House!!!

I posted pictures of our house on facebook, but some of my readers aren't on facebook, so I wanted to post them here too (some of these pics I didn't even post on f-book, actually).  We are seriously just SO happy with how our house turned out.  It is exactly what we wanted.  I honestly can't say enough good things about Ivory Homes.  We had such a great building experience (I've heard building a home can be a horrible experience, but it was great for us)!  I don't know about Ivory in Northern Utah, but we have loved working with them down here.

I call it "our" house, but technically we close on Tuesday.  Then it will really be ours.  We are so excited to move!  I think I'm most excited to no longer share walls and to have a garage.  I am really done carrying 10 bags of groceries up 20 stairs each week!

Now for the pics...

Master Bath... can't wait to try out the garden tub!

Other side of the master bath with the little toilet room.

Master bedroom.

The great room & stairs leading to our unfinished basement.

Kitchen!  Probably my most favorite room :) fridge will be there Friday.

Kitchen/Dining area.

Entry way.

Guest bath.

Guest bedroom.

Can't believe 3 months ago this used to be an empty dirt lot!

Side of the house & fence.

Backyard.  Our yard is the nice flat part :)

I will post pictures once we're all moved in and it's all decorated too.  I just ordered a new bedspread I'm excited about.  It's going to be such a busy but great week!

Life is Good!

Everyone has been asking how my new job is going and it's good!  So far I am really liking it.  Last week I helped out in the special ed. classroom b/c the kindergartners had not started yet.  I had a lot of fun working with this one 3rd grade girl.  She is really cute and we have become good friends.  I will still get to see her every day because I am always her lunch buddy.  On Friday we even had a princess party with the 2 girls that were there.  We watched "Tangled", made necklaces, and colored Disney Princesses.  The whole time I was thinking "I actually get paid for this???"

Today I spent my time in the kindergarten with the kids I will be helping from now on.  I help one little boy in a wheelchair get around the classroom and the rest of my time is spent as an aid helping out the whole class.  The day went well and I'm excited to get to know the kindergartners better.

I am loving working just part time!  The hours are really fabulous.  It's so nice to be able to come home and relax (and sometimes clean & run errands).  It is exactly what I wanted.  I can't wait til we move and I can walk to work!

As for our house, it is going to be done this week!  We checked it out yesterday and the inside is basically finished.  They are now working on the landscaping.  We do our final walk through on Friday to make sure everything is how we want it.  We are getting so excited!  I think our plan is to move Labor Day weekend.

I know I already posted about it, but we had a great anniversary!  The restaurant we went to was awesome.  We loved it.  It's a steakhouse but they also have fondue.  Dan got steak and I got shrimp and scallops.  We cooked them on these 700 degree rocks at our table.  It's neat because every bite is warm and you can cook your food to the doneness that you want.  We also tried the chocolate fondue and loved it!  I think next time I just want to go for the fondue :).

Dan cooking his steak.

Yummy fondue!!!

We've been super busy lately, actually.  Just this past weekend we had some good friends stay with us and we all went to Zions together.  It was an awesome trip!  I will have to post pictures soon.  Other than that we are just focusing on working and moving.

3 years!

Happy 3 years to us!  I can't believe it has already been 3 years.  The time has gone by so fast.  We are still so happy and in love!  Maybe even more in love now than we were on our wedding day :).  You know how in young women's they always make you list those qualities you want in your future husband?  I feel like Dan is all of the qualities I could have ever wanted and more.  I don't know how I got so lucky, but he really is perfect for me.  Dan, you are amazing! Thanks for all you do for us!  You are truly my best friend. I love you soooo much!  Forever! :)  

We are celebrating tonight by going to a yummy fondue/steakhouse we've never been to.  It's not a place we would normally go to (b/c of the price tag)... so we're excited to try it out!  And our present this year is our new house.  I can't think of a much better present than that!

new job

I got a job!  Since I moved here during the middle of last school year, I decided to wait until this school year to find a job.  As much fun as sitting around the house trying to stay busy for the last 7 months have been (ok I really actually have stayed pretty busy... thanks to all our great visitors!), I am looking forward to a change in my routine.

I knew I really wanted to work at the school near our new house because I liked the idea of being able to walk/bike to work (especially here where I don't have to worry about cold/snow days).  Plus it's a great way to get some exercise!  Last year I got very sick of the 25 min. drive to the school I worked at, so for me proximity was a high priority.

After checking the Washington School District (only school district down here) website almost daily, I finally saw a posting at that elementary (it's called Bloomington Hills, in case you are curious).  I was super excited!  It was to be a reading specialist and work with all of the low readers.  I applied and just a few days later got a call from the principal.  I had an interview and felt it went really well.  I really got along with the principal (probably b/c we have the same name) and she told me I would definitely be hearing from her.

A few days later the principal called me and mentioned she had a new position open up.  It was to help in the kindergarten.  Since I already had experience in a kindergarten she thought I might be interested in the position (which I was).  We discussed it a little further and she told me I had to turn in another application (kind of ridiculous, but still had to do the district procedure).  Last week I turned in the application and finally today I heard I got the job!  I figured if the principal called me and told me to apply, then I would get the job.  But it was still nice to officially hear an offer from them.

I will be working in both morning kindergarten classes, but will probably focus more on the kindergarten class with the special ed kids.  I will only work about 3 hours each day.  Sounds so perfect to me and is exactly what I wanted!  I will be done by noon every day and even earlier on Fridays.

I know a lot of people wonder why I haven't applied to be a real teacher.  I do have a degree and a valid teaching license, but I have never really had the desire to be a full time elementary teacher.  I actually went into Early Childhood Education thinking one day I would teach my own preschool.  I still do want to do that, but I'm thinking I'll have to wait until our basement is finished before I try to teach preschool out of our home.  For now aid jobs are perfect for me.  I enjoy being in the schools and working with the kids, but I still have free time to pursue other interests.  In fact I'm already thinking of taking photography classes in the fall and possibly even starting a little craft business where I sell crafts at the local outdoor market.

And I'm sure even more people wonder why we don't have kids yet (although a lot of you already know)... believe me, we would LOVE to have kids.  We just haven't been able to yet, but we're working on growing our family and are seeing a doctor to hopefully help us work towards that goal too.  I guess I don't really have to explain myself, but now you know.  So yes, I am having to come up with a Plan B for my life.  I never planned on working much, so it's been interesting trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with my life.

Lots of changes coming my way!  Can't wait to be in a new house with a new job :).