This past week has been super busy as I am prepping for returning back to work. Thursday of last week was orientation, which was long and boring. If I were a new teacher, it may have been helpful, but the only helpful stuff I got from it, was meeting the other new English teacher, getting my ID done, got my building pass fob, and am waiting on my laptop to be assigned. My first pay is September 2, which is perfect timing since funds are running out. Then, on Friday, I got together with the other English 11 teacher and the special education teacher to do some curriculum planning. The focus of English 11 is "transformational thinking" and our first unit is focused on Beowulf as the anchor text in addition to sections of the Illiad and Gilgamesh. Needless to say, I have been doing a bit of reading up. However, I spent this past weekend with my boy, who came out to visit me. Since I am going back to work soon, we will be going back to being weekend daters and sharing the driving. Since I didn't work this summer, I did most all of the driving, making it easier for us to see each other for a little longer than a weekend. This weekend, Matt and I made a little IKEA trip where he bought a DVD storage unit and a new coffee table and I got some new tupperware anda bathroom rug to match the new shower curtain i bought myself last week as a celebratory gift for getting a new awesome job. I finally caved and bought the tonal ruffle shower curtain I have been pining for from Urban Outfitters. The ruffles make me happy :)

We then met up with my parents at Kruse and Muer for a celebratory dinner, then back to their house for a little dessert, i.e. cupcakes. Since the Lions game was on, Matt and dad kicked back in the recliners to watch. We had planned to stop at a little bar on the way home to grab a drink, but how could I pull the only male bonding time dad really gets away from him? So we stayed to watch the first half. Needless to say, once I got in the horizontal on the couch, I fell asleep. So when the first half was over, I was a little too tired for going out. Which actually turned out better because Matt and I headed home and had drinks there and played Zombie Lane on facebook together while watching the second half and other TV.

Sunday was spent relaxing in bed all morning before heading out to lunch at Kona Grill then to the movies to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was really good. Sadly, it was time for my boy to head back home, but it won't be too long before I see him again. This weekend we are getting together to go see WMU vs. UofM at the Big House. I work Tuesday through Thursday this week, so I will head out there after work and stay for the weekend.

So, how about a little scrapbook share after reading all of that? This is the birthday page I guess I would call it. I created the kraft colored number border on my Cricut using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. I am most excited about how I did the journaling tag on this one. It was going to be a large journal block, but then I punched a circle and cut it in half and attached it to the end of the journal block, put an eyelet in the center before tying some green baker's twine. The reason I like this so much is because I usually do an actual tag and I like the style of this one. For the design I lifted a layout from Kelly Purkey. It seems I am really attracted to modern examples of color blocking.

Here's a little closeup of the die cut number border.Here is a closeup of the journaling for this one.Today I am spending the day doing some lesson planning and reading Beowulf and just relaxing. Let the craziness, pressure, and stress start tomorrow, day one of the 2010-2011 school year!

Last weekend, Matt and I tried to have a beach camping weekend, however, the weather was less than cooperative. We did manage to get some beach camping in on Saturday night. Friday, we headed out to his parents' house in South Haven before the friends met us and were able to sneak in a boat ride and dinner before the storm hit. It was after the boat ride and dinner when we headed back to the house and I checked my voicemail to find a call from the Human Resources secretary at Lakeview Schools asking me to meet with the Asst. Superintendent on Monday. I had just had an interview at the high school on Tuesday and my references contacted me on Friday letting me know the Principal had called them. So this phone call had me very hopeful.

However, the storm was rolling in and Matt and I decided to stay at his parents' house for the night, instead of braving the storm on the beach. We watched a bit of TV with his parents and then played some cards, which is not usually my thing but it was really fun to finally learn how to play euchre and a new game his parents taught us "hand and foot". the scoring was craziness. Matt and I crashed on the floor in the basement, only to be woken up several times during the night with some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. It was seriously shaking the house! The storm hadn't cleared by morning and another round was actually headed our way. We contemplated calling it off, however, most everyone was already on their way.

So, in between rounds, the boys headed down to the beach to set up camp.
Below, is what we were battered with for most of the day.

We all huddled in to someone's tent that was large enough to fit us all to start the drinking.
Once the storm cleared we had a pretty decent evening to enjoy on the beach.

My cutie pie!

Smores were made using Reese's Peanutbutter cups, which were delicious. However, This kid, kept stealing my smore ingredients, hence the scowl on my face.

We had a lovely belated Fourth of July fireworks show.

Matt and I were two of the last three to go to bed. In the middle of the night, however, I woke up so scared of all the loud waves crashing so close to our tent and the wind. I woke Matt up to tell him I was scared and asked if he had ever seen The Blair Witch Project. In the movie, these little ghost children were outside the campers' tent and were hitting the tent and that is what the wind sounded like to me. I was afraid the waves were going to crash on our tent and wash us out. Like a good boyfriend, he gave me his shoulder to sleep on. While the shoulder was comfortable, the rest was not. We were so sore in the morning from sleeping on the unforgiving beach and decided that next year we MUST have an airbed. In the morning, we had a little breakfast. I came prepared with milk, cereal and fruit while the others ate some leftover sausages, hot dogs, and mashed potatoes. So weird! Poor Matthew put his back out carrying most all of our stuff up the steps and ended up taking that Monday off from work. We made it home Sunday afternoon in time to have lunch, a the meeting with the Asst. nap, and watch True Blood. I had to head home Monday morning to make it to the meeting with the Asst. Superintendent. I thought it went really well, but as I was leaving, she told me she had other interviews to complete and would get back with me the next morning. I was seriously sick to my stomach by noon the next day having heard nothing back. I thought it was unusual that an administrator that high up would be doing any interviewing and decided I couldn't stand it anymore, so I emailed the Principal to see if he had any information. He quickly emailed me back and said it was a formality that the Asst. Superintendent had to wait for the posting to close before offering me the position. As I was on the phone with Matt, the Asst. Sup. called me to tell me just what the Principal had emailed. She told me to hang tight with her for a couple hours. the problem was that an internal candidate could put in for a transfer to the position and due to union rules, she had to wait till the posting closed to offer it to me. I kept myself busy, cleaning out my filing cabinet, doing laundry, and watching Millionaire Matchmaker! Then at 3:30, the Asst. Sup called and officially offered me the position, pending Board approval. Well, of course I said YES! so, as of Wednesday of last week, I am full time at Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores. The exciting part is that it is a 50% pay raise over what I was making, which will mean a whole lifestyle change. I can actually save money, put money in my IRA and 403b! I can buy Christmas presents this year! The job is also only 14 miles from my house cutting my weekly miles from 350 to 150 and my drive time from 1.5 hours on average to no more than and hour. In addition, the district has been growing over the past few years and at the Board meeting they talked about outgrowing their facilities before anything else. They have not laid off in 6 years and anyone pink slipped, was called back. All of these factors, make me so excited about the job, the district, and the coming year. So this week, I am staying at Matt's for a few days before I have to attend Orientation on the 25th and head back to the real world of working. That means Matt and i will be back to weekends only pretty much, which stinks. I believe we will be able to make it through it.

Well, this layout has been sitting on my desk unfinished for quite some time. This picture is from January when some friends threw a birthday party for Matt and two of his other friends whose birthdays are around the same time. The theme was for a toga party complete with Christmas lights and some hot tubbing. We squeezed I think 9 people into a four person hot tub.

I lifted the cover of the July/August Creating Keepsakes.

I have one more layout waiting for some finishing details, beach camping photos, and some exciting job news to share.

Lots and lots to update on! Today I will tell you about my trip with my dad to the Henry Ford Museum. The trip was originally intended to be for his birthday back in March, but due to schedules and whatnot we didn't end up making it out there till August 2nd.

Our first stop through the museum was the Presidential cars exhibit and below is the car John F. Kennedy was assassinated in.

Here's dad as conductor of the Allegheny. I think the huge steam engines were one of dad's favorite. He talked a lot about the switch from steam power to electrical power.

Next was the American car exhibit. It was pretty cool to see the evolution of the car in styling as well as technology. This car had headlights that were lit by oil lamps.

Below is the first ever Corvette and that VW Bus you see sticking out in the corner of the picture brought back some memories for dad. He said he owned one that his dad convinced him to buy when he worked at a manufacturing plant. his dad told him he could make some money by giving people rides, sort of like a carpool. Dad said it was such a piece of junk, breaking down all the time. He took it on a road trip and the engine blew out. He ended up giving it away to a dealer just to get rid of it.
This part of the exhibit was closed, unfortunately, but I snuck behind the wall to snap a picture of this old McDonald's sign. Behind it you can see a little roadside cafe. The McDonald's sign is from the 2nd ever McDonald's drive-thru in Michigan. This stuff was part of the museum as part of the evolution of the automobile. Then we have Ford's first ever car, not the Model-T. This one featured lightbulbs as tail lights and bicycle wheels. The next part of the museum was focused on aviation. This is a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh. It had to be replicated because when he landed in Paris, the fans were so excited, they tore the plane apart.


Lastly, were these artifacts that were probably the highlight for me. Below is the chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in while sitting at Ford's Theater in Washington DC.

And lastly, this is the bus that Rosa Parks was sitting in when she was told to move to the back and started the Montgomery bus boycott. The bus, obviously, has been restored a bit. These are the kinds of artifacts I think are so exciting to see.
I have some beach camping photos to update and some job news to share tomorrow.

This is a picture heavy post of some pics from a recent trip to the John Ball Zoo in Grand rapids with my boy this weekend. After a chill Friday night on the couch watching a couple comedies and enjoying a stir fry dinner and drinks, we woke decided to head out on Saturday to check out the animals at the local zoo. It isn't the greatest zoo on the planet, but it was something to do. It was pretty humid, so most of the animals were trying to keep cool in the shade.


This guy did a cute little dance for us.

This area of the aquarium was supposed to represent the Pacific Coast area. There was a pretty cool simulated tide that washed over all the starfish.


I can't remember what these were, but they reminded me of giant guinea pigs. These little monkeys had the saddest faces and the longest fingers.
We made our way over to the Africa area to see the lions. I have yet to see a lion doing anything active at a zoo. They are always so lazy.
Next were the chimpanzees, who reminded me of Lisa and Tony. They were picking at each other, a sign of affection as they groom one another, and this is something Lisa and Tony do to each other all the time!
This little guy was so cute, eating his fruit.
I love this frog picture!
More primates.
Matt and I stopped for a pic by these pretty black-eyed susans and had a zoo attendant snap a couple pics.
He may be cute but a photographer he is not. I gave him this disposable camera I have had forever that has a few pics left on it to take some pics. The cool part of the camera is that it puts some decorative frames around pics. He took one through the glass of a sloth, but the flash went off and then he took one of this sign (Not this pic. I took this one.) That was the extent of his picture taking. Needless to say, that camera still needs to be finished. These were the only bears, some Michigan Brown Bears. Doesn't he look so sad and lonely.

Matt and I measured ourselves and I rang in at 5 feet and he rang in at 6 foot. His jump was the equivalent of the second yellow marker on the right which is the jump height of a kangaroo at about 8 feet 6 inches.

I really wanted to get some pics of us by the waterfall, however, we had already passed it and it was too humid and hot to walk back. On the way out we stopped and watched the bald eagles get fed while we sipped on a blue raspberry icee. So to get one more couple shot in, we stopped by the map and asked a random couple who were arguing to snap a picture. And, as usual, here is a little picnik collage of some pictures.
Dad and I went to the Henry Ford Museum today and I have lots of pictures to upload and edit from that. It was actually supposed to be his birthday gift, which was back in March, but we have had the hardest time coordinating a weekend. Since my mom has some time off this week, dad took some too, to spend with her and a day for us to go to the museum. I do not recommend eating in the restaurant because the food was horrible. This week consists of some hard core job searching, cleaning mom's house, returning pop cans, and hopefully finishing off some layouts that are all at various stages of completion.