Fall 2012 Brings More Changes

It's been a while since I last posted on this blog. Pure laziness, I assure you, as I haven't been going to school since I got my AA in December 2011. But, most stuff I didn't feel like sharing with the world, so I kept it to myself. (Maybe I'll share more about that later...)

For now, I wanted to share what Monico and I did to transform his [math and reading special education] classroom into a haven for 5th graders. (Unchartered territory for both of us, I assure you!)

This is the front of the classroom.

Back of the classroom.

(This calendar, I swear, took me 1+ hours to put up with all the darn tape needed!)

The "math" wall. 

Now that we are in "cougar country," 

Monico felt the strong urge to properly represent UW! 

Go Huskies!!

The "reading" wall. 

(Notice the color scheme? hehe)

The "reading" wall continued. 

Includes books for reading (on the left) and school books (lower right).

Homework is not given (school policy), so books stay at school.

Drawers contain various supplies (pens, pencils, glue, scissors, etc)

As a recap of what is going on with us:
Monico and I now live (temporarily) with my parents in the lower Yakima Valley... until we locate a house to buy. Monico started today with the first day of school in the Selah School District teaching at the Selah Intermediate School. I will begin my Junior year of undergrad at Central Washington University on September 19th. I am not going to be working (for the FIRST TIME in my LIFE!) any job -- full or part time -- while I go to school, which is a good thing, because in March we are expecting the birth of our first child. (School hiatus to follow until at least Fall 2013.)

I'm sure there will be lots more to follow in the time to come. I'll try to be less lazy about blogging about it!

Such an interesting weekend! It started off Friday night with such nice weather that my SIL Monica and I went for a long walk along the Renton waterfront (at Coulon Park). Sun shining, birds singing, the whole bit. It was such a nice day! (I love days in Seattle where 57 degrees feels like heaven!)
Saturday morning, Monico and I woke up super-early to head up to Stevens Pass to take advantage of the last weekend of regular ski season. Our friend, Chelsea, had scored us some free lift passes and it was a literal "use it or lose it" situation, so we opted for the former. It was super-fun to ski in the sun (well, for part of the day at least!) and enjoy the smaller crowd on Saturday. Monico enjoyed his first ski lesson, and we even got him to take the Daisy chair lift up to try a real run. Such a trooper!

After several hours, and much tiredness later, we drove home to enjoy the rest of the day in Sunny Seattle. Ahh...
In stark contrast to Saturday's snowy mountains, my SIL and I headed back outdoors on Sunday afternoon to the Skagit County Tulip Festival. Ahhh... loving the outdoors.

Evidence of Activity

My SIL, Monica, is to my left in the photo,
friend Chelsea is to my right, and Monico is behind us.

I don't know how I am related to all my crazy running cousins,
because I really hate running.

Different strokes for different folks, right?

Posting a second day in a row - insanity!

First of 3 letters was received yesterday... can't wait to get the other two!!

Get Your Green On!

For St. Patrick's Day, I agreed to participate in a 5K at the request of my sister-in-law, Monica, who convinced Monico and our friend, Chelsea, to participate as well. It was bitterly cold that morning (as in, barely above freezing), rained pretty much the entire race until we finished, at which time it started to snow.

All in all, if was a fun time and definitely a great memory to share with friends!

(Walking or running, we were all REALLY sore the rest of the weekend!)

Outside My Window

Woke up to this today.

I hear it is warmer in other parts of the state.

I'm jealous.

Poor daffodils... they started blooming before this.

Can it really be one week until the start of Spring?

Photo says it all

Not that it would stop me from adding a

"Whoo hoo!"

Waiting game

As of last week,

APPLICATIONS ARE DONE

for the following (Seattle-area) schools:

AND

Can't hurt to have a back-up...

so I will also be applying to:

I expect to hear from EWU and CWU

in a month or so following application.

UW won't send notices until June/July.

Torturous amount of time to wait...

Planning for the fall

I just finished completing my first FASFA application... well, on behalf of myself, that is.

While it feels amazing to have attended so much school without having previously taken a loan for my education, reality is that I would not be able to personally afford to finish a bachelor's degree (year 3 & 4) without some financial help from Uncle Sam.

My first application is due to UW by 2/15/12. I will have two more applications to complete by 3/1/12 and 4/1/12 for other state schools. Exciting (and intimidating) step toward a whole new career!