To start off this post, I must sadly report that a very tragic thing has happened and it will greatly effect the posts I make until it is fixed. Yes, to start off the things I've learned in 2010 so far is that it is not a very smart move to kayak behind a four wheeler with a camera in a sweatshirt pocket. In fact, if you do this it is very possible that the camera will fly out into the snow and will not be found. Even if your camera is a bright pink, which normally could be easily found, it won't be found, not even if you use a metal detector! Yes, I am sad to report that pictures of Shrewsbury happenings are on hold until I get a replacement camera. Lesson definitely learned on that one!
Another lesson I have learned is that it is not a good idea to try to hard boil an egg in the microwave. I also learned that directions from the internet on how to hard boil an egg in the microwave are not correct. In fact, I learned that you cannot put an egg in a microwave safe boil, cover it with water, and put it in the microwave for 10 minutes. If you do happen to do this, it is very possible that the egg will explode and make a noise as if you have been shot. The egg will smell awful and you get to clean up a huge mess! I do not recommend this at all. I recommend doing the old fashioned hard boiled eggs on the stove, even if you are trying to save time. It could end up looking something like this...
I have learned that snow days are awesome, although I really should be getting to student teach, but I won't complain! I have not learned what it feels like to work for an entire 5 day week. I actually have not had a full work week for the entire year of 2010. I will soon learn I am sure, but for now I enjoy being able to say that! :)
Finally, Sam and I have learned that all you need is an awesome real estate agent and you can get the house you've been looking for! We have been looking for a house for quite some time and gave up for a little while, but decided to get back on the bandwagon and start over with a new real estate agent. We are very happy to announce that we are officially under contract on a house and will be closing March 31st! We are SUPER excited about it all! I would share pictures, but you know what happened to that!
February 15, 2010
January 23, 2010
Adjustments
Don't you just love having to get adjusted to things?! It has to be one of my least favorite things ever. Okay, so it's really not that bad, but I do not adapt fast to things. This past week was my first week in the world of teaching real-life style and man was it something that I am going to have to get use to! Getting up early...really early for me... does not work well with me at all. Then I realize that Oh crap..this is going to be my life from here on out. Getting up at 6 AM (or earlier), going to work, coming home, planning lessons, doing dinner, clean the house?, get ready for the next day, go to bed, and repeat. I think that should go on a bottle of something, like it's on shampoo: wet, lather, rinse, repeat! That would take a large bottle! Sorry got off track..let's get back on. This week Sam and I have been getting adjusted to the new way of our lives. He is still in the state of adjustment with his new job. He is driving a lot longer and getting up a lot earlier than he use to. There have been a whirlwind of emotions and frustrations and excitements and so many others this past week for me, but MAN it is taking some adjusting!
I did have a great first week student teaching for those who are wondering. There is a lot of stuff that I have questions about, but it has nothing to do with actual teaching, just the formal APSU stuff. I am excited about getting to actually teach real lessons that I plan. If they bomb, then they bomb and I will make changes to try again. That's what happens in the real world. If its great, then its great! Everything can be changed and adjusted as needed and that is what I like. This week I will be teaching about World War II. I have been running ideas in my head like crazy for the past week and am finally going to put them to action this week. It's nice to know that the aggravation that I have been through was well worth getting to be at the point that I am now. That does not mean that the chance for aggravation is over, but it is worth it that.
Sam reminded me the other night of why I am doing what I am doing because to be quite honest I was just not feeling it at all. He wanted me to try and forget about everything that I have been through with this thing called college and remember why I decided that teaching was for me. I remembered...
Sam and I were sitting in a classroom at his parents church 3-4 years ago. At the time, the church was meeting in a school building while their church building was being built. I remember sitting there not paying a lick of attention to the class (cause it was way over my head) and staring at the walls. I looked at the posters, the signs from the students, and everything else in that room. I felt at home. I felt that this is what I am suppose to be doing. I sat in that room and thought back to the teachers that influenced or put a mark in my life. That's when I knew that I wanted to be that teacher. I wanted to be a teacher that one day a student thought back to while sitting in another class and say "Man, she was the best teacher! She taught me so many great things and influenced my life!" I want to make a difference in childrens lives even if it is in the smallest way possible. This is what I have to remember. I have to forget all the frustrating lesson plan formats, the tears of anger from being so frustrated at it all and remember that this is what I have to do to one day make a difference to just one child. That is why I chose to be a teacher and that is why I WILL get up early, I WILL go to work, and I WILL get adjusted. (and then get the summers off! ;)
I did have a great first week student teaching for those who are wondering. There is a lot of stuff that I have questions about, but it has nothing to do with actual teaching, just the formal APSU stuff. I am excited about getting to actually teach real lessons that I plan. If they bomb, then they bomb and I will make changes to try again. That's what happens in the real world. If its great, then its great! Everything can be changed and adjusted as needed and that is what I like. This week I will be teaching about World War II. I have been running ideas in my head like crazy for the past week and am finally going to put them to action this week. It's nice to know that the aggravation that I have been through was well worth getting to be at the point that I am now. That does not mean that the chance for aggravation is over, but it is worth it that.
Sam reminded me the other night of why I am doing what I am doing because to be quite honest I was just not feeling it at all. He wanted me to try and forget about everything that I have been through with this thing called college and remember why I decided that teaching was for me. I remembered...
Sam and I were sitting in a classroom at his parents church 3-4 years ago. At the time, the church was meeting in a school building while their church building was being built. I remember sitting there not paying a lick of attention to the class (cause it was way over my head) and staring at the walls. I looked at the posters, the signs from the students, and everything else in that room. I felt at home. I felt that this is what I am suppose to be doing. I sat in that room and thought back to the teachers that influenced or put a mark in my life. That's when I knew that I wanted to be that teacher. I wanted to be a teacher that one day a student thought back to while sitting in another class and say "Man, she was the best teacher! She taught me so many great things and influenced my life!" I want to make a difference in childrens lives even if it is in the smallest way possible. This is what I have to remember. I have to forget all the frustrating lesson plan formats, the tears of anger from being so frustrated at it all and remember that this is what I have to do to one day make a difference to just one child. That is why I chose to be a teacher and that is why I WILL get up early, I WILL go to work, and I WILL get adjusted. (and then get the summers off! ;)
January 18, 2010
Getaway to Gatlinburg
This past weekend Sam and I decided to take a little getaway before I start to student teach. He had Martin Luther King Day off, so we decided to go to Gatlinburg for the weekend and came home Sunday to enjoy a relaxing Monday off. We met up in Nashville and took off for our weekend retreat. We rented a cabin that was very secluded from the rest of the world.
The name of the cabin was
I found this really cool since that is the song that we walked out to at our wedding! Sam picked out the cabin it was a really nice surprise..even if he didn't do it on purpose. :) It was complete with a hot tub and wood burning fireplace!
Sam immediately made a fire as soon as we got there, but had to be creative due to the lack of matches. He used the oven to light paper and then make his way back to the fireplace. It was pretty fun to sit back and watch actually. We enjoyed a day of shopping in Tanger Village, got a little relaxation time in the hot tub, and then went out to dinner that night.
We went to Calhoun's which is somewhere that I will not be returning to for awhile. My food was disgusting! (just a side note) We shopped a little more on Sunday on our way back from Gatlinburg. Sam had some great finds, but I wasn't so lucky. We have been enjoying our day off today, but tomorrow starts a new adventure! I am very nervous, anxious, and excited about it all, but this weekend was a great way to start off!
The name of the cabin was
I found this really cool since that is the song that we walked out to at our wedding! Sam picked out the cabin it was a really nice surprise..even if he didn't do it on purpose. :) It was complete with a hot tub and wood burning fireplace!
Sam immediately made a fire as soon as we got there, but had to be creative due to the lack of matches. He used the oven to light paper and then make his way back to the fireplace. It was pretty fun to sit back and watch actually. We enjoyed a day of shopping in Tanger Village, got a little relaxation time in the hot tub, and then went out to dinner that night.
We went to Calhoun's which is somewhere that I will not be returning to for awhile. My food was disgusting! (just a side note) We shopped a little more on Sunday on our way back from Gatlinburg. Sam had some great finds, but I wasn't so lucky. We have been enjoying our day off today, but tomorrow starts a new adventure! I am very nervous, anxious, and excited about it all, but this weekend was a great way to start off!
January 14, 2010
Start to the End
Today I woke up for the last first day of my undergraduate classes and it is an overwhelming, wonderful feeling! I drove to APSU for the first of only a very few times I will have to be there this semester. On Tuesday, I start student teaching. This is what I have been waiting for. It has not been an easy road to say the least and I know the road ahead will not be either, but I can see the faint light at the end of the tunnel. This semester I will be doing something that I feel that I will love. I am putting what I have learned these past few semesters into practice and I am nervous and excited all at the same time. Today was the start to the end of this college career, but it is a beginning to my real career! How exciting! :)
January 2, 2010
Bringing in the New Year
Sam and I celebrated the New Year with our friends at my sisters house this year. It was blast to get together with a lot of our friends and just spend some time together. The boys watched football and the girls chatted in the kitchen for awhile. We had A LOT of food, at least it seemed to be a lot of food since that is what we ate the entire next day! 
We tried to play some board games, but the guys would never come and join us. The girls took it upon ourselves to play the game, even though we didn't really play it the right way! It's called Encore! and it is one fun game. If you haven't ever heard of it, you should look it up. It involves singing, so of course it makes for a funny game! 
. When it got close to the time for the ball to drop, we all gathered in the living room and started our countdown! 5...4...3..2...1...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We had so much fun this New Years! Thank you Mike and Regina for opening up your home to all of us! Sam, Steve, Amanda, and I even got to stay the night and watch football at their house the next day..and watch Elaina take some steps all on her own! Now on to see what 2010 has in store for us!
We tried to play some board games, but the guys would never come and join us. The girls took it upon ourselves to play the game, even though we didn't really play it the right way! It's called Encore! and it is one fun game. If you haven't ever heard of it, you should look it up. It involves singing, so of course it makes for a funny game! 
. When it got close to the time for the ball to drop, we all gathered in the living room and started our countdown! 5...4...3..2...1...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We had so much fun this New Years! Thank you Mike and Regina for opening up your home to all of us! Sam, Steve, Amanda, and I even got to stay the night and watch football at their house the next day..and watch Elaina take some steps all on her own! Now on to see what 2010 has in store for us!
December 30, 2009
Christmas 2009
WARNING: THIS WILL BE A LONG POST SO SIT TIGHT! (Or don't...I'm not being bossy!)
This year we decided to spread out our Christmas with family. Some of Sam's family has to travel to spend time with other family, so we had our Shrewsbury Christmas a little earlier than normal. We met at Gina and Chris' house to have dinner and spend some time together. It was so much fun to watch Calyn this Christmas because she could communicate and get excited about the gifts that she opened. Eventually, we will learn to give Calyn the clothes and smaller presents first BEFORE the big presents. She always loses interest after the big presents. These are a few pictures of the night:
We went to my mom's brother's house on Christmas Eve. We had some people feeling a little under the weather, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time getting to sit and chat with each other.
Christmas Day is a fun-filled, jam packed day but so worth it! We started out Christmas morning together. This is us Christmas morning fresh out of bed. I am amazed that I am willing to put this up, but not everyone can come straight out of bed looking fresh and clean people! :)
We opened our presents from each other and had to start getting ready to leave right after we got finished.
Our first stop was my parents house. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then opened gifts. After finishing presents, we got together to try to get family pictures. This is easier said then done, especially when you are doing self-timing with 3 different cameras going off at three different times. It makes for quite a laughing filled experience...and pictures! We finally got some good ones after SEVERAL retakes!
The whole family together:
Sisters:
All the kids together now:
On a side note, it even spit some snow at us while we were there, so that was nice to see on Christmas even if it didn't stick!
We left from there and headed to Sam's aunt and uncles house. This is always an enjoyable experience for me! I laugh my head off the entire time I do believe! We had some great food, talks, but then came the Sock Swap Dirty Santa game. This was a hilarious experience!! Grandma Ellis got cat socks..this means a stuffed cat sewn on top of a black sock, not cats printed on socks!
I told you funny stuff!These are the socks I speak of:
There were an assortment of socks. Socks with cats, fur, zebra print, hunting, white, black, and sportwear! O yeah and house shoe socks! I got those!
We left and headed to my grandparents house, dad's side this time! Sam was tired of taking pictures by this time can you tell?
We spent some time with family and opened some more presents. The three amigo cousins all have matching sweatshirts now! Aren't they just too cute!?!?
By this point in the night, Regina and I started getting a little tired. When we get tired, we start doing slightly silly things. Well, we found out that our cameras can take pictures repeatedly several times, so thought it would be funny to make different faces for every picture. Now that I say that, I just looked through my pictures and I guess I must have been the one who laughed the whole time while Regina took the pictures...I don't have any funny one's on my camera! :( O well still thought I would share that little bit of information!
We had a great Christmas season spending some much needed time with our family and friends. I hope that you all had a wonderful time as well! Now we are heading on to see what God has in store for us for this new year! I know some great things are going to be happening!
To come in 2010:
*A New Niece
*A Diploma
*A Big Girl Job
I'd say that God has some things in store for the Shrewsbury's that for sure!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(And no your eyes are not deceiving themselves..this post is now over!)
This year we decided to spread out our Christmas with family. Some of Sam's family has to travel to spend time with other family, so we had our Shrewsbury Christmas a little earlier than normal. We met at Gina and Chris' house to have dinner and spend some time together. It was so much fun to watch Calyn this Christmas because she could communicate and get excited about the gifts that she opened. Eventually, we will learn to give Calyn the clothes and smaller presents first BEFORE the big presents. She always loses interest after the big presents. These are a few pictures of the night:
We went to my mom's brother's house on Christmas Eve. We had some people feeling a little under the weather, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time getting to sit and chat with each other.
Christmas Day is a fun-filled, jam packed day but so worth it! We started out Christmas morning together. This is us Christmas morning fresh out of bed. I am amazed that I am willing to put this up, but not everyone can come straight out of bed looking fresh and clean people! :)
We opened our presents from each other and had to start getting ready to leave right after we got finished.Our first stop was my parents house. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then opened gifts. After finishing presents, we got together to try to get family pictures. This is easier said then done, especially when you are doing self-timing with 3 different cameras going off at three different times. It makes for quite a laughing filled experience...and pictures! We finally got some good ones after SEVERAL retakes!
The whole family together:
Sisters:
All the kids together now:
On a side note, it even spit some snow at us while we were there, so that was nice to see on Christmas even if it didn't stick!
We left from there and headed to Sam's aunt and uncles house. This is always an enjoyable experience for me! I laugh my head off the entire time I do believe! We had some great food, talks, but then came the Sock Swap Dirty Santa game. This was a hilarious experience!! Grandma Ellis got cat socks..this means a stuffed cat sewn on top of a black sock, not cats printed on socks!
I told you funny stuff!These are the socks I speak of:
There were an assortment of socks. Socks with cats, fur, zebra print, hunting, white, black, and sportwear! O yeah and house shoe socks! I got those!
We left and headed to my grandparents house, dad's side this time! Sam was tired of taking pictures by this time can you tell?
We spent some time with family and opened some more presents. The three amigo cousins all have matching sweatshirts now! Aren't they just too cute!?!?
By this point in the night, Regina and I started getting a little tired. When we get tired, we start doing slightly silly things. Well, we found out that our cameras can take pictures repeatedly several times, so thought it would be funny to make different faces for every picture. Now that I say that, I just looked through my pictures and I guess I must have been the one who laughed the whole time while Regina took the pictures...I don't have any funny one's on my camera! :( O well still thought I would share that little bit of information!
We had a great Christmas season spending some much needed time with our family and friends. I hope that you all had a wonderful time as well! Now we are heading on to see what God has in store for us for this new year! I know some great things are going to be happening!
To come in 2010:
*A New Niece
*A Diploma
*A Big Girl Job
I'd say that God has some things in store for the Shrewsbury's that for sure!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(And no your eyes are not deceiving themselves..this post is now over!)
December 20, 2009
1st Annual Tacky Christmas
As promised this post is about the Tacky Christmas Sweater Party that Sam and I went to on Saturday night at Steve and Amanda's house. It was really fun to all get together with people we have met before and people we just got to meet that night. The interesting thing to me is to see other people interpretations of what exactly is a tacky Christmas sweater. Many of us hit Goodwill in search of the perfect Christmas sweater. This was easier said then done, but all of us found something. Mike found an iron-on Christmas tree with blinking Christmas lights inserted.
That is Steve's foot in the picture. Sorry the whole thing is basically covered. Sam and I searched and searched for the perfect sweater and finally Saturday afternoon we hit the motherload (in women's wear). Sam's creation won the overall prize of the most tacky Christmas sweater. He had on a woman's sweater with Minnie and Mickey Mouse sewn in on the sides (complete with candy canes). He had a Santa shirt underneath and to top it off wore a slightly small Santa hat. Now that you can mentally see the picture here's the visual.
I wasn't tacky tacky, but I wouldn't wear the sweater normally, so it fit. Other people got creative and made their own. Lindsey attached ornaments to a sweater she's really didn't know how she got and then made John a snowman sweater from cotton balls and tissue paper. Creative I know! Way to go Lindsey. I voted for her to win, but Sam won. I got out voted. Anyways...we all chatted, Elaina got in a box all by herself
, we took pictures,
and then came the game. Catchphrase to be exact. This is when the fun happened. It was girls against boys and unfortunately (possible with some cheating mixed in) the boys won 2 out of 3 games. It was a sad defeat, but the girls still had a great time making fun of the boys and the boys had a great time...well..being boys I guess! :) 
. The night ended with snow on our cars, but not on the grass or roads. I'll take it though. Snow is snow! It was a great night and a great way to start off the Christmas festivities for the week! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas if you do not hear from me before then!
That is Steve's foot in the picture. Sorry the whole thing is basically covered. Sam and I searched and searched for the perfect sweater and finally Saturday afternoon we hit the motherload (in women's wear). Sam's creation won the overall prize of the most tacky Christmas sweater. He had on a woman's sweater with Minnie and Mickey Mouse sewn in on the sides (complete with candy canes). He had a Santa shirt underneath and to top it off wore a slightly small Santa hat. Now that you can mentally see the picture here's the visual.
I wasn't tacky tacky, but I wouldn't wear the sweater normally, so it fit. Other people got creative and made their own. Lindsey attached ornaments to a sweater she's really didn't know how she got and then made John a snowman sweater from cotton balls and tissue paper. Creative I know! Way to go Lindsey. I voted for her to win, but Sam won. I got out voted. Anyways...we all chatted, Elaina got in a box all by herself
, we took pictures,
and then came the game. Catchphrase to be exact. This is when the fun happened. It was girls against boys and unfortunately (possible with some cheating mixed in) the boys won 2 out of 3 games. It was a sad defeat, but the girls still had a great time making fun of the boys and the boys had a great time...well..being boys I guess! :) 
. The night ended with snow on our cars, but not on the grass or roads. I'll take it though. Snow is snow! It was a great night and a great way to start off the Christmas festivities for the week! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas if you do not hear from me before then!
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