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!

The AFTER Christmas cooldown

Christmas in Pennsylvania was great, though we did not have a WHITE Christmas, imagine how much snow we would have gotten if the INCH of rain had been snow! Oh my! Joe tells me that the ratio is one inch of rain equals 10 inches of snow, so we would have had quite a lot!
Whitney got quite a few toys from Mommy and Daddy, Grammy, and Pappy, Aunts Kim and Lisa, and Grandma! She loved opening every present and even thought it would be fun to open other people's presents too. Santa managed to find us at Grammy's and also left a stash at our house....that sneaky little elf! Whitney got some money from Joe's dad and Judie, so we took her shopping to pick out a couple of more much needed toys. She chose a Disney Princess talking kitchen (originally $70, we got it for $35!), a Disney Princess cool heat oven (it makes some weird cupcake like things, but she likes it), a train set, and some bath toys. Whitney had a great time picking things out, which was fun for us too.

Blaine had a good Christmas too, though I miss him a lot. I have talked to him a lot this week and, of course, on his birthday! I cannot believe that I have a 12 year old child....does not seem possible, yet it is true. I tried to get him on a plane up here, but his dad just could not work it out with me....It also costs $100 each way for a child to be escorted by the airline and the fee has to be paid at the airport and forms filled out, etc...So, when he comes up for a long stay, we will definitely have to do that. He said he got enough money and gift cards to get his own Wii, but he decided to get something else...good thing because he would NEVER be able to find a Wii! Joe and I were going to make that our Christmas present to each other, but they are sold out everywhere! Blaine is spending a few days with my mom over the break and he goes back to school on Monday.

Whitney will be starting daycare on Monday. She is excited about it, as are we. She has been playing us to death! We love her, but sometimes we need some time away! You know there is no one to play with her but us, so she is taking full advantage! :)
All kidding aside, it has been great to be able to spend time with her over the break and have her help me with cooking and cleaning up and also playing with her dolls, pet shop, playdoh, coloring, etc..........

Work for Joe starts on Friday and for me on Monday. We will soon be getting back into a regular routine....so wish us luck as we move into the NEW YEAR! Talk to you all soon!

Today is a SNOW day! We have had snow and sleet and rain since this morning. My office closed today because of the weather, so that was a blessing that I did not have to drive in it. I am getting used to the roads around here and don't need my directions to get to work and back anymore!
We have gotten lots of Christmas cards! Thanks SO much for everyone keeping in touch! It really means a lot.
An update: Joe got a job! He is going to be working for Portrait Innovations! He is excited about doing something different and fun, plus we can get free pictures! He will start in January...so now we are hunting for a daycare.
Whitney is excited about Christmas...Joe and Whitney put up the tree while I was at work yesterday. When I got home and settled we put on some ornaments. She was putting them all in the same spot! It is a little crooked, but that is OK, at least we have one.
We are just enjoying being home together today. If we can, we will let Whitney play in the snow later but it may be mostly ice on top.
Hope you all are doing well!

SNOW!

Well, I am totally initiated into the whole driving in the snow experience and I'd say I am over it! I had to drive all the way home today in the snow and it was dark....probably would have been easier in the daylight! No getting out early...at least they prep the roads real good up here. It is still snowing...we have about 2 inches and it is still coming down, but is supposed to turn to rain later tonight into the morning as it warms up, so I may be delayed in the morning going to work.
Today was another good day at work....most of the day I was still going through the training course online, but this afternoon all the consultants got together for staff development. We have to work together and develop plans that align with different standards...so I got to show my stuff a little and be part of the process.
Joe's interview went OK. He was late because he couldn't find the place and had to call me for directions... when he got there Whitney did not behave and he had to redirect her a few times, but overall he thinks it went OK. Things happen for a reason, so we will be hopeful.
If there is still snow in the morning, Whitney may get to play in it and we will post pictures then!
We hope you all are doing well!
Michelle

We are here!

Well, we made it to Pennsylvania in one piece! It snowed off and on the whole drive up last Saturday, but it was nice. Whitney wanted to ride with Grammy and Pappy, so I drove behind them and they were behind Joe in the truck and trailer (with his car on it). We had a nice and mostly uneventful drive except for the snow. I drove almost the whole way, but chickened out with about two hours to go b/c I was worried about the snow and visibility...it was dark too. I guess we will call that my initiation to driving in the snow. We had about an inch that night and it really hasn't snowed except for flurries since then. It has definitely been cold and cloudy most of the week.
We had a lot of friends and family help us unload once we got here, so that was REALLY nice! I was starting to get overwhelmed when I could no longer manuveur around the piles of boxes, but it is much more manageable now and we have mostly gotten everything either unpacked or put out of the way to be stored. :)
I had my first day of work today! It went really well. The drive was not bad...about 30 minutes, but I need to find an alternate out of town b/c the road I went down today was really winding and not good to drive at night. When I got to work this morning, they all came out to meet me...(it was a FIRE drill!) But then I stopped by HR and payroll and then got my computer and settled in. I already have a training that I am scheduled to attend next month and one that I have a hand in presenting in January and February! I will also start working with a colleague on assessing students' Assistive Technology needs as early as Thursday! So, I am busy already...that is good though. Everyone is really nice and seem really helpful and more importantly, they are glad to have me there!
OH, forgot to mention, when I got back to my car at the end of the day, the battery was dead! I left my lights on, so I had to call ONSTAR for roadside assistance. At least they were quick and I didn't have to wait too long.
One last thing...Joe has a job interview tomorrow...think about him and pray he does well and that things go as God has planned.
Love you all and miss you!
Michelle

2 DAYS to go!

We are finishing up ALL the packing and cleaning. Joe's parents are coming down from PA today to help finish the packing and help load the truck on Friday. We found a 2 Bedroom apartment in Richlandtown PA, it is about 25 miles from work, but no more than what I drive now. The apartment is the 2nd floor of a duplex that is only 3 years old and it has a storage shed! The kitchen is really nice and there is a laundry room, etc. There is only one bathroom, but for the lower rent and the storage shed, we were willing to sacrfice the bathroom. We still have a lot of little things to get packed up...clothes, bed linens, Whitney's room, but I am certain that we will get it all done! We are excited about things to come and hope you will continue to support us and keep in touch. We love you all and are so happy to have you in our lives! Next time, I may be writing from PA!