Summer - Happened So Fast!

This summer was absolutely crazy!! The time just flew by.

In pursuit of becoming a school teacher, Bonny participated in a program through the school district called ARL (Alternative Route to Licensure). Basically, Bonny wants to teach but because her degree was in something other than education, she isn't eligible to teach unless she went through this program.

It was a long summer. Bonny was going from work to school and whenever she was at home it was focused on sleeping or studying. Austin was frustrated because they never got to spend time together. Let me tell you, nothing makes time fly faster than needing MORE time.

Less than a week after completing the ARL program, Bonny got her first job interview at a high school! She thought she botched the interview and was really stressed over it but the administrators must have heard something they liked because they verbally offered her a position in their school. The way the school district works is that the principals get to select the teachers but the school district is the agency that does the hiring. So, Bonny was informed they would put in a request to hire her and now it's just a matter of time for the official stamp of approval from the school district.

It's an exciting time for Austin and Bonny. New opportunities and adventures are on the horizon.

Riding the Waves

So, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Is it okay if I don't know yet? I originally went to school to become a crime scene investigator. Four years of hard work and lots of interesting classes. I was even lucky enough to spend a semester interning with LVMPD's crime lab. It was the best semester of my life!

I still really want to be a crime scene analyst. But sometimes life has different ideas. I graduated December 2008. I thought passing finals would be the hardest part; try graduating in a market where everyone is getting laid off!

I applied for jobs like crazy. After about a month, I was desperate for any kind of work. I applied for anything I saw; anything I even remotely qualified for. Than I got the idea that, maybe, I could look into teaching. I have a degree, what does it take? It took me nearly 8 months to get a job as a substitute teacher. Goodness that felt like a long time! Then, my mentor from the crime lab hooked me up with a job working for a company called MdE, Inc. So, I'm currently working those two jobs.

Back to my original question - What do I want to be when I grow up?

Sometimes, you can make all the plans in the world but life has a different ideas. I guess we'll just see where this adventure, we call life, takes us.

For now, I guess I'll just be riding the waves to see where life takes me.

New Chapter

Austin quit his job about two weeks ago. Seems like such a crazy thing to do in these economic times. He did it to benefit out future, so in that aspect, it was a brilliant move.

Austin was working in the A/C business, HVAC, blue collar worker, whatever you want to call it. It was a good job; it kept the bills paid and food on the table. But it wasn't a career. After much discussion and deliberation, we felt it was important that Austin explore his options and find his career. As a family goal, in the future it'd be nice to have me staying at home with the kids and Austin having a career he loves. But the only way we can obtain that goal is if we make plans to get there.

Although it's stressful, it's also a bit exciting. The future has tons of potential and that's the exciting part. We'll have an interesting/fun time undertaking this new chapter in our life.

Snow Day

Last week there was a big storm throughout the west. In the Las Vegas valley we got a lot of rain, but in the mountain we got tons of snow! After church on Sunday, we hopped in the car and took off to the mountain. As it turned out, we weren't the only ones with that idea. I have never seen Mt. Charleston so crowded! We finally found a spot where no one else was playing in, so we let Bella off the leash and took off in the snow. This was Bella's first time in the snow! It was hilarious. The snow came up to almost my waist, so we just sunk into it with every step. Bella was hopping around in it like a bunny rabbit. It was a lot of fun!

Doin' it Right

I have to say that we defiantly started this year off right. No better way to start a new year by taking a vacation! Austin and I went on the Mexican Riviera cruise the first week in January. We were joined by 8 more of our wonderful family members. With a group as large as ours, we sure got our party shoes on! We stopped at three ports: Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. No excursions; we mostly did a ton of sight seeing, a bit of shopping, and defiantly some relaxation on the beaches. It's hard to say what the most enjoyable thing was on the cruise. There was defiantly good food!! Great entertainment (there was an ice skating rink on the boat and a spectacular ice show) along with a good comedian, dancers, singers, a juggler (who we saw juggle a bowling ball, egg, and hatchet all at once without hurting anything), and a ton of other things!! The only problem we encountered was our constant need to know the time so we could make sure to participate in all the events taking place. As fun as we had on the cruise, and as much as we didn't want to return to reality, it is still good to come home. It was nice to take a break from life for a week to recharge our energy reserves. Now, hopefully, we'll be able to take on the challenges of this next year without problems. Life has been good to us so far, and I have no doubt that this year will be a great one!