Alaska = AMAZING!!!

I loved Alaska! The weather was in the 50's most of the time and the scenery was gorgeous! I saw whales, grizzly bears, bald eagles, and a sea lion. Kaitlin (my best friend from college) and I took a ton of pictures. So about the trip...the plane ride there was a bit rocky because there were several screaming kids on it. Also I had the middle seat so I felt trapped and could not stretch out. It was 5 long hours to Seattle. We spent the night in Seattle and then set out for our cruise the next day. Once we left port, we were at sea for one day and then we hit Tracy Arms Fjord to see some glaciers. We did not actually dock anywhere so we basically were at sea for two days. On Friday we arrived in our first port, Skagway. Here Kaitlin and I did some rock climbing. It was so much fun. Since we were at port from 7am until 9pm, Kaitlin and I decided to ride in a floater plane over to Haines where we rented a car and toured the town for a few hours. This is where we saw grizzly bears and a bald eagle. We were within 100 feet of the bears and it was truly something else! I did at one point, while I was running across the field to get closer to the bears, feel like I was on the discovery channel creeping through the fields filming bears. After our bear adventure, we stopped and had dinner at Fireweed. It was one of the best pizzas I had in along time. We flew back to Skagway in time to get back on the boat and sail on to your next port. Here are some pictures from the first few days of the trip. I will post more pictures later but here a few for now.


Sunset from the plane to Seattle.


Seattle, WA





A tiny iceberg in Tracy Arm Fjord.


The breathtaking glacier!


Glacier up close


One of many waterfalls!!

Alaska Adventures

For the past 7 days I have been on a cruise to Alaska. It was WONDERFUL!!! I want to go back (just not right now). So much happened since last Monday when I flew out to Seattle to begin the cruise and because I took TONS of pictures, I will have to update slowly. I am currently sitting in my hotel in Seattle typing this entry. I fly out tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be traveling all day. I will try and start sharing my adventure on Thursday. But a cruise to Alaska is something everyone should do!!!

Updated house

My house is moving along rather nicely. This week they are painting the house and installing all of the hardware. By the end of next week it should be completely finished and had the final inspection. I close on my house July 22 and move in shortly after closing!

House!!!

My house is coming along very nicely!!! I feel like I am waiting for a baby to be born or for Christmas because I am SO ready for the house to be built so I can start decorating and to buy furniture!! I dont want to by anything yet because we have nowhere to store it right now. The builders are moving so fast with the house I am amazed each time I go up there. Enjoy the pictures. There will certainly be more later. :)

All Grown Up...almost

As of Friday at 11 AM, I officially became a home buyer. I bought my first home and in 120 days it will be built and ready for me to move in. My house is a starter home and in a new neighborhood about 5 minutes from work. On Monday I pick out my carpet, countertops, flooring for the kitchen and cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom! So many decisions but so exciting!! I will post pictures throughout the process and of course when the final product is complete. :) Oh being a grown up is fun and scary all at the same time...oh and quite expensive!! ;)

Pre-approved :)

Today I met with the mortgage guy to learn that I was pre-approved for the loan for my new house!!! I am super excited and cannot wait to get this house built. It will be in a new neighborhood near where I work. All these homes are cute little starter homes!! I go back and meet with the Realtor this week to officially write the contract!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! More updates to come throughout the house developing process!! :)

The past few months

Wow...I am TERRIBLE at updating this thing. It is not like I have been busy or anything ;) The end of the semester is approaching in the next month, semester 2 of graduate school is almost over, and cheerleading is starting up again!! Phew! Next week I will be on spring break FINALLY!! I do not know who decided to make it this late this year but seriously this is crazy. My kids and I are mentally done and we still have 6 weeks after spring break before summer. Luckily it is broken down into tolerable segments. After spring break we have 2 weeks until PASS testing. Then after that we have 2 weeks until exams and then my first year of teaching will be complete. Crazy how I am finally doing what I have always wanted to do. This first year has certainly had its ups and downs (WAYYYYYY more ups than downs though). I absolutely LOVE the women I teach with on 6th grade hall and I absolutely love teaching middle school. For the longest time I only wanted to teach 3rd or 4th grade and when I had 5th grade as my placement for student teaching, I was very upset. I didnt want to teach 5th grade because they were "too old" for me. The 5th grade class I was in, was actually at the middle school because they needed more numbers to have an assistant principal. I fell in love with the middle school atmosphere. My kids I teach this year are so much fun!! They have amazing personalities and I have really enjoyed being able to watch them grow over the course of the year. I will truly miss them next year. Last year I coached cheerleading at my old high school. I have always wanted to coach cheerleading ever since I was a cheerleader in high school. This week we are having tryouts and I am very exciting about getting a new group of girls to work with and coach. I am proud to say that I have survived the second semester of grad school. There were times this semester that I honestly didnt think I was going to make it because of the intensity of one of my classes. Luckily I met a woman who works at Chapin High School that is in my classes. We have been able to work a lot together this semester and we will be in classes together for the remainder of our program. That is a MAJOR plus!! My main drive is that May 2012 this will ALL be over with! :)