The Smorgasbord

So, after a long hiatus in the blogging world here's a quick summary of January...school started again for both Rex and myself and we got lots and lots of snow. :) I was busy with trying to get my official College of Education application turned in-so many little details to collect. It was nuts, it had me completely stressed out. On a positive note, it's done and over with, and I start teacher assisting in the Fall as long as I didn't screw up my application. Cross those fingers!

For my teaching reading class I am in the classroom two hours a week working with two 5th grade boys. It's nice to be back in a school setting again, but wow, I forgot how little 5th graders are. It's nuts!

My sister, Kari, turned 21 on the 16th so being the big sister I made the trip down to Ann Arbor to hit the bars hard with her for the night. I must say it was quite the adventure, but such a good time! Rex has been busy with freelance work as of late, which is a good thing too. Basically we've both been staying busy, busy.

On the wedding front, we finally got our "save the dates" out although I keep having these sinking sensations that we're forgetting people....we also rented the table linens and I picked up my underskirt for my dress. It's a fun time. The bridesmaid dresses came in, we should be ordering rings in the next week or so, and Rex is still trying to figure out what the groomsmen will be wearing. Our cake tasting is on Monday, which I think I'm beyond excited for!!! And the tentative date for ordering the flowers in on the 24th. Everything is coming along wonderfully. And I'm getting super excited about it all, I can't believe it's only like 4 months away. Wow.

In more current news, this past weekend was a blast! On Friday the snow started falling in Grand Rapids and news of a blizzard was heard. When we woke up Saturday morning it was amazing. We were burried. We still are. The Grand Rapids Public Schools have been closed, yesterday and again today. Grand Valley State University was closed yesterday as well. We have about 2 feet of snow and it's not going anywhere with these ice cold temperatures. But it's nice, the city doesn't look so "city"with all the snowcovered roof tops. : ) Although digging out and driving home on Saturday was a bit of a challenge to say the least. It took about an hour to get the car cleaned off and the driveway shoveled behind it so we could get out. The normal 40 minute drive home took and hour and 15 and we got to go 35 on the expressway the whole way back to Portland. It was an adventure, but Rex was patient and got us home safely. We brought our Wii controllers and played some Wii sports with the family, my brother Erik and his girlfriend Tara were over and we had a blast. Later Saturday evening we got to go celebrate with Erica and Ben at their wedding reception. Such a good time, dancing, eating some amazing food, and just enjoying a good time with family! So happy for the two of them, they make an excellent couple!!! :) At the end of the night I got to drive home my man who over-indulged on the champagne....Sunday was my dad's birthday. We went cross country skiing- he said it was the best birthday present he could have gotten. I miss being able to walk out the basement door and strap on skiis and head into the woods...although someday, maybe I'll be able to do it again. :) The superbowl was hilarious, I don't think any of us watched it for more than 5 minutes at a time....I know, so un-American. Anyhow, that's what's new with us. I'll work on posting some pictures at some point of all the snow. Happy Tuesday everyone!