Helloooo, holy cow this has been an insanely busy year! We're like the energizer bunny, we just keep going and going and going, lol :p I don't think we've had but maybe a few weekends without plans. All in all though, I can't complain (can't say the same for Jon, lol) because I like to stay busy and be involved in everything and know what all's going on. Jonathan, on the other hand, likes to be a hermit on the weekends...which isn't a bad thing sometimes :-) He's been super supportive though and treads out with me on the weekends to participate in everything from volunteer projects with my Enlisted Spouses Association to shopping for this or that or exploring a new area, or whatever. I love doing things, he likes hanging out at the house. Don't get me wrong though, I love being lazy and hanging out at the house just as much as he does, but with us approaching our 2 year stay here in Arizona (and knowing we have maybe 2 years left here), I love to get out there and explore. Truthfully though, I think we explored more last year than this year. This year has mostly been consumed with my activities with the Enlisted Spouses Association. I have SO much fun with my ESA ladies and being involved in the military community. Haha, I don't think Jon was ever as involved or knew so much about social aspects of the military as he does now :-)
So, anywho....other major events that have been going on since Christmas include a visit from Jon's parents. I truly am blessed with awesome in-laws! We had SO much fun taking them to different places around Tucson like Tombstone, AZ Sonoran Desert Museum, Pima Air & Space Museum, and putt-putt golf. Lol, I think they may have needed a vacation from their vacation when the week was over with :p We had fun baking and playing board games. We're so glad they came and can't wait for the next visit!
Let's see, what else: School went well. I started observing classes so that took a huge chunk of my time and energy preparing for that. The first class was a kindergarten class for my classroom management class, and the teacher was not a model teacher. She yelled at the kids, and the kids couldn't even color in the lines! The second class was a high school special education program for my special education class. For the most part, the kids were not being taught because they had ADD or dyslexia or other mild forms of disabilities. So, the teachers dumbed down the material and allowed them to talk and listen to music instead of learn! The third class was a structured English immersion class for my class of the same name. The teacher of this class was awesome!! She was so attentive to the students and nurturing and challenging their learning so that they would grow in knowledge. I loved this teacher and hope I can be like her. The kids were mostly refugees from the Middle East and were so beyond grateful for being in America. They had such a drive to learn that they would purposely "fail" computer flash card programs so that they would get more practice with the English words! The flash card scores didn't count against them, it just determined what level of difficulty the next set of cards would be.
Work for me stinks as usual. I really enjoy working with Lei, my manager, who has become a real great friend! She's super cool, has tons of awesome stories and experiences, and makes the most gorgeous jewelry :) I have so much fun hanging out with her during the day (and being able to gripe about the horrible people at work, lol) Work for Jon is going great! He's a great instructor and the students really learn from him. I know this because they failed the projects that this other guy taught and passed the ones Jon taught :-) And the most exciting news is that he passed his rank test and will be putting on TSgt (Technical Sergeant) this fall!!!!!! We are beyond thrilled about this! He worked SO hard for so many years, and finally achieved this well deserved rank :-)
On other news, Jon went TDY (temporary duty assignment - military business trip) to Barksdale in June for a week, and I went home for a week and a half! Jon spent the week after his TDY at home too :-) We had SO much fun hanging out with my family, just watching tv, eating too much, enjoying the humidity and the wonderful rain (yeah, who would've thought I would say that, lol), and just catching up. My brother, Gabe, got his private pilot's license this spring so he took Jon and me flying. It was SO much fun! He is an awesome pilot, and the flight was so smooth and the best I've ever been on...and it was a small ultra-light plane. I'm so proud of what he's accomplished! Daddy had to work, but that's ok because God answered our prayers and provided a steady great paying job :-) We got to hang out in the evenings, and Jon went with him some. Momma and I went for a pedicure complete with a margarita from the drive through (yes, only in Louisiana can this happen) just like old times :-)
Heather and her daughter Kaitlyn met me in Bossier while Jon was still there, and we got to hang out. I'm SO glad because we hadn't seen each other in almost 2 years, and I had never gotten to meet my lil missy. She is so super cute and funny :p I am totally in love with her :-) We had a blast! I also got to meet my cousin's new baby. He was so tiny and sweet, and it was so hard to leave him :)
Oh! Jon and I planted a garden this spring in our backyard. That was a feat in itself with this harder than concrete dirt out here, lol :p We, well ok mainly it was Jon, hooked up a drip system for the plants. We (yes, we) weeded the yard (I think we had weeds thanks to Miss Bella's fertilizer, lol), hauled brick paver things for the beds, and filled them with top soil and manure (yeah, that was great smelling). It was such a great workout for a weekend, lol :p We planted tomatoes, jalepenos, squash, basil, lavender, oregano, parsely, cilantro, and chives. Out of all of that: I have a ton of basil and jalepenos! Lol, super tall tomato plants, but no tomatoes....huge squash flowers, but tiny squash.....cilantro and lavender died, parsely dried up, oregano and chives were so-so. Then in the front yard, I planted some geraniums and impatients. The impatients were eatn completely by a jack rabbit! Lol, I thought someone came and cut my flowers until we saw the culprit :p Oh well....next year, we'll plant earlier. I think we planted too late for the intense sun out here :p
Oh! And did I tell ya'll that I got a new car? Well, ok WE got a new car :p In Arizona, military are exempt from paying a yearly vehicle tax. Since my Toyota was in my name, and we owed more on it than it was now worth and couldn't put it in Jon's name....we just decided to get a new one. We went looking at the new Ford's..wouldn't recommend because they're real noisy, and the salesman led us to a slightly used Lincoln MKZ (4 door sport sedan). It was fuh-ine! Heated and cooled leather, wood trim, THX surround sound, navigation, etc., etc., etc., etc. bells and whistles. Well we went ahead and drove it, knowing it was going to be out of our price range. We loved how smooth it was and classy and stable and safe....then the salesman told us the price. We thought he was joking it was such a good deal! We loved the price too...it was a once in a lifetime, end of the year, they gotta sale it before the new year kinda deal that we just couldn't pass up :-) I feel so spoiled....well, besides that, I am spoiled wonderfully by my sweet hubby :-)
SO, yes, we've had an insanely busy year, but it's been an awesome year so far!!
Here's some pictures (ok, a ton of pictures):
January & February: http://picasaweb.google.com/108646088419709599136/JanuaryAndFebruary2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCEifONq9DA9QE&feat=directlink
March & April: http://picasaweb.google.com/108646088419709599136/MarchAndApril2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKeYiZDYiLH0lwE&feat=directlink
Bobbie & Donnie's visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/108646088419709599136/BobbieDonnieVisit23AprilTo1May2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKy-ma6qy6KUEw&feat=directlink
Louisiana: http://picasaweb.google.com/108646088419709599136/SweetHomeLouisiana918June2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNOupe-e4eyjWw&feat=directlink
May, June, & July: http://picasaweb.google.com/108646088419709599136/JuneAndJuly2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJSHsaOZuc6NVQ&feat=directlink
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