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CENTURY RIDE! 100 miles on my bike!!!

We finished!!

Rest stop

The beginning

Skee Ball Tournament with my school nurse...rockin'

Olympia

WE ARE GARDENERS!

Four types of tomatoes!
Red and yellow bell peppers!
Two types of soy beans!
4 types of green beans.
2 types of lettuce.
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Basil
Cilantro
Lavender
Oregano
Thyme

I can't waitttt!!

My pre bday dinner/Mother's Day

They did our dishes even!

Tim sang me such a beautiful birthday song!

Cutting the cake

Sara and Emilie

The Sister missionaries were invited?! lol

Amber and Kim

Tim wanted in on the candles!

Carrot cake is the best!

Heidi's Surprise Bday party/Bday dinner

God loves my family.

Can I just say that every time I have talked to my family recently I couldn't be more proud of each one of them. WOW. It is amazing how the Lord blesses families and individuals. Things are tough, don't get me wrong, financial problems are striking EVERY member of the family VERY strongly and there are a lot of little people that can be affected! But when the struggles come is when the testimonies grow the strongest and the effects of tender mercies are felt more than ever! Trials are such blessings. It is amazing to see everyone pull together, unite, and come unto Christ. The Gospel of Christ is so unifying and so much for the family.

DC has truly taught me the importance of family and family relationships. What a difference it makes to have that love, support, and prayers. My siblings are just great examples of faith, patience, perseverance, love, and support. It is really neat to watch each one grow individually and with their family. People don't realize how much they miss out on if they don't have this, if they don't have the GOspel.

I thank the Lord for the great faith and strength my family shows in God, His plan, and His Gospel. I am more proud of them each day. What a great thing. I am grateful to the Lord for the family He has given me, for the trials and tribulations He has given us, and for His Gospel that leads and guides us to happiness.

FINALLY -my new hair after a month

Emilie got a little carried away with the pics. The style of the cut was her idea.

No posts...here is why...

Highlights of the last few months...
25-30 hours a week teaching my pre-k to 6th graders
Getting colds frorm my pre-k to 6th graders
Putting them in time out
Get hugged, kissed, touched, and grabbed all over by the little people
Complaining little people
This is what I hear all day...Ms. Jamie! Ms. Jamie! Ms. Jamie! Ms. Jamie! I have to go potty. I have to go pee pee. Ms. Jamie.
One of my dots they sit on was wet...thought that was weird...and it oddly had the smell of urine...ugh.
I watched a kid as he sat criss-cross apple sauce lean forward and make a funny look on his face like he was constipated...his jeans suddenly were allllllll dark inbetween his legs all the way down to his knees...he also walked like he had something between his legs...
I had a girl today lock herself in the stall...don't worry, I came to the rescue! I crawled under and let her out!
Yes, I AM the tallest of all my students.
I rock at dodge ball!
I rule at soccer! Me versus all my kids!
Nothing better than showing up in the morning and the kids running at me and yelling my name because they are so excited to see me.
My students are from EVERY place in the world. I must say, there is nothing cuter than a kid who barely speaks with an accent: Russian, Australian, French, British, Hungarian, Indian, African, Latin American...you name it!
jump rope
hula hoop
tunnel tag
toilet tag
soccer
basketball
red light, green light
races
jumping
tennis
lacrosse
running
circuits
shovels and pales
Simon says
scooters
bear crawl
crab walk
jumping jacks
275 little people students
NEVER a dull moment!

That is only from teaching at the school. I will post later what the rest of my life has entailed.

By the way...I cut my hair. A lot. No pics. Sorry.

Making History...BOOOOO

Two feet of snow in ONE day! WHAT?! Worst snow storm in like a century! BOOO! Everything has shut down! People are forced out of their homes onto the street to go on walks and mingle with their neighbors! People are so friendly when they are forced out of their comfort zone and their schedule because of "disasters". It is like they have never seen snow before.

So. Work is going well. My first week on the job at the Montessori school there was a lice "epidemic"...lol. A few kids had it and the older kids were calling it an epidemic. I had a kindergartner tell me the other day that she was perplexed! Her friend didn't know what it meant and so she defined it...perfectly defined it might I ad. WOW! What a change coming from the public school system! They are so much fun. I have probably 275 students in all that rotate in and out of my classes. The best part is is that I don't have to do any grades, etc. I just get to teach and play! It rocks!

The Sports Club is going great. I am getting myself into it! I am starting to have some potential clients and work with them. I am excited about learning and getting to know more about training. I work with great people who are great mentors. I feel very blessed.

We are getting our apartment put together. It is starting to look like a home and feel homey. HEidi has gotten here and put her touch on things. She is a rockstar. Other than the snow and everything shutting down all the time life is great! I am very blessed with the two roomies that i have! They are wonderful! Life is good!

DC Adventure...Take 2

So...I have returned to DC...what a trip! I drove from California to Provo, alone - 10 1/2 hours. I spent about 5 days in Utah and did a lot of catching up. I drove from Provo to Denver, alone - 7 1/2 hours. I spent a day or so there. Ok, the alone stuff is a lie because I was accompanied by Dan Brown the entire time. If you haven't read/listened to his new book, The Lost Symbol, DO SO! It rocks!
I picked up my dear friend Heidi in Denver. We drove from there to St. Charles, MO, which is just outside of St. Louis, for almost 13 hours. We then drove from St. Charles, MO to DC, another 13 hours! We then spent 2 entire days looking for housing, with a job interview for me. I lived out of my car for almost 2 weeks. Since neither one of us likes or will eat fast food we stopped at Wal Mart and bought bread, cheese, peanut butter, took some plastic silverware from the deli and got back on the road. We ate that, plus the fruit and fiber one bars we had, for 4 days. Ay ay ay!

We are currently residing the Arlington, Va in a place called Avalon at Arlington Square....

take a gander... http://www.avaloncommunities.com/avaloncore/nfloor.asp?comm=12

We live on the 2nd floor in a two bed two bath apartment. Heidi and I are sharing a room. We have a roommate in the other room named Emilie. She rocks. We are super pumped to have her here with us! This is going to be great!

Here are some pics of our humble abode...

As you can tell me have no furniture. We have no anything...but we have my bike as you can tell! This was our first meal in our new place! We didn't even have anything to eat out of...hence the pot for my salad! We took silverware from Chipotle so we could eat until Heidi brings all her stuff up from North Carolina.We are going Asian style!

This place is going to be great once we get through with it and make money to be able to furnish it! I was able to get us beds yesterday. So no worries...not many nights on the ground. We are working on getting a couch. Heidi left for North Carolina. I will follow her down this weekend to help her with the rest of her stuff. We will then a kitchen fully stocked and a dinning room table with chairs. It does already feel like home. It is great to be living with Heidi again. She is a great person! We look forward to many good times here in DC together! We eat "granola-like" together, are goal oriented together, go to the temple together, exercise together, etc. You name it! And yes we encourage each other to date boys...but not together!

I must say. DC is not the same without my old roomies! We had some great times! It is sad not having them here. I do miss them! Church was not the same without them there today! Boo. But whatever, if they think PROVO is cooler than WASHINGTON, D.C...so be it!

I must report...I have had 3 job interviews since I have been here, which we got in late Tuesday night. I have had 3 job offers as well. One I am going to decline. The other two I have accepted and I am PUMPED!

I am a coach at Jump Bunch...check it out...

http://www.jumpbunch.com/kidsclickhere.html

It is going to rock. Pretty much I am a traveling PE teacher. I will teach PE at 3 different private schools in Northern VA to kids the age of 2 1/2 to about 10. It is going to rock! It is a part time job that pays fairly well.

I am also an employee of a place called Washington Sports Club as a personal trainer...

http://www.mysportsclubs.com/regions/WSC.htm

They are going to help me get certified to be a personal trainer and also to teach classes such as cycling, pilates, etc. I am sooooooo pumped! It is perfect! My life couldn't be much better right now! I knew I was supposed to be in DC right now. There have been A LOT of things that have tried to get in the way and deter me. But I know this is right and I am seeing the Lord bless me left and right! I am on the up swing that is for sure! It has been a long time coming!

And who said there aren't jobs out there and people aren't hiring!