To Dad...

For as long as I can remember my dad has "surprised"  my mom around Valentine's day with huge bouquets of beautiful roses. Cassie and I have also always received flowers from my dad for Valentine's day and usually our birthdays. He's a flower kinda guy...a girl can't complain. I think it was my freshman year at Western, my dad actually drove down to Kalamazoo to bring me flowers and take me out for dinner. Seriously. I am so spoiled by that man.
Working with kids in KPS I have seen so many broken kids caused by broken families. I am so happy with where I grew up and who I grew up with. It's not something to take for granted.
My dad is someone who I could and can always trust, depend on, and laugh with.

I know you see a lot of these pictures around this time of year....but aren't they beautiful!! 

My dad jokes about when I get married we will start our own traditions and "butt" out of theirs...he CLAIMS no more Christmas presents, birthday presents, Easter egg hunts and I'm sure he'll eventually joke about no more flowers on Valentine's day... and just gotta say...I'll believe it when I see it. BUT those things means so much more to me (& the rest of my family) than the actual stuff; it's the continued family traditions that are really valued [and just so you know dad, you can't get rid of us that easy]! I don't know where I would be without the love and support of that man. Thanks dad! Love you!

Brilliant.

I cannot even explain my excitement of coming back to Tim Horton's coupons and an announcement of the Grand Opening on February 4. We went to Canada too much when I was younger and each trip consisted of a stop to Tim Horton's for "timbits" and their crack coffee.
SO Emma and I decided last night, before the Superbowl, we were going to this Grand Opening tomorrow AND as an added advantage if you were one of the first 100 people after 8am-which we would be-you get a free travel mug (not that we don't have enough of those). So we decided: we were leaving at 7:40am and getting a FREE travel mug and use those coupons that were burning holes in our pockets-it sounded like our best option at the time... Another fabulous idea by Annie & Emma.
My alarm going off at 7:20 this morning begged to differ...so did the snooze...and the weather...and scraping off my car...and slipping all the way to Tim Horton's. This was such a brilliant idea. Brilliant. As I was scraping the inches of snow that accumulated on my car overnight I was thinking free mug, crack coffee, free mug, donuts, coffee, free mug....warm bed, sleeping in, ohhh right... free mug. 
Once we got there my mindset switched. I had an awesome free travel mug, coffee bought with a coupon, and nice conversation with a retired teacher-this was a brilliant idea.
Time to leave. Scrape the car off, crank the heat and we are on our way....just kidding...we are stuck...blocking the drive through of a grand opening...crap. Emma gets out and informs me "the front tire is spinning" oh and I'm stuck because I'm straddling a curb in the parking lot. Sweet. Brilliant idea. Emma and I monkey around and a guy pulls up to place his order, but we are in the way. In my head he's coming over to my car and yelling about the predicament we are in and Tim Horton's is suing me for slowing down their grand opening-this is just the way an over-exaggerator thinks. Crap. He's getting out, and yelling...."Ya'll need some help?" Thank the good Lord Almighty, I will not be sued today. He's helping-but by his size I'm thinking Emma was a better pusher... I hate saying this but sometimes it takes a man to get a car unstuck, it's just the way they think. He pushes from the front (not something we have tried yet) and I am out within seconds. Thanks stranger man, sorry for doubting you! Gotta love those good Samaritans when you're the one who needs help! We are warm, home, and I still have some coffee left.

This story was brought to you by Annie & Emma's brilliant ideas.

5 MONTHS!

In case you haven't heard...we are under the 5 month mark, people! 147 DAYS. I can't believe we've been engaged for over a year now...as slow as it went at points, it feels like it's flying by!
The project we focused on over Christmas break: our wedding invitations. Let me remind you ...this wedding is completely diy. Making your own wedding invitations is as overwhelming as it sounds...but I love how they turned out. One thing that came in handy with this project is from Martha Stewart Crafts. The Doily Lace Trim Deep Edge Punch. After lots of planning & doing, and sore hands the finished product is exactly what we wanted. Yay for craft punches!

Good Riddance 2012!

So much happened this past year. There have been some really good times and some really bad times...like every year I guess. After this year, I have never been more ready for the next. 

2012 in a nutshell

January -Engaged! It was so exciting and so creative on Andy's part.

Febuary -Andy's mom passed away...overall this was just a heartbreaking month. 

March -The Bosch move-out/move in lots of boxes and forcing Andy to pack. 

April -Done with school for the summer and started a new job at Hope Network.

May -Worked a ton! Climbing that newbie ladder....

June -One year to our wedding countdown started...lots of planning/implementation for a DIY wedding. 

July -Andy moved back to Lansing and I worked a ton between my two jobs. 

August -Work work work. 

September -Back to Kalamazoo for the hardest semester of my life.

October -Started at a new AFC in Kalamazoo...completely different scene than GR. 

November -Had some health issues and had a procedure that eventually proved I wouldn't need surgery for now...yay! 

December -Finished with that semester [Only God knows how]. 

I am looking forward to 2013...wedding, internships, and new adventures to come! 

Cheers! 

Christmas Honesty

In this post I am going to share one very honest truth about myself. I really don't like Christmas. The meaning behind it with the birth of our Savior, yes that's awesome; the tacky decorations, the cold, the busy mall, and the obnoxious music...not so awesome. It's actually really annoying what this world has made Christmas out to be. 

 There is one thing I love about Christmas. The way a church looks at Christmas time is beautiful. This morning while I was walking into church, I was wishing I was in bed and dreading my next couple of busy weeks in school. Stepping into the sanctuary literally took my breath away. The stage was filled with fresh, red poinsettias and all sorts of Christmas trees covered in white lights. 

I was so wrapped up in everything that the beginning weeks of December brings (finals and too many projects!) I forgot all about the season of Advent, the Christmas based sermons, and mostly the joy that comes to people around Christmastime.

So this year, yeah, I think I'm ready for Christmas...just so long as I don't have to listen to the music!

Black Friday

It has become a tradition that every year Andy, Cassie & I go out at 10pm on Thursday night after Thanksgiving to witness the madness (or at least the beginning) of Black Friday. People are crazy. Seriously. 

Andy had it all planned out where we would go and the deals we would see..it was awesome until we stopped at our first destination: Walmart. Absolute chaos. So we skipped out on that store and went to Target and then the mall to see the midnight openings. I have to admit at one point in Target, I was hiding out in the card section while Cassie and Andy were digging through the mountains of DVDs. Thank goodness no one wants to buy cards on Black Friday.

 The mall was pretty packed. Andy and I went to slower stores like Vanity, where I bought a scarf, & Eddie Bauer, where everything was still overpriced; while Cassie and Brooke were first in line at the stores with the good doorbusters. By the end of the night Andy & I were eating Auntie Anne's pretzel bites waiting for Cass and Brooke to get done shopping. We were so over Black Friday. But what a night. Here's a few observations I made from this crazy night. 

1. Don't bring your baby Black Friday shopping with you. It's just not nice. 

2. Probably shouldn't go Black Friday shopping if you're unable to walk without assistive equipment (e.g.crutches).
3.  Singing cards are very entertaining and helpful if you get claustrophobic.  
4. No deal is worth the wait in a line that wraps through the entire store.
5. Bring your baby home and put it to bed! Please.

6. People are freakishly patient. Holy lines batman. 

7. Even if you're early, you're probably too late. 

8. People are crazy.

(We went out on Thursday after Thanksgiving dinner as a family and bought a tv just hours before Walmart was a war zone.) 

Girls are crazy about their shoes. 

A Visit with the NCATE

TONS of homework to do for tomorrow...blog time! Terrible...I know...in other news...this morning I was on a panel for the College of Education; the NCATE came into our school recently and rated the College of Education at Western Michigan University "at risk." [What's that mean? Pretty much that they don't think the College of Education is doing it's job and they need to revamp the whole program.] 

In order to defend what the College of Education is doing, they put a bunch of students on a panel and gave us cookie cutter answers to give to the NCATE. Here's my dilemma with being on this panel. I am a Special Education major. Our program is COMPLETELY different than the Elementary Ed/Early Childhood majors. COMPLETELY different--I cannot stress that enough. Their cookie cutter answers could not do our program [or our amazing faculty] justice. 

This got me thinking. Wow. I am so in the right place. Being in the SPED program is overwhelming, stressful, and it drives me absolutely insane. The faculty makes us go over material to the point of nausea and on the same hand, makes me feel like I'm running into a brick wall over and over and over because it's too hard. The lesson plans are exhausting and excessive. The practicums are, at times, uncontrollable and don't even get me started on TEACHlive. 

BUT I have learned so much being in this program and I can honestly say I feel confident to walk into any type classroom tomorrow and not fall flat on my face be successful. I am so proud to be a Special Education major, I am so proud of our program. And best of luck to the Elementary Education Program! 

Back to lesson planning...