Living in Rexburg...

Winter comes every year, and we know that but somehow you always forget about how cold the winter really can get.  Babe is working today so I am just praying the roads are not as bad today and the he gets back to me safely! 

Stay warm everyone its nose hair freezing out there!

Always changing..

Dating, Engaged, Married, Now!

Life is always changing.  Its crazy to look back and see where I was a year ago, two, three... We might have the chance to have our life change a lot faster then we ever imagined (no I am not pregnant.) It's just crazy to think about things like that.  This is my LAST semester (hopefully!)  And then we might be moving on.  It's kinda hard being married sometimes because once your done your you still have to be at a school until your husband is.  Bummer.  But I guess I'll take the challenge just because I love him sooo much!  ;) I guess this just means lots of time on our knees trying to figure out what is in store for us next... To be determined...

School is...

School is:

Crazy busy.

Hard work.

Exciting.

Challenging.

Leading. 

Time consuming.

Adventurous.

Loads of homework.

Teaching. 

Spending time with friends.

Living in the Clarke.

Being in control.

Practicing to delegate.

Facing my fears.

Learning new things.

Asking questions.

Sleepless nights.

Headaches.

Funny.

A breath of fresh air.

Nerve racking.

Prioritizing.

Frustrating.

Early mornings.

Long days.

Lunch dates with Babe.

Confusing. 

Almost over!

This semester is crazy already.  I know what some of you might be thinking... "preschool? How hard is it to play with children all day?"  And all I have to say is, if you only knew!  It is way harder then I ever thought possible.  It's not like chemistry hard but more like figuring out immunization records (have you ever done that? NOT easy!)  Teaching children core skills that they need to develop in order to succeed  without them knowing that you are doing it. Planing 40+ activities a day that will entertain 20 children all at different stages and ages.  Try finding something to do for a young 3 year old to do that is also challenging for a advanced 5 year old.  Yeah, good luck! ;)   Oh and did I mention you spend about a month planning for 2 hours of class? And those are just my preschool classes (4 of those), not my special education class or observation and assessment class. I have found out new things about myself that I never knew before.  I get to spend everyday with all my preschool friends and amazing supervisors (we all get along sooo well and have SO much fun together.)  Class is just so much easier when you have friends with you, and amazing professors!  I love this school and I am blessed to go here.  I love starting every class day with a prayer (sometimes a song as well).  I love going to school with Matt and that he drops me off at my classes on the way to his. :) I love finding Babe on campus and walk around holding hands.  Life is just so much better with him by my side, it makes everyday seem a little better.

Tender Mercies

So I started school for the last first time today (hopefully, if I can get a class waved...) and boy does it feel good!  I couldn't even sleep last night because I was so excited, nervous, happy, sad, scared... ect.  I got really lucky last semester for preschool when I got put with 5 other girls.  We became instant friends, this semester it will take some more work but I am hoping it will be a good one.  And I'm the new supervisor so that brings on a lot of responsibility but I am excited for it.  We don't really ever have any of our professors in the class with us so really its all up to me, that's a lot of responsibility right there but if I can just get over some of my habits like having a hard time delegating or being afraid to tell other what to do I think I'll be fine.
Can I just say though the Lord knows me all to well.  He knows what is a challenge for me and how to help me over come it.  He knows that I need help in certain areas of my life that I am not really proud of.  He has a sense of humor and likes to joke with me sometimes.  He knows that I hate being alone in classes so he has blessed me with having at least 1 good friend in EVERY class I have which is a total blessing.  All in all the Lord knows me.  He knows you.  He is there for you and me if we just ask, and that my friends is just one of the many many tender mercies I can receive each day!

Parental Guidance

Babe and I have been talking about some of our new years resolutions and one of them is that we are going to go on scheduled dates (have to be things we don't normally do) at least 2 times a month, I plan one and he  plans one.  Well today was his.  We got some free movie tickets out of some cereal boxes and so we headed to Wingers before hand and then off to go see Parental Guidance click HERE for the trailer.  We don't normally have money to go and see a movie and dinner so it was nice that we got to do both for really cheap!  We even had the theater to ourselves (Rexburg is quiet a nice place when there are not thousands of college students running around!).  This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, VERY clean, funny, feel good, and inspirational- even babe teared up... I'm telling you this is a must see!  Sorry if your taste is not like mine but this is totally going on the "To buy" list!

Rexburg is so empty when school is not in session! 

Free tickets for eating cereal? okay! 

*Side note.  When Matt and I first got married we stared to collect all our change, at first it was just somewhere to put babes tip money but soon it really started to pile up.  We changed it to my camera fund money, I got more and more excited with every penny I put in there.  Since babe surprised me with my camera for Christmas it was time to empty the jar, and that's just what we did.  We decided that every year we are going to put that money towards something that we really want in that year and that is going to help us have the determination and desire to fill the jar!  Here's to another year, wish us luck!  Matt's wanting an I-pad... I guess we will see!

Almost full!

Looks so empty with only 5 cents in there...

What a year its been

January: Babe went bald to support Marshall, family time, winter in Rexburg.

February: My family went skiing for the first time, Valentines day. 

March: Hunt family pictures before Karl left on his mission, date nights, work trips to Boise.

April:  Moved to the Hunts and remolded their bathroom, cut my hair short for the first time in a long time, I learned how to ride a motorcycle.

May: Brielle turned 21, shopping with the sisters, birthday month.

 June: Family vacation to Powder Mt. resort, jet skiing, beach, being Ma and Pa for our stakes trek.

July: Vacation, vacation, vacation!! From Mt. Rushmore to Oregon and everywhere in between.

August: Surprise trip to St. George for our 1 year anniversary, Drew and Ashley had their baby Abbi, I enjoyed babysitting her whenever I could!

September: Craven Vacation to "Craven Cove"  aka Hunt's farm, horseback riding, shooting, motorcycle/4 wheeling, getting our new Indian names, enjoying the fall and going to Rodeos! 

October: Started our "sweets fast", carving pumpkins, being a "lead" in preschool, and Babe working hard to finish all his Chemistry classes.

November:  We voted!  Enjoyed Thanksgiving at the Cravens, played games, ate ate ate, traveled from family to family. 

 December: Christmas, temple trips, getting my new camera, going back and forth to both families, being spoiled and enjoying our time together. 

 We have seen so many miracles and blessing this year.  We look forward to the year to come and the challenges and fun times we get to have, who knows maybe we can even add someone to our little family! :) 

If you want to see what we did last year click HERE

Karl

Karl sent some pictures in his e-mail today and I thought I should post them on here for all of your enjoyment!  He has lost so much weight already, our new years goal is to loose more then him!  He is doing such great things we are so proud of him!  

 Merry Christmas!

 If you didn't really know what he looked like before just look at his suit coat... its HUGE on him! Way to go Karl!