Daphne!

Hello everyone!
I am terribly sorry for not updating this! Life here has been crazy busy and I know this won't get you completely updated but at least this will give you an insight into the most important part of our life right now: our baby girl!!

Daphne- We have had Daphne for almost 3 months now and she has been exhausting, enlightening and most of all, delightful. The Friday prior to picking her up, we re-read the puppy books, set up her crate and cleaned the house from top to bottom. We barely slept that night because we were so excited and on March 1 we finally picked up our little Daphne from the breeder. Unfortunately, this day also happened to be one of the coldest March days on record. The wind was blowing and it was about forty below with the wind chill so we packed the car full of blankets and cold weather gear. We headed out to the breeders at 9:00am and began the process of picking out our dog. It was between her and another puppy and we spent almost two hours making our decision. She was friendly, cuddly and very sweet and so we picked our little girl with a heart shaped patch on her neck. We packed her up in her little blanket and headed home. She slept most of the way home and was not happy to be out in the frigid air when we got back but she did seem to enjoy eating the snow. That day was very sleepy here and she only occasionally woke up but she was very shy and sleepy on that first day. That night Anthony's mom arrived to visit and help with the puppy and we got ready for our first night with the puppy. We put her in her crate and she whined most  of the night. Every whine caused panic in us and we took her outside about 8 times.

The next few days were exhausting. Daphne would get up every hour or so and whine to go potty and I got very little sleep. We saw the vet on that Monday and in their hurry to just get us out, the vet barely listened to our concerns about her sleeping or potty habits. Each night I would dread going to bed because I slept alone with the dog in the guest bedroom and she was up all the time! Flash forward a week to our vet visit and we find out she had a bladder infection! No wonder she was up all the time! So we got her on medication and after two weeks she was back to normal. Now that she is almost 4 months old she is doing so much better and I do not threaten to take her back every other day! She knows a few commands and last week we got a bell to better potty train her. Since she learned to ring the bell when she has to go, we have been accident free! (knock on wood!) She has such a big personality and we love her more everyday. Anthony is so cute with her because he is a very protective daddy. He loves playing with her and she loves chasing him around the house. She has us trained well because she refuses to take a nap unless she is cuddled up on our legs.

February Updates

Forget that last post! I found my document! Horay!!!!

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post but there is a lot happening in our lives, both good and not so great, and time is sure flying by! Here are some updates about our lives:

Teaching- Subbing has really picked up in the past few weeks! I have been at Central Catholic a lot and I love it there. It is a smaller private school and I have really taught a variety of subjects. I have taught English, Gym, Religion, Chemistry, Physics, and today I was back in AP English.

Negatives of Subbing-

1) Teaching a subject that I am not familiar with or that I really hate (grammar) is very difficult. I love teaching but when students ask me questions about these subjects and I don’t know, I feel terrible. I don’t want to lead them astray and there is only so much that a teachers addition textbook can do!

2) Also, I hate teaching lessons I didn’t plan because I don’t know what to expect, I don’t know how things are supposed to go and sometimes it is really hard to teach a lesson that I feel could be presented better. As a sub, I don’t want to alter the plans left for me because that is what the teacher wants the students to learn and I don’t want to offend the teacher by adding my own spin but when the kids are getting frustrated or out of control, it is difficult to follow the lessons.

3) Sometimes there are no lessons and that also makes things interesting. Last Wednesday when I was subbing for religion, there were no lesson plans left for me because of a sudden illness. Thank goodness the office had a video for me to show but I had to fake my way through the introductions and it was interesting to say the least.

4) Cell phones drive me crazy! Honestly, it would not be a big deal to me if there is some cell phone use for academic purposes like looking stuff up quickly and I know that kids are going to use their phones because I did when I was in school. However, when I say put away your phones at the beginning of class and most of the class just turns them face down on their desk, that makes me mad. When I specifically state put your cell phones away and they continue to blatantly use them, I feel incredibly disrespected and I would like to smash some phones. I am going to have to get tougher and start taking some phones.

5) I feel like I am walking a tight rope between being too lenient and too strict. As a sub, if you are too lenient, the students walk all over you and you cannot control the class. If you are too strict, the students feel the need to rebel and become even more defiant and they don’t want to listen. Finding the happy medium is tough.

6) Lastly, there is little to no accountability that you can have over the students. As a real teacher you automatically have more authority and students respect you more because you are there everyday. Also, if students get talkative or difficult, you can move their seating chart, take points off their grade or give them detention or somehow hold them responsible. As a sub, there is very little I feel like I can do to hold them responsible. I can move them but even that is a struggle because they then get angry or sassy and act out in revenge. I don’t care if some students don’t like me because I know that will happen because that is the nature of the beast. However, I do not like being disrespected or when students flat out don’t listen or do the opposite of what I say and there is nothing I can do to stop that.

Positives of subbing-

1) Teaching at the same small school allows me the chance to learn names and students. I know who to watch out for, who will be chatty, who will be helpful and honest and what classes to drink extra coffee for. The students also learn who I am and we can have fun with each other. Being a sub in a new class, especially a talkative class, I don’t get to be nice or fun because I feel like I have to establish myself as an authority figure and if I joke around, they won’t listen. However, when I know the class and they know me, we can have more fun with each other and we can get along without me having to raise my voice. Central has been fantastic and I love the class sizes, students and staff. In one class today we had a 5 minute discussion about the best Disney movies and they knew the ones I grew up with! It was amazing!

2) I was also at a public high school on Friday and that was really fun because a lot of the kids I know from the youth center were in my classes and they were very fun to have. I also worked at the youth center that night and the kids got to talk to me about how class went and what happened that day. One girl asked “Ms. Hannah, how did you know we were trying to sneak out of class early!?!?” to which I replied “It wasn’t that long ago that I was in high school, I know the tricks.” It was fun being able to recap the day in a more relaxed way where they could talk to me in a more personal way. They are good kids and I really enjoy working with them.

All together, I love working with these kids but I would give anything to have my own classroom and some consistency in my life. Last Friday I made the mistake of sleeping in and thinking that I wasn’t going to get called to sub. Wrong! I got called while still in bed and had to fly around the house frantically getting ready so I wouldn’t be late to teach. I definitely will not make that mistake again!

Anthony- Life has not been easy for Anthony lately. As I said in my last post, Malmstrom is like the Crucible meets the Red Scare right now. After the original 34 people were found for some sort of involvement in the cheating scandal, the investigators then decided to throw the book at everyone and  make everyone’s lives a living hell. So, people started getting called in and questioned about it and now the number is in the 90’s of people being investigated, although most of those people have nothing to do with it. Among those wrongly accused and royally screwed over is my dear husband who wouldn’t do anything that even felt morally wrong. This is a man who got mad at me for stealing bath soaps from the maid cart as we were leaving a hotel. On January 20th he was called into the head people’s (OSI- Office of Special Investigations) office to be questioned about the events that had happened. Smartly, he said he wanted a lawyer before he answered any questions because we have heard that they try to trap and manipulate you into implicating yourself or others, even if you didn't do anything wrong. Although he is completely innocent, his phone was still taken and he is not able to go out on alert until this whole matter is resolved. Needless to say, this did not make my birthday a very happy day. Everyone was very stressed and upset about whats going on. We know many people in this situation and it just makes me sick that their lives and futures in the air force may be completely compromised just because some people got over zealous in their investigations and started accusing innocent people. I say this because even if these people are cleared, they still were implicated in the matter and even that can damage their opportunities for advancement. Anthony is the hardest working person I know and to see him dragged through the mud like this is heartbreaking. When this all first happened he asked what is the point of working hard and trying if you are just going to get pulled into something like this and treated like a criminal and your whole career is gone. He has been pretty down since this whole thing happened so please keep him in your prayers. If you know him, you know that he definitely didn’t do anything wrong and that is why this whole investigation has become a joke. We hope he gets to go back to work soon because for now, he and everyone else accused are doing odd jobs around the office that no one else wants to do so his life is not very fun right now. He still doesn’t have his phone back but things could be worse, some people got their computers taken as well as their phones. I told him that if they try to take my laptop, they will have to take me too because I am not letting this thing out of my sight. It cost too much and I do not trust them. I may be arrested but I do not go down without a fight. Things for those who have not been accused are not easy either. Many are going out to the field more often and for longer periods of time because there are so few people who can actually work. Many people have been going on 48-hour alerts and 48 hours in a dark, and from what I hear, smelly hole underground sounds terrible. The really hard part about this is hearing the gossip on base. Thursday I was at a spouses club meeting and some of the wives were talking about how unfair it was that their husbands had to go on alert while the criminals weren't doing anything and still getting paid. I tried to politely correct her by saying they are still working but what I really wanted to do was take my plate and smooth her face in my pasta. It took everything in me to not to scream at her and it was only because I love Anthony that I was able to bite my tongue because I don't want to get him into any more trouble. Hopefully he will be cleared soon and leadership will realize they made a huge mistake accusing everyone and their mother but for now all we can do is pray and thank God for the people here. Our friends on base have really been supportive and we cannot thank them enough for all they have done to help us during these stressful times.

Puppy!- To end this post on a positive note, we are officially getting a puppy!! She was born on January 20^th and she is a little beagle! We get to pick her up on March 1^st and we could not be more excited. Last night we went to pet-co and bought a bunch of stuff for her and we started to prepare our house for her. We had a lot of fun playing with the different toys and looking at the cute outfits! We have decided that she is going to be chewy from Star Wars for next Halloween and Anthony was excited that we got her a Vikings dog tag. We have had lots of fun reading about puppies and training and we are definitely learning a lot! The puppy came at a perfect time because it gives the both of us something to look forward to and it will help distract from everything going on. Her name will be Daphne and we are counting down the days until we can bring that little bundle of joy home.

Puppy Visit!

Today we were able to go and visit the breeder where we will be getting our little girl. Her litter is growing fast and we were so happy to be able to play with all the cuties before they go to their new homes. One of these little nuggets will be coming home with us in just 2 short weeks!

Anthony's favorite little girl!

My pick! We both picked the little runts of the litter

Nice and warm back in their little home. We are counting down the days until she comes home!

Technical Difficulties

Well everyone,
I promise I have not forgotten about this blog. While subbing on Monday I spent my 2 study hall periods writing a 3 page word document that I was going to copy and paste here. I was very excited. Tuesday I went to find that document and make a new blog post and surprise! The word document was completely blank!! I don't know what I did or what happened but somehow my 2 hours of work was gone in an instant! Great!! So, I spent Wednesday sulking about my missing post (and cleaning the house like a mad lady) and today I came to realize that my hard work was not going to be found. So, I am working on a new post with updates on our life but for now do not be sad, I have not forgotten you!  I will post this weekend because I have 3 days completely off! No subbing, no youth center and no Sunday School for 3 whole days!! I don't know what I am going to do with myself.

Wish me luck tomorrow! I am chaperoning a dance at the youth center… God help me!

Challenges and Triumphs

Well, it has been a while since my last post and I am sorry! Here are some updates about our lives!

Working: My last post I talked about starting subbing at the public schools and I was so excited to get started and get into the schools. I started right before Christmas break so for the two weeks that school was out, I worked at the youth center, which was awesome. Right before break I also got a raise at work so it made my time there even better! But, eventually break had to end and I eagerly awaited the Monday when school started again. So, I woke up at 6:30, got ready, had my coffee and waited. And waited. And waited. The call never came. So, I figured that it was the Monday after break and teachers did their best to make it to school to start the new year off with their class and that is understandable. Well, it has officially been 2 weeks since school started and I have been called a zero times. Every morning I go through the same process and 8:00 rolls around and I am disappointed again. I had heard that Great Falls desperately needed subs and people made it seem like I would be called every day and unfortunately that has not been the case. Now, this is great on the days that Anthony is home and I get to see him or when I need to run errands or do chores. However, this also means I am not getting paid and my time at the youth center is down to only Saturdays. Subbing is the most frustrating job that I have had because I never know if I am going to be working tomorrow or if it is worth getting up so early just to sit on the couch and watch HGTV. I kept having nightmares that I missed calls for work and for the first week I barely slept because I would get so nervous about what the following day would bring. The human resources office told me that those who are most available will get priority so I stopped working during the week at the youth center. They also told me that licensed teachers get priority in being called it but I have not been called. I have done everything they recommend and yet I am still on the couch. They said that subbing is the best way to get your name out there for consideration for future positions but how can they know my name if I am never working in the schools? I was getting very frustrated and I kept praying for God to help me find my path and even though it pushed the boundaries of my patience, He gave me a nudge in the right direction.

Before Thanksgiving I had submitted my application to Great Falls Central Catholic High School for subbing as well. They did not call me and I had kinda given up hope that I would be working there. Finally, this week I got a call from the principle asking if I was still interested in working there. I could have screamed I was so happy. So, Wednesday I attended Virtus training put on by the Catholic Church about protecting children and today I am turing in my paperwork and hopefully I will start next week! The great thing about working at Central is that they are a small school and often give you a day or two of notice before you sub, unlike the public schools who call you the day of. Also, Central is small so I have a good chance of getting to know the kids better and getting to know the other teachers. I will be available to sub at both the public and private school so hopefully between the two, I will get more work!

Catechism: So, for the past couple months I have been teaching Religious Education (Sunday school) to 5th, 6th and 7th graders and I have really loved it. My class is growing and they are a really great group of kids and we have a lot of fun together. As you may remember, this class was a bit of a surprise but I knew that I was needed so we have made the best of it. However, now that I am teaching they would like me to become a certified Catecist, meaning I have to take a class online. I didn't think this was going to be that difficult, maybe some readings or answering some questions but nothing too major. I was wrong. I am enrolled in what feels like a college class. It is a 6 week program that each week requires: 6 discussion posts addressing 2 separate topics, chapter readings, quizzes, pre and post tests, online readings, essays and videos to watch. Wow. This was especially difficult because I have not done professional writing in almost a year and writing essays was something my brain was just not prepared to do yet! I am a little frustrated with this whole process because they practically are begging for Sunday school teachers but then they throw something like this at us and it makes it very difficult to actually help out. I am happy to help on Sundays and prepare lessons but this is a volunteer position and I did not expect that there would be this much work involved. I am very happy that I am not working now because I don't know when I would find the time to complete this class otherwise. I hope that I will learn a lot from this class and I hope that it will help me be a better teacher so I am keeping an open mind. Between this and the Virtus training, I think I am going to be an expert!

Socializing: Lately, I have really been trying to get to more spouse functions, especially because I am not really doing anything else to socialize with people. Last week I went to the Bunco club, On Tuesday I attended the Books Made into Movies Club and last night we had our monthly spouses social where we played Bunco again. I forget how much fun I have with these ladies and I am glad that I am starting to get back into the club. For a while I could not attend much because I was working until 7:30 at night and by the time I got home, the clubs were over or I didn't feel like going out again. It is nice to once again be with people who I can relate to and I really would like to make more of an effort to really get to know some of these ladies. The best part is that when Anthony is on alert, I don't have to make dinner for myself because there is always food at these get togethers and these ladies are fantastic cooks! I hope to get more involved in the club by hosting a get together or volunteering more, especially now that I seem to have a lot of free time!

Dogs: This has been especially challenging for us. We are both very thoughtful, very thorough people and we do not make decisions lightly. These qualities are great most of the time but I will admit that they can sometimes get out of hand. I do not like to spend money and Anthony likes to make sure he has researched every aspect of what we are getting. This is why we did not buy a car or living room furniture because I could not spend the money and we could not agree on the best option. We have been seriously discussing, researching, googling, and asking about dogs for about 4 months now and we now seem to be going around in circles. We like to look at every angle and detail of every dog that we are considering and last night we realized that we may be over thinking things. We just want to make sure that we are getting the right dog for us and our situation but that has proven to be difficult. Unfortunately, the humane society here does not have many options and the dogs they do have are typically older or pit bull mixes, which we are not allowed to have on base. So we are keeping that option open but we are leaning toward getting a dog from a breeder. We do not want to get one from a breeder we have not met but everything in Montana is so spread out and Anthony hasn't had a day off in quite a while so it is hard to go and visit these places. We finally decided last night that we need to accept that there is no perfect dog and eventually we are going to have to pull the trigger and make a decision, even if that means not being completely comfortable with moving forward. Last night we set a timeline and hopefully we can come to an agreement soon!

Anthony: Anthony is doing well but he is very busy. As I'm sure you have heard, things are not great here at Malmstrom and the people that did not screw up have to pick up the slack. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this news article:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/16/air-force-34-nuclear-missile-officers-implicated-in-cheating-scandal/

Needless to say, Anthony was not involved in any of the problems but there are quite a few people here that are currently not working because of the investigations. This means that those that did not do anything wrong are now working like crazy to try to fill the gaps. This also means that everything here is being looked at under a microscope. We have a lot of eyes watching the base here and it puts a lot of stress on the people here. I feel terrible for the missileers because they work so hard every day in a very stressful job that is usually thankless and the only time they get recognized is when there is some scandal caused by a select few. It has to be hard to stay motivated and positive in your job with all of this going on. Just try to remember, when you read the news talking about some person screwing up in the military, 99% of the people are working their butts off, sacrificing everyday and doing exactly the right thing. Unfortunately, it is those few people that screw up that get national attention and make everyone else look bad.

On the bright side, Anthony will be changing jobs in February so he will be pulling alerts less and he will be working more normal human hours during the week. I am looking forward to that because I think we will get to see each other more and he will be happier and healthier having a consistent schedule for sleep and work. We can't wait for this month to be over!

Well, that is our life for now. I will hopefully update this again soon as things develop in our lives. Also, Grandma I hope you are feeling better! You are in our thoughts and prayers and I know that you will be up and running soon! Love you!

Lessons learned on my first day

Well today was the big day! It was my first official day in the schools as a substitute teacher. And I am tired!

In the past few weeks I have been dragging my feet getting into the schools. I never wanted to be a sub because the idea of it terrified me. I remember what we used to do to subs when I was in school and I just knew that to pay me back for being mean I would have a terrible experience. Plus, the whole reason I love teaching is getting to know the kids and helping them progress and grow. As a sub, you don't get to do any of that! However, I have been told multiple times that here in Great Falls you have to sub if you will have any hope of getting a full time job. So, I sucked it up and finally applied to the Great Falls Public Schools as a substitute teacher.

I got a call while I was on vacation in Minnesota for a group interview and I was terrified! I had never done a group interview before and I did not want to have to fight over other applicants to get a job. So, I polished up my resume, dressed in my best interview clothes, rocked out to some Weezer (thank you Claire!) and showed up to HR for my interview! There were about 7 other people in the interview room with me and we began by watching 3 movies about blood borne illnesses, first aid and how to be safe on the job. After about 45 minutes it was time for the interview! My hands were sweaty, I was shaking and I was frantically going through all my good answers in my mind but as we went around the table and introduced ourselves I began to feel better. It turns out that I was the only person there with a teaching license and one of two that had a degree in teaching. In Montana two years of college education for subbing are encouraged but not required to sub and a license is given preference but also not required. You can even sub as a sophomore in college! Wow! So we were all hired and told as soon as we turn in our paperwork, we will be on the list. It took me a little over 2 weeks to get everything in and once I finally turned in my Tuberculosis test and got a very unattractive ID badge, I was in the system and ready to be called!

So, Tuesday night I sat with Anthony and watched a movie but I didn't really pay much attention to the movie because I have never been so nervous in my life! All night all I could think of was how much I didn't want to be a sub, how I desperately didn't want to get called in the morning, and how there was no way in the world that I could do this! Anthony was super supportive and really helped me but there was just always a knot in my stomach. So after a nice, big glass of wine to help me calm down, I finally got about 4 hours of sleep before my alarm went off at 6…. ick!!!

So I was up, face on and teeth brushed before the sun came up and then the waiting. I was told that the call can come in as early as 5:45 so I was ready but 5:45 came and went and so did 6:45 when Anthony  left for work. By my 3rd cup of coffee I was questioning whether or not I was going to be called. Finally at 7:15 I got a call from the sub desk and it was go time! My first assignment was to be a rover at Lincoln Elementary. I spent one period in the 3rd grade classroom, and one period in the 6th grade classroom and they were great kids. I was so lucky that I was able to actually talk to the teachers I was working for so they walked me through what to teach and what to expect. I finished there at about 11:15 and headed over to River View Elementary to teach first graders. Once again, I was lucky to be able to talk to the teacher I was working for and for the most part the little ones were pretty good. A summer working at the Youth Center was the best way I could prepare for subbing and I am so thankful for that! There were a few little ones that I had to use my stern voice but overall they were adorable. How do you get angry with little ones that say you look like a princess!?! One child got a bloody nose but I made it through my first day subbing with no children running away and no major catastrophes. The day was capped off with coffee at crooked tree with a friend and wine and Christmas movies with Kim!

Well I learned quite a bit from the first day subbing. It was terrifying, exhausting and very exciting. Most of the day I had no idea what I was doing or where I was supposed to be but as long as the kids didn't know that I was absolutely lost, I was doing alright! Just one more day until Christmas break! Hopefully I will be able to post this weekend and update everyone on our lives outside of the schools! Only 6 more days until Christmas!

Christmas time in Montana!

It's Christmas time in Montana! Here are some ways that I have decorated our new house! It has been slightly challenging because we are starting from scratch with all of our decorations but thank you so much to everyone who has sent us Christmas cheer in the mail!

Our Christmas card holder! There are little clothes pins along the string of lights to hold the cards!

My stocking! I glued a high heel ornament to a blank bottom and bought the sparkly stocking

A big thank you to my aunt for our very first Nativity set. It looks great by the tv! (Yes I took this while Anthony was watching the Bears game on Monday night)

Our little trees looked so cute yesterday! Then Montana wind kicked up and almost completely covered them… I think I will have to continually dig them out of the snow but it is worth it!

Thank you to Mom for the musical advent calendar and aunt Kathy for the beautiful vase!

Our cute little tree! I had it from college so it is a skinny thing but it does the job!

My favorite decoration so far. I found a Darth Vader ornament and glued it to a blank stocking holder and then found a Darth Vader stocking! Anthony is a very happy camper! 

Our back porch! I had to get a little creative with how to keep the lights up but it looks very festive back there at night! The top lights are kept up with Christmas ornament hooks!