SNOW Day!

Today was a nice break in the work week! Snow on a Wednesday. It started snowing late Tuesday night and continued throughout the night. We ended up with about 3 inches plus a little freezing rain. This time, we had enough snow to make a snowman and throw snowballs at each other. We stayed outside for a while, so it was really nice and we both had a good time. There was no wind during the day, so it wasn't as cold, plus we were quite bundled up! Whitney wants to get back out there again, which she may be able to do if Joe picks her up early from preschool tomorrow!

Identity Crisis?

So, today I attempted to get a Pennsylvania driver's license. Let's just say that I still have my NC one and I have to try again! Long story or short??? Let me just spell it out. My parents (love you guys) named me Diane Michelle Wicker and, lovingly, decided to call me Michelle. This caused me some headache during school, but not a lot, it was manageable. When I married Blaine's dad, I dropped the Diane and was from then on, on EVERY legal document, Michelle Wicker Cooper. I kept that name after our divorce and had it for about 9 years, until Joe and I married in 2006. At that point, I was faced with another name change. I did not want to be Michelle Cooper Davis or even Michelle Wicker Davis. So, I decided I would add back in my first name as my middle name..Michelle Diane Davis. All was well, Social Security Admin allowed it, NCDMV allowed it, IRS is stil taking my taxes, etc! Fast forward three years to today. The state of Pennsylvania did not like this name switcheroo and said that it looks like I am two different people. My birth certificate says Diane Michelle Wicker. My SS card says Michelle Diane Davis. UGH! I did not have a copy of my marriage license with me at the time, but I am going to go back with it and try again. Unfortunately, I waited 1 1/2 hours just to be seen over there on a Saturday. That was way fun, as you can imagine! Whitney was an angel, thankfully. We left and headed down to the Valley Square Shops to have lunch with Daddy and shop for a bit. At least that part was fun. I got her some clothes at Gymboree (mega sale, plus $25 in Gym bucks). Bath and Body Works was also having a sale, so now I have good smelling room fragrance, body wash, and bubble bath! NY and CO did not impress, much to my dismay (this is usually my favorite shop). We did, however, buy some GIRL SCOUT cookies right in the GYMBOREE!

One more note: I have the greatest job ever! This is almost as good as teaching and working magic for my students in the classroom! I am going to PETE and C(Pennsylania Educational Technology Expo and Conference) in February. I did not have to ask, beg, or anything, my boss approached me and wanted me to go! It is in Hershey, which is a bigger bonus. I can't wait..it is going to be a thrill to go to meaningful workshops and know that I can take that knowledge and information back to the Intermediate Unit and use it for good! Among other projects, I am part of the Differentiated Instruction Technology Academy at the IU (I will be leading a session on podcasting), and I will be presenting in June on Teaching Math to Diverse Learners. Exciting, exciting! I know that it my job now as a Training Consultant, but it is SO cool to be able to do this ALL the time and be my primary focus instead of just something that I do sometimes, when I have the time and am not bogged down with something else. It is SO refreshing and fun to be a part of something bigger.

Happy Day~

Congratulations to my wonderful husband! Today, a list came out from the corporate office in Charlotte that outlined the top 30 sellers in the WHOLE company (all over the US). Joe was on that list! Keep in mind that he has only been taking pictures and selling for two weeks...that is pretty darn good! So, tonight, we will try to celebrate despite the long day, knowing that we have to get up and do it again tomorrow. This is a bright spot. CONGRATS again to my wonderful husband!

Married three years today!

Today we have been married THREE years! It doesn't seem that long at all to me. We celebrated today by working, yeah fun. I actually didn't work, but had a terrbile headache that kept me in bed most of the day and Joe had to work until 7:00 tonight.
We did exchange gifts....our joint Christmas and Anniversary present was the Nintendo Wii, which we got Sunday. For individual gifts, Joe gave me the most thoughtful and best gift ever---a gift card for 1 hour at Massage Envy! I cannot wait to go! I gave him the MARIO Kart game for the Wii, which he is playing now. We plan on going out to Red Lobster tomorrow night for an evening out. We will have Whitney, but at least we will be out together. Joe doesn't have to work Friday, but I do, of course, however I should be done by 4:00 and home by 5:00.
At the risk of sounding mushy, I have to say that I am so happy Joe is my husband. We haven't always done things the traditional ways, but it works for us and we are happy. He understands me, loves me, and makes me laugh. I can't imagine life without him, nor do I want to. I love you honey! Happy Anniversary! I hope we have 100 more!

My boss' blog

Check out my boss' blog, Kelly's Curriculum Corner. She has an entry about me and the new services I will bring to the intermediate unit. She makes it sound really interesting and fun and I am REALLY excited about it! She also has a lot of other really interesting things about curriculum and education if you want take a look at that.

SNOW Angel

Our little snow angel! All weather reports predicted about 4-6 inch snow today, but sadly we only got about an inch so far! Regardless, Whitney wanted to go out and play as soon as she got up. I managed to convince her to eat breakfast first,then we suited up and headed out. We soon learned that this snowfall was not the kind that stuck together well, so we could not make a snowman or throw snow balls. I had no idea what we could do, but leave it to a child to figure it out----we could make SNOW ANGELS! That is exactly what Whitney did! She made about 14 of them to be exact! She was actually quite good at it and looked especially cute too! We missed having Daddy there to play with, but it is possible that we could play when he gets home...if we turn the outside light on!

Chinese Buffet

One way to gauge our level of settling in...whether or not we can find a good Chinese Buffett restaurant. Well, it has been done! We found the Chinese Garden tonight. It is located, in of all places, the Walmart shopping plaza :) Joe and Whitney met me there after work...I had to work late because of staff development and Joe picked Whitney up from preschool...he had the day off. He will be working this weekend, we will be sad...but he may come home early...it is supposed to snow a lot!
I have attached some pictures of our apartment in Pennsylvania. It is not bad, kinda cozy actually. We like how everything is right where we need it, real close together and everything is on one floor....no stairs (except the ones to get up to the apartment).

Assistive Tech on Ning

One month

It has been one month since we moved up to Pennsylvania! We are settling in well. Whitney started her first day of preschool today. She had a great time and talked about it the whole way home in the car. They had music class with the sticks today, made a cheerio snack for the birds, had hotdogs and fruit for lunch, goldfish and juice for snack, and even got to play outside! All that, I got right from Whitney! Sometimes when I ask her what she did, she will say nothing, or I will tell you later, but today she was nonstop! She was also completely tired out when she got home. She ate dinner and cuddled on the couch the rest of the night until bed. SO SWEET!
We had a lonely weekend while Joe was at work. That is going to be a difficult transition for me. I am used to that being our time to go places and spend together, but we will have to savor other moments that we have now. Whitney and I occupied ourselves on Saturday by going to the Promenade Shops at SAUCON VALLEY (much like Alamance crossing). It was fun, but cold! I took her to the candy store to pick out a bag of candy..lots of gummy bears, gummy worms, and M&M's. Then we strolled around for awhile and finally made it into the Barnes and Nobles where I was hoping she would pick out a book, but she opted for a set of puzzles instead! Sunday, we stayed home and she helped me clean our apartment and do laundry!

I have good news! I have finally been approved for my Level 1 Teacher certification...so now I am official. I had to take the PRAXIS again...out of 200 points, I scored 197!!!! So, that is my little pat on the back. :) I will stay at Level 1 for 3 years, then I will move to level 2 and be tenured!
Things are heating up at work...lots of trainings and workshops this month that I am involved in. My boss is going to put out info about me on her blog soon...I will link it when she posts it so you can see how she describes my job.
Well, I hope you all have a great week!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Joe, Whitney, and I traveled once again to his Mom's house for some family festivities. We started New Years Eve by going out with Joe's long time friend, Jason and his wife Jen. We went out to a restaurant and had great child free meal, with some nice adult beverages and conversation! :)
Then we headed back to Jason's for awhile before we headed to a local bar for the New Year's countdown and champagne toast. It was nice to be able to spend some time alone with my husband for a change...those days are few and far between! It was SUPER cold last night and today, not getting out of the 20s! We saw some snow on New Year's Eve, but only a dusting.

Joe starts his job tomorrow!!! WHOO HOO!!! We are excited, it will be a fun way to start the new year! Whitney starts daycare Monday, which will be good for her. She has become very bossy and temperamental lately. I think it will help to settle her a little. We had a nice blessing come yesterday to round out 2008. Joe had a flexible spending account for daycare, but we thought they had stopped taking deductions out. Just out of curiosity and since you have to use the account by the end of the year, we called to find out if there was any money left...we had $968.00!!! That will cover over a month of daycare PLUS more! What a blessing indeed! We headed to the daycare to charge that on the account before we lost the benefits. SO, thanks to that extra money, I won't have to stress too much about money for January. That extra will go into savings for the next month...

We have had some run ins with the PA Department of Transportion lately. Apparently, it is the law that new residents have to have their cars registered in PA within 20 days...well that has passed for us. On top of that, you have to get the original title for the car, an etching of the VIN #, a PA ID, etc....If you have a lien on the car (financed) then you have to ask the bank to provide the title to the tag agency temporarily...fine for my bank, but Joe's is NC based and is having a problem with that request. If they won't provide it, he may have to get his car refinanced up here to pay off the balance and get the title...very strange rules....ALSO, We have to get our PA driver's license before we can even get the tags changed, that means to proofs of ID (birth certificate and SS#) and 2 proof of residency (bills with our name and address). Well, we don't have the bills yet, because it has been less than a month and I have to get my birth certificate!!!!! So many hoops to jump through, but I am sure we will get it all worked out soon enough...hopefully before some cop stops us!

We are taking things one day at a time and hoping for the best as always! I know that God is working through us and is providing for us in these uncertain times. I pray that HE will bring some activity to the selling of our house....keep that in your prayers.

Well, we hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR and take care!