Stuff

Nik likes to write in lists.  Sometimes, so do I.  So here’s one for you.

1.  Accomplished on my 2 1/2 snow days and President’s Day:
a.  all my grading
b.  filed my taxes – I’m getting an unexpected refund!
c. paid my bills
d.  got rid of an amazing amount of paper – old files, etc.  I actually eliminated a box from my room!
e.  watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding (for the first time since I started dating Nik) – I understand it!
f.  good conversations with family and friends
g.  cancelled three credit cards – I have about $10,000 less in credit line now but I think I’ll survive.
h.  registered with Nik at Sears and Crate and Barrel.  I managed to talk him out of registering for a many thousands of dollars flat screen TV.    (But if you want to buy it for us, I guess Nik would want me to tell you that we won’t turn it down.  But if you’re going to do that, please buy me my sewing machine too!)  We still have a few main categories to finish registering for but we’re getting close.
i.  welcomed back Dan Gerding from Ethiopia – he has many amazing stories to tell and pictures to share.
j.  a road trip to Pennsylvania with two of my friends.  We managed to get quasi-lost (not our fault!) on our way to pick up Julie’s sister at Messiah College but we had fun doing it!

2.  Valentine’s Day with Nik was nice – we went to Thai Landing for dinner.  Valentine’s Day certainly feels different with a fiance!

3.  After this week, we have five full weeks of school with no vacation days. TOUGH!

4.  Registering is a dangerous business – the act of choosing so much stuff actually makes you want to own that stuff.  Not that we really need it all or anything.  The other night Nik listened to a sermon entitled something like, “God wants to save Christians from material things.”  Makes us want to go and un-register for everything.

5.  Aria Dresses called yesterday.  They received the bridesmaids’ dresses order and it’s going to ship on May 24th.

And that’s all the random news I have for now! 🙂
Love to you all.

Posted in engagement, weather, wedding | 4 Comments

Awesome!

Two snow in a row!  (I couldn’t put in days – it doesn’t rhyme.)

Posted in school, weather | 4 Comments

Love!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Posted in holidays, love | 3 Comments

Snow!

SNOW DAY!!

This time, it was definitely necessary.  We got a ton of freezing rain overnight so there is a nice thick coating of ice everywhere.  Extremely dangerous for driving.  Schools are closed basically all over the state.

I’ve already done some grading, returned some work e-mails, and entered a bunch of data into the online system for the double-period class that I teach.  I have a bit more to do and then I will be officially caught up on annoying school tasks and will feel free to take the rest of the day OFF!!

Posted in school, weather | Leave a comment

Check!

Bridesmaid dresses are ordered!  Check that one OFF the list!

Posted in wedding | Leave a comment

What we did with our snow day

Nik and I are really blessed to be working in the same school system!  So we both had yesterday off, which meant we could get some wedding stuff done.  So we registered at Bed Bath and Beyond, talked to a woman who may do our reception catering, chose the tuxedos (sorry Dad, no red velvet), and even chose the menu for our rehearsal dinner.  We at least did our initial registering but we’re not finished yet and may still change our mind on some things.  But it’s good to be started with that process.  We did pretty good for a few hours!

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland

“You have a Midland accent” is just another way of saying “you don’t have an accent.” You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz
Posted in weather, wedding | 2 Comments

Snow Day!

SNOW DAY!!
Now what am I going to do with myself?

(And for the record, there’s hardly any snow at my house.  But a whole bunch of school districts are closed.  So it must be bad somewhere!  I’m not complaining!)

Posted in weather | Leave a comment

It’s back!

Nik and I picked up my engagement ring today at Smyth Jewelers, “Where Baltimore Gets Engaged”!  It’s beautiful and I feel much safer wearing it now – the prongs are nice and strong around the diamond.  It took about a month to fix it so it’s nice to finally have it on my hand again.  And now I won’t have to deflect the “Is everything OK?” comments anymore!

I suppose a month isn’t too long to fix a ring that was 100 years old!  I think Great Grandma Laura would be really happy to know that I have her ring as my engagement ring!

(This is the ring pre-fixing.)

Posted in engagement | 4 Comments

Welcome Home!

Welcome home Eric, Meggan, Noah, Selah, Jonas, and #4!  If it makes you feel any better, it’s 26 degrees in Baltimore right now.  So you’re not the only one who’s cold.  I missed you!

Posted in family | 2 Comments

01312007-199

That was my number.

My jury duty number.

8:15 – I arrived, checked in.

$15 – my pay for the day (in cash).

11:15 – They called 001-400 to go into Courtroom 400.  So we went.  Sadly, out of those 400 numbers, only about 60-70 people actually showed up.  (A sad commentary on how many people treat what should be everyone’s civic duty.)  We filed in, sat down, looked at the lawyers, the defendant, the bailiff, waited 10 minutes.

The courtroom (and entire courthouse) was built in 1900 – and gorgeous.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge…blah, blah, blah”

“Ladies and Gentleman case #[I don’t remember} has been resolved. You may return to the waiting room.”  (I didn’t even get to answer any questions about who or what I hated or did or did not believe in!)

12:30 – 1:45 – my lunch break (the longest lunch break I’ve had in years).  Walking to the harbor downtown, enjoying the brisk, sunny day.

All of it – how much grading I got done

One Agatha Christie and the February Good Housekeeping – how much other reading I did.

4:00 – [From the Jury Commissioner] – “Ladies and Gentlemen – As you know, a judge can call for a jury as late at 4:00 [long pause]…but luckily, none did!!  You’re free to go!”  (A mean trick, that one was!)

REST – what the Lord knew I needed today.

Jury duty was a blessing in disguise.

Posted in reflecting, school | 2 Comments