Promotion!!!

I can't believe August is over! Where did the month go? For that matter, where has the year gone? This month I was promoted to Campus Director of one of our new client schools at InsideTrack. I am very excited! I will also be working closely with a friend Karla who started at InsideTrack the same day I did. This is the first time in 4 years that we have been on the same team and we are anxious to get started. Like I said, we started on the same day, which happens to be 4 years ago as of Sept. 4th, this year. We are finally working on the same team and just in time for our anniversary with the company. Woo Hoo!

The only sad part about this whole new adventure at work is that I will no longer be working with one of my closest friends, Melanye. We started within a month of each other and even through transitions to new client schools, roles changes, and promotions we were always on the same team and each other's right hand man. Good thing Melanye and I still have: carpooling, the gym four days a week, my husband is her baby-sitter, her husband is my chiropractor, and assorted company projects together. ;)

What else happened this month...hmm. Well, mom, dad, Josh, Carmella, and cousin Lindsey drove out to North Dakota for Grandpa Gregor's 80th birthday party. They visited the worlds largest buffolo, family members who live out near "God's country", and swam in one of the lakes. They were gone for over a week so Kevin and I dog sat. We love spending time with "the boys" (Rocky, Dakota, and Oliver). We made many trips up to the woods, the dog parks, and played a lot in the backyard with the hose on the hot days. They love to get wet.

Kevin took a week long backpacking, camping, and fishing trip with his dad to the Wallowas (somewhere in Eastern Oregon, don't ask me). They got eaten alive by mosquitoes, popped one of the air mattress, and only caught a few fish worth mentioning...but this is MY blog and I'm only mentioning what I want to. :)

The coming weekend is a three day weekend due to Labor day and we still haven't decided what we're going to do. The beach will be packed for one last trip before school starts and camping with only me and Kevin doesn't sound super fun. We like camping with lots of people, its more entertaining that way.

Well that's all for now. It's 6:30 and I still have some things to do for work before tomorrow and have to be up for the gym at 5am tomorrow (thanks Melanye!), so I better just be done with this for today.

One Year Anniversary... already?

If you can believe it, Kevin and I have been married for over a year now! We celebrated our anniversary by going camping with mom, dad, josh, ashley, carmella, rocky, dakota, and oliver. We went on a couple hikes in the woods/hills, sat by many camp fires, read a lot, played a scavenger hunt (that josh and ashley made up) and just spent time with each other.

When we came home, we went straight to Saint Helen's to partake in some lovely one year old cake. It actually wasn't too bad. I had a small couple of bites but between Kevin, dad, and Car most of the rest of the top layer of our wedding cake was devoured. On the night of the 4th, Kevin and I sat in the same exact spot that we did last year to watch the fireworks. Although this year we didn't dress as fancy. It was exciting to be in the same spot, doing the same thing, and allowing the time to reflect on the past year

On another note, Kevin has been applying for teaching positions all summer. He is licensed for Social Studies grades 7-12 and Math grades 6-9. So, if you have any connections or know of any positions, let us know. He has 2 years experience and is anxious to get back into the classroom as it is his true passion.

Also, I have a big announcement to make in about 2 weeks, so stay tuned... and its not what you're thinking either. And just as a good reality tv show would do on results night, I too will leave you with that teaser and will end my post there.

Ups and Downs

Well, we've had our ups and downs this past month or so. On Easter, we excitedly announced to our families that we were expecting! Everyone was overjoyed. Hugs and kisses made their rounds. Although it was only 5 weeks into our pregnancy at the time of our announcement, we were very excited! We wanted to share this experience with our family and felt that it was never too early to tell them. As I've always said "I mean, even if we did have a miscarriage during the first trimester, we would want our family there for us"...right?

Well, I can now truly say the answer to that question is YES, YES, YES!!!!

Kevin and I were expecting our first baby, correction, babies. We were going to have twins. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that, I know admit, were out of our control, we lost them both. It was heartbreaking! We spent three days at the beach...I think it was three days. I can't really remember much besides the crying, doubting my ability to have kids, blaming myself,

more crying, and Mo's (mom made sure I ate, even when I didn't want to).

Since I hadn't actually had the physical signs of a miscarriage, we got the news from the "Doctor" (that's all I'll say about that woman). About two weeks later, I was prescribed a medication that would trigger the miscarriage, along with Vicodin, ibuprofen 800, and some other medication for nausea. That was a fun experience that lasted almost two full weeks (NOT).

During the actual miscarriage, I also had my sister's wedding to attend and be a bridesmaid in. I wore a yellow dress and prayed that I wouldn't

ruin the ceremony by having to bend over in agonizing pain, run out to deal with the side affects, etc. Well, all went well. It was cared out without a hitch. Mom and I made the cupcakes for the big day and they were loved by all (see picture).

This brings us up to the current date. I am back at the gym, trying to lose the weight I gained and helping Kevin look for a teaching job for next fall. We are still sad/disappointed, but we know that things happen for a reason and we will care on. :)

Master Kevin

It's official, Kevin is a Master...well at least he has a piece of paper with both his name and the word Master on it. On Saturday, April 30th, Kevin graduated with his Master's of Teaching degree from Concordia University!!! I have never been more proud of him. He put a lot of hard work into a very short amount of time.

Last June, three weeks before our wedding, Kevin started his Masters degree. It was a intensive 10 month program. He had 3-4 courses at one time for about 2 months, then he switched to the next round of courses. This was our life from June through December. Then it was time for his practicum. He got placed at McLoughlin Middle school in Vancouver, WA. He was partnered with a very talented math teacher, Robin. She gave him very positive and constructive feedback that only improved his teaching skills. She was a great role model for Kevin. Next he had his high school student teaching position at Camus High. This time he would be teaching his favorite subject, History. He was partnered with a veteran teacher, Mark.

He enjoyed everyday of this program and work hard enough to earn straight A's. As I said above, I am so proud of him. Congratulations Kevin! I love you and have faith that you will inspire numerous kids to study and enjoy history. Now the real work begins...the job search. (I made him a cake to celebrate, see the picture to the right).

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was packed full. Kevin and I spent time with both sides of the family. On Friday I met up with my mom and sister (Amber) after work to go shopping. We bought a whole car load of, NOTHING! It was a long day already and most of the stores were starting to close so we called it a night...and a failure.

While we were out and about, mom received a voicemail from Grandma Cathy. She sounded sad that there were no Easter decorations in her house to put up. For those of you who may not know, Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Don decorate their house (and I mean DECORATE, inside and out) for every holiday. And not just the big holidays like Easter, Christmas and Halloween. No, they go all out for St. Patrick's day (although she is like 110% Irish, so we'll give her that one

), Valentines day, Flag day, Labor day, 4th of July, Spring is coming day, now it's Fall day, etc,

etc. You get the idea. It is always beautiful and makes you feel good when you visit them.

Anyway, back to her voicemail...she wanted to know if there were any boxes at their storage unit that we could bring over so she could decorate. Well, mom and I had a better plan than to just get her the boxes. Instead we got up at like 6:30am, drove over to their house, snuck in, and became stealth Easter ninjas, decorating before they woke up. The next day we received a call with a very joyful voice on the other end. :)

So, I'm sure the Easter Bunny may have visited your house over the weekend, but not ours. Instead we were happy to see that the Easter Pig had visited us while we were at Church. My six year old sister Carmella, had been talking about the Easter Bunny coming soon and I'm not sure

how or why, but my dad proceeded to tell her that the Easter Bunny wasn't coming this year. But, rather if we were all good, the Easter Pig might bring us some treats. Well he did! And we all got a little something sweet.

Eugene

Kevin and I spent the weekend in Eugene with Josh and Ashley. It rained and poured all weekend but we still made the most of our time. They took us to Trivia Night at the local pub where Josh's friend David met up with us. Although we were almost 2 hours late (thanks Josh :) ) we still came in second in the competition. We only lost by couple points to team Cheaters (they used their smart phones to look up the answer to every question). But we had lots of fun anyway.

We also played a few rounds of Buzz (a fun trivia game on Josh's PS3) and some Peggle (sort of like plink-o). It stopped raining just long enough on Sunday for Josh to take us to a park and teach us how to play petanque. As we pulled up to the park there was a crowed of about 12-15 people already playing, none under the age of 65. Josh claimed they were his friends. None of us believed him....that is until...they all started shouting "Hi Josh", "How's it going Josh", "Good to see you Josh". That's right, my 24 year old brother plays an old person game, that no one has heard of, with a, very nice but, pretty old group of people. In the end the game was really fun! Kevin and I are even going to buy our own set so we can play up here. Who knows, maybe we'll meet some older people at the park and make new friends. :)

It was a great weekend! I love spending time with my brother. It always reminds me how lucky I am to have such a fun, loving, and supportive family. Thanks Bobo, you're the best!

Beginning

Welcome to my blog/journal! This is going to be a place where I can write about the happenings of life and reflect on past experiences. All of which will be from my prospective. I hope you enjoy!

I"ll start by giving you a little bit of a background. My name is Melissa and I am now 27 years old. I live in Vancouver, Washington with my husband, Kevin (26). We recently got married last 4th of July (more about that later). I work for a fantastic company that provides coaching services for prospective and current college students across the country. Kevin is finishing his Masters of Teaching at Concordia University-Portland at the end of the month. We're very excited! We have a 6 year old yellow lab-boxer mix, Rocky Montana, who is currently residing with my parents in Saint Helen's, Oregon. Alright, those are the basics. Look for more details coming your way soon.