How many days until summer??

One of my favorite summer memories...helping my great papa on the farm!
Louisiana...possibly flooded now due to the torrential rains

Hello Everyone!  Yes, again, I am at home sick this weekend.  I am still confused what I have.  I either have a head cold or allergies are getting the best of me.  Seattle has been blessed lately with 70 degree temps this week, and lots of sun...I have a feeling the new spring blossoms and pollen have been disrupting my nasal passages.  I am extremely congested, have a scratchy, dry throat, and am having headaches.  I even had this during my class' field trip this week..in beautiful weather.. :(.  Hopefully this clears up soon!

On the positive side, Steve has gotten another interview with Renton FD!  Only the top 70 people were selected for interviews out of 2,000!  Let's just hope one of these interviews pays off soon!  Steve and I have been looking forward to moving at the end of September into a rental HOME.  We really miss having a backyard, and a little more space and storage.  We're going to be looking in the Issaquah/Maple Valley areas for a decent size house with a decent rent.  Our current rent is getting a little high for us....and we don't have a very nice grocery store close enough to us.  So the search is on!!

Speaking of summer...I only have 18 days left of work!!  My friends in Tucson are ending school this week....so I still have a little longer to go! 

These are my plans for summer:

• visit mom end of june
• camping over 4th of July weekend
• tutoring students from school
• starting my master's (I start this Thursday...ahh!)
• dad visiting early August
• going to Hawaii before school starts up again....12 days of bliss!! Yes!!

Hopefully I'm not too wiped out!!
Here are some of Steve's current pictures:



Buddy loafing around on the couch



Riley napping



flowers I received from teacher appreciation week...I think I have 4 other flower arrangements in my classroom



what most of riley's tennis balls look like



enjoying the sun....total happiness



Auction and Mother's Day

Steve and I before the Auction

Hello All!  Life with the Brousseau's has been very busy.  Steve and I continue to be busy with work, and we have been busy almost every weekend with events, or spending time with family and/or friends!  Last weekend my school held an auction to help raise money for our PTSA programs.  We got all dressed up to support the cause!  It was so nice to go out and wear a nice dress or suit every once in awhile.  We rarely get to do that anymore.  My school's parents and teachers were able to raise over $200,000 from all of our donations.  I am very lucky to be at this blessed school!!

We have also been spending lots of time with some of Steve's friends from Wazzu, going out to Seattle, or enjoying some wine at home with them.  We were also able to see one of our close friends, Jeremy, and his little boy Gunnar a few weekends ago as well.  They were visiting from Tucson.  Last weekend we had some gorgeous weather and took the dogs to Marymoor Park for them to have some fun (even though Buddy rarely listened to us!). 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, and are planning something special!  This weekend we are slammed with Mother's Day events!  Today we are going to visit Steve's current step-mom, Abby, and have dinner over there and we will spend some time with them as well.  Then tomorrow we are having Steve's mom over for fajitas and other treats!  It is just so nice to spend time with family I love it!  I just wish my mom could have been here!  I'll also have to call my step-mom this weekend to all the way in Florida!!  Steve and I have lots of "Mothers" between us!!

Hope you have a great weekend!! Please do a "Sunshine Dance" so Seattle can get some more Springtime weather!!

April Break

My Pride and Joy!!! 

This past week I had my school's spring break...which is actually very late for what I am used to....I usually have it the 1st or 2nd week of March.  But this change was definitely ok!  Most of the week it rained and I caught up on my reading, sleeping, bonding with the dogs, and exercise.  I also discovered a new book that I have fallen in love with.  It is not typically something I would kick  back and read, but it was a good book to make you feel....BODY CONFIDENT!  It's a health and fitness book that teaches you how you are supposed to eat, the calorie intake you are supposed to have with each meal, and how to incorporate exercise into your life.  This book has really opened my eyes how most people have been eating the wrong way, you are not supposed to eat only 3 times a day!! You are supposed to eat small meals every 3 hours!!  So that's 5-6 meals daily!  They even say you're supposed to eat within the hour you go to bed.  The author is a nutritionist/personal trainer who lets us know that we always need to respond to our bodies blood sugar levels, and always keep them balanced.  Eating this way will give you tons of more energy and less cravings for other "non-clean" foods!  I really recommend this book if you are struggling with feeling confident about your body!!

Besides reading the book throughout my week, and changing my eating habits, I was able to go out with my SMIL, to go shopping and I even got to try Dim Sum!! Very interesting!  It was also nice to spend some more time with Steve on his days off this week, yesterday we went on a hike with my FIL and SMIL in the forest behind their house.  (This was our first truly sunny day in awhile so we took advantage of it!)

Here are some pics of our sunny day!

Buddy and Riley love to swim!!

Riley with freedom!

Sadie finally free as well!

Pretty flowers around our home!

Too pretty!  This makes the rain worth having the beautiful sunny days!

The Super Moon we had the other week! 

The moon looks very close to the sun!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Steve and I are going out with close friends that we have not seen in awhile, and are looking forward to it!  Then tomorrow we will continue with our spring cleaning.....and then back to work for me!  I have definitley enjoyed it!

PS...let me know if you want the information from the book I mentioned!  It is truly great!

 

Ready for Spring

Pike Place Market

Hello All!  Sorry I have not been around for awhile but I have been quite a busy bee.  For the past few weeks I have been very busy grading projects, completing report cards, and grading mountains of papers!  But all is well now...my plate is not as full and overloaded!  I just have to say I am soo ready for Springtime.  I have survived my first winter in the Northwest, and it really was not that bad (except for one car accident!)  I feel as though my skin is getting thicker, where I can really bare the cooler temperatures.  I am ready to start wearing my several skirts and pairs of sandals again!  I have missed them dearly, and plan on wearing lots of my cutesy dresses that I have acquired recently.  In spring I always feel refreshed.  Yesterday, I had a huge instinct to clean our whole entire townhouse, and I even had the idea to get rid of more clothes!  I had given away a few garbage bags full before we left Tucson, but it always feels good to clear out what you do not need in life.

Nothing really new has happened with Steve and I's little life lately.  We continue to do our daily routines, Steve's at work from 7:00-8:00ish Monday-Wednesday, is at the Firehouse Thursday night, off Friday, and then goes to the firehouse all day Saturday, and sometimes has Sundays off.  I have been spending a lot of quality time with the dogs lately, having romantic candlelight dinners with them (because I have found myself eating alone during the week), taking lots of long walks and runs, and lounging on the couch with them.  We are still praying that sometime soon Steve does get picked up from a fire department.  A few weeks ago Steve took a few tests for Seattle Fire, and got an interview for the 31st!! Let's hope something promising happens for him!!  He has truly been working and studying himself to death to get this career that he truly wants.  He goes into his shifts early, and now he is the recruit class leader of his volunteer squad with Skyway Fire. 

I hope all of you have a wonderful beginning of spring.  Do some spring cleaning it will definitely lift those spirits!  Let's now just pray for Seattle to see some slightly warmer weather with more SUN!!!  **I kinda miss it!!

PS...My Mom just moved back to Texas...YAY! Can't wait to visit her this summer!!

A week of relaxation

This past week I had a nice week off from school...Mid-Winter Break.  It was a very nice and relaxing week around here.  I was able to finish 2 books....I cooked some nice dinners....and I was able to run a lot...without being tempted to skip it.  We had also gotten about 6 inches of snow on Wednesday night, and it is still sticking to the ground today!  It has been extremely cold lately...getting down to 20 degrees last night...we had no dog walks this week!!  On Tuesday Abby and I were able to discover more of Downtown Seattle, and discovered the Sodo district of Seattle.  We found a European/Mediterranean Grocery store that had the most wonderful cheeses I had ever laid my eyes on.  We had also tasted many of the samples as well....yum!  I also have fallen in love with a cheese called Dorothea...a nice Gouda infused with dandelions!! It was just fabulous.  Abby had wanted to go to Big John's PFI...and I have now fallen in love! They have wonderful Italian pastas, spices, and other items that are fabulous!!  We were also able to go to a bakery that Abby had seen on Evening Magazine.  We went to Alaska Silk Pie Company.  It took us a awhile to find the place, and we went in not knowing what to expect.  We were able to tour the whole bakery, meet the owner, and taste some of her creations! We of course bought some pies and they have been so delicious!!  It was just a great day!

This week I was also to catch up on my DVR recordings, and start researching for my Master's Degree I plan on starting this summer.  I absolutely love the show "Off the Map".  It is so great.  I love how it is made up of not-well-known actors and I absolutely love the story lines.  The shows are about these young doctors who are working in Central America.  There are such great plots such as trying to extract a python that is wrapped around a person, cutting someone loose from a zip-lining adventure, cutting off someone's leg that is trapped underwater, and of course I love the part of the show where one of the doctors is falling for a mysterious, and handsome local that is unfortunately a criminal as well!  The show is great, full of suspense, and not bad looking actors!  :) 

This week I have also been able to research for financial assistance for my Master's Degree.  I have settled on applying to Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix.  I know, I know it sounds weird, but this college is a great price, and I can do my whole degree online....which is great having my full time job as well.  There are several other teachers at my school going through their program and are very happy with it.  I plan on getting a degree enhancing my reading program, helping me better teach literacy which I am always seeming to struggle with, there is just no one right way to teach it!!  I feel that going through the program will give me a clearer approach to the best practices to have in my classroom.  I have been looking through financial aid forms, and looking at all of these ridiculous scholarships as well.  Did you know they have 3-sentence scholarships?  All you have to do is write 3 sentences, and if they like your answer they could give you like $2,000?? Some of these scholarships look so bogus to me. 

We will be going over to Koriann's house tonight to celebrate my Father-In-Law's birthday!!  Yesterday we were able to go to Spud's Fish and Chips on Alki with him and Abby, and then we saw the movie Unknown! Great Movie!!  I absolutely love spending time with his family who are so welcoming and kind. 

I hope you all have had a fabulous week as well, and a wonderful weekend!

Enjoy some of Steve's Recent Pictues he has taken!!

Steve taking advantage of the fresh new snow!! At Alpental the week before.

Moon setting from our window...at 7:15 am                         Creek in Alpental

One of our few Bald Eagle neighbors!  We see them weekly in the trees above Lake Washington.  So beautiful!!

another sick weekend... :( and Valentine's Day!!

 Riley Bear at the Dog Park

Yet again I am stuck at home on Saturday sick watching movies with the dogs on the couch!  I honestly have no idea what I have.  At first I thought I had a sinus infection, and stayed home from work on Monday.  Then I went back to work for the rest of the week, and started feeling bad again at the end of my Thursday workday, and powered through yesterday as well.  I feel like I have some sort of head cold, with headaches and lots of congestion in my throat and sinuses.  I absolutely hate taking medicine, I would like to take the natural route and have my body kick the problem out on it's own.  So now I'm here with my super-sized orange juice laying on the couch with Buddy watching "French Kiss"...one of my Mom and I's favorites.

On another note, I am planning on cooking a nice dinner for Steve tomorrow night for our Valentine's Day.  I am planning on cooking some Barefoot Contessa recipes....an engagement chicken, some roasted vegetables....and some other stuff.  I do really love cooking new things and using Steve as my guinea pig.  It is also very hard at times to please his palate since he is such a picky eater!! But we shall see!! :)

I am very excited for next week since our district has mid-winter break!!! (not this week coming up), but next week we get a full week off for a 2nd winter break!!  I am so excited and need to figure out my plans....hopefully I won't be sick anymore and I'll be able to exercise again....maybe cook more new foods...and spend some quality time with Steve on his days off.  I am very excited!!  I would definitely love some company if you are in the Seattle area :)

For the rest of my day I plan on listening to Bob Marley....and reading my book!!

Enjoy your Valentine's Day with the ones you love!!

Take Care!

~Kim

Sick..Sick..Sick

My Firefighter hubby....isn't he cute??  :)

As of now I am laying in my bed...along with the dog, trying to fight off yet another sinus infection.  In Tucson I would get 2-3 sinus infections a year because my body simply doesn't like the dry weather.  I grew up in a humid climate and my body likes "wetter" environments.  I was soo close to not getting sick this year....and now I'm in bed...can only breathe out of one nostril, sipping hot tea, wrestling with all of the tissues, and snuggling with the dog.  I have used every sinus medication under the sun in previous years, and they really do not work for me.  I hate using medicine to fight off anything because it just "hides" the symptoms, yet I am still sick, and loopy to boot. So I am just waiting this awful thing out hoping to be back to work a little bit better on Monday.  Hence...."relaxing"....by the way Food Network is doing a great weekend of CHOCOLATE...yay Valentine's Day coming up!!!

I also came to the decision last week to go on a little hiatus from facebook, and I haven't missed it at all.  I have been very down on myself lately about a lot of things...maybe even jealousy issues, and made the decision to not go on facebook for a long time.  I don't have a time frame in mind for how long I will be away...I'm just hoping it will phase out of my life.  I have found that I waste soo much time on facebook trying to keep up with every person I have ever encountered in high school, college, and etc., but a lot of these people I rarely have a conversation with on the phone, person to person, or what.  I really do admire our society for advancing in technology but at the same time people do not know how to talk to each other and have a conversation anymore.  Everything is "he/she facebooked me", or you don't even think to call them up to have a conversation that is so much more intimate and meaningful.  I will continue to post my blog postings to facebook, but I will not log-in to my account to check on everything else.  I have many of my friends and family that still read my blog and this is how they can read it.  I will use this time off to read the list of books I have been meaning to read, take my dogs for runs, learn a new recipe to cook and spend more time with Steve.  There is so much more to life than checking in on everyone else to see what they are doing.  I would rather spend more time on me, myself and I.

Sorry for the ranting, this is just some of the things I have been thinking about lately....if you need to contact me you may call....or even text me!!!

I hope you all have a great Super Bowl Sunday!! Eat great food, spend time with friends, and enjoy my favorite part....the commercials!!

Too bad my beloved Cowboys aren't in it......there's always next year!! haha ;)

Starting off the new year

                               Picture was taken March of 2010....La Jolla Beach, California

2011 has taken off at a very fast pace for Steve and I so far.  Steve has been very busy as usual with work and his fire academy training (every Thursday and Saturday he is in training all day), and I have been busy with grading papers, and preparing the kids for the next standardized test that is coming in the next 2 weeks.  Besides work, we have been visiting with family, taking Steve's little sister, Maggie, snowboarding, and just lounging around the house.  I finally have my car back after being in the shop for 2 weeks due to my "Snow" accident back in November.  The deductible has really set us back with our finances and we've been laying low, trying to save money.  Three weeks after my accident, Steve had also gotten into one up at Snoqualamie Pass.  Now we'll have to pay for that whenever we have the time and money. Money has realy been tight with us lately, and it has been very hard for us.

On a happier note, next week is my birthday!!  I'm asking for a hair cut and to get my nails done from Steve for my birthday.  I have definitely been neglecting my beauty regimen lately and am in need to revamp myself.  I am so bored stiff with my hair.  It is long, and I straighten it everyday.  I need a change...maybe shorter, shoulder length....bangs?  I have no idea.  My mom is also getting me a Kindle for my birthday that I have been wanting since Christmas!  I love to read, and have no space to place all of my books anymore, and the books from amazon are so much cheaper!  I am so excited!! 

Anyways, the reason I had put up the picture at the beginnning of the post was because I am definitely missing San Diego.  Steve and I had taken a quick mini-vacation there last March during my Spring Break for a few days.  I had absolutely fallen in love with the city, the shops, the beaches, and the laid-back lifestyle.  Steve and I adored La Jolla.  It was amazing to see Seal Beach, the restaurants and the upscale neighborhood.  I really do love love love Seattle, but I do miss wearing a tank top and flip flops this time of year!! I am in need of a vacation and am wishing to go back to San Diego soon!  It's a short flight from here! 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend...shared with friends, family, and those you love!!
Please pray for us to be happy and content with our little life, with all of the hardships that have been thrown at us.

2010....ready for 2011

I would like to take the time to reflect on the past year Steve and I have had in 2010.  Steve and I made one of the biggest decisions of our lives to pack up everything in Tucson, leave friends, leave family, and great relationships we had built.  Moving to Seattle was one of the best things we could have done for ourselves.  We both have jobs now and have starting re-kindling old friendships, and have begun new ones.  I have really loved getting to know my new school and co-workers, and the students.  Each one of them are a blessing to me everyday with how positive and uplifting they are.  I could never ask for a better place to work everyday.  Steve has been elbows deep with Tri-med and is constantly helping patients everyday.  Steve has been offered a volunteer fire job with Skyway fire department and will be starting his training next weekend.  They will put him through the fire academy and help him begin his career as a firefighter.  We are now just praying that volunteering pays off in the end, and helps him get a career firefighter position somwhere soon in the Seattle area.  Steve will be working a 24 hour shift today...yes through NYE tonight so I pray that he stays safe and is able to help as many as he can with all of the crazy drivers on this night. 

I just hope 2011 brings us so many blessings that we had received this year.  We hope something big and great happens again to us !! My plans for today contain cleaning out our kitchen of all sugary desserts and leftover Christmas dinner....and picking up some other things around the house.  Yesterday, we took Maggie up to Snoqualamie to teach her to snowboard as well (which she did absolutely amazing), and I am still quite sore so I will definitely take it easy today.  Steve and I really don't like setting new year's resolutions for ourselves, but we do want to cut out excessive sugar and really pay close attention to what we eat.  We are pretty good about exercising and being financially responsible so I think we'll have another great year ahead of us.  Later this afternoon, I will be going to the Brousseau's to spend some quality time with them...and to celebrate the coming new year...and grade some papers I have left :(.

I will leave you with some of our pictures we have taken over the past couple of weeks I have been out for break. 

Downtown Seattle at Christmastime

Maggie's Birthday..Tubing at Snoqualmie

                                                                               Me

                                                                   Koriann and Alex

                                                                      Jim and Abby

                                                             All of us ready to TUBE

                                                             Alicia, Maggie, Maddie

                                                                   Steve and I

                                                                  The family at Christmas
                             Crystal, Nick, Abby, Jim, Maggie, Emily, Sadie, Me, Buddy, Steve and Riley

I hope you all have a great and fabulous New Year's Eve!! I hope 2011 brings you everything you hoped for!!

Season's Greetings!

(Steve's photo while snowboarding at Crystal Mountain...day after Thanksgiving...so beautiful)

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season as much as Steve and I are!  Buddy is doing much better...regarding our last post...and is getting back to normal.  He is walking stronger and isn't as wobbly as he had been before.  I have definitely been enjoying my break from work and have been making myself very busy!  I've been catching up on my reading, shopping, cooking christmas cookies, wrapping presents, and enjoying my time with our family.  Steve and I were able to use free movie tickets today that I had gotten from a student.....a word to the wise....DO NOT go and see "How do you know"...I thought I was going to vomit at the end of the movie.  The plot was horrendous and I thought it would never end.

Anyways...I thought I would share with you some pretty pictures Steve has taken during the break...

Me, and the wonderful and talented Molly Keegan!  She's one of my students and Steve and I went to see her debut in the Nutcracker!  She was a beautiful snowflake! Way to go!

Our beautiful mantle in our house.  I just love decorating for Christmas!

Our decorated tree....I really do like having a real one!! It's very local!!

At Koriann's house.  We had a lovely early Christmas dinner...Hope you're enjoying St. Louis!

The following pictures were taken just a block from our house.  Since we live close to Lake Washington, there is lots to see and do.  There are a couple of restaurants and a pier to go and enjoy the scenery.  They also had done quite a lot of Christmas lights up for others to enjoy!

The last picture is an ornament that I had gotten for us while we were on our honeymoon in 2007.  Steve thought it was funny....he has truly become a great photographer these past few months.  I hope he enjoys my presents I had gotten him this year.  Tonight we're going to downtown Seattle to take more pictures and to go see the lights on the famous "Candy Cane Lane".  I am very excited!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season...Relax, Eat, and Enjoy time with loved ones.

Tis' the Season!

It is definitely the season for happiness, giving and sharing company with those that you love.  We are definitely starting to get into the Christmas spirit around our house.  I have Christmas decorations up, and have had our tree (real tree by the way) decorated for the last 2 weeks!  The only thing I still have left to do is....all of our shopping for presents!! Yes, we are those procrastinators that wait last minute to get your presents.  I'm planning to do a lot of shopping on amazon this year since it is so convenient, and I don't even have to leave the house! 
We did have a little bit of a tragedy yesterday on our hands.  Our dog Riley was acting crazy and had jumped on our other dog Buddy.  Steve and I didn't even see what happened, but all of a sudden we heard a blood curdling scream from Buddy.  He started dragging his legs and we knew we had to go to the vet.  Something bad happened to his back right leg and the doctor had told us that it could be a soft tissue injury, but she wasn't quite sure. We got him some anti-inflammatory medicine to help the swelling, and are hoping for the best.  The doctor also told us to watch him closely through the weekend to see if he is getting better.  He is still currently limping, falling down, and wobbling where he walks.  It makes me want to cry to see him like this.  If he doesn't get any better we have to take him to the vet and have him sedated ($$), so the doctor can take several x-rays ($$$$) around $80-$150 each....and therefore almost deplete us for our Christmas budget. :(  Then we still have to pay for my damaged car from the snow storm during Christmas... :( :( 
It has been a very challenging past month for us, so please pray that Buddy is able to make it out ok without any surgeries, and it was just a small sprain.  Anyways, at least I only have this week left of school until the break and am very thankful for it!  God has definitely blessed Steve and I with great jobs that are able to help us get by with our necessities.  We are also blessed with such a loving and caring family that is always there for us.
Sorry for my rant....it's just our current situation at the moment and we're just hoping for the best outcome out of a crummy situation.  We do have lots to look forward to in the upcoming weeks and are so happy to have each other.
I hope you all have a very relaxing holiday surrounded by loved ones!
Buddy...Please pray for his health