Brian and I celebrated 4 years of marriage last week. Happy anniversary, Brian! Typical for us, we celebrated with FOOD! (Seriously, each year I think we're trying to out do - or out eat - ourselves from the previous year.) Year 1 & 2 - Fogo de Chao All you can eat steak Year 3 - Hayakawa Sushi DELICIOUS sushi Year 4 - Cheesecake Factory TOO many choices, so we got one of each! We usually talk about our "top 3" things from the year. Our highlight from this year was rock climbing together. No surprise there. :) Here are photos of ALL the food we ate this year. (We did order dessert, but it was "to go.")
0 Comments
This has been a summer of trips for Amber! Poor Brian has had to stay home and work. I forget that not everyone has a summer vacation like teachers... My good friend Leslie and I took a trip to Blue Ridge, GA. Leslie and I were in the masters program together, so she has a summer break, too. Taking trips with art teacher friends is not only fun, but also helpful! We get to talk lesson plans, classroom stories, philosophy, etc. and bounce ideas. I treasure and am so thankful for the friends I made in my masters program. We had a lovely few days in the mountains. The weather was amazing - pleasant, sunny, but breezy. It was actually chilly at some points! Who would have thought we'd need a jacket in JULY in GEORGIA!? We packed in as much as we could -
Here is a sample of the 147 pictures I took: So I have decided that I am going to be one hot mess when and/if I have children! My cat is my fur baby; he's part of the family. I know I sound like a crazy cat lady, and he's just an animal...but I love him! I'm his mama. I have cried like a baby on many occasions when it comes to Wheatley. For example, when we first adopted him, the SPCA allowed us to take him home for the weekend. (His neuter surgery was scheduled for the following Monday.) After having Wheatley with us for three days, we had to put him back in his crate and drop him off at the SPCA. I cried all.the.way.home. I was so worried that Wheatley would think we didn't want him and were returning him! What's going to happen when I have a human kid with a first day of Kindergarten!? I'm going to be crying before we even get in the car... And then there's the little things I never thought I'd do...like this reminder I put on my front door. Wheatley had his annual check-up today, and I had to take in a fecal sample. Hence the reminder! He also had his rabies booster shot. I couldn't watch while they did it. Thank goodness he didn't cry like a human child might!
Unfortunately, my tears continued this evening. Wheatley had an allergic reaction to his vaccines. The poor thing kept shaking his legs and thumping them against the wall, furniture, and floor. We were jokingly calling him Thumper; but this continued for over two hours, and he couldn't settle or get comfortable. I started to worry. I decided to call the vet - just in case. I'm so glad they were open until 6 pm on a Friday! While I was on the phone Brian noticed Wheatley was breathing really quickly. When I told the nurse on the phone, her response was "Bring him in. See you in a few." Thankfully, with a few shots, Wheatley is fine! Did you know cats can take human benadryl? He's been prescribed another half tablet of human benadryl in the morning! We had to go buy some tonight. How funny is it that we bought him the name brand - even though the vet said generic was ok? And Brian and I buy generic everything for ourselves...? He's our fur-baby. Love him. Mama Ruth, my last remaining grandparent, passed away last week. Like in January with Nana, it was good to get the family together, even under the circumstances. Mama Ruth had been in a nursing home for almost 10 years; she hasn't remembered us for a long time because of awful dimentia. I am so glad I was able to visit her in January.
I take comfort in the fact that she's in a better place and reunited with Papa Gene. We drove by their old house. Memories flooded back. Listening to the train late at night. Asking Mama Ruth to sleep in the living room with us (she spoiled us!), and then being kept awake by her snoring. Sweet tea that gave me kidney problems by the end of the week. Papa Gene washing the car and cutting the grass in his suit. Sitting down to feasts of meals, lovingly prepared by Mama Ruth all.day.long. Going to church and sitting with Mama Ruth. Receiving chewing gum as a treat during church. Papa Gene taking us for ice cream at the local general store. Love her and the lessons, legacy, and memories she's left. Recently, I had the lovely opportunity to go on a girls' beach trip with two amazing grad school friends. These ladies have encouraged me, brainstormed with me, edited my papers, driven me 5+ hours to visit schools, discussed life, listened to me, and put up with my bed hogging at NAEA conferences. I am so lucky to have them in my life! It was amazing to get away, to relax, to recharge. We rode bikes, cooked together, played in the ocean, watched movies, and did some research and work. Here's a video Rebecca created that captures the fun we had: Brian and I are coming up on the 1 year mark for indoor rock climbing together. We really enjoy it and are starting to climb more frequently. We started with rainbow-ing, meaning we did not follow a route & used any of the holds. We're now following routes. Brian has recently moved up to climbing 5.9 routes; I've moved up to 5.8s. Routes are designated by the color of the hold as well as the Yosemite Decimal System. For more information on the decimal system: check out this website or good old wikipedia! We have also started doing a short cardio warm-up before climbing. We're doing 15-20 minutes of running, walking, or biking. Stone Summit has a great full gym set-up with cardio machines and free weights. Brian is in much better shape! The warm-up doesn't wear him out like it does me. I need to keep it up to reach my goal of being in better shape by 30! Curious to see us in action? Check out these videos of us climbing. Today marked the end of my 7th year of teaching elementary art! I cannot believe this school year is over. It has gone by so quickly!
On the last day of school each year, our 5th graders have the exciting opportunity to parade through the school for the "5th Grade Walk." The entire student population lines the hallways and cheers with streamers. It's loud, but a lot of fun. I teared up this year... This was actually the second class of 5th graders that I have taught all the way through elementary school. I have seen them grow up from Kindergarten babies to preteens ready for middle school! Usually I teach an art camp or two during the summer. This year I have decided not to teach camp. I will have my first true summer vacation! I plan to create art daily, read some good books, sit by the pool, and catch up on some tv shows. It's going to be amazing! (If I don't get bored by the lack of routine...) Remember how I was reminding myself to stay open to possibilities? I am having to do that again!
Not only do I want to make decisions and get a plan in place quickly, once I have a plan, I have a hard time seeing the gray areas. I focus on the black or white. This has been the case a lot this past year, and again this week. Despite appearances and attentive office staff, the "great" apartment complex we found isn't so great. We were encouraged to look into police reports and found some disturbing reports. Based on what we found, we'll be staying in our current apartment. It is disappointing to not have more space, but we are so relieved we found out before we moved! Because we're not moving, I get to rearrange the apartment and possibly redecorate! Works for me :) Since my last post, we have found and pre-leased a new place! It's not a rental house or a townhouse -- like I originally set out to find -- but, it's a larger apartment in a great complex! Again, Brian's voice of reason reigned me in. I could not find a house that would fit into our budget, or if it did, I didn't like the feeling the landlords gave me via the phone conversations I had with them. He suggested I look at some complexes "just to see." :)
We will have a much larger apartment: 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath. 1200 square feet instead of our less than 900 in our current 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath. It will be so nice to have a little extra space! Brian will have an actual office with a door that closes, and I won't be in his way when I'm home on school breaks. The complex sits on 64 acres of land. There are nice wooded areas, open fields, and walking trails throughout the complex. It's close by, so my commute to work won't change terribly; and we'll still be close to the stores we frequent. Our move day isn't until the end of May, but I have already started packing and flipped into hyper-planning mode. I enjoy organizing and planning (I'm a weirdo, I know), so it's exciting and fun! I have been pinning lots of things on Pinterest for the new place. Many that probably will never get done, but are nice to think about! I am enjoying online window shopping for new furniture and have already drawn out tentative furniture arrangements... I'm excited about our next “Surprise and the unexpected are aspects of a realm of freedom, where quantifying and prediction have little part to play. And, indeed, they are an aspect of a story-in-the-making, of discovering who we might become..." - Maxine Greene Maxine Greene was one of the theorists that was an integral part of my action research for my Master's thesis. After returning from the National Art Educators Association annual convention last weekend, I have been mulling over how these theories and ways of thinking, ways of being, are not limited to my classroom nor to my teaching.
Duh, right? It took me long enough to realize this. Maybe simply to remember it? We are each stories-in-the-making. Our lives can take such unexpected, yet exciting, turns. There is not always one right answer, nor one right path to take. As in my classroom, I need to remember to be open to possibilities. I tend to make decisions rather quickly. I do a little research, find a few options, but I am usually ready to make a decision as soon as possible. I hate not knowing, or not having a plan in place. I am a planner! Brian is really good at slowing me down. He likes options, order, and research, too. But he is my voice of reason and usually says, "Let's wait a bit." This has proven to be the "right" thing to do time and time again. Our first apartment for example: I did a lot of online research, visited a few places, and was ready to sign a lease at a place I thought to be the best option. Brian had me wait just a week or two to sign; and in that time, we found our current home -- a much nicer complex, better rent, with more space than the apartment I felt "was the one." Waiting a bit brings new possibilities; options that I cannot anticipate or foresee. I have recently gotten it into my head that we need more space, and I was convinced we should buy a house - like right now! (even though we have not be preparing for this and are by no means ready for home ownership) Again, Brian has been the voice of reason. Slow down, Amber. Let's wait and see. He's so good! :) Instead, I have been watching the rental house market in our area. The planner is me is ready to start and be done; but I think I'm still too early. I keep falling in love with houses that are available now, not in June when we'll actually be able to move. I look back on the almost 4 years Brian and I have been married, and I wouldn't change a thing! I love the story we have made, and I am excited about our story in the making, where we're headed. There are so many possibilities for us; I'm excited to see what this summer will bring! Greene, M. (1994). Carpe diem: The arts and school restructuring. Teachers College Record, 95 |
AuthorAmber Archives
December 2017
Categories |