Christmas Decorations

When I was younger, I think in fifth or sixth grade, I made a bunch of Christmas decorations. I'll have to ask my mom, because I don't remember how or why I decided to make filbert mice as tree ornaments but I got really into it. I gave them out as presents and even made a whole ice-skating scene to go on a table top. I do remember in sixth grade we played white elephant in my core class where you bring in a wrapped present and put it in the center of the room and people randomly chose presents. Of course I made one of my filbert mice. I thought I had come up with a brilliant present. What I didn't know was that everyone else had wrapped up some type of candy and that everyone was expecting to receive candy. My delicate little filbert mouse ended up in the hands of a disappointed sixth grade boy who said he got a stupid mouse, snapped the head off of it, and threw it in the garbage. I wanted to cry. My hard work that I was proud of was destroyed and in the garbage. I couldn't cry or even look sad because then everyone would know that I was the one who made the "stupid mouse." I was ashamed and didn't make another filbert mouse again!

This is the first year that Erik and I are going to have a real Christmas tree! Before we always lived in apartments and left during winter break so there wasn't a point in getting one. However, we do not have any ornaments to decorate it with. I'll probably buy a package of the cheap colored spheres to hang on the tree but I also wanted some meaningful ornaments, so I made my filbert mice as well as a filbert Benny the Beaver! I forgot how much fun it is to make them. However, I am still unsure of how mice have anything to with the winter holidays... oh well.

Benny the Beaver

Go OSU!

Rilo was very fascinated by the creation of mice. She stood watch over them to make sure they didn't go anywhere.

Our little mice

The happy family!

Tomorrow I am going to sew our stockings. I am trying to replicate the ones that my great grandmother made us. I am not much of a seamstress but if they turn out I will post pictures of them.

Black Bear Black Bear

While we were at my Grandpa and Grandma's for Thanksgiving we went for a walk along the Rogue River. On our way back I noticed a weird shape in a tree. At first I thought it was a large hawk with its wings back. Then I thought it looked like a black garbage bag that got stuck in the branches of a tree. It also kind of looked like a bear. I pointed it out and said "What is that? Is it a bear?" Sure enough it was a black bear that had gotten scared and ran across the road and up a tree. The tree with the bear in it was across the river from us so we were safe, but I felt bad for the poor little bear. Seeing it up in the tree like that reminded me of Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see. It was definitely the high light of the walk we went on and the first time I have seen a bear in Oregon.

Goodbye Nursery, Hello Office

Between working and home improvements I have been busy and have not updated our newest projects. We finally took down the hideous light above the kitchen sink and put up a much more tasteful one.


We also did a makeover on the second room downstairs that was set up as a nursery. The room has white wainscoting around the lower half and was painted baby blue with a farm animal trim. I hate baby blue paint!


It just happened that my parents bought red paint when they bought there new house but decided not to use it. Erik and I love red walls, so I prepped and primed the room and Erik helped me paint it red. It looks great! We love it now. But we still have to hang the blinds that we got, put up art work, and organize the room. This will take a while but at least now we can be in there with out cringing.



I still need to paint the guest bedroom which is even more hideous but we do not go in there as often. I have a list of projects that need to be done but the finally feels like home now. Our newest addition to the house is a belated wedding present from Erik's Grandpa. It is a 50 inch plasma TV with a Blue-ray player. It definitely fills up the upstairs living room wall and will take some getting used to. We watched a movie on it last night and it was like being in a theater!

Subbing

I have now been subbing for three full months of school now. Teaching seems to come in waves. Some weeks I work almost the whole week, while others I may not work at all. I have learned that it is all about connections. I am signed up to sub through Willamette ESD,which serves many of the small towns/ districts in the Willamette Valley such as Yamhill, Carlton, Dallas, Stayton, Central etc. I did my student teaching in the Yamhill-Carlton school district and I have mainly been subbing there. I am also signed up to sub in the Salem-Keizer school district which has 45 elementary schools. I assumed I would be doing most of my teaching in Salem because of how large the district is. However, I have not received a single phone call from their sub finder. Either my account is broken, or they have way too many subs. Luckily one of my friends is a fifth grade teacher there and I have subbed in her classroom once and will be subbing there again in another week. I am so grateful for my friends and connections in the Yamhill-Carlton school district for allowing me to get experience. I can't imagine what it would be like to move somewhere where you have no connections. I was talking to a sub today at lunch, it was his first time teaching in Yamhill. He moved here from Wyoming two years ago to take a job in Dallas. He taught fifth grade last year and then was laid off because of budget cuts. He owns a house, has horses, as well as two kids in college and now no steady income. He said that he checks AESOP (Willamette ESD's sub finder) every hour from the time school gets out till nine o'clock at night and then wakes up at four thirty to check some more. He said he has worked for a month straight now, but in order to get the work it has been exhausting. I am so lucky I have Erik and that the economy has not hurt his company so that I do not have to be as concerned and stressed if I work or not. But I sure appreciate all the teachers who have called me directly to have me work for them! Next school year we will most likely be living in Newport, Oregon where I know no one and have no connections or experience. I am hoping to get a teaching position there or at least work my way into subbing. Right now I am trying to get as much experience as I can. So far I have only taught first, second, fifth, and sixth grades. I would really like to try out third and fourth so I can be well rounded.

Flu Season

Substitute teaching has really picked up this October with the help of all the illnesses that are being spread through the schools. Last month I only worked two days and this month I have already worked seven. Last week I received a call at 5:40 in the morning from one of the first grade teachers at YCES. I have subbed for her before and really like her class. When I was at school, two other teachers came up to me and asked if I would sub for them on Thursday and Friday (one of them was a second grade teacher!) So far, I have only been in first grade classrooms so I was really excited to break out of my box and try teaching second grade. When I arrived at school on Thursday, I found out that the first grade classroom that I was teaching in had 8 students absent (one of them with a confirmed case of swine flu!) The next day I was teaching second grade,which really wasn't that much different than first grade. I heard that the first grade class I was in the day before now had 11 kids gone, some who seemed fine when I was there. The second graders were very rowdy and I had a lot of management problems. Nothing seemed to work on them. My throat started getting sorer and sorer as the day went on. I was completely exhausted by the time I got home and so glad that it was the weekend.
Sunday morning I woke up to my phone vibrating. It was the first grade teacher whose class I taught in on Thursday. When she left school Friday she wasn't feeling well, but thought that she might just be tired from her pregnancy. She went to the doctor and was told that she had Swine Flu! She asked if I would sub for her on Monday and Tuesday. I figured that I was already in the contaminated classroom last week so whatever germs were in there I was already exposed to and I could use the money, so I said sure! However, I woke up on Monday with my throat painfully sore. It hurt to talk and swallow. I took Vitamin C, tea, and throat drops to school with me. The girl who had Swine Flu came to school, ate breakfast, threw up, and went home. There were 11 kids absent again which made teaching pretty easy because the class size was so small. When the students went to specials and at the end of the day I disinfected the classroom. When I got home I took a nap and went to bed early. Tuesday, I still had a sore throat. We had 8 kids gone and the ones that came were coughing and sneezing. All the teachers were convinced that I was going to get the flu too. No one came into my classroom or sat near me at lunch (besides the teacher who had the flu). I really like teaching multiple days in a row because I feel like I am the real classroom teacher and I get to know the students better. At the end of the day, the teacher called me and said she was still sick, so I taught Wednesday too only this time with no lesson plans! It was great! I went to my mentor teacher and I got some fillers as well as continued lessons from the day before. Most of the class was back, we were only missing 3. I felt like my management skills were improving the more I was in the classroom. Wednesdays are shortened days, so in order to get paid for a full day the Principal had me stay and score second grade writing samples. I loved it! Although I have never taught second grade and I have only scored writing samples once before, it was still really fun feeling part of the team. I can't wait till I have a full time teaching position. I only hope that the school I end up at has as wonderful teachers as YCES. Everyone was so convinced that I would get swine flu. Even Erik and I were pretty sure I would get sick considering my immune system isn't the strongest and I was sick on and off all last year, that he made me a patient with his family doctor so we wouldn't have to go to the ER. However, I never got it!!! We're not out of flu season yet but at least I survived the first round.

Fall Harvest

The week before last, I went up and picked grapes with my mom and Raeme. We had attempted to make grape juice by boiling the grapes and then putting them through a food mill. Our grape juice came out really pulpy but very sweet. My mom and dad picked more grapes over the weekend and perfected our grape juice technique. They got significantly less pulp in their juice. Once we made the juice we canned it.

Last week I went to my parents house to help with the fall harvest. My mom and I made apple sauce, more grape juice and canned tomatoes. We also tried making grape jelly. However, I used a packet of expired pectin so the jelly did not set up right. It is more of a grape syrup.

After helping my mom I got really inspired to try my own hand at canning and preserving. I have one tomato plant, one cherry tomato plant and four green pepper plants. My tomato plant was loaded with tomatoes and waited all summer for them to turn red, but the darn things insist on staying little green rocks. The other night I picked one and made fried green tomatoes. They are pretty tart, but edible. Erik, however, did not care for them. It has been getting pretty cold at night dropping down to the low forties, so I decided to harvest my garden.
I picked all of my tomatoes and peppers and then looked up recipes for green tomatoes. I found more than I was expecting. Three caught my fancy: pickled green tomatoes, green tomato salsa, and green tomato relish.

Fall Garden Harvest!

So many green!Tomatoes sorted by color

Peppers from my garden

Yesterday I went to the store and bought a canning water bath along with the ingredients to make pickled green tomatoes. Here is the recipe that I tried: http://www.andreasrecipes.com/2008/10/27/pickled-green-tomatoes/. It was really fun making the pickles. I hope they turn out good!

Some of the ingredients

Getting ready to add the brine

All of their lids sealed!

Then I made a fresh tomato soup out of the few red tomatoes that I had along with garlic, onion, eggplant from my mom's garden, and zucchini from Erik's aunt Heidi's garden. It turned out surprisingly good. I am looking forward to tackling my next two canning projects!

Soup made from my garden tomatoes!

And That's a Wrap

Last weekend was an all work no play beautiful fall weekend. Erik and I scrambled to get the trim painting done on the house. We spent Saturday perched on our second story rooftop priming the chimney trim, gutters and windows. Once that was dry I went around and painted it all the trim color while Erik got out the extension ladder and primed all the fascia boards. I would have taken pictures but I was too terrified watching him! Sunday was a long day which consisted off me painting the woodshed while Erik cut in the trim on the second story, us painting the chimney and me doing a second coat on places I could reach as Erik once again paints from the extension ladder. All I can say is I am so glad we did not buy one of the three story houses we were looking at! At 6pm last night we decided to call it a wrap. The trim all has been primed and most of it has a second coat (besides chimney and fascia boards. If need be next summer we can put a second coat on those areas).

I want to paint the front door red and the garage door the trim color...

The wood shed is still missing one side but it is almost done.

Here is some of what I have learned:

• Painting a house is a HUGE project
• Many hands make lighter work (we couldn't have finished without Ed, My Mom, and Raeme's help)
• Don't leave blue painters tape stuck to windows for multiple weeks during 80 and 90 degree weather (it makes it really hard to come off)
• Don't think you are being tricky by sticking painters tape in the crack between house and trim (this results in using a knife to cut tape away from trim)
• Buy a trim brush (they make such things!) It allows less mistakes and you do not have to tape off all your trim
• Do not paint mid-day when it is 90 + degrees out (it is miserable, paint gets thick and brush gets ruined)

There is probably more, but that is all I can remember now. I am just so glad it is done! Now we just have to finish the woodshed and we will be done with the major outside projects till spring. Inside, however, we still have to organize the garage, hang blinds, pictures, and paint the guest room and office!

My New Painting Buddies!
(After Mom and Raeme left I was lonely.)

Home Improvement Time

Erik and I are both from families that do their own home improvements. When we bought our house one of the conditions was that we had to paint it this summer. Well, we were a little busy this summer and did not have time. That left September. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. We certainly did luck out! Erik and I spent the first part of September scraping peeling pale blue paint and prepping the house. During the day I primed the trim around the windows and doors. Then his dad and he taped and papered off all the doors and windows and sprayed our house a beautiful shade of green (that I picked out). Now that the body is painted I have to go around and prim all the trim on the house, the gutters, and the down spouts. Once that is done then I have to tape and paint all the trim, gutters, and down spouts. It wouldn't be that bad except that we have a two story house (so I can only get the lower story with the ladder I am allowed to use) and Erik works long hours during the day. By the time he gets home their is usually only an hour and a half left of day light! It is a very overwhelming process not to mention their are spiders and spider webs EVERYWHERE! I can't stand spiders. I hate killing them but the sight of them makes me feel ill and shaky. Erik has taken over my dads position of being my protector but since he is at work I have to deal with them myself! (Although the ones I really can't handle I save for him when he gets home).

We live in a fish bowl and the neighbors have all stopped by and told us what a lovely job we are doing. How the color of green compliments the style of the house. How it sure will be nicer looking at the house now than the awful blue/grey/white it was painted before. I can't wait till I can get started on the yard! Neighbors be prepared to have your mind blown. I'm going to give this house so much curb appeal they won't want to shut their blinds. (First I have to have a job so that I can buy the supplies). I am enlisting my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma for their superior knowledge of landscaping and design to help me research and turn this yard around.

Our House: Before

Erik Prepping

Powerwashing

My Jolly Green Husband
Somebody wasn't wearing a mask!
Work in Progress

I planted a small garden that consisted of tomatoes and peppers and then pots with basil, chives, and parsley. Next summer I plan on having an actual garden! I am so excited about getting that underway. I'm not sure what I am going to plant but it will be delicious, especially with my master gardener mother's help.

Garden Montage
Just planted and not very happy! (June)
July
August

Yummy Harvest

Our house has two wood burning fireplaces that we can't wait to use this winter. Erik has been chopping and stocking up on wood that he has gotten from his job site. He is currently building a wood shed in the backyard to store it in. We are going to have some roaring fires this winter! Here are some photos of our home improvements. More will be coming of finished work!

Is it a little boy's clubhouse? No it is the woodshed! (Work in progress)

First Week of Being a Substitute Teacher

It was only the second week of school and I had two sub jobs! Things seemed to be looking up. I subbed last Monday in first grade at YCES, the school that I did my student teaching at. I am friends with the teacher (who happens to be pregnant!), she called me at 7:30 am and felt like she had the flu. Me (thinking it was 7:30am and I wasn't working today, was still in bed). I said I would be there ASAP. Only problem is the kids get there at 8 and it is about a 45 minute drive. YIKES!!! I jumped in the shower flew out the door and got to school at 8:30. The day went pretty well for the most part. I realized I really need to work on my classroom management skills! I kept trying to get their attention to give them instructions and they wouldn't stop talking. They also didn't know how to use inside voices. Then I remembered it is Monday of the second week of school and their first sub of the year. They are basically still kindergartners. They kept asking when lunch was, or when it was time to go home, or crying that they were afraid they would miss the bus. It was an exhausting day but I loved it! One thing I learned: during free choice only have play dough if you are willing for it to be squished into the carpet.

On Friday I subbed for another first grade class at YCES. This time it was prearranged and it was pirate day. I told the teacher that I would be dressing up as a pirate like the other first grade teachers. She told her students that she called the place for subs and asked if they had any pirates that worked for them. As it turns out they did! So a real pirate would be coming to school to teach them. Well, first graders are very gullible and actually thought that I was a pirate! The students were also dressed up as pirates. We decorated treasure chests, made pirate hats, made parrots, listened to pirate music, read pirate books and went on a treasure hunt. I strongly recommend celebrating pirate day at your school. It is a blast! I came home wishing that those first graders were my students and that was my class. Hopefully some day...

Catching Up: The Start of Something Wonderful

I have discovered that Erik and I apparently like to try to make ourselves as busy as possible. This summer, however, tops the four and half years we have been together. Now it is time to catch up.

During the 2008-2009 academic year I was enrolled at Pacific University getting my Masters of Arts in Teaching in early childhood and elementary education. The program was included year long intensive courses, two work samples, and full time student teaching. Handling that with Erik working full time would kept us plenty busy. Then in March Erik took me to the beach for our four year anniversary and proposed to me! I had always wanted an August backyard wedding and I wanted my name changed before I became a teacher...that meant we had five months to plan a wedding, simultaneously finishing a work sample, teaching, oh yeah and trying to get a job.

As it turns out, if you are planning a simple backyard wedding using your parents house as your venue, your grandma as your officiant, your dad's friend as a photographer, flowers from a local farm, and a dress bought during a David's Bridal sale then it is very doable! The only thing we had to research was a caterer and that is where the internet comes into play.

I guess wedding planning and finishing school wasn't enough. Because on top of all that I found myself surfing the web for houses for sale. I had been badgering Erik for a year that we should buy a house. I desperately wanted a yard for a garden and more space for all of our stuff. Our two bedroom apartment was overflowing with all the things we had accumulated over the years. Then Erik thought about registering for our wedding. Where were we going to put our wedding gifts? The price of houses had gone done so much we could actually afford buying one not to mention we qualified for the first time home buyer tax refund.

So when I should have been working on my work sample on the weekends, we would take off and look at houses. Well, naturally we found one that was in our price range that we both liked on a quiet court that had a backyard with room for a garden. After multiple offers and counter offers the house was ours. We moved in right after school got out. Three weeks later I started my summer job at an arts camp for six weeks. A week after camp was over we got married and took off for Hawaii. Looking back I find it kind of amazing I was able to pass my work sample and graduate with everything else that was going on!

Wedding Note

As many of you know, Erik and I got married on August 15, 2009 in Oregon City in my parents beautiful backyard. Thank you for everyone who came and shared that special day with us. For those of you who could not make it, I'm going to try to assemble a photo gallery and link it to the blog. Hopefully I can get that underway in the next couple of weeks.