Hello 2012

A recap of 2011:

January:
6 month anniversary with Tyrel. At the moment I was working in the infant/toddler room at Little Beavers. Celebrated my dad's 42nd birthday!

February
Had some snow days and Little Beavers shut down. I was a offered another teaching job at a different facility. I decided to take the job.

March
I worked my last day at Little Beavers and started my new job as a Pre-K teacher at Corvallis Community Children's Center. My sister turned 20. Probably the best part of this month was spending spring break in Florida with my family!

April
Kept myself busy trying to adjust to my new classroom. Spent lots of days at the park with my siblings and my dog. Spent Easter with my boyfriend and his family

May
My great-grandma passed away so I spent a weekend in La Grande for the funeral, but other then that, my life was pretty much consumed with work

June
Tyrel and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary together. My mom turned 42 and it was the beginning of summer which meant more outdoor activities.

July
I spent a lot of my time outside going on walks with Cuhna and hikes with Tyrel. 4th of July was a lot of fun as always. Had an unfortunate event happen to us, when Cuhna became paralyzed from the waist down. Took him to the vet and found out he had ruptured a disc in his spine. Spent extra time with him in hopes he recovered quickly

August
I started this month with our yearly trip to Wallowa Lake! Warm and beautiful the whole week we were there. Cuhna ended up going with us and even went on a boat ride with us! Unfortunately, Cuhna's condition didn't get any better. He was still paralyzed and we just couldn't see him like that... he was unhappy. He eventually had to put him down :(
To end on a happy note, we celebrated Tyrel's birthday going camping at the beach!

September
The lease in my apartment was up and Tyrel and I started our apartment search. About a week lately we found a place and later moved in. My little sister also turned 9 years old. One of the most exciting things that happened to me though was that I was in an accident. I was hit by an underage drunk driver. Luckly there were no serious injuries but I had to go to the doctor later which started the long recovery process. Swrewberry was this month also. I was bummed we were only able to spend the day there since Tyrel had to work though. And of course who could forget my 25th birthday! :)

October
During this month I was still recovering from my accident. Chiropractor and therapy appointments 3 times a week, still having some pain and headaches. The girl that hit me pleaded not guilty and lengthened the case which means court dates in the near future. For Halloween I carved a bunch of pumpkins and took my siblings trick or treating. Both of my brother's had birthdays this month. Once turned 3 and the other one 16.

November
My recovery process from the accident comes to a close as I went to my last chiropractor and therapy appointment! Had a good Thanksgiving with my family and Tyrel. This year for the first time ever I participated in black Friday and Tyrel and I bought a tv! Great way to end the holidays if you ask me :) Oh and the girl that hit me continues to fight the system and avoid her DUII charges. Wonderful

December
Went to zoo lights for the first time ever. Very cold but totally worth it! We decked out our apartment with Christmas stuff and got our first Christmas tree. The girl that hit me is deciding to plead guilty so we can finally close the case. Tyrel and I spent Chrsitmas in La Grande with my family. Unfortunately no snow this year. Tyrel got fired from pizza hut. Huge bummer. And then for New Years, I went out for the first time and went to a club with my friend!

So that's basically it. Some months full of more events then other. I will do a later post talking about what I would like to happen in 2012 and what to expect but for now I'm signing off

Happy new year!

26 days of Christmas

I got this idea from here where she found it on Ins and Outs . This looked like fun and something different to do so I wanted to give it a try.

Day 1: Favorite Christmas song and why?
I have too many favorites to list!

Day 2: Favorite Christmas movie and why?
Christmas Vacation. My family watches it every year

Day 3: Hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Share a recipe of you favorite hot drink…
Hot Chocolate

Day 4: Does your family have any traditions?
Every year after Christmas dinner we sit and play some sort of game and then watch Christmas Vacation

Day 5: Favorite Christmas memory
Spending my first Christmas with Tyrel

Day 6: Who is your favorite reindeer?
Comet. I don't know why

Day 7: Have you been naughty or nice this year?
Both! lol

Day 8: What is your favorite food at Christmas time?
Mashed potatoes and gravy

Day 9: What are you doing for Christmas this year?
We went to my grandparents house

Day 10: Kissing under the mistletoe…have you done it?
Nope, but have always wanted to

Day 11: What kind of Christmas tree do you have?
Um I can't remember

Day 12: Do you take part in secret Santa?
When the occasion arises

Day 13: White Christmas? Have you ever had a Christmas with snow?
When we go to La Grande. But unfortunately it didn't happen this year

Day 14: Do you send out Christmas cards?
We did this year for the first time

Day 15: Do you have Christmas stockings?
Yup :)

Day 16: When did you find out Santa wasn’t real?
Santa is real! I get presents from him every year!

Day 17: Have you ever been to a Christmas parade?
No

Day 18: Which lights are better: white or colored and blinking or still?
Colorful. Doesn't matter if it's blinking or still

Day 19: If you were an elf what would your name be?
No idea... Um sappy? First thing that came to my head haha

Day 20: What color ornaments do you put on your tree?
Red and Silver ornaments. Ones that we bought because my mom has all mine that I collected through out the years :P

Day 21: What was your favorite present you received when you were younger?
I was given a pet rat! At the time I thought it was the coolest present ever :)

Day 22: Do you hang a wreath up?
Nope

Day 23: Ham or Turkey?
Both? I prefer ham

Day 24: Do you go to a church service or go caroling?
Neither. I've always wanted to go caroling

Day 25: Does your family have a Christmas breakfast or dinner?
Dinner

Day 26: How was your Christmas?
Good. Always nice to spend time with family

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

What a joyful and happy Christmas it has been. I have so much to be thankful for. I love being able to spend time with my family and surround myself with loved ones. This year, Tyrel and I headed to La Grande to stay with our grandparents. I got some pretty nice gifts and am getting in lots of quality family time.

Tyrel spent some time and debating trying to find me a good gift, but seeing that you waited until the last minute he wasn't able to find the "perfect" gift (or so he says haha.) But either way I'm happy with the gift I received from me

Yes that is a cookie monster wallet. Be jealous. The sock aren't from Tyrel but I still love them because they are toe socks! Anyway here are some of the other things I received.

I love me new slicer I got. I got to try it out when I helped my Grandma make lunch

Yes I know it's strange getting a play doctor set for Christmas, but it's for my classroom so the kids can play with it :)

I also got some really nice warm and comfy pants and jacket. And a nice shirt to wear to work. Tyrel was given a flying copter of the Millenium Fallcon. Yeah so what I have a boyfriend who likes toys. It actually is really cool gift and have been flying it all over the house

But I think the best present I received are my....

FOOTIE JAMMIES!!

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas.

My thoughts and frusterations

For the past 3 months my life has been consumed with pain, appointments, and stress. Because of this accident I've had to deal with 2 months of neck pain, back pain, headaches and chiropractor appointments. Up until recently I was also dealing with constant nightmares, that caused me to lose sleep at night. It took me quite some time to be able to drive, especially at night. I've just now gotten comfortable behind the wheel. Because of her I had to change my whole lifestyle. As a preschool teacher, I found it very hard to move around with the kids, bend over and stand for long periods of time. This of course caused me to cut back on my work load. I was unable to go on walks, swim, and play with my younger siblings at the parks. Due to headaches, pain or appointments I've also had to miss work which means missed wages are a huge factor.

I'm not writing this letter to try and complain, I just feel you, her and everyone else involved needs to know my feelings towards this whole case. Lately I've felt much anger and frustration that they have prolonged this case. This girl, who is underage, drank, got into a car, drove, hit me, and then drove off, all in front of a sheriff. I learned later that she blew twice over the legal limit. Someone like this shouldn't get off scott free. She needs to take consequences for her actions and needs to be fully charged of all accounts. This girl needs to realize that she should be very grateful that she was able to walk away from this accident injury free. There have been many of these types of accidents where people have died.

Another thing I have been wondering is where did she get the alcohol? Did someone provide it for you? They need to take responsibly as well. I hope that after this, she learns her lesson and doesn't go making a another mistake risking hers and other people lives.

Smarter then they appear

The kids were playing on the carpet where they had once again dumped out all the toys and were playing with the tub the toys were once in. Being the child I am I wanted to join in their game. I went to the tub, picked it up and put it on my head. I asked them if I could fit in the tub like they could. But before I had a chance to even find out they all yelled, "Noooooo teacher. Don't do it!!" With worried looks on their face I asked them how come and they quickly responded, "because you aren't suppose to!" Confused I asked them how come. They quickly then picked up the lid to the tub and pointed to a sticker posted on it.

I quickly explained to them what the sticker meant, but needless to say I never did find out if I was able to fit in the tub or not...

Kids are too smart these days

Wordless Wednesday: Happy couple pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words

My best friend is moving back to Portland. It's not as far as California thank goodness, but it's still not in Corvallis. Anyway, we got to hang out today before leaving for Portland and we were able to take some pictures.

I love this girl and would do anything for her. This just gives me more of a reason to visit Portland.

By the way, my Christmas pictures turned out SUPER cute. I want to post the pictures and show them off to everyone, but I want to wait until I send them out to people so we don't ruin the surprise. They should be printing today!! :)