What we've been up to

Life has been going pretty smoothly for us here in Greeley. We have had a few tornado warnings but fortunately none have touched down. Its funny because when there is a big storm I love to sit on the balcony and listen to the thunder and watch the lightning but that is pretty much the worse thing to do when there is a tornado warning; its right up there with standing by the window and looking out. Its strange, it seems like every day around 3:00 big storm clouds roll into Greeley. Last night the thunder/rain storm was so loud it woke both Mark and I up at 3:00 am and Mark went to go check for a tornado warning. I don't actually know if tornadoes can touch down at that time but I am glad Mark was willing to go check.
Besides watching storms we did go to Denver last Friday and actually did some of the things that are fun to do in Denver. We haven't really taken the time to go and see the sites around here so we are working on that. Mark needed to talk to CDE (Colorado Department of Education) about his Colorado teaching license so we drove down and decided to make a day of it. While we didn't mind going and doing some fun things in Denver it is absolutely ridiculous how unhelpful CDE is on the phone. Its like they are going for an award for being the most unhelpful. Each time we would call we would be on hold for at least 20 minutes and then they would transfer us to the "correct" person who never answered their phone and Mark would leave messages and never have them returned. While we were in Colorado Springs last week we stopped in his new district office to ask about his license and the lady said that even she doesn't get calls back very often and suggested we go down in person. So we went down and Mark explained the situation and the woman took his papers, went to an office down the hall came back not 2 minutes later and said, "Your license should get to you in 2-3 weeks." That is what we got for driving down there and coming in person. She almost acknowledged that they had made a mistake and should have issued the proper license back in January when Mark applied for it but not quite. We are crossing our fingers that it shows up before we move at the end of July.

So after that silliness, we decided to take a tour of the State Capitol since it is right across the street from CDE. It was really fun and there was actually a quilt show going on so there were quilts displayed all over. They were beautiful People are so talented. We got to climb up into that dome which had a great view of Denver and we saw the Senate and House of Representatives voting rooms. It was nice with just a little bit of history for us.

The Colorado State Capitol

Quilts on display all over.

View from the Dome, the building is the US Mint where we originally wanted to go but when I looked online for tours they are booked until August! I had no idea it was such a popular place.

Inside the Dome.

After the Capitol we went over to the Denver Aquarium which was nice but would be way more fun with like a 3 year old or so. But it was fun to see the exhibits and it reminded of us the fun we had snorkeling.

Mark outside the Aquarium



Aprillee and Fish tank

BIG fish!



BIG Sting ray!
It was cool to see the lungs (gills?) going in and out.



Shark tank!
There were lots more in there, but this one looked like it wanted its picture taken.

This is outside the Aquarium restaurant. I liked all the glass fish they had hung up.

This week we are heading over to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. It is only a 5 1/2 hour drive from here and we figure we will never live this close to Mount Rushmore again so we are heading up and camping one night. I am really excited to go. Its just one of those places you would like to see but its so isolated that you don't think you will see it. Its also a lot shorter drive then heading home to California. We will save that for Christmas when we have a little baby to share!

Mr. Spencer

Mr. Spencer at his new school.

Wouldn't you love to walk into your 6th grade Ancient Civ. class and see this guy was your teacher? I know I would! Yesterday Mark and I drove down to Colorado Springs to check out his school, pick up his teacher manuals and look at housing options. It was an incredibly long day and visiting his school was for sure the highlight.
We left Greeley at 7:45 am and made our way down to the "Springs" (stopping off at at the temple for a bit, always nice) and then got to Mark's school around 11:00. We went into the office and Mark got a box full of his teacher supplies and then we went on a little tour of the school with the assistant principal and got to see one of the 6th grade classrooms. It was not his classroom but it was nice to see what was inside it. The school isn't very old and has really good test scores which is a definite plus! It is just nice to know that he will be working in a school that is performing well not under-performing.
As far as housing options go I did not take any pictures because the three properties we looked at we do not want to live in, so I didn't see the point. We looked at a few townhouses and then a couple of apartment complexes. I never realized how great our current apartment is until looking at these. They were not really bad, it just turns out that we have a really great place. We were with a Realtor and he took us to this one house that he said "was really rough and would need some work" it was so incredibly disgusting!! I could not believe that people leave property like that. I mean they couldn't even take out the trash before they left so of course it smelled awful! I walked in the door and was ready to leave! I can't even begin to describe the grossness. It had an upper level then a basement and as I walked around I felt like I was going to fall through the upper level and land in a rats nest infested with cockroaches. NASTY!! We will most likely be renting an apartment for the first 6 months. Buying a home is very tempting because we are first time home buyers so we would get that tax credit but we have a super low price range so I think we will forget the tax credit even exists, settle in down there, have the baby and if Mark likes his job look next January or so. We have a busy enough fall ahead of us so I am not so sure we need to add the stress of buying a home. My dad is a Realtor in California and he said that buying a home was not easy, it is a lot like marriage " You keep your eyes wide open before you get married (buy a house) and then half shut after." (Elder Faust) To me getting married was infinitely easier then even looking into buying a home. But then again I did marry Mark!
So after an exhausting day (we got back to Greeley around 9:00 pm) we still do not know where we will be living (we did get some good ideas and I know we will be back down there in 2 weeks for Mark to sign his contract so we can do some more research online) but Mark's school looks great and he is way excited. Oh and another plus for his school, they are on a modified year round schedule so they begin August 04th and go 9 weeks and then have a 2 week break, well guess when his first break is? October 12-26th! And why is this important because Jared is due October 16th!! Such a deal! We will just keep hoping that Jared keeps being so cooperative.

Finally

21 and 1/2 weeks!

Last night as Mark and I were laying in bed reading I felt something inside of me! I didn't think too much of it until I felt the same sort of movement again soon after. I said to Mark, "I think I just felt Jared!" I put my hand back on my lower tummy to see if I felt anything again and a few minutes later it happened again! So I got really excited and had Mark move his hand over and after a few minutes he felt it too! It was so fun!
When I had my ultrasound I was informed that I have an anterior placenta so it is in the front so there is a big cushion between Jared and I. I had read that most people feel their baby move anywhere from 16 weeks (second pregnancy people) to 20 weeks. Since I was informed of the placenta position and I had really no idea what to expect I wasn't expecting to feel anything for awhile. Well, I was just laying down reading again and I felt the same movement! It's so cool!!! It's so fun to know that he is in there doing something. I hope he is comfortable. It felt like he was just kicking against me. I love all these things that make Jared seem more real.
As you can see in this picture I do not necessarily look pregnant but I look more like I have just gained weight. Oh well. As you can see on the counter we are 21 1/2 weeks. It's nice to know we are half way done and everything has gone really well. I for sure feel more tired after doing things like walking around the park but other than that I feel great. Jared has been treating me well and I am so thankful! Tomorrow we head down to Colorado Springs to check out Mark's school and housing options. Should be fun.

Life is Good

This is my new hat that I got today, more about it later in this super long post!

Mark and I have been feeling incredibly blessed the past few days. For as long as I can remember (at least since this January) I have been talking about how much I was looking forward to the end of May. By the end of May we would know if we were moving, if we were having a boy or girl, if Mark had a full time job, etc. all of which are really big important things. Especially for me as I am real big into planning. And now, as of yesterday at 3:30 we know all these things. Yesterday Mark got a phone call from Skyview Middle School in Colorado Springs and was offered a job to teach 6th grade Ancient Civilizations. (I think our time in Egypt will pay off some for this job.) We are so excited that he has a job and that it is in Colorado Springs. We have been perfectly content here in Greeley but I remember my first impressions of Greeley and just being sort of disappointed because it was not at all how I pictured Colorado. Where were the mountains?? Why did I feel like I was in Wyoming? Colorado Springs on the other hand is gorgeous! You are so close to the mountains and by moving there we will only be 50 minutes away from the temple in Denver which is way better then the hour and 20 minutes we are now. (Still a huge improvement from Cairo but we set a goal to live within an hour of one so this meets that.)
Besides the huge relief that it is to have a full time job, the school district we are moving too is a really strong district. Now if Mark really likes it then we know that our kids will be going to really good schools and Mark will be working in a much better district then Greeley. Mark did really enjoy his long term sub job here and would love to be teaching high school but I think he will enjoy his job situation more in Colorado Springs. I also think his students will love him. We are just really excited and super relieved! Mark has his new teachers orientation July 27th so we will be moving down there around July 25th or so, which works out great because our lease is up August 01. I love seeing how the Lord's plan works out. I don't love the waiting but the end results are always reassuring.
In other good news, I got a call from the woman here in charge of Insurance benefits (for Greeley School District) and she now has the paperwork needed to get me switched onto COBRA, which means that I get the same insurance coverage as I have had only we pay the premium instead of the school district since I will not be working for them. It is a relief to have all of that in order for October. It is too bad that I will have to get another doctor but I will at least have all of my last trimester to get to know them. (Colorado Spring is just over 2 hours away from Greeley so too far to drive up here that often for appointments and it sounds a little risky for when Jared is ready to come)
In the least of the good news I got my haircut Saturday and am less than thrilled with the results. Its not an awful cut just not what I expected. But, for the past month or so I have been looking for a hat and I found one today so that works out well! It is just what I wanted nice and ismple. I also switched my part from the center to the side and that helps the haircut some. The funny thing is that on the hat there is the logo, Life is Good (I don't know if it is all over the U.S. or what but here in Colorado, especially up in Estes Park in the mountains, every other store carries products by that company) which I think is very fitting for us. I put a picture of my hair mostly because Susanna requested it and the hat because I looked in so many stores and the logo fits the post!

It would have been better if I was not wearing a hooded sweatshirt but we are having an awesome rainy day so I was happy for the chance to wear a sweatshirt again. Its only like 51 degrees here today and it rained all morning. So nice!

Oh and one more thing that shows life is so good, we had gotten a few chips in our windshield this past winter and on Thursday we got one more but this one started cracking across the drivers side so we needed to take it in. Well, we went to our insurance company and got it fixed today for no cost to us! When we moved here we switched our policy around a bit since we were no longer in California. We actually upgraded our policy and added gravel protection and still paid less then what we had to pay in California. We are so glad that we added that to out policy!

So this was a lot of news so it may be awhile before I post again. I guess I could have broken it up...thanks for reading!

Our New Favorite Desert

Last week we had some friends over for a BBQ and they brought the best summer desert. Its so simple too! They brought a yogurt pie in a graham cracker crust. All it takes is yogurt, cool whip and your pie crust.

1 6-8 oz serving of yogurt (one small Yoplait container) Any flavor
3/4 of an 8 oz container of cool whip
Graham Cracker Crust

You simply mix the yogurt and softened cool whip together and then spoon it over the graham cracker crust smooth it out and freeze until solid. It's so light and cool and if you use the fat free cool whip and light flavors of yogurt it is way better for you than other deserts. Most of you have probably thought of this but I have never liked yogurt so I never really tried to do anything with it. I am really hoping that I can try out all kinds of new recipes this summer. I have always wanted to just spend hours going through cookbooks and marking things I would like to try and this summer looks like a perfect opportunity.