I am getting married!

FINALLY! You wait your whole life to find the man of your dreams and have the perfect proposal and it has happened to me...

On Wednesday July 6th Brian proposed to me by the riverbank in Saskatoon during intermission of Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan where we were watching a modern day version of "Loves Labours Lost"

He came home from work and made chicken fettucini alfredo for me complete with white wine and candles. Then he serenaded me with his lovely guitar playing and singing. We got dressed up and he took me out on a date to a Shakespeare play. After the proposal it was very hard to sit through the second half of the play and concentrate. I have to say, I have no idea what happened after that point! haha

He bought me a beautiful 18 karat white gold engagement ring with a princess cut diamond. It is exactly what I have always wanted...

We came home and called our family to tell them the good news. We then went out to one of our favorite pubs(walking distance from our house) and had our usual pint of beer and a battered veggie appetizer.

I am still on cloud nine and have been already making plans and lists of things to do. I cannot wait for the big day. We are not sure of a date yet and have some discussing to do in terms of date, location and budget before the ball will start rolling.

I am very happy! Those of you that have met Brian know that he is a wonderful guy and we are great together and for those of you that have never met him I know you will love him!

I am on summer break right now so have tons of time to look at bridal magazines and plan things and stare at my ring;-) I have been offered a full time, permanent teaching contract here in Saskatoon and will start teaching Grade 4 in the fall. Everything in my life has finally fallen into place.

Hope all is well with you all. Miss you and love you

Jet setting....

Well I would have to say I am addicted to the travel network and also the food and home networks lately. I have traveled to many countries from the comfort of my own living room. I have been watching Bizarre Foods from around the world where this crazy guy goes to the Philipines and eat slugs, goes to Russia and eats cow brains, etc... I didn't realize how many shows there were. I just watched a show yesterday on life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and also I have learned how to shop and buy a vacation home in Italy. (haha wishful thinking on my part!)

I miss traveling so much. I didn't realize how lucky I was when I was overseas. It also has almost been a full year (since Angie's wedding in Mexico) since I have been out of the country...

I have some exciting news though! Now that I am finally done my second degree and have a job I can travel again! I am really looking forward to it. My Mom and I are going to Las Vegas in a month for a week:-) I have never been there and am really looking forward to seeing the sites and spending some time with my Mom.

Brian and I have been talking about taking a trip on my April break this year. We want to go somewhere tropical so I am hoping that will work for both of us and I will let you know where we are flying off to once I know! Brian has been to Mexico a few times now and our last trip together was to Mexico so all we know is we are going anywhere but there:-)

Jody has invited Brian and I to Japan before they move back from America and also I wouldn't mind going to England to see Crystal, Riccardo and the new baby!

Oh so many places to go....how to decide :-)

New Beginnings!

I have never felt better my friends...
I did so well at my internship that I got a job offer on my last day of school. I have started and it is going really well. I work here in Saskatoon in the Catholic School Division. I am teaching a variety of subjects and teach Grade 1 to Grade 8. I still do not know what age group I like best but I always have liked the really little ones but would be happy with anything I get. People wait years on sub lists in this city to get temporary or permanent contracts and so I am very pleased and shocked that I have been offered something so soon. I do love the school and the kids and the staff where I am. I was offered a temporary contract at the school that I did my internship at.

On another note, I have realized that I am really unhappy with my weight lately. For the last few weeks I have been eating nothing but chicken, fish and salad and veggies. I have also got a annual membership to a really great gym (which Brian bought us at a silent auction) and have been working out quite a bit. I have now lost 9 pounds:-) I am going to Las Vegas with my Mom on a "girls trip" on my February break and then Brian and I plan on going on a tropical vacation in April on my next break. My goal is to be able to wear a bikini on our April tropical vaction!

I am very happy. I have moved a few months ago and love my new place. We have a cute little basement suite in a great area, I have finished school and have a career going for me now. Brian and I are very happy together and everything is looking up for me in all aspects.(I know many of you have not met him but he is wonderful to me and I am very happy, we will have been together 2 years in March)

I truly hope all of you are doing well.

I want to congratulate Crystal and Riccardo on the birth of their baby girl. That is extremely wonderful and exciting news and I wish nothing but the best for you both. Cryssie, you will always be special to me and I think you will be the most wonderful mother. I hope that I can see you again sometime soon....(it will get harder and harder now with lives and families, etc. but know that I always think of you)

As for the rest of you (whether you are in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, England, Italy, Canada or the USA) I always think of all of you and miss you tons. xoxo

Hope this lets you all know how I am doing and I think of you all often.

Hope

I work at a community school. Before going there for my internship I had no idea what that meant...Teaching there requires me to be patient, understanding and always compassionate. It is different from working in any other school. The school that I work at has children who are impoverished and many have problems at home. I had a wonderful upbringing, we had money, food, clothing, shelter, a stable environment. I don't know how to relate. I am a bleeding heart and feel that I have some compassion but I will NEVER know what it is like to walk in some of these kids shoes. I find each day I learn something new about myself and about those different from me. I also find that each and every day I realize how fortunate I have been and how some are handed the short end of the stick at birth. I have fallen in love with my kids and even though some days are trying(today was one of those days) I still have hope. Hope that they will succeed, hope that I will have an impact on their life, hope that they can get out of what they are in and find happiness, hope that they will not get into trouble, hope that they will indeed have hope.

The Joys of Teaching

Hello strangers!

It seems as if I have been on hiatus for some time now and I guess I have been...
My life has been wonderful but crazy and busy! I am finally a teacher! (this is a little before the fact I guess but truly I am). I am doing my internship and it is going wonderfully. My cooperating teacher is from Chile and he is great. The thing is he thinks I am such a great teacher and wants to learn from me(if you can believe that). I just had my midterm assessment and not one bad thing was said. I have learned as a teacher you have to think on your feet and you can plan and prepare all you want but things NEVER go as planned. I feel I am doing really well and the weeks are flying by and I am learning and growing each and every day. I feel exhausted every night and pass out around 930pm. I run all day long but I know this is my calling, this is what I was meant to do, this is ME. I love being around the kids and making them laugh and having fun with them. I have also learned that to earn respect and to get them to achieve something you have to be hard and unbending sometimes. This is the easiest and the hardest job I have ever done and I never want to do anything else. The best feeling in life is making a difference in a child's life(making them laugh, making them understand something, making them love to learn). I am enjoying my little caterpillars right now;-)

Sometimes "Round Two" Is Something To Be Proud Of...

After thinking about my life a lot lately I have come to an important realization:

"In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time."

I am in the last 3 weeks of my second round of University and am currently taking two Educational Psychology courses which has got me to thinking a lot about life and the paths that we take (by choice or fate)

To be honest...I was one of those so-called "bad" teenagers. One of those "hormones gone wild" types who knew everything, was angry, would not listen to anybody and I have learned most things in my short life the hard way. I have not realized and accepted this until now as I tend to blame instead of taking responsibility for how my life has unfolded thus far. Bad choices I have made in many aspects of my life have held me back, have been a struggle, but have also changed me and made me the person I am now.

I have to admit that I am happy that I never quit nor gave up and am now finishing my second degree. This is something that makes me very proud because it would have been so much easier to just let everything fall apart and take the easy way out.

I believe I have grown up a lot in the past few years and it was a necessary step to take in order to be successful in life and grow as a person. I am pleased to say that I will be graduating with Distinction(I believe that I am 2 or 3 % short to graduate with Great Distinction) awww ;'( oh well, I will take Distinction:-)

I often joke that I have been going to post-secondary school for a decade now which really isn't true. Although it did take me much longer than most to "grow up", understand myself and my wants and needs I believe that everything has happened for a reason and that I have learned so much through school and also through life experiences and travel in these past 10 years and would not change a thing.

It is pounded into our heads in our classes, student teaching, and internships that reflection is so important and necessary. I agree with this not only in career situations but also in your life. When you look at where you have been you can take pride and be happy with where you are now or where you are going in the future and that is truly what life is all about. Learning continuously, growing, changing and becoming better each time.

The only thing I wish is that my Dad could have seen this success but I am sure he knows:-)

Our Summer Trip to Alberta

Well we went to Alberta again this summer...seems to be a good getaway for us and is not too far to go for a vacation. The reason we went is my Dad died on July 2nd and because it fell on a long weekend it was perfect time to jet off to our fellow province. I wanted to visit my Dad's grave and I hadn't seen my relatives in a long time so this was what we did! We had such a good time. Grandma is so funny. She is really into her sports so we watched many a game while we were there. I was also lucky to see my uncle, my auntie and one of my cousins while I was down. Going to the graveyard was pretty hard on me but I wanted to take Brian there and my Grandma came with us and was really happy that we all went:-) We had a great time going out for supper, watching football and baseball, visiting and playing Yahtzee(I have played that game with my Grandma since I was really little and the only time I play it is with her so it is always a good time and Brian got in on the action being the competitive guy that he is). Due to time constraints we only spent 1 1/2 days at Grandma's house and then Brian and I decided to go back to Saskatchewan through Calgary. We booked a hotel at the Acclaim which is absolutely magnificent. Brand new, 5 star restaurant, fancy, Japanese style rooftop hot tub and lounge and wonderful decor.We spent a day at Calaway Park(an amusement park just outside of Calgary on the Trans Canada). We had a blast riding the roller coaster and log ride and many others. We went on some water pistol bumper boats and while standing in the long line Brian befriended some little boys. It was so funny because it was like the goonies...they all seemed to look like and be like characters in that movie. Brian was chummy with them and asked them if they would all gang up on me while we were out in the water and they were more than happy to oblige him. It was warm out so I didn't mind getting wet but still wasn't happy that he did this as for the duration of the time in line the kids were super excited to get me soaked and gang up on me. They were cute though and that was the highlight of my day. The funny thing was...when we got out there my bumper boat was broken and it didn't move very fast and the pistol wouldn't shoot very far. These were perfect conditions to get them wet as I would drift over and shoot them at point blank range when all of their guns shot really far over my head not getting me wet at all. Long story short...I won! Me against 4 boys (this includes Brian). They all came out wetter than I! Great times! I really showed them;-)
After a great night at the hotel and a lovely dinner we slept and then went to the casino the next day where we played Blackjack and had brunch and then headed back to Saskatchewan. It was such a nice weekend. I had a great time with Brian showing him where I was born and where I had spent all my summers growing up and was glad he got to meet my Grandma. It was fun to go on rides and do some fun stuff too! Hope we can go again next year!