The Results Are In

As many of you know, Travis and I spent the month of January studying and taking exams.  Travis completed his residency and had two tests to take in order to certify.  The first one was a written portion that he took in November.  The second one he flew to Texas to take the practical portion where they were given hands on situations.  He was more stressed about this one, but I knew he would do fine.

We waited and waited and we finally heard back.  HE PASSED!!!  That means that he is official now.  He even gets fancy letters after his name now.  I am so proud of him!

Mine isn't as exciting, but I also found out that I passed my exam!  That just means that I can now apply for my Ohio teaching license.  Ohio has different requirements than Utah and this test was the only thing holding me back from getting my license here.  Now I can get a full-time position (except they keep laying off teachers because of budget shortages).

Can't Wait!

Lately when I wake up in the morning I am automatically in a good mood.  I have been trying to figure out why I have been so happy and it finally hit me...my body thinks it is almost summer.  You see, this past week the weather has been beautiful (at least up until yesterday)!  I wake up each morning to birds chirping and I love it! 

My conclusion is that this weather reminds me of two summers ago.  I lived in the Blue House by Brick Oven and I woke up to birds chirping everyday.  I had the most adorable roommates ever, I loved the house, and it was the peak of dating Travis (he left that fall to come to Ohio while I stayed in Utah to teach).  Travis would come over everyday and he often had beautiful roses in his hand.  We would then go out and do something fun.  That summer we went rock climbing, biking, canoeing, camping, swimming, hiking, boating, road trips, etc.  We were outside almost everyday doing something active.  It was one of the best summers of my life!

So, I wake up every morning happy because I can't wait for the fun things that we are going to do this summer!  I love the free feeling of summer!  I love being active!  I love being in the sun!  I love being tan!  And I love doing anything with Travis because I love him!

Here are a few pictures from that summer!

Family Reunion in North Carolina:

 Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

 Antelope Canyon, Arizona

 Boating with the Mullens at Utah Lake

 

Canoeing in Provo

Letterboxing

This past weekend, the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!  Travis and I wanted to take advantage of it so we decided to spend the day outdoors.  As we were trying to figure out what to do, my mind was drawn back to when we first started dating.  Travis introduced me to Letterboxing.  We went several times when we were first starting to date, but we haven't been since then. 

For those of you that have never heard of it, I have heard it is like geo-cashing.  You go online and get directions to the different spots.  To find the letterbox, you follow directions that use paces as measurements and landmarks as clues.  They vary in difficulty and length.  You can find letterboxes all over the United States.  Once you find the letterbox, you stamp and sign the book that is inside to prove that you found it.  Then there is a stamp inside the box that you get to stamp into your book.  This is so you can keep track of the places you have been.  Each stamp is unique and hand carved (most of the time).  It is actually really fun and exciting to find the boxes.

This past weekend, the letterboxes that we found were at John Bryan State Park.  We loved walking on the trails and enjoying the great outdoors.  We plan on going back to the park when the ground isn't as soggy.  It is also a cute little town to go visit. 

This is the covered bridge that we ate by.  

 Of course we had to get one of Travis being daring.  I just hope he never loses his balance!

The Season for Baby Showers

The other night, I went to my friend Leisy's baby shower.  Most of the evening was spent talking about pregnancy, the ups and the downs, baby names, different sicknesses during pregnancy, deliveries and so on.  I loved being there with all of the girls, but I didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. 

Towards the end of the night, I was talking with Aleese and as I looked around, I realized that I was the only one there that was NOT pregnant.  I couldn't help but laugh at the situation.  Right now, there are 13 women at church that are pregnant.  That is an insane amount!  There are also several that are trying to adopt and a couple that just had a baby.  There is only one other couple that does not have kids/not pregnant.  The next couple months are going to be full of baby showers.  I better learn how to make a diaper cake now.

14 Questions for Valentine's Day

This post is for the comment that asked for the update.  I just haven't had a lot going on lately to write about.  I also thought my mom was the only one that reads my blog.  So here is a new post for you!  My friend Marjorie did this same questionnaire and asked all her blogging friends to do the same. 

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Our first date was December 2009, so 2 years and 2 months

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

I first saw Travis in an institute class and I referred to him as the cute blonde boy.  Later, we were introduced to each other by our friend Caleb, but it never went anywhere.  It wasn't until he moved into my ward and we were in the same family home evening group that we actually became friends.  The rest is history. 

3. If married, how long have you been married?

7 months!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married in the Washington DC temple.  It was a small wedding with just our family and close friends.

 5. Do you have any nicknames that you call one another?

We are working on that.  Mostly we just call each other babe.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He takes really good care of me when I am sick.

We can laugh together.

He is a very hard worker.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

It is a long story.  Here is my version and his.  He is a better writer than me, so I would read his. 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He is the romantic one.  I would say strawberries, sparkling cider and rose petals.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

For Valentine's Day...sunset dinner on the beach.  Our normal date is watching a movie on the couch. 

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

My dream is to go to Tahiti!  I would love to go and relax there with Travis!  Beautiful place!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. 

I will write about our Valentine's day later.  We will probably do something this weekend too!  He proposed to me this time last year!

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

No

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. 

I don't have a long time of experience, but my advice would be to laugh often.  Laugh with each other, laugh often, and laugh instead of getting mad!

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Movie Night

For those of you that don't know, I work with the 12-13 year old girls at church.  A couple of the girls have been asking to have a get-to-know you night because we have had several girls join our class lately.  Well, do you know what that means?  I kicked Travis out and hosted a get-to-know you/movie night.  There were 8 girls, another leader and her baby that came to my little apartment.  Travis was worried that we wouldn't have room for all the girls to sit, but you decided.

This was the most eventful night I have had in a while.  We ate pizza, watched Enchanted, played fruit basket turnover, murder in the dark, and of course socialized and laughed!  Oh what it would be like to have as much energy as they did!  There was not a quiet moment all night!  I forgot what it was  like to be a teenager, but they reminded me quickly.  Teenagers love to talk, laugh, squeal, and they never sit still!  I loved every minute of it, but I flopped in to bed as soon as they left because I was so tired.

They have decided that they want to do a get-together every month because they had so much fun.  I vote a bigger house next time!  (or maybe I can convince Travis that we NEED to buy a house now)

Substituting

Substituting is waaaaay different than teaching your own class.  I have really tried to get as much as I can out of this experience.  Some days I love it, but other days I hate it and just want my own class again.  Today was a day that I loved, so I decided that I would make a list of things I love about substituting.

• I get to see a lot of different daily routines.
• I get to see a lot of different management strategies.
• I get to see a lot of different reward systems.
• I get a lot of new ideas on how to teach a specific objective.
• I get a lot of new activity ideas.
• I meet tons of new students.
• I get to meet lots of principals (good for next year)
• I see different strategies for preventing behavior problems.
• I don't have to write lesson plans.
• I don't have to prep everything.
• I don't have to deal with report cards.
• I don't have to deal with parents.
• I don't stay up all night trying to think of ways to challenge the student that is way ahead of the class or ways to help the students that are falling behind.
• I don't have to stay up worrying about how to help a specific student fit in socially.
• If the class is horrible, I only have to deal with them for a day and be done.
• I get to be the "nice" sub
• I actually leave work on time.
• I get lots and lots of hugs
• I get to start every day fresh
• I make my own schedule
• And the number one reason (not really): I have students spreading a rumor that I am a model.  hahaha...Let's just say that it made my day!!