school, house, trip, friends, OH MY!

A list of things I need to catch up on in the blog world:
1. School
2. House
3. Trip
4. Matt
5. Chris

OK...
We're in our second month of school. The first day/week was great. I kept comparing this group of students to my kids from last year and thought that there was no way they'd steal my heart like my group last year. I was wrong. My class this year is such a loving group. Most of them LOVE to read AND write. I'm enjoying having my own room to be creative. My students are making wonderful gains and I can't wait to see where they go. Since I'm not teaming this year, the day goes by so quickly. Last year, I taught half the day and the other half I spent helping, grading papers, etc. This year, from 7:50-3:40, I'm on the go, non stop. I'm truly enjoying my job, my students, and parents.

Joey (Matt's Uncle) started painting our house about a month ago. It was a light tan with ugly dark brown shutters and front door. I'll post pictures as soon as it's COMPLETELY finished. We picked out a gray, with dark blue/black shutters and a red front door. It looks SOOOO much better. I'm so excited with our choice! Yesterday Joey came and installed the gutters. We still have to finish the walkway, put up the railing on the front porch, and fix the garden area.

Matt's still on 3rd shift, and will be for who knows how long...The other night we got into the discussion about having a baby. He begged me to stop my birth control. In all honesty, I don't quite understand why he wants a child so badly...I really don't. Isn't it normally the other way around? Personally, I am enjoying Matt and April time. I like coming home to Matt and Ethel and not having to worry about anything else but us. I like being able to go and do as we please and not have to worry about a babysitter. As we were talking, I was trying to make him see my side. We've only been married ALMOST a year, and even though we dated for 8 years prior to getting married, this is a different experience, and I want more of it before we add kids to the mix. We kept talking and a light went off in my head. I told Matt, "You work 3rd shift. We don't know when you'll get off of 3rd shift, if ever. How am I supposed to wake up in the middle of the night with a kid and be expected to go to work? Matt would sleep all day while my mom watched the baby, then I would pick the baby up and go home from work, feed the baby, put the baby to sleep, then Matt would wake up. How fair is that??? Not fair at all. I'm not even ready for that and I'D be the one doing all the work." I'm exhausted just thinking about it all! So-babies aren't even a thought at this point in my life.

October 10 is our 1 year anniversary. This year has FLOWN by. It has been a special and fun year. I made Matt something very special and can't wait to give it to him :) With Matt's new job, he works mostly 7 days a week. Last weekend was Labor Day weekend and he got 2 days off. We took advantage of it and left for Atlanta. We went to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. We booked a room at the Westin. We wanted a good view of the city so we asked if we could stay on a high floor. At first, we were on the 49th floor. After a long day at the aquarium and coke place, I was tired and had a little bit of a headache. We ate lunch at the Varsity and then checked into our hotel. We had a beautiful view and could even see Stone Mountain. I decided that a little nap would probably help my headache. All of a sudden we hear a dog barking. I thought, "No...you've GOT to be kidding me." We ended up going to the 70th floor where they have a restaurant called the Sun Dial. We weren't going to eat there because it was SO expensive. We went up there simply for the view. We got up there and soon decided that we didn't care how much it would cost, we wanted to eat there. The neat thing about this restaurant is that it slowly rotates. It takes an hour to make a complete rotation. It's the best view in Atlanta. We made reservations for 7:30, went back to our room and started getting dressed up. We went back up to the restaurant at 7:30 and was seated by the window. The waiter came with a fancy bottle of water and asked, "Would you like this 'still water' or would you like for me to go get you 'sparkling water'?" Matt, which much confidence says, "We want the sparkling water." The waiter leaves to get the sparkling water, brings it back and pours it in our glasses. It was the most AWFUL water I've EVER tasted. It was carbonated. I had to laugh, because Matt thought he was making the right choice and was so confident about it. We ordered this ravioli dish for an appetizer. It was delicious. I got a glass of riesling and Matt got a lemon drop drink. Matt ordered their chicken dish, which was $30.00. I ordered steak, which was $50.00. I got a little nervous because I knew that our bill was going to be outrageous. Matt just smiled and calmly said, "You only live once. We can afford it, don't worry about it, just enjoy and get whatever you want." Dinner was DELICIOUS; not only that, we got to watch the sun set over Atlanta. It was the most amazing view I've ever had. The sun set and soon we had the beautiful view of the city lights and car lights. We ordered dessert. He ordered some kind of brownie and I ordered creme brulee. OH, MY, SWEET TOOTH-it was so amazing. Our bill, with tip and all came out to be $180.00. I don't regret a single dollar. It was amazing food and an amazing experience. After dinner we came back to our room. There was a hotel worker who was telling us that they had complaints about the dog next door and that they were going to take care of it. The owner had been gone ALL day. You know that dog HAD to have messed all in that room. The worker said they had locked the door so that the owner would not be able to get in and would have to face them. We asked if we would be able to get another room and the worker said that shouldn't be a problem. We went in our room and as soon as we heard the dog bark, we called the front desk and got moved to the 60th floor which had an even BETTER view! It was wonderful. The next morning, we left and headed home. We stopped in Newnan for lunch and ate at Five Guys Burger and Fries...yummy! We also went to my favorite teacher store and I got some needed items. Our last stops were at Zaxby's so that Matt could get his favorite, birthday cake milkshake. We then went to Starbucks so that I could get MY favorite, vanilla bean frappucino.

We had a wonderful time and I'm so glad we did it.

Our friend Chris had his final surgery. If you've been reading, you'll know that he had chron's disease and ulcerative colitis, which doctors believe is from the medicine acutane. Anyways, he had his colon removed. For a while, his waste was going into a bag from his stomach. On this last surgery, the doctors closed him up and he is now producing waste like the rest of us. Bless his heart, he has been through so much. I pray that he and Jamie will get back on their feet again and experience more blessings than they can possibly imagine.

That's all for now!