Good Times with Great Friends!

One of the things about my move to California that I am so thankful for are the friends that I have here! Not only are there two of my childhood friends that live here and attend the same church but there are several other people that were college friends or married college friends! How nice it has been to be able to have close friends that all know each other right off the bat!

Last Saturday...all of us got together to basically have one last "party" before the school year started and our lives were busy once again! It was such a wonderful time and we made some great memories!!!

When I stop to think about it...it is so weird to think that I have close friends that have children! It's quite a crazy thing to think about! Wow...and even more crazy is to think that that could be me?!?! (Well..maybe not for a few more years!...:) Anyhow...the point of all that is that these babies in my life are absolutely ADORABLE!!!! If you know me, you know I love babies!!! I fell in love with babies at my old job in Indiana..where I worked in the Infant room! These two babies (Leilani and Bryce) are so different in so many ways but both have me wrapped around their finger! Not just me..you will see in the pictures below, we are all in love!!!

Bryce...just look at him!!!

He's almost standing up on his own!

Leilani....Big eyes and so sweet!

I think he feels just a little smoothered when we are both around!

:)

Julian and Bryce having a very deep, personal conversation

:) He is going to be a great Dad someday!

Waiting for the food to be done!

Mommy and Bryce

Uncle Marlowe and Leilani

She loves her Daddy!

Ben feeding Bryce his bottle

Sleeping with Auntie Liz

Another great thing about our night together was the food!!! It was all very yummy!

Dan was the grillmaster!

The rest of the guys were his moral support :)

All of our preparation was done and we were just waiting on the men...

Finally!

Michelle made our dessert! It was fantastic!!

The last part of the evening was spent playing games...which included..screaming, laughing, yelling, more laughing... the shedding of tears (on my part) from laughing so hard and great memories made!

(fyi-this week we celebrated our SECOND month anniversary!!) :)

Daniel and Ben were pretty intense during this game! We were playing Apples to Apples...haha...they were the main reason for the tears!

Bryce was getting in some good laughs as well!

What a wondeful way to end the summer!

First Day of Teaching!!!

I would like to introduce you to:

Bethel Christian Academy's

First and Second Grade Class '10-'11

Today it was official! I was done with all the training and preparation...I officially became a teacher today! What an amazing feeling! What a incredible responsibility!!!

I was sick to my stomach this morning as I prepared for the day ahead! I don't remember ever being that scared! The nervousness lasted about the first half hour of the school day and then I was able to enjoy myself! I had a blast! My 12 kids are absolutely ADORABLE!!!

Here is your chance to see some of them!

Gabrielle and Gizelle

(complete sweethearts)

Austin (goofy)

Obi (cutest kid ever! but kind of an airhead:)

Twins Ashley and Melissa (super sweet) and Katrina (cute and very well behaved!)

Yahir (quiet and kind) and Victoria (sweet and great personality)

James (stinker but he makes me smile too)

So that is most of my class... as you can see I so far have very positive things to say about them! We will see if I am still saying those things after the first month! :)

Now, here are some pictures that my husband was snapping at the beginning of the day. (This is about the time when my stomach was in knots and I was very nervous!) I met most of the parents and children for the very first time this morning! I stressed a lot over those first few minutes b/c at our school the parents are welcome to stay in the classroom for however long they wish on any day of the year! Now, thats pressure! I am just glad I had some warning about that! So not only did I have 12 children to introduce myself to and establish my role as their teacher but the entire time I had parents around the classroom "checking their child's new teacher's teaching skills out." Ha..let's just say...I am glad that is over! :)

It actually went very smoothly! That probably had something to do with the fact that I had the exact words I was going to say in that first half hour basically memorized! :) Also, a HUGE plus is that all the parents seem super nice and supportive!

This is leaving the basketball court where the whole school participates in pledges to start the day off! I mainly posted this b/c my best friend Michelle is in this picture as well! Michelle and I grew up together and now we are teaching in the same school 2000 miles away from where we grew up! It is so nice having her in the next room over!

That's me in the distance meeting some parents as the kids are going to the classroom!

Meeting Yahir

Now here are some pictures of just my classroom! I love it! I spent a lot of time on it the last couple of weeks and it turned out better than I imagined!

Me at my podium!

The front of the class. I love my little stool! We all have one in our classrooms! It's nice to be able to get off your feet a little bit during the day!

From the back view! Love my big desk!

Teacher's desk

sink, microwave and book shelves

If you can't tell my classroom theme is flowers this year! We have to pick a theme for the entire year and I thought flowers was nice and simple for my first year!

Reading table and cubbies

Front view of the room!

There it is! My domain! I love it!

Please pray for me this year! I am realizing more and more that teaching is HUGE responsibility!

I am sure there will be more teaching post to come!

Reality Check!

Well, I officially had the BEST summer of my life!!!!!!!!! (so far!)

....And....

It is officially over!

We had our first day of teacher orientation today!

I don't know if I was ready for my wonderful summer to be over but it is.

I am so excited about all that is in store for this year! I am sure that you will be reading about most of my teaching experiences on here! By the end of this week I will post pictures of my classroom!!

...It's super cute!...

California Reception - July 24, 2010

Our church out here in California gave us a wedding reception on July 24. It was so beautiful and we were once again spoiled! I had the chance to meet the rest of my new relatives and had a wonderful time with my new church family!

There were so many pictures so I just decided to put the link to the pictures that I posted on facebook. You should be able to click the link below to see the pictures (even if you don't have a facebook!) :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=193284&id=789139444&l=d8b15f5557

This is my new hair-do! I was hoping for a "wife" look..I think I got it!!!

Our New Home!

Welcome to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Julian Balatbat!

~Our Kitchen~

~Our Dining Room~

~Our Living Room~

~Our Hallway~

~Our Bathroom~

~Our Bedroom~

~Our Guest Room/Office~

We absolutely LOVE our little apartment! It is so perfect for us! We have had such a fun time putting it together and decorating. We were given so many beautiful things to help start our new life and all of it together makes up our home! We are so blessed!