Growth and Learning

The weekend:
Curt and I spent another weekend at the lake last weekend. It is nice to have that time to spend with family. I wish my side lived closer to be able to do much of the same with them. I got to meet and get to know a few more people from Curt's side, which was a lot of fun. Mike and Nora Popplewell and Linda and Melvin Miers are cousins and a lot of fun.

Flooding update:
We still have a lot of flooding around us. The Tarkio River in Fairfax crested and spilled water near 59, but is now well flood stage again. No closure is expected there for now. I have heard that there is flooding to our south that gives potential for more closures south on I-29 sooner than we expected. If you are interested in photos, there are a tons of places to look. On FB follow Atchison County 911/Emergency Management. There are also tons of Flood of 2011 Missouri River pictures on the web, take a look.

GED Teaching:
I changed my dates for Laser Hair Removal so that there is no longer any conflicting times with my GED classes. I have one conflict with an away game for Cheerleading, but I will have to see what I can do for that. I'm not sure how to handle it at this time. I go to training July 20-21st, both in St. Joe. This could be problematic if the flooding continues. I will have to be very creative in order to get to the training since I-29 is likely to be closed.

New Project:
I am working to create a new district page for Tarkio R-1 School District. I plan to get it up and running before our PA trip. I really like this part of my job. I have never been able to do anything like this before and it feels great to be able to do it with VERY minimal help from Curtis. Sometimes,  I ask him questions that even HE can't answer. I like that. :)

PA TRIP Updates:

• Booked all of the hotels. 
• We will stay in Des Moines, Chicago, and Sandusky, Oh (Cedar Point tickets purchased)
• We are having breakfast with a Jamie Reinhardt in Des Moines!
• We will head to Chicago and go to the Sears Tower (Willis Tower), but the rest of the time is doing whatever we want.
• We will tour the campus of Notre Dame for Curt.
• We will go to Lake Michigan and Lake Erie for a picnic and maybe swimming
• We will go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• We will go to Presque Isle.
• Curt will go on his first train ride with the OC&T railroad.
• WE WILL MISS OUR PUPPERS, they are staying with Grandma and Grandpa.

 I am very much looking forward to spending a good deal of time with my family. I think they all work while I'm there, but Curt and I will still have a ton of fun.

Being a teacher is amazing. I love being home when Curt comes home for lunch. I love being able to keep the house clean and take the pups for walks. I love sleeping in and working at my leisure. I love the hum of a fan that keeps the street noises at bay while I work or play. I love cuddling with my pups all day. However, most of all, I love having the time to work on and anticipate my next years' curriculum. Looking over lessons from this year, changing what needs to be changed and constantly improving my teaching. It feels like such an accomplishment to create a lesson that takes all the good things from a previous year and incorporates all the new things I have learned. It's exciting! During the school year, you really just do not have time for this kind of reflection. It's a blessing.

Water, water, everywhere, but not any drop to drink (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

I took the girls to cheer clinic, which turned out to be a pretty spectacular day. The girls learned several new moves and we bonded over milkshakes at McDonald's. I really think this year will be a great year with them. We have much to learn and we have TONS of time to get there.

We went to the lake this past weekend at the lake with some of Curt's high school friends. It was nice to be able to spend time with them and really get to know them. The Herman's are a fun family and nice to have around. Josh and Michelle I have known for quite some time now, but until this weekend it was a pretty surface friendship. We enjoyed spending time together, we laughed and joked, but rarely had any serious moments. This weekend, Michelle and I got to have some really nice one-on-one time. It was nice to get to know her and understand some of her problems and victories. She is a wonderful woman and someone I consider a dear friend. We did all the typical lake things: fishing, boating, laughing, swimming, jetski, hiking, cards, and karaoke! FUN. LOTS of water time, that's for sure.

Curt and are planning a road trip to PA. I'm looking forward to spending a  weekend with him out enjoying the country. We have IDEAS of what we'd like to do, but we haven't set much in stone right now. I like to play it by ear. We do have locations and hotels booked, but as far as adventures, the only thing set is Cedar Point with my Pat, Krystal and Troy. It is going to be perfect, though. Curt and I have always been a "see what happens" kind of couple.

It will be wonderful for my family to get to spend some quality time with him, too. They haven't had a chance to really get to know him like I have with his family. I feel like I have always been part of his family. I belong in their family.  It seems strange to love someone as deeply as I love Curt and not have my family know him as well as I do. They do know him and love him, but we have only been able to spend 4 days together at the most, which is almost a weekend at the lake for us.

The flooding is getting pretty crazy around these parts. I am sad for all those people who have or will lose their homes and jobs because of this. I can't imagine what all this water is going to do once it hits the Mississippi River. This damage is devastating. I just don't know what these people will do. If they will ever be able to go back to their homes or if they will have to start again. I-29 North of us, beginning at our exit is closed through Nebraska City and before too long I-29 South will be closed, too. We will have to be creative when coming and going when that happens. Once closed, it could remain closed until Mid-August according to the papers. We are covered by the bluffs, which will keep us safe from flooding. I am extremely glad we did not move to Nebraska City as we had considered last year. We had found a really nice home to rent, but decided that staying in Rock Port and having Curt be able to walk to work would save us so much money. We were able to build a small savings account because of it.

Next fall I think I will be extremely busy. I will have my regular teaching schedule, but I have added cheer sponsor (which lasts August until December) and GED teaching. I just was hired on as the GED teacher. I will teach GED classes every Wednesday night for 3  hours. It will pay about $100 a month, but that money is meant to go straight into savings. In the 9 months, I will have added an additional $900 to our savings, without feeling like we lost anything. This is always good for us.

We are trying to figure out if we want to have me tested for infertility problems or if we want to wait another few months since we do still live in a one bedroom apartment. I'm not sure bringing a baby into this small apartment is a great idea. I also feel like when it's our time to have a baby, we will. The stress that "trying" to have a baby put on me was almost unbearable. I don't know how women deal with that. I admire everyone who conceives when "trying" to have a baby. I was a stressed out mess when I was trying to track all those things. There was no way my body was going to allow me to conceive that way. lol. It is likely, though, that I am unable to have children. I hope this isn't true, because I would like to have at least one baby that is both of us. If not, we can always adopt. We are not opposed to that at all. We are just hopeful to have our own.

Like I said, our life is not exciting, but we do have a lot to say. I hope this finds you well. We send out love out to all the edges of the earth.

Charleen's First Treatment

This last week was incredibly difficult for me.

If you know anything about me, you know that I have a serious problem with facial hair. It has been a growing problem for the past few years. It has been a struggle for me; however, there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel.

On Wednesday, Curt took me down to Kansas City to have my first treatment of laser hair removal. It was incredibly painful. Imagine getting snapped with a rubber band by someone who is really good at it. It hurts, but then somehow, they manage to hit the same place again. That's how it feels. It welted immediately. It left huge red marks and sores. It doesn't look any better today and it's already been 5 days. This is the hardest thing I have even had to deal with. I hate it.

People have always been judgemental of my problem like it is my choice. But now that I have sores all over my face, they treat me like a leper. If you have never been judged based on what people THINK, I envy you. This is incredibly humbling.

My husband has been absolutely amazing about it, though. He has shown me love unconditionally. I know that I am not entirely the most beautiful these days, but I am proud to say that he has made me feel special and loved.

Thursday I had cheer practice with the Junior High girls. It was fun. We had a parade on Saturday that they were in. They only carried banners, but they had a great time. We have cheer clinic on Wednesday. When we signed up for it, it seemed so far away.

This weekend we are going to spend at the lake with a bunch of Curt's friends. I am looking forward to seeing them!

Exciting Year of Marriage

We have been married for almost a year and have had so many wonderful adventures.

Curtis is the most amazing husband.We moved to a super small town for his work.He absolutely loves his work. He has worked there since November 2009. It has been a wonderful move for both of us. I was able to get an amazing teaching position and have just finished the first year there.

We currently still own a house in Kansas City, which is causing us stress. We have talked about turning it into a rental after his parents retire next year. I'm not entirely sure that is the best solution, but if we didn't we would go under on our mortgage. We have had so many discussions about what we should do. Our house isn't worth the money we still owe in our current economy.

We live in a small one bedroom apartment, but it's actually quite wonderful here. The open floor plan makes it feel larger than it is, which is always helpful in a small place. It's a great place to help get our debt down and savings up. We have nearly tripled our savings and have paid off two credit cards. We are working so hard to build a strong future.

I am extremely sad to say that since we have gotten married I (Charleen) have gained a ton of weight. We started going for a morning jog this morning. it's only the first day, but I hope that it continues throughout the summer months and will become a part of our daily routine for when I return to work in the fall.

We are planning a road trip to PA in July. It's going to be such a wonderful trip. We are going to spend a couple days in Chicago and another at Cedar Point in Cleveland area (Sandusky, OH) then it will be to PA to visit my family. My niece will be almost 4 months old by then and I can't wait to see her again.