New JOB!!!

I have a new job!  I was officially hired last week, and today was my third day of teaching at Claggett Creek Middle School in Keizer.  I am so thankful for this opportunity, and although the last week has been crazy busy, and everyday comes with new challenges, I am so thankful.  I am hired at this point up to winter break, with the possibility that the job could be extended to the end of the school year.  Only time will tell, but for right now, I am a TEACHER :).

Here is a picture of the school...if you look to the third story on the top far right side, that is my classroom. :)  I have been working during my prep and before and after-school getting the classroom to feel like my own.  The teacher that was in there left a little over a month ago, so the room was in chaos to say the least.  I was told to box up and remove anything that I wanted, and to think of the room as my own...so I have been, which I love :)  I redid the bulletin boards today (I put some pictures of my classroom below), and plan on organizing some more.  The learning curve has been pretty steep...conferences are in less than two weeks, so I have been attempting to get some grades for the students...it's a lot of work, but it is so comforting to know that I will be there tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after...

Board all about me :)

Room 300

Jason is also getting started on his new journey...this Wednesday he has his interview at Portland State University for the Special Education program.  If he gets in, he will start classes in January, and will complete the program the following summer.  It is a program designed for teachers that are working already to add the endorsement.  When he is done with the program he will only need a few more credit hours to complete his master's.

So excited to get out on the ice!

Serious.

Jason and I have also been busy helping out with the middle school youth group at our church this year.  We are working with students that go to Judson and Walker.  I am diffidently getting my fill of middle school :)  We call the small groups D-Teams ) devotional teams. My D-Team got to go to the pumpkin patch together.  They crack me up, and have such amazing hearts that desire to please and serve.  We also went "Broom-Balling" with the mid-high up in Portland on the ice!  That was a lot of fun...I was shocked that I didn't fall the whole time :)

Not serious.

Judson/Walker D-Team

Cuddle time :)

Needless to say, we are so thankful for where we are, and are looking forward to what is going to come in the future. :) 

Here Comes Fall

I can't believe that it is fall already! I really don't know where summer went. Lately Jason and I have been spending a lot of time with our friends and family, which is much needed. :) We are so thankful for the support and group of people that we have surrounded ourselves with. This is me with some of my best friends, Darcy and Lizzie. I have known them both since kindergarten and first grade :) So thankful.We are going to need all that support as we embark on yet another year of substitute teaching. I will be working at Starbucks again, but will be leaving Wednesday through Friday open for subbing (we get benefits through Sbux so I'll be there at least 20 hours a week). Jason will be full-time subbing this fall. Starting in January he will be starting a program at Portland State to get his special education teaching endorsement. All the classes will eventually transfer to a master's degree...but for now we are going to work towards him getting another certification and area that he can teach in. We are working hard at being content with where we are at. We were hoping and praying that this year would be different for us, but here we go again...We went to the fair this year. It is always fun to watch the shows and people watch...there are a lot of interesting people at the fair (that's a understatement). We watched the acrobats and the hypnotist. We also got to pet some pretty cute little animals:)We have also been enjoying the funny antics of our sweet little kittens...here is a video of them "helping" me make the bed...

Fetching Cat?

We are very proud of the talents of our children...

There you have it...a pretty amazing kitty. :)

Merry Christmas

I know the title says "Merry Christmas," but I haven't written since before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving once again this year. We were able to split our time between both of our families, and had very full bellies by the end of the day! We have so much to be thankful for: marriage, family, our four jobs (two each), our home, our freedom and our Savior. We may not have a lot, but what we do have, I know we would never want to trade in for anything.

We went to the Singing Christmas Tree this year with my family, Grandma Betty, Grandma's friends and Kinsey's roommate Cara. It was different than years past which was nice since we go every year. That is one tradition that I don't ever want to give up...it's a great way to transition into the Christmas holiday!

Black Friday I got to sleep in a little bit since I didn't have to be at Starbucks until 8:00am. I was surprised how much fun the day was, and although we were busy the whole eight hours I worked that day, it went smoothly. The customers were awesome, and so patient and kind while we rushed around making their drinks. Since that day my store has been busy no matter what day it is. It's fun that's for sure, but by the end of the shift I am just exhausted.

Speaking of working...Jason and I have been keeping busy with subbing and our other part-time jobs. This week and last week we each worked everyday, so last Thursday and this Friday we took the days off to spend some much needed time together. This week alone with my two jobs, I will have worked over 60 hours...so looking forward to the day when we each have ONE job each, and get to slow down somewhat.

Jason and I are enjoying every moment of this Christmas! We both love this time of the year, with all the traditions and fun memories that we get to make. This is the first Christmas we have with Calli and Hobbes, and so far they are "loving" the Christmas tree. :) We went out early in the morning last Saturday to select the perfect tree. When we first brought it home they were afraid of it, then it was a holder for new "toys" for them...which were our ornaments. Needless to say it took a couple of days for them to get used to the new decoration in our home. We are awaiting the snow that the weather stations are saying should hit sometime in the next 4-5 hours...I LOVE snow, so that would be very exciting. It has been so cold here...mornings of 11 degrees...we have been bundling up a lot around our house. :) Keep enjoying the season, and remember the true meaning:

It's not the gifts, it's not the time spent with friends and family...those are wonderful, but the true meaning is Christ's birth...He is the reason for the season.

Future Plans...and Present Life

I can't believe how busy this year is, and how fast it is going by! It's hard to imagine, although I am excited about the fact, that Christmas is just next month. I love this time of the year, and have officially started listening to Christmas music...which those that know me, know that starting this "late" is saying a lot :)

Jason and I are both subbing in the Salem-Keizer School District and the surrounding smaller districts. We have been getting requested at the same schools over and over, which is nice because we are getting to know the students. Jason has been fortunate enough to get a long term sub position at Hammond Elementary, where he is teaching 4th grade. Speaking of elementary school...this coming spring semester, I am going to begin taking classes to get my elementary endorsement. I never thought I would be teaching elementary, but since I have gotten to sub a lot at that level, I have grown to love it! I need to take three classes at the graduate level, write a work sample, and do a student teaching. I applied, and now am just waiting on the financial aide. Applying...that is something that both Jason and I are both getting pretty good at. We recently sent off our applications to the school in Indonesia, Sekolan Pelita Harapan (http://www.sph.edu/). Right now we are just waiting to hear back from the school to see if they have placements for both of us. The school is currently contacting the people on our reference lists we supplied them. Right now is hard though, since we are in a limbo of not knowing. We can't plan for the future, but at the same time it's hard to stop your brain from going to what might happen. We are praying a lot about what to do, and where we should go, but at this point we are both feeling good about the option of Indonesia. At the same time we are open to the possibility that there may not be a position for us...only time will tell, but we will keep you updated. :) The school that is located right outside of Jakarta is shown above. There is also a brand new school that is in Jakarta that will be opening up this coming school year that we could also be placed at.Even with our busy schedules, we have been working hard at making time for each other. Last Friday we had a whole "date day," where we woke up, after sleeping in :), got coffee and headed up to Portland for the day. We got to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner off a gift card my parents gave us, then we headed to the Blazer game. They won, and it was an exciting game! We were one row from the TOP of the whole stadium, but even sitting up that high we had an awesome time, I don't think there are any really bad seats. It was a great day!Our little kittens are awesome as well! They seem to get more and more sweet if that is even possible. When I am with them it is hard to believe that I was ever scared of cats. They have diffidently become part of the Bernard family. Oh, by the way Calli (shown below) loves water...

Bernard Family Reunion

Well, I think that Jason and I have settled into the summer lifestyle. It is so nice to not have to student teach, go to school, work and try to make time for each other. Now we are just working, and get to have plenty of time together, which we love. :) We just got back from a family reunion with Jason's dad's side of the family. We went to Newport and stayed in a house with 25 of his uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins. I met new family members that I hadn't met yet so it was fun to get to meet them. Jason's grandparents just recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, so the reunion was also a celebration for them.

On the fourth of July we had our own family celebration at the house, which turned out to be a good thing since the fireworks were cancelled at the harbor at Newport due to foggy weather. Even though that night was foggy, while we were there we had amazing weather. The first day was over 70 degrees on the beach! I even got sunburned...I can't remember the last time that happened to me being on the Oregon beach.

We are going to be working the next couple of weeks, and then we are going to Lake Tahoe to a family reunion for Jason's mom's side of the family. This is something that side of the family does every year, and since Jason has been working every summer since college, this will be the first time he will be able to go in years so he is really excited. It will be fun since we will be tent camping, and will get to use our tent for the first time. :)

Calli and Hobbes (our little kittens) are doing really good. They love to cuddle, and Hobbes is actually asleep on my lap right now while I am writing this. This coming Friday they are both going to get fixed, so hopefully that will all go smoothly and they will let each other rest and heal.

All in all, our summer is going really good. We are working hard, but we are also making time to enjoy our time together and spend a lot of time with family and friends. I LOVE summer time...

Graduation...Camping...and Kittens

Well...since I last wrote Jason and I have been very busy, but it has been a good kind of busy. We are both officially college graduates, and are looking forward to what this next part of our lives is going to look like. Currently we do not have any clear leads as to possible job openings, but we are sending out some resumes along with the applications to the few places we have found that know that they are going to be hiring for this next year. With the economy and how caught up many people have become with money, we are counting ourselves blessed and lucky considering that we both have jobs, even if they are part time. My job at Starbucks gets both of us great health care benefits, which thankfully we haven't had to use at all during the first year of our marriage. I really do hope that no matter where and what we end up doing in our lives that money will not be what our lives revolve around. There is so much more to life that we want to experience.

After graduation we got to have one last fun time with our best friends, Jordan and Katrina, before they moved up to Anchorage, AK. Katrina is from there, so we are really happy that they were able to go back and spend time with family, and from talking with her on the phone and sending letters, it is clear to me that they are really happy and content for the time being up there...but we still really miss them. Before they left though, we went yurting up at Beverly Beach for a couple nights. The first day was beautiful, and the boys even got a little sunburned. The second day was typical beach weather, very rainy and stormy. It was so much fun to create even more memories with them, and we know there will be many more.

We have now also been married for ONE year! We laugh at that since we have actually be dating for almost seven year total, so starting the count again is a little sad. We had a wonderful anniversary though. We drove up to Seattle and went to a Mariner game...some of you may have seen up on TV on FSN during the game. We sat in the Hit it Here Cafe for the whole game, which was a lot of fun. The food was great, and it was a great view of the game even if they lost. It was nice to get away after our busy year and see all that we did and made it though. This was a wonderful first year of marriage, but it sure was busy!

Here are some updated pictures of our kittens, "Calli" and "Hobbes." We found out when we took them to the vet that Calvin was not a boy so we changed her name to fit her a little better :) Calli is the black one, and Hobbes is the orange/blonde one. :) We love them a lot! Jason actually built that the cat tree, which they love to climb all over :)

Calvin and Hobbes

Here are the newest additions to our family....meet Calvin (Black) and Hobbes (Organge) :)