The dream

This is for all of those people who actually look at my blog still, I know that there aren't that many of them because I... um... don't update my blog. But now I am doing that. I hope that there are some of you because if not, what a waste. Anyway, what new with me?
Hmmm..... My 3rd year of teaching school just started, it has been really hectic because I have been putting in a sprinkler system, entertaining my parents, entertaining Angie's mom, started coaching soccer for the school, and...oh yeah... Angie just had a baby. Yeah! So since school started my schedule is as follows: I wake up at 5:15, get to work at 6:30, school starts at 7:25 (I only have 45 minutes to plan and 30 minutes of lunch and teach the rest of the time), school ends at 2:50, I have 80 minutes to work on my masters, then soccer starts at 4:15 where I work with the kiddos til 6:30, then get home at 7:00 and have dinner, and finally get to bed by 9:00 so I can wake up every few hours before doing it all over again! Ang on the weekends I'm in the yard trying to fix it up. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm just livin' the dream!

Living Large

For those of you who continue to look at my blog and say to yourselves, "self, what else is happening in their lives since August '07?" Well I am here to tell you that we are still alive! Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but we have made it. To get you updated to our lives I'll let you know that I am real busy at work teaching these kids how to "parler francais". Some get it, but some don't. I have also been assisting coaching the boys basketball team, we went 10-2 and then lost a player because he got caught with alcohol in his possession and so then we went 12-11 and lost in the first round of the state tournament. It was fun while it lasted, our school was even mentioned in the January, or February issue of Sport's Illustrated. It was an article about the "dribble drive penetration" that Memphis uses on it's men's basketball team. Anyway now that that is over Angie is really happy because I come home right after work and she doesn't have to sit by herself all day long because I would be at basketball practice. She got so bored of being at home by herself that she picked up another job. So not only does she work as a secretary at a Middle school, but she is also now working at an Optometrist in our little city. She likes it because she is always busy. That's us as of late, and hopefully I will find some time and write (and even include pictures) before another 10 months go by!

Renting in Grand Junction

Ruthless! That is the only word that I can use to describe how you have to be if you want to get a place to rent in Grand Junction. Right now the renting market is incredibly tough!!! There are lots of people moving there because of a booming oil market in the area, so needless to say renting is a big business right now.
When we first got there we looked up things in the paper, on the internet, and had friends who live there make contacts for us. We would find a place and then that place would already have paying renters. Then we would find another place and people would have applications in to rent it. We were told to be bold while looking for a place. We called this older lady who had discussed renting with another couple, but the couple didn't put any money down or anything on the place, and the lady told them she would hold it for a few days while she waited for their response to if they wanted it. We called that same lady up and told her we would give her another $50 dollars if she would rent it to us that night, we begged and pleaded, but to no avail: she wanted to keep her word.
We decided to go to a city just outside of Grand Junction. There we found a nice little Condo, it was under our first budget by a little, and our second budget by a lot. So we drove to the renting company and got an application. We decided to fill out the application there and turn it in. So we did that and then left to get some food. While we were at the store the renting place called back and said that another person was putting an application in along with a holding deposit (guaranteeing the place to her if she qualified). So we quickly drove back to the office to pay a refundable holding deposit also, $150. We got there and wrote out a check right before the other lady finished her application and paid the deposit. The funny thing is that we hadn't even seen the inside of the place yet, but we wanted to be sure to get the condo if we liked it. After putting down the holding deposit we got a call from the man in charge who would show us the condo. So we drove over there and took a look. It was great, in good condition, and cheap. :) So we told him we wanted it, all we had to do now was qualify. He told us that he would call us that day to let us know if we qualified. He also told us there was someone else who put the holding deposit in at the same time so it wasn't guaranteed to go to us. Luckily a few hours later he called us back and told us it was ours if we wanted it. We told him yes! So we have a place. It's got 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, washer/dryer hookups, and a kitchen with a range, a fridge, and a dishwasher. We don't need that many rooms, but since it was cheaper by far than anything else we had seen, plus under our budget we thought it would be good. So...we have a place!!!

The United World College of the American West

That's it! That is the official name of the place that I am staying in for my training in the booming Metropolis of Montezuma, New Mexico. I heard today that during the school year they have on average 200 students at the school studying, and from what I have seen so far they are all international students. This is New Mexico! Below you are going to find some of the pictures I took from the shuttle bus window from my 2.23 hour drive from Albuquerque to Montezuma. Oddly it got greener and greener as we approached Montezuma.
When we got to Montezuma it only took a few minutes to arrive at the College and I was impressed with what I saw. There were trees and it was really, really, really green! See for yourself...
And to boot we got to stay in a castle, kind of...
So I wish I would have stayed here, but some of the conference attendants were able to stay here, and others stayed in little dormitories like those you see in the first green picture above. The rooms weren't bad, I was expecting worse...
The rooms were split in two by a wall, you see the wall on the right edge of the picture, that was it. In each room we were able to have our own desk (on right), our own dresser (far left on edge) and luckily our own bed (center). I think I have a guy as a roommate, but I haven't met him yet. I will keep you updated on this potentially awkward situation! :) It is my first night, I have Internet, but my phone is roaming, oh well. In Duchesne I only had a roaming phone, and no Internet so I guess I am moving up in the world. I will keep you update as to the fun and exciting things I have planned, or they have planned for me!

Official

It's official, I have been offered a position at Palisade High School near Grand Junction, Colorado. I got the call July 5th after a week of stressing over the fact that I might not have a job next year. The worries started about a week ago when I got a call from the Vice Principle who said that if I didn't get some official things turned in soon that they would be looking in a different direction at someone else who they stated had already filled out all the needed applications. After that phone call I took 2 days off of work in Duchesne and went down to BYU to get things taken care off. After a few hours down there I got all the forms sent that I needed to send. Earlier this week I called the District again to see if they received the forms, to which they replied that they hadn't. So I called up Angie from Duchesne and had her fax the forms over to the District so they could get the forms. Then today I got the call as I was running around SLC, and they offered me the job. So thanks to everyone who held their breath, and prayed for us because we got it. :D

Summer Job

I have a summer job in the wide open expanse of Duchesne, Utah. It is a little town about 180 miles away from Salt Lake City. My parents own a cabin there, a cozy 2 room, 2 floor, 2 bath, 2 car garage get-away. They have a friend there that owns his own business building cabins, Basin Wide Builders. I leave my SLC home Sunday night and go to The Cabin. On Monday I wake up at about 5:30am, and get ready to leave by 6. After a 30 minute drive to the site we are building the cabin we get out and start working. I have done things like putting in windows, roofing, and ehlping with some basic electrical stuff. It has been interesting and really different from teaching. But for a summer job where I am just interested in earning some more money before we move to Grand Junction it does the job. We finish at about 3:00, and after cleaning up we take off at about 3:30 to get home by 4. I take a shower and then relax for the rest of the day. I don't have phone service there without paying for roaming, so I don't call anyone on the phone very often. I leave on Friday's and get home in SLC at about 6pm. I do it all so we can move to Grand Junction and get settled in there. It's a good job, but I don't think I want to do this for my whole life.

Last day at Sunset Ridge

I had my last official day at Sunset Ridge Middle school on Thursday June 7th. It was a happy, and sad moment for me. While I was there at the school I learned a great deal about kids, and their desires to learn. I will miss all of the Falcons that I taught for the past year. It was great every morning to have half a dozen kids come into the class room to say hi and then to hang out a little before they all took off to get to their first period class on time; I will miss the chances to see some students come in and say hi to me during passing time; the occasional student who would come in to say au revoir, or ciao after school got out. I will also miss the other teachers who gave me so much: Linda, Coleen, Natalie, Wyatt, and Sherrie. They were there to help me with my questions and to cheer me up on those few days when I didn't want to be there.
I am glad that I had that opportunity to be there and teach those kids preparing me to go out and teach other students in my new adventure. Thanks so much to you all for your help, you are wonderful!!!