i say tri, you say cities

Wow. As of tomorrow, there are....28 days of school left, 1.5 of which (so far) i'm taking off. I can't believe how soon the year will be over, and while at times the weeks went by so slowly, I am sad to see this year coming to an end. I have had such an amazingly adventurous, anything but dull first year teaching, and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have been living with my best friend, having far too many adventures, and though this window of time is closing, I know a new one will open.

Friday after school, Analisa and I said bye to Spokane and after stopping at not only starbucks for half price fraps, but mcdonalds for happy meals as well, we arrived in the tricities to see our lovely Lindsay. Saturday we witnessed Linds in her element, as she led the Habitat's "Walk Home" 5k run that she has been planning forever! She did a great job, Analisa got 3rd place, and I helped sell some hot dogs :)

It was a wonderful weekend, I am constantly reminded how blessed I am.

Next weekend? Analisa's graduation from GRAD SCHOOL! With a visit from CLAIRE!

Weekend after that? Carls wedding!! So excited to see everyone visiting and watch the guy get married.

June 10-12? Corner house reunion!

June 16? Last day of School.

A lot to look forward to, and plan to enjoy every second of it.

Here are some pictures from the weekend :)

Happy Easter to you.

Five things you may not know about me right now.

1) I am currently addicted to cereal. At this moment, I have 4 boxes, and have anywhere from 2 to 5 bowls a day. I can't get enough.

2) I use cinnamon floss, toothpaste and mouthwash. Love the cinnamon.

3) I'm writing a book about my experiences as a first year teacher in a high poverty school.

4) I finally enjoy running again (perfect with the sun starting to arrive). I was in a rut for a while, but am getting ready for a run in May called "Joggin for the Noggin" through the American Brain Tumor Association. A man that was very important in my life and helped me know Jesus died of a brain tumor.

5) I have started rekindling a few friendships from high school and have realized I have changed. A lot.

Well, spring break was a hit as expected!

Here is a brief glimpse into our itenerary

Friday afternoon: Leave Spokane, headed to Portland, where we had dinner with my family and watched the blazers game.

Saturday morning: Left good old PDX for VEGGASSSS! We stepped off the plane and were surprised to see Analisa's mom and sister waiting for us in the Vegas airport!!!



Saturday night: Met up with Chelsea, had a few drinkys in the new hotel, the cosmpolitan. Then headed up the the Marquee, where we found my friend from highschool, Michael!





Sunday morning: laid out by the IP pool, got over that pretty quick, and headed to the Venitian where we went to the "TAO beach pool party" There we met a wild lady named "Isabbbellle" and her boy Ivan. Our trip was full of meeting new friends.




Sunday night, after back to back Saturday night out on the town (til about...4:30 am) followed by a pool party (aka the day version of going out to a club in vegas) we found ourselves in bed at...8 Sunday night. What turned into a "quick rest" so we could go back out, quickly found us watching the CMAS (which were being filmed just down the road) and us both passing out by 10.

The rest of the days seem to blur together, with mostly a mix of laying by the pool during the day, and going out at night. Vegas was a lovely treat of sunshine and time with my best friend (and her mom and sister :), as well as 2 great friends that I haven't seen in a while.

Wednesday afternoon we hopped back on a plane to Portland, enjoyed dinner with my family, and the next morning celebrated Analisa's birthday with some chocolate chip pancakes, courtesy of my mom! It was so great to see my family, even for a quick time, and my brother was precious enough to not only take, but pick us up from the airport. Love the guy.

After pancakes and a starbucks, we headed to TumH20 to celebrate Analisa's birthday with her family! Fun times with the McCanns for sure.

Friday morning, we headed to Kirkland, where we met Ande and Lindsay at Claires ADORABLE apartment! We enjoyed some papa murphys and watched she's the man :) So lucky to have wonderful friends, and Joanna, Em and Danika were in our thoughts!

Saturday morning we headed out for some pikes place adventures, followed by a sounders game!!






Saturday night we went out with a bang (although Analisa and I were still recovering from Vegas) by going out in downtown Seattle. I love the whole Seattle area and am very interested in the prospect of moving/teaching there next year. Well friends, it is 9:00 which has recently become my bed time. I also have been really into reading lately. I'll share my books with you next time :)

Much love.

My top ten loves right now
By Emily Baylis.



1. The team.



2. The hood.



3. Charley Baylis.



4. My girls.







5. My kindys





6. The Blazers





7. Portland



8. Sleeping in





9. The sunshine



10. Fiber One bars

Portlandddd!

What a wonderful weekend. I was able to be home for my parents birthdays for the first time since highschool. Here are the weekend highlights:

Saturday: (Dad's Bday)
-Flew out of Spokane on the Oregon State plane.
-Got to PDX where mom met me, and we headed to our favorite bakery in Lake Oswego for a treat, followed by a nursery to buy daddy a new plant.
-QFC (my favorite market) to buy ingredients for daddys birthday dinner.
-Steak, twice baked potatoes, appetizers and drinks with most of the fam (AJ had to work...)
-Blazers game.

Sunday: (Mom's Bday)
-Bagels at Sunrise bagel
-Church with mom
-Shopping with mom and AJ
-Lounging around with the family
-Chinese food from our favorite restraunt in the pearl, at home while watching the Blazers game.
-Undercover boss with the family and neighbors :)

Monday:
-Nordstroms
-Costco
-Columbia Sportswear Outlet (I have a jacket obsession)
-Lunch with mom at our favorite french restraunt in Lake Oswego
-Visited mom's office.
-IKEA
-Airport :(

I realized this weekend how much I LOVE PORTLAND. I could no question live there for the rest of my life. Anyways, it was a busily fun and awesome weekend. Love my family.

Another weekend has come and gone.

Not too much to update around here but here are the weekend highlights:

-Saturday morning starbucks/winco trip with Analisa
-Watching about 900 episodes of Desperate Housewives
-Spending some time at the boys house on Friday.
-Visiting the farm and meeting the new calf "princess mia"

Oh and I get to go home to visit my family on Saturday until Monday, which I am taking off as a vacation day. It will be wonderful to be home and be able to spend mom and dads birthdays with them.

Analisa and I celebrated our 47th princess day this past Wednesday. The boys have quickly learned to acknowledge this day as well. I am so lucky to have the friends I have to celebrate everyday with.

The big event of the week was getting my wisdom teeth out Friday morning. For the past week or so I have been in a lot of pain, combined with limited ability to open my jaw, which put a damper on one of my favorite pastimes, eating. So regardless of my extreme fear of anything medical, I took drugs which did messed up things to my body, got shots, and survived a surgery. I owe a big thanks to Keith for driving me, getting me all settled, and taking care of everything I need. And of course my wonderful roommate for bringing apple sauce and home made mashed potatoes to me at my beckon call.

My kindergartners continue to amaze me with their comments and actions. A few good ones from the week:

"I'm going to make this picture for my mom, cuz I think she gonna ground me"
Reading a book about a mean character.... "Wow... he is even meaner than us!!!"

One thing I love about 5/6 year olds is their eagerness to please, and that you can convince them anything is cool. After battling all year with a always perfect always quiet line, I made up a new game. If no one talks/hops/plays/pulls things off walls, the whole way to our destination (usually about 100ft) they get a point. If they mess up, I get a point. At the end of the day if they have more points they get more center time. If I have more points, I take away centers time. Little do they know, we do centers from 2:10-2:35 everyday, regardless of how they did in the hall. I love them.

I can't believe it is already March. This month is a huge assessment month in the school world, so that is a bit stressful, but on the 19th-21st I get to go home, followed by SPRING BREAK the first week of April!

We can make it people!!