Well Hello

Yes, I still have the blog. Yes, I never post anymore. Sorry.....

Life is good. Jake is out of town (again), but this time he is actually launching the rocket. He sent me a picture where it is just his face and then the rocket with the Orbital logo. It was pretty awesome. I had a moment of "my husband is so cool!"

Work is going very well for me. I am loving 5th grade and all that comes with teaching older students. :)

I am currently in baby shower mode. I am helping throw a shower for one of my best friends, Carmen, and I am consumed with thinking about it and planning it. I am in the middle of a bunch of projects right now, but sadly no pictures in case she happens to read this. I will post pics of the shower next weekend.

I am pretty sure I have the baby bug ! One lady at work, my hairdresser, and two of my best friends... all having or currently have a small baby. Sigh, maybe someday. :) I did find the CUTEST little website for handmade baby stuff. It is called Baby Bee Trendy and I am in overload looking at all the adorable little girl stuff. I can't wait to have a little girl.
Here is one of my favorites:

How cute is that!?! Makes me want a little girl right N-O-W!

Omaha!

Wow, what a weekend! I had so much fun this weekend with Carmen. We scrapbooked, watched movies, hung out, ate food, scrapbooked some more, AND watched ASU baseball defeat Arkansas in the Super Regionals to make it to the College World Series. My brother is Omaha bound! I am so happy and proud of him. How many guys make it to the Junior College World Series and the College World Series?! Well, two that I know of. :) One of his best friends that he played with at Western Nevada now plays for TCU and they made it to the CWS yesterday also. Way to go Jerome!



It was great to be a fan of this team all year! Now I only wish I could go with them to Omaha. My mom might be going so I'll have to experience it through her. Luckily the games will be on ESPN. It won't be the same as being in Packard Stadium though. ASU fans are crazy and it makes for so much fun! I'm counting down the days to Saturday and the first game.

On a different note I have a job interview tomorrow for first grade in the Chandler Unified School District. I am nervous for it because I would really like to get a job, (duh) but I feel confident in my ability to give a good interview. I feel really fortunate that it is for a first grade position. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Go Josh and Go Devils!

Good News

Yay, I got a phone call today and I have a job interview next Tuesday for a first grade position in the Chandler school district. I am very excited that it is first grade because I feel like I can give a really good interview considering I just taught first grade. For those of you reading this I would really appreciate any prayers for it to go well. I will keep everyone updated!

Happenings

Not too much has been happening around here. It's summer time and for the first time in my teaching career I am not teaching summer school. (Only because they weren't offering it this year for budget reasons) I must say that I am really enjoying my summer! It has been a week and a half and I have had plenty of time to rest and relax. I spend way too much time on the computer, but have managed to get some other stuff done too.

{Summer Projects}

1. Finish cleaning and organizing the craft room. I need to do this tomorrow as I need it for myself and a guest this weekend! Yay!
2. Design craft room layout. This is my husband's doing actually. He is so awesome and told me to design how I want the room and then he would build as much as he can for me. Shelves, desk, storage. I am excited at all the possibilities! I think I will use it more too once it is done. I'm so lucky to have such a creative handy husband! I forget sometimes that not all husband do what he does. Love you Jake!
   
3. Teach myself Photoshop.
   
4. Deep clean all the parts of the house that I normally don't get to.
5. Take cake decorating classes. This actually might not begin until August, but I am really excited about this!
   
6. FIND A JOB! Okay, I am still working on this. I'm hoping to get re-hired to with my old district, but chances are if this happens it won't be until closer to the new school year. So, I am looking at other options.
7. Get on a workout schedule. Now that school is over I don't mind working out and actually have the motivation. Maybe it's the brand new adorable bikini and the thought of a beach trip. :)
8. Start daily bible study. This needs to be a priority. I also want to start looking for a church again. It is waaaaay past time.
   
9. Volunteer at Phoenix Children's Hospital. I have a friend who is a nurse there and she told me once that they always need people to hold the babies. Hold the babies! Sweet, I can do that!
10. Start planning out the paint colors for downstairs.

This list is more for me I guess but I will update it as I get things done.

I am excited for this weekend and the fun things ahead. Jake is out of town for the next 5 weeks (yes, 5!) and one of my bestest buddies Carmen (shout out to Carmen!) is coming to scrapbook! I am excited and hope to get lots done on the wedding album. I always want to do it and never really do. You think I would do more with all the awesome Cricut cartridges I have. We are also going to go to Josh's (my brother) baseball games Saturday and Sunday. ASU baseball won the PAC 10 and is ranked number one in the nation! Pretty cool! It has been fun watching them play this season and I am pumped to watch them play in Super Regionals next. They won Regionals last weekend and if they win Super Regionals it is on to Omaha and the College World Series! Let's go Devils!

Alright, that's enough of my rambling. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Summer Time, Summer Time

Woo hoo school's out for the summer! So much has happened since the last I blogged. I think I'll just give a quick run down bullet style.

• I was RIF'd-still don't have my job back but I am close. Praying and keeping body parts crossed
• Prop 100 passed-thank you everyone!
• We finally got all our furniture and love it! Now we just need a bed set for our big bed
• We still have a dirt back yard! We bought stuff to do sprinklers-we are doing it ourselves now-but with Jake being out of town so much who knows when it will be done.
• Oh, Jake is out of town-A LOT! Gone now, back Friday, gone Sunday for 5 weeks! I get to visit him in Cali over 4th of July so that will be good.
• This is the first summer I am not teaching summer school-I don't know what I am going to do with all my free time but I am excited for the summer!
• I bought 2 new swim suits and am really going to try and work out hard to get rid of the 8 pounds of stress I have gained recently!
• I am excited for summer!!

I will try to be better about blogging now that I am student free and full of time and energy!

The Unknown

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. Things have been...crazy. Most everyone should know that I got my RIF letter. I have known for 2 months. It is the unknown that is so hard. I don't know if I will be rehired, and if I am there is no guarantee that I will be at my same school. I really don't want to leave so it is hard to know what to do. What if they want me to go somewhere else? Will I take that or seek out other careers outside of the teaching field? That is an option Jake and I talk about frequently. If I could find something making more money this might be an opportunity to take it. Yes I love teaching and No life is not all about money, but there are perks to both decisions. I also have applied to a charter school that is being built RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOUSE! That would be pretty crazy. I could literally walk to and from work everyday. That is pretty appealing. So, right now there are a lot of unknowns and I feel pretty stressed about it all some days. I haven't been getting much sleep lately. We are very blessed that Jake has such a great job. For me it has now become a waiting game. And since I have you attention, PLEASE vote YES on Prop 100. You can't even begin to imagine how detrimental it will be for all the students if it doesn't pass. If it doesn't pass I don't want to be an educator anymore. Please help our state, our kids, and the entire education system by going out and voting on May 18th!

{What's Been Going On}

A brief run-down of what's been going down in the Vogt house. :)

Week One of Spring Break was wonderful! I cleaned the house, relaxed, and spent time with Jake.

Week two started yesterday. Yes I get two weeks. YES it is AMAZING! Yes, I start earlier and end later than most all other districts. It is worth it. Jake left on a plane Sunday morning for a work trip to Tennessee. Booo! Hisss! He will be gone for 12 days.

Our backyard got graded yesterday, woo hoo! It was pretty great because it also got rid of the mountains of weeds that formed after the lake receded.

Hopefully we will no longer have Lake Vogt form when it rains. Speaking of rain: It was 80 degrees yesterday and right now it is raining! At least the yard was graded before the rain or we would have had to wait until it dries. I wouldn't have been a happy Spring Breaker. I guess I still am not very happy because it is back to multiple baths per day for the mud dog. GRRRRRR~ I can't wait until we get landscaping done next month. Oh yeah, we are getting our back landscaped next month. More on that later.

I took the pooch to the dog park yesterday. Fun was had. Hopefully. I'm not sure she likes it anymore than a good walk. All she wants to do is sniff. She's not a very social doggie. See the pictures here.

Our furniture arrived today! Well, some of it. The rest is on backorder or some such nonsense and won't be delivered until the end of April. It's okay. I am glad to have some of it. It is a little bit of a let down because Jake is gone and we don't get to enjoy it together. I'll send him the pictures. The family room furniture is so big! I forgot how nice and big it actually is and it is interesting to see it in our room. The old couch will be moved into the formal living room but for now it stays. Until Jake comes home. I will cuddle with Chloe on the old couch.


The bed was just put up in the loft because our old bed is still in our bedroom because once again my husband is gone.

Can you tell how much I love it when he travels?! He is my best friend and so much a part of me that I feel weird when he is gone. 10 more days to go. :( The animals are very curious about the new stuff. We have decided to not let the animals on the new furniture. It should be interesting because Chloe has always been allowed on the couch and I love to cuddle with her. It honestly makes me a bit sad. :(

I have been scrapbooking our wedding album and having a lot of fun! 3 years later and I still don't have it even near finished. I better get crackin. Here is a recent page I completed. It is my favorite picture so it took me a long time to do this and commit to a design.
I put green and purple brads into the center of each flower and I also glittered the stems.

Sorry for the crummy photos!
I took the picture and added the words Love Honor and Cherish in Photoshop. I don't know how to do anything in Photoshop except enter text, but I would like to learn more!

Okay, sorry for the totally random and jam packed post. I needed to get some of this out. It is hard when you only have your animals to talk to! I realized last night how much random stuff I spew at my husband when he is home. :)