That was Unexpected...

We just had an earthquake! I was in the middle of a client conference call when I noticed the floor was shifting. Creepy! It lasted for about 5 minutes, but don't worry Mom, we aren't hurt!

My Primary Kids

I've blogged a few times about my adorable Primary class and I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite drawings and letters from them. This first picture is from Mark Virgo, one of my favorite students. He drew a picture of me, Mike and himself. (Mike is the tall one with swirls around his face to signify his bushy sideburns.) Mark sheepishly gave this to me on my last Sunday along with a hug. Even though I'll see Mark (his mom is my close friend) it makes me sad that I won't be able to be his teacher anymore. Oh...on a side note, Mike and I thought it was funny that Mark remembered to draw Mike's hand on his head. Mike places a hand on the kids' head if he is saying hi or trying to clam them down in class.

This letter is from David, another great student. He was baptized while I was his teacher and he asked me to speak at his baptism. I tried to make my talk interesting by bringing a hard-boiled egg and coloring with a crayon on the shell. While talking about how baptism cleans our "slates" I cracked the egg to show how our sins will disappear. So, the next Sunday, David gave me this note.

The next picture is from Linda and the last two pictures is the letter Mark gave to our Bishop asking for us to stay in the ward. I had such a great time being a Primary teacher and I love each of my little kids!

A Little Bit of This ... A Little Bit of That

Lately my blog has been having a bit of an identity crisis. I can't decide on a background, but I think I'm staying with this one. I guess only time will truly tell.

This weekend has been great! I was able to pack, spend time with the girls and hang out with Mike. Saturday morning, I went to a shopping event and invited my girl friends Michele, her daughter Heather, my sis-in-law Rachel and our cousin Micayla. I mainly went to introduce Michele and Heather into the shopping event world, but we were all able to find some amazing deals. Cute shirts for $5, make-up for $10 and jewelry for $10. All in all, we had so much fun together and found great deals. If anyone is interested in these kinds of events, here are links to 2 companies that I like. They travel nation-wide and it is a ton of fun! http://girlsnightout.sheckys.com
www.fashiondaysoiree.com

Moving on, Mike and I packed up more of our stuff this weekend and we are almost done. Yippee! We are planning on moving out Wednesday with help from friends and family. Thanks guys! I'm excited to start moving in and making the house our new home. Plus, after this move, the stress level for Mike and I should go way down. Thank goodness! I've been afraid gray hairs would pop up due to my stress...that would have just made my day.

Sunday was our last day in our old ward. I had to say good-bye to all my Primary kids and I got hugs and drawings from everyone. Mark (Michele's son) made me a picture of him, me and Mike together. It was adorable. Especially the drawing of Mike, with swirls around his face to signify his bushy side-burns. He looked like a bush man in the drawing. I'm definitely going to take a picture and post it on our blog!

Mike and I were so pooped-out from our weekend that we ended each night with a movie that we barely finished. I am so happy that I have a calm, level-headed husband to help me focus during this chaotic time. We are both excited for this weekend to roll around! By that time, our moving will be done, we won't live above a smoker and Mike can work on his car in "his" garage while I decorate our house (one of my favorite things to do.) Plus...we won't have to save our quarters for laundry anymore! I can do laundry any time I want. I can't wait!

Never-Ending Packing...

I hope when you read that headline you are singing the Never Ending Theme song! Moving on... it has felt like months since my last post and this post will probably be a mish-mash of thoughts. This last week has been so abnormal for me.

First of all, my bosses have been out of town, which leaves me in charge. It has been pretty cool and I was able to handle things and still find the time to do some mass packing. Because our programmers are able to work from home, there was no huge reason for me to stay in the office. I was able to forward all work calls to my cell phone and set up my computer at home. When I had to call clients, they had no clue I was calling them in my pajamas from my apartment. (Muhaha...sneaky, sneaky!) It was totally different from what I was use to, but I liked it! It helped me see that when kids eventually come along for me and Mike, I still have the option to work from home.

With my new found freedom for the week, I was able to split my time between work and packing. And to be honest...this flexible schedule couldn't have come at a better time and really has been a blessing. I've been able to pack up most of our room and living room. The only thing left is the big stuff (which is Mike's job), the office and the kitchen. Not too shabby considering we are moving out in a week. Mike also has been moving boxes over to the new place's garage on his way to work, so the stress is beginning to ease up and I'm more confident that we will be ready to move in at the end of the month. Thank goodness!

In other news, my friend Michele has signed-up as a volunteer for a program called Ride to Fly; which is a program that helps disabled people learn how to ride horses. She has been taking lessons from an instructor, but hasn't seemed to fully understand her teacher's advice and it has affected her confidence. Anyone who has been around horses knows you need that rock-solid confidence if you are going to be able to control the horse. Anyways...getting to the point, she asked me if I would be willing to become her instructor. After a few tips I gave her, she felt more confident and wants me to teach her from now on. I thought this request was pretty cool! I've grown up with horses and it was great to have those memories flood back! Horse-back riding was a hobby that my mom and I shared together. I have some of the best memories with my mom and horses. Well, the bottom line of this story is ... (drum-roll please) ... I'm going to get back into horse-back riding and become Michele's teacher as well as a volunteer for the Ride to Fly program! I'm pretty excited and we will see how it all goes.

The Packing has Begun

It is official. I packed the first 3 boxes! Only 100 more to go. I think this seriously will take the whole month! I had no idea we had so much stuff.

Boston Bound!

I am so excited! Mike and I are going to take a trip to Boston to visit Adam and Marci for Labor Day weekend. We are going to spend 5 days with them, so that might be considered a Labor Day week.

I can hardly wait to hang out with them. I haven't seen either of them since the wedding and I'm feeling the brother/sister void.

Adam, Marci and I are old travel buddies. After I graduated from college, I went to Germany to visit them. (They were living there at the time.) We all went to Austria and Paris together and Marci and I went on a tour throughout Germany. So we are all pros at this.

But the one thing that is puzzling me is the fact that I have no clue what to do in Boston. Museums? Attractions? Events? Restaurants? I have no clue what is worth seeing. I'm open to suggestions, so please ... let me know what is worth a visit over there.

4th of July Weekend

Our 4th of July weekend was pretty busy and the one thing Mike and I learned was the fact that we are not 10 years old anymore. Let me explain...on Friday, Mike, Rachel (Mike's Sister), Sean (Rachel's boyfriend) and I went to Pismo Beach to meet up with Mike's friend Josh and his family. The plan was to go 4-wheeling in the sand dune areas, but as fate would have it, we didn't get that chance.

It took us 3 hours to drive to Pismo Beach and when we got there, Josh's family was having a crisis thanks to the Pismo Beach police. Their trailer with all their gas, food and essentials was impounded and they couldn't get it back! So, when we got there, we took a walk on the beach and decided to head home after an hour. Might I add ... the wind was so fierce that day, we all felt like our bodies were exfoliated by the sand whipping around. So, another 3 hours home and Mike and I were exhausted. We fell asleep instead of going to the firework show. How lame are we! But honestly...you see one firework show, you see them all.

Saturday, Mike and I went to Knottsberry Farm for the day. We got there right when it opened and NO one was there! We were able to ride all the rides in an hour! We thought no lines would be sweet, but Knotts has some ridiculously fast and jolting rides. We found out the hard way that we were not 10 anymore. After 4 rides in a row, we needed a break from the twisting, turning and flipping! Our stomachs couldn't handle it anymore. But, we were able to do all the rides at Knotts and leave by 1:30! (And thanks to my magnificent skills, we didn't have to buy the food there. I packed really yummy lunches!)

After Knotts, we went home and changed for dinner with Mike's boss, Camille and his family. We went to a great seafood restaurant! After dinner, we took a scenic drive down PCH, but the problem was ... everyone else was taking the same drive, so it turned into a creep instead of a drive.

Sunday, I asked Mike to help out with my Primary class. (I had 10 kids! They are multiplying on me!) The kids love it when Mike comes to help. (Mainly because he acts like one of them half the time, but honestly, who doesn't love Mike?) But, the main reason he came into my class was to tell my kids that we are moving and I'll no longer be there teacher come August. They were pretty broken up about it. (That's why Mike told them). One of my kids, Mark, even wrote a letter to the Bishop asking if we can stay in the ward and still be his teacher. It was adorable and Mark is the same student that wrote my name place card that I blogged about a while ago.

So, even though our weekend didn't turn out exactly how we thought, we still had fun together! I'm so happy I have a fun, mischievous and happy-go-lucky husband that makes my weekends interesting.

We are Moving!

It is official! We are moving into a house we found for rent! We are out of our apartment by the end of the month. AHHH!! Our move isn't huge...we are actually just moving across town. Even though Mike and I love our apartment now, we felt it was time to move. And now I don't have to deal with our creepy smoker below us and Mike gets a garage to tinker on his cars.

The one sad thing about moving is that we are in different church boundaries and I will no longer be teaching my cute primary kids. I was bummed about that, but the possibility to decorate a house and have a little yard eased my pain. And as pointed out by my sister-in-law Marci, I will definitely take before and after pictures for all to see! Wish me luck in packing everything. Ugh!