A Jumpstart!

   Wow...I sat down thinking "I should update our blog, it hasn't been that long." Ha! Try over a year! I make no apologies for the sudden super extra business of our life, chances are if you are friends of ours on Facebook, you've caught the highlights. But since one of the huge big wonderful things going on was the addition of our spunky little girl, it didn't feel appropriate for the blog to just be named for Glen and I. We're a family of three now so...voila! New name, new design *oooohhhh ahhh* I know...I know...hold your applause.

   So I'll fill in on what's happening like...now. Glen just hit his two year mark at Aliera Healthcare. In those two years his position has changed several times, he's learned a lot, and earned his health and life insurance license. He's worked with some really good people who have taught him a lot. When it comes to personal business aspirations, he's always got something going on and that creative entrepreneurial river runs deep. So he's always got a project here, there or somewhere. He is a wonderful Daddy who loves to play with his girl, and she loves him right back. As soon as she started saying "Dada" I was pretty sure she would get whatever she wanted with a bat of her pretty eyes and that one word. Every morning she crawls into our room, pulls herself up on the side of our bed frame and peeks to see if he's there; and when he comes home she gets to him as fast as possible. They're two peas in a pod.
 
   As for me, I am adjusting to stay at home mommy-hood. It's a very strange change in my day to day life. I love it but it takes getting used to. I've never been one that does well feeling like she's not doing as much. I know...raising Casey every day is work. Like exhausting. But I have also been trying to figure out this whole "self-care" business people have been telling me about for a while. Hobbies? What are those? I....got nothing. I'm thinking back to the last time I had a hobby; turns out I was like 11. But I loved to read! So I've been getting back into reading for fun instead of just teaching books. I've done pretty well so far! I've started bullet journaling which has helped me keep organized, but my bullet journal has become more of a day planner type thing than a creative outlet. Turns out my creative side, not so strong. I can barely doodle. BUT my colored pen game is STRONG so I have that. Need a pen? Name a color and ink type preference, I've got you covered!

   Casey is beautiful, crazy, independent, sassy, stubborn, with a mind and personality of her own! We see it more every day. So far she eats anything and everything we put in front of her and loves drinking out of a straw. Sippy cups and bottles are not her thing, but she does love those straws! She is still nursing and my being home has caused her to be out of practice using a bottle and therefore she won't take one. So we're working on that....kind of. I always said I'd stop nursing after she got teeth and I just haven't stopped. On one hand I super don't want to spend a ton of money on formula and on the other I love the bonding time with her. She is so crazy fast when she crawls and puts anything and E V E R Y T H I N G in her mouth! Including a gel silica packet. Enter baby's first call to poison control. In case anyone is wondering, they're not toxic. Hurray! She pulls herself up to standing constantly but hasn't really attempted walking much. We're not in any hurry for that. I figure eventually she'll be like "hey...this seems cool!" That's what she did with crawling. Also any toy that shakes and rattles is the best, so we have a million different kinds of rattles.

   Anywhoooo....that's us for now! I'm toying with the idea of doing a personal blog just for fun. No particular purpose in mind just as a creative outlet I can do! No drawing involved there, just typing. Luckily for me I am a pretty solid typer. Add that to my talent list!

   Oh wait...tomorrow is our EIGHTH wedding anniversary! Go us! What a whirlwind these 8 years have been. Nowhere near what we thought they'd be but so much better. So here's to the past eight years and an eternity more with a man who is far more patient with me than anyone ever could be!

Happy Summer!

   Happy summer everyone! I have not updated this as frequently as I used to. Whoops! I'll try to update things the best I can!
   As mentioned in the last post, I taught kindergarten this year. I definitely had an adjustment period switching from my second grade brain to my kindergarten brain, but I definitely felt like it was a learning and growing experience. People all year long asked me which I liked teaching better and I could never give anyone a straight answer! Comparing those two age groups is like comparing apples and oranges; they're so so different. But while I had my frustrated moments and times where I had to remind myself  "they're five...they're five..." I really enjoyed my group of kids. I think even more so than last year I had a wide array of different personalities; it definitely kept me on my toes. But when the time came for kindergarten graduation I definitely got misty eyed. But I think the most heart breaking thing was on the last day of school it was time for the bus kids to leave. So I hugged each of them and wished them a great summer; but one of my quietest ones held onto me and said "wait...Mrs. P it's time for me to leave?" I told her that yes it was and I would see her when she was a big first grader. She started to tear up and just held onto my waist. I gave her another hug and she headed to her bus. But it's hard to go from seeing these kids 8 hours a day for 175(ish) days to not seeing them at all. I think about them a lot. As much as I miss them, I was ready for the break! Glen always says that after a school year ends I have a hibernation period. During this time I sleep in until my body wakes up and I don't do a whole lot in general; typically it lasts about a week. But being newly pregnant at the end of the school year, my energy was zapped even more, but I still had to keep up. So my hibernation period seems to be lasting a little longer than normal. It's frustrating feeling so tired all the time but I'm trying to give myself some grace and let it happen a bit.
   Glen has been with Aliera Healthcare now for nearly a year and really enjoys his job. He's working toward getting his health and life insurance license to help further his work at Aliera. He's got a couple other things on his mind that he's looking to pursue as well, as is his typical fashion. I have to give him a huge shout out because he has been the most gracious person while I have been adjusting to pregnancy. He's been so patient with me falling asleep at the drop of a hat (no matter how early it is), or not having the energy to cook. He's been wonderful with all of it, even though I'm getting frustrated with myself.
   We got to enjoy some fun family visits since our last post. Chris, Holly, Justin, and Lucy visited in February and we got some good play time with them. Glen's parents came and visited over spring break and I got to spend most of the time with them. It was fun! We even saw some stuff that I hadn't seen yet, even though we've lived here for almost 7 years. Glen's sister Britney was visiting just a couple of weekends ago. It was nice to be a stop on her summer long travels! Now we are pretty much enjoying the summer by swimming and spending time with family as we can.
   I guess our biggest life happening is that we are about 15 and a half weeks along expecting our first baby! A little girl due December 9th. This little girl is an answer to about a million prayers over the course of a couple years. I've had the chance to experience some really cool things and lucky for me I have sisters who were open about their pregnancies, so I've seen untrasounds before and kind of have a general idea of "the drill" when expecting a baby. But it was so different for our own! The first time we heard her heartbeat was amazing! I thought for sure at least Glen would get teary (he's better with the feels than I am), but neither of us did. We just smiled a lot! As strange as it sounds, as new as the experience was it was like I had known that sound forever I'd just been waiting to hear it. We were both nervous for our last appointment because I have been so sick, we were worried she wasn't getting what she needed. But she is healthy and growing exactly as she should! And I have medicine to help with the morning sickness! YAY! Our last ultrasound was the longest one we've had and it was the craziest thing! As soon as she put the little doohicky (yup...that's the technical term) on my belly, her little head popped on the screen. She was moving like crazy and was chilling with her hand up by her face and her legs crossed. The poor ultrasound tech had to fight with her a bit to see that she was a she. We have a picture of her with her hand up by her face. Glen says she already sleeps like me. This ultrasound made it even more real and we are so so excited to finally meet her!
   We are enjoying our summer so far and hope you are too!

Talk About Catching Up...

   Oh my goodness! I had no idea how long it had been since we had done an update! There is so much that we have to cover; I will try to cover the highlights. It may take me a while but if you feel like enduring the lengthy post, more power to ya! Away we go!
   Since I posted last I got an amazing teaching job at Remynse Elementary. I taught 2nd grade last year and loved it so much! I had a class full of amazing different talents and personalities. I had my challenges and my stress for sure, but I loved it. I think the entire year hit me over the course of two experiences.The first was during the last week of school I was giving my students their end of year gift. I had gotten each of them a chapter book that I thought they would enjoy and I wrote a note to them to go on top. I sat in a circle on the floor with them and talked about how I remembered meeting each and every one of them. I asked them what some of their favorite or most memorable parts of the year were and we shared some memories. I gave them each their gifts and just watched them open it. I loved seeing them all excited about their books. It was a good moment to have with them. The last was in the last 15 minutes of our year. We had just done the sixth grade clap out and there was music playing over the loudspeaker. I spent that last 15 minutes dancing with my class in my nearly empty classroom. That final dismissal bell rang and my kids took their last bit of materials; I got a hug from each of them on their way out the door and then they were gone. I was sitting in my classroom that was no longer colorful or covered in work or student mess. I couldn't even help it; I closed my door and started to cry. This was the first group of kids that were mine. I wasn't a student teacher anymore, they were my class and I put my heart and soul into everything I did for them. That class will always have a special place in my heart.
   At some point around January (maybe?) I found out that I was being surplussed(spelling?) which basically in teacher land means that the coming group of second graders wasn't big enough to need as many teachers as we had. But I still had a contract so I would be placed somewhere in the district. The idea of that made me nauseous. I loved my school and my administration and my team; I hated the idea that I would be leaving because of numbers. I got a call from my principal a month or so later asking if I had been placed yet. When I told her no she told me she thought she could keep me at the building but she had to act fast. A couple hours later I had a new contract to sign to stay at the same campus but teach Kindergarten. So this year I have 19 kinder babies. They keep me on my toes, give me lots of hugs, test my patience on occasion, and make me laugh. All of which are exactly as it should be.


   Over the summer Glen worked really hard at Leslie's and I tried to keep myself busy with the sudden lack of things to do. My best friend Kassy and her hubby and kiddo moved to Texas over the summer (finally...YAY!) But after working hard at Leslie's, Glen had an opportunity to interview with the same company that Francisco (Kassy's hubby) works at. He got that job and has been working there for a little over three months and he is really enjoying it! Personally, I appreciate the regular 9-6 hours and getting him to myself on the weekends. YAY twice! He is learning a lot there and enjoys those he works with. Over the summer Glen and I went to the Webb family reunion, my first one ever. We enjoyed catching up with his side of the family. I haven't spent much time with them, so it was fun getting to know them. Now we are working hard and spending time together as much as we can. He is still working on growing his business; it's a consistent work in progress.  We also celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. Each year we learn a little more about how to make our relationship work and about each other. I am grateful to be married to someone so different but also so compatible.

   We have had a year full of changes, as well as ups and downs. We find ourselves incredibly blessed and enjoying our life here in Texas. We look forward to spending Christmas with our family and starting a new year. 

Exciting New Chapter Filled With Blessings!

   Hi everyone! We have had a great summer and I am so excited to share some of it! It hasn't been easy but we have been doing our best to count our blessings and kind of power through it. I will update the best I can!

   Having nothing to do after graduation really wigged me out. It was nice having time to relax but I don't relax easily. Glen always says that I can never just do nothing, which is pretty accurate. I had my first interview about a week after graduation. It was exciting to get to interview for a "grown up" job, but when I came out of the interview I wasn't as excited as I knew I should be. Immediately, Glen and I started praying about what we should do if I was offered the position. We both agreed that something felt off about it and decided to turn it down when it was offered to me. This was so hard! Turning down the type of position I have been waiting for forever and the paycheck that went with it seemed absolutely ridiculous; but we did it. I found out about 10 minutes after I called and turned down the position why I was prompted that way. I don't want to go into too many details but it would not have been the right place for me. So....we took a leap of faith and it turned out to be exactly right.

   Starting in June I went back to working at the animal clinic just for the summer. We turned in our application for the apartment complex that we have wanted to live in for forever and we got accepted! So we both took on more hours to pay for deposits as well as our current expenses. Glen is working his butt off at Leslie's and is still on track to become the assistant manager at his store. With the hours we were both getting we were able to pay half of the deposits and set our move in date. This was another light at the end of the tunnel; we've grown out of our apartment and so many things have been going wrong with it that we are ready to get out of here! Toward the beginning of the June I was crunching numbers and freaking out, as well as worrying because it had been almost a month with no other calls for interviews. Literally as I was thinking this I got a phone call from the school that I attended for my first observation year at UTA. I went to the interview and felt like I sounded like a total dummy. The questions were so much harder than I expected but I answered them the best I could. Right after my interview Glen and I went to the temple; after our session I spent some time in the celestial room and part of that was praying about the interview and the job in general. I could tell right away that this one was different; I was anxious to get the phone call from the principal and hoping it would happen. We prayed about it and felt that if the position was offered to me, I should take it. I heard back from the principal the next Monday and I got the position! I will be teaching second grade at Remynse Elementary in Arlington ISD and I am so excited!!

   Glen and I have been enjoying our mutual days off together. While I was student teaching we didn't get a whole lot of quality time. We've gone swimming a couple of times, played games, and gotten to veg some. The one thing that we didn't get to do is travel like we wanted, so we've made plans to save and go next summer. I did get to spend some time in New York. I went with Megan and Caelan and we were there for about 6 days. We went with Chris, Holly, and the kids to see The Hill Cumorah Pageant. We played games. went to a birthday dinner for Caelan and just got to spend some time together. I also got to go to my best friend Kassy's baby shower. It is crazy and awesome to see her as a mom; they're going to be so great though. No doubts.

*WARNING: SHAMELESS GUSHY FEELS PORTION*
   Okay so here's I think one of our biggest blessings this summer. I posted a status about it on Facebook but couldn't type details through the tears. I'm able to talk about it without crying, I am just amazed. For months Glen and I have been praying that our finances would work out with moving this coming Saturday. I always forget how expensive moving is with having to still pay rent in the current place as well as deposits and rent in the next place. Finances are painful for me, so I am pretty sure that my brain blocked out that pain. Anyways, we have included this next couple weeks especially both in our individual and couple prayers. We've fasted about it about it and brought our concerns to the temple. Well the peak of our financial hill is coming up in the next week and a half. As I was coming home for lunch today I was thinking about all of our upcoming bills and wondering how this was all going to work out. Thinking about how we'd done all we could; we paid our tithing first thing after each of our checks and we have been as careful as possible with our finances. I was thinking all of this when the email alert on my phone went off. The email was from UTA and it said that a refund had been generated to my checking account. I figured it was a little refund for parking or something so I logged onto my account to see what it was from and how much. It was a good thing I had put the car in park because otherwise I would have wrecked. Almost $1,500 was the amount of my refund.
 
   I walked into our apartment and I am sure by the look on my face Glen thought something terrible had happened. I told him and we thought they had made a mistake. I called my mom to see what I should do or if I should call the financial aid office. She told me to do what I thought was best. I intended to call but thought I should first check my financial aid page and all the way at the bottom was the grant that was being refunded. I was supposed to receive it last summer but never did so they issued the refund now. I just started to cry. This is literally the exact amount to pay our deposit we've been looking for relief for and some other bills. I We are so incredibly grateful. The first thing Glen mentioned was blessings from our tithing; my first thought was the hundreds of prayers answered.

Whatever caused it, we know we are blessed beyond words. The following quote seems to sum it up nicely. We were feeling blessed as it was by friends and family who support and love us, this was the icing on the cake.

  

The End of A VERY Long Chapter

   Hello again!! We have a lot to catch up on. Last time I posted I wrote about our last challenge and my gallbladder surgery. My complete recovery really has only happened the last few weeks. As it turns out, when they take your gallbladder it messes with every last bit of normal digestion. Funny how before it decided to act up, I didn't even know what it did. Then all of a sudden its absence messed everything up! The last few weeks Glen and I have been on another challenge. I am not gonna lie, we have not done well! With graduation, people visiting, and a whole lot being unable to be planned, it made things difficult. We still have lost some and we aren't finished yet, but the cleanse part of this challenge seems to have done something I did not expect. It fixed my messed up digestion! No lie! I tried for the month and a half or so after my surgery to fix and regulate it in a variety of different ways. I don't know why I didn't think about trying this before but when we started the challenge, I realized it. Even if we haven't done perfectly, or well even, that by itself has been huge! Even if I haven't lost as much as I should have, that has been a huge burden.
   I also wrote about how hard Glen has been working; that has not changed. Anyone who knows him shouldn't be surprised by that. Since I last wrote, Glen has been transferred to another store. This is actually pretty convenient because the new location is like 2 minutes from our apartment and 5(ish) from where I will be working over the summer. His manager is awesome and he is being fast-tracked to be an assistant store manager. This is exactly what we've needed! He will consistently be full time and we will have the opportunity for insurance. He also has been able to make contacts about his t-shirt business which has been growing. I am so proud of all that he has done and will do. He takes care of us and does anything he can to make sure we're covered. There are big things coming this summer and I am incredibly excited to see what happens.
   As for me, the chapter of my life that I have been working on for the past 6 years. This last Saturday I graduated with my teaching degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. I cannot describe how I feel about this. For years it has been my focus. "I just have to do.....so I can graduate." Then in a matter of minutes, it's over. I told Glen that, in a way, it feels kind of like when we got married. We spent months planning, arranging, and imagining what it would be like. We planned our life around what would happen after the day was done. Then all of a sudden, in a flash, it was over. The day after we got married we remember looking at each other like "okay...now what?" That is how I feel. We have been working so hard to achieve this goal and now that it's done, it feels so strange! It's like I have to be a grown up all of a sudden. I realize I have been one, but still. My job now is applying for jobs. I've passed all the tests, taken all the classes, and walked the stage. Now it's time to get my own classroom.
   I have spent this school year at an amazing school. Diane Patrick Elementary has an amazing faculty and administration. I have truly been learning from the best and I have learned a lot! I would love to get a position in any school! Teaching is what I have wanted to do forever. I would love my own classroom, and I know that will happen. I would love to be offered a position at Diane Patrick; I feel comfortable there and I have seen the community. But I know I will end up wherever I am meant to be. I am looking forward to being wherever that is.  I would add pictures from graduations but those have been all over Facebook already.
   This post is more of an update on us; I will post a personal post (just from me) on my personal blog. Stay tuned.

Updates of All Kinds

   Hello everyone! First things first, I was not able to keep up the frequent updates with our last challenge because of school. But Glen and I each lost at least 10 pounds and several inches. I accidentally threw away our paper where we kept our exact stats. Unfortunately, Glen had to finish our challenge without me because in the middle of it I went to the emergency room with what turned out to be a gallbladder attack. This made it so that there were only some foods that didn't totally kill my stomach; lots of crackers and applesauce. But Glen did finish without me and did well. We're both still working on our goals of course and now that my gallbladder is out, we can work on them like we really want to.
   Glen has been working crazy hard at work. He's one of the ones that gets relied on the most. I am so grateful for him and everything that he does to keep us going while I finish my schooling. He works long days and is the first one to step up and help me cut out something for the kids. He's been a life saver during all of this and every day he does something like this or willingly works a 12 hour day I don't think I could possibly appreciate or love him anymore. But then he does it again or sleeps on the floor for me, and somehow I do love him even more. I am amazed at his perseverance. He works then comes home and puts everything he has into his business. Which seems to be growing and doing well.
   As for me, I spend literally half of my days at the elementary school. I just switched to the second half of my placement. One thing I learned from all of my time in third grade is that I never realized how much I could love so many children who were not related to me. Each and every one of those kids is different and each one of them taught me something. There were a lot of challenges along the way but I love those kids and I miss them bunches. That sounds really dumb to say since they're just upstairs from where I am right now but it's true. But this has made me so excited to go back down to kindergarten. I got to know those kiddos some from being there one day a week but I am so excited to get that time with the kinder kiddos. I am two months from graduation and time is flying, but it's taken so long to get to this point that I am kind of okay with it. Now comes the end stretch, what does that mean? Finishing my student teaching, taking my last (and biggest) certification test, and job hunting. Whew!
    We hope life is treating you well. One thing Glen and I have talked about a lot lately how it is becoming more necessary for us to hear about the good in the world. People just being decent human beings. Nothing extravagant or over the top, just decent people. So I am ending this post like Ellen Degeneres ends many of her shows. Be kind to one another. 

We're All In!

   Hello hello everyone! This is a sort of update on what we're doing. So read it if you want, don't if you don't...whatever!
   So as many know Glen and I did our first 24 Day Challenge back in the end of May and we saw amazing results! If you didn't see those, feel free to go here. We were PUMPED! We tried to do another challenge in the fall (I think...?) but I had some medical issues that sidelined derailed blew up that idea. So that was discouraging. After our first challenge we kept going for a while, but in the name of full disclosure, we slipped back into old habits. Sometimes it's less expensive (or seemingly so) to buy food that's not as healthy or refrain from getting the supplements and multivitamins that our bodies need in the name of the budget. Don't get me wrong, the budget thing is valid! But we learned the hard way (again) that it totally takes you off track and takes a toll on our body.
   With the new year we spent a good chunk of time looking at our life style. It was not easy and it was not comfortable.Glen signed up for a budgeting/spending website called Mint and it categorizes our spending and let me tell ya...holy crap! We spent so much money without even realizing it on like take out and stuff because we had no groceries. As soon as we saw that we agreed that the money that went towards that last year is going towards a healthier us this year. No doubt. We knew we had to do this again and really stick to it. We knew we had to find the value in the investment into our health. This meant being okay using some money on our challenges that before would have gone to take out. It meant being okay with ignoring the junk food cravings in the name of fueling our bodies.
   After we had decided to do this we saw an episode of Biggest Loser where they were giving the nutrition information (like....all of it) of some of the popular junk foods that a lot of Americans especially eat. It was the popular mall food court food and watching it actually made us so sick to our stomach that we couldn't even finish what we were eating. All of this helped us make the very easy decision to jump All-In with thousands of other challengers nation wide.
   So we're holding ourselves accountable even more than before (partly inspired by my sister-in-law Holly being so transparent with her goals and process). We seriously fell off the wagon and we want back on for good. Today was day one.

Aimee
   To put this out there is really hard for me. I am a perfectionist so the fact that I failed at staying on that path really sucks. I let my life and my busy schedule get in the way; basically I said everything else in my life was worth more than investing (both time and monetarily) in myself. That is something that I always have had an issue with; Glen has pointed that out about me too. I tend to give every bit of time and energy to other things and people that I have nothing for myself. So I am trying to be okay with spending money on healthy food to take care of myself (and obviously Glen too). I'm trying to be okay with taking an hour at the gym as an investment in myself. So here are my starting stats; officially the heaviest I've ever been and the most unhealthy I have ever felt. No the pictures aren't good ones...it was before bed and I was sleepy! :)

Weight: 157.2 lbs
Chest: 36.5 in
Waist: 29.5 in
Hips: 36.25 in
Thighs: 20 in

 I came into this constantly feeling tired. Coming home at the end of the day just tired and wanting to munch! I am a stress eater...for sure. Not to mention just feeling super gross all the time.

I was so excited to get started today and I had some serious wins! First of all the kiddos in my class today started a fundraiser selling chocolate...sorry kids Mrs. P isn't buying any chocolate this time but I'll try to find someone who might! They were learning fractions with candy and I realized how totally mindlessly I munched when I had a Hershey kiss in my hand without even realizing I had picked it up. I was completely shocked at myself and put it right back down. Win #1. After about a ten hour day at school when it would have been easy to say that I didn't want to go to the gym, I drank my Spark and my Rehydrate and buckled down. Win #2. Lastly, with my endometriosis makes it so there are days when I am in a lot of pain just because. Today was one of those days but I pushed through our workout anyway. I hurt like crazy afterwards but it was worth it. I invested in myself and I felt good for it. Win #3.

I am now home, worn out in the best way, snuggled up with my boy in one of his sweatshirts. I'm finishing up this post, looking at some school work, then going to bed on time. A successful day one...on to
day two!

Glen
Weight: 233
Chest 43 in.
Waist: 45 3/4 in.
Hips: 44 1/4 in.
Thighs: 24.5 in.

This is Glen speaking now giving some of my own thoughts and opinions. After going without our healthy routine for a good amount of months I can honestly say I am incredibly stoked to getting back to this CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE routine!

Even though I am a bit tired at first getting up in the mornings, I enjoy the time with my wife and knowing that we are on our way to being healthier and having a long life together.

The first days typically of each challenge are the hardest but this third go round I found that it was so easy to get up and start the day out.

My absolute favorite product which I will say over and over and over and over and over is SPARK! This product for me is not just about giving me maintained energy through out the day but it allows me to be more focused and productive working on.  My wife has mentioned in previous posts on here and on her facebook page so now I am going to mention it again.
   I own an online custom graphic apparel company Shirts Just For You and because I am so confident in these challenges I am offering to anyone and everyone that is willing to purchase a 24 day challenge I will give them a free shirt with one of my recent new motivational shirts DONT QUIT which you can see here. Let's get started. This is your year!