Wedding Rememberings

Since tomorrow is our anniversary, I wanted to take the time to share some of my favorite things about our wedding...
I loved taking communion with all our friends around us, it made the whole thing seem so special and intimate.. especially when Simon said "mmm, this wine is good" and all whole wedding party started laughing
I loved giving roses to my Mom and Simon's Mom, they both me so much to me and helped so much with the wedding.
I loved having Lynn Holt and Angel Hager there to keep me calm and make sure everything went well.
I loved walking out to "We are one tonight" by Switchfoot and Simon planning that Christian would set off the confetti...it was amazing
I loved listening to Josh and Lizzie sing my fav Bethany Dillon song ever, it was beautiful.
Hearing about how Simon introduced Kevin and Kerry as Kevin and Kerry Knight, which made the entire Challenge crew start laughing was great.
I loved our vows.
All my friends and family who were there made the whole thing so special and I hope that everyone felt they were sharing an incredibly special and intimate day with us. I am excited for the rest of the journey to come...

Last weekend in Lincoln

I can't believe that this was my last official weekend in Lincoln. I am sure I will come back to visit but still something about this weekend marked the end of a chapter in my life. It is just odd that I will never go to a class again at UNL or walk between Andersen and the Union. I will miss Ivanna Cone, Lazlos, Bison Witches and most of all my friends. I will miss Theresa's smile, knitting with Emmy, my hangouts with Michelle, my friends from Challenge, all the wonderful friends at Rivertree and so many others. Please, Please come and visit us in St. Louis if you get the chance! We would love to have you!

yay!

Simon's job here in Nebraska wants to keep him on while we move to St. Louis. This means Simon will be able to work from home, a coffee shop or basically wherever he wants to work. This is huge and so exciting for him (basically his dream idea of a job) so we decided to go out to eat last night.

We ended up at Outback where they were having their no worries Wednesday special. Apparently Wednesday is the new Saturday..who knew? Anyways basically we split a meal that consisted of steak, chicken, three jumbo shrimp and two sides of mashed potatos AND got a bloomin' onion for free. craziness..we walked out of there spending $25 and felt like we had cracked the Outback steakhouse system. It was a great night and we are so excited for St. Louis.

Weekend Recap

On Friday night, we went to James Arthur vineyard for a wine tasting. It was a beautiful night and it was so much fun walking around drinking wine and eating appetizers. My favorite wine was the Red Ibis while Simon enjoyed the Nebraska Red. We also found out that we both like Jambalaya. Probably the most comical par the this whole thing was when Simon was brewing beer with some of the guys the next day and pulled out the map of the vineyard to show "what we did the night before."

Afterwards we went to the Huckabees, to help celebrate Bailey's birthday...she turned 17, which makes me feel older for some reason. Simon's grandparents were there and we talked about our favorite movies and books. I am going to miss all of them, they make me feel like part of their family whenever I am around them.

We saw Ocean's 13 on Saturday night, I loved it and was laughing out loud several times during the movie. I think Matt Daemon probably cracked me up the most...I won't give away why.

Yesterday, we went over to the Becker's for a real BBQ. Alan smoked beef and pork in a wholemade ceramic smoker and grilled salmon. It was incredible. We also learned a new hobby of Alan's the bean bag game. This game consists of two boards with holes in them and four bean bags per team. You throw the bean bags at the boards to get points. one point for getting on the board, three points for getting in the hole. It sounds simple, but yesterday I learned bean bag is a game of strategy and high concentration. What can I say...we are still in Nebraska....and games like this make our weekends fun.

we got our condo!!!

Yay! our condo is secured and moving to the Lou is feeling more and more real every day. It's in Lafayette square and is absolutely gorgeous. Now if I would just find out what school I am teaching at then everything will be perfect..
Institute is getting closer and closer and I am getting more and more excited for the next adventure!
Summer Schedule:
June 23 -Simon and I's anniversary
June 24-Andrew & Liz's wedding
June 25-28-In St. Louis for Induction
June 28-29-Melissa's wedding
July 1-August 4-Institute in L.A.
Start school shortly after...

St. Louis, knitting, genealogies

I went to St. Louis for a site visit about two weeks ago. I interviewed at two schools and Simon and I looked for an apartment. Overall the trip excited me even more about moving there. St. Louis has these incredible neighborhoods that have their own vibe and flavor. We fell in love with an apartment in Lafayette Square. It is by a huge park and has its own restaurant/eclectic shops section. It's beautiful, hopefully when I go back in June I can take some better pictures so everyone can see it.
Amidst trying to do my pre-institute work, I have also started to do a family genealogy. Ok so I know I am a big dork, but there is something that excites me about learning about my family's past. I love putting all the puzzle pieces together and making sure they fit correctly. Maybe it's the research journalist in me, maybe it's the fact that I am the ultimate procrastinator, not sure but I love it. If you want to know more ask me, and I will tell you about my great great grandmother, Belle.
I am also trying to finish a knitting project for a baby that is on the way in July..love ya Anna. I need to put more time into that or it might potentially be done a few months after the new addition is born.

graduation

On Saturday despite the monsoon in the morning I graduated from UNL with two degrees. A bachelor of arts in Spanish and a bachelor of journalism in news-editorial. I was the last person to walk into the Bob Devaney Center because of my name change, which made it very easy for my parents and simon to find me but I didn't find them until towards the end when my mom decided to leave early.
The two broadcasting kids who were sitting beside me were wasted which made the whole thing absolutely hilarious. Example: the guy beside me got up two times to try and go get nachos...both times he did not succeed. They also tried to leave before the ceremony was over but apparently officials stopped them and told them they would take away their diplomas if they left.
My party was great. I loved having all my family there and all the friends who stopped by were amazing. Basically I felt really loved and celebrated. Highlight of my grad party was three year old Maci handing me a pile of toothpicks and saying, "Here...for your birthday." She is a cutie.

I really feel like I am starting a new phase of my life. It feels a little weird but mostly exciting. I can't wait to see my school and meet my kids next year. But before all that happens I have a ton of preparation to do , but at least now I am working towards a solid goal where I know I will be doing some good. Look for graduation pics on facebook:)

A week and two days

A week and two days left until I am done at UNL...
Some lasts that I have completed recently.

Last Daily Nebraskan Story...completed yesterday at 4:30 p.m.
Last Spanish Exam...two weeks ago
Last class..will be on Thursday from 12:30-1:45

I am definetly in Senioritis mode I have two papers to write and no work was accomplished on them this weekend. But I have my cap and gown and I am official with all my paperwork.

Whenever I see junior high kids now I think about how I will be teaching them next year..its a little scary.

St. Louis: The Gateway to the West

It's official, Simon and I are moving to St. Louis. I am going to be teaching middle school language arts with Teach for America. We are incredibly excited about having an adventure together and experiencing some place new. I am excited about the opportunity to teach my kids in my class next year and hopefully make sure that they will graduate high school no matter what. It's crazy because I already have all these ideas for an after school yearbook or newspaper club at my school an dI don't even know where I am teaching. What I do know is that it is going to be an incredibly challenging journey probably filled with many tears and agony over trying to decide how to make things understandable for my students. But I am hoping that after these next two years I can say it has all been worth it and I will be able to know that I have changed at least a few student's lives.

Top 10 reasons why I love my Simon

Taking a break at work from logging articles and trying to do something fun:

10. He can cook a mean chicken pizzza

9. He can cook in general..I would probably have Ramen 24/7 otherwise

8. Baby, baby, baby

7. He thinks my nose is cute

6. He really believes I can accomplish rock hard abs

5. movies/tv show marathons

4. tickles (but only in the morning ;)

3. challenging me to think big picture

2. dreaming about our lives together while being outside on the perfect day

1. believing that I can do more than I can even imagine with the rest of my life

I am not a big lyrics person, but these lyrics are becoming very important to me. I struggle with feeling small and insignificant and many times try to not contribute or even be seen. For me these lyrics represent taking a step toward bringing and giving something to others. It may seem silly but it takes a crazy amount of bravery for me to contribute in conversations and relationships. Its been a long time coming but I am beginning to believe more and more that I have things to share and give to others that could change their lives and that I am not invisible.
Bravery for me means finding the strength to not be invisible and to be present.

Brave

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
You're safe and sound and
Until now it's where I've been

'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything
But it's been love, Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I am small
And I speak when I'm spoken to
But I am willing to risk it all
I say Your name
Just Your name and I'm ready to jump
Even ready to fall...

Why did I take this vow of compromise?
Why did I try to keep it all inside?

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I've never known a fire that didn't begin with a flame
Every storm will start with just a drop of rain
But if you believe in me
That changes everything
So long, I'm gone

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
I wanna be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

Delayed Happy New Year

Happy New Year...two days late. we woke up this morning and our garage wouldn't work...this is the second time this has occured since Simon and I have lived at this apartment and I believe the cons of this apartment are beginning to add up. too bad we probably have to stick it out till the summer. I am excited to see what the new year will bring...so far we have tossed around three places to move to next summer...Portland, Chicago and St. Louis. I'm an advocate for Chicago and St. Louis mainly because Teach fo r America has corps in those two cities...but it really depends on where we get jobs, so we will just have to see what happens.