Birthday fun...

I have to join and say I know it's been forever since I posted but I finally feel like I have something worthwhile to report so here goes. My 22nd birthday was yesterday. I know...very exciting ;) But it was a good day. Zora made me some very cool pictures that he framed and bought me some very cool wine glasses that we had been wanting to get. My dad also bought us all tickets to go see Blue Man Group on Tuesday night (Dad, Linda, Anna, Zora, me and their foreign exchange student Yes Na)! It was an awesome night. The opener was Tracy Bonham who is an amazing singer and plays the violin along with some of her songs which was compelling to me. If you've never heard her I highly recommend it. Then Blue Man came on and if you don't know what they do they're like a percussion rhythm kind of group that uses wierd things as instruments like pvc pipe and my favorite long plastic swish things...not exactly sure what they were. They also have great digital effects and hilarious "rock movement" clips that make it a highly entertaining show. I wish I had some pictures to put up, but they wouldn't allow cameras :( Anyway, all in all it was a very fun night and if any of you ever have to chance to see them live do not pass it up. It's well worth it.

I'm getting old

So I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday because my left knee was causing me a lot of pain for no apparent reason that I could think of at least. So I went to get it checked out just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. Well it turned out being more than what I thought it was, but still not anything too serious. Apparently I have bursitis in my left hip and knee. I have had problems with the hip for a long time...probably around the last 4 years or so but the last year it has gotten much worse, but I never thought too much about it. Anyway, the doctor said that the fluid sacks around the joints in my hip and knee are inflamed, so for the next couple weeks I have to take a prescription anti-inflammatory to see if that helps, but if it doesn't then I may have to have a cortisone injection directly in my hip which would not be fun at all. She also said I may need some kind of physical therapy as well. So I'm crossing my fingers that the medication will take care of the problem and I won't have any more problems with it. So yea, I feel like I'm 21 with the leg of a 70 year old or something.

Prayer request

I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted but I have been extremely busy with my job and everything else. Anyway I wanted to put out that a good friend (and former manager) of ours died last night of cancer. She went into the doctor not much more than a month ago and they told her that it had come back and had spread to her throat, lungs and soon to her stomach. She had breast cancer about 20 years ago so had a double mastectomy, then about 3 or 4 years ago it came back in her throat, but treatment had always been effective. Anyway, her name was Chris Thompson so I would appreciate prayers for her loved ones and friends as they face this time. We will probably be heading home sometime this week for the funeral so keep us in your prayers as well.

Meet my class...

These are my daycare kids...thought I would let you see how cute they can be (sometimes)This is Tristyn (behind the slide) Ashley and Dante
Then below is (l-r) Megan, Kate and Travis
This is the whole group (minus one who did not get to go)

This is Carter...this is the only face I could get him to make for the camera
And finally Ella and Tasia.
If you can't tell we went to the park today and had lots of fun. I actually got off at 1:30 because we were low on numbers. Anyway those are the monsters that I put up with everyday...just kidding most of the time they are fun.

First day on the job

So I'm relaxing on the couch after the first exhausting day of rowdy 3 year olds. I had a blast but this job is definitely going to be a challenge. I spent an hour or so doing some research on transition activities and filler activities to keep them busy when there's nothing on the "schedule". This afternoon they were wild and I mostly think it was because they were bored. So I brushed up on all those fun games we used to play when we were kids like red light/green light, london bridges, and I spy. I also learned a bunch of new little songs and rhymes to keep their hands busy during group time and whatnot. I'm probably going to go to the library tomorrow to get some lesson plans and such because I only work the morning. All in all, it was my first day so it went about as well as expected. The kids are going to take a little while to get used to me and how I do things and to test what I will let them get away with. I'll give you an update in a week or so when I have actually been on my own and have a little more control.

Welcome to the world of the employed...

So I am proud to announce that I am the newest 3-year-old teacher at Play and Learn Children's Center here in Ames. I went for an interview this morning and she hired me on the spot. I have up to 8 kids in my "class" but usually only about 6 at a time. (You never know in the world of Daycare) I get to do my own lesson planning and activities and get to go on field trips and all the fun stuff. I am waaay excited and I thank God for this wonderful opportunity to get great experience and a really good thing to put on my resume when I get done with school in a couple years. But anyway, I start next Wednesday with the old teacher so I can see kind of how she runs things and then in a week and a half I will be on my own.

Wierd neighbors get wierder

So I've become somewhat of an insomniac lately, I just have a lot on my mind and that always makes it difficult for me to sleep. Anyway as long as I was up I thought I would tell you all about my eventful evening. So I was sitting in the computer room talking on the phone and Zora had gone out to put the car in the garage and I could kind of hear a ruccus going on next door (the wierd neighbors) but I didn't really think too much of it I just thought they were messing around. Then I heard Zora come back in through the front door which I thought was wierd because the screen door was open. He came into the room and said that there were 2 guys next door that were fighting (like actually beating eachother with like a drainpipe or something) and that one of the guys had a shotgun and was yelling at the other one that it was loaded and the woman had come out with a baby and was trying to get them to stop. Then he proceeded to ask me if I thought that he should call the police. I just looked at him like are you kidding? Some guy has a gun next door and you're wondering if I think you should call the cops. So anyway he called 911 and reported it and I guess someone else had already called them and they were on their way but there ended up being like 6-8 officers with an ambulance and everything that showed up and wanted our statements and all that good stuff. I guess the good thing is if this doesn't get them evicted then I don't know what will :)