Family

Chris (Jer's dad), Sarah and Zach (his siblings) were all able to visit us this Christmas.  They stayed for about a week, and it was packed with fun and laughter.  We went to Stars and Strikes to play arcade games.  Everyone let me use their tickets for my classroom prize box.  We also walked around Anna Ruby Falls in North Georgia for a day, went out to eat at Ted's and Pura Enchilada, visited the Carter Center and King Center (both were AMAZING), and watched movies.  Here are a few pictures to remember:

Above:  Zach, me, and Sarah playing the horse racing game.  I won most of the time. :)  Below:  Quick family photo at Ruby Falls.

Above: Lindsay and Mom on Christmas Day, just before gift opening time.  Below:  Jeremy and Zach's "Epic Meal Time" breakfast.

Chris wanted some new family portraits, so I used Ryan's fancy camera to take some in downtown Lawrenceville.

Above:  Jeremy officiating a basketball game in Atlanta.  We watched him ref after visiting the Carter and King centers, pictured below.

Well, Well, Well...Long Time No Write...

What's happened since July, you ask?

Well, for starters, school obviously started back up.  It's been stressful, and I'm looking forward to 2 weeks off, beginning tomorrow afternoon, for Christmas break!

Jeremy just finished his first semester doing pre-requisites for the EMT/Paramedic program.  He will apply for the program in the spring, and will hopefully begin again this summer.  I'm so proud of him!  He did REALLY well with the classes this fall...I think this suites him quite nicely.

We are planning for Jeremy's siblings (Zach and Sarah) and his dad to visit for the holidays.  Next week will consist of some major cleaning, plus a few shopping trips for those last minute things.  Y'all know the drill.

In other news, I've decided to write a children's book.  Hopefully, I can turn it into a series.  My goal is to have the first (maybe more) manuscript finished this summer, and will then submit to to different publishers.  Hopefully someone will like it enough to pay for the editing and illustrating, etc. involved in publishing a book.  I could have gone the self publishing route and be guaranteed getting published, but decided against it due to a hefty price tag.

Since I've been diagnosed with celiac disease and requiring a strict gluten free diet, Jeremy and I have been cooking new recipes each week.  It's actually been quite fun, and almost like cool dates multiple times a week.  I'd recommend the Gluten Free Vegetarian Cookbook to anyone.  You can easily make the recipes with normal gluten products, but the recipes are largely based on fresh ingredients, which makes ALL the difference.  One of my favorites is the stuffed tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and avocados, OR the fried rice.

It's mid December, and hit 70 degrees this week.  A few times.  I'm not saying it needs to be below freezing, but I'd appreciate a slight nip in the air.  (I might regret that comment.  Watch a major cold front come my way next week and we are shut in the house.)

A Short One

Jeremy was supposed to update about our Idaho trip in June.  All in all, it was AMAZING.  We saw wolves, bison, a bear print, and heard a baby mountain lion.  We didn't find a property that would work, but it's ok.  We have a plan.

I also went to Myrtle Beach in early July for a short girls' trip.  LOVED the people I went with- we had an amazing time; however, the beach and area were horrible- quite trashy, lots of smokers...you get the drill.  We won't be going back.

Jeremy is going back to school to be an EMT/Paramedic, which is exciting, and I go back to work on Monday.  I'm sort of excited to get back on a schedule and in my classroom teaching, but I will definitely miss summer.

Above: Ashley at Three Island Crossing along the Oregon Trail.  

Below: Jeremy at Shoshone Falls

Above: Ashley and Melissa

Below: Jeremy and Ashley's professional portraits, taken at Frost Chapel (also where we had our first date)

Tests and a Wedding

CRCT is over!!!  You will only understand if you live in Georgia; however, you do know about standardized testing.  All that matters now is that it is OVER!!!

Jeremy and I went to Sarah and Chris's wedding last Saturday.  Everything about the wedding was beautiful, and lots of memories were made by both the guests and the new couple.  Here are some pictures:

Jer even danced with me during a fast song!

Some of the old college roommates- Anslee (who stayed with us over the weekend), and Shannon

A few days before the wedding, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia got  hit pretty hard by strong storms and multiple tornadoes.  For a while, we were under a warning.  Once I heard on the news that a tornado with a speed of 115 mph was heading toward Floyd County, I decided to go ahead and clean out the cleaning closet, in case tornadoes actually hit our neck of the woods.  We are extremely thankful and blessed that we received absolutely no strong storms that night.  Sadly Berry didn't come out so clean.  Many of the century old trees are gone, as well as some cottages and such.  Incredibly, no person was injured at the college, which is a major blessing, especially if you saw the news footage.  Well, now, I have a clean cleaning closet to go to if/when weather like this happens again.  I also learned we have no battery operated radio- next on the list- don't worry.

Let's review the last few months...

Did you know it's now April?  Phew!

Lately, Jeremy and I have made some large steps forward in the Idaho Dream department.  Yesterday, we booked our flight for June.  I must admit, we're rather excited.  Our goal is to fly out there and play most of the time- waterfalls, hot springs, short day hikes, exploring...you know the drill- as well as spend a few days looking at land properties that have Dream Home potential.  If we don't fall in love with Boise or any land, then we will just consider the trip a nice vacation in God's sweet country.  If we do fall in love with it, we are prepared to buy (within our budget).

Currently, I am on spring break!  Work is going well, although all the teachers and students are in panic mode as the CRCT date approaches.  Yesterday and today, my good friend Sarah had her bachelorette party at her family's lake house.  I can't remember a time when I've been so relaxed.  We had gorgeous weather, sunned on the boat, and just chatted.  It was lovely.  For the rest of my break, I plan to get my car serviced, do some outlet shopping, nap, Spring Clean, and maybe visit my grandparents down in Sandersville for a day or 2.  :)

In other news, Ghirardelli got spayed a week and a half ago.  Poor thing- she has to wear an Elizabethan cone until Wednesday, so she doesn't scratch the incision spot or mess with the minor infection that came with the surgery.  She's taking it like a champ though.  The first few days she ran in to lots of cabinets and corners, as anyone would if they were wearing a huge cone on their head.  She and Powder are getting along better as well.  They love to play chase and wrestle, until one of them annoys the other and then they call it quits.

Jeremy is still looking into going back to school for his EMT and paramedic degree.  He's still undecided about it, though.  It would mean some minor changes at home, which I am confident we could handle.

Anyways, that is the update.

Not too much has happened, lately.  Jeremy and I are both still working a lot.  I'm now teaching in the After School Tutoring Program, which will be a nice extra (tiny) paycheck.

We really enjoyed the Georgia weather this weekend!  The temperatures were in the upper 60s- PERFECT for opening the windows.  Powder and Ghirardelli enjoyed that part.  Jer and I went for a walk, and when we came back, Powder was in the sill in the office (upstairs), and Ghirardelli was in the living room sill.  It was sweet.  :)

Jer has been planning our garden for the spring planting, so pictures will come with that post.  Other than that, I am just enjoying NOT having papers to write, reading for leisure, and hanging out with some good friends.

Happy New Year!

I don't do resolutions anymore.  I think making a goal for an entire year, that you know you will break anyway, is pointless.  Instead, I make about a million little goals for myself throughout the year, and meet them that way.  For example, finishing my Masters and gifted endorsement within 2 years, looking at Idaho properties, etc.  BUT, if you made a resolution, good luck!

For Christmas, we had the pleasure of hosting Zach, Jeremy's brother, for a week.  We had a blast, and I hope he will move down here from Oregon when he graduates.  We played Super Nintendo, ate lots of food, they drake superb beer (I'm told) and went to a basketball game in Athens, visited Jer at work, and did the Christmas thing at my parents' house.  Here are some pics:

This Christmas has been the first Christmas since 1866 that Georgia got snow!  We had ourselves a truly white Christmas.  Ryan and Lindsay came back to our house later for a poker night, then a snowball fight.  It was TOTALLY worth the busted lip I got when I tried to tackle Ryan.

Then, for New Year's Eve, Shannon, Melissa, her friends, and I went to McCray's Tavern in downtown for dinner, then Melissa's house for some Apples to Apples (super fun game if you've never played) and Dick Clark's Time Square show.  All in all, we had a blast- lots of laugh to you cry moments.  :)   (Jeremy  had to work at Ted's, so he didn't join us.)