Sweet Summertime

My favorite time of year is here again! SUMMER! I love shorts, tank tops, flip flops, bathing suits, and laying out more than anything else in the world. Oh and not to mention the 3 months off work. Yesterday was my last day with my kids and today we have inservice...if you want to call it that (just from 11-12:30, a short insurance meeting then our annual faculty fish fry). 

Yesterday was bitter sweet. I love to see each year come to an end, but I had an AMAZING group of kids and parents this year. Like the kind of class that is unheard of in teacher world. They were sweet, smart, AND respectful. Seriously, unheard of. And the parents were so great too! It was also bittersweet because I never wanted to teach 3rd grade. I love the little ones. I thought 3rd was too high for me, but after 3 years there I have grown to love it. And this year, I asked to move down next year. I am not sure what will happen yet, but I have a feeling I will not be in 3rd next year. And yes, I asked for it but mostly because of my maternity leave and the fact that 3rd grade is where the intensive testing starts and I hate to miss 6 weeks right before it. I haven't heard anything yet so I am not sure what will happen but I just have a feeling I will not be there next year. Bittersweet. I asked to go to Pre-K initially which would have been ideal since I would have a full time aid, which would be extremely beneficial during maternity leave, but was told no :( They were nice about it and had legitimate reasons for saying no, but still I was disappointed. There are however a few openings in lower grades so now the waiting game begins. Hopefully soon I will know what next year has in store for me. As for now, I am going to enjoy my SUMMER! :) After this hour and a half "inservice" that is.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great 3 day weekend together.

Today Brian, Zach, and I went hiking and swimming at a beautiful place that we went to before and got lost. Luckily we didn't get lost today. :)

There were 2 big waterfalls that we went to where we swam and several smaller waterfalls we ran across along the way.

The water was so clear you could see the bottom

The water was cold but after a lot of hiking, it felt amazing!

When we 1st got there the water was freezing.

Parts of the hike got a little scary (climbing over some rocks) so I'm thinking I may not be back there for a while, but it was really fun. Overall we had a great last Memorial weekend as a family of 2! :)

Beach Blues

I love the beach. Love it. And I can't remember the last summer I didn't go to a beach. Until now. This summer we aren't going to be able to go (due to Brian not having days off and trying to save for baby) and it is killing me. All I can think about is laying out listening to the waves. Best thing ever. The last 2 summers we have went to Mexico and since we can't go this year, and it will probably be a long time before we get to go to another country again...just the 2 of us, I am reminiscing so here is a recap of our trip last summer.

Love

We drove 5 hours late Friday might to Texas where we caught an 8 am flight to Florida for a layover then next stop Mexico! It's always so nice to land, then you remember the waiting begins. Long lines, bag checks, passport checks, etc. Then we walk out to find our bus waiting. We always book a travel service to drive us anywhere we need to go while there and it has always been a good experience so far. They also set you up with brochures of various safe things to do outside of the resort and times for those activities.

Lunch break from the beach 

We made it to our resort about 2 and our room wasn't quite ready. They took our bags and we went exploring. I loved Mexico last time we were there, but I have to say this time was even better. This resort was huge and literally had something for everyone. We walked around, got a little lost, and ended up at a pizza place where Brian thought Tequilla shots were a good idea. Let me just say, Tequilla is never a good idea. However, we had a blast that night. Ended up spending most of the night at our favorite pool bar, and passed out bt 7. Hey, we had had a long night/day of traveling mixed with a little jet lag then some alcohol. Needless to say, we were up early the next day. The next few days were spent alternating between the beach and pool.

The day we arrived

As I said before this place had something for everyone. Let me start with the pools. There was the crazy party pool. It was the biggest pool and always had something crazy going on. From bikini contests to body shots, it was a little too crazy for me. And I must add, it wad also a fairly young crowd. Think high school graduates in Cabo. Then there was the family pool which oddly enough was in the middle. No pool bar, no contests, just families and kids. Then there was the older party pool. This is where we stayed. There was a pool bar and plenty of drunks but without all the screaming and wild contests. And by older, I'm talking 20s to 60s. It was by far the best fit for us. None of these pools were labeled but you could easily see what was what and where you belonged right away. We had a lot of fun at the resort and met a lot of great people from a family from Kentucky to a couple from Chicago to a group from the Phillipines and even some Australians and Russians.

Our Pool

In our favorite pool

We ventured out one day for something I had been wanting to do for a long time-ZIPLINING! This was by far one of my favorite memories ever! I had been wanting to zipline for a long time so as soon as we saw it in the brochure we knew we were going. We went to a place called Selvatica and it was amazing. We got suited up in our zipline gear, went through a short group training then we were off. It was a blast and I would definitely recommend going to anyone. In fact, I plan to go again one day. After ziplining, they drove our whole group over to a swimming hole with a zipline that fell into the water. I was too chicken to do that one but swam and watched Brian and others zipline in. From there we headed to the rainforest to plant trees! I'm not very creative so I just named mine Reyes. Brian named him BMFP...after Bobby Petrino who was still our coach at the time. Then they took us back to the place we checked in at for a free meal and beer while we watched a slide show and videos from the day. It was a perfect ending to the day. From there, we headed back to the resort and spent the afternoon, like most, at the beach.

Our names on the wall at Selvetica

After ziplining meal

My favorite thing to do

*I have to add, as we were leaving Selvetica one of the workers we had talked to all day told us to come back soon and bring our bambinos, to which we responded: We aren't having bambinos for a VERY long time. Looks like we will have to go back soon with our bambino afterall.

We had 6 crazy fun nights at the resort, met tons of people, and I finally got the zipline. Overall it was a perfect trip. And we will go back one day even if it isn't for a long long time.

Brian being serenaded at dinner 

On the way home, we were sick of all the Mexican food and stopped at In N Out. It was the best meal I have ever had. Yum!

Real American food finally!

10 Weeks

I hit the 10 week mark and am feeling 1000 times better. I have had energy most days for the past week and (knock on wood) have not been nauseous in a week either. I'm hoping this lasts. Which also makes me wonder if I am actually at 12 weeks and have hit my glorious 2nd trimester since I'm not really sure of my due date yet. Wishful thinking. I woke up Thursday morning and HELLO BELLY! It is early for that I know, but it was most certainly there. Other people noticed as well. It was not just my imagination. I had to wear a dress to avoid trying to button pants.

Here is a recap of my week by week pictures so far:

Notice the 10 week picture in the green dress? That was Thursday. Belly belly. And I'm telling you it came up over night. And it has not gone away. I thought maybe it was just a fluke and it would be gone the next day. Nope. I'm a little concerned that there are 2 in there. Either that or I am going to be ginormous. Oh well, I'm just happy baby is growing and healthy. And that I am feeling better. :)

Oh and my doctor's appointment is finally getting closer...1 week and 3 days. Yay!

9 Weeks

So this may kinda turn into a pregnancy blog for a while, but this is what currently consumes my mind and what I want to remember. So here is my 9 week picture.



I need to start having Brian take them so they aren't always in the bathroom mirror, but right now there really isn't much to see. I just happen to have an app on my phone that reminds me to take pictures so I do. It will be fun to look back on all the weeks in the end and see how I grew.



So what's going on with the baby? He or she is currently the size of a cherry and is finally starting to look more like a baby. It is crazy to me to read how much of the baby is already formed and what new things are happening each week. As of now, most of the essential body parts are present including ears, eyelids, mouth, and nose.

Lately

So I stopped blogging for a while, and a lot of exciting things have happened since! First we bought our 1st house. We are now residents of Greenwood. It was a long process of house hunting, but after 5 months of searching we found the perfect fit for us.

Brian got a new job shortly after we moved. He's now working for Pruitt Tool and his hours are 1000 times better. Rather than working until 8:00 six nights a week he is now home by 3 every day. It's nice to come home and him already be here! With all the extra time on his hands, he built us a deck! Here are some pictures of the progress and the almost finished product. We still haven't added the steps but will soon!

And for the most exciting news, we found out about a month ago that we are having a baby! It was crazy exciting, somewhat scary news, but we couldn't be happier! I am due in December and we have our first doctor's appointment in 2 weeks and 2 days. It's been a long awaited appointment. Here is a picture of the day I found out. What bump there is has always been there but it was an exciting time to remember.

In other news, 8 more days of school! I am even more excited about that than usual. I have a great class this year, but this pregnancy is draining my energy. By the end of everyday I just want to nap so I am looking forward to some time off.