Student Teaching

I am on a roll with posting, so I thought that I would recap the last 5 weeks of my student teaching experience. My cooperating teacher, Brandon Honzel, is the best role model ever! I couldn't have asked for a better student teaching placement. His deep-rooted passion for teaching and science is easily detected and transmitted to his students. He has given me the confidence and guidance to take over the reins of his general science class with ease. Although, the students are mostly freshman they manage to participate in classroom discussions and activities. My classroom management techniques have been put to the test, but I set all the class clowns straight! I have gathered an overwhelming amount of teaching resources for my career, which is priceless. Let's just hope that the next 11 weeks go just as well or even better!

All packed up....

and no where to go! We decided to put our house on the market in hopes of capturing a buyer before the New Home Owners tax credit expires on April 30th. In order to list our house, we have a very large "Honey Do List" prepared by our real estate agent that needs to be completed. Ryan and I have put in many hours of overtime aka after Addie is asleep deep cleaning the house, packing up personal items, decluttering the closets, and the best is yet to come- painting! When we bought the house, in 2007, the master bedroom was sage green and white. According to Lynda (real estate guru), two toned rooms send the message of work needed to a potential buyer. With that said, our bathroom is also two-toned and will needed a fresh coat of paint. Lucky for us!! The best news is that Addie's room received a thumbs up (it is pink and white) because it is a nursery!!

If we can bust out all this painting this weekend, the house will be on the market by early next week! If anyone is looking for a cute 3 bedroom, 1 bath house close to the University in Missoula- make us a deal!!

Here is the funny thing about listing our house- we don't have a place to move to! We would give anything to be back in Idaho, but Ryan really wants one of us to have a job lined up before we move back. I agree with him, but at the same time know that we will figure it out. We are currently applying for all sorts of jobs in the Wood River Valley as well as Boise. Our fingers are crossed that the house sells in the next few months and an excellent job opportunity arises for Ryan or me. Either way, we are excited for the next stage of our life and all that comes along with change.

reno continued

As always, we never have enough time to see everyone while we are in town, but we sure try! If only we could have an extra day so at least we can just relax with Grandma and Grandpa. This trip we managed to take Addie to Circus Circus to see the "dog show", celebrate Eddie's birthday with Shele, James, and Crista, go on a double date with Sherril and Dustin, visit with Mark and Brent, have a play date with Jennifer and cousin Jackson, and have Sherril and Dustin over for dinner. That was a crazy 3 days, but it was well worth the craziness!! We surprised my parents at the airport with Ryan!! He wasn't going to come, but at the last minute we bought him a ticket. I was pretty proud of myself for keeping it a secret, because we all know that surprises aren't my thing. It was a treat to be a part of a Sierra snow storm; it really is different than a Montana snow storm. Unfortunately, I didn't pack Addie's snow gear so we didn't get to play in it. Addie was a great traveling buddy (Ryan flew back on a later flight) and an absolute joy in Reno.

We look forward to our next visit this summer.

Delta Delta Delta

Last weekend Ryan, Addie and I made a super quick trip to Reno for several reasons. Of course, we always want to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Rentsch and other family members. This trip we were lucky enough to meet up with some Tri Delt friends of mine from the college days. It is sad to admit that we haven't met Daphne Schindler prior to this and she is ONE! We congregated at Silver Peak for lunch and then headed to the Goodnights for a play date. Colby, Daphne and Addie are all within 3 months of age so it was great to let them play together. I enjoyed catching up with the girls, meeting their significant others and children. Reno never really changes--we always manage to run into so many people that we know. A good friend of ours from middle school was having her baby shower at the Peak and there were a ton of people attending that we grew up with. Congrats to Morgan and baby Olivia!!