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Sunday, 27 September 2009

An update

Katie demands an update, so she shall have one... Well although we moved from the state of MI officially over a month ago, we are still homeless. All of our belongings (many of which i never knew i could live without) are in a storage unit and we live in a small "apartment" consisting of a small bedroom, a functional kitchenette (microwave, fridge, and sink) and a bathroom with a super small shower. And this is how we're living. Can anyone say CLAUSTROPHOBIC! Now, this is not to say i'm not thankful to have a decent place to live and we don't have to pay rent .... so this is truly a blessing however, I will be SO GREATFUL for 2000 square feet of space. I will not know what to do with myself! :) We are in the process of purchasing a house on the north side of fort wayne. This is a beautiful thing because it should cut my drive down by about 20 minutes making it about 1 hr to work instead of 1.5 .... it is easy to get to so anyone who wants to come super accessible! Plus now we will have 3 guest bedrooms and an extra full bathroom! Whoo hoo! The house is owned by a man in CA who bought it 3 years ago for his sister-in-law who was supposed to rent it. She never got around to paying her rent, so when she and her husband got a divorce they moved out and now CA man has a house to sell that he's never even seen. Our realitor sold it to him originally 3 years ago so he called up Dave to see if he could sell it for him. It was trashed. Fortunately it's nothing major. So we got a great deal on the house and with a little effort hopefully it will be good enough to move in next weekend!!
I am currently teaching Algebra 1 and pre-algebra. It sure is something! My algebra 1 classes are pretty good (minus last period) but my pre-algebra class is something else. Of my 26 students over half of them have some sort of IEP and some have made to comment "we're dumb, we can't learn this anyways." And they're horrible. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. They may be my greatest challenge. Overall, however, it's a good system to work for. The administration is great and super supportive. The teachers are dedicated to their jobs and the kids. So that's good.
I guess that's an update, steven wants to go look at a car and then we have to get supplies for painting and cleaning this week. So I'll keep in touch. Feel free to e-mail me anytime. lshowers@marion.k12.in.us :)
And keith-o i'm planning on calling you .... one of these days! :)

Sunday, 19 July 2009

Reflection

Almost 9 years ago (August of 2000) I started working at a nursing home as my summer/high school job. It was a good job when working 15-20 hrs per week with some more hours in for the summer time. I loved working with the old people and I always found it to be a relaxing atmosphere. Since I didn't work full time those years I rarely had to work holidays that i didn't want to work (although i would often work 2nd shift on Christmas and such). I can say that I honestly liked my high school job.
When Steven and I got married, the prospects of a teaching job looked grim I thought "working at a nursing home for a while wouldn't be so bad." I suppose i will never know if it was the truely dynamics of this new facility or if it was simply the fact that i was working full time but it has been one of the most trying experiences ever. The nursing home where i worked originally was always staffed appropriately, the residents were well cared for, the staff was kind and understand, and basically everyone was friends. It is not that way at Breton Manor. I knew I could do it for a year, no big deal. And who knows maybe having a "mindless" job would be better than a teaching job anyways as i was adjusting to life in a new state, far away from friends and family, and learning how to be a wife. I suppose for the first year it was a pretty good job. As the second year approached and the teaching market remained bleak I started to wonder how much longer I could do it. I worked Thanksgiving that year and almost missed out on our annual black Friday frenzy with the Bishop's. I also almost got cheated out of going to my brother in law's wedding because of a conflict with the scheduler. In all, my time at Breton Manor has been tough. I don't say this to complain but simply to say I lasted only by God's grace. Because the of the schedule, I have missed many family gatherings, holidays, and weddings. I have missed more church services than i care to count and thus never felt like i quite belonged. God has blessed me with a few very good friends at work whom i will miss dearly. Today, has been the last Sunday that I will miss church (at least on any kind of a regular basis), my last "weekend" to work, the 4th of July was my last holiday, and wednesday will be my last day, forever.
I don't want to sound ... I don't know ... I just want to say that I am overjoyed (it's the only word that even comes close to describing it) that I have a teaching job. I hope that I will remember this feeling on days when the students are bad and no one does their homework, or fails a quiz. I hope that I will remember for a VERY LONG TIME how long I have waited and hoped for this opportunity. I pray that I will not be one of those complaining teachers, as i confess that i have been one of those complaining CNA's. Thank you everyone who has been overjoyed with me. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement through the years. YEA! I'm finally going to get a classroom of my very own!!
And now I must end this note so that I can try to prepare as best I can without the curriculum or text. I will do my best to keep everyone updated! :)

Saturday, 11 July 2009

Another update

We will begin the process of moving around July 25 ... we might actually only move ourselves and a few sets of clothing and stay with a couple in the church in order for steven start his job then at the end of the week we're going up to brown city camp for the weekend and coming back to .... we're not sure! This is the stressful part about moving to another state in a sort of short amount of time. We really want to buy a house while Obama is offering us money .... but if we don't find anything/in the mean time we need somewhere to live. I know that God has it all under control, i'm just curious and a little anxious about finding somewhere since "moving day" will be here soon.
I had a second interview on Friday with a new principal. It went as well as the first. He started off the interview by saying that Kyle (the previous principal) recommended me, but they wanted to make sure our philosophies alligned ... understandable I guess. The new principal promised I would hear back on Monday. I sure hope so because school starts in exactly 1 month!
After interviewing, we met up with a realitor who is friends with pastor joel and began the process of looking at houses. We went through 5 of them. We weren't expecting too much ... but we thought we should at least see what we were going to find in the area. Unfortunately there are virtually NO houses (in our price range) in woodburn, so we ventured out to a smaller bedroom community of fort wayne "new Haven". Steven is checking all of his resources to find out about the area, so if any one knows anything (good or bad) let me know before we commit to LIVE there! Anyways, we found one house that was ABSOLUTELY amazing. We were expecting to find something that need a little to a lot of TLC ... foreclosures....those sorts of things ..... but this house is actually owned by a person and someone spent a lot of time making this house NICE. The garage is so nice you could put some carpet down and call it your second livingroom! I'm NOT even kidding. The issue that we're investigating, is a little water in the basement. The realitor knows the sellers realitor so he's hoping he can get a little information from him. It doesn't seem to be a huge issue, and the way the "finished" the basement it i able to stand a little water ..... so we shall see. I will be disappointed if we don't get it .... but then assume God has something better.
Ok dinner is ready. I just wanted to update everyone.

Sunday, 28 June 2009

Update ... for anyone who might still read this

You know, it's kind of sad that facebook has basically replaced xanga. We used to rely on you so heavily xanga. Now, facebook where you can do more has taken over. Ah, such is life.
Anyways, most of you reading this have probably already read my note on facebook or perhaps even talked to me in person and have found out that we're moving to the Fort Wayne area to join the team at Woodburn Missionary Church on July 25.
I have applied for several positions in the area, so far only one remains promising ... we shall see. And that's the scoop! :)

And by the way, I CAN NOT WAIT TO LEAVE THE NURSING HOME. I know over the years so many people have commended my efforts with the elderly among us ... and i will say it does take a certain person to do this job that i've been doing .... but i think that I am running out of grace or something because everyday i think "how much more of this can i take".
On the flip side, i will miss coworkers, and "special residents". I will miss my routine. The same thing over and over every day .... but i will enjoy a little shake up in my life too! :)

Until next time ... and probably from IN!! :)

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Regularly over the last year i have supplemented our income by donating plasma. Usually one is allowed to donate twice a week with incentives for doing just that. And so, to win the "best prize" i donate quite regularly. For awhile i thought that might be the cause of my stomach issues so i "took some time off". It wasn't. I've only had one "bad" experience where i got a med sized bruise. Nothing compared to some of the trouble my friend Sarah has had. That is, until today. Usually i can be in and out of there in less than 1.5 hrs. Sometimes i can do it in almost exactly an hour .... today it took over 2 HOURS. At the moment i do not have a bruise to mark all the "adjustments" (that is rooting around in your arm with a rather large needle) that were made, but it is certainly more painful than i have ever experienced. I may have to skip my second donation for this week.
In other news, after donating steven asked me to stop at the store and get some onions (i'm still not 100% sure he needed them or if he was just stalling me). And while i was there bananas are on sale! I bought 4 with plans of going back when they're gone. I love bananas. Then, when i got home, i discovered a present (which i have not opened yet) waiting for me on the table, and when i put away the milk there was a cake in the fridge too! :) Right now steven is making something with chicken in it for dinner. Yum. I'm famished!! He's great.
My friend Sarah at work has been living in a hotel room since April 16 ... she FINALLY closed on her house!! We're going tomorrow to help them clean it up and getting looking great. For my "birthday" she gave me a sample sized bottle of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and bar of soap .... compliments of the best western! :) But they're bath and body, so i am excited to have them (especially since i ran out of soap last night!!)
These are random tid bits, but since i haven't updated in a while, it seemed like i should come up with something to say.
Oh! We had an interview with a church planter in Southern Mishawaka ... it is probably one of the last places in this country where i would want to live .... but if that is where God is calling, i will go. (and he probably is since i don't want to go). We're still praying about it and we have some more "interview stuff" to go through but it is looking very promising. Pray for us to have wisdom in this as you think of it!