What we've been up to!

We have been crazy busy around here trying to prepare for our big move to TN. We have had things going everyday and I am to that point where I am ready for all this craziness to be over. I looked at my calendar this morning and we have list a mile long to do everyday, and of course on top of that we want to spend time with family and friends. But here is what we've been up to this past month...

At the beginning of the month, we went and saw Wicked! Mitch actually got me these tickets for my birthday and it was the 4th time i've seen it- it never disappoints! We went to dinner before at Caz's Chowhouse and then dessert at Glacier. We have just come to LOVE downtown Tulsa. 

I was also able to get to spend the day with one of my sweet students. I have mentioned her before, Hadely, but we had such a fun day together! I still can't believe I'm not going to be there with her when she starts second grade. I take her everyday and its going to be so different not being at Jenks. I was doing okay, and now that back to school stuff is happening, I am starting to get sad again. I keep telling mitch, I know I will find something I love, but right now my heart is at Jenks. I have been so fortunate to work with some incredible people and students. 

Then, comes the best part of our summer- MEXICO! We have been so excited about this trip and had so much fun! I posted several pics on fb, so i'll spare you here, but oh my gosh it was incredible.  We have only been to Sandals Resorts, so we were anxious to try a different one. We loved The Royal- there were def things we missed about Sandals, but there were also things The Royal had that Sandals didn't. We LOVED the rooms at The Royal and the fact they had free room service. But Sandals is just so much bigger and the beach in Mexico wasn't that big or nice and their were lots of locals on the beach. The water was gorgeous though! Sandals has a private beach and def more to offer, but I guess thats why its so expensive. I also did not like the fact that at The Royal they expected you to tip for EVERYTHING! I am not opposed to tipping people, but when I pay that much for a vacation I don't want to have to think about always having cash everywhere we go to tip- thats the point of an all inclusive resort. We may just be use to Sandals where we are not allowed to tip. But overall it was amazing and I would def go back to the resort again! It was even better than we thought! And our excursion was incredible!! It was through ALLtourNATIVE and it was incredible. We got to visit the Mayan ruins at Tulum, swim in caves, zipline in the jungle, rappel into water in a cave, attend a Mayan ceremony, snorkel in caves and ride a unimog. It was called Jungle Maya and if you are in that area in Mexico-DO IT!! It was the best part of our whole trip!! The caves and area we went are sponsored by National Geographic and its where they come for their pics and stuff. It was crazy beautiful! We contemplated others, just snorkeling, golf, massages, etc- but I am so glad we decided to do this one. There is just something so cool about going throughout something like that with your spouse. We had an experience we will never forget.
The only bad part about our trip is this crummy stomach bug I picked up there. I started not feeling well our second to last day there and oh my gosh, the plane ride back and as soon as we got home it hit me hard. I thought maybe it was just something little, but no, def not! It has progressively gotten worse and comes and goes, so I ended up at the doctor this afternoon and yep-I have some stomach virus from Mexico. Just wonderful!! I am on 3 antibiotics so hopefully they kick in soon.

Last night, our life group through us a surprise going away party and I was so thankful I was able to go. I was feeling bad all day but we made it for a little bit and I am so glad because oh my gosh it was seriously the sweetest and most thoughtful thing anyone has done for us. They put so much thought and time into this party it was all centered around us and the things we like. They made it a "home sweet 'homa" theme and we all wore cowboy stuff. They had a salsa station, bbq, sweet tea, and an ice cream bar. I will post pics soon but it was just so perfect. They also showered us with so many OK gifts. It amazes me that I have known these people for 2 years this month and they have become my best friends. I think all the time how crazy it is that God placed us at FBC Tulsa in such a random way- but we have been so blessed by that church and the people there.

I also have a little bit of exciting news.... I found out Wednesday night I passed my last teaching test that I took back in June! So yes- that was the last one of three and I am completely done!! I am now getting my fingerprints and background check done this week and when all of it goes through I will receive a little piece of paper in the mail saying I am officially a certified teacher!! I cannot believe it. I have been wanting this for so long and working so hard. Its still surreal right now. I have had so many coworkers, friends, family and especially my wonderful husband helping through this process and I seriously could not have done it without them. Having support makes all the difference in the world. Speaking of my wonderful husband- the same day I found out I passed my test, he surprised me with a new MacBook Pro!!! He had bought it and while we were in Mexico he had his dad transfer all my stuff from the old computer on it and I was shocked! We had been talking about getting another one for one of us for a while now because Mitch has to have all this special software for school and has to have his computer with him in all classes. So needless to say I was shocked he went ahead and did it without me knowing!

So thats about all thats been going on here. We have a very busy week of visiting friends and family all while packing, etc. So prayers would be appreciated that I start to feel better soon. I can't believe 1 week from today I will be a Tennessee resident!

Happy 4th and our trip to TN!

Happy 4th!! We have so much to be thankful for and there are so many reasons this holiday is so special. My family has always been big on celebrating the fourth of July. I have grown up and can't remember a 4th of july that I wasn't at the lake. We have a lake house on grand lake and the fourth of july is my FAVORITE time to be there. There are so many people there and several firework shows. Its my happy place. But ever since I went to college and my bother has gotten older, we haven't gone as much. I am hoping when things calm down-it isn't like we have been busy, that we can make more trips up there.

So today is our first day to be home and not have anything planned. We have this week to relax and then starting thursday we both have bachelor/bachelorette parties that last all weekend, then we leave for our trip to Mexico! So we are enjoying these next few days and being at home. We had some opportunities come up to travel, just close places, for the fourth and we both just wanted to stay home.
So today, we hung out with family, my brothers birthday is on July 1st, so we have always incorporated our fourth of july celebrations with his birthday. This afternoon we grilled out and spent all day out at the pool. The perfect relaxing day!

Now let me back up a little and tell you about our trip to Tennessee! Overall it was a success and I loved getting to be there knowing we were going to be living there in a month! We have been 3 times in the past two years, but I never wanted to get my hopes up and start looking for houses, etc. So this time since it was official, it was neat to see everything in the perspective of "home". We were there for 3 days and we have been going back and forth on renting and buying. Literally y'all it changes everyday.  We finally decided we wanted to for sure rent. It just makes so much more sense for number one, we aren't stuck there in 3 years with a house we own and second, because we have no idea where mitch will be placed for residency.
 Well when we got there we had some rental houses to look at I will just say- they were awful! I mean, we understand that we have owned some nicer houses and we were not planning on getting something very nice- i mean its a rental and we will have very little income so we knew these wouldn't be super fancy by any means. But they were flat out awful! They were gross and even Mitch wasn't a fan. We are both very realistic and not picky when it comes to finding a house. We are okay with something older and small, but we sill remember that we will be living here for 3 years. So we want it to be comfortable and home to us.  My mom was with us and it was so nice to have another persons view on it. She agreed- they were all awful! So went went to plan b- buying. We called a relator we had been working with and spent the next day looking at houses to buy. All of them needed work, which we normally like, but we don't have the time. We wanted something move-in ready and there was little to nothing.

So on the last day, a guy randomly called us on a rent house he had, we looked at it and loved it. If it was ours to own there are def a few thing we would change, light fixtures, etc, nothing major. Overall we love the layout of the house and we are super excited. We all sighed a sigh of relief when we saw it. It was our last option and we were just talking about what in the world we were going to do if it wasn't nice. So after a long stressful few days-- we have a house in TN! I am so excited and we are on the countdown until we make the big move!