Jingle Big Bellies

December came and went faster than ever in the Feuling household. It feels like I put up my decorations and tree (or as Michael calls it “The house vomited Christmas) and then in a blink of an eye had to take it all down. It was a whirlwind of a month full of pure joy, holiday happiness, and a big big belly. Being the lover of the holidays that I am I wish it could have lasted much much longer, but we really couldn't have had any better of a month.

December started out with my 24 week pregnancy appointment and my belly measuring in at full term. I went into the appointment feeling huge, and was quickly justified when the doctor told me I had the same size belly as someone who was ready to deliver with one baby. But big or not, everyone was happy and healthy. The boys were growing as they should, and I was thrilled to be feeling so great going into the Christmas season.

My house became the land of singing toys, sparkling lights, and Christmas gift planning. As I have said before, I just can’t get enough of the holiday cheer. This year we were much more organized with our gift giving so it wasn't stressful and I was able to get most things up to Seattle ahead of time so our car wasn’t loaded to the roof when we drove up. I was bound and determined to soak in as much of the spirit as I could and enjoy this time with my babies, and I can honestly say I did that.

This month the boys and I were also showered with love, twice, by family, friends, and amazing people who support us. It was such a wonderful feeling to be able to share some of this baby joy with so many caring people who are so important to us. We are certainly blessed to have such loving people in our lives and the boys will also be so blessed to have them in their lives when they arrive. I don’t think I have ever seen so much baby stuff before. Thank you cards are far from good enough to show how much appreciation we have for all the gifts and baby equipment we received. Babies need a lot of stuff, but when you times it by 2, holy cow is it a ton!

Christmas Party - Santa had a Red Solo Cup. Haha.

Like we have done every year since we moved to Oregon, we made the drive home for Christmas to be with our families. We arrived the Friday before Christmas and spent a week bouncing back and forth between both houses and celebrating as much as we could. It is so nice to have them living close to each other so we can see everyone with only a little bit of driving. We woke up Christmas morning at the Feuling’s house (we rotate every year) and spent the morning and afternoon with them. They have an early Christmas dinner at about 1:30 so we ate some turkey and the works, and enjoyed sitting around the table and chatting with each other. Then about 4:00pm we headed over to Chan’s house for Christmas night. He and Ashley were hosting both my family and her family for dinner. The boys played darts, we at more amazing food, and had a great time hanging out with everyone. It was really an eye opener for me to feel like a real “adult” because if my Baby Brother was hosting at his house, that could only mean I was getting super old.

Overall our holiday was incredible. We love spending time with our families and taking a break from a busy work schedule. But this year we couldn’t get out of our minds that next Christmas (and likely every one after that) will be very different. I can’t tell you how excited I am to meet our little men and share everything with them, especially Christmas joy. Michael spent the last few days of our vacation here at home up to his knees in pieces, parts, and crazy directions building the babies furniture. Seeing those cribs set up made it even more real. Before we know it they will be here and the craziness will begin. But as insane as I might sound, I can’t wait!

Christmas Eve

Now it is New Years Eve, not long before midnight, and we are here home alone ready to ring in 2013. It is certainly different than many of the other NYE nights we have before, but having a big big belly and pregnant wife isn’t really the equation for a party animal. But to be honest, this is a perfect way for us to start 2013. We spent the morning at a doctor’s appointment where we got great news about the boys, the afternoon napping and relaxing, the early evening with amazing friends who we love, and now the night just the 3 of us watching the big ball drop on TV. We have so much to look forward to in 2013, and so much to be thankful for in 2012. 2012 was a year of learning about ourselves and patience, traveling to Florida, enjoying our jobs, laughing a lot, and learning of the biggest blessing we have ever had. 2013 will be a year of babies, changes, learning again bout patience with or without much sleep, and I’m sure so much more joy than we can even try to plan for. Life is good for the Feuling’s and we are grateful.

We can only hope that 2013 will also be a wonderful year for you! Happy New Year everyone!

I will be outnumbered.

Boys… boys… boys. That is basically the story of the Feuling household. Last week we found out our little munchkins are twin baby boys. I told Michael that’s what they were from the very beginning, but he didn't believe me. When my guess was confirmed, we were surprised, excited and both babies certainly weren't shy about sharing their “gender shots” with us.  So it’s clear that within a few short months it will be me, Michael, Dudley, and 2 more little boys. That leaves me outnumbered by a lot, but that’s OK  Thank gosh I like sports, dirt, and most “boy stuff”.

Baby A 

My FAV maternity shirt! 

Our experience with the ultrasound was a great one. We were fortunate enough to have a fantastic ultrasound tech who made us laugh, and was patient enough to wait to get really good pictures of the boys. The appointment was supposed to be 45 minutes, but we didn’t leave there for over an hour and a half. Both babies were spinning, kicking, moving, and looking like they were doing kung fu on the monitors. At one point the tech even tipped my bed upside down (putting my feet in the air) - trying to get Baby A to move enough for a spine shot. He said he wanted to “let gravity work for us”. The boys were not exactly cooperative, but I blame the radiology department for that. Before the appointment they asked me to drink 32 ounces of apple juice so I would have a full bladder for some of the pictures and the sugar would make the babies active. Active was not the word. By the time we got to the appointment I felt like I was going to explode, and all that sugar made the boys go crazy! Finally after some coaxing, upside down laying, and me rolling from side to side, we got all the pictures we needed to see that our babies were healthy, happy, and looking great. Oh yea- and for the record, the very FIRST thing they showed us were that they were boys. Michael and the male ultrasound tech shared a few “male comments” and laughs about that.

Baby B gave us a full body shot. 

Other than that, the last few weeks have been fairly uneventful pregnancy wise. What everyone says is true, the second trimester is the BEST! (Or so far for me anyway) I am not sick anymore, and have a lot of my energy back. This has been super helpful since football season around here is nuts, but I am mostly just happy to feel like myself again. My belly is growing like crazy though. Last Thursday at my 20 week appointment I measured at 31 weeks. The Dr. said measuring was just for fun because it certainly wasn’t the same, nor were there any “standards” established for twins. Either way, I feel HUGE and I know it is only going to get worse! J Some days I swear these babies are trying to break my ribs! It's crazy!  But as I have said with everything else so far in this journey, it will all be worth it in the end.

Big ol' belly!

Now that we know that the boys are boys, I am up to my eyeballs in planning a nursery, crafts that go with it, and can’t keep myself out of the baby boy clothing sections in stores. Michael took me out to the outlets after our ultrasound and we got a few cute outfits and hanging them up in the closet made this all feel even more real. I spend a lot of evening perusing Pinterest for craft/deco ideas and can’t wait to get some of them started.

We also have names picked out for our little guys, both first and middle. However, we are keeping those under wraps until they are born. I know there are a lot of people who want to know the names, but what a great surprise to be introduced to them with their names for the first time when they arrive. We shared genders-  so now this is our little secret until they come.

Other than babies, our lives have pretty much followed in the lines of a typical WOU fall. Football season has almost come and gone and basketball season is just before us. Last weekend I went home to celebrate my soon to be sister-in-law Ashley at her bridal shower, and we spent a whole day getting wedding stuff done and picking out bridesmaid dresses. I am really excited for her and my brother. Fall in Oregon has been fairly mild with not a ton of rain, and Sunday we got lucky to have a 73 degree sunshiny day. Michael even had to mow the lawn because the warmer weather has made the grass grow. Before we know it I’ll be dragging out all the Christmas stuff (or albeit unwillingly Michael will because I can’t lift heavy stuff this year) and I can’t wait. It’s that time of year where my life is dominated by countdowns. Countdowns to Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and this time to the babies too! All I can say is this year we have even more blessings to be thankful for and 2 little boy blessings to be looking forward to shortly after 2013 begins. Being outnumbered might be hard sometimes, but I’m so ready for it. My Mother-In-Law said it best when she told a coworker “Jamee likes sports, camping, fishing, and a few years ago even got a pair of rubber waders for her birthday. She will be fine with boys!” She is so right! I can’t wait!!!!!

2 Babies?!?!?!

I haven’t blogged much this summer. But if you have seen my facebook any time recently you’ll know that we’ve had quite a bit on our minds lately. We’re expecting. Not one, but two. That’s right- TWINS! We are excited, scared, and feeling so blessed all in one. This was quite a journey in the making and now all at once we’re getting two for one, hopefully not double trouble, and Michael, Dudley, and I will be no longer a household of 3 but instead a household of 5 in just a few months. WOW!

Getting pregnant was not exactly a piece of cake for us. Michael says it best when he says that all his life he was told not to even look at a girl because it could get her pregnant, but he quickly learned when that was the actual goal that they had lied. It took us about a year, lots of doctors appointments, lots of new diagnosis, and an incredible amount of patience before we found out about our little bundles of joy. Surprisingly my MS was not a problem at ALL in the whole process. I was off my medication for 10 months with no symptoms, flares, or activity, which was an incredible blessing. We worked closely with my neurologist and OB to make sure my MS was not a problem, and believe it or not it ended up helping the whole situation. After a few months with no pregnancy success, my OB decided that because I was not on any of my disease modifying therapy that she wanted to get to bottom of our “issues” and not put me or my MS at risk. Lots of tests later I found out I had PCOS, and Hashimoto’s disease (thyroid dysfunction), both things that would severely affect my ability to get pregnant. After starting the right meds for those things, BOOM! Twins! J

I found out I was expecting a few days before we left for Florida. I was in complete shock. However, I knew I had to keep my little secret under wraps for a few days. We were headed home to Seattle before we flew out to Florida and I was sure my parents would be asking about the whole process. I didn’t want Michael to have to keep a poker face (he’s not always so great at that) so I figured I should wait a day and surprise him before our trip. Saturday morning July 14^th in the SeaTac airport I handed Michael a blank white box and said “Here, a present to start out trip out right.” Inside was a pair of little baby booties (he thinks baby socks, shoes, and booties are the cutest thing) and a positive pregnancy test. He was SPEECHLESS. If you know my husband you know that doesn’t happen very often. It was a great way to start out our vacation and we were both elated.

Our vacation was full of excitement, fun, and no roller coasters. But at that time we couldn’t predict the roller coaster of emotion that was to come just a few short weeks after. On August 7^th, one day before our 3-year wedding anniversary, we headed into the doctor for my 8 week appointment. Michael turned his iPhone recorder on for the appointment because we were sure we’d be so wrapped up in excitement that we’d likely miss something. This came in real handy when the doctor started the ultrasound and said “Ok here is what we’re looking at- this is the baby. OH there is TWO”. The recording caught both her words and my gasp absolutely perfectly. Michael was silent and just kept shaking his head. 2?!?!? 2 babies? Us? HOLY COW! We were flat flabbergasted. What a blessing.

The skeptic in me asked the doctor if the Twins could have been caused by the route of fertility we took and she said that in 11 years with that method we were only her second set of twins, so it was possible but not certain. After we told our families later that week I learned I have twins on both sides of my parents family and that very well could have been the reason for our little miracles. Or really it just could have been God’s way of helping us make our dreams come true. We’ve always wanted two kiddos, and so now we just get to do it all at once. We both can’t help but feel so blessed.

 

 

Last week at our 12 week appointment we got to see our little munchkins. The doctors were having a hard time hearing both heart beats (I was of course freaking out) so they did an ultrasound. Currently the babies are stacked up like little legos. One has its head on the left and feet going right, and one has its head on the right with its feet going up. We had good strong heart beats, they are growing proportionately, and the doctor was very pleased with their progress. I start my second trimester tomorrow and I couldn’t be more ready. I have been SOOOOO sick for the last few months and had about the energy of a slug. But I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The nausea is slowly but surely decreasing, and I’m not napping every afternoon. This is a much welcome change.

With my new found energy and lack of feeling like I’ll have to run to throw up all the time, this is all starting to be so much more fun. And seeing them move and kick and turn around (at least one of them anyway) has made it so much more real for me. Michael says definitely the one moving so much definitely takes after me since I can’t ever seem to sit still. But still or not I am thrilled, and finally feeling like this whole thing is not just a dream.  I don’t have any other postable pictures yet, but my growing waistband is making it real too. I’m already into maternity pants (AT ONLY 13 weeks!) but I guess with 2 everything is different.

So that is all for now. You can be sure that there will be many more posts as we move along, and hopefully other fun stuff too. J Football season is in full force so hopefully I’ll have a blog about an fantastic Wolves win or maybe the Seahawks actually doing something great? FINGERS CROSSED!

Summer is Here!

I can’t believe that another school year is in the books. This week marks finals week at WOU and since I don’t interpret finals, I am done with Spring term. What is scary is that it means I have completed two full years as an interpreter at WOU. That is flat insane. Where have the days gone? How on earth have we lived here for almost two years and what happened to yesterday? WOW! However, I can’t say I haven’t been looking forward to the summer days.

Of course this summer will be busy, like every other part of our life, but I have lots of things to do and look forward to. My “To-Do-List” has gotten longer and longer in the last few months, and this summer on some of my days off I plan on crossing every dang thing off that list. It’s been a while since I’ve had the amazing feeling of freedom that comes with realizing you are all caught up. And honestly, nothing sounds better than feeling like that and then getting outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Some new wall art I'm going to attempt...

This summer I want to get several of my home deco Pinterest projects completed, I want all the closets cleaned out and a new organization system set up, and I want the carpets upstairs and downstairs shampooed. I want to change out all the pictures in our pictures collages, hang new curtains in our bedroom, and I want to put the shelves for the sports room I bought eons ago. I want to get through some of the bazillion boxes of childhood mementos that our parents so loving brought our way and are stacked in the garage, and I want to figure out some damn way to decorate above the fireplace. I swear that space will be the death of me. And of course the whole place needs a DEEP DEEP clean. Basically I want to work on this giant house and continue to make it livable, organized, and complete.

How cute are these? And easy!

I’m sure as time goes on, I’m sure I’ll add more things to the list. Regardless, I have learned that if I type them out, and put them in my blog like I just did, I am much more likely to keep accountable. Basically I have from tomorrow until about the 3^rd week in September to get everything done during the “summer” but hopefully it will be accomplished much much sooner. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I think I’ll have my hands full!

Beyond getting all my crap done, we also have some awesome things to look forward to this summer. We get to go home for a few weekends, and are hoping to get our brothers and parents down here. We have family from Idaho coming to visit, and Lauren will be here for her annual summer weeklong trip. Michael and I are also taking a real vacation for the first time since we got married and spending a week in Orlando in July. I’m sooooo excited to go to Disney World! Michael on the other hand is more looking forward to the villa, pool, and relax time, but I’m on the GO MICKEY or GO HOME bandwagon. And finally before football season starts and we get all crazy WOU Football around here, I get to go to Alaska again to interpret on a cruise. I really do have a cool job. We have lots of planned weekends, and still several open weekends to do things on the fly. I’m pretty freakin’ excited if you can’t tell.



DisneyWorld!!!



Summer starts tomorrow. My work starts tomorrow. And hopefully (work with me Oregon weather) sunshine starts tomorrow too! J

Happy Summer Everyone!

Family Dinner and AMAZING Friends!

I’m not totally sure how it all started. And I’m also not totally sure I can really capture with words the immense merriment that occurs while gathered around our dinner table. What I do know is that “Family Dinner” has become not only a tradition in our house, but something we all look forward to and feel weird about if not scheduled regularly.

About once a week, or once every two weeks if we’re really pushing it, some of our group of WOU friends (family) come over and hang out. I usually make some sort of big family style meal, and we all flock to the table to literally eat, drink, and be merry. I of course love the hostess part of it, because well, as we all know, I love to host. Even more so I love to cook and cooking for 6+ rather than 2 is way more fun.

The evening usually starts with an update on what and how everyone is doing, and ends with empty plates, full stomachs, and endless banter back and forth. The amount of inside jokes that come up are endless, no laundry is too dirty to air, and we often end up laughing until our sides ache. They say laughter is the shortest distance between friends, and this couldn’t be any more true.

When we moved to Oregon we weren’t sure what the future held for us. We were back in a familiar place, but with only a few familiar faces Thank gosh for Andrew and Emily who were here when we were so new in town and helped us get settled. But being here this time meant we had to be adults, an experience much different than being here as a college student. I’m happy to say that in the last 2 years, we have discovered that not only do we love it here, but we love the people around us. Seattle will always be home for us, but Independence, Monmouth, and WOU definitely fall a close second.

Last weekend, while at family dinner, I looked around the table and felt this incredible amount of gratefulness. We really do have great friends who support us, make us laugh, and let us be real. Then the next evening we got a phone call that we had been waiting for from Emily telling us that her baby was on the way. We of course rushed over to help with their other little boy and in every way that we could, and were SO SO SO excited to be a part of such an amazing time for them. On Sunday we met sweet baby Asher Jay Wynings, and like his parents, immediately loved him.

Sappy as it sounds, the whole weekend was full of joy. And thanks to family dinner, there were also some harmless insults, belly laughs, and complete goofing off too. We spend lots of time soaking up the sun, and having a blast with amazing people. If the sunshine and how last weekend ended up is any indication of how the upcoming summer will be, I’m totally in.

New Hobby

One of my fav pictures. The fields out behind campus have cool old barns and great scenery.

So my list of hobbies and interests is ever evolving and changing. I feel like I get hooked on something for a few years, get bored, and try something new. My chosen activities usually include some sort of sports thing, crafty thing, or something in the kitchen. This time, it isn’t really any different. I have always LOVED pictures and playing with a camera. I have boxes and boxes of random, unedited, and really goofy shots I have collected since high school. Photography is a way for me to document all the fun times in my life, but also a creative outlet for a person who can scrapbook just fine, but other than that has no “artsy” painting, drawing, or musical talent.

I was lucky enough to do some pregnancy pictures for my friend Emily and her husband Andrew. So Fun!

As I have written about before, I took a photography class last term at WOU. Michael gave me an amazing DSLR camera for my birthday last year and I was dying to learn how to use it. The class was a basic intro to digital photography, but even better was also an intro to Photoshop. Because I was technically a student I was lucky enough to pick up the entire Photoshop program for my own home computer for about $50 bucks. As a result of my new basic knowledge, and cool new techie toy, I AM HOOKED! It has been fun to try out new projects, even if I thought my teacher’s requirements were a bit crazy. Plus it allowed both Dudley and Michael, my top 2 favorite subjects, a bit of relief.

As if I didn’t already have enough to do, I’m so excited about keeping up with this project. Throughout this whole post is a sampling of some of my favorite images I took both during class, and since the end of the term. My last assignment helped me dabble in food photography a little bit, so I’m hoping to maybe merge 2 of my loves and maybe share a few great recipes with a few great photos soon. J

My final project was to explore some conceptual photography.

The food I make is a reflection of me, but this is the reflection of the food.

Here’s to new hobbies and happy photos! J

Weekend of Travel and Puppy PLAYcare

Puppy PLAYcare… is quite possibly the most amazing invention ever. Ok so really it is called Doggie Daycare, but PLAYcare seems much more of an appropriate description to me. I had been driving by the sign that advertised the place for over a year, but thanks to Dudley’s lovely “swallowing” habits I figured he was never a likely candidate to attend anything like that. However, a few weeks ago when he was being groomed his groomer couldn’t stop raving about this great place called the Canine Corral and how she thought Dud would love it. So like any good mom would do (or insane puppy mom in my case) I decided to follow up on the advice and check it out.

I swear Dudley becomes more like a child than a dog more and more each day, and this experience was of no exception. I shortly after the grooming appointment I called Brenda, the owner of Canine Corral to ask questions about the facility and the experiences the dogs have there. She quickly prompted me to pull up her facebook page to see pictures and information. She also wanted to schedule a tour/dog assessment before Dudley could come. That’s right ladies and gents, Dud had to get accepted to this daycare much like if I was sending him to private preschool. (See a few sentences prior when I said he’s more and like a child every day, and also that I am a crazy puppy mom and I rest my case.)

So the next day we headed over to the Canine Corral, and I immediately knew it was going to be a great fit. They have a huge room with a rubber floor (easier on the dogs hips) fenced off to be like an indoor dog park. There are kennels INSIDE for the dogs to take naps and rest in (or to be used for overnight stays) and there is even a staff area in the same room just behind a chain-link fence so when they have to take breaks the dogs are not left unsupervised. Dud loved Brenda and was ready to hit the ground running, literally, and wanted nothing more than to play with the dog who was being boarded overnight.

Since that time Dud has made a few appearances at the Corral and he loves it. We can say “Daycare?!?!” and he will run to the door in excitement. We also can’t get any closer than half a mile from the Daycare before he goes bananas in the back seat ready to go play. Even better than that, when he comes home from a day’s worth of play, he is EXHAUSTED. I’m not sure if you have considered this, but a sleeping dog leaves room for lots of things to get done. And since he has the same amount of energy as a 5 month old puppy, I’ll take all the sleeping moments I can get. J

This weekend I made a trip back to Idaho to see my family, so this is the reason for my joint post title. Michael is up to his eyeballs in busyness with the auction around the corner, Wolves Club events, and a plate full of Alumni related events so he couldn’t go with me. He instead stayed home with Dud, and since he works such long hours, Dudley spent Friday and Monday at the Canine Corral (See my connection here J) As usual Dud had an amazing time, and both Michael and I could spend our days busy with other things and not be worried about him being stuck in his kennel for a zillion hours.

The trip back to see family was fantastic. I flew into Lewiston on Thursday afternoon to spend some time with my Grandma Sandy and Aunt Di at their gorgeous new house. They live out in the country with rolling hills and farm lands in an AMAZING custom home. They also have goats, chickens, and a crazy haired dog named Gretchen. I too live in the boonies with farm lands and such, but Lewiston has a much different feel. While there we explored the town, ate great Grandma made food, and laughed a lot. Then Saturday morning we made the 82 mile drive up to Plumber Idaho where we met my Grandpa and continued another 82 miles up to Sandpoint for the night. I have 3 sets of Grandparents and an Aunt and Uncle who live in Idaho, so when we head that way it is important to make the rounds. Sandpoint brought colder weather, beautiful mountains, a great dinner with my Grandpa’s friends out at a delicious Italian restaurant, and watching my brother and Grandpa give each other a hard time while playing cribbage. All of my family is low key and pretty chill, so this weekend away was not only awesome but much needed.

Finally on Sunday we made another 84 mile drive from Sandpoint to our last stop, Kellogg Idaho. My aunt and uncle actually live in Kingston, but we first met with Grandpa’s cousin Sally for coffee and a quick lunch. I hadn’t seen Sally since I was really little, and my brother had never met her before. It was pretty cool to see how proud Grandpa Gerry was to show off his Grandkids. It’s funny that as we get older we notice those things. I was a bit nervous because we met Sally at the restaurant called the Silver Spoon. If you have read any of my earlier posts you will know that this is the place that started my issues with “Wet Meat” many many years ago. So, in attempt to play it as safe as I could, I ordered huckleberry pancakes, something not even remotely close to meat. Lunch was delicious and Grandpa and Sally shared stories of family that we’d never heard of and great insight into what life used to be like in the Valley.

We ended out trip spending Sunday evening and Monday with my Aunt Terri and Uncle Bob at their new home in Kingston. My cousin Tiff and her boyfriend Andrew joined us, which was great. Tiff and I have always been close, even though at least one state has pretty much always separated us, and I really cherish our time together. While in the Valley we took Ashley on a tour to see where Chan and I spent many a summer growing up. It is such a different life over there, and it’s hard not to see a place and immediately picture a great memory.

All 3 of us flew back home (on much too small of planes if you ask me) from Spokane on Monday evening. We spent a ton of time and miles on the road jumping from place to place, but I had a great trip seeing great family. Even more so, I LOVED doing it with Chan and Ash. They run pretty crazy schedules with busy jobs so even though were are close in distance and I go home to Seattle a lot, I don’t usually get to spend that much uninterrupted time with them. Ash has more than easily fit right into our family and it’s great to have a soon to be sister in law that is much more like a sister. And of course I always love any time I can spend with my BIG little brother. It means so much to me that even as adults we are still super close.  I do wish Michael could have joined us this weekend, but thanks to technology and FaceTime he did make an appearance at 2 of the houses in the evening. J

So to end my super long blog, I again can state I’m a super happy girl. My crazy Doodle has a great daycare, I have fabulous family, and traveling, even if it isn’t too far away, is good for the soul. I hope you are all having a great Spring Break too! J

Blessed...

Well, it’s been a while. I keep telling myself that I need to blog about something, but then I get busy with life and completely forget. So today, since the rest of Sunday will be quiet, lazy, and playing catch up on sleep and everything that didn’t get accomplished this weekend, I thought I would take a second and update you on what’s going on in the crazy Feuling household.

The short and sweet of it is 2012 has started off fantastically. Based purely on how many hours are we’re putting in, I’m not sure how we’ve done it, but somehow we’ve pulled off a great balance of work and fun. We filled the first 2 months of the year full of love, laughter, friends and family. The days and weeks are packed full of busyness, but we’ve been going to bed each day feeling fulfilled and happy. Michael got a new job title and new responsibility that has made him a bigger part of even more fundraising at the university. This means we have more events to attend and he has more things to plan, but as with any challenge, he has taken it head on and is doing great. I, on the other hand, have enjoyed teaching more than I ever thought I would. I never thought I’d want to be at the front of the classroom, making lesson plans, or grading papers, but if given the chance to teach again I’d definitely jump at the opportunity. The interpreting students I worked with this term were fantastic. We had some great conversations and I think I might have learned more myself than I actually taught them.

My photography class is also going great. Once I get everything saved in a different file format I’ll post some of my images on here (someday J soon). The 3 credit class has proved to be a whole ton of work, but I’m finally learning how to use my awesome camera. Registration is next week and I’m toying with the idea of actually taking Photo2 because I like it so much. I guess now when we don’t have any kids or other responsibilities’ is the best time to take these classes. Taking the class really is purely just for my own learning and enjoyment.

In other news, Dudley and I are starting another training class. Our little furball has made many positive strides in his behavior, but 70lbs of jumping on people, at other dogs, and in just pure excitement is just too much. I’ve tried every training technique I can muster up, but clearly haven’t had a lot of luck. We decided it was time to reach out to the professionals again and now you will know where to find us every Wednesday night for the next few weeks. I swear he has made the future path for us to have kids easier by the day. A child can’t be as much work as he has been. Can it?

Last weekend we had Tyler come down and visit. We were once again reminded how wonderful all of our Oregon friends are. He fit in with all of us like he’d known them for many years and we had a blast. It isn’t always easy to reestablish a friend group when you are an adult. I mean you don’t go to school every day to meet people, and so much of our work lives is done individually. However, we hit the jackpot! We really have a great group of friends down here who work at Western, I know from my job, or are like the Wynings that we have known since the first time we were Wolves. At one point on Saturday we were all gathered around my dining room table and overflowing into the kitchen. I looked around realizing what an amazing group of people were all there with us. Like I said before, we’re really blessed.

So that’s pretty much a 2 month recap of what’s been going on here. Nothing super exciting has happened. Nothing incredibly out of the ordinary either. But I think we’re both ok with that. As Spring is around the corner we are now starting Auction season, so that will be a plenty big enough event on our plates to not have other crazy things happen. J

Hope you are all well and enjoying your leap day…

Heading Back to the Classroom...

So apparently my “lucky” number on Monday will be 5. Why? Winter Term is starting at WOU and I’ll be heading back to the classroom. It has been 5 weeks since I was there on work, and the break has been fantastic. It has also been 5 YEARS since I graduated, and again the break has been fantastic! But now as we get back to “real life” and what follows Christmas break I’m headed back to campus. This term I will be of course interpreting at WOU, but also both taking a class myself and teaching a class too! I’m so excited!

Working there as an interpreter is FANTASTIC. I never thought I would love being in the educational arena, but I DO! At WOU I have a great coordinator, fabulous clients, amazing teams, and I’ll admit the nerd in me likes all the cool stuff I get to inadvertently learn while working at a college every day. Oh and the 2.8 mile commute has its perks too J! I already love my job, so working at an awesome place just makes it that much better.

This term I was also asked to teach my first course. I am pretty sure my mouth hit the floor when I got the email and I thought, “Me? No way? I have only been doing this for a few years, why would I know what I was talking about?” But after my brief moment of shock, I did a bit more investigating, pulled up my big girl pants and realized I could do it. I’ll be teaching a 1 credit (no biggie) NIC Prep Seminar to help student interpreters get ready for their certification test. The test itself has changed since I took my certification exam, but after a bunch of research and changing up the course syllabus I’m super excited about it. I always learn so much from new interpreters who have a fresh, not jaded, and excited outlook on the profession. Plus they have just gotten the most current education with what’s hip and new in our field as well, so I’m always curious to hear what they say or have learned. I’m definitely looking forward to some awesome classroom discussions, and helping them prepare for their future careers.

And then finally, I’ll be a student myself. No, I’m not going all educational and taking something like anthropology, or advanced business, but I am all signed up for Art 260 Basic Photography 1. The course description says: ‘The course covers the aesthetics of composition and visual communications as well as techniques for shooting photos, digital image control, and making photographic prints.’ Which in plain English means I’ll finally be able to use more than just the auto setting on my fancy DSLR camera Michael bought me for my birthday last year. And in turn you blog readers will likely see more images showing up on my pages. I’m hoping to find more subjects to shoot than just poor Dud-man too. While he’s a rather photogenic dog, I think he’s sick of me taking 7million pictures of him every time I take my camera out to play.

So along with keeping up with the house, walking Dud all over Independence, working in Salem at my FAV VRS center, going to WOU games with Michael, and somewhere in there hanging out with my fab hubby and our great friends and family, that’s what I’ll be up to for the next 10 weeks. J I’m so looking forward to the fun, challenges, laughter, and learning that goes along with each and every one of those.

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope 2012 is starting out exactly how you hoped it would!