A week or two of blessings!

Okay, so I know it hasn't been too long since I've typed up a blog but A LOT has happened in the past few weeks that Steven has been home. And luckily for us they've all been total blessings.

Let me start with the first thing.

After Steven got home from Iraq I was driving his car to work because he needed mine with the bigger space to pick up his things that were coming back from Iraq and to take my parents around when they were here. So I submitted and drove his car for a few days. I had told him how bad the breaks were and he said he would take it in to get it looked at. Basically whenever I would stop the steering wheel and whole car would shake. So the next week, Monday, he drove the car to work let's just say by the next day we had a new car. Yeah, I had to drive it for 4 days and he drives it once and gets a new car.:) But I do like our new car. It is a Ford Focus, brand new, gets about 35 miles to the gallon and the coolest things is that it has this sync mechanism where you can hook up your ipod and just tell the car your command and it plays whatever song you want. Same with your cell phone. Steven just has to say "Call Kristina" and it will call me and he talks to me through the car. Pretty neat feature. Now all of these things are extras we don't need but the car was a really good deal and it should last us for a while.
Here's a picture of it. Same color and everything.

Another exciting experience was our annual Halloween party. I thought I had the best costume ever. I'm going to post the picture and see if you can guess what I am. At the party a lot of people asked who I was and I didn't like explaining it to them. I thought it was pretty recognizable but I guess I was mistaken. Steven and I had fun seeing what other people were dressed up as and even though my costume was hard to distinguish, I did get runner up for best female.:)

White trash couple. Richard and Kathy

Mario and Luigi, Matt and Lauren

Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Stuart and Emily.

And one of the most exciting things is........we got a new puppy!!! He's a yellow lab and his name is Bo. He's the cutest, smartest, sweetest thing ever. Two years ago I would've had to beg Steven to get a dog and last week it was the other way around. He was the one begging me to let him get it. I agreed and I'm glad I did. He's a really good dog, a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Here are some cute pictures of him.:)

Bo on the ride home

Bo's first bath

Sleepy daddy and puppy.

And last but not least I surprised Steven with a few things when he got home from Iraq. One was tickets to see two of his favorite artists, Casting Crowns and Matt Redman in concert. And the other was a couple's massage. We really enjoyed both of them and have loved the time we have spent together the past few weeks. I truly love my husband and enjoy every minute I get to spend with him!

Us and the RBC center in Raleigh

Matt Redman

Casting Crowns

He's Home!

I probably don't need to say anymore than that but I will. :) Steven came home Tuesday the 20th (I know, I'm slow). And it was an awesome reunion. We had some time to ourselves and then my parents came down that evening and spent a few days here. We ate out, played games, and just enjoyed each other's company. I really and truly love my husband. He makes me laugh almost every minute I'm with him and he is so kind, loving, considerate, and just plain great. I am looking forward to the rest of my life to spend with him.

Home again!

The plane

Our first meeting

Beautiful roses he brought to me at school! I love having my husband show up at work in the middle of the day!:)

Almost here...

Hello all.
Last time you heard from me I was 1 month away from having a husband home. Now I'm just three days! I'm trying to be super excited but sometimes I'm just not. I think it's because it's so hard to believe that I will have a husband here. When you're on your own for 10 1/2 months it's not that easy to just quickly change everything!
But this weekend I've been getting the house ready. I cleaned the kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. Tomorrow I might try the upstairs. I might not too. We'll see.:) Everyone says "Your husband won't care if the house isn't cleaned." And I know they're probably right but I want Steven to come home to a nice house after being gone for so long. I know that if I was gone for a while and came home to a mess I would be disappointed. So I just hope he isn't when he sees it.
So far I know he's supposed to be here on Tuesday sometime between 10 and 5. The time isn't narrowed down but hopefully I'll hear more in the next few days. My parents are planning on coming down Tuesday and staying until Friday or Saturday. That will be nice because Steven wants me to go back to work so I can use my days for a vacation later on. So he'll have my parents to hang out with.:) I know I have the rest of my life with my husband so I'm not jealous.
So if you think about it, say a quick prayer on Tuesday for our reunion. I know it will be great. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my husband!
Don't worry, pictures will come..........

It's called Prayer, and it works!

Some of you may have heard and some of you may not have. But the big news around my side of town is that Steven is coming home a month early!! He will be home in 4 weeks! How did this happen you might ask? Well let me start from the beginning.
Before the deployment happened we were hoping Steven wouldn't have to go. He was supposed to get out of the Army in October of 2008 but unfortunately because of the Stop Loss policy, had to go on his unit's deployment to Iraq in December of 2008. Before Steven left for his deployment he hurt his shoulder during PT one morning. It was too soon before his deployment to get it looked at or taken care of so he just went with his shoulder injured. At the beginning of the deployment he and his guys were very busy, going on missions, doing patrols, etc. But after June when all troops were to be out of the cities he has been sitting around watching movies and reading books. As this time continued on he thought it might be a good time to see about getting his shoulder looked at. He heard it was a possibility that they would send him to Germany to get an MRI and hopefully back home early to have surgery on it. Then that idea was nixed. For no particular reason either. So as you can probably guess, Steven wasn't too happy being stuck in Iraq, doing nothing, with a hurt shoulder and not even supposed to be there in the first place.
At the beginning of the deployment Steven mentioned the possibility of coming home early with the ADVON party. Those are the troops that left early to get everything set up. They also come back early so their deployment is only a year. Well, after Steven knew he wouldn't be sent to Iraq, his SGT worked hard to get his sent with the Advon party in October. When he told me about that possibility I started praying like mad. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up because the Army has a track record of ruining them. But prayer is always key.
At a bible study on Thursday night my friend Emily told me about a way her husband started praying. Instead of asking God for something, he tells Him. I thought, what? You can't tell God what you want and expect him to do it for you! But then we talked about all the times in the Bible that someone has changed God's mind. In 1 Kings God tells Isaiah to tell Hezekiah he will die but Isaiah pleads with God and Hezekiah lives. Abraham talks the number of people down from 50 to 10 to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. So I thought I'd give it a try. The next morning I prayed to God in a way I never had before. I said, "God send Steven home early so he can get his shoulder looked at. I know you can do it, so do it (please)." I had to add that please in there because I just felt bad telling God what to do. But I continued to pray like that for the next few days.
Sunday Steven called me and told me that it wouldn't happen. The Brigade did not okay it so he would come home with the rest of his unit. I was heartbroken but not defeated. I knew that God still had power in him so I continued to pray and told God what I wanted him to do. Less than 24 hours later Steven called me back and told me he was going to mess with my deployment countdown. He would be coming home in 4 weeks! You have no idea how excited I was. After I got off the phone with him it was all I could do to pray to God and thank him for listening to my prayers. I knew God could do it and he did! I had the faith and I was blessed because of it.
Now I'm in the process of getting everything ready for my husbands arrival. I need to clean the house, buy a lot of groceries, wash the car, mow and weed eat the lawn. It's an unending list but I'm so thankful I have to finish it 4 weeks ahead of time.
So next time you start praying. Try telling God what you want. It worked for me!

Surprise!

How beautiful are these flowers? I was surprised Tuesday afternoon. I got a call to go to the front office and on the desk was this marvelous bouquet! Of course I didn't have to look to see who they were from. My husband of course. It was nothing special, no birthday, anniversary, anything. He just wanted to let me know how much he loved me and missed me. (It's okay, you can say "aww" now.) I just thought I'd share them with you through the Internet since most of you can't see them in person. I wish I could capture the smell because they smell wonderful as well. I hope your days and weeks are filled with special surprises too!

Accomplished

I love three day weekends. Of course I would love it more if I could share it with someone but when I have a lot of work to do, it's nice to have that extra time to get it done. This weekend I was able to clean my WHOLE house. Yeah, first time that's been done all at once in like...ever. And it was actually the first time I cleaned the upstairs bathroom floor since we moved in. I know, I know. How dirty am I? But really it wasn't that bad. No one ever uses it. But I'm just making excuses for myself. I knew it needed to be done and I did it. And now I walk through my clean house and feel so much better. As much as I don't enjoy cleaning, I do enjoy having a clean house. My mom is so great at her cleaning habits and hopefully some of those are showing in me. I know it will be different when Steven gets home and I have less time but more cleaning to do. Hopefully I'll be able to find the time to not let it get too out of control.
I was also able to get two weeks worth of lessons plans done for reading so now I'm ahead of the game and can hopefully stay ahead. The rest of the afternoon I plan on watching a movie and just relaxing for the week ahead.
Also, if any of you want to join my countdown, I'm at nine weeks until a husband comes home! :) Yahoo!

SCHOOL

School has begun. I just finished up the first week with the kids. All I can say is, "wow". Wow meaning a few things. One being this class is a HUGE change from last year. Last year I had the "smart" kids while this year I have the opposite end of the spectrum. Boy you can really tell. Now I have a few that are up there with my kids from last year but for the most part, I can tell it's going to be an entirely different class. I know this was only the first week and they're still getting used to being in school but still... I guess it can only get better from here, with the teaching and training I give them. I know this year will be a challenge but I also know that with these students they have the most room for growth. And that's what I love. Seeing my students achieve. So for now, just pray that things go well this year and that my students are able to progress. I'm going to leave you with a few pictures of my room.

Clark's Cow Folk.

Our bulletin board

This will be my focus wall at my guided reading table.

Calendar, Classroom helpers, birthdays, library, lots of stuff

Mountain Math

Summer

I've recently been told that I'm horrible at updating my blog. Thanks Steven. I appreciate that. I did mention the fact that his has been stagnant for 5 months but he informed me that that is different. He quit his. Anyway, he does have a point. It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything new. And it's not for the fact that I'm super busy and have no time! Please, I stay at home and do nothing all day. I'm just going to blame it on pure laziness. But alas, I will defeat my laziness and post something for my wonderful blogging friends to enjoy!
So here it is, already past the first week of August. Unfortunately I can see my summer coming to its end. Which means no more getting up whenever I want, no more morning walks. No more meeting with girls for lunch, shopping, or get togethers, no more reading good books in the middle of the day while sitting outside to get some sun. I could look at the negatives all day long of what summer coming to an end brings. But there are also positive things. One BIG one. I'll save that for last though while you ponder what it might be. Summer coming to an end does mean, school starts and I keep busier, I get to ... well shoot. I don't really know why else it's good except for that fact that Steven is closer to coming home for good!
We've been talking about it for a while now. He's so excited to start school in January and I'm so excited that he will never have to leave again! Hopefully it will feel like our life together is finally starting. I know it's not going to be all roses but at least I will have a husband to come home to daily, and to say goodnight to, to go to church with, to just enjoy my weekends with.
I feel that positive alone trumps all of the negatives of summer coming to an end. Besides there will be plenty more summers but I only have one wonderful husband!

Back from Europe!

Hello to all! I made it back Friday night from Europe. Steven and I had a wonderful time. It was filled with ups and downs but overall we really enjoyed our time together. Steven said a few times on the trip that it wasn't really a vacation, it was an experience. I'll agree with him completely. I don't want to make this post too long so I'm just going to give you a few highlights from each place we visited.

GREECE

We met in Athens. Luckily Steven arrived from Iraq just a few hours after I got there. I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait long and God certainly answered that prayer. In Athens we visited the Parthenon, went to a Greek beach, and just enjoyed the sights of the city. It's amazing to be in a city that is thousands of years old! We have nothing in America like you will find in Greece. The statues and buildings are just unbelievable. Unfortunately we did have a mishap. Steven got pick pocketed on the metro on our way out of the city. We lost some money, our military id cards, and two credit cards. Luckily he didn't have everything in his wallet. We were left with some cash and an American Express card. So we had to make some calls to credit card companies and get some cash wired to us through American Express but it all worked out. We don't think anyone has used our identity but I guess we might have to wait and see.

Outside a church door in Athens.
At the Parthenon
An authentic Greek salad. Yum!
Parthenon at night.

We left Greece on a ferry/cruise liner. It was a 21 hour trip from Patras, Greece to Ancona, Italy. It was a nice restful time and we got to see some beautiful sights!





ROME

Rome is a very fast paced but architecturally beautiful city. We did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the Coliseum, Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon. We were also able to visit the Vatican City. No, we didn't see the Pope but we did get to visit Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Those Catholics really know how to decorate.;) They were both beautiful buildings. The ceiling on the Sistine Chapel is so high. It's amazing to imagine Michelangelo spending years and years painting it. Needless to say, Rome wasn't our favorite city but it had some of the most beautiful buildings.

Steven and I outside the Coliseum

Posing for a picture.
Caught! Eating McDonald's in Rome.:) In the courtyard in the Vatican.
The ceiling in the Vatican.

One of the many, many statues




St. Peter's Basilica

Outside the Vatican
Trevi Fountain
The Pantheon


Steven waiting to head north!

SAN VINCENZO/PISA

After Rome we decided we needed some rest so we hopped on the train and got off when we saw the ocean. Literally. We got off in San Vincenzo. It was a cute little city with hotels on the ocean. They weren't cheap but it was nice to be able to rest in someplace nice. We were there for about 2 days to enjoy the sun and sand and then hopped back on the train. We were headed north and going through Pisa so we decided to hop off the train, get a few pictures of the leaning tower, and hope right back on. It was a pretty cool looking building so I'm glad we got to see it!

The view from our hotel room.


Beautiful sunset

Yeah, we're dorks.:)

CINQUE TERRE- VERNAZZA

This by far was our favorite place. The Cinque Terre is 5 small towns located on the Italian Riviera. There are no hotels and just 600-1000 people that live in each town. It's easiest to get there by train, not many cars go into the towns. Once we hopped off the train we found a lady and asked if she had a room for us. She told us she only had two single beds for the first night but could get us into a queen bed the next few nights. We jumped at the chance and once we got to our room saw we had bunk beds.:) I called top! Even though the sleeping arrangements weren't the best the first night it was all worth it. The city was beautiful, the water was crystal clear, the people there were amazing and so was the food. We were able to hike to the different towns by day, swim in the clear water, and at night we enjoyed eating at the great restaurants and talking to whomever was dining next to us. We would've liked to stay longer in Vernazza but only had a few days before we had to fly out of Paris.

The view from a train.

Our city, Vernazza, seen from our hike.

Steven cliff diving.
Um, I'm not going to say anything on this one.

PARIS

We arrived in Paris 11:00 on Wednesday night, found a hotel and slept. We were leaving on Friday morning so basically had to do all our sightseeing in one day.:) On Thursday we visited the Louvre (sooooooooo much artwork, very overwhelming), Notre Dame (very pretty, no hunchback though), Arc De Triomphe (impressive), and the Eiffel Tower (looooooong wait). We enjoyed what little time we had in Paris. Again, very beautiful architecture but very busy with a lot of traffic. We spent about 4 hours at the Eiffel tower just waiting to go up, go down, etc. There was a huge rainstorm that got most people soaked, not Steven and I though, we were under the middle. It was neat to see the city of Paris from so high up. Friday morning we jetted out and now will wait for 4 more months to see each other again.

Me and the Mona Lisa
Notre Dame, looks different from the one in South Bend.;)
Yay all you Hoosiers! This restaurant was in the middle of Bastille Center.
The Eiffel Tower sparkles at 10:00, 11:00, and 12:00 pm every night. I set my camera on fireworks setting and this is what turned out.

I know I will remember this trip for a long time and I certainly enjoyed my reunion with my husband. It's always nice to be reunited and reminded of how much fun you have together. Thanks for a great time and I love you Steven!