Happy Post

Sooo No zoo post yet. That's my next project.

This one is about what an awesome day Christmas was!

So, for those of you that don't know, I have an ipod touch. I love it, almost as much as my husband! (Only not really, because my husband is leaps and bounds above everything else I like. lol)

Anyways, so I had this ipod touch and I took it with me to graduation. (Stupid, huh?) But I kept track of it. I didn't want to lose it or anything. I got to my parent's house to wait away the day until commencement and at lunch I wanted to use it..... Nowhere to be found. I was devastated. I got used to it, saying it's only something material, but it was still a little sad. Couldn't find it and couldn't find it.

Soo.... You're thinking "happy post"? This is terrible! You lost your ipod!

My answer: Yes. I was sad. But there is a happy ending to this story. Hence the "happy" part. :P

I lost my ipod on the 16th. 9 days without it. December 25th, after my sister had given me her unused ipod touch to use, my wonderful amazing husband came and told me merry Christmas and handed me my ipod!

It was under my parent's couch!!

So yes, it was very happy! :D

On an entirely separate point.... It snowed yesterday! :DIn MESA!!!! Super happy! :D

Coming up:

-Zoo post

-New Years Eve/New Year's Day

Christmas 2010

Here is the Christmas post!

I had a great time this Christmas! It was fun being with my husband and spending the morning together.

Christmas Eve we spent with his siblings in their present exchange and got quite a few things! (Didn't get many pictures, and what I did get is on my phone... which means pictures will have to come later for that.)

Christmas morning we spent just the two of us opening presents from each other. He knew what most of his were, and I knew none of mine. :P

His favorite gifts (and the 2 main ones) were his Katana (Japanese sword) and his tool bags. My favorite gifts were my purse and the art stuff he got me. :D I am so excited to get to start painting and coloring and things! :D

Here are some pics!

The Best Gift of All! ;D

StoryMill

So, I got this program a couple of years ago, and I haven't really had a reason to use it, until now. I'm trying it out on my next story.

I tried using the program with my Garnet story and it just frustrated me, so I decided to just deal with what I had. (Ended up alright.)

Now that I'm done with Garnet, I'm moving on to my next story, and I'm going to try and see what happens with it. I'll let everyone know what happens as it moves along. So.... wait for the next post about it to come along. ;D

Coming up:

- Christmas Post

- Zoo post (I'm going to the zoo tomorrow!)

K&C Day

Christmas post will come later!

Here is the adventure from our K&C Day!

So, it was to celebrate Kara's birthday, my graduation, and Christmas! (Hurray for multitasking when celebrating! lol)

Kara came over and after a wonderful lunch of Mac n cheese, we headed off to our first (and only) stop. Kara took my to this wonderful little shop called Nails Waxing or something. (There's the number 8002 next to it.) Anyways, we went there and got mani/pedi's. And they were AMAZING!!! I'm already trying to figure out when I can go back. lol And i'm thinking of getting a color similar to what I chose for the polish. I like it!

We spent a couple of hours there, felt very pampered, then went back to my house and made my awesomely yummy smoothies, which were made more awesome by the suggestion to put chocolate chips in it. And we enjoyed those. We ended the day by making apple cobbler, which ended up very yummy and is all gone.

Yay for Girls' Days!!!

Published

One day maybe I'll be a published author!!! :D (Hopefully it's someday soon!!!!!!)

P.S. - Hopefully will get a post up from my girls' day with Kara in the next day or two. Good times! :D

1 Week

I can't believe there's only one week until Christmas!!!

Thank heavens I'm pretty much done with everything. I still have a few of my presents to Jason to wrap, but that's pretty much it.

I'm very excited to spend this time of year with family. Especially my family that includes Jason and myself.

I hope to have my story finished editing soon. I guess I just need to focus on it for a few more hours and I might be done. We'll see! :D I can't wait to finish it!

Edumacated and Graduated

Yes, my friends, I am now a graduate of Arizona State University! :D

I can officially get jobs and say that I have a BAE. Exciting, huh? :D

Now.... I just need to get a job.......

Happy end of 2010! :D

Certification!

Soooo Today I go down to get certified as a teacher with ADE (Arizona Department of Education?) at ASU.

Do you think I'm super excited?

BECAUSE I SERIOUSLY AM!!!!! :D SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Other happinesses:

- Time to be spent with family today

- Almost being done with my story

-Graduating TOMORROW!!!! :D

All good stuff.

I can be productive, too!

So, being it was my first day out of school, I got stuff done!

I did dishes, started cleaning the bathroom (which honestly hasn't been cleaned in I don't know how long), and worked on my story! I even made a trip to my mom's house to give her something!

See? I can be productive! :D It makes me happy!

(On tap for tomorrow: A whole new list of things to do, but it's okay, because I'll make it!)

I can be crafty!!!

Okay... so it doesn't happen often, but I can be crafty!

I learned a really great "art" activity (it went horribly awry for my 5th graders, but I learned, and I have tried it myself, and it's fun!). All it takes is warm applesauce and cinnamon. That's it! (And it doesn't have to be expensive supplies! (Heck, you'd be crazy to spend tons of money on this!)

3 Tbsp applesauce to 3 Tbsp cinnamon, mix, use cinnamon as flour, roll it out, use cookie cutters to cut, and let them dry (anywhere from 1 to several days depending on the thickness). And this is what you get!!

Too bad you can't upload smells.... because that would just be epically awesome! :D lol

On a sad/happy note, I am finished student teaching as of tomorrow, and I'm going to miss it! I love those kiddos!

(P.S./EDIT: Ignore the blue! Dunno what happened, because I didn't change the color consciously, and I don't know how to change it back! :O lol)

1 week and 2 days

That's all I have left before I leave my kiddos for my own classroom! :( I will miss them.

I am grateful I had the opportunity to work with them. After that crazy beginning to summer where I didn't have a teacher, it was crazy! But now it's worked out much better than I could have hoped.

I'm grateful to my mentor teacher who has been there helping me every day. I'm grateful for the advice she has given.

I'm grateful to everyone that has been there when I've had a rough time.

I'm grateful to my husband who puts up with a great deal of stuff because I'm an emotional squirrel.

I'm grateful for my family that's been so supportive.

I'm grateful for everything I've been through because it helps me become better.

El Diablo

As you can tell by previous posts, I have not had much luck with the car I bought recently.

Because of all the problems, it has been given a very special and appropriate name. (More appropriate than special. LOL)

It has not yet been officially dubbed, but it has been named "El Diablo", based on the fact that it A) was flaming (literally) and B) It's been a terrible pain in the behind.

He, "El Diablo", received a new set of wheels today. Plus, he gets to return to Senor Mechanic for another round of help. (3rd time's the charm, right?)

I believe the name is fitting. What do you think?

Cars and me

So, I've officially decided that cars and I were not made for each other.

Cars + Courtney = Stress + Unhappiness + Tears

Soooo.... my car has been in the shop for like 3 weeks. Went to pick it up Friday, and the check engine light came on. Supposedly fixed, went to pick it up today. It made it home and it's currently sitting in the driveway, but guess where it gets to go back to tomorrow?

Yep!!! That's Right!!!

It's back to the shop with my car.

Man, this whole thing sucks. By the end of it, I'm sure I should have just bought a new one or a used one from a dealership. Cuz it is NOT worth this much hassle.

Almost done

So, I was just thinking about it, and I've got like 3 weeks TOTAL until I'm done with my Bachelor's degree in Education.

3 1/2 years of education, culminating in this final event, and all I want to do is tell them to mail me my diploma and let me move on.


Most people plan their whole lives around their graduation, and I can't seem to get myself motivated in order to get ready for graduation, because I think I feel that if I do, then I'll be done forever, and as hard as it's been, I don't want this short phase of my life to end. I can't see myself not being around the kids in my class, even though that's the life of a teacher. You come to love the kids just in time for them to leave.

As much as some of the kids drive me crazy with the "I'm hungry" comments, the constant pushing against the boundaries and not listening, and the constant questions, I can't think about leaving them without getting a little sad and teary-eyed.


So, when I should have been, and should BE getting announcements ready to go out, I'm just focusing on each individual day. Will I send out announcements? Probably. Will they be professional? No. No time, and no money for that. So I'll just plug along, dreading the day some of the best and most demanding times are over.

Hobby

So, I've decided that I need to come up with a hobby. I won't be doing school all of my life. Eventually I will have a family and will need a piece of sanity..... except I've already lost mine, but whatever.

Anyways, the whole point of my hobby is to perhaps make some money on the side doing it. Doing something I like to do and making money from it.

I've thought about the following:

-Bead craft: making jewelry, ie necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc.
-Writing: I still do this, but it's not very good for making money
-Sewing: I sew dresses, but that's about my extent. I have little experience, and though I like to do it, it's not very inexpensive to do.


And that's a small list of what I've thought of. I could do lots of things, but I'll see what I really want to do.



Any ideas, hints, etc?

Slacker

So, I officially am a slacker when it comes to anything other than school. Can't seem to clean up any of my stuff, don't do housework, don't ever blog, can't finish any of the stories I start.

Anyways, update:

Got to spend girl time with Kara. (Wonderful 4 hours, if I say so myself).
Took over full control of the class. (Stressful, but not terrible. Having the students test me, but hopefully I'll be able to deal with it.)
FHE with the family.
Renter moving in
Feeling exhausted all the time. (Kids suck a lot of energy! Moms are that much more amazing!)



Things I should do soon:

Update on other parts of the honeymoon
Update pictures of the wedding
Be getting ready for tomorrow.


Things I need to do:

Stay on top of student teaching. I have 4 full teaching weeks left, and then I begin to phase out. (Insert sad face here.)
Become a better person.


Things I will do:

Fall asleep.
Get up.
Deal with tomorrow.
Come home.
Go to sleep.
Repeat.

Oh, and throw a little bit of getting better in there.


Hoping the next 179 days fly by!

Renting

So, we are renting out the downstairs and getting things ready for the renter to move in. I've told my wonderful husband that this is his project and I'm staying out of it.


So far, I have.


The most involved I've been is watching as they work. (Neat deal, right?) It's alright. I've watched some painting, some installation of water and vent places for a washer/dryer, and I am currently watching the installation of tile. To be honest, it's not that exciting. And I've become tired of going to bed super late.

I like my in-laws, but seeing them for hours every day gets a little old. But, I am learning how to cook different things, become more brave about trying things, and learning how to dump spaghetti down the garbage disposal (OOPS!!!). haha

School is going well, and I'm excited to graduate in December, if I can make it that far! Now, if only I can get another professional development thing in, and a working car would be nice.

Soooo.... Because we are renting out the downstairs, things have become very, very interesting around here. (Let's just say I will have lots of technology time for the next little while.)

Cars don't like us....

It's the truth. Can't find a decent one for cheap that works well. It has to go totally caddy-whampus and get all overheated about nothing....

They really just don't like me, I'm sure. Oh well. It's a trial and will be for our good, I guess. It just sucks when you have one mode of reliable transportation, when you have 2 cars, a motorcycle, and a borrowed truck. (Guess which is the only one working. And it's not the motorcycle.)

So, other than that, it's been a pretty normal week. Had school, finished the week, now it's on to October Break! :D Bring it ON!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!! :D

Experiments

Experiments and I don't usually get along. Especially when it comes to food. But one day, I had a brilliant idea. (My wonderful husband helped and provided input.) I'm sure it can be spiced up and made to be more... idk.... Intense? But I like it simple.

BBQ chicken. Pretty simple, right? Well... it's cool when instead of using BBQ sauce, you mash some Lay's BBQ chips and put some oil on the chicken breasts that are boneless/skinless (enough to lightly coat, so the chips stay) and then bread the chicken. I like to bake at 350 ish for 30 minutes or so, until they're done.

Did I mention it's the best BBQ chicken EVER? Oh.... On Facebook, but not really here. Alright, well.....

It's the BEST BBQ CHICKEN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Alright, definitely feeling kind of stressed! :O I've got my first supervisor evaluation tomorrow, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm still working on the final details of the lesson plan. (Darn it having to be so explicit!)

Other than that, things are actually pretty good. We're looking for a vehicle for me, so that we can return my parents' truck to them. I've got an amazing husband, who, even though he dislikes special celebrations for things like anniversaries, took me out to dinner yesterday (the 7th) on our 2 monthiversary. How did I luck out to get such a special guy? I really do love him! He's amazing, and so patient with me.

Poll: For anyone that reads my blog,

Should I stop this one and create one that is for me and Jason (some cute and catchy title)? Should I just start a new one? Or should I just keep this one going and use it for both of us?

Neglected

I'm sure my blog feels really neglected lately.

I've been following blogs, but pretty much unable to post. Not because I don't want to, or because I don't have anything to write about, because there's plenty of that. I just don't have the time. Student teaching is very time consuming. As is being married and making sure that things are going smoothly. Computer time is very limited, but I'm okay with that.

Things that have been going on lately:

• Student teaching - loving the kids, and I've got lots of stories to tell. (Maybe one of these days I'll open up, to the public, my teaching blog I started several semesters ago in a technology course.)
• Figuring out what to eat for dinner (every night)
• Try to figure out what my calling is all about
• Preparing a talk (which we've given) on temples
• Dinner with various family members
• FHE with family while trying to figure out why the dryer broke
• Turning our house into its own dryer with clothes and towels hanging all over the house (We seriously look almost like a dry cleaning place with all the hangers that are all over.)
• Trying to improve timing with school stuff
• Preparing for Student teaching
• Chatting with my mentor teacher about the silly things that happen (like 3 people going to the nurse within the last 20 minutes of school)
• Wishing I could blog a little more
• Wishing I could be a little more productive
• Stressing about the dryer going out
• Stressing about getting a vehicle (We have an option to purchase a 2003 Toyota Camry or buy a brand new Corolla, based on what's the better deal for us in the short and long term.)
• Hoping I'll be more organized
• Feeling better since the main part of the house is clean
• Getting a free table from a model home auction because the guy only wanted the chairs (For reals! I was SOOOO surprised, but we were all over it)
• And SOOOOOOOOOO much more!

Hopefully I'll be better able to update, but we'll see what happens. Things get really busy really quickly.

Disappeared

If anyone wonders where I've disappeared to, it's called "school" and I'm in my final semester of formal education. Student teaching, here I come!!!

Interlude

Alright, so no more on the honeymoon quite yet. I have something else to mention right now.

First off, and most importantly, I LOVE my husband. He is the best person I know, even though it seems like we are completely opposite! I love him, and I am so glad I married him!

Secondly, and just what's currently on my mind is all the stuff that's happening lately. I start student teaching on Wednesday (technically Tuesday if you count the "Meet the Teacher" day). I'm super excited, but I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see all of my friends at work anymore. Everyone there is amazing and it's been wonderful to work with them. I've learned so much, and grown a ton. I wouldn't answer any phones before, and now I can answer some (I'm still afraid, and I don't like calling still, but I'm better). I will miss them. They've been like a family to me.

And thirdly, I am officially Courtney Anne Lee! I got my social security card! :D I'm official! Now I can go get my drivers' license changed!!! :D YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Honeymoon part 1

I'm sure many of you want to read about the honeymoon we went on. I don't have much time, but I'll post a little bit here and there. :)

Our trip was a cruise around the Caribbean. We left from Fort Lauderdale, FL, and stopped at the Princess Cays, Bahamas; Ocho Rios, Jamaica (mon); Grand Cays (?), Cayman Islands; and Cozumel, Mexio (si, senor!). It was 7 days long, with 2 days at sea, 2 formal nights, and movies under the stars.

We left Saturday and got into Florida Saturday night. We were hungry, so we looked for a place to eat that was in walking distance of our hotel. There was only one! And we didn't even find it. :( Instead, we walked all around this little park thing (me in flipflops, which was NOT fun). We got to see the airport we flew into (kind of), this really big park and find that Florida does NOT believe in Pedestrians, as there were no crosswalks, and we saw a big crab (picture is on Facebook, video will be posted later). This crab was awesome! Jason tried to touch it with his toe, and the thing jumped out at him! :O It was funny. We then went back to the hotel and ate dinner before laying in our bed watching tv shows, like Afraid of the Dark (about Medieval times lighting and how it affects why we're afraid of the dark, I guess). Fun times.

And more on the honeymoon later. :) I gotta run to work so I can save up everything I can for during student teaching. :)

Not much time

There's seems to be not much time for much of anything anymore, including blogging. I work 4 days a week until school starts, when I will be student teaching all the time. It's crazy! When I'm not working I'm either running errands or cleaning the house and trying to get it organized (which could take a while).

Student teaching is going to be fun and exciting, but I'm still super nervous about it! :O It's weird to think that this Decemeber, I'll be graduating! What am I going to do after school is over? Will I get my own classroom and teach? Will I just sub? What about working at the vet clinic? I suppose I could keep doing that if I need to.

I don't know what's going to happen. It's all going to happen how it's supposed to, though! I'm sure about that!!

Back!

Well, we got back safe and sound from the honeymoon. It was fun! And sometime, when I'm not exhausted, I'll tell you about it. :)

For now, I'm going to go get everything ready and go to sleep. Traveling takes a lot of energy!

Married life

So far, so good.

I love my husband and all that he does for me. I'm so excited to spend every day with him, and all of eternity. He's the best thing to happen to me. :)

We leave Saturday for our honeymoon, and will be gone for a week, then. :) I'm super excited to go and see new places!! :D

Student teaching, for me, will kind of start August 10th (with Meet the Teacher day), and then as soon as the first day rolls around, I will be at the school, logging hours and getting to know the kids. :) I'm super excited and nervous!!

I'm MARRIED!!!

Yes, just so you know.....

I'M MARRIED!!!!!!!!! And have been for the past 28 hours! :D I love my husband!!!!!

Change

It's hard to imagine, until you're actually at a major turning point in your life, how much things can change.

For the past few months, I've known I was getting married, but getting married and just thinking about what it will be like are two totally different things. My room is kind of packed up. I've got all the pictures off my wall, and it's kind of bare in here, besides the floor which is extremely messy, but yesterday I realized that I'm really going to be leaving. It's weird to think about.

Location is not the only thing that's changing. When you're getting married, apparently people forget about you and what you've done for them for the past while. How much you tried as hard as you could to help them as best you could. When you're getting married, friendships change. I think people who used to be your friends are afraid to talk to you. Why, I have no idea. And I'm not going to dwell on it beyond this, either. Everyone has their agency, and if people want to shut you out of their life because you're in a different stage, that's their choice.

I don't care if others forget me, start to hate me, or choose to remain friends. I've got my (currently "future") husband that is all I ever really need. He treats me with so much love and respect, always wanting to help me, and I want to do all I can to help him. He is amazing, and I'm so lucky to be able to be marrying him.

Did I ever imagine this would happen like it has?

No!

Would I have it any other way?

Definitely not!!

Staying caught up

For me, staying caught up is the hardest part of blogging! (And coming up with new and unique titles. XD That's a whole different story, though!)

Yesterday, I went through the temple for the first time (to do something besides baptisms)! It was an amazing experience and super unique. Not something to talk about, but I wanted to mention it, because some of my favorite people in the whole wide world were able to be there!!!! :D Of course, my wonder husband-to-be (in 4 ish days) was there! And so was my family! But I was very happy to see that the Chesleys could make it to the session! It made me so happy! :D They're amazing people, and I'm so glad they are a part of my life!

Today, I was supposed to go shopping and get everything all set up (I'm going to need a new wardrobe, I think). I was planning on it, and we said prayer and my mom and I were getting ready to go when I had my "aura" thing happening. That means, I get a nasty headache. Headaches that hurt enough to expel all food and things from my stomach. Yeah.... spending a perfectly nice Friday on the bathroom floor, shivering from all my muscles being weird and getting sick.... not my idea of a fun start to the last weekend of me being single! Oh well.

I did get to see Mr. Ellis Jason Lee. He came over to see me, since I couldn't make it to take a couple of boxes over to the house. And my house happens to be on the way to where he was going for the bachelor party that was being held for him. So we cuddled for a bit before he had to leave.

And my headache finally went away, I was able to get a little bit of food in my tummy, I made my mom a birthday cake after driving to Jason's house to drop a couple of boxes and my printer off and giving Kristen a tour of the house, finished the cake, watched my mom open presents, lit the candles and sang happy birthday to her, then when the short festivities were over, I came back to check my grades from summer school. A+ and B+!!!!!! :D SOOOOO happy!!!! I was terrified I would do poorly. But I passed both!!! :D YAY!!!!!!!!!

So, all-in-all, everything worked out okay. And tomorrow, I'm mom-napping my mom and we're going to take Alana and go shopping for things, and just spend quality time together, and I'm looking forward to it!!! :D

Update

So, pictures are done!!!

Go to forgetmenotbyjana.blogspot.com to see the photographer's favorite couple pictures! (They look pretty darn good, if I say so, myself!!! :D

Besides pictures, we have one week as of TOMORROW!!!! :D SOOOOOO excited!!!! And yes, soon there will be an hour countdown. ;D So exciting!!!!!! :D

Adventure

Alright, so the past week or so has been quite the adventure. And not a very fun one at that, for the most part.

When getting married, stress is pretty natural. I've been a little stressed. Not necessarily debilitating, but I've felt it. But we've got almost everything done! I shouldn't be stressed very much anymore, right?

Mmhmm..... Not stressed..... That would be nice. I've still got summer school to complete (this is my last week of it! YAY). Besides that, though, I am slightly stressed about one more thing.

This week, I got sick. Not a little cold, which can be a nuisance, but I can deal with colds. Not a flu, because once you get rid of the fever, you're usually good-to-go. No, this is much more unpleasant. What is it? I have NO idea. But it hurts really bad! I woke up one day, and my throat just started killing me! Burning and stabbing pain every time I swallowed (not fun). For a few days, the only activity that hasn't hurt me is breathing. Eating food, swallowing anything and talking have been NO fun. At all. But I'm surviving, and I'm doing what I can to get well.

My soon-to-be husband has been amazing to me. It's times like I've had lately that I feel like I really don't deserve him. I love him! And I am so glad we're getting married in under 2 weeks!!!! :D 12 days to be exact!!! :D

We've got pictures taken care of, we're getting a marriage license today, and things are just moving forward. It's amazing! :D I love it!!! :D

Little successes

So many things have gone right lately, it's amazing!

I got to spend time again with the MoH and we (AGAIN) went shopping for bridesmaid dresses.

Success #1: We found bridesmaid dresses!!! YAY!!!!!

Success #2: I got jewelry to wear with my dress!!!

After Jason got off of work, he came over (which was good, because I was stressing a little bit). We relaxed for a bit, I got some homework done and continued with the project that's due Monday afternoon, ate dinner with the fam (YAY for my mom coming home today!!!!!), and then watched a movie. Well, he found out that he lost his pedometer (we don't know where), so we went to look for it outside by the horses..... Yeah.... I would rather not go out there at night. =/ There were black widow spiders out there!!! YIKES!!!! I hate spiders. If there is one creature that I cannot deal with, it's spiders.

Anyways.... random update. The projects for this week:

- Get announcements from Jordan G.

- Put address labels on envelopes

- Mail envelopes to people

- Talk to flower lady, get flowers tues/wed

- Ride horses

- Have dinner with 2 more of Jason's siblings

- Finalize food plan for reception

-Finalize tent decision

Here's to more little successes!!!!

A new post

So, I decided that you all need a new post to read. It's been a while.

It's been so busy! We're finalizing decisions on food and everything, and it's all just coming together!!!

What's been completed lately:

-Time spent with Maid of Honor looking for dresses

- Buying dress for above MoH

- Deciding on Food

- Choosing cake

- Bridal Shower

-Picking the flowers and center pieces

- Getting addresses for people that announcements.

- Summer school week 1 (almost 2)

To be completed this week:

- Get announcement pictures

-Take to person putting them together

-Have dinner with various family members

-Finalize list

-Get finished announcements

-Send out announcements

-Get dress fitted so that it fits (tomorrow!!!)

-Bridal pics

-Spend more time with MoH and BMs looking for bridesmaid dresses

-Pack up most of the rest of my room

-Talk to recommended jeweler for Wedding band for mi amor

-Try not to go crazy

-Keep up with Summer school work

Let's see how this week goes!!!!

Plans

Everything is moving forward!! Alana and Derek's wedding was an overall success, although there were some not so happy moments. =/ Like when I yelled at Kristen (A long day is not good for me) and when I ripped my bridesmaid dress trying to get up and help Jason and my dad clean up a water mess on the floor. (Ooops!!!) Other than that, it was all very good. :) I am very happy for them. They are currently on their honeymoon in California and will be back probably at the end of this week.

Now is where the fun for me and Jason comes in! We get to really focus on our wedding. I'd rather it just be all over already. This is a busy busy week, though!! =/ We need to register at Sears for a bunch of stuff, plus we have plans to finish making so that they can be handed over to someone to be carried out.

What's biggest on my mind right now are my online classes.... which thankfully are only for 5 weeks. (YAY!!!! Then I'll be all set for student teaching!!!! Once I figure out where I'll be. =/ Not so fun.) And the biggest biggest thing on my mind is the AEPA!!!! I'm terrified for it. I'm taking it this Saturday!!!! =/ Not super excited about that! It's going to be a really long day, and when it's over, I'm really going to need some Jason time!!!

Jason is amazing! I can't get over how awesome he is! I honestly love him with all of my heart! <3

Congratulations!!!

Today is the day Derek and Alana start their new forever family together. I'm super happy for them. :) Best wishes to an awesome future!

So much stuff!!

So.... there's a lot of stuff happening right now in my life. Alana's getting married on Saturday, I found out that I will not be with Jessica Plowman for my placement, because she's moving to San Francisco. So, I'm dealing with that, trying to find another placement before too long. =/ It's getting to be somewhat stressful.

Today is my last day with my kiddos in 5th grade (and their last day of school as well!). I will miss them, but it was a good time that I spent with them in the classroom helping. :) Miss Lawien has been a big help getting me to focus on things besides what to teach.

Jason and I are just trudging along getting everything set up for our own wedding, although, we're trying to keep it on the backburner until next week. (We did register last night at Target. I don't know what we're doing tonight.) We did get our pictures last night! If you want a sneak peak at the engagement photos, go to http://www.forgetmenotbyjana.blogspot.com....... She's amazing!!!! :D

Busy month of May!

This is a crazy crazy month! Between finishing a semester, Alana getting married, me planning a wedding, and all the stuff going on, it's been BUSY!!!

I got a book today from my 5th graders of all the things that they like about me. (Apparently I'm funny and have an awesome smile. lol)

Another plus today, I got my placement for Student Teaching in the Fall 2010 semester!!!! :D I will be working with Jessica Plowman at Frost Elementary. I had her for the Fall 2009 semester, and I absolutely LOVED working with her!!! It was a blast, and I am so excited to be able to work with her again!

Tomorrow, I've got engagement pics, and I'm super excited! I can't wait to see what Jana will do! I love her style of photography!! We're chugging along with plans, and it's all coming together! It's a crazy, but awesome time!!!

Wedding plans: update

So, this week has been really productive!

First, we decided on a honeymoon location! We haven't booked yet, which we need to do, but we've chosen! :D (Caribbean here we come!!!)

Secondly, we've chosen how our announcements will look! They will be pretty awesome! Unique and totally us! I'm super excited!

Thirdly, we've chosen a photographer for our engagement photos and wedding (couple/coming out of the temple) pictures. I am super excited to be working with Jana! She seems really awesome!!! (Forget me not by Jana is the name of her blog/website.)

Fourthly, I asked Sis. Lundahl to be the head of my bridal shower (the big shower that everyone will be invited to). She's way excited and so am I! :D

FIfthly, I have decided on having and asked one of my best friends to be my MoH (Maid of Honor)!! She has been asked by my fiance to keep me as unstressed as possible. Kara, you are the bomb! :D

Sixthly, we have requested to book our location of the reception on July 9th!

So, while it seems like every day I don't get much done, apparently we've accomplished a lot! I am SOOOOOO excited!!!! I really can't wait for July to come around! My fiance is amazing! Sometimes I honestly feel like I don't deserve him! With him in my life, I really feel like I can accomplish anything!!!! <3 <3 <3

Baby steps

I don't know if you've seen or heard about the movie What About Bob?, but it's a movie about this man with an entire range of problems from hating leaving his house to extreme germaphobe. Over the course of the movie, he learns something from his psychologist.... or psychiatrist..... whichever. Well, the name of the book that is the basis of his changing is called "Baby Steps". Hence, the title of this post.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JPa2mvSQ4&NR=1


I have a habit of biting off more than I can chew. Or even when I bite off just enough, my mind expands it into something undoable. It goes into freak out mode before shutting down. Stressful? Yes. Hurtful? Most likely.


My current goal? Take things one step at a time. Jason is really going to be helping me with this, and I love him all the more for it. So, my baby steps for tomorrow? Make two phone calls. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Can I do it? You better believe I can! And not only can, I WILL do it!


Plans completed today:
- Set up appointment for getting my endowment from the temple
- Sat with Jason and picked out what we wanted for the announcements
- Made chocolate cake (Not necessarily plans, but it was very stress relieving. ;D hehe)


Plans for tomorrow:
- Call Dr. and see if there are any earlier appointments
- Call and see if the sealer is available to seal us on July 7th.


I can do it!!! Baby steps is all I need to take!!!

So much to do!!!

And so little time to get it done in. I am beginning to see why Jason thinks we should totally just skip the reception and leave to go on the honeymoon. lol It would be a lot less stressful that way. But thinking about it, if we didn't have a reception, I would regret it. So, in order to compromise, we're keeping it simple!

The theme is summer nights, everybody can wear their swimming suits, and afterwards ya'll can just jump in the pool..... if there's one nearby..... lol


Alright, so I was teasing. No swimming suits. The theme might be summer nights, though, because we're looking at a nice deepish blue with an accent of sparklies. :D With possibly a white or light blue accent.

Anyways, just thinking about all the stuff I need to do stresses me out a little bit. That's one thing I love about Jason. He wants me to (and makes sure that I do) take breaks and de-stress from everything. If I didn't have him, I'm sure my brain would explode!! Alright, maybe not explode, but it would not be pretty. lol

If you're wondering, from today on, there are 57 days!!! That's coming up quick!!! :O

Like I said..... So much to do!!!! So little time.

A date!

Soooo..... My last post was about the proposal, here are the next set of details in the "Courtney's getting married" story.

Friday, I went dress shopping with my mom. And yes, like Alana, first trip out and we found the dress for me! I cannot describe it, nor put pictures on, because Jason (my good-lookin' fiance) reads this blog. ;) I'm on to you Mr. Lee. ;D (LOVE YOU!!!)

ANYWAYS...... I'm super happy with it!! I love how it looks and feels and fits! :D

As of yesterday, Saturday, May 8th, 2010, our sealing time was set for July 7th, 2010 at 2:15 in the afternoon.

Middle of summer? Heck yeah.

Is it gonna be hot? Definitely.

Would I do it any other time? NO WAY!!!

We are very excited about this new big step! We've looked at announcement styles, trying to decide what we liked or didn't like, and Jordan (Jason's friend) is going to give us a few samples of announcements so we can decide. :)

Next things to do:
- Decide our official colors (Blue is at least one of them, we may go all the way blue)
- Setting up appointments for me for miscellaneous things
- Setting up engagement photos


Exciting exciting time!!!! :D

A Proposal...

Soo..... I have big news!!!


I'm engaged!!! To my boyfriend and best friend, E. Jason Lee!

I'm sure you all want to hear.... or I guess technically read..... about what happened, so here we go!

Thursday was a really long day. After my family science night, Jason came swooping in on the Apache Helicopter he helped build that morning. He picked me up at my house and whisked me away to a tiny island out in the middle of the Pacific, where he had set up a beautifully arranged picnic meal on a blanket. We ate the meal and were sitting watching the stars beginning to appear, when he pulled it out of thin air, like a magician. It was a ring of white gold, a large, round, solitaire diamond, surrounded by a twist of smaller diamonds. And after staring longingly into my eyes, he asked me "Will you marry me?"


Alright...... So I took some liberty. lol Okay.... That is so not even how it happened. I think it ended up being perfect how he asked me, though. Perfect and simple.

Here's the real story:


It had really been a long Thursday. After the family science night I had to go to, I met him at his house to talk about some stuff. We had cleared everything up, eaten food, and were resting on couch, relaxing and trying to destress. I had just gotten up to go into the kitchen and came to sit back down. He had jumped up, I noticed. After settling back down, I had my arms crossed across my stomach and was just resting with my eyes closed. He moved his arm, so I asked him if he was okay. He said yeah, he just had an itch. So we sat there for a little while longer. He held my left hand in his hands, and slipped the ring onto my finger. I opened my eyes and looked up at him with the expression of "Really? Is this for real?" on my face. He looked at me and asked "Will you marry me?" I paused momentarily before answering "Yes!" He asked me 3 more times that night, each time taking the ring off so that he could put it back on. He continues to ask me, each time in a slightly different way.

I love him with all my heart! He helps me see things about myself that I don't realize, and because of it, I can work on becoming a better person. It feels right being with him.

I love him! <3

A little girl

That's really all I am. I am a little girl who loses her way sometimes, gets upset over nothing, and has a lot to learn.

I'm going to need lots of help!!!


(But I am feeling better since the last post. Much better. And it's all thanks to Jason. I sometimes feel like I don't deserve having him around. He's so good to me. <3 But I love him. More than I ever thought I could love anyone.)

Boring Friday Night

Here it is, the first Friday night I'm staying home by myself for the first time in 3 months. And it SUCKS!!!

I feel like crap, to be honest. I thought I would be fine earlier in the day, but now I just feel like crap. I just want to cry. And if I keep it up, I most likely will. I got home from interning about 3 or 3:10, and got right into reading the series I am in the middle of. Yeah.... It got to be 5:30 and I was bored with it. Here it is now, almost 6 o'clock, and I feel terrible. I want to just be held, but I won't be. I'm gonna have to suck it up and just let myself cry.

Going to bed at 7pm is looking mighty good.... if I even make it to then. *sigh*

After such a good day interning, this sucks.



2 positives about today. I pretty much was in charge of the class all day (by myself, with only a little help from the teacher), and my typing speed in the student's computer lab time was a high for me of 81 wpm.


Is it tomorrow yet?

Here it is....

Time for a new blog post?..... I think so!!

Here it is! (Again, I need to update more often. lol Oh well.) (And of course, I should be working on something else..... like cleaning my room some more.... Oh well! lol)


So, I'm down to 2 weeks left of school!!! (YAY!!!! SO happy to be almost done!) Tons of projects and things that are due, but I'm almost done! I can taste the sweet victory!!! Until I start my summer courses and take the AEPA. =/ Then the stress will come back again for a bit. =/ Not looking forward to that. And come August, I'll be student teaching!!!! Graduation in December, HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 (After tons more stress. =/)


Life continues to move on. I spend all the time I can with the person I can honestly say is my best friend. I tell him almost everything, no matter how silly or serious. (No, I'm not perfect at saying what's running through my head, but it's mostly because I can't articulate what the thought/feeling was, or I want to think about it for a bit first.) The past few months (officially bf/gf for 3 months as of April 16th!) have been amazing! I don't think I've ever been happier. I've still got some ups and downs, but the ups are higher and the lows aren't so low anymore. I love spending time with him, whether it's getting up and doing something, or just sitting and cuddling. He is soooo awesome. :)


Those are the two major things at the moment. Hopefully I'll keep this somewhat slightly updated. (Maybe once a week if I'm lucky?)




By the way, CONGRATS to Kara Morris, who has finished student teaching, has already begun to substitute in schools, and is GRADUATING this MAY!!!! SHOUT OUT TO YOU, GIRL!!!! :D CONGRATS!!!!!

Sitting in class

Yes.... here I go again, needing to do something productive, and instead I'm sitting here blogging.

I've done a lot of thinking lately. About a lot of different things. I'm speaking strictly about school at the moment, though.

6 weeks. That's all there is left, really. Again, I've been surviving another semester. Sometimes I get stressed out, but I've been pretty calm this semester. Less stressed than previously, thankfully. I'm just trying to make it through, surviving school so I can student teach and get my diploma. My main goal: To graduate by December. That's it. That's all I want.... school-wise.

I am so ready to be done. I feel like I've learned a whole bunch of nothing. I'm jumping through the hoops I need to, just so I can be done, which is all I want.

Anyways.... short post so people just realize that I'm still alive. I will try to keep things updated.... may not happen, though. We'll see.

Hope everyone is doing well! (Even though you may or may not read what I've written. lol)

I've really gotten bad at keeping this updated. Although.... I have to admit I'm a little nervous to post, since I found out a certain someone..... (Yes, YOU, Jason. :P ) has been reading my blog.

School and work have been keeping me really busy lately. And spending time with Jason of course takes lots of what used to be extra time (which I don't mind at all), but I'm not as stressed as I would have been any other year. I don't know what it is. I'm a little more easy going, I don't really let my stress get to me as much this semester. Of course, there are always the bad days, but I haven't had weeks where I just want to cry my eyes out all the time. (And I have to admit I'm LOVING being happier.)

Again, another Spring Break is coming in which I will not be able to spend time with my family, even though our breaks ARE at the same time. I made some prior commitments and I'm going to enjoy my spring break, even though it won't be with my family.

I'm still taking each day on it's own (hence putting homework off until the day before). =/ I'm getting bad at not getting it done. (And I am writing this currently instead of writing an essay... Oh well. I'll get the essay done in time.) I always do better under pressure, I think.

I am loving life, loving my boyfriend, and loving the rain we had recently! These are awesome times! <3

Just a little note

So, you know I'm not doing something I'm supposed to, because I'm blogging. Well, in my defense, I've got a light headache (more just annoying pressure in my head), it's been a long day, and I can't focus on my midterm essay.... so you get a new updated post about what's happening.

School. Work. Boyfriend.

That's about it. And most often in that order.

Things are going well between me and Jason. I love spending time with him, although I feel like I'm taking him away from more important things. (I still don't see how anyone could love me. I don't look very good most of the time, I'm overly emotional, and can be very dumb.) My favorite things we've done have been watching the Olympics (almost every night) with him having his arms around me (I will admit I've fallen asleep more than once), and going to see Mary Poppins. Those are the best times. Just enjoying something together. If Wicked were here, I would really take him to see that, because it's AMAZING!!!!

Anyways, that's pretty much it. Olympics have been most of what we've done because we're both tired from school and work and things. He's made me happier than I ever remember feeling. I feel special. Worthwhile. When I know I get to see him, things just seem so much better. He's an amazing person, even though he doesn't think he is. These are some of the best times!

News Flash!!

Alright, not sure who follows/stalks me on Facebook..... but there's a reason why I haven't written anything since December.

I've got a boyfriend. (First official one ever!) And no, it's not James.... he ditched me for BYU. Jason (Yes, another J name. lol Kinda.... long story that I'm not at liberty to discuss....) Anyways, I met him briefly at a Christmas concert, and a few weeks later he asked someone we both know whether I was dating anyone, then asked for me number. Well, the first Saturday of the year was our first date.

I will admit it was a little awkward at first. But amazingly, I felt pretty comfortable around him. (It was a group date.) So the first date ended. When I was deciding about my Birthday bash that I had the day after my bday.... that turned into a double date type thing..... I felt like I should invite him. Not sure why, and if Alana hadn't encouraged me, I probably wouldn't have. XD But I did, and he came. We hit it off even more. Well, our 2nd date was set for that Saturday (9th). We went and had a lot of fun. I learned to Cha Cha. :) We then got some Sonic before heading back to my house where we chilled for a bit. And we held hands.... It actually felt nice.

Sunday, we went to the CES broadcast, and held hands almost the entire time. He got the keys to his new house on Monday, and Tuesday evening, took me to see it. Well, after we had seen it (in all it's ugly yellow color), we were driving back to my house, when he saw a field... pretty empty. We ran out onto it just because. It was pretty fun. Wednesday, we went and saw the Young Victoria.... (GREAT MOVIE!!!!) Held hands and cuddled..... as much as one can do in a movie theatre. And we pretty much saw each other for the rest of the week. I went to church with him on Sunday, as well as my own.... We've hit it off pretty well. He's a good guy, a good dancer, wonderful at piano, smart, funny, nice, gentleman-like.... etc. :) I like him.

Anyways.... long post, but that's why I haven't posted in a while. Hope everyone is having a fantastic new year! :D