September happenings

Well, it's been the first week of my new work schedule of working 6:30am-9:15 and 1:00-6:00. It's been better than I expected but still an adjustment. I'm finding that a quick nap between jobs is the only thing that gets me thru the rest of the day. This past summer I've developed a habit of staying up pretty late. Now, 9:00 hits and I'm ready to drop! I try to make it till 10 just because it seems so silly that I get home from work at 6 and only have 3 hours before I go to bed. I'm sure that I'll soon find the perfect schedule for me and adjust. I do have to say it is nice getting close to 40 hours a week instead of a little over 20!

The new school year has been a nice change with some new kids moving up in my room. This brings about a different atmosphere in the room as we are finding that this group interacts very well and for the moment, seems less chaotic. I'm sure that is all to change though! :)

It's also been nice this week to spend some time with Tristyn and Peyton and Laura. There's nothing like playing "Mr. Fox" and "Mother May I" with the boys! What a great excuse to run around like a little kid.

Overall, things are going well. Can't wait to see what the rest of September brings!

Good bye Summer :(

My 4th summer at Marantha officially ended on Monday. I enjoy that job, but it was good to be done. I usually have a much slower work pace after that ends, but I jumped right in at the daycare picking up an early morning shift at the elementary school. I work there from 6:30-9:00, then my regular shift at the daycare from 1-6. Not quite sure how I like that yet. I can tell you right now that I HATE getting up so early. But, everyone says I will get adapt. Each year I take a "sanity trip" somewhere to relax and regain myself as I transition work schedules. This year I'm heading off to see my friend Val in Ohio. My other friend Lora just moved from there last weekend to Tennessee, so I'm sad I wont see her. It will be different, but I know Val and I will have a blast. As the season is changing (well, ok so technically not really... it's been the hottest it's been all summer!) I think ahead to this fall. It will be nice to have my evenings and weekends free again. At the beginning of October, I'm heading off to Canada to visit my friend. Always enjoy that. I'm also looking forward to the start of The Office. I'm a little late, but yes, I have started watching that show. I had no clue what I was missing! I've watched season 2-3 in just a few days times. Simply hilarious! Can't wait to see what happens next! So there you have it... one job ending, one (very early) job beginning, some trips, and The Office. Life is good! :)

A week to breathe...

After weeks and weeks of working like crazy, I get a little break this week. Maranatha is closed this week, so besides 2 afternoons at the daycare I'm free! Today I went with my friend Meredith to Detroit to bring our friend Audrey and her son Levi to the airport to fly back to Virgina. I wish I could have gotten on the airplane and gone right along with her! Anyways, it was great spending time with her and catching up with Meredith. When I got home, Laura called me up to go blueberry picking with her and the boys. We got some nice berries (none of Peyton's ended up in his bucket; his belly instead!) After that we made a stop to Walmart and then Culvers for dessert. One of the best moments of the night was driving back from Culvers with Johnnie Cash blaring from the speakers. In the backseat the two sweetest voices sang right along with him. These boys know every single word! Honestly it is the cutest thing ever!!

Well, the rest of the week I plan on taking it easy. Of course I have a list of things to do, but I plan on having some fun too! :)

Girls Night Out!

Last night I had a much needed girls night out. SOOO much fun. I met my friends and we started with a little shopping at Old Navy. I found 2 cute shirts at a great price! After that we needed some food in our bellies before we tackled Target. We stuffed ourselves at Johnnie Carinos. Then we were on to Target! I love Target and it's even better when you are shopping there with friends. Of course I couldn't get out of there empty handed... a purse, pj top, and cute bangle bracelets. After that, we left for the main reason for the girls night... Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2!!!! It was so good! I loved the first one and this one was such a great follow up. And of course, the only way to watch it is with friends!

Like I said earlier, it was a much needed night out. I'm getting so tired with my crazy summer schedule. I can tell it is really starting to take its toll. Part of that is my fault since I've been staying up too late. So, I'm going to listen to myself here... and go to bed! Good night! :)

Wicked- the best musical ever!!!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wicked was amazing! I don't even know where to begin! The night started out with a stop in Grand Rapids at Johnny Carinos. Wonderful food! We made our way to Lansing where we caught the 8:00 showing of Wicked. Way better than I even dreamed it would be! The special effects, music, acting... absolutely breath taking! 3 hours later, we left feeling mesmerized! My friend Kevin bought the soundtrack so it was fun listening to it on the way home. Honestly, I would recommend everyone to see it! It is so worth it. In fact, I'm ready to go again! Anyone wanna go?!

Wicked!

I'm so excited... tomorrow is the day I have been looking forward to since Christmas! I'm going to Lansing to see Wicked! My friend Julie and her husband Kevin bought me and Julie's sister Lisa tickets for our Christmas present last year. So the four of us are making a night of it with first dinner, then the musical! I am very excited! I have heard nothing put praise about Wicked! So I will bring my camera and share my experience with you all soon!!

Power Outages!!

It's funny how God can take something like a few random power outages and help me out. Here's what I mean... I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed with work. All the long days and responsibilities have been kinda stressing me out lately. Well, yesterday I got to Maranatha and half the power was on. In the bookstore, the only thing that worked were the lights. No cash register or air conditioning (real nice on a day that got to the high 80s!). We barely had any customers and with nothing else to do, I basically got to read the whole time. It also was nice to leave a little early too! Well today, I was getting myself prepared to go to work at the daycare from 1-6. Then my phone rings and it is my coworker telling me that they were sending the kids home because there was no power! Since I don't have to be at Maranatha till 6:30 I've actually got a whole day to myself! So Philip and I run over to Target. Let me tell you... that can be kinda dangerous to me. The trip that was only going to cost me $10 at the most turned into a $55 trip. But hey, I couldn't pass up those clearance shoes, shirt, or shorts! :) It also turned out great that we ran into Laura, Jason and the boys there. So Laura and I got to do a little shopping together while all the boys played in the toys, then we all had lunch together at the food court. It was fun! Now it looks like I'm heading to the beach with some friends! I'm so excited! I haven't made it to the beach yet this summer and today has great beach weather!! Isn't it great that God saw I needed a break from work and he provided it?! He's good! :)

Not too interesting...

Well, again it's been a little while since I last posted. Sorry, nothing too exciting to post about! I've been working, working, and some more working! I love summer, but then it gets here and I feel like I don't truly get to enjoy. Oh well, I'm thankful for the beautiful weather when I get to be outside in it and and those moments when I am not working, I love just being lazy and following the pace of summer. During those rare moments I'm not working, it's nice to run to Target with Laura and the boys, or meet my parents for a quick dinner somewhere. Tonight I went to coffee with a friend. It's been almost a year since we last got together and it was wonderful catching up. She is someone I can pick up where we left off as if no time has gone by at all. God has really blessed me with good friends. One exciting thing lately is that I got a new cell phone and plan. My old phone was 5 years old and definitely not modern! I now have a nice new hot pink flip phone. I switched to a prepaid plan since I'm not using that many minutes. The plan included free texting which I love! I think I've found a new hobby! :) Speaking of texting, I got a text message from Philip the other night. It said "Jennifer Aniston is sitting across the restaurant from me"!! I didn't believe him at first, but no lie... it's true! John Mayer was preforming in the area so they both stopped at the Grand Haven Applebees. Philip didn't get up the nerve to go talk to them, but his friend did and ended up hugging both of them! It's not everyday 2 celebrities coming to Western MI! Well, that's all I can think of that is going on right now. Not too exciting, but hey, that's life for me right now! :)

Summer readings

Well, it's been a few weeks and I haven't been good at updating. Mostly because I don't want to bore you all with work, work, work. I did spend a lovely vacation with the family at my Grandparents in the U.P. However, since basically everyone who reads this blog also reads my sister's I'll let you read her summary of the trip. I second what she says! :)

The nice part about my job is that I get a chance to read ALOT! So far I've read 3 books and they have all been wonderful! So I thought I would recommend them to you all.

Book #1: Ana's Story by Jenna Bush. It follows the life of a South American (I think) girl named Ana. She has HIV and it tells her life story and struggles. It made me aware that many in this world are suffering and I am grateful for my health, family, and life that God has given me. I am really blessed.

Book #2: Idoleyes by Mandisa. She was a contestant on American Idol season 5. I decided to read it because I am a fan of the show. I remember when she was on there, and I thought how it was cool that she was a Christian. What I quickly found out while reading the book was how strong of a Christian she is. She was really able to impact so many lives and is an excellent example of who Christ is.

Book #3: Mistaken Identity by Don and Suzi Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Celerek. This book is about the tragedy that happened 2 years ago to the Taylor University students who were hit coming home from a school banquet they worked at. Five people were killed. One student survived. For five weeks they thought it was Laura Van Ryn. However, they actually mixed up the identities and she was actually Whitney Celerek, a student they declared as one of the victims. This book is written by the families. It is an amazing story! I actually watch a special on dateline a few months ago where they told the story and interviewed the family. Honestly, I can't begin to describe how amazing this all is. The faith of both these families is remarkable. I put myself in everyone's shoes and wonder if I could go through what they did. This is truly a must read for all!

So, there you go. Just some thoughts. All three of these books have made me see that I am blessed by God. They've also shown me how God is truly able to use his children for good things. I just need to make sure that I am ready for whatever He has for me.

Happy reading!

Summer is finally here!

Yes, it is official... I am hot! (temperature wise that is ;) Even though I've been out of school for some years now, I still feel like summer starts when schools get out. Well today was the first day of summer vacation for schools around here and what better day than today to have some summer temperatures! However, what came with that 80 degree weather was wind, rain, rumbles of thunder, and a tornado warning. It was the end of nap time and we got the message that we were under a tornado warning so we quickly woke our kids up and pushed them out of the classroom into the coatroom. They were surprisingly not too worried about the "tomato" (to quote one of my girls). We sat there at most for about 10 min. before getting the all clear. Then it was sunny skyand warm temps. again for the rest of the day.

I did get to enjoy some of that weather that evening with Tristyn and Peyton. I love babysitting them! We had such a great time playing outside on the scooters, playing "Mr. Fox" and going for a walk. There's nothing like walking hand in hand with my two favorite boys. And of course it always does my heart good to hear "We are friends forever" and "I'm gonna marry you K-K". Oh they are growing up to fast so I really need to enjoy these moments!

Next week is the start of Maranatha for me. I'm already feeling myself stressing already. So my goal is to do my best and when I get a break from work, I'm going to enjoy myself and not let me think about work whatsoever! Oh I hope it works...

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a packed filled Memorial Day weekend for me! Festivities started Saturday with the arrival of my friend Lora and her husband Nevin. We enjoyed the sunny weather with a picnic and the best pizza ever... MARCOS! We also played games and just enjoyed catching up with each other. Sunday evening Laura and her guys came over for supper, games, and walk down to the carnival and fireworks. The fireworks were pretty good but what was even better was hearing Peyton and Tristyn's comments. Peyton loved them and exclaimed in delight for each one, while Tristyn sat on Grandma's lap and covered his ears with her hands. He did comment though, "Wow, that one looked like Papa's butt!" After the fireworks we arrived home to an extremely terrified dog. He locked himself into my parents bedroom and pooped EVERYWHERE! It was a mess. My parents are in the process of trying to figure out how to get dog pee out of a mattress! Monday, Laura and her gang were back, and I said goodbye to Lora and Nevin. :( It's always sad when we have to say goodbye again. But, I didn't have time to dwell on it too much, cuz we were off to the parade, where again, the highlight was watching my nephews. They lined up with the other boys and held their hats out for candy. It was quite funny watching little Peyton yell "CANDY!!!!!!" the whole parade. For some reason though, most people would give candy to the other boys, then totally miss Peyton. The poor guy! In the end though, both boys got so much candy. After that we went home and had Laura and Jason's birthday party. We played games, got some crazy pictures, and ended the day with a trip to the playground and a "shmarshmellow " roast over the grill. Whew, it was a whirlwind weekend and the rest of the week has been as busy. I'm covering for a lady who got in an accident, so it is a 4 day week filled with 10 hours days. I need another vacation!

My Trip

Wow, I've been busy since I got back! I'm just now able to get on here to give you all an update of my trip. Oh where to begin? I'll just give you a summary day by day:

Day 1: We flew out of Lansing to Chicago to Dulles. Flights went well, just a little turbulence on the first one. It was poring in Chicago and we had to run thru the rain from our plane to the airport. Not fun! I think we brought the weather with us to DC, since when we touched down it was cold and rainy. As we got nearer to my friend Audrey's house in Hopewell, VA, there was even a tornado warning in the county to the south of them.

Day 2: We needed a day to be lazy so after lounging in bed for awhile, we got dressed and went out to lunch at Chipoltes. Very good! I think we need to get one of those in MI. Then we did some shopping and went home for dinner and movie.

Day 3: D.C. day!!!!! We decided to check out Capitol Hill. First stop Library of Congress. Amazing building. So ornate and beautiful! Then we went next door to Supreme Court Building. We didn't go in, but it was still amazing to just stand outside and take pictures. After that, we walked around the Capitol Building. There is a little park area and nice walkways around it. I just loved being able to be so up close to it! Next time hopefully I can go in! After walking all the way around it (quite lengthy!) we walked all the way to Union Station to catch the Metro home. After a quick stop at TGIFridays for brownie icecream dessert we made the drive home!

Day 4: Well, our intentions at the beginning of the day was to get some beach time in and explore Chincoteaque Island. Well, to sum it all up, the few hour drive we thought it would be actually turned out to be 4 hours one way. So when we finally arrived it was cold, cloudy and late afternoon. So we spent about an hour walking around looking at the statue Misty horse and made our way home. So it was everything we thought it was going to be, but I got to see the Ocean, and you know... you live and you learn.

Day 5: We all needed a break. So, my friend Meredith and I babysat Levi (sweet sweet boy) while Audrey and her husband went out. Then later that night Will watched the baby while us girls had a girls night out. It was fun getting dressed up!

Day 6: Historic Williamsburg. I love this area! We took the Jamestown Ferry across the James River and then just spent time walking around Williamsburg. I think everyone should go visit Williamsburg and just walk around. College of William and Mary is beautiful and there are so many cute shops.

Day 7: Back to D.C.! We had quite the adventure on the drive there. We were close to DC when all of a sudden we realized we had a flat tire. So we pulled over on a 5 lane highway and our tire was shredded! So a state trooper ended up helping us out, told us where to go to get a new tire and we were back on the road in no time! God bless Trooper Smith! So once we reached DC, we made our way to Arlington. Honestly, there is no way to describe this experience. It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. After that, we went to Georgetown. Oh my word! Traffic and people everywhere! It was still very cool to experience though.

Day 8: It was back to the airports. From the beginning it seemed we were running to catch flights. We went DC to Rochester to Chicago to Lansing. It felt nice to be home after that day of travel!

So know it's back to the real world. I've decided I wanted to become a professional vacationer. I love vacation mode! All in all, the trip was wonderful and I took tons of pictures. Since I can't even begin to pick some out to put on here, I will just say go check them out on facebook!

Bella

So I watch a movie tonight called "Bella". Very good! I would recommend it. It played in only select theaters I think, so I didn't hear anything about it until a friend recommended it to me. It is very different from your typical Hollywood movie. Very real and thought provoking. It deals with life, emotions, stereotypes. Anyways, just thought I would pass along this recommendation!

Crazy week... Crazy May!

Wow, May hit and things started moving fast! This is one full month for me! All last week I was busy majorly cleaning my room (not usually noteworthy, but this was BIG TIME cleaning!) Two huge garbage bags later, and it was good! I really had some motivation to get it clean since my friend Val and her husband Kevin were coming for the weekend. We had such a great time! The weather was beautiful Sat. morning and we spent the time downtown Grand Haven. This week is filled with eye appointment, birthday party (happy birthday Philip!), mother and daughter banquet w/my Gram, and packing for my trip (oh, and hopefully a much needed haircut)! I cannot wait for my trip! Me and my friend Meredith are heading to Lansing Saturday night and our plane leaves Sunday morning! So Sunday, right before noon, I'll be in D.C.!!!! I'm praying for wonderful weather and a chance to use my new bathing suit! What a great week it will be, I'm sure! When I get back, I'll have 5 days before my friend Lora is coming for the weekend. Add to that 1 more birthday party, and May will be done! Crazy time, but I'm looking forward to so much of it! I better enjoy it all, cuz June will bring 3 months of workaholic hours... but I'm not going to think about that now.

Something fun

Ok, so I found this website where you can take a celebrity's photo and put your face on their body. (yes, I know, I have no life!) It's fun to play around with. Here is one of my better ones. Can you guess who's body it is? Oh, and almost forgot, the webiste is HairMixer.com. Now go have some fun! :P

Thank you God for the weekend!

Oh man, has it been a week! Friday was the last straw! Thank God that Friday was the end of the week cuz I don't think I could have taken another day of work! My kids have been awful! I have witnessed more screaming, temper tantrums, tattling, fighting, and NOT LISTENING to last me a lifetime! Seriously, NO LIE! You would think with the gorgeous weather we had this week that it would produce happiness and love in those kids... oh no! Devil children were unleashed!

But, thankful the week is over and I have a few days to regroup. So as soon as I'm done venting on here, I will stop thinking of it and focus again on my much needed week-long vacation I'm taking in two weeks. And I'll pray for a miracle that come Monday I will have 16 little cherubs eagerly waiting for me! (Hey, a girl can wish!)

Lucky sort of day

I had quite the afternoon. My friend Julie was in town, so we went out for coffee to catch up. We walk in and there is a Premier Jewelry display set up and a consultant there. Well we get to talking with her and she gives us two tickets for the drawing she is going to have in just a few minutes. So we put our names in and of course, I don't get my hopes up... I never win anything. So we are sitting there drinking our coffee and she comes up to us with the bucket and asks us to draw out the name. There will be 3 drawings with 3 different prizes to choose from: 1) $25 giftcard for jewelry, 2) $5 giftcard to the coffee house, and 3) a nail file. So I put my hand in and what do you know... I PICK MY TICKET!!! Of course I pick the $25 giftcard. So as we start looking at the catalog, the lady comes up again and gives me the coffee giftcard. My second ticket was drawn!! How crazy is that?! I honestly never win anything! So I end up with a gorgeous necklace with a pendant of 3 cubic zirconium stones. They had some nice jewelry to choose from. I'm sure she is going to call to see if I will host a party. It would be fun, but in the long run, I'm sure cost me some money. All in all though, I would say it has been quite a nice day!

My Grandparents

Well today was the day I look forward to every year... the day my Grandma & Grandpa Stauffer make their yearly visit on their way back to the U.P. Every Spring, since I can remember, they make a visit. Each time is so much fun. I'm reminded of how blessed I am to have them. I am a part of their legacy and it makes me want to make them proud. I love hearing stories about my mom and aunts and uncles from times past. It's great to get caught up on the "family news" and here the pride in their voices over all the different accomplishments different family members achieved in the past year. They truly are a great example of living a great, full life. Here are a few pictures from our visit: (Ok, so I'm having problems uploading the pictures, so if you want to see them, go visit my facebook page... I give up!)

New Blog

I admit it... I am a fan of fairy tales. When thinking of a title for my new blog, I knew I wanted it to be a glimpes into who I am. I am a person who goes thru life hoping for the "happily ever after". I know that life isn't always a fairy tale with a happy ending. In fact the older I get, the more I become aware that life is hard. So, do I have unrealistic thinking... maybe. But I still have hope. I can't imagine going thru life with no hope at all. Plus, I am a Christian, so in reality I will receive that "happily ever after", that being heaven. Call me a hopeless romantic, or unrealistic thinker... but i still want the fairy tale.

This title I think fits me. My life story is still being written. I would love to sneak a peak ahead, but maybe it is a good thing I can't. It would take the fun out of life if I knew what was coming. This way I can dream, hope, and be excited as my story unfolds. I am a lover of history and times gone by. This is my spot to record my history. Hope you enjoy my story... my fairy tale (however boring it may be at times :)