It has been entirely too long...

It has been 2 years since my last blog post.  I think I need a photo scavenger hunt or something.

[Edit] In fact, I'm going to do this one:

Anyways, I've been pretty busy with teaching online from home at a brand new online school.  I started out as a high school math teacher (the very first teacher hired) and have become the lead teacher mentor in charge of onboarding new teachers, helping staff with their training/professional development, perform walkthroughs in live sessions and in the online classroom, and many other things that I will not bore you with the details about.  It's been a wild ride so far, and I LOVE IT.



Some stuff has happened personally as well...back in August, we got pregnant and had a miscarriage.  We are heartbroken.  People have been helpful...but people have also said some pretty stupid stuff as well.  I got a tattoo on my foot...thought I was done with tattoos until I lost my baby.

Along with the changes professionally and personally, I've kept busy with some crafting and some nerding...

Doing slides at WCC

I'm still crocheting.  Here are some of my most recent projects (links to the original patterns in the captions):

Kitty! for a cutie

Lacy infinity scarf for a smarty pants

Snake for a fun little man

Bobble hat

I also received a cabinet sewing machine from my great-aunt.  I learned how to sew this summer and finally made the t-shirt quilts that I've been meaning to make for years:

So what have you been up to?  Feel free to share in the comments below.

Boxen - Packing

I know that some people who look at this blog might be saddened by these pictures...I just wanted to document the spacial reasoning of our packing...which saved us time and money on our move to Toledo:

 This is before it got "out of control"...I mainly took this picture

of the colors coming in from the sunset.

Kitchen boxen

When I moved everything into the living room, including

the kitchen table so I could mop the kitchen.

"OH NO!  DON'T FALL ON ME!"

Fishing

So, this is the 3rd time I've gone fishing in my life.  The first time, I broke my friend's extra pole...and was maybe 7 or 8 years old.  The second time, was over 15 years ago.  So, this is my first time fishing in this century.  Here are some pictures documenting our adventure:

Alyssa struggling to bait the hook.

View from the fishin' pole *sigh*

Scott, our fish whisperer...

Before we started catching fish, the competition

became who could catch the biggest seaweed.

Getting schooled by Kim's niece.

Ok, so seaweed escalated to sticks/debris.

Another stick I caught.

Alyssa caught a stick.

TURTLE!

Kim caught a fish! Now we're gettin' somewhere...

I temporarily broke the fishing rod catching a tree.

Alyssa caught a catfish!

Jeremy caught a blue gill! 

(I think that's what that is)

I finally caught a "yellow belly" catfish!

Hello!

Catfish prince?

Alyssa caught a CARP!  Kim had to go down to pick it up

out of the water...

Alyssa was definitely the MVP 

of the fishing "competition"!!!

Gloria

Our friends, Criss and Megan have the coolest little baby girl ever.  Gloria is so funny!  And she's super smart!  Here are a few pictures of her from when we visited them a few weeks ago (not in any particular order):

bret

i love my husband, bret.  it's been a hard year since we were pretty much inseparable until we moved to greenville, ohio.  we worked opposite shifts this year.  i worked during the day until the school year ended.  he works afternoons and evenings.  since i am home now, i find myself thinking about him A LOT.  bret is the best husband ever!  he's very kind and considerate, funny, smart, and trustworthy.  sorry if it seems that i'm gushing.  i love bret and miss him a lot while he's at work.

bret and me while on a walk in february

on a walk. thought this would be an interesting album cover

at john & chelsea's wedding

flashbox picture at john & chelsea's wedding

 i asked bret to do the hula dance. this is was the result.

 can we have a nice "normal" picture?

reading donald miller's book "searching for God knows what"

summer fun. happy birthday, bret!

at meredith & ted's wedding!