Hectic!

Ben and I both have found ourselves to be the busiest we've been in years. Ben is currently working on an installation job down in Brighton at a newly renovated theatre. It's a huge task and Ben's pretty much flying solo on it... needless to say, he's been a 5:30am-8:30pm worker for the past few weeks. We will both be glad when he's done and he can put his feet up!

I started my 4th year teaching 8th grade math in August. It's been great so far! My students are as funny as they get and I'm teaching honors kiddos for the first time since my first year teaching. I really do feel blessed that I get to work with these kids every day.

I am officially a Colorado State Ram! (Although I think the Missouri Tiger in me would win the battle anyday...) In addition to beginning teaching, I alsoo began my fall semester of full time grad school in August. I'm taking Monday, Tues, and Wednesday night classes for 3 hours each. At this point, we're just beginning the reading and writing for each class, and I'm excited because I have already gotten into some great books. I love reading about education, it rejuvenates me.

Here are two of the books I'm reading for my classes. Walking on Water is about changing the way we view education. The first chapter is a powerful message about how schools are inventing a "nation of slaves" to the teachers opinions and ideas. Jensen encourages teachers to encourage and appreciate students to think on their own.

Other People's Children is about power imbalances in the US society and how they are reinacted in the classroom. It discusses dealing with imbalance and inequality in the classroom.

And with all of the reading I'm doing for Grad classes, I can't believe I'm finding time to read for pleasure too... But here are three books I'm either currently reading or have read recently that I highly recommend!

Summer Lovin

Geez...I've realized I'm not so great at updating this blog. Maybe I will set a reminder on my new IPhone to help me remember. :)

Since the last update, we've had the end of school, weddings, buffalo, and lots of paper writing.

In the beginning of June we were lucky enough to make it home to St Louis to watch Ben's step-brother, Jake, get married to Jennifer. It was a beautiful wedding and Jake and Jenn seemed really happy. Jake and Jennifer have two cutie-pa-tootie kiddos, Madilyne and Ryan. They were so adorable all dressed up!

Ben and I had never made it to the new Busch Stadium, so this trip we made it a point to go see a game. Lucky for us, they were playing the Rockies!

Joan's Dad has a brick dedicated to him, and the guys found it.

We love making it back home and spending time in this great city with this amazing family!

When we got home from St Louis, it was time to start Grad School for me. I began my program in Educational Leadership for Curriculum and Instruction. I took 6 hours this summer and will be taking 9 in the fall. I have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night classes for three hours. It'll be a hard semester, but I think I can do it! I'm no longer doing Student Council at Kinard and will have at least a little bit more free time.

In July, we went up to Montana to see our good friends Katie and Paul get married. The wedding was at Chico Hot Springs in Pray Montana. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception and Ben and I had so much fun. Katie and Paul are an amazing couple and we spend most of our free time with them. We both felt very luck to spend this day with them!

Our good friends Kara and Rolin came up for the wedding too. The boys all had a great time together!

They looked so happy!

Oh the way back from Montana, Ben and I decided to drive through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons on a whim. It was an amazing trip and we both are so greatful we did it. It was truely one of the best trips we've ever taken together.

While we were in Yellowstone, there was a herd of Buffalo (or maybe bison) that passed in front of our car. It was the coolest thing. They were beautiful animals. We even saw babies feeding on the side of the road. It was really neat.

Updates

I've come to the realization... i'm not a good blogger. Sorry!

Here are my attempts to give you a catch up :)
I've decided to go to grad school. I begin this summer (June 15) and it's a year long program. When I graduate, I will have a masters in Educational Leadership with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction. It'll be a hard year, but well worth it.

Ben and I have been working more on the house. We painted out kitchen "asparagus" green. I think it's a little to bright, but Ben doesn't want to paint again :). I think I'll have to take a summer day when he's gone to change it. While I was in Chicago recently, he suprised me by hooking our refrigerator up to water, so now we have a working ice/water dispenser. I still haven't used it since i'm so used to going to the faucet and using ice trays... But i REALLY appreciate that he did it.

We've begun saving to get the rest of our projects done this year. By the beginning of next summer, we hope to have both bathrooms remodeled, new kitchen countertops, and a few other cosmetic things done :)

Ben has started softball again... but he has cut back from previous seasons. He currently plays Tuesday Nights, Wednesday night double headers, Thursday nights and weekend tournaments (sometimes traveling). And yes, this really is cutting back :) Timberwolfs busy season has definantly hit, so he's pretty tired right now. He's on his way in with our salmon burgers... so dinner is calling my name :)