It's one of those days to post something nice!

Christopher is done taking the bar! Woo Hoo!!! I am so excited! No more late study nights, no more stupid Barbri books, no more worrying! Best of all, Chris and I can eat dinner together every night! There have been few nights when we have been able to eat a wonderful meal together in the evening, and now, we can every night, if we want/are able to!

And...in other news...I GOT A PRESCHOOL JOB!!!! I will be an assistant preschool teacher at a preschool near our home! I will also be the school's music teacher! I will be assigned to a specific classroom and then I will also teach every age group a music lesson, once a week. The pay is not the greatest, but, after I get my Florida certification (a CDA), then my pay will increase (hopefully significantly!). I will also have an opportunity to become a lead teacher (not the assistant) after I have gained some experience with the school and teaching children. I am so excited! It is hopefully going to be a great job...this is totally what I wanted to do...and it is awesome because I was not even in Florida for two months and I already have a full time job. That, in a big part, is thanks to my wonderful parents, who gave me the opportunity to go to college and get my degree. I know I would not be able to find a job so quickly with a good education, and I am so grateful to the Lord, my parents, and my husband for letting me be able to get a decent education and for always guiding me in the right direction. I had a lot of struggles through my college career, and I know if it was not for the Church and the Lord, I would not have graduated the way I did. He placed me in specific places, at specific times, and that led me to find out about the different programs the university offered. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that I have had and all of the awesome experiences that have led me to where I am today.

The Lord has truly blessed me with wonderful opportunities and wonderful friends that have guided me along my path. I know if it was not for my experience in ResLife at OU, I would not have found out about the BSS program I graduated with. I know if it was not for the Lord, I would not have found the wonderful friends I met in middle school, high school and college. Brittany, Kristina, Anna, Rauchelle, Ashley...you all were/are the best friends a woman could ask for. I am so glad that I was put on a path to find you all. Ashley...high school was amazing...you were always someone I could turn to...and I am so glad that we did Atheletic Training together! Science Fair was always stressful, but fun...we always liked to be the best! Sleepovers, talking ourselves to sleep...wow...it's been a long time since those days! Rauchelle...you always are the greatest person to talk to! You are so down to earth and you totally understand me and I think I understand you too. Usually we are on the same page...especially when it came down to what we thought about guys...you know what I mean! haha...I am so happy that you found someone to share eternity with...you SO deserve that! Anna...you are awesome! Remember those silly tape recordings we used to do? We use to pretend we were radio talk show hosts and we would record for hours! We had dance in common. I was always so jealous of your beautiful hair! If it was not for your husband encouraging me to get on lds singles.com...I would have never met my husband...I can't wait to see the beautiful cakes you do in the future...and you are always good to talk to about things too. You bring a different prespective to me sometimes...and you are so wise. I am so glad you were in my first primary class in Greencastle. Brittany...it was completely chance that we met...I don't know if you remember, but the first time we met was on our way to Goodfellas pizza with some mutual friends/people I didn't know because it was my 2nd or 3rd day at college...then, we ended up having 3 classes together first quarter...we ate breakfast together every day...we talked about boys, A LOT, I always know something interesting is going to come up when I hear the words, "so I want your advice on something" come out of your mouth...haha...and it always is. Kristina...I have no words...nothing I could possibly say would be good enough to encompass the feelings I have about our friendship. You have always been there. Our runs/walks/eliptical exercises...dinner at Nelson sophmore year...being RA's together...talking about boys, of course...you have always been able to give me good advice and comfort whenever I have needed it. You are someone I feel comfortable sharing my true feelings with. And I know you would never judge me by the way things come out of my mouth sometimes...you are an awesome woman. You are going to do amazing things. I am so glad that you are my friend. Actually, I am so glad every one of you are my friends. You are ALL amazing women and I am so blessed to have each of you be a part of my life. Do not hesitate to call me anytime...do not hesitate to come and visit, if you can... I love you all.

Wow, I have no idea where all of that came from. I was not planning on writing that...it just came out...I guess I am feeling the love today...I still can't believe I am an adult... :)

Tomorrow!!!!

Tomorrow is when Christopher prepares for the potenially biggest test of his life! He will be taking the bar exam on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I hope it goes well for him and I know that he would appreciate any extra good thoughts and prayers for him during this time.

Tomorrow is also when I teach a trial music class for the preschool that I interviewed for last week. I am going to be teaching the three-year-old class about "the beat." Today I am going to make some shakers out of toliet paper rolls, tape, rice and construction paper. The children will help to keep the beat of the song with me while they sing. I think this is going to be a great lesson because they will get to sing their favorite songs and "play an instrument" at the same time. They have not been exposed to many musical concepts other than singing, so hopefully it goes well.

I made Krupsu today! It was my first time making this delicious Swedish pancake dish. It is in the oven right now, so hopefully it turns out to taste really good.

Just another post in the life of Steffanie and Chris

Well...one week and two days and Christopher will officially be done studying for the bar. He takes the test next Tuesday and Wednesday and then, hopefully, all of his stress will be over. Then, we will just have to wait in anticipation until he receives the word in September that he passed and he will get his bar card. I can't wait until that happens, because then he can actually apply for jobs! All of the jobs that he is looking at right now require him to have passed the bar to actually apply for the job, so hopefully September will be a month filled with wonderful opportunities for jobs and maybe we can be picky about what job he will actually take. September, will be a good month.

In other news, I have a job interview with a preschool this Wednesday. Hopefully that goes well! I am tired of sitting around the house being bored. I have done a thorough cleaning of te entire house already. I have made sure each of the bathrooms get scrubbed down at least once a week and I vaccuum weekly as well. I have done laundry, cooking, cleaning, watching movies...and I am ready for a challenge. I still want to make sure that I have a clean house weekily, but if I get this job...then I will not have so much idle time. I get bored. Easily. And in my boredom...my mind wanders and I think about a lot of things that could be better in my life or just things that do not really need a thorough evaluation, and then I exaggerate. And then I get upset with something that is not really a big deal. Then Christopher hears all about it. And then we are in a place that we would not have been if I did not have so much idle time...so I hope I get the job. Then, I will be busy making lesson plans and then doing all of the house dutites that need to be done, then I can enjoyy my time with my husband and everything will be a lot better for the both of us.

Well...we will find out after Wednesday how the interview goes...so wish me luck! :)

Sick Puppy :(

Our poor puppy...

Lacey started off the day as a normal,hyper, beautiful puppy this morning...then....it happened...

I let Lacey go outside for a while, while I was cleaning up lunch...and she got sick outside, three times. Then she proceeded to get sick another 13 times in the house, in a 45 minute period. Christopher and I took her to the vet...

We spent an hour there before we even saw the vet...but the vet examined her, decided that she had eaten something she was not suppose to eat (metal rust from our grill), after doing a fecal exam...and found out she has round worms...so baby Lacey is not allowed to have food for 24 hours...and she is on two different types of medicine to help her get better.

We have been home from the vet for 2 1/2 hours and Lacey is still sleeping...poor puppy!

Just over 2 more weeks....

In just over 2 weeks....CHRISTOPHER WILL OFFICIALLY BE DONE WITH TAKING THE BAR!!!!! I can't wait until it's over because then he will not be quite as stressed anymore.

Christopher is so great! He got some gift certificates from a friend to go to this restaurant that we have never been to, I think it was called BoneFish or something like that...anyway, it was a seafood place and it was great. He called me up on his way home from studying and he told me to put on some nice clothes (church clothes) because we were going out to eat. He brought me a beautiful bouquet of red roses and then we enjoyed an awesome meal together. I had Chilean Bass and Christopher had Grouper. It was delicious!

Like I posted on Facebook, sometimes, you just need to take a step back and decide not to care. That is really hard for me. There are a lot of things that really bug me sometimes, but I am going to try and be the bigger person and just deal with it as it comes. As most of you know, I really tend to worry about things and I make things up in my head that "might happen" in the future and I worry about that too. So, this whole "not caring" thing is going to be hard, but I only have to deal with the stupid stuff that is happening for a few more months anyway. Then, hopefully it will not be as hard.

Christopher is going to need a lot of love and support over the next couple of weeks, until he gets done taking the bar. I am doing what I can for him, but I know that sometimes I can make things more stressful.

I hope that I can find a job really soon, or that people will want to start taking piano lessons ASAP. I will feel a lot better about the future if I can get a job. I have been looking, but a lot of places want someone like me to have their CDA before they can begin teaching preschool. It kind of stinks that I have to get more training done after I just completed 4 years of work at a university, but I guess a 4 year degree just isn't enough anymore. I have been thinking a lot about grad school lately. I think it might be a real possibility for me, in the future. Not right now, of course, with everything being so crazy with Chris and trying to get myself settled here first, but maybe in a couple years, or maybe after we have kids and they are all in elementary school during the day, something like that. It is kind of exciting to think about that! Maybe a Master's degree in school administration or something like that, or maybe I might actually like all of the law stuff Chris is doing and I will go for a law degree. I don't know...the possibilities, as they say, are endless. Or actually, maybe the whole piano thing will take off in August or September and I won't have to worry about getting another degree...

That reminds me... I got my letter from Ohio University stating that I actually did complete my degree and that my degree will be sent in the mail in the next couple of weeks! I am so excited! I can't wait to actually see the little piece of paper that I worked my butt off for, for four years! I can't wait to hang it on the wall in my piano room. It is going to look fabulous in there!

Well, until the next time I write.... :)

Health Insurance Stinks!

So, I have been having a constant struggle with my health insurance company. If they were not the only company that would take me with my Type 1 Diabetes, then I would definitely take my business somewhere else! They never return phone calls,they never answer the phone, when they do answer the phone they make promises they don't keep...I HATE HEALTH INSURANCE!!!!!!

My First Blog

Ok....well....everyone is doing it, so I might as well too....

So, I just moved down to sunny Florida! I have been here for almost 3 whole weeks! I moved all of my stuff to Orlando on June 17 and I have almost completely unpacked everything.

Christopher got me a beautiful Dalmatian puppy named Lacey for my graduation-from-college present. She is cute, but very annoying sometimes. She still has not figured out how to completely "go outside"-if you know what I mean.

I have already started my babysitting job. I work on Fridays and Saturdays. It is actually a pretty sweet job. I like it a lot!

I am looking to start teaching piano lessons really soon. Chris made an awesome website (lakenonapiano.com) for me and we got some business cards, among other things. I really hope it works out because that would be like my dream job.

Chris is still studying for the bar. He is working hard and passing all of his practice tests, which is completely awesome! I am looking forward to the day when he gets his bar-card because that will help out our future plans to roll into place. He is posting his resume online, and sending it out to as many places as possible, but they really want him to be barred before they will hire him. Everything is riding on this test.

We have had a lot of unfortunate things happen to us since I moved down here. We have been hit with bill after bill and finally Chris got an awesome job, that he could do from home on our computer, and then of course, the computer decides to quit on us. Right now, it is with Geek Squad, hopefully they can figure out the problem and fix it as soon as possible, without costing an arm and a leg.

I am really missing my family right now. It is hard knowing it is the summer and I am not spending it with them. I am really sad that I did not get to go on the annual trip out to Idaho to visit with my grandparents on my Dad's side. Oh well, I guess that is what happens when you grow up! :)

While I was driving in the car the other day, on my way home from babysitting, I was thinking...when did this all happen? When did I grow up? I am married, I have a house, I have real bills, I have a job (temporary, but it is still a job)...when did this happen? It seems like yesterday that I was hanging out with Ashley at a football game or going to a church dance with Rauchelle, Sarah and Anna. Or I was going running with Kristina at the school gym. Being an RA, taking piano lessons, dance lessons, being a Beehive class president...wow! I grew up fast!

Well, I suppose I will get on here in a few days and let you all know how life is going!