Picture Overload

So, I realized that I have not put any pictures up of my third, fourth, and fifth (this one I need to get pictures from my aunt) showers.  Nor have I put any graduation pictures up.  Therefore, here you go.

The best mother-in-law a girl could ask for and the bestest mom.

Church shower, I have hardly any pictures from this and it was SO cute.

Christa and I at graduation.  She is preggo in this pic, Kyah is here now!!!

Three of my favorite optometrist.

My birthday celebration, take out and Scrabble.

There you have it.  Wedding is in 20 days, kind of crazy to think about.  We get Internet on Wednesday (YAY!), so hopefully I will be in more of a blogging mood then.  The house is almost restored to a clean and organized state.  Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Can't wait to see so many of you in a few weeks =)

We are A-Ok

Last night Chris received several text messages from his optometry friends asking if we were ok due to the storms that hit southwest Missouri.  Yes, we are just fine.  Joplin is about an hour away from us and if it weren't for twitter and a text from my mom, we wouldn't have even switched to the news.  We had some funky looking clouds and a huge double rainbow, but nothing in comparison to the storms that hit up the road on I-44.

I am so thankful that my sweet Christa is safe.  Her due date is tomorrow and while we were praying hard that she would go into labor over the weekend, so thankful that He knew that wasn't the best plan.  Despite the fact that Freeman, where she is set to deliver, was not hit, it is filled with patients from St. John's, the hospital which was destroyed, as well as those injured from the storm.  I am so excited to meet you Littlebit, but can already tell that you are one smart cookie =) 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are still looking for friends and family, who have lost loved ones, as well as the multitude who have lost their homes and/or work places.  Praying the rain that is in the forecast for the next four days for some reason just goes away or at least around the Joplin area.  The pictures are unreal and the stories make your hair stand on end. 

buzzfeed

Problems and Solutions

When you teach, you've gotta be on your game.  Flexibility is the key, the key I tell ya.  Take for instance this morning.  I was encountered right away with several problems and by golly, I found some solutions.

Problem #1:
Entered the building and all lights were off, doorway to our hallway was shut and bolted, and classroom doors were locked (this is uncommon).  Initial reaction, oh crap, the alarm was turned on last night and I've triggered it.

Solution:
Ignore.  I didn't hear any loud noises and no police showed up, all was well.

Problem #2:
End of the year lack of lesson plans. 

Solution:
Science experiment, always fun.  Which forced me to walk the dark hallway to the dark storage room and grab necessary materials (side note, I hate the storage room when it is dark)

Problem #3:
While walking back to my room, heard a strange noise coming from the electric sign above the doorway.  Initial thought, creepy movie where the exit sign is buzzing due to low power.  Perhaps there was a reason all the doors were shut?  Is there a crazed maniac in our building!? 

Nope, it was a bird.

Solution:
At first I wanted to ignore.  It had worked for me once this morning.  Plus, I was really banking on Danavee or Whit being the next to come to work and that would have been hil-ar-i-ous!  But, I got my Crocodile Dundee mentality on and thought, I got this.  I crept down the hallway with full intentions of having a Snow White like conversation with the bird and freeing him.  All the while knowing he would frequent my classroom window to have the occasional chatty chat. 

No such luck.  He spooked and flew away.

Problem #4:
The bird is MIA

Solution:
Open the doorway anyway in hopes that he will fly away (Snow White was crazy anyways)

Problem #5:
Walked back to my room and guess who I found:

Yup, that's my bud... Let's call him hmmmm Uncle Feather for good measure.  He was flippin out.  He had no desire to rest on my fingertip while I sang.  He wanted the heck outta dodge. 

Solution:
Try the whole, "Here birdy, birdy" call to get him out of my room.  Nope, didn't work.

Problem #6:
My fearless leader creeps into my room with a sweat shirt.  He has heard of our visitor and has come to capture him.  Ummmm... I am not a member of PETA, but seriously?  A sweat shirt???  Wasn't havin that.

Solution:
Open the window and turned out our friend, Uncle Feather, was pretty smart.  He flew right out.

I'm still waiting for my window visit Uncle Feather...

One Month

That's right peeps... one month from today and I'll be walking down the isle, saying "I do" to a pretty swell fellow.  ONE MONTH!

Which means my days are now consisting of checking things off an every growing to do list involving things not only for wedding but for home.  I'm not stressin (yet) it will all get done.  There's spray painting to be done, napkins to be tied, song list to complete, vows to be written, and a honeymoon to pack for.  We are enjoying every step of the way. 

With the wedding being just four weeks from this Saturday, please feel free to ask any questions you might have about the big weekend.  We know we have friends coming in from a far and several local lovelies and want to make sure you all have a fun time. 

But, above all else, please begin praying for no rain!!!  This is the one thing that brings me to a sitting position at 3:00 in the morning.  The weather in Missouri has been a little cantankerous I feel.  We have had lots of rain over the past month and temps that have made me turn my heat on in May.  While we have a tent and ultimately, it is our wedding day and we will be blissfully happy regardless...  it is not fun to sit and day dream about out door funness and be horribly interrupted by fears of buckets of rain.  So, any prayers would be much appreciated. 

On the to do list for today; order wedding band for Chris and finish up song list.  I got this.

Therapy

Chris moves back home in three days.  THREE DAYS!!  And while he won't be moving into our home for another 38 days, I am doing my best to get things prepared to have him move in.  The living room has been painted, almost all of our gifts have been put away and I have cleaned out one of the three closets in our small house. 

Yesterday I decided to get some much needed curb appeal going.  My yard is a mess.  Between the pond in the front yard as a result of replacing the main drain to the crazy vine plant my neighbors have that takes over my back fence, it is nuts.  Thankfully, Chris is ready to work on the yard and has "visions" for what he would like to do.  Go for it bud.  But, I did get my window boxes, pots, and herbs planted yesterday. 

I agree, these items need a fresh coat of paint.  Added to the to do list.

Bitter Sweet

Heavy sigh...  this past week was Teacher Appreciation Week.  It is always a very sweet week filled with great lunches brought to you from loving parents, sweet notes with misspelled words (errr), lots of hugs, and you are pleasantly reminded of the good things about your job.  Let's be honest, teaching is hard.  REAL hard.  There is a reason we count down the days to summer vacation.  But, looking out at my 26 ten year olds and knowing that I will forevermore be their fourth grade teacher kind of tugs at the heart strings.

This Teacher Appreciation Week was especially special though.  Last weekend I graduated from AGTS with my masters. 

I was hooded, took some pics, and went home with a heavy decision to make.  Do I pursue the degree I just received, or do I sign another contract and enjoy another year in the classroom.  After several discussions with the fiance and loads of prayer, we decided I should do what I just worked my butt off for two and a half years to do.  So, at the end of my week of appreciation, I turned in a letter of resignation to my superintendent. 

Next year I will be working with a local private counseling practice.  I will still be able to work with kids, which I am so excited about, but it will be in a whole different capacity and I get to work with their families as well.  I am a ball of excitement and nervousness all rolled into one.  I work with some FINE folk and it is going to be so sad to leave them.  The countdown has started however, 15 days left of teaching, then a couple of months off, then off to something new...

Gotta Love the Little People

I can't resist.  My sister Katie and her sweet family were in last week for my family shower and a long awaited visit.  Which means I got to see the two cutest little kids that I know.

Sweet Kharis was a big help when opening gifts at the shower.  From the moment she saw gifts, she was itching to open them.  Love that little girl.

Benny Boy was an angel at my graduation.  He couldn't wait to give me a hug afterwards.

Unpacking

I have a dream... a dream that my house will be put back together by May 13.  A dream that my blender and spoons and forks will all live in harmony.  That one day my stainless steel and white will not compete, but walk hand in hand while making a beautiful chocolate cake.

Stretching it?  Maybe, but if you saw my house you would know that there is no balance or harmony.  My office is full of gifts and my kitchen table is loaded down with styrofoam.  All of which reminds me of how loved we are.  Last night I set out to get my kitchen somewhat cleaned out.  I was overwhelmed within an hour and gave up.  I figure if I can put five things away every night, it will eventually get done.  My hopes are to gradually show you completed projects so that you can say, "oh there's the cupcake stands I gave them" or "oh wow, that coffee maker looks delightful scrunched in by the microwave" (limited counter space people, but we needs our coffee).

Here are a couple of pretty things in our kitchen that I am just smitten about

Our lovely blender!!!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Arnold.  We decided on "majestic gold" because anything with gold in the title must be incorporated into the Boschen household.  I love it.

This was a graduation gift from my parents, a beautiful hutch.  They found this amazing find at an estate auction and painted it white to fit into our kitchen.  Due to limited cabinet space, this is a wonderful spot for all of our dishes.  I love the glass doors!

Royal Wedding Smoyal Wedding

Yes, I was the weirdo who set my alarm for 3 am on Friday morning so I could catch the events of the royal wedding.  I'm a sucker for romance I guess and it was pleasant to turn on the news and have reports talking about something happy rather than all the tragedies that are taking place around the world. 

That evening I had my family shower.  I need to track down all the pictures that were taken, I was too busy visiting to even think about pulling out the old camera.  Towards the end of the night, after gifts had been unwrapped and I was chatting it up with my fabulous, humorous coworkers,  Miss Andrea persuaded me to go and try on my grandmother's wedding dress (both of my grandmother's wedding dresses were used as decorations at the party, beautiful).  After a few moments of resistance, I went upstairs with my sister to put it on. 

This might be like the worst bad luck in the world to post a picture of me in a wedding dress, but I don't even care.  My grandma got a huge kick out of it and I was rolling with laughter.

We all compared the dress to the details of Katherine Elizabeth's.  It was awesome. 

My goal is to eat dinner at Panera sometime this week to get caught up on the blog world.  I know, I feel like the girl who cried wolf with all of this, "I promise I am going to post" business.  But, invites are officially in the mail today, and so I need to get rolling on some information for our sweet guests.