My Babies



My babies: Cocoa, Jack and Midnight (cat)

 I took a cute pic of all three of them together.. They all had their eyes closed when I snuck up to take a picture... but as you can see... My sneaking didn't work too well on two of them. LOL! Have a great day! A-Z Challenge starts tomorrow. :)
Ang

Graduation and life

So today, I applied for graduation and student teaching. I graduate Dec 15th of this year. I cannot wait! I wont be walking although I kind of want to. But my school is located in Pensacola, FL and I live in AZ. My family in FL lives like 8 hours from the school so its just not worth it to me. However, I will be buying a tassel because I want one and I figured out how to buy one today without buying the cap and gown.

Its been 5 years since I graduated high school, 3 since I graduated with my AA.(If you are wondering why it is taking me so long, I changed majors so that put me behind by a lil over a year.) So I think its about time. I am 22 and 3 months after I turn 23, I will graduate with my bachelors degree in Exceptional Student Education and Elementary Education with minors in ESOL and Reading. I cant believe by Christmas I will have graduated 3 times... I am finally done!!! I am considering going on for a masters in ESE, but at the same time, I haven't decided yet...

Here are some Graduation photos from the past. :)

High School Grad June 2007

High School Grad with my parents June 2007

 A.A. in Spanish Grad May 2009

A.A.in Spanish, Grad May 2009

~LIFE~

Ok, so you are probably wondering what else is going on in my life huh?
 Well for starters, we get the keys to our new home on Wed... yes, just 6 days away. I am very excited about that, yet its driving me crazy because of all the work I have yet to complete.

Mikel's back is still bothering him.... Nothing has worked so far. They are sending him to a ruematologist (sp?), hopefully that Dr. will help...
Oh and speaking of doctors, I went to the hospital Tuesday night due to severe ear pain. I was diagnosed with an ear infections and given pain meds and antibiotics, I seem to be doing better. 

I am not really reading anything but school book as of right now due to classes and not having extra time.

My animals are driving me crazy as when I clean they are right behind me messing things up.. :(

Anyway, I hope your week has been going well! As of right now my goal is to post on here at least once a week. With everything going on, its hard for me to remember to, so please be patient with me!

Ang

The Grand Canyon

So today, we spent all day at the Grand Canyon and boy was it amazing!!! It was beautiful! I took over 300pics today. I am so happy we got the opportunity to go. I have now seen the big trees in Cali and the Grand Canyon.... Hmmm What will be next????

Other than the Grand canyon, there was lots of snow everywhere which  of course, being Floridians, we had to stop and play in.  Our puppies were funny in the snow, they couldn't decide what to do. They ate it and then played in it. It was really funny in one of the places we stopped to play in the snow, they sunk all the way in the snow. I wish they would have stayed still long enough for a picture but oh well. LOL!

 The above are just a few of the picture we took today. :)

Looking at the Grand Canyon made me meditate on God and his greatness. Seeing the "Grand" Canyon made me think about how big or GRAND my God is... I mean, he is bigger than the grand canyon which is HUGE!!!!!Sitting here writing this brings tears to my eyes. So many times I put God in a box, meaning God is somewhat smaller and can only affect somethings. He controls everything and is way bigger than any problem I have! Sometimes, that is hard to remember... How Great is our God? Greater than we will ever know or understand!!!!
Now I will leave you with a youtube video of the song "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin. Pay attention to the lyrics. :)

 

Happy New Year from me!
Ang

100th Post and Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do you put Christmas decorations in every room of your house? If not every room, what rooms do you decorate?

My family always decorated at least the living room. Now that I am married and on my own, I decorated all but the bedrooms. Even the bathroom has Christmas rubber duckies.

2. If you could visit one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) which one would you choose and why?

Ummmmm…. I am not sure. I think It would be fun to visit them all!

3. What does the word faith mean to you?

Faith is believing without seeing. Faith without works is dead.

4. You can go back to your childhood for one day...what day and age would you choose?

I think I would go back to the day my baby brother was born. I was 11. 

5. When did you last have 'punch'? If it's not too much trouble share your favorite punch recipe.

My wedding day. May 14^th of this year. We used Hawaiian punch (the blue kind), sherbet and ginger ale. I am not sure of the exact mixture I would have to ask the friend who made it for us. It was amazing although I could only have a little taste due to it having so much sugar. 

6. Do you fill stockings at your house? Are stockings opened before or after the bigger gifts?

In my family, we always opened our presents before Christmas. Starting the week of Christmas we would begin opening them. By the time Christmas day was here all we had left was our huge stockings full of a great mixture of things. This year however, since it’s just me and the hubby, there are going to be no stockings unless you count my pets stockings. LOL!

7. What takes your breath away?

Standing on the top of a mountain and looking down and seeing all that God created. 

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

This is my 100th post. :) YAY!!! LOL! 

This week: 12/9

~School~

I am out of school but have been studying for my teacher certification exams. I really want to pass the first time! I have to study about 20pages a day to get though all the material. I take my first exam in 32 days. Just a little over a month from now. I am worried, but at the same time I know God has it all under control!

~Life~

Lets see... Life right now is good. I am tired LOL! On black friday we bought a new TV. We had a 19" TV now we have a 32". There is a big difference! LOL! My hubby and I both race to the mailbox each day because we know our Christmas presents are coming in the mail and we want to be there and try to open them before the other says we have wait till Christmas. LOL! yes, we are silly.

~Pets~

My pets are their usual rambunctious selves. The cat has currently ate 3 lights off of our prelit tree. :/  He is such a silly cat! He has been taking his stocking off of the wall. Yes, we got our pets stockings. LOL! Cocoa and Jack are crazy and like to run around in circles, but thats ok LOL!

~Cooking~ 

As you have seen, I have been having fun cooking yummy meals for the hubby and I. Trying to eat healthy is hard. Lowering my carb intake makes me feel like I am starving!!! LOL!
Christmas Day: As of right now, I am planning on making a yummy ham covered in pineapples and splenda brown sugar, along with mashed potatoes and other bad for you but so yummy to eat foods. :D

~Reading~ 

I am currently reading the book Monster by Frank Peretti. So far it has my attention and I hate putting it down.

~Winter/Christmas~

Right now it is a lovely 41 degrees outside. But it actually isnt too bad. I have gotten used to it. :) The high today is 63 with the low being 37. Its pretty cold at night/early morning. But during the day the hot desert sun is out to keep you warm!

This year for Christmas I am not sure what we are going to do. As of right now, our plan is to enjoy our first Christmas together married alone. I am hoping to buy some old Christmas movies like frosty and Rudolf the red nosed reindeer to watch, or maybe we will just watch whatever ones happen to be on TV on Christmas. I will definitely miss my family!!!

~And Now a Peanuts Comic~

Stay warm and have loads of fun looking for snow flakes that are exactly the same. ;D
Ang

Update

Ok, so I promised once finals were over I would update my blog so here goes.....

~School~

I am finally done with finals and now for the whole month of December(and part of January) I get to study for my FTCEs (Florida Teacher Certification Exam). I am taking three in January when we go back to FL for a visit... (Yes, if you didn't know, the hubby got leave and we get to go home in January from the 9th-21st. I am so excited about that!!!) OK back to the tests now... I am taking 3- Elementary Education K-6, Exceptional Student Educations K-12 and Professional Education. I really want to pass the first time, so I am going to be studying like crazy!!! For all 3 it cost me $550 and I really do not want to have to pay that again. You may be wondering why, if I am living in AZ, I am taking FL certification exams, here is the reason; I go to a FL university and the only way to begin student teaching and to graduate is to pass the FL certification exams. Plus, I hope we may live in  FL long enough so I can finish certifying there and have my professional certification to take wherever we go next.

I decided to take only twelve credits next semester instead of my normal fifteen. This is because in order to take fifteen I would have to take a class I do not need. I am taking: ELEMENTARY & SPECIAL EDUCATION INTEGRATED ARTS, CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES, ASSESSMENT & DIFFERENTIAL INSTRUCTION IN READING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL II, and SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS. 
  Then I have two summer classes, student teaching in the fall and I graduate!!!! I graduate Dec 2012! Whoot!!! I can't wait!!!!! :)

~Life~

I will tell you my exciting news first: We are moving on base in February. Currently we are living in a two bedroom apartment with 2 dogs and a kitten. We cannot wait to move on base to a 3bedroom/2bath house with a fenced in backyard for the puppies. I am so excited. Normally we would only get a 2/1 house, but they are running a special. Plus in January they are going to give us a list of 3 address and we get to go look and choose which house we want. :) I am so excited about...

We have decorated the house for Christmas. I am so happy Christmas is coming! Its my favorite time of year!!! I went Christmas shopping and bought almost all my gifts for the hubby. I only need to pick up three more. :) Here is a pic of our Christmas tree. :)

I recently started a new diet (3days ago), where I taking most carbohydrates out of my diet. I am not eating bread, noodles, biscuits etc. Right now, though I am still eating them with one meal a day. This has been very hard to do! I am eating them with one meal a day so that I don't shock my system and mess up my sugar levels. As you may know, I am hypoglycemic and although I do not eat an sugar, i have been eating tons of things that turn into sugar. I really want to loose weight so I am changing my diet to a more healthier one and trying to exercise more often. I am about 70pounds over weight which is a lot! My goal for now is to loose 50pounds in the next year. Staying on my diet is going to be hardest come Christmas. My hubby and I bought bicycles for ourselves for Christmas (they come in the 15th) and are going to work on training to be able to do a 30mi mountain trail. It sounds like a lot of work but a lot of fun once we can do it! I haven't rode a bike in a few years, so its going to take some getting used to. I am also trying to walk the dogs more often so I get some extra exercise when at home.

~Pets~ 

Yes, we now have two puppies; Jack and Cocoa. They are both very silly and like to get into everything! Jack absolutely loves paper, I call him my paper shredder whereas Cocoa loves plastic anything plastic. LOL! Midnight our kitty has gotten a lot bigger. He likes to run around the house chasing Jack and pouncing on him. they have both decided that they like each other because they are about the same size and are equal opponents. Cocoa however, is twice the size of them and beats them up... Oh well! Here are some cute  Christmas pictures of my pets. :)

~Cooking~

As mentioned above, I have began a new diet and therefore I am cooking a little differently. I am however still cooking carbs for the hubby because he is so skinny and would die without them. LOL!

~Reading~ 

I am currently in the book of Exodus. I kind of got behind in my reading due to everything with school, no that should not be an excuse, but that's what happened.

~Winter~ 

Well its finally getting cooler out. Last night it dropped into the 30s and I was freezing all night! We havent used the AC in over a month now. :) we saved $60 in electricity this month through not using the AC. One downside to that is that it can get chilly in the apartment like it was last night. Oh well. LOL!

~Any Questions?~

Let me know if I forgot to update on something or if you have any questions.... I am off to make dinner which is a roast with lots of veggies!

TTFN (ta-ta for now!~Tiger from Winnie the Pooh)
Ang

CRAZINESS!!

~Life~
Ok, So while I have time I thought I would blog for a moment. My hubby just left to the store to go pick up food for me to cook. :)
Since writing the above my hubby has returned, I made dinner and a cake for church. 


This week I have been sick. I somehow got a really bad cold. I was in bed from Sunday till Thursday. It was horrible! I am so glad my hubby was here! He took great care of me! I am so thankful he was here!!!!
Due to me being sick all week, I did not go to field experience.

~School~

School has been a lil crazy these past two weeks. Its only going to be crazier till the semester ends. I should probably be working on homework!! So many final projects due. Guess what? I found out that for sure, I only have one more semester of actual classes (Technically two because I am taking one class in the summer, but its a 16week class stretched over the summer vs. my normal 5 classes per semester. To me, I only have on more semester. LOL!) and then my internship and I am DONE!!!! I graduate DEC 2012. :D I am sooo very happy about that!

~Pets~ 

Today I painted Cocoa's  nails. I don't participate in Halloween usually (More about that probably on Halloween), but this year I am handing out candy and tracts. I painted her nails and got her a lil costume that's nothing special to wear because all the neighborhood kids love her.

Midnight has discovered that he likes going outside. It scared me today when he went outside and disappeared. We found him on the other side of the building.. silly kitty!



I dont know if I posted this, but one of my guppies had babies last week. Only 5/7 survived. But then today another guppy had babies and we were able to save one of them from being ate. I am not sure how many she had... we just found the baby in the tank and placed it in the baby net.

~Cooking~

So the last time I posted, I think I wrote about cooking for the church. I ended up making 1 large pan of lasagna, one large pan of baked ziti and one large pan of baked spaghetti, plus we made garlic bread, and two large salads. It turned out great! everyone was fed and everything went as planned. Nothing, went wrong which was surprising.

~Reading~
I finished reading the book burn by Ted Dekker. It was a really good book!!! I couldn't put it down. I lost much sleep over that book. LOL!

~Fall~
Its been very nice outside this week. Although I haven't been able to experience most of it due to being sick. I started feeling better Thursday night. We have had the windows open since Thursday night, today we have had the door open. The whole house smells like pumpkin because I have had pumpkin candles lit in every room in the house for hours. Its making me want to make some pumpkin bread.. I might sometime soon. LOL!


Anyway, Thats all I have time to write!
Happy Weekend everyone!!!!!!
Ang

Long post of Random Things

Ok, So I started this post on Friday, then the computer crashed and I lost a lot of it... So here again, I am working on it. :) 

~Field Experience~

So I am now at 56.75hrs of field experience. :) That's a little over half way through. :D This week for the schools here is fall break so no field experience this week. 

In the next two months I will be teaching three lessons. I haven't decided yet whether I want to do reading, or math 5th grade, or math 4th grade. I am leaning more towards two reading lessons and 5th grade math...

This week in field experience I got to do a lot of assisting the students. I sat outside of the classroom just me and the students and helped them work on their tests and their assignments. The students we have sometimes just need to be reminded repeatedly to go back to work. Some of them have to have someone sit beside them reminding them constantly to get back to work. One of our students is really cute.. He will sit in the corner and cover up his face with the book, all the time telling me he is reading.... When I walk over to him and tell him he is not allowed to sleep.. He smiles at me (one of those big irresistibly cute smiles) and says but I'm so tired.... (Sorry, cute little boys make my heart melt... I am so afraid of having a son. LOL!) It was so hard not to smile back and to tell him he has to read his book.

~School~ 

I have midterms this week so last week was spent turning in projects and then studying... Which is why I didn't blog as much... But I thought I could take time out today to blog. :) My classes are going good, I have an A in all but one class. I am happy about that! 

~Arizona~

It is pretty cool here in AZ. It was 63 degrees when I woke up... 90 is the high for today. I love looking up at the sky here. There are sooo many stars in the sky! Also, with it being cooler the sky has been blue with white fluffy clouds. I <3 it! LOL! The skies look amazing in the evening as well! One day last week it was so much cooler out I got to wear long sleeves.

~Life~

Lets see, this past week has been a little crazy because Mikel has had to be at work at 4:30am... However this week its 7am which is a little better. (last week he was pretty grumpy because he wasn't getting enough sleep.) 

So I thought this was very cute!

 This Sunday is our families week to make the lunch for church. We are making Italian foods; a pan of baked spaghetti, baked ziti and lasagna with salad and bread and butter. Its going to be a lot of work for just me and my hubby to make all that food for the church... but we can do it! 

Last weekend... that is Sunday, we finished building our bed frame. I am so happy our bed now has a bed frame. :) 

Before and After of the wood we finished

Mikel getting ready to drill and put the screws in.

The Screws are now in and everything is attached.

Everything done

Everything done and set up in our bedroom

Set up in the bedroom

Bed all set up and made with my handmade quilt from Holloway's Country Home

 (Holloway's ~ Also known as my grandma's shop)

 ~TV/Movies~ I am excited that Psych's new season starts tonight! I really like watching that show. I really want to watch the movie Courageous.

~Pets~

Monday we got some new fish and two crabs... I LOVE the crabs they are sooo cool!!!! 

Opaline Gouramis

Algae Eaters

Gold Gouramis

Honey Sunset Gouramis

Feeder Fish (for crabs to eat)

BOB

Larry

 Cocoa was sick last week. She ate a bunch of people food... however, she is now starting to get back to normal. She was having a lot of digestion problems....

Midnight, today I found attacking one of my stuff animals... I was kind of surprised because he was eating it... I guess he thinks hes part puppy. LOL! I wish I had gotten a picture of that.. Midnight has decided that he is supposed to be on my shoulder when ever possible. The other day he jumped from the couch to my shoulder while I was standing... Silly Kitty!!!

~Reading~ 

I am currently reading through the bible using the Old and New Testament reading plan. I am also reading some out of psalms and proverbs everyday. I am only on day 13 of the old and new testament reading plan (I read Genesis 31-32 today), whereas I am on day thirty  of Psalms and Proverbs reading plan ( I read Psalm  30 and Proverbs 30 today).

You Version is awesome, it allows you to choose many reading plans and if you have a phone (any phone that allows you to download apps) or ipod you can download the app and read your bible on the go. I love it! If you want to see what I am reading here are the links:

http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/old-testament-and-new-testament ~ Old and New Testament~    http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/psalms-and-proverbs ~ Psalms & Proverbs  

My goal is also to read Monster by Frank Peretti and Burn by Ted Dekker. 

What are you reading this month?

~Hubby~

We went to the neurologist today.... He said that he just thinks its the scoliosis...  He said there is nothing neurological and referred the hubby to a reumatologist (in case he does have the genetic disorder). The MRI was clean. So that's good! We are still  awaiting the results of the genetic testing.. Pretty much, we got no where... He is still in pain and they don't know whats causing it. :(

So far he has been to physical therapy that helped only a little and now to a neurologist... Hopefully we figure out something soon! 

He really wanted this chair... It was super soft.

 BTW. I upload my pictures and put them on here as small... But if you click on them they will open a new window and be way bigger. Just thought I would let you know in case you didn't know. :)

Well, I think that's a total update on everything! 

Ang