Mike and Sarah

Along with the excitement of the three day holiday weekend, we also celebrated a momentous occasion... our friends' graduation from medical school! I am truly amazed at their accomplishments and could not be prouder. To Ojash, although I'm so sad to see you leave the Des Moines area (for hopefully only a short while) I'm also so excited to think of the countless new people you'll meet on your journey. Their lives are blessed more than you'll ever acknowledge or know. We can't wait to visit you soon and we want you to know, we know how hard you've worked over the past three years but, truthfully, our favorite part of your medical school experience was... sharing the joy... of snow days !! And... no matter how many higher degrees you achieve, and I mean this with the highest amount of respect possible, I'm still a better party dj than you. Love you, buddy  Dr. Buddy!

Ok folks, this is it... the very last Teacher Talk Tuesday of the school year! In honor of this momentous occasion I'd like to discuss none other than, the summer line up of events.  Hold on to your seats... June-  1. Trip to St.Charles to celebrate the Bride-to-Be of the summer, Missy! (Mike's sister) 2. An impromptu (sort of) trip to Las Vegas! Mike and I were offered an awesome opportunity to join one of my favorite aunt and uncle on a trip and we couldn't resist! 3. Close on our house!! July- 1. Celebrating the 4th in St. Charles, which will be a first for me as I usually dictate where we celebrate this holiday since it's also my birthday! 2. U2 at Soldier's Field 3. Officially move into our house! 4. Celebrate an absolutely wonderful couple, Missy and Brian. We can't wait to celebrate with family and friends! August-  1. Settle into the new home! A few things to note: - You may or may not have noticed this schedule does not include  one lick  of sc...

Who needs a bonus when you work in a profession that showers you with sunshine 24/7? Allow me to set the scene... I am currently at home alone because my husband is "out of town on business". Now you might be thinking, hmmm, that's weird Sarah, aren't you both teachers? What kind of business is Mike away doing?" Oh, funny you should ask! At 6:30am on Monday morning I rolled out of bed to drop Mike off at school so he could board the bus to none other than... overnight camp with 6th graders!  Ooh yeah, you read that correctly dear readers. I spoke with him tonight and he is very  ready to come home tomorrow. He even requested whiskey  in which he told me he'd like to sip  and then sleep just like an old man . When I asked Mike if he is getting anything for going on this 3 day, 2 night excursion (I really wasn't expecting anything but thought I'd ask more out of curiosity) and he said, "well, I'll get to know the kids I'll be teaching...

Inspection frustrations... a few days after we were under contract we scheduled the inspection. Although I have my moments of naivety, I really knew this wasn't going to be like some of the inspections on HGTV where everything checks out fine. The house is older in a mature neighborhood so, I expected a few things to come up... and come up, they did. We found a few minor things but some of the biggies were a leak in one of the showers, 100% moisture in one area of the roof overhang, and an outdated electrical panel, grrrrr.  At one point the inspector looked at me and said, "this is a part of my job I don't like because... you were happy when you came to the house today." okay, I was probably being a bit dramatic, me? no way Our Realtor was great and talked us through everything. Mike and I decided there wasn't anything we heard during the inspection that made us want to walk away completely. The next step was to wait for the inspectors report so we could crea...

Dare I say... we think we found our home. It happened on a Sunday afternoon. We called our Realtor and said we'd seen a few houses online we'd like to check out and he agreed to spend yet another hour or two with us. Up until this point, I swear we were probably two of the more annoying house hunters he's worked with. I say this with love and what I really mean by this is that, our Realtor has the patience of a Saint! Anyways, we met up around 2:00pm and had a line up of three houses to see. As we drove to the first house, Mike and I mentioned how absolutely perfect the location was. It was in a historical part of Des Moines with very mature trees and plenty of character lining the streets. The curb appeal of the home is, in a word, darling . Not too big, not too small, just right... especially for Mike and Sarah. We toured the home and realized quickly, this house had pretty much every, single item on both of our lists (I'll share this with you in a later post, p...

Earn a Master's Degree... check. Drake University Graduate Commencement, May 14, 2011

Happy mother's day to our wonderful moms! It's difficult for us to pin point a favorite thing about you two, because there are so many things that make you the best moms in the world.  I guess all we can say is, we love you so much can are so thankful for everything you've done and continue to do for us. We are so lucky!

Today marked the unofficial start to summer in Des Moines with the very first day of the Farmer's Market! Today could not have been more perfect for the first day of this weekly installment on the streets of downtown Des Moines. As you can see in the picture, it is sunny and about 74 degrees outside. In other words the weather today is perfection. I met up with a friend I met through grad. school who also happened to be a first timer! We had a great time and after I showed her the farmer's market, she showed me an awesome antique shop about 10 blocks from our place. So far, it's been a fabulous day and it's only half over! I sincerely hope your weekend has started on a high note as well. Happy May everyone!

Wow, it's back! Did you think I found a new profession?! What a perfect week for me to return with my almost weekly posts about the wonderful world of teaching. This week is none other than... Teacher Appreciation Week! Aside from the wonderful breakfast and lunches provided by our wonderful PTA (I'm totally serious on this one, our PTA is amazing), the beautiful vase of flowers on my desk, and the 15 minutes shoulder/back massage I received today during lunch, I'd actually like to focus this post on one thing I am so  appreciative of this week... i can barely contain my excitement ... I'm no longer a graduate student!!! That's right folks, classes are done, final projects and papers are submitted and I think I can safely say... I have achieved a master's degree! Funnily enough, I found myself at my first Drake Relays tent party on Saturday night and was able to meet new friends who asked, "did you go to Drake?" I automatically said, "no, I...

 Sometimes, I simply can't believe how lucky I am... Mike has been on a roll lately. Aside from his general, everyday greatness (ha!), he's been quite the funny man in the past few weeks. Here's a little glimpse into the conversations I'm lucky to be a part of... The scene: I'm watching the new Bravo show, Pregnant in Heels (I have an obsession with all things Bravo but I can save that for another day). One of the clients on the show is shopping for her "push" gift to receive after she has her baby and Mike turns to me and says... M: Is this a real thing, this push  gift thing? S: Yeah, although it doesn't have to be diamonds, it can be anything nice you want to give to the mama. M: Well, what exactly is the gift for? S: For giving you the gift of life. M: Oh my, really the guy gives you a nice gift for this? (he's totally serious at this point and I know he has finally realized I will be expecting this when we have kids) S: Yes Mike, this...