President's Break

Happy President's Day!

My school doesn't have a Spring Break but instead will take a random day off here and there for some extended weekends. This was our President's Break. I've been off of school since Wednesday at 12pm so I've had quite a long weekend. 


Day 1 was great! Ben worked so I had no distractions. I woke up early cleaned, filled out a large portion of a substitute teaching application, full-time teaching application and a job at the zoo for this summer, I organized paperwork, went through piles of papers, and crossed items off my to do list that I didn't plan on doing until summer! It felt great!! 


Day 2... Ben worked all day again... I was lonely. I had no motivation and was in desperate need of some people interaction. Thankfully my friend Ashely called and I chatted with her for a long time and even went for a "walk" with her (talked on the phone while both going for a walk..lol). I was missing home a lot this day and missing my friends. 


Day 3... Ben was home! Having him home was so wonderful and we spent the next three days together because he had off for President's Day too! I spent almost the entire day reading (Because of Winn-Dixie, Matilda and A Million Little Pieces), playing Sims 2, and napping. 


Day 4 and 5 consisted of hours of laziness followed by more hours of productivity. The apartment is cleaner than ever and our belongings are more organized than they have ever been before. I also make a ton of birthday cards to get me through the rest of the school year. 


Overall the break was pretty wonderful. I am still missing my family and friends a lot but my parents are visiting in a month so I have that to look forward too! Then we will be back in Michigan in August! 

Famous!

Our local TV news station stopped by our school's in-service yesterday. Check us out! 
http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/?VideoFile=021611inservice

Christmas Crafts

I've left you in anticipation for weeks... here it is, 2 months later, the Christmas crafts....

I bought fun colored canvas bags and painted various objects on them keeping a nature theme. 

A super easy project but I love how they turned out.  

 Cookie Cutter Art. I used cookie cutters on an art canvas to create a unique piece of art for the DeRuischer's little girls. Then I painted the first letter of their name on the corners. 

 For Secret Santa I drew my friend, Kelly. I made her a bag, made her a door sign to help her remember to grab her keys (she always locked herself out), painted a picture frame (I put a real picture in later), and our traditional gift - Hershey's!

 I had so much fun painting the bags above that I made a few more! 

 I made ornaments for the adults in my family. These were made out of felt, ribbon and some hot glue. 

 I love how they turned out!

 Another painted bag!

 I made hand warmers for the kids using rice. 

My cousins take the bus to school so this way they can stay nice and warm! 

I made melting snowman cookies! Yum!

I already have a list of ideas ready for crafting projects for next Christmas!! 

Sioux Falls Fun Fact!

Sioux Falls has more casinos per capita than Las Vegas! 

There are little casinos on almost every block in the main part of the city! 

Ben's Job Luck!!

Ben has the BEST JOB LUCK EVER!!

A few summers ago (2009) Ben really wanted to live in Marquette for the summer. He searched for jobs and couldn't find anything. We packed up our belongings and prepared to say that dreaded goodbye. We wouldn't be able to see each other for 2 months. We had about 20 minutes before Ben and I had to say goodbye when BAM Ben received a phone call offering him a job in Marquette. He made one phone call and had a place to live. Within two weeks he got a live in position on campus so he took that job too. 

This past fall Ben was struggling once again finding a job. He wanted one that he could walk/ride his bike to. Campus wasn't hiring anywhere and he began to get frustrated. One trip to the Housing Office and they offered him a job. Unfortunately it didn't work with his class schedule so the woman said she would send out a notice to everyone with Ben's information. And BAM Ben was quickly offered a job in his old building as a student custodian. 

When we got to Sioux Falls, Ben did not have a job. The first few weeks were spent filling out applications and following up with the different businesses. They all were saying the same thing, we aren't hiring until March. Ben was very disappointed. Then his luck changed and BAM he was offered a job as a InterActor at the Children's Museum, BAM a job at the Boy's Ranch (both jobs he really wanted!) and BAM a job at Culver's! He took the first two positions and he will begin at the Boy's Ranch on the 15th. 

Good things really do happen to good people! :)

I hope his good job fortune continues for the rest of his life!