Blessed in so Many Ways

I cannot believe that next week will mark the one year anniversary of purchasing our home site!!!! I remember it like it was yesterday. It was our 4th trip to Indy and we flew out to look at apartments. We knew we were going to move in June, but were originally planning to rent for awhile until we familiarized ourselves with the area. For fun, we went and looked at model homes (something we did on every visit).There was one neighborhood in particular that we just fell in love with...We went temporarily insane, and decided we were going to purchase a home in this development- but it was more than we wanted to spend. We went back to our hotel and were bummed. "Man, I really liked that Jamestown model in Roudebush Farms, Brookie," said Ryan. "Me too," I frowned.... We assumed it wasn't meant to be and went to bed that Sunday night disappointed...
We received a call from the sales manager the next morning. "Hey guys, Ryland just released a promo- We can offer you 15 percent off the base price on certain lots!" So, we drove back and picked this one (can you see me standing on what eventually would become our garage?)... The price was just too good to refuse!!! The floorplan, yard and town was EVERYTHING we wanted!!! We decided to follow our dreams- no looking back. Here is a pic from that weekend (it was last year's Christmas card...look familiar???) It was taken in downtown Indy- we were running around trying to gather all the paperwork I needed from the Department of Education, so I could begin applying for a teaching license out here...

We flew home last Thanksgiving and told our families- "SURPRISE!!!! We bought a lot in Indiana. Construction begins in January!!!" I think we might have freaked them out- but when something is right, you have to follow your gut and that is exactly what we did!

I told my friend Michele (Teacher of the Year for Moreno Valley Unified 2008), that I was going to steal everything she taught me and take it to Indy when I started my new job as an ESL Teacher....And I did... We had our first Parent Workshop this past Thursday. Michele and I taught a few Parent classes together at Bear Valley last year, and I saved all the Power Points I made. I "tweaked" my old presentation to meet the needs of my new students and the Indiana Standards. We began the evening with a dinner for the first and second grade ESL students and their families...The families were so appreciative and the kiddos were so excited. I kept telling them all week that they had to come to our "Learning Party!"Here is a picture of one of my Instructional Assistants (Maria), my Principal (Tom), my friend Amanda, and me getting the Power Point ready to rock!!!Then, after dinner the parents dropped off their other children in the gym to be baby-sat, and returned to the cafeteria with their first or second grade child to participate in the presentation. Here are parents working side-by-side with their children as they participate in a "Making Words/Vocabulary" activity.Here is one of my students and his mom. He is such a sweetie!

Here is my friend Amanda, helping a family out. We had an awesome turn-out...60+ people and that was just the families of our first and second graders!!! I was also VERY fortunate to recruit 12 staff members willing to help out with set up, serving food, childcare for siblings, helping parents during the workshop and clean-up.
Here is a picture of me introducing my new Principal, Tom. He is a pretty cool guy. He was a high school baseball coach for many years in Carmel and actually was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the early 80's.Here is one of my students making a word, and following along with the corresponding flashcard. I am not going to lie, I still miss not having my own class. Adjusting my role from a General Education Teacher to Support Teacher has been difficult. I am a "control freak" and having your own class definitely has its perks. In some ways though, I feel that this job has a greater significance because I am an advocate for ALL of these children. I am excited to continue building a positive rapport with the diverse families new to the school district I now work for. I also feel very fortunate to have helped Michele out with some of her workshops in Title 1 last year. She taught me so much that I can apply in my new position. Thanks, Michele!!!

On Saturday, my neighbor Liz and I took a trip to the Castleton Mall to begin scoping out gifts for Christmas... It was PACKED!!!! You would have thought it was 30 degrees outside and people had nothing better to do....heeheeeheee!!!!They already had Christmas decor set up...I would have taken more pics, but a security guard yelled at me (I felt like such a REBEL) and told me I couldn't take any more pictures in the mall. This was the only picture I was able to snap...I was only going to window shop, but I found this magnifying glass, and I had to have it!!! It goes PERFECT with our living room decor-I also bought some snow boots (out of necessity of course). The last thing I want to wear all day is soggy socks and shoes. I'll wear these when I'm shoveling snow in the driveway and walking to/from my car. I'll change into my regular shoes once I am indoors. Aren't they cute???
On Sunday, our friends came over to watch the Colts game. The Colts won!!!! The Titans are winning the division, but we may be lucky enough to snag the wildcard. Apparently, there was a sale on Peyton Manning jersies... At least there was one non-conformist in the group!!!Check out this handsome guy!!!This is my teaching partner, Alissa. She is the ESL teacher for grades 3, 4, and 5. I LOVE her!!!This is Alissa's son, Tyler. He is so adorable. I just want to squeeze him. He has the cutest little voice and he always calls me "Miss Brooke."He also likes to hit me on the head and throw things at me...Good thing I am a forgiving soul and a sucker for hugs from 4 year olds...You have seen Amanda on previous BLOGS....she teaches 1st grade in the room next door to ours. I "push-in" to her class 3 times a week. Here we are- the 3 amigos. We have to stick together- we are the only staff in our twenties at work.My neighbor Liz came over too, but football was the last thing on her mind. She was busy working on her niece Ella's Christmas present- a hand-painted Sesame Street table and chairs. She is so artistic!!!The doggies made an appearance too. We have been putting shirts/sweaters on them lately because of the cold. Check out Sammy-Here is Frodo in his dog pajamas-I found all of their dog clothes when we cleaned out the garage a few weeks ago and actually did a load of puppy laundry. Are these dogs spoiled or what??? Have you EVER seen anything so ridiculous???We saw total of 4, yes 4 snowflakes this weekend. We were in the Kroger (a grocery store in Indy) parking lot. We had just parked and we saw them land on our car windshield. Ryan and I looked at each other and smiled. :)

We were like two little kids. It was pretty funny that we were that excited. The weather forecast said snow this weekend- but those 4 flakes were all we saw...




Never fear though, we have windshield scrappers and bought driveway salt and snow shovels this weekend (1 for the house and 2 to keep in our cars). We are ready....BRING IT ON!!!Until next time...xo

P.S.-A few days ago, Ryan and I signed up to run (we will probably walk most of) the "Mini-Marathon" in downtown Indianapolis on May 2nd. It isn't really mini at all...13 miles to be EXACT!!! We are PERFECT candidates, being that we are so physically fit and all...heehee. But seriously, it will probably take us the entire 4 hours and they will probably have to send the pick-up wagon around to get us, but we will do our best. We are going to run it with some of our neighbors and will begin training next month. The coolest part is that we will get to run around the Indy 500 race track!!! Soooooo fun!!!