Weekend!

Thankfully today was a relaxing day.  I have still not been feeling good from this cold or whatever it is that's been plaguing my head.  I subbed and worked at Walmart Thursday and Friday, so I had two very long days in a row.  Thursday did not get off to a very good start.  We had well below freezing temperatures and ice on the roads.  Denton ISD was closed along with many others who were also closed or starting late.  Unfortunately that list did not include Lewisville ISD, so I had to go to my sub job.  I am not going to lie; I was scared at times driving.  I hit an icy patch before getting on the interstate and nearly lost control.  It was cold all day Thursday and Friday!  Today it warmed up to about 37 but compared to Thursday and Friday it felt about 65.

I am subbing for the same teacher all next week, so I decided that I am going to take it easy this weekend.  Today Landon and I went to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus-Heath Ledger's last movie.  It was interesting at times, but not a great movie.  You can expect a review soon on my film blog.

Ooops! Recap of the last few months.

So, I have obviously been very negligent towards my blog the last several months.

I have been somewhat busy subbing and working in the optical. Landon has been very busy at work at the DC.

Since the car accident in September, which I failed to blog about, we have been kept on our toes with medical bills and calls to the insurance company. I have submitted receipts for my injuries in the accident, which were minor. I hope to hear back from them soon so we can get some bills paid off!

Landon is still having trouble with his shoulder. He was out of work for two months and has been back at work for a little over a month. Things started out well the first few days back but after that he has been either just plain sore or in pain from the repetitive and physically demanding nature of his job. When he went back to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, the doctor said there was nothing he could do since the injury is not operable. We are thinking about seeing a shoulder specialist but have not come across one that will take him. One doctor that my brother has seen before for one of his many "accidents" specializes in shoulder injuries but does not take car accident-related injuries.

We had a wonderful (and white!) Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and ended up spending the night and the next morning with them too because of the snow. The next day we were able to make it up to Nocona to see Landon's dad and stepmom, brother and sister. The snow prevented us from going on Christmas Day like we originally planned. Snow still blanketed the ground and the moon shone off the snow-covered fields on our way there. I wished it was light outside so I could see how pretty it was-The snow had already melted here in Denton.

Since Christmas we've been busy playing with our Christmas gifts-my Rockband, purse, jewelry and grill pan!, Landon's Yankees wear, books and flip video camera.

I have set some New Year's resolutions for myself, purely boring and routine things that I have a hard time being consistent with (imagine that!) Doing the dishes everyday (the handwash only things seemed to pile up), scooping my cat's litterbox 3 times a week (I know, I'm bad!), balancing the checkbook daily (it takes too long to do it when I wait a week or more at a time), spending time in the Word everyday (again, I have to make myself take the time--too many distractions), working out 3 times per week (shouldn't be too hard), and eating fish or meatless once a week (this will be hardest on Landon). As this is the first week of the year, I'd say I'm doing pretty well so far.

I haven't been feeling well this week (head cold, or something) and I have a sub job and Walmart tomorrow and Friday, so I'm hoping I'll be feeling better by tonight. I've spent the day so far on the couch watching TV and playing around on the computer.

Part of my resolve this year is also to be more consistent writing here on my blog and reading the blogs of my friends and family. It helps me feel more connected to those I don't get to see nearly often enough!

How exhausting!

Today was my day off work and I spent waaay more time applying for positions that I thought I would. This could be a good thing, though because that means there were a lot of positions for me to apply to. Today I applied for:

8 positions in Garland (probably require us to move)
1 position in Coppell
Kindergarten position in Blue Ridge (really far away! gonna have to move)
2 positions in Rockwall (thinking we would be moving for this one)
3rd grade position in McKinney
and
1/2 time Pre-K position in Northwest.

So, thankfully those positions were there for me to apply. These positions are all new since the last time I checked (August 1st). Please keep me in your prayers. Maybe one of these will be THE JOB! Now that I have spent 6 1/2 doing this, I think it's time for a nap.

Catch Up!

The last two weeks have seemed quite busy for me, but in a good way. I started working more hours at Wal-Mart. Unfortunately its not quite full-time hours, but its enough to cover what I was making at Children's Courtyard. I'm really enjoying being there again enough to know what's going on!

Landon is doing a triathlon in October so last week he started training. I'm doing the training with him and it has felt so good! I have been swimming and I even ran for 15 minutes straight (and I am not a runner!) It has been a really long time since I've done that. Training also means healthier meals. It has been so nice to cook healthy meals without getting an eeww look from Landon.

So far there has been no new news on the job front. I am coming to terms with the fact that I need to make a plan that does not involve teaching in my own classroom this year since school starts in less than 2 weeks. I will be substitute teaching for Lewisville ISD and working a Wal-Mart, sort of like I did before my long-term sub job last year. Just keep praying that the right position will come along.

Oh the joys of the morning...

So yesterday was my first day back at Walmart as my full-time job. With my childcare job I had been getting to work at 6:30 in the morning. Granted, I did get off at 2:30, but getting up at 4:45 was getting really old. So far today I have been able to sweep the kitchen, put some laundry in the wash, finish a movie, make breakfast (including enjoy a cup of coffee!) and tend to my cat's daily needs all before going to work! It's wonderful :)

California Trip

We (Mommy, Jason, and I) had a wonderful time in California. We had some interesting adventures at the airport, both coming and going we managed to get on earlier flights!

Here are some of the things we did:

-toured Warner Bros. studios in Burbank
---saw where soooo many TV shows and movies were filmed (totally cool!)
-ate at In & Out Burger (while I proved to Jason that Whataburger sells salads as well. Thank goodness for iPhones)
-saw so many more palm trees than I expected
-went to the "best spot to view the Hollywood sign." Corner of Sunset and sketchy! (Wish we hadn't listened to Frommer's on that one!)
-drove through some cute neighborhoods in the Hollywood Hills
-went "shopping" on Rodeo Drive
-visited Griffith Park and the observatory
-hiked at Griffith Park
-walked around on Hollywood Blvd taking in the freak show (too many people selling Michael Jackson stuff!)
-found movie star feet and hand prints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
-attempted to look at stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (too many people to stop and look!)
-shopped Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade (found some good deals too!)
-loved the weather! Hardly above 70 degrees the whole weekend :)
-ate at a great Italian restaurant in Santa Monica run by, get this, Italians! Also had the best canoli I've ever eaten, yum!
-walked the Santa Monica beach
-climbed up every single set of stairs at the Hollywood Bowl
-walked the Santa Monica Pier
-found the original "Muscle Beach"
-sat outside on the hotel's restaurant patio just to enjoy the beautiful weather
-watched Jason surf
-sat on the beach and got the worst sunburn of my life!

All in all, so much fun. I would love to go back to Santa Monica again!
Movie sets at Warner Bros. Studio
The infamous Warner Bros. water tower and one of those beautiful palm trees.
The Hollywood Bowl. Yep, Jason and I walked up all those stairs!My favorite find at Grauman's: Jimmy Stewart!



Our hotel on the beach!
Enjoying the beach on our last day...Little did I know I was getting burned!
Here's some video of Jason's surfing lesson:





Okay, he did have some longer runs on the board, but I didn't get any video of that. Here's a picture:
We had a great time...Wouldn't be surprised if my brother graduates from college and moves to Santa Monica.

Busy, Busy

Well, it's been a whole month now since my last post. Ever since my California vacation, things have been pretty crazy buys around here. My mom, Jason, and I had a wonderful time in California (I will post some pictures soon.) Sometime soon after that, Children's Courtyard asked if I was interested in a lead teaching position in a toddler room. It would mean a raise and a chance to get away from the Pre-K room which was causing me so much anguish. However, the next day at WalMart my manager informed me that one of the ladies was transferring to another store and told me she could get me more hours. As it turns out, She could offer me exactly the hours I need to make as much money as I do working 40 hours at Children's Courtyard and 7 hours at WalMart. This was the perfect opportunity to have a little more time in the week and have a more flexible work schedule for those interviews that I'm sure I'm going to be going on some time soon (fingers crossed.)

So, I gave them my notice and yesterday was my last day. I'll start Monday back at WalMart working only 30 hours a week, not every weekend (yay!) and having flexibility to do what I need to do to get a teaching job (something I did not have at Children's Courtyard.) So, looks like the Lord has answered my prayers and I know He's got something even better heading my way! Even if I don't get a teaching job in the next month or so, I'll still be able to work at WalMart and substitute teach. It's hard to make any plans right now because I don't know what I'm going to be doing a month from now. I feel like I'm in limbo, but all I know is that God is faithful. Somehow, and I don't know how, but He keeps us paying our bills! I think he's padding my paychecks!

Last weekend Landon and I became official members of our church. We are so excited because this is the first time that we have been church members in our married life. We love GracePointe and feel so at home there!

I'll try to keep more updated. Hopefully I'll have some good job news to tell soon!