Our Apartment

Well after (almost) 3 months, I finally remembered to put up the pictures of our apartment that I took months ago. Things have changed a little bit as we have settled in but here is a good idea of what our place looks like. None of our furniture matches, we use milk crates for storage, most of our furniture is hand-me-downs, and we sleep on an air mattress that is placed on top of a futon so to sum it up - our apartment is PERFECT! :)

Our apartment complex

Welcome!

Entryway / Pantry

Moving directly to the left of the door.

Kitchen

 Spice Cabinet - I love this feature of our apartment. It used to hold an ironing board but was converted into storage. 

The drawers pull out - perfect for holding pans and tupperware!

The cabinets are HUGE and SO TALL! 

Moving directly to the right of the door.

Office/Dining Room/Living Room

I love the huge windows. 

Ben's attempt at dividing the room is by using milk crates and boards. Works for us! :)

Moving into the Living Area. 

 Ben set up the apartment and I unpacked and organized our belongings to fit the set-up. 

The is my parent's old couch that they gave to us. 

This photo is taken when I was standing where the living room begins.

That doorway leads to our entryway and then to the kitchen.

Standing next to the couch looking at the front part of the apartment.

The single door is a coat closet and the double doors is the office (really big closet!)

This is what you see when you open the double doors. My office and favorite "room!"

This is the hallway that begins right before our living room off to the right. 

This is the "man" hallway. Ben's posters line the wall and his belongings fill the cabinets located in the hallway.

 That is the bathroom!

Ben's camping items fill the cabinet and I took over some of the drawers for items that didn't fit in the kitchen!

Our bathroom which is located next to our bedroom, at the end of the hallway. It is really out-of-date and is my least favorite room but I've gotten used to it. 

 I love all the storage space!

Our hodge-podge bedroom! We have little storage for our clothes so we had to be creative! :)

The right side of the bedroom. 

 The closet is actually really long and we use the back end to store totes. 

Bed and homemade dressers. One was made by Ben and the other made by Ben's brother, Casey as a wedding gift. We love them! 

 And that wraps it up! The door closer to the middle of the picture takes us back out into the hallway again. 

 I hope you enjoyed our lovely home! 

Feel free to come and see it in person! :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma Margaret!

Today is my Grandma’s Birthday and it is a bittersweet day.  I love her birthday. I am so blessed to have a great-grandma and cherish every moment with her. Grandma’s birthday also brings a lot of my family together to celebrate, including some family that I only see a few times a year.  We typically go to a restaurant, laugh too much, make too much noise, and take too many pictures but it is wonderful! I called Grandma tonight and was able to talk to a ton of my family! It was nice to hear their voices and to catch up a bit but when that was added with the fact I’m sitting at home alone got me feeling a little sad.

I love South Dakota and couldn’t be happier about our move but it is nights like this that make me wish we lived closer to home. I am going to take some time tonight to thank God for all the wonderful people in my life, please do the same! J

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! 

Two Big Announcements!

I have kept forgetting to put our two big announcements up on here but I have FINALLY remembered!! 


So without further ado.....


On August 6th there will be another Hannink wedding!! Ben's sister Alyssa was proposed to on New Year's! Bill and Alyssa are getting married this August! We are so excited for them and can't wait for another big wedding! After all, the last Hannink wedding was pretty awesome... :) 

Congrats Bill and Alyssa! 

Our other big announcement is Ben got a JOB! He works at a Science Discovery Center for Kids as an InterActor. Ben describes his job has one where he plays all day! He spends the day doing demonstrations for kids and playing with all the interactive exhibits. He is alway waiting on word for another job that he interviewed for yesterday. We are blessed! 

Christmas: Part 1

Ben and I were spoiled this Christmas. We received so many wonderful gifts and had so much fun seeing the special things that our family and friends picked out for us. I love Christmas and the thought that goes into it. I wanted to share with you a few gifts that I was blessed with at Christmas. By the time I thought about taking pictures of my gifts most of them were already put away but I did snap a few pictures.


But first, here is a few pictures of our first Christmas tree!! 

With the chaos of everything we never bought a tree so we made our own using crepe paper! 

 Our beautiful tree!

 We put up some of our ornaments (the ones that wouldn't break!) and put our presents under the tree. 

Now on to the gifts, just a few of the many that we received. 

 A calendar from the DeRuischer's filled with pictures of their family with important dates labeled like our 1 year wedding anniversary. 

Some goodies for our kitchen.

                                                  

 A housewarming gift from Ben's parents. 

 A rip stick from the Kruithof's.

 Housewarming gift from my parents. 

 Lots of recipe books! I love them all!

 We bought a new computer with our Christmas money and with money Ben received for Graduation.

 Notepads for every season!

 Ben got a firesafe security box! We really needed one!

 A cute little laundry money holder filled with money!

Flannel sheets!!! Drying in our apartment because we don't use the dryer, it costs 50 cents and we are cheap! :)

Told you we were spoiled!

I also am working on a post filled with some of the Christmas crafts I made this year! 

11 Fun Facts!

At the start of the New Year I saw a lot of blogs that were doing something clever with the number 11. I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of 11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Jessica (Unless You're My Mother!)


So without further ado:


11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Jessica!


1. I really dislike vegetables! I just really started eating a few veggies this year and now salads too!


2. I can't drive/ride through a tunnel without thinking of Princess Di's death. 


3. My toenails are ALWAYS painted. I think I've gone a day or two without them painted for as long as I can remember. 


4. I LOVE Blow Pops but would never buy a bag of them because I can eat through an entire bag in a day if I had one around the house. 


5. I would love to be a veterinarian. 


6. I love the name Bindy! It is the name of Steve Irwin's daughter and I think it is the coolest name! It also happens to be one of my nicknames. 


7. I can't go to bed with the closet door open. 


8. I fear someone cutting off my toes if they hang off the end of a bed. 


9. I have dated two guys named Ben. Only married one though! :)


10. I am a murderer. My pet hamster had babies and I was holding one in my hand and it rolled off and fell to the ground. He didn't make it. This memory haunts me!


11. I REALLY want a horse!


Now tell me a fun fact about you!!!! 

2011 - In Review

On December 31st, 2009, I was in my 1st apartment celebrating the end of a year with my fiancée and friend, Rich. I remember thinking about where I would be the next year.I never thought that on December 31st, 2010 I would be celebrating the end of the year in South Dakota! My family has a tradition that we start a small fire in a container outside and on small slips of paper write the things  that we want to "get rid of" before the start of the next year. This way we can start get the New Year started off on the right foot! It is a tradition that Ben loves too so even though I have not spent New Year's with my family we continue the tradition. 

This year was no exception!

I kept thinking about this past year and how amazing it really was!! 

Here is a look at some of the fun we had this year! (In no particular order!)

We got married!

 We planted our first garden! 

 Aunty Jodi and Aunty Lisa came up for the day to Geocache!

 Justin visited us and the boys spent an afternoon playing games!

 Raena also visited too and went cliff jumping for the first time!

 We went to see Tahquamenon Falls with the Hanninks!

 Said goodbye to my teaching friends that I've spent the last 5 years with!

 Met baby Erin who was born in November!

 Slept over at Grandma Hannink's and made breakfast with the Kruithof's!

 Spent some time hanging out with the DeRuischer's!

 Picked a TON of wild blueberries and bear berries!

 Celebrated Addie's first birthday!

 Took Raena Geocaching and she found her first one!

 Walked the Mackinac Bridge with this crazy crew!

 Ben took up fishing!

We took our friends Geocaching too! 

 Got together with some of my old Breakwater Residents from my year as an RA!

 Watched Mikayla swim in her first swim meet!

And said goodbye to Marquette before saying hello to South Dakota!

Quick Update!!

Hello everyone!! 
Thanks for bearing with me on my blog vacation.


The last few weeks have been so wonderful and I really focused on spending as much time with my family as possible. I took a break from the internet and even my beloved camera. I soaked in every second of my vacation. I read a lot, slept in until noon, didn't get dressed until 3pm, spent countless hours playing games, reading and relaxing. 


After a week and half with our families and 30 hours in the car, Ben and I spent my last weekend before student teaching by being very lazy. It was very nice!! We did visit a church on Sunday but then crawled back into bed for an afternoon of reading and again - relaxing! 


My first week of Student Teaching was beyond amazing! The days are long I leave the house at 7am and get back home around 4pm, then dinner, preparing for the next day and on top of everything I've been fighting a pretty bad cold - yet I wouldn't change anything!! 


Right now I am only responsible for the read-aloud part of the day where I read for 20 minutes each day and then I have picked up smaller responsibilities like bringing the students to their bathroom break, staying in for recess to work with students individually and in small groups, etc. Next week I pick up Spelling which occurs three times a week and then every week I pick up a subject or two so that I am teaching all day in a few weeks. I'm so excited! My teacher is amazing and while I am nervous I know she will help prepare me to lead the class well! 


Ben is getting pretty antsy. He is still looking for work and spending his days doing just that! Pray that we hear good news soon! 


Other than that our friend Rich is coming to visit us tonight! It will be so nice to see a familiar face and to spend some time catching up with a good friend we haven't seen in a few months! 


Watch for a Christmas post soon filled with photos of all the goodies we got for Christmas!