Desert Rose's Desert News!!

Tragedy

2010-09-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

It seems as though the only time I am on this is when a tragedy has taken place in my life. The last time I wrote anything was when the rental property we had was broken into and my wedding ring along with a few other important items were whisked away never to be seen again.

Once again, something has been whisked away, and the only one who feels anything is me. My surprise baby is gone. Never to be born. Never to play with its siblings. Never to crawl into my lap and give me a hug. I am devastated after spending over five hours dealing with the miracle of life fall out of my body and then having to collect all of it pieces for scientific evaluation.

Pain. Pain in the process of what I had to do and pain in living with its aftermath. Yet, the people in my home do not get it...nor do they seem to care. I think that is the worst part that no one cares. Their lives go on as usual. They don't grieve. They don't cry. They don't want to crawl into a cave and stay for eternity. Life as usual. Go to work. Work on projects. Go play golf. Get some chili. Watch TV. Play on computers.

But not me. I ache. I ache for the one that I thought was coming and I ache that all the plans that were being made are just as dead as the baby that was inside of me. Just as dead as I feel...

Happy Halloween...not so much!

2008-11-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Okay. I know that my next post was supposed to be over the kids and I going on our mini-trip to ABQ, but had to vent a bit.

Halloween is supposed to be the fun day. Kids dress up...and adults, too. The candy search ensues and all that jazz. Well, all of that did happen this past Halloween, but there was another form of trick or treating that went on as well...our house was robbed Halloween afternoon.

I got out of school early to head to the house, get out of my costume, and get the kids for us all to start the chaos. Of course, when I was in my bathroom struggling to get the Grecian rope untied from waist, I looked back in the mirror and saw that the trunk at the end of my bed looked ransacked. No one ever gets in the trunk since it is just full of old blankets and stuff packed away until the other house is done. So, thought that was odd and walked back into the room and immediately confirmed that stuff had been taken...My jewelry box was not on my nightstand.

It was when I noticed this I called the cops and Bjak, took a look around the house and became much more observant than I had been before going to my bathroom...when ya gotta go...ya gotta go.

For the most part the house only looked partially ransacked. But these folks knew what they were looking for. ALL the medications we had in the medi cabinet...gone. ALL the beer in the garage fridge...gone. ALL the harder booze in the pantry...gone. The change jar from our closet...gone. My jewelry box, which on that day had my stud earrings and MY WEDDING RING so that I would not snag my costume...gone. The little diamond stud earrings Bjak's grandma left for Riley...gone. Several peices of Brighton...gone. An attempt seemd to have been made to take the Wii off the TV, but guess they just could not get it done...so, the Wii...still here!!

Needless to say, there was a bit of trauma Friday afternoon. Still very upset and not yet comfy being in this house. Just gives me more reason to get out of this house and back to some form of civilization!!

Anyway, at this point, all I can do is let it go, talk to insurance folks, and go from pawn to pawn shop! Boy, does that ever sound fun? NOT!

The bright side is that no one was hurt, there was not a confrontation, and apparently they needed the "stuff" more than we did.

More on happier times with the next update!!

Housing Progress

2008-10-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the updates on the house. We have walls and windows frames formed. After a week of work, there has been major progress. I have no idea who lit the fire, but I can tell you that I am not complaining. Here are some pics to show the progress.

Keep in mind there was a LOT of work going on this week, as these pics show from the last housing post. Bjak said there was a very large crew working on the house for about four days, and I think it shows!

But make sure to remember that the previous photos were taken EARLIER in the week. By the end of the week, we had all of this!!

Yes, all of this happened in fewer than five days!! Yippie!! Major progress in the works with all of this. Walls are up. Windows are in and check out the view from the balcony upstairs!

Anyway, lots going on and will make sure to keep you posted!!

***Preview***

Up next...Robbin and kids go to ABQ!!

Colorado Colors

2008-10-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Okay. As a person living in Farmington, NM, there is one thing that you MUST have. No, it is not a snow shovel although after last winter that was not a bad idea. No, it is not a pair of shades eventhough it tends to be very sunny. No, it is not a hazmat suit regardless of the nuclear waste stored underground in many places here. What you MUST have periodically are trips. So, as usual, a couple of weeks ago we took our trip, which turned out to be very, very pretty.

In typical Jakino fashion, we headed north to the ski area just outside of Purgatory...not the real hell but the name of the mountain! : )

It was very, very pretty since it was the end of September and leading into October. Generally the colors start chaning in October, but we got a big

treat...the trees were already starting their metamorphosis! It was gorgeous and now that we have an operational camera, we were able to takes lots and lots of pics. Here are a few of them:

Now, one thing to notice is the pic with all the clouds.

Hmm... wonder what that means?? Yes, you got it!! We went and stayed a night in the lodge and were there for the first snow of the season!! Obviously it was not enough snow to grab poles and skis out of storage, but it was the first nonetheless and too cool!!

Anyway, the unfortunate thing was that in less than four days, all of the leaves had already dropped. :( When they start to make changes, it does not take long for the changes to become absolute until next spring!! Bye-bye colorful leaves...and hello lots of snow!!

Here are a few more pretty pics from our driving around the area:

***Preview***

Up next more on the Housing Project!!!!

The Summer Trip

2008-10-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well, way, way, way back prior to the days of learning, we took a little family vacation. We decided to drive to ABQ, then fly to Love Field. From Love we flew to New Orleans, a city I had never visited before, and then we rented a car for our journey across the southern coast of the US over to the Florida panhandle. Our destination was Destin.

We went to Destin several years ago with Mike, Robin, and Summer back when I took my year off from Lowery. At that time, we rented a monster huge house. This time we went condo, and the condo was great. It was way up high and we had a great view of the ocean. We went for little dips in the ocean waters as well as did a little swimming in the condo pools. The funny part was looking for crabs at night...they were creepy!! Very, very little crabs and the exact same color as the sandy beaches. Yes, that means without even knowing it, we were walking on the little guys every time we were on the sand. Yuck!!

After several days in Destin, we went back to N.O. The plan was to spend the night there for our flight back early the next morning. I had never been in the party city, so we took a trip down Bourbon Street...yes, with the kids! Not the wisest choice of my life, but Joshua most certainly found it...educational! Actually, he said he like the pics on the walls of the girls without shirts on!! Yep, that is Brandon's boy alright!!

Anyway, I tried my first N.O. hurricane...and traded it in for a mango something or other. Hurricane was a bit too overwhelming for me, so Bjak had to drink it all and this was not a little hurricane!!

Overall it was a cultural experience. We went from the middle of nowhere, to sin city #2, to the redneck riviera and back again!!

***Preview***

Next up is Colorado Colors

Finally back!!

2008-10-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay! Yes, I know it has been a while since the last post...more like forever, but there were some major teachnical difficulties...like a camera!! Anyway, lots going on here, but here are up date pics on the casa Jakino (aka the Jamansion) from the summer to last week. I went by today and even MORE has taken place, so I will try to give those picks plus more info out tomorrow. But for now, enjoy what I have and I will post more info, other than the casa, a bit later!!

Love to all!

*** Preview***

Up next!! Our summer trip!

The Housing Project!

2008-07-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

Whelp, we are still chugging along with the house. All of the dirt work...might be done up to this point. Even with all the piccs from a previous post showing the mounds we had to fill in the extra space between the basement walls, we STILL did not have enough dirt. We had SEVERAL truck loads out to get everything level and set up.

So, far I only have a few pics from when the walls went up. This last week they finalized the leveling and also poured the concrete for both garages!! Yippie!!

And the next stage, you ask?? Frame stage is next. We apparently have the floor trusses in and all should be ready to rock...HOWEVER, my two builders, aka Bjak and Jay, have taken a "business trip"...to CABO SAN LUCAS!! What a life! Anyway, until they return, the house is on hold, so maybe next week I will have some much cooler picks.

Right now there are a few pics to show. Granted, these are not my house, but the house we are putting together is based on the one you can see here!!!!!

If you want to see more pics of the model, just go to:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=484742611912_643664327605&collid=74045808405.205659017605.1217045972929&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

The Pics are all under "Abq Model"!

Have a great weekend, and more later!!

A busy, busy summer!

2008-07-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, time has flown by this summer. I have exactly three weeks remaining and it is back to the grindstone. Work, work and teach, teach.

The munchkins have been very busy. Joshua started the summer in his father's footsteps...tennis camp. He really seemed to enjoy the camp and for about three weeks, we could not get the racket out of his hands. He practiced nonstop either on the wall in the garage or on the wall off the back patio. He has gotten a bit tamer now... that he is calling himself Tiger Woods Jakino. Yes, it is now...Golf camp!!

Riley had her very first dance recital, and according to her, it will be the first of MANY. Think that freaks dad out since he grew up a kid of a dance teacher. It went very well. Riley enjoyed it and she loved her flowers. Hmm...I think she enjoys praise!!

Both Jman and Riley are in swimming lessons. Yes, Jman does already know how to swim like a fish under water, but we wanted him to get more practice with exact strokes and such. He still says he wants to be on a swim team some day, and he really likes to race the instructor during the lessons. Riley has had a fear of water for a LONG time. Finally, after many years, I think she has licked it. She is rocking the pool. She is finally putting her head under the water and jumping off the sides into the water and then swimming over to the ladder to do it all over again. She makes me dizzy watching her!!

My familia from the Northwestern region of the country made it down to the Southwest!! My dad, Gramalene ( step-ma Marlene), and little sis Ryann made it down right before the 4th of July weekend. We were able to spend time roaming around the Farmington area, and then Bjak, the kids and myself headed down to ABQ to hang with them, my bro and my nephew, Masenn, who we have not been able to see since Christmas! I think that was the first time in at least five years that all of that sect have been able to hang, talk, and have some good times. It was great, and we REALLY enjoyed having them with us.

Right after they headed to Artesia to visit more of Gramalene's family, she lived in New Mexico when she was younger and has QUITE a clan still here, I made my way, once again, back to Big D - DALLAS!! My awesome gal pal Amanda married her honey pie. It was a really nice time. Amanda and I hung out in a hotel the night before the weddin' and then went for her hair appointment the morning of to get ready. The wedding was in the backyard of the groom's mommy and right next to a beautiful little waterfall.

The service was very pretty and very private. It was family...and ME!! Yes, I was a bit of the odd-ball out, but I did a good job of turning my participation into a visual documentary...pics, pics, and more pics!!

While in Big D, I was also able to catch up with Nancy and Pammy. No, the child in the pic to the side wearing the pretty pink top is NOT Riley. It is Pammy, and yes, they have always had an unbelievable resemblance to one another!! We went out for lunch, and Saint Nancy was kind enough to give (loan me) lots and lots of stuff to help with "Great Expectation" - the worst book ever - for this upcoming year. Yes, that much info about a room almost through me over the limit!! I enjoy many Victorian writers, but Dickens is not my homey!! I also found out that Clan Hodson might be taking their family trip this direction the week we get back from the Jakino family trip!!

Anyway, BJak is off on his trip to Cabo San Lucas...his "business trip" that is. I have no idea how much business will get done, but I am sure whitey will be soaking up the rays!! When he comes back next week, we will be off for a family vacay of our own. We are headed back to Destin. We went out several years ago and really enjoyed the area, so we are off for round two...and hopefully WITHOUT any funky weather! Keep your fingers and toes crossed on that one!! We will!!

Hope everyone out there in bloggerville is happy and healthy!! Love to you all!

A brother and sister...

2008-05-26T09:56:00.002-07:00

Who like each other!!!

I know it an amazing concept, but my kids actually like each other!! They play, they share, and from the look of these photos from this weekend, they even like to be around each other when they sleep!!

I don't know if it is because they are so close in age or what the deal is. My brother, Scott, and I are both very close in age so we spent a lot of time together as well. But if memory serves, we spent A LOT of time fighting with each other and I sure as heck do not remember us watning to have sleep overs...with each other!!

Given that were are in the boon docks right now, I am very glad that at least have each other to play with!!

Progress continues!

2008-05-26T09:56:00.001-07:00

Okay. Well, I am not one to make a mountain out of a mole hill...but check out my mountian of dirt!! That is the big pile that they made at first and there is another one on the other side of the big hole!

Step two has begun. They came in with all the form for the basment. The basement walls are to be nine feet tall and made out of concrete. So, that means they have to bring the forms in, set them up, and then put the concrete in to create the walls. This is another big undertaking. We were told that this whole process will more than likely take about three to four weeks to complete since they have to make the walls, let them dry, take off the forms, then go to the other side and do the same thing!! They don't have enough forms for the whole basement so all will be kinda pieced together.

Once all the walls are put into place, the next step is to come in and fill in the outside of the holes will some of the pile of dirt you see in the first pic. After that, they can then work on the concrete and forms for the top part where the garage and other sections of the house will be. Whew!! That is a lot of work!!

Will keep you all update on the enormous undertaking!!

It has begun!!

2008-05-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well! I have been waiting for weeks and weeks, but I can now finally show everyone what has been going on!!

The slab for the basement was poured on Friday, and now all they need to do is put up the basement walls. If there was a better picture of the background, you could see there is A LOT of dirt. This was an amazing undertaking. The kids are extremely excited and thought it was completely awesome...as they should!! This house is going to be mammoth! What you see in the picks is the first

of three floors!! This is Bjak's man domain, and basically it is larger than our first house!! Crazy man!!

The really, really funny thing was that when I went to the ramp end of the hole, I looked down and could not stop laughing. The pad resembles an outline of the state of.....TEXAS!!! Haahaaa! That was the biggest gut buster for me!

Anyway, we have progress, and we are all very excited! Hope all is going well for everyone out there in blogger land. Hope to have another post soon!! XOXO!

Must be time to blog!!!

2008-04-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers!! Yes, it has been a painfully long time since my last entry. Reason, you ask? Well, my hope was that my next entry would be about the house we are going to build here in Farmington. Hmmm....if that has not happened yet, I wonder why there is not a blog??!!!

No house as of yet. Land deal...done. Plans...done. Dirt work...not so much done. Apparently there have been several stones thrown in the way according to my sources. However, fingers are still crossed that something will happen soon although that would most assuredly mean there will NOT be a move-in date scheduled for this summer!!!

Craziness abounds here. The weather, that thing that is never consistant, has been VERY nice for a few days suddenly got gloomy today. Lots of little showers here and there and no sunshine...sob, sob, sob!! Thinking that the cold front that came through should be the last one of the year although I have been told that it can still be chilly up to the beginning of May and I know it will be chilly at night even into July!

School. Hmmm...things seem to be going well for Joshua. No one has tried to kick him over to another school recently. He is now on a mood stabilizer, which does seem to help him. Since he has been on it, he now refers to himself as "the new Joshua." Whatever works for him and keeps him a happy kid is fine by me!!

Riley is doing well. She has become a pretty good reader and has also shown a really good knack for math! Go girl! We need a female in this family with good math skills. There is a reason I am an English teacher!

My school has had very few changes. I actually had an unfortunate "run-in" with my principal, and for a while there was wondering if I would have a job come the next week. Hard to explain, but not very professional for a principal to talk to his employees the same way in which he talks to a 14 year-old-kid. I, to no one's surprise, did not take that very well and made sure to tell him so!! Ballsy move on my behalf, but I did it anyway. Since then, no probs, but I know have the other high school calling to see if I am interested in a possible position. HECK YES!!! I went over for an informal interview, and all went very well. Nothing about a position will be official for a while, so it is a waiting game. That is fine since I have LOTS of end-of-year stuff going on anyway.

Oh, well. Just here doing a wait and see for a few more weeks!! Hope all is well in all your time zones!! Take care and post ya later!! : )

A White Christmas...two days late! : (

2007-12-27T09:35:00.001-08:00

Well, we were expecting it, but we were not sure exactly when it was going to happen. The snow was supposed to be headed our way for the last few days, and it finally made it today! We woke up to lots of white flakes falling. Unfotunately for the kids, they are both a bit under the weather and are stuck in the house playing games in their pjs!

Christmas...or more than one in 2007

2007-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas!!! It is the time of year that the kids love...especially if they have had a good one since they know that Santa watches their every move. And boy does he in our household!

We were lucky enough this year to have Christmas with a large number of our family. The only ones missing were the ones way up in Washington state!!

Our first Xmas was at my mom's house. My step-dad, Pinky, was able to come up from Lubbock to join us and was kind enough to make a pit stop in Clovis, NM to pick up my nephew, Masenn. Masenn and his mom are getting ready to move up to Fort Collins, CO, so it was great that he was able to come up and have some fun with his cousins. Unfortunately, they are lucky if they get to see each other once a year, so it was great that they could play some before the big move. And I know that my bro, Scott, was happy to have him up with everyone as well!

The second Xmas was on Christmas day. We had Bjak's dad, Mike, and step-mom, Robin - the other one, his sister, Summer, her husband, Scott - yes, my kids have two Uncle Scotts!! - and baby Colten. They came over for Bjak's special xmas breakfast and then it was off to the presents!

It was kinda funny, but Summer wanted to go one at a time with opening everything, but if we had done that we would not have finised until after 2pm! There was just sooooo much for everyone to open! And the excitement of the kids was on overdrive, so the one at a time was just not a option!! Anyway, after that we had our special Christmas lunch over Mike and Robin's house, and then we all passed out from all the food, present opening, and festivity

Hope you all had as nice a Christmas as we did!!

Xmas Singing Troupe!

2007-12-16T02:20:00.001-08:00

Kisses to you all!! I am currently a very proud momma! My little Jman was able to do something he has NEVER - I mean NEVER - been able to do since the time he was first able to entertain! He paid attention! I know that sounds silly, but if you had ever been to an Xmas program featuring Joshua Jakino and his class, you would totally understand!

This was the first year he was able to sing the words, do the hand movements, and NOT get in trouble. We have had two years where he was banned from performing and one year where he smacked people who were singing and jumped off the risers! This is a pretty big deal folks! : )

Apparently my little muscial virtuoso loves his music class, so I am sure it helped him keep his focus! And since we now live in a town where there are grandparents, Pappa and Grandma were able to come not only to Joshua's performance but also to Riley's, too.

Riley and Joshua sang the same songs..smart teacher...but the physical arrangement was a bit different. Apparently with Riley's class they have the same philosophy as most of Lowery now...gender grouping is the best option! All the girls were on one side of the tree and the boys were on the other!! : )

Anyway, just thought I would share my pride. My kids love music just like their momma and sing all the time, too!

Of course the REALLY funny part of going up to the school for anthing pertaining to the kids is the artwork in the hall. Take a look at Joshua's art. This was the wish list the kids made for Xmas...and of course it is meant to look like him! : )I know it is a bit difficult to see, but here is what Jman wants for Christmas:

1. A little brother! Yikes!!

2. A new house

3. A new book - that's my boy

4. and this one is FUNNY....God as his dad....Wow! Brandon has some changes to make!! haahaa!

Jakino Classroom

2007-12-16T02:20:00.000-08:00

Here it is! I finally took pics of my classroom to share with all as well as pics of a few of the folks who now influence my daily life at FHS! Sorry it took so long!

Well, here is my classroom door! Exciting, eh? We were at the very beginning of door decorating contest, but I decided to leave it all up still since I like the wrapping paper!! I thought it was cool to have a candy cane door.

The inside is just so much like what I have always done...there is stuff everywhere! I have the computer up at the front of the room, which is kinda weird for me since I like being at the side of the room, but the

connection is either under a chalk board, at the front of the room, or in the back where I have the couch and the vocab wall. So, I am front and center every morning and those poor kids are looking at my mug all the time!

The couch in the back is one I inherited. It was really funny because when I moved in my department head was shocked that I would want to keep such a thing in my room! The kids love it and are always wanting to sit on it and so their work. Anything to get the work done, I say!

My office is connected to the back of the classroom. Yes, I have my own private office. Way cool and they spared no expense as you can tell by my loverly office chair. Gotta love the rat eaten hole on the arm! I don't care! It is my own little space that has my pics of my buds, notes from students over the years, and my boys...yes, my U2 buddies are with me everyday.

The hallway is so funny!! This monster sized corridor is where my class is located. And this photo only shows the one end. But what you should notice is the white space!! If you look carefully, you will see that there is NOTHING on the walls! There is of course one exception. On the right side of the pic you will see my room...the one with kid work on the wall! It is so polar opposite of Lowery. Lowery kinda looks like a paper mill exploded in the halls and yet here is looks like an asylum...hmm...interesting comparison!! : )

My mentor, Mr. Jeff Young, has been at the school since 1982!! Yes, 1982! I looked through Bjak's yearbook and saw Young in there and then had to ask, "How freakin' long have you been here?" He just laughed. He is a pretty cool mentor, though. Each time he tells me good morning, that counts for at least 30 minutes of mentoring time! : )

My neighbor across the hall is Orla Fincher. She is a crack up and loves to steal my ideas and use them for math class. JK! She is the one person that I have been able to bounce ideas off of and share! We don't even teach the same subject but that is what has made it so cool. She has a daughter who is coming up next year, and the funny thing is her daughter has already asked that she get signed up to be in my class...and the dad, Ed Fincher, is in my department!! Poor dad! The funny thing about Ed is when I was sent for Lowery three or four years ago to a Pre-AP confernce, I chose to go to ABQ and stay with mom, etc. Well, Ed was in my group for our project. When I asked him if he was there, since he looked so familiar, I said I had gone and everyone called me "Texas" since I was the only one from out of state. He looked at me and said, " I remember you!!" It was the nickname and not my face that tipped him off!

My saving grace is my new pal Barbara Silvermith. She is a riot. She is the new freshmen counselor and she works her tail off with schedules, counseling and being the 9th grade administrator all the time. She makes me laugh and to make her day better I think I make her laugh all the time. She is a very, very neat lady and I am very glad to have been able to meet her and hang out with her...she is a part of the happy hour bunch!

This is it for now! Hope to hear from you all soon and hope ya like my class. It has been an interesting place to be everyday!!

The Education Department for the State of New Mexico...

2007-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, there are no pics for this post simply because it would have been very odd for me to have taken a pic of this little man from the state who came to check out the campus this week. I have walked into a repair job. Basically what that means is that the school I am now working for is under state inspection because they did not meet AYP for the last two years. When that happens, they send out people to help you "fix" your problem areas. Well, there are 23 items assessed by AYP and we failed ONE of them. That is all it takes appartently to have an issue when the state comes in and checks everything out. Interesting, eh?

Anyway, the little man...and I mean little (he was only about 4'11) came to the school yesterday to check us out. His visit was the reason in which I could not go to Santa Fe for the conference...the cool conference...because he, the little man, might want to talk to me.

Well, yesterday mornings, since I am feeling much better, I was standing at my classroom door and Mr. Driskell, the principal, and the little man walked by. I said my hello and thought nothing else of it...until after second period when I was told he "hand selected my class" to do an observation. Yippie for me!!

I do class the same way I always do...we start with the crazy vocab lesson I learned last year from Region 10 with the little cards. I make the kids stand up/sit down when the find the correct word so that I have a visual for when they get the information. Then we did our test review. Then we talked about our upcoming project. Then he left. The nice thing was we saw him laugh several times... my motto is that if a kid does not laugh at least once in class then I don't have their attention. Well, I guess we had his!!

Well...the story goes on...two more hours later, Mr. Driskell, the principal, comes and says, "Did anyone tell you?" Okay, does that sound like a good lead-in to you?? No! Anyway, I was oblivious as to what he was talking about and said so. The little man not only wanted to do his observation but he also wanted to interview me during my prep! Yippie times two!!

Anyway, we talked, he ran into me (that was odd) and he only asked me a couple of questions....

Well, I have now had two teachers come up to me and say, "Good job!!" Why, you may ask? The reason is that apparently we just passed out "inspection" with flying colors!! Rock on!

The Farmington House

2007-11-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess it is about time that I show you all the house we are renting. Many have heard my ranting and raving...that is not meaning that all my comments have been great, by the way...so I figured I had better go around the house and take a few snap shots of my temporary casa.

As many of you already know, I LOVE my house in Allen. And yes, we still have the house in Allen. As of right now we have simply leased it versus selling it. And we were very fortunate to get great folks to lease it. They have even planted flowers and trimmed the hedges...which is more than we did in the year we were there!!

Anyway, this house is a little more than 3000 sq. ft., so it is a great size. The first for me is that it is all single story! Not used to being in a sprawling house, but it is working. It has a lot of really cool features to it. The living and formal dining are together in the middle of the house, and the ceiling is covered with wood and Vegas in the typical southwestern style.

The kitchen is a great size, but it was oddly shaped so I ended up putting my kitchen nook table in the middle of the room and it works great since there is no island in the kitchen.

The house is built on a fung sway (I soooo know I spelled that wrong...sorry Shelly!) design. Basically that means we have water (the entryway) and fire (the fireplace) together and then Earth and sky together. What does this mean?? Well, that means that when you walk into the house there is a waterfall and on the opposite side of the waterfall is the gas fireplace. Still trying to get used to the gas only fireplace, especially living with a pyro who is not happy that he can't burn anything!! Then the Earth and sky part is the living room. The ENTIRE house is stained concrete. It is stained the color of the ground, meaning brown, another shade of brown, a rusty color and a bit of green. But it is ALL concrete. There is not a thread of fabric, neither Berber or shag, on the floor anywhere other than the couple of rugs that we brought with us. Needless to say we are looking forward to have some carpet sometime in the future since our feet hurt in the morning and my poor kids fall on a daily basis even when they have shoes on in the house. How tragic! Oh, the sky!! I almost forgot. That is the Vega pattern on the living room ceiling. It looks like a sunburst in the pattern or shape. I must be the fifth element, but I have no idea how I am affecting the other elements in the house!! haahaa!

We spend most of our time in the TV room, which is where we put our tree, TV, and computer. This is the only place we could have put the TV since this is the only room with a jack! Oh, well, it works great and was a wonderful area to put all of our U2 stuff on display.

The really cool area is outside. My pictures do NOT do it justice. The family who owns the house built a GREAT deck on the back of the house. It is about 1600 sq. ft. and looks out at the sunset every night. It is really cool and almost the same size as our first house! : )

Again, so many things about the house are really cool and all of our stuff fit in it wonderfully, BUT the horror of the whole house is the master closet. The pic that I have posted is NOT shrunk in any way. What you see is the entire master closet. I have had master closets in apartments that were larger than this! Urgh!!

Oh, well. It is temporary and my mother's great advice was to "Look at it as an adventure. Think of it as your vacation home." That is what I am doing so far, but just to let you all know, there is an extra room available in this vacation home waiting for visitors!! :)

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T08:25:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving. It is a time to hang with the ones you love and create fun memories. Well, we did! We went off to my haven, that means we left Farmington, and spent several days in the mountains. To our surprise our trip became a winter wonderland!! Our "black Friday" became a very white Friday!

When we arrived, there was not a speck of snow ANYWHERE!! The ski season is looking a bit bleak for the area. But, when we woke up the day after Thansgiving, we had a winter wonderland. It snowed about 12 inches overnight and kept snowing throughout the day. We already had tickets for a cool train ride through the mountains, so we went out on our trip and enjoyed lots of hot, hot, hot, hot chocolate (Imagine the Polar Express song for that one!! Kids sang it the whole time we were on the train!) And the kids had a blast creating their snow angels and throwing snowballs at their parents! Don't we all enjoy that?!

With the new white weather, Bjak had the perfect opportunity to take his new Jeep out to play in the snow. I preferred not to be in the ride for that because I prefer the vehicle to be stopped in wintery weather rather than sliding all over the road! What can I say? Guess I was in Texas too long, because now I am known as "Little Tex!"

My first entry

2007-11-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

Here it is. The first entry I have for my new blog to keep everyone up to date and informed. Granted, my life is not near as exciting as the WONDERFUL new changes for my pal Kelli. And I don't have near the work drama that my best buddy Miss Amanda has...I know that is hard to believe, but it is true. Life here is just steadily going by without too many complaints. I just miss so many people in Allen and the DFW area and feel like I took for granted how well I had it in my other home.

It isn't the same, but we are making our way. The nice part is that Bjak has been great about making sure that I get out when the time comes or my fuse is getting a wee bit too close to the dynomite! The saving grace has been our continued trips up to Colorado. Granted there is absolutely NO snow there right now...we are hoping for a storm that is set to come in this week for our turkey trip...but we have had a great time going up for swimming in the lodge, a few fishing outtings, and trips to see the train. All in all that has been the best part of the move!

The kids have adapted VERY well to their surroundings. Joshua is doing so much better in school and has even started spending more and more time in a general ed class. Riley has taken to school like a duck to water. She loves to read now, and has already read over 20 books on her own in the last week and a half! That's my girl!!

Bjak has everything under the sun on his plate. He is working with his dad as well as working on a residential development, a medical billing company, and an open MRI company! He is a busy bee!

School here for me has been an experience. I mean that in the most generic of terms. It is just not the same. Hopefully, I will adjust, but I pray that I never conform to the norm at the school. If I do, someone slap me because that would mean I transformed into the yellow overhead teacher!! Yikes!