17 years...Happy Anniversary!

Today is the 17th anniversary of Eric and I being married.

I remember my maid of honor going to get her hair done and locking her keys in the car (do you remember that Tracie?) and my dad cutting his finger while unfolding table and chairs.  He needed stitches, but insisted it would fine.  It rained on the morning of our wedding.  We had an outdoor wedding and I was in tears because of all the rain.  My dad assured me that it would be ok and that it was good luck for it to rain on your wedding day.  I believe he was telling the truth.

We were so young, but knew that we were supposed to be together.  Never had I ever imagined that I would get married, until I met (or re-met) Eric.  At some point while we were dating, I knew that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  I knew he would be a terrific husband, father and provider.  He has proven this over and over again.  

I remember our rehearsal dinner, where I insisted that Rev. Wade not say obey in our vows.  I knew we would alway love and honor, but also knew that we would always be in it together, holding each other up, supporting each other and making decisions together...no obeying necessary.  During the ceremony, Rev. Wade paused at the obey part, gave us a huge grin and continued on with our vows (minus the obeying).  We both looked at each other, giggled a little bit and started our life together.

Anyone who says that marriage is easy, is either crazy or not giving you the full truth.  It's not easy, it's hard work, but worth it.  Like every marriage, we have seen our share of troubles, but remembered our promise to each other always.  I hope that our 2 beautiful girls understand how rare it is these days for couples to still be together and cherish the fact that they get to grow up with both their parents present every day.  I hope they understand how sacred the union of marriage is and that it is not something to take for granted or take lightly (is that part of the vows?).  

Anyway, 17 years is a long time.  We have both grown so much, as individuals and as a couple.  We have weathered difficult times and always kept focused on what was ultimately important, our family and our love.  

Happy Anniversary Eric...here's to 17 more glorious years!

9/11

The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 was last weekend.  Many people commemorated this day with ceremonies and flash backs of where they were on that dreadful day.

9/11 was a day that changed my life.  It was not because of the tragedy that occurred in the United States, but because it was my first day stepping into a classroom as a teacher.  With all that was going on in the world on that day, I dropped my children off at school and grandmas and headed to School for Little Children to meet my new co-teacher (shout-out to Donna) and enter into my first classroom.

I remembered being completely overwhelmed with all of the events of the day.  I truly wanted to go retrieve my children and run back home for safety.  Instead, I continued on my path towards the school....towards being a teacher.

I have been a teacher for the past 10 years now.  I believe I took the right path 10 years ago.  My co-teacher has become one of my best friends...I love her dearly.  I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing educators along my journey.  Many have mentored me, inspired me, encouraged me and pushed me to be a better teacher.  I have been lucky enough to have worked with a fabulous collection of people.

After many tries at many careers, I have found my place in the working world, a place that I enjoy being every day...amongst children and their families.

I am not the teacher that I started out as, I have learned a lot, let go of a lot and evolved into someone who is thoughtful and respectful of young children, their learning and their growth in the world.

This is my belated "being a teacher" anniversary post, celebrating and honoring all who I have crossed paths with in the past 10 years and all who have been a part of my continued journey as an educator.

Back to Our Routines.

Sinobia asked why I hadn't posted any new stuff on our blog lately.

Well, we have settled back into our "back-to-school" routines.  Carpooling, swimming practice, 5 am wake-ups, making lunches, gymnastics, Actors Gym classes, auditions, rehearsals, board meetings, parent nights and open houses, oh yeah, did I mention work.  None of this is too exciting...we're just back to our regular lives.

Don't get me wrong, I love my regular life.  It keeps me happy, busy, involved and often times cranky and  tired.  I wouldn't change a thing about my crazy life (except for maybe getting a few more hours of sleep).

Everyone seems to have settled back into school quite nicely.  Sinobia is loving middle school,  Gabby has declared that Junior year is going to be "a lot of work!", Eric is working hard to keep the tech stuff running smoothly at the high school and I am getting to know my new crew of kindergartners in my classroom.  Dinner time is filled with stories from our day, as we are at 3 different schools amongst us.

Saturdays are like a gift...sleeping late, pajamas, watching TV!

Sundays are now back to being dedicated to laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the house and mentally preparing for Monday.

Life is good.

The First Day of School!

Today was a big deal...the first day of Middle School for Sinobia!  In classic Sinobia style, she made sure everyone saw her coming in her bright yellow jeans!

Junior year for Gabby this year... AP classes, college visits, SAT and ACT tests!  No bright jeans, just Gabby being Gabby, cool, confident and comfortable.

Big day for mom too...this was the first year that I did not shed a single tear on the first day of school!  I was feeling a little tear tug this morning, but contained myself for fear of embarrassing the children:)

My Cousin Clint

Yesterday I attended the funeral of my cousin Clint.  Clint was young and his death was unexpected.  My heart is heavy because Clint and I were in a fight/disagreement when he died, we had not spoken to each other for some time. 

The reason for our disagreement is irrelevant now.  The fact is, Clint loved his family with all his heart and he attempted to reach out to me and mend things between us. I was being my usual self, stubborn, and did not accept his advances to make-up.  I had thought about it a lot, and I knew that I loved him dearly and  one day we would come to terms with our difference of opinions and get back to the way things used to be.

The tragedy in my thinking is that I assumed we had more time. I assumed that there would be a tomorrow for Clint and that I could take my time to let my anger subside and forgive.  I took the gift of time for granted and lost out on the opportunity to reconnect with my cousin.  I feel like an awful person.  I let my pride and anger cloud my judgement.  I pushed forgiveness aside for a moment too long.  I have learned a lasting lesson in a terrible way.

It's too bad that most of our eye opening and profound wisdom comes when it is too late.  All week I have been mindful of every time I part from those I love and cherish.  I want them to know that I love them when we part.  Was I mad at the girls when I put them to bed?  Did I kiss Eric goodbye when I left for work?  Did I say "I love you" when I hung up the phone with my mother?  I never want to feel this way again, I am filled with guilt.  I never want to have to experience this again, the feeling of knowing that I will not have another opportunity to tell someone that I love them. I have learned that there are no "do-overs". 

I hope that Clint's spirit is standing over my shoulder, reading my thoughts and my blog. In fact, I truly believe that his spirit knows that I truly loved him and that I was on the road to forgiveness. I believe he knows the anguish I feel for what has transpired I know that he has forgiven me, he already had it in his heart to do so.

Why am I purging myself on my blog?  Because, I needed to get these thoughts out and put them to words.  I needed to remind myself out loud to cherish the time I have with those I love and to open my heart to forgiveness.  I needed to share my late and tragic wisdom with others, to spare a few hearts the pain I am feeling.

The end of Summer (for Mom).

Yesterday marked the end of my summer vacation.  I'm returning to work today to prepare my room for my  little kindergartners that will be joining me at school in a week. 

I have been waking up with headaches the last few days and just not feeling well.  Eric asked me if it could possiby be anxiety about going back to work.  Humm...I hadn't thought about it that way!

Anyway, I went out of summer with a bang, taking the girls to an end of the summer concert to see Katy Perry.  We all had a blast!  It was a fantastic concert.

I rolled into bed a little past midnight, way past by school night bedtime.  Much to my suprise, I jumped out of bed this morning ready to go.

The girls still have another week of summer vacation left.  My guess is they will be doing some sleeping in, getting in some TV time (before the TV rule begins to be strictly enforced) and beach days before it's all over for them.

Thanks for spending your summer with us.  I''m looking forward to some great back to school blog entires!

Home-Sweet-Home!

Day #12 and we have arrived back home in good old Evanston, Illinois!  We're just a little tired and hungry, but we are mostly glad to be back at home so we can sleep in our own beds.  The girls counted it up, and during our 12 day road trip, we slept in 6 different beds!  I'm anticipating some grand sleep tonight!

We thoroughly enjoyed our summer vacation!  Sinobia noticed that I had not written about any of our fights in the car or how we occasionally got on each others nerves.  Yes, I admit, we did have quite a few of those moments...what family wouldn't?  The fights were not the highlights of our time together.  We shared most of the highlights with you as we chronicled our trip.  Thanks for following along with us:)

Back to our regular lives tomorrow...work, Dr's appointments, unpacking, laundry, school supply shopping and Chipotle!

Our Last Day of Vacation:(

Day #11 of our Aiden road trip and we are stuffed from dinner and exhausted from our day in DC.  There was more walking, some train riding and visiting museums today.

We explored several Smithsonian Museums, The International Spy Museum and the Capital Building.

We are so tired...too tired to eat our last Georgetown Cupcakes (they will make a great breakfast tomorrow). 

Off to bed.  Back home (home-sweet-home) in the morning!

Washington DC

Day #10 of our Aiden road trip and we are in Washington DC!  There is plenty to do and today we walked a little over 5 miles checking out monuments, attractions and landmarks.

Our first stop this morning?  Georgetown Cupcakes and coffee from TLC's DC Cupcakes TV show.  There was a short line, but it was so worth the wait!  Today is auntie Stephanie's birthday, so we ate a cupcake in her honor (Happy Birthday Stephanie!) and then bought a dozen to snack on in our hotel room:)

After cupcakes, coffee and strolling down M Street in Georgetown, we headed up to Georgetown University to check out the campus.  We sat through an information session, took a tour of the beautiful campus and then had lunch at one of the campus restaurants.  From Georgetown University we headed over to Howard University to explore their campus.

This is where all the walking begins.  Next stop...The White House, photos in front and of course the gift shop for postcards and magnets!

The Washington Monument came next.

Jefferson Memorial.



Lincoln Memorial.

We were sad to find out that the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial will not be opened until the end of August.  Eric and I decided to try to get a glimpse of it even though it is still under construction and fenced off.  The girls were not so adventurous and sat this one out (resting their feet on the lawn).  Much to our surprise, we were able to get an awesome view of the memorial (without climbing the fence)!

We have headed back to the hotel and of course, Sinobia is in the pool!  There will be a little late-nite dinner, cupcakes and movies before bedtime.  Another full day awaits us tomorrow!

(We avoided the rain today.  There was a rainbow behind the girls that I was trying to capture in the picture)

We're on the Move Again!

Day #9 and we were sad to leave Clifford, Ollie and Doris.  We haven't visited them in a long time and truly enjoyed our short time together. There are always tears when we leave their house.  There is no describing the love and nurturing that we get from them each time we come to Hamlet. 

Thank You Clifford, Ollie and Doris.  We Love You!

Today we are heading to our Nations Capital...Washington, DC.  We are planning to do a little site seeing and possibly visit a few colleges while here.

This evening we walked downtown Georgetown and had a little late-nite dinner.  It started pouring down rain as soon as we entered the restaurant!  Luckily for us, our timing was just right.  As soon as we were finished eating the rain stopped.  We took off walking (very briskly), hoping to make it back to our hotel before the rain came down again.  We made it!!!