Happy News!!!

So I don't have a picture of me smiling humongous, but just imagine. I was substituting yesterday and I had applied for a part-time job at the school I was substituting at. The principal came into the 3rd grade class that I was substituting for and observed me for some time. I was really nervous, but must have done a great job. Later that day she came in and asked me if I wanted the job. It is only in the mornings, but I am so lucky and happy to have been accepted for this job. It will be so good for Shawn and I. I am truly blessed and thank the Lord every day for never giving up on me and giving me this opportunity to teach.

State Champs

My sister Kylee's team ended up going all the way to the Championship game at the Idaho Center and won. It was a close game and intense the whole time. My sister did such an amazing job and I was so happy for her. I just cried of course. Here are a few pics of the amazing event and after the game. It was so much fun to watch her play and do such an incredible job. Way to go Bee's!!!!

Bringing Back The Old Fads

We also went to a fun park that I think was called Wahzoo, but I could be totally wrong so don't quote me on it. It was so much fun. It had a million arcade games and with our tickets from winning our arcade games, my sister Savannah and I bought the slap bracelets. They actually are kind of trendy. We wanted to bring back the 90's and remember our early teenage years. Gotta love the old trends. We played minature golf too. It was a blast. Of course I won and got a hole in one on the second hole on the course. It was so much fun. However, this is one of those activities that you think would not be competitive, but not with my family. Every single event is competitive and you want to win. I got the cutest pic of my man too. He wanted to try out his batting skills in the batting cages. He did a great job. Funny thing is it started shooting out softballs instead of baseballs. I told him he needed to get used to it because he needed to teach our little girl about softball, not baseball. Sorry babe. This was such a fun trip and was so much fun to be with my family and spend some time with them. They are the best and I miss them tons already.

Best Weekend Ever

This last weekend, Shawn and I traveled to Boise, ID to watch my sister Kylee play in the high school basketball state tournament. The drive was a lot longer than I thought and maybe it is just because we had to stop so many times for me to go pee. It was so much fun to be with my family and I finally got to see my nephew for the first time since he was born on January 18th. I hope my girl is as sweet as him. He is only a month old and was such a trooper. He went to all the basketball games and the noise never once bothered him. He is such a cute boy. There is truly nothing like a sweet newborn baby. I can't wait for my little one to be born. We did so much shopping while we were in Boise. I stocked up on a lot of baby clothes for my little girl. It is so fun to start shopping and picking out things for my girl. If anybody has great ideas for a cute nursery, please let me know. I am up for great ideas. I am not the best decorator, so I need some help.

It's Official

We went to the doctor for our appointment to find out what the gender of the baby was. Turns out, IT'S A GIRL!!! I can't believe it. Both Shawn and I were shocked. We both were really thinking a boy the whole time because Shawn comes from a family of all boys and lots of nephews. Same with my side. My family even took bets on the gender and every single person except my dad and my sister Kylee chose a boy. All I really cared about the whole time was that the baby was healthy. And everything was great. The ultrasound technician said that our baby girl is very healthy and is actually one week ahead of schedule as far as growing rates go. She even weighed 14 ounces, which the norm is 11 ounces to this point so she is gonna be a chunker. We are both so excited and it makes things that much more real to us. We can finally start buying cute girly outfits and start thinking of names too. I was going to post a picture of the baby at the ultrasound and how you can tell she is a girl, but Shawn didn't want everyone looking at our little girl's crotch. So sorry about that, no picture.

Our Gift To Eachother

Shawn and I have not really always gone all out on Valentine's Day, but this year I thought I would show him how much I love him and appreciate him. So Thursday night, I decided to send him on a little scavenger hunt. I cut out hearts from construction paper and on each heart was a clue. One side of the heart had a clue to the next heart and on the other side of the heart was something I loved about Shawn or a characteristic about him that I love and adore. There were twenty different hearts placed around the apartment. I had a few easy clues, but the rest of the clues were extremely hard and somehow he still managed to figure it out. I only gave him a few hints and they were on the easier clues that I was certain he would figure out. Of course Roxy had to be one of the easy clues and she was the first clue too. He loved it. The last clue led to his favorite dinner in the kitchen, chicken cordon bleu with potatoes, and one of his favorite deserts in the fridge, which is "Better Than Sex Cake" or "Skor Cake". I loved watching him go around the apartment and try and figure out the next clue. It was not much of a present, but I just wanted him to know how much I love him, adore him, and how thankful I am to be married to such a wonderful guy. Then came my present. The morning of Valentine's Day I woke up to breakfast in bed. Of course I ate all the food before I decided to take a picture, but it was super yummy. It was the Boyle's Healthy Hash with sausage and eggs. He really went all out to make me breakfast in bed. He also had a dozen pink roses for me. They are so beautiful. There is nothing like roses, except for the fact that they die quickly and you can't do anything about it. He also wrote me a poem that he made up himself. It was the cutest thing ever. He is a sweetheart! So I got informed by a friend that I wrote that Shawn gave me pink roses, which they are definitely not. They are actually pink tulips, but they are still gorgeous. Good catch Camille. Oops...

Valentine's Party

My friend Natalie and I decided that our husbands, as well as ourselves, needed a fun night with no school or work worries. The guys had been studying hard and working on a paper that accounts for 1/3 of their grade. Us wives had not seen our husbands very much in the past two weeks because of it, so we decided to plan something fun since we all deserved it. We planned a Valentine's party and invited six different couples. We decorated the apartment so cute. Who knew it could look like that? We had a romantic dinner by candle lights. Then we watched all the couple's wedding videos. They were all so cute. The guys carved their couple's initials into a tree we made out of paper bags. We played a couple's questionairre and a few other games. It was a very entertaining night. We really got to know each couple individually and their relationship with each other. It was a well deserved night and turned out to be a fun fun event. Thank you Nat for doing so much to plan and get it ready.

Muddy Roxy

So we decided to go play some baseball and have a home run derby with our good friends, Bleazards. The fields were really muddy, so we decided to just play in the outfield instead. Roxy decided it would be fun to go play in the infield. It was so muddy that she sank right into the mud. She absolutely loved it though. She decided to dig in the mud as well. She loves being outside and so I just let her tear it up and dig in the mud all she wanted. It was really funny. So when we got home, we took a picture of her being all muddy and then gave her bath. By the way, she hates baths too. After her bath she was all clean and cuddly. She wanted to just lay on the bed with me and snuggle. She is the greatest snuggler, next to my husband. Doesn't she look like a little princess.

Cute Pics

This was a while back, but I just thought these two pictures were so cute. We went bowling with some of our friends from our ward and decided to take a few pictures. The funny thing is that Carter (the cutest little boy) cries every time Shawn comes around for some reason. It is actually pretty funny, so we are trying to have Shawn around more often so Carter can get used to him. This picture is actually one of the first where he is not crying when Shawn is around. I don't know what it is about Shawn either.

Baby Kick!!!

I have kind of gone post crazy, but I have a lot of time on my hands these days. I felt the baby kick for the first time yesterday at church. It was the most amazing feeling ever. I have never felt anything like it before and it just comforts me and makes me so happy. I was so worried all of the time that there was something wrong because I had not felt the baby yet and I am 19 weeks along. Every mom is a little different and feels their baby at different times, but I was getting worried. It kicked all through church and even during the super bowl. Every time I had Shawn feel, the baby stopped kicking, so he is yet to feel the amazing kick. Those little things in life make everything worth it and make me realize that there is more to life than making money and finding a job, even though we could use the money right now.

Before and After

Here are a couple of cute pictures of my sweet little puppy Roxy. She is getting bigger and bigger every day. She is such a good puppy and I love spending time with her. I am starting to sound like she is my baby, but she has been for the last year. Shawn and I have been searching for the world's best dog groomer and we can't seem to find one here in Moscow, so we waited about four months to get Roxy's hair cut. You are traditionally suppossed to get your dog's hair cut every other month. Anyways, we decided to wait clear till we got home for Christmas and have her hair done there because we love the lady in Shelley, our home town, who does it. I took her in and the lady ended up calling me and said her hair was so matted and gross that they were going to have to shave her because there was no way they could comb through it. I was so sad. I felt so bad for Roxy. We went to pick her up and she was completely bald. They even had to shave her ears and everything. Anyways, I am trying to decide if I should keep her hair longer or shorter. The shorter version is really starting to grow on me because she can wear such cute doggy clothes. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Also, if anybody knows of any good pet groomers in Moscow, please let me know too. I am in desperate need of a good one.

Sad Week :(

I am not trying to be a big baby and sound all depressed, but that is how I have pretty much felt these last couple of weeks. I put my name in to subtitute teach for the Moscow School District at all seven schools. I am certified K-12 so I figured I would have no problems. I put my name in 2 1/2 weeks ago and I got called that same week I put my papers in twice. I was so excited. My teaching jobs went really well and I loved it. Then it went all down hill from there. These last two weeks I have not got called once to substitute teach. It is really depressing and sad for me because I hate to just sit at home when I know I could be teaching or something else. I have applied for a couple of other part-time jobs in the district, but still haven't heard back from them. If anybody knows of any jobs open right now, please let me know. I am going to get pretty desperate here in the next week if I don't start getting called in or hear back from those jobs. I do know that I am not the only certified teacher having difficulty finding a job. Idaho is cutting back major on budgets and so they don't want to hire new teachers at all, let alone pay a substitute teacher. One thing I am very grateful for during this hard time for me is that I am so thankful for my sweet husband. He is always calling me and texting me throughout the day to make sure that I am doing okay and haven't gone inasne. I am always complaining to him and crying to him, and it doesn't help that I am pregnant either, but he still is always there for me and letting me know that we will get through this semester. He even came home the other day and cleaned the entire apartment, vacuumed, did the laundry, and was making dinner. He is truly the greatest husband ever. Thanks babe...