Settling in

It’s been a busy morning for this little wifey. Ran to the store, got a check cashed, made more tomato/cucumber/onion salad, spent a good hour making cabbage strudel to munch on, cleaned the bathrooms. It’s a lot of work to 1) take care of a house and 2) cook healthy meals for the whole week. I don’t know how you stay-at-home moms do it with kids on your hip or at your feet! My hat’s off to you.

My job

I started my new tutoring job this week! It’s at an organization I worked at in college. I’m so happy to be around kids again! My experience in first grade this past semester has definitely helped me with my understanding of phonics. I think I will be teaching mostly beginning and advanced reading, and maybe some writing and test prep. I’m not working a whole lot (yet) but it’s something!

We have no idea how long we’ll be here in (H)el(l) Paso (lovely moniker, right?) so I’m going to go ahead and certify in Texas. I have my fingerprinting next week, which is the last step to getting my one-year nonrenewable certificate. Then, I take my content tests, pass them (fingers crossed) and I’m certified in Texas. I’m nervous about the tests because they will be more difficult than Illinois’ test. Texas only recognizes three out of dozens of tests as being at least as rigorous.

Even if I don’t get a teaching job, having a TX certificate will help me get an aide job or something similar. It can’t hurt, right?

Our house

We love our house. Maintenance came by yesterday and put up all new pretty blinds, so that will help with the sun. We  haven’t noticed any flooding when it rains, or any big critters, so that’s good. I still would like to put together the third bedroom, but that’s far down on our list of priorities. Maybe a futon will suffice for now…?

Running

Since my job requires me to work past the time Aaron gets off work, we can’t work out together in the afternoons anymore. Since we have only one car right now, he goes over to the gym after work and works out until I get there. He has PT in the morning, and this week I’ve been getting up with him and working out after I drop him off at the company. This has worked out well! I haven’t seen a weight change one way or the other, but I know I’m still making my body stronger. It’s taken a few weeks to get accustomed to the heat.

A challenge

On Sunday Pastor Lee challenged new believers to read through the Gospels and just make mental notes about Jesus and his life. I decided to take on this challenge, except I would take notes and blog about it. I’ve been blessed to learn about Jesus from an early age, and have read so many of the stories so many times. However, I want to take a fresh, more objective approach. I think parts of the Church (all believers) could use a reminder of what Jesus really did in certain situations and emulate that. Stay tuned for my blogging of my discoveries!

If you think of it…

Please pray…

–We need a second vehicle and are on the lookout for something cheap but reliable. We will have the funds available in a couple weeks, so just pray we find the perfect car!

–My mom had a procedure done today.. just prayers for the results and also the recovery. She’s a teacher too and goes back to work soon.

–I have not been sleeping well, which is strange for me. People who know me well know that I get cranky without enough sleep!

–I will be scheduling my Spanish content test soon.. I will need wisdom!

Anyway…

We’re going out on a date this weekend! Dinner and a movie for two! It’s been forevvvver since we’ve been to a movie together, and as of right now, we try to eat out only once a week. We’re looking for recommendations for awesome Mexican places! Surprisingly, the last Mexican food we had was in Albuquerque.