My Birthday!!!

Well, yesterday was my birthday!! I turned 45 years young!! I really do not think of myself as being 45 years old...I so not usually feel very old at all!!!

All the boys in my family took the boat out yesterday and went fishing. That left Sommer and me at home alone with not much to do!! My mom and dad came by right after lunch and brought me a birthday cake - German Chocolate that my mom made for me!! Sommer and I then went to Tallahassee for a little retail therapy. It was my birthday but I bought her a pair of Five Finger shoes!! I had actually ordered her a pair for Christmas but they were too big. We then went and looked at her new townhouse that she and 2 friends will be moving into in the next couple of weeks. She then took me out to eat at the Mellow Mushroom...LOVED it!!! The boys called when we were paying our bill and wanted to know where I wanted to go for dinner!!! Ugh...I was so not hungry at that point!!! Anyway, we went home and then Chuck took me out to eat at Miller's Ale House. I was so full when I went to bed last night I felt horrible!!!

Not much else went on yesterday. My bestie Stacy called to wish me a Happy Birthday and my brother Chris and SIL Kim both texted me a birthday wish. Chuck brought me back a secret locking box from Bahrain, a walnut camel and then he also got me a Pandora necklace...LOVE it!! I also got a lot of FB love from friends yesterday!!!

Tomorrow starts a new school week. I am subbing 2 days this week and 2 days the following week. I really did enjoy being back in the classroom last week when I subbed in 2nd grade. I have applied for 2 jobs in Leon County but have not heard anything back, although I am not really expecting too. I will be happy to sub the remainder of this school yeear and then start looking for a job for the 2012 school year.

That is all for now!!!

Another Fun Day!!!

Well, today was another fun day of doing absolutely NOTHING!!! I am BORED out of my mind!!! The boys are still in Georgia hunting and Sommer is just spending time with her friends. She and I did go out to dinner at El Jalisco this evening. I am thinking tomorrow I may go get a manicure...I really need one!! My nails are getting so long and I do not want them to break off.

Hard to believe in 3 days it will be the end of 2011. This has been an eventful year at our home. Sommer graduated from high school, I graduated from college, Hunter lost 30 pounds at camp this summer, and Zach made a trip half way around the world and had a blast. Oh yeah, Chuck went back to his first love...FLYING!!!

2012 should be equally as exciting. I hope to be able to find a teaching job with the new school year. I am certified to teach general education K-6 and ESE from K-12. I also have endorsements in reading and ESOL. I would love to teach 7th grade but not sure that will happen. I would have to go back and take more tests to get that certification for general education. The state of Florida no longer offers the Integrated Middle Grades exam so I would have to do subject area exams in all subjects. Otherwise, I would love to teach somewhere in the 2nd through 5th grade area!!

That is all for now. The doing of nothing is calling my name once again!! More later!!!

End of the Year...finally!!!

Well, Christmas has come and gone. All the time spent preparing, wrapping presents, cooking food, and it is all over with in the blink of an eye!! We did our Christmas early this year because Chuck had to leave town on Dec 22 to go fly in Bahrain. He will not be back home until January 05, 2012. He has basically missed all holidays since Thanksgiving. Christmas has been very bittersweet this year. This is the very first year that I have not spoken with my brothers or their families during the holidays. We had a bit of a disagreement over Thanksgiving and I guess that I am now the awful sister. Oh well, what can I do. Your family is your family. You do not get to pick and choose. I did sent them all a text message to wish them a Merry Christmas. I thought about calling but honestly did not think they would answer the phone. Oh well. I love them all deeply, and maybe one day they will realize that. Until then, there is nothing I can do.

Christmas went well. We had to rush to get things done early, but overall, it went very well. On Christmas Day the boys and I went to see a movie and then went by and saw both sets of grandparents for a little while. Sommer quit her job at Subway before Christmas so it has been nice having her home and around for a change. She and 2 of her friends are looking at moving into an apartment close to campus at the first of the year so it has been nice having her around!!

Not much else going on. I am subbing the first day back to school so I am looking forward to getting back to the classroom!! I have applied for a couple of jobs but no luck yet. I m not really expecting to get anything until the start of the school year in August.

The End of a Journey!!!

Well, it is hard to believe, but my education journey is finally at its end!! On Sunday, December 11, I will graduate with my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education. I started back to school in 2007 and I am finally done...what an accomplishment!! I would not have made it this far without the support of my wonderful family...I love you all so very much!!!

I am very excited to be in the position to one day soon have my very own classroom. I have already applied for a couple of jobs in the 3rd grade. I am more than qualified, but there are so many teachers applying for jobs that it is getting harder and harder to find a position. I will keep my fingers crossed and see what happens!! I will keep substitute teaching in the meantime!!

Now, what to do with all the free time on my hands since I do not have a project that has to be completed!!!

Whats going on in our world!!!

Well, it has been awhile since I last updated!! Hunter came home from camp and has been doing great!! We are all on program with him and things are going very well. Basically the program is just cutting the fat out of your meals. We eat no more than 4 grams of fat at any meal. The only thing I am missing is my peanut butter!! I am now using PB2 which is actually not too bad!! He has lost a few more pounds since being home. The biggest problem is getting in the activity. He has started participating in an after school physical fitness program so we will see how that goes.

Internship is more than half way over for me!! I can not wait until Dec 2!!! I will be DONE!!! I am back in my boot because I was not allowed to sit down any during the day!!! As a result, my ankle swelled beyond belief and I could not walk. I am now wearing my boot and riding my scooter while at school. I do get up to teach and walk around while I am teaching but no more just being on my feet to be on my feet!!

Chuck is back flyng full time and loving every minute of it. He is currently in Rome and Germany and will not be home until the end of the month. He has been spending time in Belgium and Dubai also. Life is rough for a pilot!!

Sommer is doing great in college. She is participating in Model UN and they are going to New York and Atlanta after the first of the year...she is ready to go now!!

Have so much more to write but I have to go take dinner out of the oven. More to come!!!

New Beginnings - Part 1

Well, it has been a great summer so far. Zach went to Europe for 3 weeks and Hunter has been at Wellspring Adventure Camp in North Carolina for 6 weeks. I am so excited because I am going to pick him up this Saturday!!! He has lost 26 pounds as of this past Sunday...I am so very PROUD of him. In short, Wellspring has been a blessing for Hunter, but also for our entire family.

We found out about Wellspring a little over a year ago. Chuck was up late one night flipping channels and came across a show called Too Fat for Fifteen. The show took place at Wellspring Academy in North Carolina and followed the lives of several teens who were enrolled in Wellspring Academy and their quest to lose weight. Wellspring is not a diet, but a lifestyle change. Both of my boys are overweight to an extent. Zach has never had problems in school that were weight related , but Hunter endured a year of bullying in school this past year because of his weight. Now mid you, neither of my boys are grossly overweight, but they did need to lose some weight. Hunter became very interested in the program and followed their first season. We even checked into sending him to school there. This past December we had the opportunity for Hunter to apply to be on the show. He applied, but was not one of the few that were picked. We were offered a discount to let him attend the academy. It was still just too pricey to be able to afford. In January, we received information about Wellspring Camps. They have camps located all over the United States and in the UK. He decided to attend Wellspring Adventure Camp in the mountains of North Carolina for a 6 week program. Him attending camp, is what has gotten us to this point.

The Wellspring program involves getting active and cutting the fat out of your diet. As a family, we are now all "on program"!! We eat no more than 12 grams of fat a day and we get in a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. On a side note, I am not able to get in all of those steps because of my fused ankles, but I am building up my numbers, and I will get there! To be honest, I was scared of not being able to follow the program. I have been very surprised at how easy this program is to follow...to date I have even lost almost 10 pounds!! The biggest thing I have missed about taking the fat out of our diets is the eating out!! Let's face it..the eating out got us in this position to begin with. That and the lazy lifestyle!!

Overall, we are doing great. This has been an excellent change for our family. We had hoped to be able to send Hunter to the academy for this semester, but once again, I was just not able to make it work. I am a little nervous about bringing him home. The food portion is not the concern. It is the keeping active part that bothers me the most. That and going back to school. We have presented him with a couple of options, and we are looking at putting him in a local private school that will work with him to help keep him "on program". I also think the small class size will be a benefit. He will be in a 6th/7th grade combo class with 12 students. He will be in 7th grade this year. It was a difficult decision to take him out of our local middle school because we have a great school district, and he was placed on a great team for the coming school year. I just did not want to place him back in the environment that had the potential to derail his progress. HIs school was willing to work with us to get the "bullies" under control, but Hunter would not "rat" out the offenders.

That is all for now, but I will do another update soon to keep everyone up to date with how we are doing. What an exciting journey this will be!!

Busy Couple of Days Coming Up...

Well, the next couple of days are going to be busy around here. Zach will be coming home from Europe tomorrow night. His plane gets in at 11:30 pm!! We then have to leave no later than 7 am on Thursday to drive to North Carolina to visit Hunter at camp!!! We will be in North Carolina until Saturday and then drive back home late on Saturday. I am very excited to learn more about the Wellspring Plan!! We have been trying some of the low fat recipes here at home, and so far, everything has been pretty good. We had Camp Stew for dinner tonight and I actually ate cooked carrots!! I know, I know, that is nothing big, but anyone who knows me, knows that I despise cooked veggies!! It is a texture thing and the memory of my grandmother boiling okra...how gross!!

Hunter will have the option of staying at camp for the night or coming back to the hotel with us. I am nervous about him making food decisions on his own so early in the process. I have been talking with a Wellspring mom and have some ideas if we decide to do breakfast on our own before going back to camp. The diet they follow is basically a low-fat diet. He really wants to make a change so we are behind him one hundred percent!!!

That is all for now. Got to go do something I am sure!!! More later.