lately

Lately:
-- I have been spending a lot of time at Caribou Coffee. Fall flavors just came out.  An iced pumpkin spiced chai will be an attachment to my hands for the next few months.

-- Trying to stay out of my not air conditioned apartment. Thank you weather bug for the last few days in the 100s.
-- Just finished up my time in my first student teaching placement. I surprisingly didn't cry when I had to leave. I just was so blessed by this placement and know if I was staying in the area it is a school I would be extremely lucky to be a part of. The kids wrote me notes on my last day and my mentor teacher surprised me with a gift basket of things I will need in my classroom.

-- I get to go have a road trip with my man this weekend and make our way down to St. Louis for his cousins wedding. This is the beginning of a lot of traveling for me this Fall to go see some Truman Football!
-- I start my next student teaching placement on Tuesday in a grades 3-5 resource special education room. This will be extremely different from what I just finished, so YAY for a lot of experiences.
-- My friends and I booked MEXICO PART 2 for this upcoming New Years.  All of us from last year plus one more amazing girl are going! I am so excited and have been so blessed by the friendships of the older girls on my Drake team. They are friendships that are worth the distance. I love when we all do get to meet up and enjoy each other, it is always unforgettable. I will get to see them in Mexico, at my wedding, and then again 6 months later at my BFF lynn's wedding! It is going to be an awesome 2014.

This is us on our trip last year! 

-- I have been so excited to move to Kirksville and get things going. I know this is going to be so much fun to start fresh with my sweet groom and get to build up new relationships in a different town.
-- I have been failing on honeymoon planning, and wishing someone else would do it for me.
-- Wedding planning has been so much fun lately! A lot of talk about bridal shower and the night before the wedding and I cannot wait!!!
-- CROSSFIT. My roomies and I got memberships at a local crossfit gym thanks to Groupon and it is kicking our butts! It has been awesome and I can't wait to see more changes in my body because of this.
-- This has definitely been a few weeks of growth for me and I feel like the devil is taking every chance to make a stab at me. I know who holds my heart and that these roughies that are happening are just to strengthen me and I will use them to grow closer to God.

So there's my life in a nutshell. :)

He knew before I was born

I am someone who has to work really hard at a lot of things in life. I don't want this to sound like a pity party, just hang with me for a second. Things don't come naturally to me. Even softball, I love softball and it was a gift from God in my life. But I had to work hard to be decent at it. I wasn't a player who could show up and be great. I am creative, but not artistic. I can think of ideas but can't put them together. 

I am athletic, but not a freak athlete. I put in hours to try and make success happen. ETC-- ETC---

This is something I have dealt with and struggled with for a long time. 

BUT- I have finally found the thing that comes naturally to me. 

TEACHING

It comes easy.

It makes my heart happy.

I feel comfortable and confident.

I feel like I've been doing it my whole life.

My first week of bell to bell (full time) teaching had been so easy and natural. My teacher trusts me in her room and I have already been rated proficient on all my standards with another two weeks at this placement. To have something like this in my life is so rewarding and encouraging and something I can see myself doing the rest of my life. I know it will get hard. and like any job I will have bad days. I will struggle and sure I will fail. Like today when I showed up for the writing lesson without the book I was supposed to read. But what is important is how I was flexible and adjusted to the mistake and was able to laugh it off and move forward. I love working with the kids. I love being in first grade. I love laughing with them and dancing with them and watching a child's face when they get a star or a stamp on their paper because they finally mastered a skill they have been working on for two weeks.

AND the most amazing thing about it all?

God knew this was it. My whole life, even before I was born. God knew that in August 2013 he was going to reveal this to me. He knew he was going to place me with a mentor teacher who was a Christian and would bless us with such meaningful talks. He knew that I was going to spend my weekends at a coffee shop planning and being completely content with that. He knew that I was going to be obsessed with the planning and preparation part of teaching. He gifted me with organization and I have been waiting to use it like this my whole life.  He knew he was going to ease my heart and provide me so much joy.

And now he has shared this all with me and I know him more. Because I realize how much he knows my heart and cares for me and just ADORES ME. 

He loves us like no one else will ever be able to. 

He is good.

so long sweet summertime.

Summer officially ended for me about a month ago. But this weekend I got the pleasure to wrap up summer with my love in Des Moines. He reports to his last college football camp on Wednesday. SO I gladly will say SO LONG LAST SUMMER APART. Next summer we will finally get to be together and spend some awesome summer time together, which hasn't happened since high school. (crazy huh)

This weekend was so relaxing and fun and I want to share it with you all!

 

 

 

Here is a modge podge of pics from us at the fair. The one and only Iowa State Fair. I hope this is something Conrad and I can continue to come to and enjoy because the time spent together was so awesome. We don't get a lot of dates together and when we do it normally includes going out to dinner. But having a day wandering around the fair was just such a refreshing change of pace and it was a blast!

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

The food we ate:

- Bloody Mary

-Pickle Dawg (pickle, cream cheese, wrapped in ham, deep fried.)

- Tenderloin.

-Double bacon wrapped corn dog with syrup

- Red velvet funnel cake.

- Deep fried brownie 

Notice the last two pictures? Yep we got locked out. Well we thought we did. So luckily the back door was open but then we had to pry open this window and climb through. Later to find my key in my wallet which I have. 

Welcome to our life. I can't wait to share more stories like this, because our life is real, and entertaining. And a joyous ride.