the officer came up and slapped me with a ticket for "Careless Driving" $427! I don't think I was carelessly driving- I think I just got distracted for a split second and the guy stopped. I also never saw his brake lights. So I will be fighting that one in court. Wish me luck. Anyways, my mom took one look at my bruising and saw me limping and said, we're going to the hospital!

At the hospital, they took x-rays of my knee that I hit underneath the steering column. Fortunately nothing was broken, but the ER doc who looked at me for a total of 4 seconds, so he wouldn't have diagnosed anything but a broken bone anyways. He set me up with some Percocet and told me to ice my knee and see my regular doctor.

The car is in pretty bad shape, and had to be towed to Kadel's Auto Body in Salem. I got a call today, and they aren't going to total it, but the damage is over $7000! I guess my car did exactly what it was designed to do though, so the repairs are very common and easy. I also went to my doctor today, who said that I have "Patellar Tendonitis" or, "Jumper's Knee" Here is more info:

The kneecap (patella) is a small bone in the front of the knee. It glides up and down a groove in the thigh bone (femur) as the knee bends and straightens. The patellar tendon is a thick, ropelike structure that connects the bottom of the patella to the top of the large shin bone (tibia). The powerful muscles on the front of the thigh, the quadriceps muscles, straighten the knee by pulling at the patellar tendon via the patella. Patellar tendinitis is the term used to describe inflammation of the patellar tendon. Patellar tendinitis usually occurs as a result of overdoing an activity and placing too much stress on the patellar tendon before it is strong enough to handle the stress. This overuse results in "micro tears" in the patellar tendon which leads to inflammation and pain. Over time damage to the patellar tendon can occur. In extreme cases, the patellar tendon may become damaged to the point of complete rupture.So yeah, that's everything in a nutshell...

I've posted pics for your viewing pleasure

Malcolm? Malcolm? Hello?

So last night in order to stop worrying so much about my score results (which I still have yet to receive, and now, after speaking with Malcolm, won't have until Monday...), I decided I would get a craft project or two to occupy my time. As well, with unemployment looming in my near future, I figured crafts might be a good way to fill up some of my time before I start the Master's Program...

Soooo... Last night, after an eventful trip to Joanne's Fabrics (where I used up a gift card from my sissy) and Michael's Craft Store (where we got some killer deals, including 25% off just because Mike is a teacher!!) with a VERY patient husband, this is what I created:

It's an adorable cork board!

I even made a bow!

Yep- check out the cute material!

If you want instructions, check out one of the blogs I follow- "Make it and love it"!

Or, if you REALLY want, and you smile pretty, I might be convinced to make one for you!

As well as making craft projects, I've been trying to get more organized in my life. My first step was to get a Butler purse. www.butlerbag.com Except, when I found out how much Butler purses cost, I almost cried. Almost. Until I found out that you can buy a Butler purse at K-Mart. A REAL one!!! It just isn't going to be leather. Which I was TOTALLY fine with. So, check out my new amazingly organized $20.99 purse!







Ahhh... See all the things one can accomplish when she is trying to avoid thinking about something else??? I love it!

Anyways, keep crossing those fingers and toes for a passing score! I should know Monday.