A No Dishes Thanksgiving

Since it was just Cory and we are both just exhausted and stressed with school assignments and projects, we decided to go to Golden Corral for Thanksgiving dinner. Granted it was not as good as going to Grandma's, but with us being in Tennessee that really is not an option. But it was good, and hey no dishes, but a little sad in no leftovers. And I will say that the afternoon bunch at Golden Corral is less scary than the crowd we saw oh Friday night a few weeks ago.

I also ventured out on my first real Black Friday experience. I went to Kohls at about 5 a.m. and since it is next door to Old Navy I stopped in there for a few things. I saved more than I spent, so I figure that was a win. And Christmas shopping is almost done, which will be nice since I have finals in a few weeks.

Cory updated my phone, for my Merry Birthday gift. I can actually text now... which means I will finally enter the year 2002.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

(email me your address if you want a Christmas card)

Time Flies When There Is Not Enough Of It

Well between my night classes, Cory's 18 credit hours, and Madeleine in Kindergarten, it does not seem like there is enough time for anything. Cory has been awesome in helping me out with cooking dinners. Him and Madeleine go every Saturday morning to do the grocery shopping while I am in class, which is a great help (even if we do end up with some interesting snacks or meals).

Cory is now in his part of the semester where projects are due, and right after Thanksgiving he will start into finals. By this time next year, Cory will be getting ready to graduate. Which seems soon, especially with how fast this last year has gone.

Madeleine is doing great in Kindergarten. She is excited to go everyday. Today is her first time buying lunch, so we'll see how that goes. Also she has her first loose tooth, and is terrified about it falling out. "I don't want to grow up," is what she tells me at night. I have even told her about the tooth fairy, but she does not seem to care how much money the tooth fairy might leave.

I am in my third quarter of night and Saturday classes. I am exhausted, but I know this tired feeling will be nothing compared to when I am student teaching in January. At this point I am just hoping to survive the program, but as soon as I get my certification, I'll get to worry about getting a job and all the good things that come from obtaining one.

So life is good, but busy. I think over Thanksgiving we will attempt to be lazy and not even make a full Thanksgiving dinner. Madeleine is still a picky enough eater, that really it will just be Cory and I eating dinner. Just means less to clean up... right? Though the thought of no left overs is a bit depressing.

It has been awhile

We did make it to our apartment safely, life has just been a little crazy. Cory went to summer school, I am still in the program to obtain my elementary education certificate. Basically Cory goes to classes during the day and I go at night. We don't see too much of each other. We tried to fit in summer trips where we could with our schedules.

We even visited my sister in North Carolina where we went to the beach. And I think we both realized how much we missed the beach, even though Cory did lose his wedding ring in the ocean. So if you are in the Atlantic and see a titanium wedding band, let me know.

Madeleine has started Kindergarten. She starts going everyday next week. She is very excited, but scarred at the same time. Cory got a 3.6 and a 3.7 on his grades for the summer, so he was very excited about that. Because it also meant he kept his partial scholarship.

We also got another dog, Cassie-o-pea or how ever you spell that. So Cassie for short. So now we have Cassie(-o-pea) and Socrates. Sometimes I wonder why we thought it was a good idea. But Madeleine loves both her dogs, and she tortures them both. We are lucky that they both have great temperaments and put up with anything she does to them. Cassie is definitely more dog, where I think Socrates thinks he is a person.

I am attempting to keep up with classes while studying for the four praxis tests I need to take in order to be certified.

Hope you all are doing well!

Let the Moving Preparations Begin!

So we will be moving in 3 weeks. Part of me thinks it can't come soon enough while the other part is freaking out because I know how fast those 3 weeks will go. Things are going well. Cory has spent many late nights at campus getting projects done, he's now in the process of getting ready for finals. I start classes next week for a certification in elementary education (should take me about a year to complete). And they are wanting to mainstream Madeleine for Kindergarten. So I'd say things are going well.

Here is a picture of Madeleine before she went to a friends princess party. She is also wearing her new glasses she got last month. She does not have to wear them all the time, but does because she can "see better" with them. She is definitely growing up.

It has started to warm up, but has also started to rain. And the rain here is not like the rain in L.A. it RAINS. But I figure before long it will be summer and soon you will all get to hear me complain about how hot it is. (Oh and our new apartment has ceiling fans... its funny what I get excited over now a days.)

Its Been Awhile

Here is some photos from Christmas in NYC... yes I know it was 3 months ago, but whatever Madeleine is cute. Here she is helping shoveling the snow.

So it is now March, in case you DIDN'T KNOW. Cory turns 31 this week. I haven't gotten him anything yet. Things have been good and bad ups and downs.

A few weeks ago Cory decided he wanted to move. Our current apartments wanted us to sign a lease for another year, but we haven't been feeling quite safe here the last few months. So we started looking and found a town home about 10-15 miles further from the city. Its in a quiet neighborhood, so hopefully we won't be waking up to neighbors in the middle of the night. I'm not really looking forward to moving somewhere for just 2 years, but I'd rather move then stay somewhere I don't feel safe.

We will be moving at the end of April, right before Cory has finals. Joy! Madeleine and him have spring break next week so we will be trying to pack as much as possible then. Hopefully this will all go smoothly so Cory can concentrate on finals and not on the move.

Cory is also looking for internships this summer. He hasn't had much luck, and I must admit we are both worried that the past may repeat itself, that he'll graduate with no work experience and have trouble finding a job.

Madeleine is doing great. Her school is talking of mainstreaming her for Kindergarten, and just doing a speech group once a week. I'm trying to get everything situated with her school and the move, so that we don't have the same problem as last year when I couldn't find out any information since it was summer time.

I am trying to get everything ready for the move while trying to keep my sanity. The townhome is smaller than our current apartment so I have to start giving things away that won't fit into our new place. I am also thinking since Madeleine will be starting Kindergarten this fall I need to find something for ME to do... now to try and remember what I like to do.

Happy New Year!

Our new year was very low key. We stayed home and watched some movies.

We had a lot of fun at Christmas. Was fun to be around family, and I know Madeleine had a blast with her cousins. My parents and family were even nice enough to let us bring our dog. I bought Cory a pocket watch and he got me season 2 of Psych. For my birthday he got me a very nice necklace with my birthstone. Madeleine got walle, tinkerbell and baby stuff. She was very excited.

I am ready for school to start. Which is today! I think all of us are getting a bit of cabin fever. Its been pretty rainy/icky out to do anything outside.

Cory and I have finally made the decision to lose some of this weight we've gotten over the last 5 years. I think we are finally in a spot in our lives where we can make that happen.

Oh and I'm now 30... woo......