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 :).  

3rd week of August

A few people have been asking me how our house is coming along... so... here is the latest picture:

It looks like it's made of concrete!  But... I guess that's what they put on it before the stucco.  I heard today they were putting the tile in, which I would really like to see.  Most of the home building process has gone along smoothly, except for the tile!  We've had to choose tile 3 times now.  For some reason every tile we choose gets discontinued by the manufacturer.  It's not Ivory's fault, but we did tell them to find a new tile place.  Although the tile has worked to our advantage, our realtor has felt bad about the little tile fiasco so he upgraded our tile to better tile for free (and by better that means bigger... 14x14 instead of 12x12 or something).

As of now the house is scheduled to be finished the 3rd week of August.  Which also happens to be the week of our anniversary.  Sounds like a great anniversary gift to me!  :)

In other news, I applied for a job and interviewed last week.  It's at the school right down the street from our new house.  I'm hoping to get it so I can just walk to work!  The interview went well, but I'm still waiting to hear from the principal.  I would basically be the reading specialist for the school.  I would work 3 hours a day with the lowest readers in the school (mostly grades k-3).  Sounds perfect to me :).  I would follow a reading program they have, but still have the flexibility to do some of my own lesson planning.  Let's hope it works out!

Bountiful Baskets

I'm pretty sure most of you have already heard about Bountiful Baskets, but if you've never heard about it, or you've never tried it, I wanted to give you a little more info!  We have done Bountiful Baskets twice and so far I have been really impressed.  I think it's a great way to eat healthy and save money.

Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op.  Basically when you buy a basket from them you are pooling your money with other people in order to buy the produce in bulk for a much cheaper price.  They also get their produce as local as possible.  Each basket you buy is 50% fruits and 50% vegetables.  It costs $15 (plus $1.50 handling fee) and is usually about half the price of what you would pay for all that produce in a regular grocery store.

This is what we got in our basket today (it's a lot... sometimes we split it with our friends):

strawberries, peaches, plums, mangoes, bananas, tomatoes, yams (or maybe sweet potatoes?), green beans, cantaloupe, english cucumber, lettuce, and celery.  Pretty good for just $15! 

It's always fun because you never know exactly what you are going to get in your basket.  I find they usually have a lot of common items and then they always throw in a few items I wouldn't normally buy (such as yams and i'm interested to try the peaches, they are called saucer peaches... shaped differently but supposedly taste just as good!)  So... if anyone has some good yam/sweet potato recipes, I'm gonna need it!  It's always a fun challenge trying to find ways to use all this produce.

It's pretty easy to order a basket.  Here's what you do...
1. On Monday or Tuesday (that's the only days you can purchase a basket) go to their website and make an account (bountifulbaskets.org).
2. Then choose a site where you would like to pick up your basket (most cities offer lots of locations and all pickups are for the following Saturday... oh and this is not just a Utah thing, lots of states have sites).
3. Choose exactly what you'd like to order (they also offer bread, tortillas, occasionally cookies, and specialty baskets like mexican packs or asian packs).
4. Then pay :) and save $$$$!
5. On Saturday morning head to the site you chose at the time specified and pick up your food!  Also remember you have to bring your own container to put your food in to bring home.  It's pretty simple and fun!  I highly recommend it!  If you have other questions you can check their website or ask me.

Also... notice the fruit bowl in my picture... we found that today for $3!  We were at this furniture store just browsing for fun and they had a table full of accessories they were clearing out for 3 bucks.  I was excited b/c I almost bought a fruit bowl at Ross once for $6 but ended up not getting it.  So happy I waited!  Who knew you could find cheaper than Ross????  Well it is possible!

opening day

So happy I got my Kneaders french toast this morning.  Of course we were there for opening day!  I thought it would be crazy busy, but it wasn't.  I guess the people of St. George just have no idea of the goodness yet... that or they all just get up really early for breakfast?  We got there at 8:30.

The french toast slices were even thicker than the Provo store.  Maybe they're just getting the hang of it, but hopefully they will always be that thick.  Dan took the healthy route and ordered an omelet... i was shocked... he ended up finishing my french toast for me anyway though.  

Hooray for Kneaders!  Oh and did i mention this morning when we went out it was only 71 degrees?  I'm thinking I need to start running my errands in the morning before it reaches 100....