Valentines Day

 Valentines Day is a special day for me and this guy... 

Two years ago he asked me out on a date. 

One year ago he asked me to marry him. 

This year he took me furniture shopping for our house and on a prep hike for the adventures we have planned this summer. Oh, and after a wonderful dinner, he took me home with him. Loving being married to this man...the sky is the limit baby! 

Happy Birthday Dad!

Several years ago on this date (not going to say how many years) a baby was born. Eventually he grew up to be my Dad. 

As a baby I wasn't sure what to think of him. 

 But I got over that before I was old enough to remember anything. Hence, in my mind, we have always had a good relationship. 

From teaching me long division to letting me cry on his shoulder the first time some boy broke my heart to giving me away to the man of my dreams to driving an hour and a half just to look at a house for me, he is the best. I love you Dad!! Happy Birthday!!

After A Lengthy Hiatus...

I know consistency is key to blog readership, but somehow the last two months of blogging really got away from me. Like really got away. I wish I could recount all the wonderfulness of December and January for all you, but not only would that take way too long to read and write, I couldn't find enough pictures. Here is a smattering of some of the things we did in the last two months. Not necessarily in order. 

I had my first birthday as a Beasley, and was treated to breakfast and shopping with a bunch of sister-in-laws. Including my first ever sister-in-law... 

I got to go to St. Cecilia's annual flower show. As if I needed any reason to love that place more. Talk about incredible. I think I may become a regular attendee every January. 

Oh yeah, there was Christmas. Our first Christmas together, family celebrations and get-togethers, lots of great food, games, talking, etc... 

I got to spend 3 weeks with the sister I never get to see (but talk to like every day), doing everything from shopping, watching movies, and working out to facetiming our hero in Afghanistan, getting the stomach flu, laughing, talking and crying together, just to name a few. Somehow we got away with just this picture of the two of us from the whole time. Already counting down until I get to see her next. 

We got to spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews. I still can't get over the resemblance in our hair. 

Love this little bug... 

I have been finally accepting the fact that I am a wife now in regards to cooking. I think something about winter and my desire to have the house warm had something to do with it. Josh now knows the secret about my cooking abilities that I tried so hard to keep from him. That secret of course being that I have any...

I was able to make several trips home. On one such occasion I had time to sit down and make this dinosaur with John. Gosh, when did he get old enough to teach me how to build things out of Lego's? 

I got shoes that match Josh's!! It's the little things.

We got into a full fledged war with a mouse. I mean we are talking all manner of trickery and meanness on both sides. HE ATE MY TRAIL MIX!!!! Not that I am bitter still or anything. Eventually, after a long fought battle, I came away victorious, but somehow I feel he is getting back at me because other things keep getting stuck in those sticky traps...

I fell even deeper in love with this amazing guy. I thought he was pretty cool when we first started hanging out a few years ago, and I heard once you marry someone you find out what they are REALLY like. Well, I have been finding out and he is even more amazing than I imagined. 

I didn't really get into holiday baking because my oven right now burns everything (I know what you are thinking, and no, it is the oven, not the cook... really...). But I did enjoy making a huge batch of Big Trina's cookies and then leaving most of them for my family to eat. 

We have spent a lot of time in the gym the last two months. With a whole lot more before us, hoping to do some big races this summer and climb some big mountains. Josh is pretty darn dedicated, lifting even when we didn't have time to go to the gym. 

Oh yeah, back to the nieces. This one I rarely get to see and I was tickled pink that she remembered me straight away!! She also impressed me with her abilities in running my iPhone. 

Being an Aunt is the best ever. 

Thanks to all the after Christmas sales and some super thoughtful people who got me things for Christmas and my birthday, I went to all my sub jobs these last couple of months looking super cute. Or at least I thought I looked cute...

Oh yeah, in case you thought it was all work and parties for me the last two months, I also managed to devour several thousand pages of literature. Reviews are supplied free of charge any time... 

I feel like this post is being over taken with all these little people!!! What can I say, getting to spend time with them has been a highlight for sure. Here we are enjoying some cardboard literature. 

Well, I wish I could say that is all, but I know there is a whole lot more I am forgetting. I promise to try not to wait so long before blogging next time. From us to you, I hope you all had wonderful holidays and a great start to 2014. 

Why I Sub

I started subbing for OPS last October, although with my job at Compass at the time I only subbed a few days a month. Now that I am working part time at UNO and in school again, I have been able to sub a lot more often, usually a couple of times a week. 

There still is rarely a day I wake up to sub without the tiny butterflies in my stomach, wondering what I will find when I get to my classroom, but I have fallen in love with it. I love the newness of each day getting to go to a new place (or usually at least a new classroom), I love the hero status I have every time I walk in the office to save the day since the regular teacher couldn’t be there. I love the celebrity status I have with the kids, and the things they come up with trying to remember my name. I love being able to see how I am growing in my skills as a teacher, in my classroom management and thinking on my feet and being creative when I am trying to teach a math lesson in English but all the students’ books are in Spanish. And I love what I am learning about loving kids. During my first year with my teacher’s license I came across a woman who had been in education for 40 years and was still passionate about reaching kids. I asked her for advice. She simply told me, “However much time you have with your students, whether it is a day when you are subbing or years, make sure they know you care about them.” It is easy for me to get caught up in new schedules and trying to learn names when I sub, but there are moments when God reminds me of that advice. This week I had one of those moments.

 I can’t tell you his real name, so I will call him Isaac. He is in second grade and the most ADD kid I have ever seen. He was out of his desk every minute or two, and when I asked him what he was doing he often didn’t know. Behind his thick rimmed glasses those brown eyes always had a guilty look of being caught, and a despairing look of knowing he was failing himself and me. I brought gummy bears to class. It might be against some consciences to bribe children into good behavior, but it was working well for me. All but three students sat quietly to read their books and hence got loudly announced gummy bears for their behavior. Isaac was not one of them. When he realized he once again did not make the behavior cut, he simply folded his arms across his desk and buried his face in them. . I walked over to his desk and told him not to give up, but keep trying and he would earn a gummy bear. He just looked at me and said, “No, I can’t.” and sighed.  All morning I had been struggling with Isaac. It is so hard to come into a room where there are behavior problems and prove yourself to the class when one of your students is constantly walking around and not listening. I had almost written him off as a problem child I was going to have to endure for the day. Until he said that. I realized him putting his head down was not a sign of pouting or a tantrum; it was a sign of defeat. Isaac felt defeated by himself. He knew what he needed to do, and yet the wrong he didn’t want to do, he kept doing. He didn’t know how to stop, and he was giving up.  In that moment I heard my voice joining countless others telling Isaac to sit down, be quiet, and I saw myself measuring his worth by how well his could sit still. I saw the defeat in that young face and suddenly God reminded me of what the woman had told me in her advice. “Make sure they know you care”. I knelt down by Isaac’s desk and gently whispered, “Isaac, I think you can do it. I know it is really hard for you, but I know you can if you really try. I am going to keep watching; you show me you can do it. Ok? I know you can…” For two minutes I prayed he would follow directions so I could commend him and he did. I slipped a gummy bear onto his desk and smiled at him. From that moment on Isaac and I had an understanding. 

When I first came home and was recounting my experience I originally thought Isaac was a changed child for the rest of the day. He did try hard to please me and worked extra hard to follow directions. But in reality he was the same kid. He still got out of line, tried to take the gummy bears out of my hand, ignored directions and talked out of turn. What changed was how I saw him. In the morning I had seen him as a threat to my calm classroom, after our ‘moment’ I saw him as a student I could encourage. Before I hadn’t noticed his efforts, now that I was looking for them they shone. It is pretty normal practice for young students to hug their substitutes goodbye, or so I have learned over the last year, but few hugs have meant so much as Isaac’s. I went to school hoping to make a difference, hoping to, even for just one day, show kids love. What I got in return was a lesson about looking beyond what I think I see to the heart. And a hug from a little boy who worked so hard for a gummy bear, and who reminded me to never write off someone, there is always a chance. 

Recently

It isn't even the holiday season yet (in spite of what the people in charge of store displays may think) but we have still been quite busy. Below is a smattering of what the last two weeks have looked like for us. 

A darling niece had a birthday. That happened to be around the same time as two other birthdays, so we had a giant birthday dinner. There was a lot of happy birthday singing and presents and food and good times. 

Her two teacher Aunts couldn't help themselves and got her books. At least she looks quite pleased. 

Speaking of books, I made a Half Price Books run the other day and scored this entire pile on clearance for $11. Yes, I was one happy girl. 

For all of my readers not in Nebraska, it has been a simply glorious fall. Sunny days, beautiful leaves, green grass poking out until well into November. I for one am all for a fall, fall, spring version of the seasons but I think a few people who enjoy snow sports might disagree with me. 

With the nice weather we had time for one last motorcycle evening of the year. It was a blast. Although being the only cruiser in the group we decided we will need to get a rocket for next spring...

With the onset of cooler weather (and the growing need to do something about my highlights) I went for an auburn look. I love it!! Also, I am really enjoying learning to dye my own hair. 

We had a peeping Tom the other day. Not sure if he wanted to see us or watch the Husker game that was on the TV...

We got a chance to zip to Lincoln and hang with some of our favorite people. Melanie is officially the newest Settlers contender. She cheats. Mostly by taking all the cards. 

This week we celebrated six months of happily married life. Time flies. It seems like yesterday I was looking into those hazel eyes and promising to love their owner forever. And I thought I loved him then...

We celebrated with a fancy dinner, some champagne and toasting to the last six months and the next sixty years. 

Here's to many, many more adventures together. 

Taking Down the Tree

Saturday we went and helped Caleb and Abby with a tree in their new front yard. Apparently the house came with a notice that the tree had to go. Fortunately there were several Beasleys and friends up to the challenge. 

Here it is, while we are working on getting the branches trimmed off. 

My Hubby trimming some branches. 

For perspective. To show how tall the tree is. Or should I saw was. 

The final felling was so exciting I got a little carried away and stopped looking through the camera and looked at what was happening. Hence the filming of the top of the tree. I was just glad I didn't video the sky or something really embarrassing. 

It was a big tree and it made a big mess. Fortunately with 4 chain saws and many helpers we got it cleared down to stumps within an hour. 

One of the chainsaws was rented and it came with this handy-dandy headgear. Helmet, muffs and a sawdust face shield all in one. Josh was more than excited to try it out. 

Speaking of trees, across the street there was this beauty. I am not sure if it is always this gorgeous or it heard about the burn notice and decided it better look as necessary and alive as possible... 

Once the main mess was cleaned up, our audience emerged from their bedroom windows and came out to play. Such darlings!! I love being an Aunt! That was the excitement of our Saturday morning, what was yours? 

Camping

With the onset of a simply astounding fall, we decided to venture outdoors and go camping last weekend. Plus I needed to try out my 0 degree sleeping bag. You know, to see if it was stout enough to keep me warm in 30 degrees... 

We went to Hitchcock Nature Preserve right across the river. It was gorgeous. We hiked about 2 miles and brought overnight packs filled to the brim with all those things you wish you had in the mountains but didn't want to carry 10 miles up thousands of feet of elevation. Things like camp stoves, axes, and half gallons jugs of orange juice. 

Anna came with. I love Anna. Josh asked if she wanted to go camping with us. She said yes first and asked when and where later. 

The timing was perfect to watch the sun setting. How come pictures never do it justice? 

Our campsite nestled into the bluff overlooking the valley. Funny how slow the interstate looks when you can see it from miles away. 

This would be why we brought the axe. For a bonfire.

And so we could grill our pork steaks for dinner. 

I was pretty pumped about the sleeping bag testing. I fell asleep slightly chilled (and disappointed) but when I woke up a few hours later I was burning up. Needless to say, the sleeping bag exceeded this temperature test and I think I could camp at least 10 degrees colder with no problems. I didn't want to get out of it come morning though, in spite of being referred to as a marshmallow and the Michelin man...

Speaking of morning, I do love waking up looking out of a tent. 

I married adventure.  And I am loving every minute of it.