Winter Wonderland?

The snow this winter has been insane.  We've had 6 snowstorms in 5 weeks!  They've been big snowstorms, too!  We have about 3 feet of snow on the ground right now; some places even have 5 feet.  It's crazy!  We're expected to get another foot this week!  Being that I just started my new job and, due to all the snow days we've already had, I haven't had much of a chance to really get going on it, I don't want a snow day, at least as a teacher.  We've had several already.  As a student on the other hand, bring it on!  Classes were cancelled at my grad school last Wednesday and I'm holding out hope that they'll be cancelled again this week.  (I know that I'm very blessed to be getting an education and to have support from my family for it, but grad school is NOT my favorite thing.  [May 2012 can't come quickly enough!])  The snow is actually getting kinda scary, though.  People's roofs are collapsing, the snow piles are so huge that it's incredibly difficult to see around a corner while driving, and a lot of it is starting to hang over the edge of roofs, looking as if it could fall on someone who walks by underneath.  We have an icicle hanging from the roof over our window and it's about 6 feet long.  Scary for someone walking down below!  I love the snow, though, other than the dangers it brings.  It's pretty and I think it's fun.  Lillie likes it, too, but we brought her outside to play during the first one and she ended up shivering and needing a warm bath to melt the clumps of snow off of her fur.  I think she looks like a harp seal normally, but especially in the snow! =)

My First Handmade Card

This weekend Dave and I have a birthday party to go to for our friends' daughter.  I decided to try making a handmade card for the first time.  I used my Cricut, of course.  The cupcake was made using the Doodlecharms cartridge and the writing was made using the Sweet Treats cartridge, which I got from my awesome honorary NSA (a Secret Santa/Secret Sister type thing we do on the Nest), Heather, from Heather's Ramblings.  It was my first time using layers on the Cricut, too!  Other than the messy glue spots (I ran out of glue sticks and had to use liquid glue), I think it turned out pretty cute!

This is the cover.

This is the inside.  Nothing special, but I'm not that good at this yet.  =P

MamaRoo

I've begun entering contests for free baby items.  Babies are obviously very expensive, so why not try winning some free stuff for when we have one?  I'm currently trying to win one of these.  I love how it moves to make the baby feel like he/she is being rocked by his/her parent.  Well, one of the things to do to get an extra entry is to post a blog entry about it; so here I am! 

For anyone who's interested, here's the link for the blog doing the giveaway:
The Cloth Diaper Report

I actually even just showed it to Dave and he wants us to get one. =)

Off to a Great Start

By that I mean 2011.  I got a job!  In a public school!  I'm going to be a "Mathematics Interventionist Teacher".  I'll be working with 3rd and 4th graders who are at risk for failing Math.  I am so excited!  It's a part time position, but the pay breaks down to being double what my hourly pay was working full time at my last job!  Plus, I'll have the other half of the day to work a second part-time job to really bulk up our savings account!  Depending on when the results from my drug test and physical come back, I'll probably be starting next week!  I can't wait! 

2011

Happy New Year!  I'm pretty excited about this year.  I feel like it's gonna bring a lot of changes (good ones). 

- job situation:  Though I've got no official job for the next school year, I'm looking forward to the potential opportunities to find one.  Because I've got no contract that I'm under, I can apply for any job I want.
- hobbies:  I've recently been into a lot of crafty stuff.  I made a few Christmas gifts and I'm looking forward to working on a lot more of that kind of stuff throughout the year.  I have plans to learn sewing from my mom and knitting from my mother-in-law.  I've found all kinds of fun projects on line that involve those, and I can't wait to be able to work on them.  Actually, I'm somewhat looking forward to working at camp this summer; I'll actually have something fun to do while I sit there.  I'm excited to be able to work on crafty projects.
- relationship with God:  Dave and I have been really good about doing our own individual devotionals each night.  We haven't, however, been good about doing our couples' devotionals.  We have several books, but haven't really used them.  We've made a resolution to make sure we do them together every night.
- family:  Dave and I have decided that we're not waiting till we get a house to have a baby.  We're nowhere near ready to get a house right now and we don't wanna put off our baby plans.  We have a lot of extra space that's currently being used as storage in our apartment right now.  We plan to rearrange stuff (it'll be tight, but it's totally doable) and make one of our extra rooms a nursery.  We're hoping to start TTC in the fall. (We want to have been married for at least 2 years before I get pregnant and we don't wanna have a baby around while I'm still taking classes.  I'm expecting to graduate in May 2012, so as long as a baby comes after that, we're good.)
- health:  I'm going to lose weight and get in better shape and be healthier.  I know I said that last year (and probably every year for the past ten years), but it's gonna happen this year.  Actually, quite a bit of it did happen in 2010, which makes me realize just how much I CAN do it when I set my mind to it.  I'm about 15 lbs. lighter than I was at this time last year, thanks to the little bit I did throughout 2010 to make myself healthier.  I've got a long way to go, but I'm determined to get there.  Especially with our TTC plans for the fall, I really need to make sure I do it.  I know I mentioned my new electronic stepper in my last post, but I don't think I mentioned the plans I have for it.  I'm planning to use it every day Monday - Friday for a half hour.  I've been looking at the TV lineup and am in the process of picking a TV show to watch each night while I'm doing it.  I figure if I have a TV show that I'm interested in to watch, I'll be more likely to actually get on the stepper and use it.  That's the nice part about those; they're so small that you can use them anywhere (like in front of the TV.  Two thumbs up.)

I think that's everything that's been on my mind about this upcoming year.  I'm looking forward to it.  I think it's gonna be a good one. =)