A Wedding and Other Exciting Events

Alex got married last night!! She is no longer a Fiala. Her last name is now McCombs. (tear) She was married at the White House, a reception house here is Twin Falls. Debbie Miller and everyone there did an excellent job! A friend of mine, Bethany, did the photography. Here is a link to the bridals: The bride and groom!
Alison, Annie C., Donna, and myself were the bridesmaids. We had a ball walking down the aisle with our beautiful bouquets. I know temple marriages are the ideal, but there is something to be said for walking down the aisle like a princess. We had a lot of fun! Alex totally looked like a princess too. She was beautiful in her specially tailored dress. It was hemmed shorter in the front to show off her fabulous shoes.

Annie and Donna -- my beautiful cousins!
Jake and I during the reception.

There was a good turnout of family and friends at the reception. Uncle Randy and Aunt Gwen flew in from Cincinnati, Ohio and many local friends and family came too.

Super Dad!!

Rylee Mae!!
Dad and Uncle Gary!

Other exciting events: I am finally at 20 weeks! Half way there!!! We have an appointment for an ultrasound on the 12th of March. Hopefully we will be able to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I know there are some bets at school involving the exchange of candy bars to the winner. The “goldfish feeling” is getting more pronounced every day. Those pictures soon to come!!

I have come to the conclusion that there is a goldfish doing backflips in my tummy.

In a Jam!

Since it was a snowy Sunday Stake Conference day, I decided it would be a good day to make some jam. Two summers ago, I picked and froze several gallons of strawberries. Over the last few years I have bought frozen raspberries and mixed berries assumming that I may need them or could use them in a smoothie. So day I turned them all into jam. I made one batch of strawberry jam, one batch of raspberry jam, and one batch of Berry Medley jam.

I used thirteen and a half cups of sugar and it took three and a half hours but my freezer is stocked with enough jam to last for years.

I made freezer jam, not cooked jam, but I used the stove top

because the rest of my counter space was being used for the other

steps of the process. While one batch of jam was being worked on,

one was "resting" - absorbing the pectin, and berries were thawing.

It was a busy kitchen.

Jake was a big helper! He carried the sugar upstairs for me

and helped me do the dishes!

He also took pictures of himself being sexy!

Spring Fever

The sun was shining today!!!! Before I knew it, I had caught spring fever! I am beginning to get very exited about getting out into my new yard and begin planting!!
I don't have room for a large garden so I've had to get creative. What I do have is two large decks. One in the back that is shaded all day long, and the other gets partial sun mostly in the mornings. I've decided to create a "container garden" by planting all of my vegetables, herbs, and flowers in pots to decorate with on the porch.
Unfortunately, I don't really know what I'm doing. This week, I'm going to the library to get books, but what I'm really looking for is some advice. If you've ever tried to plant tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, peas, strawberries, or herbs help!!!!

I'll continue to update as I begin my new experiment in gardening. Wish me luck and lets all hope that spring is on its way!

Wow -- I'm a slacker!

I can't believe that I haven't posted in over a month and a half! Life has been busy around here though. I think I'll start in the present and work my way backwards through December.

First of all, the first semester of the school year is over!! We're halfway through the school year, which is very exciting. I have never been as challenged in my work as I have been this year and I will be glad to look back at an entire year and know that I survived. Jake came into school on Friday night and helped me finish up my paperwork. I've spent this weekend working on plans for second semester.

Second, we've entered our second trimester of the pregnancy! I can finally relax a little bit knowing that the time for the most miscarriages is in the past. At 14 weeks the baby is the size of a lemon, supposedly. People tell me I'm showing but they usually say that right after I've eaten lunch so I don't get too excited. My pants don't button comfortably though, so that shows progress. The kids at school are excited too. They can't wait to meet the baby. I keep telling them it won't be born until July but they don't seem to be listening. At least once a week they ask me if I'll bring it in to school to show them.

Onto Christmas! We had a very nice Christmas but I completely forgot to take pictures! We followed our usual tradition with Christmas Eve with my parents, Christmas day with Jake's parents, and then Christmas night at my aunt and uncels house. Jake bought us (himself) a pool table for Christmas. It's beautiful and is getting a lot of use. I spent at least 14 hours a day sleeping over Christmas break. :) We had a very nice time.

Not as nice as my sister Alex though! She is engaged! The wedding will be on February 26th, which is coming up really fast. Last Thursday, Annie and Donna came over to help us send invitations. They're good helpers and we were done in less than two hours. Now its time for Alison and I to put together the Bridal shower. Next Saturday we're going to Salt Lake to pick up Alex's dress which is getting altered.

Before Christmas I got to go to the Nutcracker Ballet with my mom and her friends. It was amazing. I have fallen in love with the ballet and can't wait to see another one. I have decided that I want to be a ballerina when I grow up. I'm also hoping that my baby is a girl so that we can go watch ballets together. Oh heck, even if it is a boy I'll still be dragging him to the ballet. It was great. Thanks for letting us know it was being performed Kaylene!

Well, that is my update. 2010 is going to be a busy, crazy year for us and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Exciting News!

We finally have some exciting news to share! We're pregnant! Well, Jake would make me clarify: I'm pregnant! I'm only 8 weeks along and I don't feel very pregnant. I get occasional evening nausea and I'm tired a lot, but I haven't thrown up yet for which I'm grateful. Nothing else seems different although I'm told that the baby is the size of a raspberry.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we got to see the heartbeat. That was pretty cool. This past Friday, the 4th, I got to see the heartbeat again. I was considered a high risk pregnancy because my body is very low on hormones like progesterone, but all seems well now. I have taken lots of different medicines to regulate my body so we're good to go.

We told our families on Thanksgiving and that was a lot of fun. Everyone had different reactions. Jake's parents and grandparents were so excited for this little "miracle". They looked at the spiritual side of this blessing. They are very excited for us to experience the joys of parenthood. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were excited a bit more cynical. We mostly got "Congratulations. . . no backing out now." and "Kids are a lot of work. Good luck." etc. Both reactions were kind of fun. Everyone is excited, especially my mom who wants to decorate the nursery as soon as possible.

If or when anything exciting happens I'll probably post about it. For now, it's back to the grind of daily life and just waiting to see what happens. . . : )

20 Lbs of Homework

I love being a teacher. I really do. I really love being a writing teacher. Kids can come up with some of the most creative things to write. However, there are a few downsides. The biggest one being all of the homework. No, not the kids' homework. My homework!

Here's my current bane: 20 pounds of essays!

For the last three weeks I have been hauling around a large bag of essays. Haul them home, haul them back to school, haul them home, haul them back to school. I would pick an essay off the top, get bored or distracted, and never grade it. The first batch of essays were 145 scary stories written before Halloween and still not read. Then we finished another essay and it was added to the pile (145 essays on "The qualities of a good friend.") Finally last weekend, I decided it was time to do or die. Sink or swim. I settled in for a long weeknd of grading. Once on the couch, I promptly fell asleep. Then I woke up and made myself some hot chocolate. Then I remembered errands I had to run. And then... and then... and then... I sank.

Now, it is Thanskgiving weekend. I have five whole days. This coming Tuesday is the District Direct Writing Assessment - the DWA! The kids have to have feedback on their writing before they take the test. Otherwise they will never know if they are writing correctly or not. So, I have done it. I have finally graded almost all of those essays.

20.6 lbs of papers - and you thought I was exaggerating!

Sorry this one is sideways.

Puzzle Weather

Last Saturday we woke up to snow on the ground. I was soooo excited. I knew it wouldn't last and so I decided to make the most of it. I cancelled my previous plans (to read 20lbs of essays, but that's another post), and made new plans that complimented the weather.

First, I ran to Kmart and searched until I found a new jigsaw puzzle that looked pretty but challenging. I chose "Flags over the Capitol Building" by Thomas Kinkade. Then, I came home and made homemade rolls and potato soup. Jake and I ate lunch together then went downstairs, set up the card tables and spent the rest of the weekend vegging in front of the television putting together a jigsaw puzzle! It was a great way to spend a windy, snowy, icky weekend. Not only did I do some yummy cooking (with enough left overs I may never need to cook again), but we spent two whole days having fun.

How is it that hooking two pieces of painted cardboard together can be so exciting? I always feel very successful when I find two pieces that match. When I put a whole section together, I start thinking that I may be the smartest person ever. The completed picture is always the best. It only took us two days because neither of us like to give up on a challenge. Once I would start looking for a specific piece I couldn't quit until I'd found it. Of course, that led to another piece I had to have. We stayed up late working on the puzzle, and where did I find Jake the next morning after my shower? Downstairs working on the puzzle before church. We've had the puzzle up all week long to look at it. We put to much work into it to take it down right away.

I love puzzle weather!

Dining Dilemna

I have a new concern. You see, the other night I dreamt that I overheard Jacob telling a friend, "If we only ate when Katie cooked, then we would have starved to death years ago." When I woke up, I got to thinking about it. I cook dinner... um...maybe two or three times a month, at the most (maybe 24 nights a year, maybe). I suddenly felt like such a slacker. It's not that I don't want to cook, really. I would cook dinner if someone expected me too, or even if someone would eat it whether they expected it or not.

Unfortunately, we have two regular conversations at our house. The first goes like this:
K: Are you hungry?
J: No, I ate a large lunch.
K: Okay. I'll have some cereal.

The second conversation goes like this:
K: Are you hungry?
J: I don't know. I guess so.
K: What do you want to eat?
J: I don't know, you pick.
K: Nothing really sounds good to me. You pick.
J: I don't know you pick.
(This goes on for at least 45 minutes.) Finally,
K: Okay, when you decide what you want let me know. Or there's cereal in the kitchen.

We eat alot of cereal. It seems like between not having the time to cook, not being able to pick what we want to eat, and not having all the ingredients for what does sound good at the time, I never spend any time in the kitchen. The biggest meal we usually eat is Weekend Breakfast. This could be a combination of omelets, eggs cooked to order, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, and french toast. While absolutely my favorite meal of the week I'm not the one that cooks it. Jake is. Jake is the culinary mastermind in our house.

This morning I'd been thinking about my dream again so I decided to make dinner tonight. I left work kind of early, called Jake and asked him to thaw some steaks, went to the grocery store, bought produce for a salad, and went home ready to cook. Guess what happened? Yep, Jake had eaten a big lunch and wasn't hugry. I don't know how to use the barbecue outside so Jake cooked my steak for me. I opened a bag of salad, grated some cheese and sliced a tomato. The extent of my "cooking" was chopping a tomato.

So now I have to ask: Do you actually make dinner at your house? How often? And if so, does that dinner include a main dish and side dishes, or just a single dish like mac and cheese or hamburger helper? Am I the only "slacker" out there?

Dandelion Wine

I have begun a new tradition that I would like to share with anyone who would care to read about it. It is the reading of a very special book. At the beginning and end of every summer I reread a book called Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. It is the story of a boy named Douglas Spaulding and the summer he was 12 years old. So many things happen to Douglas that summer, and yet not a single one of them is out of the ordinary. There is almost no plot to this book. You can pick it up in the middle and read a chapter here or there and it wouldn't even matter that you hadn't read what happened before or what will happen after. This book is not about plot, it is about life. It is about savoring every moment of summer, and every person that crosses our paths. To use a phrase of President Thomas S. Monson it is about "finding joy in the journey".

You might be asking yourself why would I want to read a book with no plot. Well, the answer is that you might not want to read it. I can't promise that everyone who reads it will love it. However, if you have ever tried on a new pair of sneakers and felt like flying, or sat on the porch steps on a summer evening and listened to idle chatter, or wanted to build a Happiness Machine, or wanted to experience summer as a child but with the knowledge you've gained as an adult, then you will probably love this book. I will warn you though that you will probably need a box of tissues. It's just that good!