Is it Fall or What??

I can hardly believe how cool it has gotten! It has been down right chilly, especially in the mornings, the past couple days. Between the weather and working with kids again I caught something awful at the very end of last week. I am finally feeling a little better today but unfortunately Jim has it now, poor guy.

This weekend my Dad and Deb came up to go to the Valley Junction Art Market on Sunday. We all had a really good time. Teh brought the antique bed and dresser and an old trunk they are giving us so I rearranged the house last week so we had just the right places for everything. After unloading we headed up to the art show. There are always so many great things there and my Dad and Deb had a great time seeing the house and our neighborhood. I think they especially liked the antique stores down there as well.

This week we don't have a whole lot going on. We will finally be getting our new windows we have been promised by our landlord since January. They are coming tomorrow to get them installed, hopefully they can do it in one day but who knows since they seem not very handy man inclined. I definately think it will cut down on the draftiness of our house so I am pretty pumped about that.

Anyhow, not much to say but I thought I would update anyhow. The next will be sooner I hope! Here is a picture or two to keep things interesting!

End of Summer Update

Well I can hardly believe the summer is over! The time has certainly flown by. August started with the proposal and from there it was a whirlwind of busy times. The second week of August was the final week of our summer program at Kids West. My first grade class had been working on the play the Wizard of Oz. We had our final performance on the last day of the program and it was quite a hit! Every single parent showed up from our class which was awesome! Not to mention people bringing grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, our bosses, people from the school district, and Jim... it was a bit crazy. It all worked out great though and it was the perfect end to the summer.

We had a little over a week "off" of work to get ready before school started. As the new site director of Phenix Elementary School's Kids West program I had a ton to do. The person who was there before me had retired after 11 years there so there was stuff built up everywhere. It took over 40 hours that week between getting the site ready and various meetings I was quite busy but I finally got everything how I wanted it. School started on Wednesday, August 23rd. For the first three weeks (this being our last thank goodness) the kindergarteners have been getting out of school early so that their teachers can do home visits. It has made the first couple of weeks pretty busy. I am at work by 6:15am and between actual work time, meetings, and kindergarteners I am pretty much working until 6pm. This week I have had a little more free time now that things are settling in.

The month ended with Jim's birthday. He turned 31 on August 28th. I got him a table saw, something he had been trying to convince me we needed for awhile now. I know he will get tons of use out of it because when he is building somehting he seems right at home. In fact, he just built his sister some bag-o-boxes for her birthday just on Tuesday. We also took her to dinner at Biaggi's, her friend Katie came as well.

Labor day weekend was pretty uneventful. We were going to go to Omaha to look at some reception locations but they weren't showing over the holiday weekend so we postponed our trip home. We are tentatively looking at September 22nd of next year as "the big day", assuming we can get our locations. Anyhow, I will close for now. I will post some additional pictures soon too!

Jim's Birthday!

Happy 31st Birthday Jim!

I love you!!

Engagement Day Photos

The Engagement Story

Well obviously this weekend was absolutley amazing. Let's start with the good stuff. After some fun with Jayke and Nicole Saturday morning Jim wanted to go downtown and walk around the old market. That was fine with me, I have always loved the old market, ever since I was a kid even. We went in some of the shops and while we were in the passageway Jim told me he had a surprise for me. He pulled out a card which was incredibly sweet. The P.S. on the card asked if I wanted to go for a swim (I really enjoy to swim). Inside was a reservation sheet for that night at the Hilton. Jim said that he had asked my Dad and Deb to watch Odie so that we could have a night to ourself since we hadn't been able to do that for awhile, I thought that was extremely sweet.

After that we headed out and walked around a bit more. We stopped for ice cream at Ted and Wally's which gave us a chance to cool down since it was super hot. When we headed back out Jim suggested we go on a horse and carriage ride. Now there is the way straight to my heart! I have always wanted to go on a carriage ride through the old market and Jim knew that so he made it happen. It was very sweet to cuddle in the cart and it was so beautiful out.

After that we headed over to Heartland of America park. Jim and I had always talked about going and somehow we never had which is amazing because it is one of those spots in Omaha I just love (something about the whole downtown area, with the old market, and all the character... I just love it all). When we got out of the car Jim grabbed a gift bag from under the seat and told me he had a present for me but I couldn't have it yet. I REALLY wanted to know what was in it, but he told me every time I asked he was going to wait another minute before giving it to me, now that is harsh!

As we walked around Jim stopped at one point and asked me if I wanted part of my present and of course I did! We sat on the bench and Jim gave me a small gift bag from the larger one. Of course my heart flutters a bit and I open the bag, as I do Jim pretends to have a rock in his shoe and he gets down on one knee. Inside the bag is a pair of earrings and the whole rock thing was just to throw me off, but it worked.

Aftr that we went on a gondala boat ride out around the fountain. It was super pretty and we had a nice time. He told me when we were done with the boat ride I could have the other present so I was getting pretty excited. Afterward we found just the right spot and Jim was ready to give me my present. I sat down on the bench and opened the gift. It was a picture frame that opened up. On one side was a picture of Jim kneeling down with the ring and it was engraved. It said "Will you marry me Mandy? Love Jim". The other side was a clock engraved with the date, "August 5th, 2006". When I looked up Jim was kneeling down just like the picture, down to the same clothes. When he asked me to marry him of course I squealed yes!

From there the night only got better. We were supposed to be meeting my Dad and Deb for supper so we left right after the proposal to head there. When we got there they were waiting outside for us. When we went in we turned the corner and there was my whole family and Jim's family all there to celebrate with us. Jim had arranged for all of them to come! It was amazing, it was like a big celebration and party and I had so much fun! I can not tell you how I felt to have him plan that whole day. We did everything in omaha that I love, and even better, we got to share something so special with the people around us!

Between my Jim, my family, and his, I never felt so special! I love you Jim and I can not thank you enough for all you have done for me and for planning something so amazing! I am so confident with our life together and in case you didn't know, you are super-fantabulously wonderful, just how I like you!

*I will post pictures soon!

We have some super-fantabulous news...

We're Engaged!!!

It's been a wonderful weekend but it is quite late and I am very tired so it is off to bed. Don't worry, all the details will follow tomorrow!

Weekends Away

Well the weekends have been flying by. Two weekends ago we were in Dubuque spending some time with Jim's friends and family. We got there Friday evening and even after taking a detour we got there before his Mom and had to wait outside for a solid 45 minutes before we got in the building. That pretty much stunk. We got in and got settled and then his Mom arrived a little after that. Odie was a little unsure why someone he didn't know was marching in the door and he barked a bit, but I just went over and sat next to her on the couch and had her give him a treat and he was fine after that. He definately likes being new places especially when it comes to his walks, nothing like a walk around a different neighborhood to get that sniffer going.

We were in town for Marty's birthday (Marty is Jim's friend), it was his big yearly birthday bash. It was a good time. We were eating, drinking and hanging around the fire pit until pretty late in the evening, or early in the morning I should say. All in all it was fun and I am glad I finally got to go.

This past weekend we had a family reunion to go to on Sunday. It was with Jim's Mom's family. They had it at Glee and Ron's place in Northeastern Iowa (that is Jim's aunt and uncle). The drive there felt like it took absolutely forever, a solid 3 1/2 hours. It just felt SOOOO LOOONG for some reason, especially when we get a call from Jim's sister thinking left later then we did, but nope, it is just a long drive. When we got there we visited, ate, and played some baggo (now that we got the boards done, they are a lot of fun). Odie went with us on that trip too. He liked the country, but he didn't care for Glee and Ron's massive 80 pound lab puppy. I think he was a but intimidated by his size. We got back late Sunday and then we were off with our week.

This next weekend will be spent back in Omaha.....will we ever get a break?!?!?!

Sicky Icky

Well, this weekend certainly hasn't been very eventful. Jim and I have both been fighting something, Jim has been far worse than I am. Stuffy noses, sore throats, aches, and ickiness. Not to mention the fact it is about a billion degrees out. That makes it even harder to gather the motivation to do anything spectacular.

We did go out and get a few groceries and such. We also got started painting the Baggo Boxes Jim made. We need to get them finished this week so we can take them to his friend Marty's birthday party next weekend. While out today we did get Odie a doggy bed. He keeps adopting one of the pillows so we thought he might like his own bed, and he does!

Hello Again

Well, as of today we have our internet back. You don't realize how much you use it until you can't. When the cable company finally came out it turns out the squirrels had been chewing through the line. I thought to catch up I would post some pictures. Enjoy!

David, from my class, after a pudding eating contest at our Olympics.

Kaleb and Jack after eating pudding as well

Jim and I in the backyard

My class and I outside Adventureland

Zion on the Frog Hopper

Ashlyn on the bus all tuckered out from Adventureland

Me and Cubbie at the Iowa Cubs game on the 4th of July

Fireworks on the 4th

Ashlyn and Mark skating this past Friday

Jayda, Jack, and I skating

Silly Internet

Sorry for the sparse updates, unfortunately our cable internet hasn't been working too well (or hardly at all). We have called the company but there never seems to be an avaliable day, and neither one of us really want to take half a day off to wait for the cable guy to come around. Basically the signal running to our house isn't strong enough to provide the internet like it is supposed to. I am not sure what the fix is, but we plan on getting it all worked out in the next week or two. I will update as much as I can!