Why not Minot?

Chad has been in Minot since May 3. He is LOVING his promotion and couldn't be happier! (okay, so he would be happier with me there and cable, but those will be there completely on Monday). He has learned a lot and continues to learn new things everyday. He is in Minot right now while I am in Bismarck, so I can't say too much since he's not here to review =) haha.

He has been busy painting (with the help of my cutting in) the new place. It needed a fresh coat of white to brighten it up. We were going to paint colors, but decided white would be easiest! The only room we have left is the spare bedroom. But I'm not sure if we will get to that before all of our stuff moves up!

Look at the difference!!!!!! (Left of the door and above door!)

We were freezing so we camped out in front of the heating vent for a bit.....

Chads job: remove all outlet covers....

and roller the walls.

My job: cut in all corners and paint windows

Sadie's job: Sleep

Chad really is enjoying the new job.  We haven't been able to explore Minot much, so besides the horrible traffic, I think it will be an okay place to live.  

Chad has a very nice manager.  He came over the other night while I was there to just hang out and shoot the breeze.  They ran up and down stairs to try and figure out how to run cable, etc.  It was nice.

I'll post more about Chad later on, when he can approve the post.  =)

Graduation!

woo hoo! I'm finally a college graduate! I graduated from UMary with a double major in Early childhood and Elementary education. I did not think this day would ever come (I don't think Chad did either!). I should be receiving my official teaching license in the mail in a few weeks and I could not be any happier!

After a few more classes this summer I will also have a reading credential!

I had a banquet Friday night of graduation weekend for the Division of Education.  I had applied for Student teacher of Merit a few months ago, so was happy to be a recipient =)  I received a perdy plaque and my picture will be up on the wall down by the division...or so they said when they said I HAD TO get my picture taken!

This was the best cake ever! Nick and Sarah brought it from Glendive....YUMMY Reynolds cake!!!!!

The past year

For as long as I can remember I have always had a birthmark on my right hip (lets say, where a love handle would be).  I noticed it had changed color/shape a bit and had some lumps in it now, so figured I'd better go in and get it checked out.

As you can see, on the lower part its not exactly circular and there is a darker spot near the top. What you cannot see are the little lumps that formed.

So, I go in and the Dr tells me that we should really remove it. I can either have it shaved off or surgically removed. We (the Dr and I) discussed the options and decided for right now shaving would be the best.  So, I was immediately taken to another room and prepped for the shave off.  I didn't feel a thing, it was a GREAT procedure!!!  He told me that I would have a scar there and all that other stuff, but I should hear back within a week with the results from the lab about the state of my mole.

Miraculously enough my side is allergic to just about every adhesive tape/bandage known to man kind, even the ones that you get from the hospital. YAY for allergic reactions....

So, a week passes and I receive my results stating that I the cells within the biopsy are moderately atypical and that if it grows back then I need to schedule an appointment ASAP.

SOO about a year later, when I felt it was healed up the most, I made another appointment because the darn thing came back and was in an even more crazy (scary) shape.

The Dr I saw before took one look and referred me to the dermatologist here in Bismarck. I was in to see him about 3 days later. He was a bit nervous about the look of the mole that grew back and wanted to remove it surgically ASAP. Well, it just happens that I'm student teaching and cannot take time off from that, so I scheduled for a Monday we didn't have school, which was also my last week of student teaching. I was not going to be able to wear anything tight against it as it would irritate it so wearing dress pants was not going to be comfortable.

Chad took the morning off to come with me (thankfully). The procedure took about an hour. I was awake for the whole thing, but didn't feel a thing! I watched for a little bit and chatted with the nurse and Dr. They removed about 1.5 inches deep, it's about 2-2.5 inches long and the widest part (it was shaped like a football) was about 2 inches. So, needless to say, he explained it to me as he would be cutting off a love handle if I had one. Officially I will never cut chicken with scissors again because that is what it sounded like (I told the nurse she had to talk to me because the noise was so volatile!) I've never had stitches before, so that was a really cool feeling....until the numbing stuff wore off, I dislike stitches very much now!

The teacher I had been working with explained to the kids that I had stitches and etc, so they were really excited and wanted to see them. I had to keep it covered the whole time the stitches were in so I took a picture for them on Wednesday (surgery was Monday) and printed it to show them. They were all really excited and thought it was way cool =)

This was right after my stitches came out (ten days later).

And this was today

My labs came back and it was still moderately atypical, so abnormal, but it still isn't good...but it's not bad!

So, I've learned that tanning is not my friend (FINALLY! everyone kept telling me, but I guess it takes a scare to really listen, unfortunately) I am no longer able to tan in a tanning bed (if I do I think Chad will disown me haha), I must always wear sunscreen (no ifs ands or buts!), and I have to faithfully go in to get my skin checked every year (No excuses)!!!!!

Student teaching ends.....

I thoroughly enjoyed my 2nd Kindergarten placement. I was blessed with a class that was well behaved, not one behavioral problem, a great cooperating teacher, and oh so much more! The experiences I had while I was there were amazing. From meeting one of my favorite authors to having buses not show up for a field trip. The parents were great to work with and the students really knew there stuff!

The 16 weeks I spent student teaching really showed me who I was as a new teacher. I learned so much in my first placement about classroom management and that I could tackle whatever was brought my way at a lower income school (there was some CRAZY stuff that went on and I pat myself on the back for the way that I handled it all!) and in kindergarten it really showed me who I was as a teacher because I could focus on creating lessons that were fun and engaging and teach for the full day (instead of redirecting behaviors for 84% of the day). I know that not every class will be this well behaved, but it was nice to see both sides of the spectrum. I'm hoping that soon I will have a class that is in-between the two I experienced!

First official application =)

So, back on April 6, 2010, Chad frantically called me while he was at work.  I had like 5 missed calls from him, so I figured I'd better call him back while I was on lunch break.  He said "honey, I need to talk to you about my job."  My thoughts "crap, what happened."  So he precedes to tell me about the job offer he just received and that they want to know in one week if he will accept or decline.  GREAT! (EVERYONE KNOWS THIS OUTCOME!)  So, as he is describing to me the details of this promotion I had a horrible feeling in my gut.  I thought, I should check to see when application are due for Minot schools, so I am scouring the internet to find out when Minot Public School applications are due.  I about died when I read the due date: Thursday, April 8, 2010.  Two days! Not even two days!  I think I went into survival mode, if you will, and told Chad to stop talking and we would talk about the job more after I had the application filled out and faxed/overnighted. I could not think about the awesome opportunity Chad was about to embark on until I had that application signed, sealed, and sent.  So, after begging the registrar at UMary to physically hand me a copy of my transcript to overnight to Minot and after pulling an all-nighter (okay so I was up until about 3 a.m. but I had to leave the house by 7:45 to get to school to focus on those Kindergartners), I finished my application and sweet talked Karma (the secretary) to let me fax it from the school I was student teaching at =)  So, here I am with my first official application for a big girl job!  I look pretty tired =)

So, thats my story. I'm still waiting to hear back from Minot Public Schools as the principals had not picked up applications yet. I'll be calling in a few days to check on the status again =)  Either way, I'm just excited that I took the big jump into the adult life!

soon!

I will update as soon as I get a chance...I know I know, you may be thinking, well what the heck are you doing now that you are done with school...trust me, I'm keeping busy!