Career: Service vs. $$$

I'm at the end of a rough week. Thankfully my weeks are only 4 days long. Lets just say my job satisfaction is not quite what it used to be (I hope my boss doesn't stumble across this). The same thing happened last year. I started off the school year incredibly excited about how rewarding it is to work with these kids, even though the pay is less than desirable. Around Halloween that feeling began to fade and by Thanksgiving I started looking at the calendar trying to figure how long I had until summer. I think this feeling comes about 5 months earlier for me than your typical public school employee. I still love the kids, but my caseload keeps rising, the paperwork is absolutely ridiculous, and I have a list a mile long of kids to test and qualify to add to that rising caseload. Oh, and due the # of children and the amount of paperwork involved with Special Education, I don't have time to see my kids as much as I'd like and do lesson plans to make sure I'm keeping them progressing at the rate I think they could go. There are so many kinks to the system. I understand why we have the system but the majority of the time I feel like the system gets in the way. Lets just say I'm not a fan of Government programs in general. I'm a Capitalist at heart, blame it on my upbringing.
I'm definitely grateful for my experience in the schools. I understand the system so much better now. I'm sure I'll be very grateful for that knowledge when our kids go through, especially if any of them are in need of Special Education services. I also have a much greater respect and admiration for teachers. They get put through the ringer and they keep coming back year after year. Hearts of gold. Plus they have the most AMAZING skills. I've seen teachers work wonders as they command classes of 26 first graders. They make it look so easy. I never have more than 4 at a time, and even then, I'm struggling. It's just amazing to me that these highly trained and skilled professionals who are shaping the next generation, are getting paid the way they do. It doesn't make any sense to me. One thing is for sure, no one goes into Education for the paycheck so you're weeding it down to those who are truly in it for 'the good of the children'. Once again, hearts of gold. Unfortunately, I'm realizing my heart isn't as pure as I hoped, and I'm okay with that. We'll leave the careers of selfless service to those who do it best. Trying to force that selflessness, just make people unsatisfied with their jobs. Case in point.

For Phil & Tiffany

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was a success! Nothing but good times. The week started on Wednesday for me since it was my first day off of work. What did I do all day? BAKE! This was my year to prove myself. I've never really been at my own home for Thanksgiving, thus, never had a kitchen to contribute much to the meal. This year I made the rolls and a pie. The rolls were a success, the pie....not so much. It looked delicious but tasted mediocre. It didn't really turn out as delicious as my friend Sara makes it. Oh well, we'll leave that one to her. Really though, why make any other pies on Thanksgiving besides pumpkin. Nothing beats a simple pumpkin pie.
On Thanksgiving morning, Dan and I played in a church Turkey Bowl. Fun stuff! Hopefully the Elders quorum isn't tired of me showing up to all their sporting activities. I kinda get a kick out of being the only girl playing football with 30 guys, especially when I can add an interception, tackle (I was going for the flag, but I ended up tackling him instead), and a touchdown. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that they don't guard me as tight at the begining. Once they realize I can actually play, they start laying on the defense a little tighter. At times, it was to the point where I was really getting hammered. I loved it!

We then got ready and headed out to the coast. It was a beautiful day, in fact, we had perfect weather all week. We hardly saw a cloud the whole time we were there.

During the 1 hour drive, Dan and I talked about the things we were grateful for this year. I think we could have gone for at least another hour and still not covered everything. We have been incredibly blessed this year. The blessing highest on my list is my relationship with my husband. We have come a long way in the 3 1/2 years we have been married and it keeps getting better. I'm grateful for him and the happiness he brings into my life. Love you babe!

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Dan's family at the beach house then all stayed for the next couple of days. Even with 8 kids running around, it was still the most relaxing place ever! We napped, read, played games, and watched movies the whole time. Oh, and we also hit the outlets. Here are a couple pictures from the inevidable naps following the Thanksgiving feast. Now that's a satisfied group. Thursday night games were the best. It involved silent football and catch phrase. You gotta love silent football when rules include "you can't thwack a thwack back" and "you can't shrug and umph" and punishments include 'sticking a chip with dip on your forehead for the next round' and 'sucking on your husbands toe for 10 seconds'. The last time we played silent football was my first trip up to Oregon to meet Dan's family. After playing this game I was confident I would enjoy being part of this family. I was right!

I also had lots of time to play with my camera and read my book about photography. It's a great one called "Understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson. The more I learn and practice, the more I realize I have a long way to go before my pictures start turning out the way I want them. Oh well, it wouldn't be a fun hobby if I was awesome at it from the beginning. Here are a few pics from the week. The lighting wasn't exactly what I wanted so I played with them a bit in photoshop. Hopefully I didn't botch them too much, remember, I'm still learning.

Rainy Days & Wetlands

Since we've been back from sunny Arizona we've had almost constant rain. Now don't go thinking this is a bad thing. It's actually pretty nice. I woke up this morning and layed there in bed listening to the rain on the roof. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I then left Dan sound asleep in bed and came downstairs. I sat on the couch and watched the rain fall outside my window. Everything was so quiet, clean, and fresh. What used to be so rare growing up is now almost a daily thing during the winter months. I love the NorthWest.

I'm amazed at how little the rain affects people here. On Friday night Dan and I drove up to Portland to eat and shop. Dan and I laughed that only in Oregon would we have a hard time finding parking on a rainy night at an outdoor mall. Of course there were plenty of complementary umbrella's available outside each store & restaurant. Now that I think about it, besides at this outdoor mall, I haven't really seen people use umbrellas. Honestly, everyone seems to carry on as if it were a nice sunny day. Most of the time the rain is falling so light that it feels more like a mister than actual rain. On Saturday I went to the bank and realized after getting back into my car that it was raining and I didn't do anything to protect myself from it. I just walked right through it without thinking. Looks like I'm becoming a true Oregonian!

Another fun rainy activity we did this weekend was we helped plant trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers in the protected wetlands area in our neighborhood. I use the term "we" very loosely. Dan's brothers and dad did most of the work while we were in AZ last weekend. They finished up the job on Friday so I strapped on my rain gear and went trudging through the swampy marsh with them. Unfortunately, by the time my hand was numb to the icy water, they were all finished. I would have enjoyed tromping through that water a little longer. I think they planted a few thousand plants in those wetland areas. In a few years, that area is going to be gorgeous. Thanks to all the tree huggers here and the land protection laws, Oregon will still be beautiful in spite of all the big bad developers;).

Hot AZ November

My little Annie Jo.

Dan and I just got back from a WONDERFUL weekend in Arizona. The two things that made this trip especially great... a rental car and comfy accommodations at my brothers house (our own bed and bath with the most comfortable bed EVER!). We always love going down to see friends and family but when you can have the flexibility of a car and the comfort of a private suite, it goes from good to REALLY good.

We were there from late Thursday night to Monday night. Perfect amount of time. Now for the recap:

On Friday we went to lunch with Dan's best friend from High School (Jen Wyeth) and her husband. We had a great time talking and catching up. Jen is probably the easiest person to talk with, how does she do it? However, when she told me she got into the coveted Wendy Schultz photography class I had to try REALLY hard not to hate her. I don't think I've ever felt so envious of anything in my life. She probably saw the jealousy rising in my face. Then I had to pretend I was really happy for her, lets hope she didn't see through my cover;). THEN, on Friday night we went to the Cheesecake Factory with my siblings and their spouses (and my nephew Jake, lucky kid). We all had a great time talking and eating. The cheesecake there is seriously my favorite dessert in the world.

On Saturday we spent part of the day out in the hot AZ sun watching my nephew Smith play flag football. Okay, I need to brag a little bit. His team is awesome! A few weeks ago they won a regional tournament (included Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, etc.) and this weekend his team is playing in a national tournament in Florida all expenses paid by the AZ Cardinals. I think they are at Disney World today and then they play all day tomorrow. What a cool experience for a 10 year old. I'm so glad we got the chance to watch him play while we were there.

On Saturday night we went to CPK with Hillary and Curtis Whalen. This is a true blogging success story... I hadn't seen or talked to her in about 4 years...until we found each others blogs a few months ago. We started catching up with each others lives and then found ourselves across the table talking like we hadn't missed a beat. I have always loved Hillary. Her husband is the greatest too. It was really fun to get to know him. Nothing but good things to say about that guy. We ended up going back to their house after dinner and talking until about 12:30am. I'm pretty sure we could have talked all night. Good times.

On Sunday we went to church at good 'ol 30th ward. It's always fun to go back to the ward you grew up in. We then went and saw Stacey (Adam) Rogers and her brand new little baby girl. She was the most beautiful little girl (9 days old). I'm kicking myself that I didn't take any pictures.

We then headed over to my brothers house for a FANTASTIC evening. All of my AZ family, including my two cousins and their families, gathered at my parents old house (my brother's current home). I think there were 26 kids and 12 adults, complete chaos, but OH so much fun. Now that's the part of AZ that I miss! I can never get enough of those kids.

Brimley is asking Santa for a trip to Oregon next summer to see her favorite Aunt and Uncle. I sure hope she was a good girl this year! We could probably pass that one off as my Christmas gift this year, love that girl!

On our last and final day of the AZ trip, we took advantage of the amazing shopping then topped it off with a little 'In-N-Out'. We made the rounds to say our goodbye's then headed back to OR. We've spent the week catching up and working off the weight we gained from all the delicious food we ate over the weekend. Now that's the sign of a good weekend.

Give me 3!

After great discussion about the wasteful use of our discretionary time, Dan and I have resolved to read more. So, I need some good book recommendations. In the last several years I haven't been much of a reader but I'm determined to change. I really enjoy historical fiction, interesting non-fiction, and anything based on good basic life principles (LOVED "The Good Earth"). I have to also say, I strongly dislike fantasy. I need 3 recommendations from all of you so I can compile a power list and start knocking them off. Do not take this request lightly, I have officially made it your responsibility to fill my mind with intriguing, mind-blowing, educational, and entertaining literature (no pressure). If you enjoyed it, maybe I will too. Top 3 books in your world, ready....GO!

3rd Street Halloween

Okay, one more post about Halloween. Every year, the city puts on a big Halloween Party. All of the businesses on main street (3rd St.) close down and pass out Halloween candy. The city blocks off the street and hundreds of little kids in costume show up to trick or treat. It's quite the event. Although Dan and I don't have any kids to parade around, we didn't want to miss out on the fun. We spent about an hour walking up and down 3rd street enjoying the ambiance. Third Street alone is a pleasant place to stroll but 3rd Street with hundreds of excited little trick or treaters is just plain entertainment.

The city puts on several of these type of events during the year. Examples include: a Christmas parade, the UFO Festival, Farmers Markets, Turkey Rama, Art Walks, etc. The whole city shows up, which creates an incredible sense of community. Plus, with a population of only 30,000, you're bound to see familiar faces. We ran into several of my students (which makes me feel like a celebrity), ward members, Dan's HS friends, work friends, and family (not only Dan's parents and 3 siblings (+ families) live here, but also several Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins - it's a really good thing they're all great people). The Olson Family - gotta love the mullet. Rex (the one on the right), Dan's cousin's kid.A random kid with an awesome costume.

This small town stuff is still pretty new and exciting to me. Hopefully in 15 years, I'll still be eager to head downtown to enjoy whatever festivities they have to offer.