The latest with us...

Last weekend we moved from Sacramento to Rexburg into our brand new apartment. We are pretty excited about being the first people to ever live in our place. The carpet is nice, we have granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom, the main wall in the family room is a gold color, and the kitchen, closets and bedrooms are much bigger than our last apartment in Rexburg. Most importantly we are paying less than we did at our previous complex. More bang for our buck.

Besides moving into our new place Mike still wants to get a few more sales in before fall semester starts, so he is in Denver right now working and staying with his parents. Meanwhile I started my student teaching at Highland High school in Pocatello this week. School officially starts on Monday but this week I have been attending teacher meetings. I am not to excited about the two hour commute (1 hr. there and 1 hr. back), but you do what you have to do right?

So my coordinating teacher is an interesting guy and so far I really like him. He is 59, Polynesian, an Idaho State Legislator, has been a teacher for thirty-some-odd years, and is extremely easygoing. Oh and his wife just passed away from cancer last May and I feel so bad for him. He took last year off to take care of his wife and now he is just trying get by without her. Can you imagine? Poor guy. You can just see the pain in his eyes.

Anyway, since he is going through the hardest trial of his life I think he is not too enthused about the school year, and I completely understand why he wouldn't be. So he basically told me that I am free to run the class and teach the lessons how I want. I wanted to have a heart attack when he told me that. I have very little experience teaching and now I am in charge of three courses of U.S. Government and a Current Events class to high school seniors! Yikes! It's such a surreal experience because it wasn't that long ago that I was in high school.

To make matters even more stressful he won't even be there on the first day of class! I will be running the show SOLO! Thankfully I substitute taught for a semester so I do have some experience having a classroom to myself, but I am still nervous. Sunday is going to be a pretty sleepless night for me but whatever....I will get through it. Thirteen weeks and then I will be a certified high school history and art teacher. Its totally worth it but it is going to be intense.

Any of your teachers have advice for me??? I need all the help I can get!

San Fran with my Mom

My mom is in town for the week so we decided to take a girl's trip to San Francisco. When I say girl's trip I mean going to art galleries, shopping, sight seeing, riding bikes in Golden Gate Park, museums,....basically all the things that would bore most men to tears. Here are a bunch of pictures from our adventure.

This is a picture I took of a picture.

Anyone recognize these homes???

Golden Gate Park

Sitting at the top of Lombard Street.

This random civilian I asked to take this picture failed to capture my shoes and the Bubba Gump sign. Lame!

Scenic views from our hotel room.

Deborah Butterfield

All the while Mike was at home playing with Scout. ;-)

East Coast Vacation

Last week Mike and I flew to Delaware for a vacation with the McCabe family. What's in Delaware, you ask? Exactly what I thought. Mike's parents both grew up there so every two years they take the family back east for a vacation at Bethany Beach. It was a fabulous trip. Everyday we did the same thing: wake up at 9 a.m., beach from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., clean up and get ready for the evening, eat dinner at a delicious restaurant, hang out at the boardwalk, go home and chill, in bed by 12 a.m. My kind of vacation. Here are some pictures of our trip.

This is the house Mike's father grew up in. Mike's grandmother, Mam Maw (Carolyn) still lives there and keeps it absolutely immaculate. Everything is strategically placed and it feels your walking into a Southern Living catalog. I loved it. She has an entire room devoted just to Christmas. Now that I am home blogging about it I wish I would have taken more pictures of her house.

This is our sweet little nephew Jaxon. He is an energetic three year old who loves to chat, explore, throw balls, and cuddle.

Pictured here are Mam Maw, Mike and Aunt Stephanie

Mike and Mam Maw

After a quick visit to Mam Maw's we headed two hours south of Wilmington, DE to Bethany Beach. One of my favorite things about east coast beaches is the sea grass in the sand. I wish I could take some of it home and put it in a pot with sand.

It's hard to believe Mike and Matt used to be Jaxon's size.

Check out this cool frog that hung out everyday on the back deck of our town home. He really is that green!

What is it with boys and their fascination with digging holes on the beach?

Someday.....

My brother, Dave, has been selling for Pinnacle in Phili this summer so he drove down to chill with us. He fit right in with the McCabe family and the trip would not have been as fun without him. It was so good to see my bro.

My first time trying the infamous Phili Cheese Steak. I am a fan...

and so are they!

Coming out of the Haunted Mansion.

One night we decided to eat at this all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant in Ocean City. They pretty much just dump a big pile of seafood in the middle of the table and then you eat with your hands. Mike taught me how to break open crabs and eat the meat.

Poor Matt....he got pooped on the nose by a seagull! We all had a good laugh.

Boardwalk

Eating some Italian Water-Ice at Rita's

This picture was taken shortly after a wave ate me up and spit me onto the shore when I was boogie boarding. I was pleasantly surprised at how warm the water was. I mean, it wasn't as warm as the Caribbean but it was nice enough to swim around in.

If you look closely in the middle of this picture you can see two dolphins. Everyday there would be a school of dolphins swimming not to far from us.

Our spot on the beach.

This was the town home we stayed at.

I told Mike this morning that it feels like I had a nice dream and then woke up to our apartment in Sacramento. The trip was a blast, but of course it went by in the a blink of an eye. Thanks McCabe family for a wonderful trip to Delaware. Mike and I are already looking forward to going back.