Chloe's Winter Wonderland

So it sounds like we are going to be having another crazy winter this year after an extremely mild Winter of '09. With this brings a ton of snow and a lot of my dog Chloe's favorite activity, shoveling. From a dog who plays fetch every waking minute of the day, I bring you Chloe fighting snow. She is a bit ridiculous, but there is definitely never a dull moment from her that's for sure.

Back to Blogging

It has been over a year since my last blog post, but I think I will start blogging again. I have always been a big fan of journaling my thoughts about what I read, what has been happening in my life and just random thoughts on things.

Since my last blog post I have received a Masters degree in Education Media Design and Technology and found out that Whitney and I will be having our first baby this May (which is probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me).

With today being Thanksgiving I should probably tell you what I am thankful for. I am first of all thankful for a loving God who has always had his hand over my life. I find it hard to understand how you could think there isn't a God with the amazing things that happen in our world. I look at the kids that I teach everyday and the mini-miracles that happen frequently and know that God is definitely behind it. I am also thankful for an amazing wife, great family, incredible friends and for having a job to go to everyday. All of these things may sound small to some people, but to me these are the foundation for a great life. Being surrounded by people who are supportive of what you do and who you are is essential.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and may God bless your family throughout this holiday season.

You Tube Videos

Check out the new videos I posted to the right. They are from a karaoke session before school one day with Shawn. The Grease one was shown at the end of our school slide show this year. The kids loved it.

Summer Break

Well, my 3rd year of teaching 6th graders has come to an end. It is a little sad though because I really enjoyed the group of kids I had this year. So many great personalities and awesome kids willing to have a little fun while they learned a lot. They are by far my favorite class I have ever had. Congrats to them though for making it through the year and moving on to the middle school next year.

Now that the teaching season is over, I am a little bored. Not that I lack "things" to do, it's just when you are used to talking and taking care of kids all day, being at home by yourself is a little hard. Hopefully I don't start talking to my dogs too much! The best thing about being a teacher though is that people continue to have kids and supply me with a job.

I'm Back...

Well, I think it has been a long enough hiatus from blogging for me. To say Whit and I have been busy would be an understatement. I personally right now am teaching 6th graders, Mentoring Junior Highers at Youth Group at Timberview and coaching baseball at Mt. Spokane High School again. So, if we get a couple of extra minutes in the day to see each other, it is great.

Baseball is going well, I am coaching the "C" team this year because I don't get out early enough from school to help with any of the other teams. It has been a great experience though. Most of the kids on my team have never played a significant amount of innings before, so for them to play a whole game and get to start most of the time is enough for them. It has really made me appreciate just playing something because you love it.

I played in a 3 on 3 basketball tourney out at Eastern Washington this weekend and we took 2nd. Not bad considering the 4 of us had never played together before, so I'll take it. Well hopefully those of you who read my blog haven't given up on me, I'm making a comeback!!

1/4 of a century

When I was growing up, for some reason I had this belief that I would never be older than I was at that time. I always saw people that were older and thought that they must have always been that old and that I would forever be as young as I was. Looking back now I see that was wrong, but I still seem to do that a little these days.

The first instance I was finally "older" was this weekend when Whitney and I were serving at Forklift. Hanging out with the high school students and having them ask me questions about events in their life that were soon to come and actually looking to gleam some advice from me was a little new to me. I mean I get asked for advice everyday from 12 year olds, but that is different. These were pivotal questions about what to do in certain life situations and how to handle adversity when it means disappointing a friend or family member while growing their relationship with God. The funniest experience of getting older this weekend was playing sports with all of the high school kids. My team was able to win the basketball tourney, which is cool, but when it came to the dodgeball tourney, that was a little different. We did really well, but the funniest thing was how sore my arm was the next day after playing. Now, I have played baseball since I could walk and have been throwing things whether for sports or at my brother for a very long time. But, my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I think I got my first glance at the limitations I am going to be facing with my body for years to come.

I told Whit last week that I don't miss being in High School at all. All of the experiences we have had since then often make me forget that it ever happened in the first place. I also said that I don't think I am going to miss being 24 either. I think that every year I have been alive, life has gotten just a little bit better. Whether it is gaining experience in the job I am in, deepening and strengthening my marriage or going farther in my daily walks with God and seeing that relationship really start to take off, I think that there is so much more left in life to experience and I for one am looking forward to seeing it come, in due time of course.

I have had some amazing birthdays in the past, but I think this one might be the best so far. Not because of any gifts, money or "things", but because of the phase of life I am in and the people I get to share it with. I feel like this is a huge moment in mine and Whitney's lives and I am looking forward to yet another year of learning, laughing and loving with the people we are fortunate to have in our lives.

Checking in...

This is me checking in and letting you know what has been going on since Christmas. Well, during the huge snow storm Whit and I ended up staying with the in laws for two weeks with the puppies. After moving back into our house, we found out that our main water pipe downstairs had been leaking slowly and soaked about half of the carpet in the basement of our house. Yeah.

When we finally got back to school it was tough. I had started to slip into summer mode because of the amount of time we got off from school. The kids were showing signs of this dangerous condition as well. I also started coaching 6th grade basketball at Shiloh, and I am loving it. It is so much fun to be able to spend time with some of my students doing something they really love doing. Plus, it gives me free reign to make them run if they don't listen to me. Like I would ever do that...

We have had a lot of great opportunities as well to hangout with friends and family and rekindle some relationships we had let slide over the past year. We are looking forward to some great things happening in '09 and possibly moving to a new house... so if anyone out there knows of a good realtor that we can trust to help us in this HUGE undertaking, we are more than willing to welcome and names.