Moving Day is Coming..

I figured that if I was going to get a blog posted this month I better do it now, because with any luck we will be MOVING this weekend! At that point it will just be pure chaos between traveling for Christmas and trying to get the house set up. The only bummer about getting ready to move right now is that I probably won't get to set up a Christmas tree. : ( We just decided that there wasn't much sense in dragging everything out just to move it or to take it down right away. I guess I can deal with one Christmas tree-less Christmas. Everything else is as finished as it's going to be in the new house for the time being, with the exception of the carpet. They're supposed to be coming sometime this week to get it installed, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it happens. They'll probably get a friendly phone call from me tomorrow just to make sure! : ) I'm really happy with how the house is looking. The walls and paint look great, along with all the new light fixtures and fans! It's amazing what a big difference something that simple can make. One of the next big things we will do is to hopefully buy some new furniture. Here's hoping for a big tax return!! ; )

With all the time we have been spending on the house, time is just flying by! Mason and I both get out of school next Wednesday for break already, and then we will be heading to St. Joseph to his mom and step-dad's. From there we will be heading to Iowa to see my family, and then we will head back down here to get the house slightly organized before school starts back up. It's going to be crazy! This past weekend Mason and I celebrated Christmas with his dad's side of the family and then over at his dad's. It was really great to see everyone and we had a wonderful time, especially getting to play with our nephew Carson! He looks so much bigger every time we see him! Seriously, who wouldn't love that face?!

Anyways, that's about all that is going on in our neck of the woods. If you have been keeping up with all the house pictures that I've been posting on Facebook, stay tuned, there will be more coming! We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and we are looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!! : )

Home Sweet Home

If you are reading this, I'm guessing you probably already know that we are officially homeowners! It has definitely been an exciting couple of months and we were pleasantly surprised how smoothly the house-buying process went for us. I know it's not nearly as easy in some situations so we are counting our blessings that we were able to get the house we really wanted! It's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a huge living room and kitchen that are connected by a vaulted ceiling, which we love. It's one of my most favorite features of the house, along with the beautiful brick fireplace! Definitely can't wait to use that! : )

Our original goal was to be in the new house by Thanksgiving, but our goal probably wasn't all that realistic since we didn't close until October 31st and we wanted new carpet and paint on the walls. Since the last people who lived in the house were renters, both the floor and walls are in pretty sad shape. Have I mentioned that the kitchen and both bathrooms had wallpaper from floor to ceiling that needed to be taken down? That took a lot longer than we planned as well, especially when we took into consideration that we both work full time and Mason is a full-time student on top of that. Despite that, the carpet is ordered and we finally got all three rooms done other than a few finishing touches before we texture the drywall. And then it's time to paint!! Since we're not going to make the Thanksgiving goal, we are now hoping by mid-December at the latest. I really want to be able to put up the Christmas tree in our new house!

Our amazing help from last weekend-- Greg, Eric, Shelly, and my wonderful husband!

And of course Tabitha and our handsome nephew, Carson!!

Gus wanted in on the fun as well! On a side note, I positively, absolutely, CANNOT wait to take a bucket of bleach and a scrub brush to the kitchen and bathroom floors. They are simply filthy. This picture can't even begin to show just how gross they are.

That's been about it otherwise. Mason has already managed to get a few deer, which is exciting. He got one during bow season and got a couple more when he went to Bethany this past weekend. His family has land up there so he's like a kid in a candy store in the weeks leading up to opening weekend. The man won't pack his own suitcase when we go out of town, but for deer season he was packed by Wednesday (he didn't leave until Friday) and all of his hunting gear took up residency in our living room. *Sigh* He's sure lucky I love him so much, and I suppose I'm pretty lucky too! ; )

While Mason was out shooting Bambi and doing manly things, I spent the weekend up in Kansas City with some wonderful women. We hung out, did some serious damage to our bank accounts at the mall, and just enjoyed one another's company. Since we only get girls' weekend roughly every six months we get so excited for it but it always goes so fast!

Other than that, we are just trying to get prepared for the holidays. I personally can't believe they are practically here again already. Any takers on finishing up my Christmas shopping? We don't have really anything planned for Thanksgiving since we'll probably be working on the house, but our Christmas vacation is filling up quickly! Even though it will be busy, we are definitely looking forward to seeing everyone again!! Anyways, that's about all I have for this time around. I hope everyone has a fabulous week! : )

I Love Me Some Fall

There's nothing too much to report, just giving a quick update! First of all, I can't believe we're nearing the end of October and we are into the second quarter at school. Before we know it the holidays will be here and that's slightly scary! Guess I better start doing some Christmas shopping! Ha! Despite the fact that Christmas is coming much quicker than I'd like, there's a really good chance we will be celebrating Christmas in a different house this year! I'm not going to go into much more detail than that right now, but we're staying hopeful everything will work out! Speaking of house shopping, it's ridiculous how much it costs just to get to the point to where you can actually have a mortgage...crazy! I'm sure all you homeowners are probably getting a good chuckle at that, but seriously, there is so much that I never knew went into it as a first-timer! I probably should have invested into one of those "House Hunting for Dummies" books..Haha!

On Friday evening, we attended a surprise party for Mason's dad, David for the big 5-0! He seemed genuinely surprised and it seemed like he and everyone else had a good time. There was a lot of good food and even better company. Yesterday, Mason spent the majority of the day working on putting a new roof on the garage here at this house. He is actually out there as I write this, hammering away. He seems to be making quite a bit of progress, which is good, but he was still able to sneak out for awhile to take a quick trip to the pumpkin patch with Tabitha, Greg, and Carson. We went to Pete's Pumpkin Patch in Rolla, and it was great to hang out with the three of them! I can't believe how big Carson is getting, and how CUTE!! Of course, we're biased, but seriously..adorable! He's already going to be 7 months old in November. Time sure flies!!

Don't you just want to kiss and squeeze those cheeks!!

Between enjoying this wonderful weather, running back and forth to school, and attempting to take care of this house-buying stuff, we stay quite busy. However, I've decided to forfeit any and all grading this weekend. Yes, I have at least four assignments that really need to be graded, but the way I see it, it will all get done at some point. School has been slightly stressful lately so I am enjoying this low-key weekend!

I'm going to go lose myself in a book now, but hopefully I'll have some more definite house news here in a couple of weeks..maybe sooner!! : ) Have a happy fall day!!

Running, Running, Running...

Last weekend Mason and I went down to Branson. Mason's mom Shelly and step-dad Eric were supposed to come with us, but Shelly ended up getting sick so they had to stay home. Despite that, we still had a great time and even participated in a 5K to help raise money for the cancer foundation down in whatever county Branson is in. : ) When we initially signed up for the 5K we were really excited about it because we were running a lot and were in pretty good shape. However, school started again for both of us, and that kind of kicked our butts! So our main goal was to finish in under 30 minutes. And luckily, we did! Mason came in 74th place and I came in 76th. We figured there were approximately 300 people running, give or take, so we were happy with those places!

Mason even got second place in his age group, which was super exciting until we found out there were only two people in his age group! : ) We both had a good laugh over that one, but he still got his medal for placing!

After surviving the 5K we went back to our hotel to get ready to head to Silver Dollar City. Since we bought season passes for the year we wanted to get at least one more visit in. It was the Fall Harvest Festival, and it was just beautiful! They had so much fun stuff set up, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

The weekend before we went to Branson we were in Iowa again for my cousin Amy's wedding. We actually took the day off Friday and got into town a little early because we wanted to visit a couple people and run some errands before we headed off to Dunkerton for the homecoming game. It was definitely fun to go back because I can't remember the last time I was at the homecoming game. Plus we got to see a lot of family and friends. My sister Laura was in the band, my other sister Leeann was in color guard and she was also on hospitality court (I believe), my cousin Madison was cheering, and my brother was doing his thing with the football team. Sorry if I left someone out! From the game we spent some time at the OP because Mason was adamant that he would get some taco pizza from there before he came home! So we had our taco pizza!

The next day (Saturday) we headed down to Cedar Rapids for Amy and Cody's big day! It was definitely a beautiful day for them and it seems they both had a great time! And Mason and I had a great time also...a Steffen get-together is never boring! But all good things must come to an end and we had to head back Sunday morning; not before we fixed the blinker in Mason's car. Since he is on probation we didn't think it'd probably be a good idea to drive 7 hours without any turn signal. So after a massive breakfast at IHOP with my brother we fixed the car and made our way back home.

The happy bride and groom! And now that Amy and I are both married we had to get our official ring picture. The last time we took a picture like this neither of us had a ring! So we had to make it official! : )

Aside from our travels, everything has been going great. Mason has been enjoying his new job. It has definitely been an eye-opener for him because he is in a special education room for children with autism. Even though it has its challenges, he is learning a lot and is enjoying himself. I, on the other hand, feel like I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off! We had a half-day on Friday and I finally feel like I'm starting to get caught up with everything I need to do at school. Aside from the craziness of the year, I have a wonderful group of kids and I'm really enjoying having them!

We have also been looking at several houses in Rolla which has been fun! The process, so far, has been very smooth. Much smoother than I expected in fact. So hopefully before too long we will be homeowners, so keep your fingers crossed that everything continues to breeze along like it has been! : )

I also celebrated my birthday at the end of September (the 28th), but Mason was nice and gave me my birthday presents a few days early. He bought my the movie Bridesmaids and a nook, which I love!! We celebrated by going to look at a couple of houses. Since Mason has class three nights a week, that limits the amount of time we can spend looking, so we didn't have a lot of options. But we did go to Jimmy Johns (absolutely love that place) and then to Central Dairy for some ice cream. Tonight we are officially celebrating by going out to eat at Matt's Steakhouse in Rolla, which is also a fabulous place to eat!

We're having a lazy Saturday today which is way overdue, but I suppose if we're going to go eat relatively soon I better get my butt in gear and get ready! Enjoy what's left of this amazing weekend! : )

Answered Prayers

It finally happened. Mason has a new job!!! We have been waiting for this for quite some time (a little over a year actually). He has applied at countless places and has even had a few interviews here and there, but nothing ever came from any of them. As you can imagine, we were getting very disgruntled. When he did work, it was great, but it seemed like the company he worked for just couldn't give them enough to stay busy for long, so he spent A LOT of time unemployed.

Well, last spring Mason took the paraprofessional praxis so he could apply for that type of a position this fall since he wouldn't have his 60 hours yet. When positions finally came open in the school districts he applied, but still heard nothing. Finally, on August 29th, Mason got a phone call from the Waynesville R-VI School District about a couple of interviews that would be held that Wednesday (the 31st). One was at Freedom Elementary which is where I taught 5th grade my first year of teaching; it's a 3-6 school. The other was at East Elementary which is a K-2 school. Mason acted like both interviews went well, but felt very confident about the one at East. With the interviews out of the way, he was able to relax a little and just wait. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. Friday morning around 9 I received a text message from Mason saying that human resources had called and wanted to offer him one of the jobs, and it happened to be the one at East Elementary. He obviously accepted, and he is now just waiting on the paperwork to really make it official. I'm definitely proud of him, and it's a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. Even though he's a little nervous about starting, I know he'll do fabulous! To celebrate, we spent last Saturday in St. Louis shopping and getting him a bunch of clothes so he had something appropriate to wear that wasn't old ratty t-shirts and jeans with holes in them! ; )

Not only did Mason get a job on the 2nd, but so did my brother and Mason's sister! My brother had been searching for jobs ever since he graduated in May and had been on countless interviews, with no luck. But that particular Friday, he was offered TWO! Talk about a lucky day!! We (Mason and I) have been praying for quite some time that something would fall into place for not only us, but for my brother and his sister's family, and it finally did! God definitely had something in mind for all of us, we just had to be patient and wait!

Other than that, I have been staying busy with school starting. It has been going well and I have a pretty good group of kids. Mason's classes are also going well (at least that's what he tells me) and he's excited that after this semester he'll hopefully only have roughly a year left until he graduates. Speaking of Mason, remember the accident we had? Well, he had to go back to court again on the 7th, and it was decided that he is going to have to do two years of unsupervised probation. It really only applies when he's driving, but if he would have any kind of moving violation in those two years, it's possible he'd have to go back in front of the judge who has free range of punishment...ugg. Here's hoping we don't have to even worry about that!

On another good note, we've begun the house-hunting process. We've looked at 5 so far, and there's one that really caught our attention. We have several more we are going to be looking at in the next couple of weeks so that's pretty exciting as well. We definitely want to make sure we take our time so we find something that will really work for us, especially since we don't have to be out of the house we are in at any point.

I think that's about it as far as updates are concerned. We are going to Iowa next weekend for my cousin Amy's wedding..woohoo!! And luckily, it happens to be Dunkerton's homecoming so we will have the opportunity to attend the game and watch my brother coach. And then the following weekend we will be going to Branson for the 5K and to wander around Silver Dollar City. Guess I better get back to running in a hurry..: ) Even though the Hawkeyes lost, it's been a pretty good weekend so far! Hope the rest of you have had a great one also!

School's In Session

School is officially back in session! I'm not exactly sure where the summer went, but it sure flew by! We have only had two days of school, but I'm hopeful I have another great group of kids. Aside from all the craziness, I always enjoy the start of a new year. Everyone is fresh and excited to be there (for the most part). Not only that, but now that I'm starting my 4th year of teaching (wow, time flies), I feel a lot better about my own abilities and what I should expect. Mason is also getting ready to start school again. This will be the beginning of his third year and he is getting close to that halfway point, which is great! He will definitely make a fabulous teacher someday!

Other than that we have been staying busy, as always! My best friend Lindsey got married at the beginning of this month so we traveled up to Western Iowa for all the festivities. It was a beautiful wedding and it was wonderful getting to see everyone again.

She sure made a stunning bride! I didn't get a great picture of her handsome husband, but he looked great as well! : ) Speaking of weddings, my cousin Abby is getting married today! We definitely wish we could be there, but I'm sure that she and her groom Matt will have a fabulous day!!

We do have a little piece of not-so-great news...remember the car accident we had a couple weeks before our wedding? Well, because another person was involved, Mason had to go to court. They actually ended up setting another date for court because Mason's attorney didn't care for the judge he was supposed to have. But, the attorney said that even though we probably wouldn't have to pay a ticket or have it put on his record, that Mason may have to have two years of unsupervised probation. It's pretty frustrating, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

He's also been on the job search for quite awhile too, and so far, we haven't heard back from anywhere. But, we did hear a little piece of information the other day that does sound slightly promising regarding a possible job opportunity. I don't want to say too much in case it doesn't pan out, but please keep us in your prayers that it will work out! Every little bit can help!!

We are also pretty excited because we will be traveling up to Iowa again mid-September for my cousin Amy's wedding! Since JJ (my brother) is helping to coach football again this year at Dunkerton, we are going to drive up a little early because homecoming happens to fall that same weekend. We always look forward to visiting Dunkerton and everyone there, of course!! The following weekend we are heading down to Branson to spend some time there. As far as we know, Mason's mom and step-dad will also be coming with us, so we are really looking forward to it. While we are down there, aside from visiting the strip and Silver Dollar City, Mason and I will be running a 5K! The money will be going toward the cancer foundation. I haven't ran a 5K since college so I'm pretty excited! We were doing a great job of running everyday, but I started getting shin splints so I had to back off a little. They've finally gotten better so I need to get back into the swing of things so I don't die while running! : )

Well, I better get some cleaning done around here. It kind of looks like a tornado hit...have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Honeymoon

The day after the wedding was also a whirlwind as we had to bring everything back to the house, finish packing, and then head up to St. Louis to our hotel. Unfortunately that morning, I had a sore throat that moved down into my lungs as the day progressed, so by the end of Sunday I already had cold which stayed with me the rest of the week. It didn't keep me from doing anything, it was mostly just a nuisance. We were up and at 'em by about 3:00 Sunday morning so we could catch the shuttle to the airport to get on our flight. I have to say, the flights from St. Louis to Dallas/Ft. Worth, and then from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Cozumel were a couple of the worst flights we had ever been on. When we left St. Louis we were in a storm and when we got into Cozumel, we were dealing with Tropical Storm Arlene. Needless to say, there was a ridiculous amount of turbulence and we were both very happy to be back on solid ground!

Since we didn't get in until Monday afternoon, we just relaxed and hung out around the resort for the rest of the day and all of Tuesday. We did some swimming at the amazing pool they had, took some naps, and enjoyed the delicious food they offered.

This particular pool happened to have a lazy river, and was right by one of the outdoor restaurants, so we had drinks brought directly to us as we swam!

On Tuesday we had scheduled to go on a tour to Chichen Itza over on the mainland on Wednesday, but at about 10:00 Tuesday night they called and said that because of the weather they were going to have us go Thursday instead. So when we woke up on Wednesday we decided to go snorkeling. If we booked through our resort we got to go see three reefs. We were really excited because Mason had gone before and had spoke so highly of it. When we got out to the first reef we were probably about a mile off shore. Unfortunately, the water was still so rough from the tropical storm that when we got in the water it was very difficult to swim and really enjoy what we were doing. So I was that person that held on to the boogie board our guide had for anybody who got tired. Except I held on the entire time. Haha By the time we got back in the boat from the first reef, I was sea sick from the waves, and Mason had no intention of getting back in at the last two because of how rough the water was. Because of this, we ended up just lounging around the rest of the day.

On Thursday we were up and leaving our resort by 6:00 in the morning to head to downtown Cozumel to catch the 7:00 ferry. From Cozumel to Playa Del Carmen on the mainland it took roughly 30-40 minutes. Once we got there we found our driver and took the two and a half van ride down to Chichen Itza. It was definitely worth the long trip, and was probably one of the neatest places both of us had seen. The amount of history we learned about the Mayans was fantastic, and it was amazing to see a place that has been preserved so well for such a long period of time.

Our tour guide, Oscar, made it an exceptionally great experience. He had a quirky sense of humor and was incredibly knowledgeable about all parts of Chichen Itza.

After such a long day full of travel and exploration, we came back to the resort, ate dinner, and crashed. We were exhausted! Friday morning we woke up and decided to go swimming and lay out since it was one of the first days it was actually sunny! The whole week it was cooler in Mexico than it was in Missouri, in large part because of the tropical storm. They were in what the locals called the "tropical depression." So it wasn't overly hot or sunny the entire time we were there. Later on that afternoon, we went to have our hour-long full-body massages. Let me just say, they were AMAZING! It's definitely something we will be doing again at some point! After our massages we went back to our room, got ready, and ventured to downtown Cozumel to do some shopping. We ended up spending a lot more than we meant to, but we got some nice jewelry!

Unfortunately, this brings us to Saturday morning, the day we had to leave. Mason was ready to get headed back home, but I would have been content staying there another week! However, by the time we did get back, I have to say it was definitely nice to be back home. It was a fabulous vacation, and I'm thankful we were able to have that time together following our wedding!

Since the honeymoon we have stayed very busy traveling and getting odds and ends squared away from the wedding. We ventured up to St. Joseph to see Mason's mom and sister, and I spent about five days in Iowa. I went for Lindsey's (my best friend) bridal shower and bachelorette party and then spent some time with my family. We will be up in Iowa again the weekend of the 6th for Lindsey and Jake's wedding, so we are definitely looking forward to that. Other than traveling, Mason has been applying for several jobs so we are saying our prayers that something will come along soon! Any additional prayers would also be very appreciated! Otherwise, we're just trying to enjoy what's left of summer because school will be starting for both of us before we know it!

6.25.11

It's a month later and I'm finally sitting down to write about our wedding! The first month of wedded bliss has gone incredibly fast, and before we know it school will be starting! Right before we got married I talked about how we had gotten in an accident and were looking at a 2006 Cobalt. We ended up getting it and are happy with the decision. There are a few cosmetic things that need to be taken care of, but nothing too serious, which is good. And since it had lower miles, we are hopeful that it will last us for a while yet! We also realized it is the exact same year, make, model, and color as my Grandma Steffen's. Hers is in better shape though, with a lot fewer miles. : )

Once we got our car situation figured out, we were able to focus on the wedding. The most stressful day was Friday because we had to get the hall and the park set up for the rehearsal and the dinner. It actually went much smoother than expected, and when we made it to the actual rehearsal all stress went out the window. Everyone arrived on time and were extremely cooperative and helpful throughout the entire rehearsal. We even had a couple of chuckles, especially when Mason asked our deacon when he was allowed to kiss me. Following the rehearsal we went over to Schuman Park in Rolla where we had a grill out and got to talk and hang out with everyone. I'd post some pictures of it, but the majority of them are already on Facebook.

After the rehearsal dinner, the majority of us went back to the hotel to relax for the evening. It was great getting to see everyone who had already come in from out of town, and we spent a lot of time talking and catching up. Surprisingly enough, when I finally went to bed, I got a great night of sleep (very unlike the whole week prior), and was ready to go the next morning! Rather than go into all the details about the actual wedding day, I will simply say it was wonderful. It was definitely more than what Mason and I expected and it went very smoothly. Like I told the girls before I got ready to walk down the aisle, I wish there was a way to bottle up the many emotions I (and I'm sure Mason) felt throughout the day. It was wonderful, and I know Mason and I had a blast. We can't thank everyone enough who helped to make our special day so successful.

This is one of the many pictures our amazing photographer took. She was fabulous and we can't wait to see the rest!

It's official, I'm a "Heavin." : )

Goodbye, Elantra..

A sad day has come. I had to say goodbye to my Elantra. Almost two weeks ago, Mason and I got into a pretty serious accident. We were coming home from Springfield on I-44 from a little pre-wedding shopping. There was a car on the side of the road, which we later found out had run out of gas, as the driver was one of the first responders. Mason went to merge into the left lane after looking in the side mirror. Unfortunately, he did not look over his shoulder because there was a Jeep Cherokee in his blind spot. By the time we realized what was happening we had already hit once. We believe that it startled the other driver so much that she swerved left and back right again, and we were positioned so that she was pushing us down the road nearly sideways. Keep in mind this was at 75 miles per hour. Luckily we didn't roll the car and Mason was able to maintain enough control to drive smoothly into the median. As we were coming to a stop we looked back and saw that the other driver's car was rolling. It rolled probably 2-3 times before it finally came to a stop. We called 911 while Mason went to check on the other driver. She was able to get out of the car and only had a few minor cuts, which is a miracle since she wasn't wearing a seat belt. The ambulance and other responders came shortly, and they took the lady to the hospital just as a precaution. As far as we know, she is doing fine, and didn't have anything other than some cuts and bruises, thankfully. We still felt pretty bad about it since we were technically the ones that caused the accident.

After assessing the damages to our car and realizing it was going to be totaled out, we found out it would cost a minimum of $2300 to fix the basic necessities (two new doors, new front fender, tires, and alignment). By the time insurance would go through we would probably have to pay roughly $500 or $600 out of pocket. Since it was a 2001 with nearly 140,000 miles on it, we decided to look around a little first. We found a 2006 Cobalt with only 84,000 miles on it. Yes, we will have to pay a little bit more than it would cost to get the Elantra fixed, but long-term it will hopefully be a better choice and last a little longer. I told Mason if he wrecked anymore cars, he was getting a bicycle to ride to work. He agreed. :)

As I write this, a lady is coming from State Farm to take the title, which is pretty sad, but it is what it is. It's been real, Elantra, but it's time to move on to bigger and greener pastures.

Aside from the craziness that Mason and I always seem to stir up, we are only 4 days from "The Big Day!" I can't believe it. Other than the whole car situation, I'm doing pretty well as far as stress is concerned. Even Mason and Duane have chipped in a little to help with cream cheese mints for the reception. What studs!

Gus helped too! :)

We are just excited to see everyone, have a great day, and then spend the following week relaxing in Mexico! See many of you soon!! :)

School's Out for the Summer!!

Well, we finally made it through the year, and only slightly worse for wear! Mason and I started this final day of school down in our cellar. At about a quarter to five a random truck was driving up and down the road with their sirens on. Given all the storms going on we figured that was our warning that there could potentially be a tornado in the area. After about twenty minutes we ventured back inside and I finished getting ready for school. Aside from the fact that the kids were crazy, it was a great day! I really enjoyed the group of kids I had this year, and they will be missed. But, for now, I will enjoy my lazy days!

I was very excited to get out of school early since today was only a half-day, but mother nature again had other ideas. Missouri, as well as many surrounding states, has had a ridiculous number of tornadoes this year. Just as our entire faculty was getting ready to have our last meal together for the year, the sirens in Waynesville started going off, so we all had to take cover in the classrooms in the basement. Luckily that didn't last very long, but shortly before I got ready to go, they went off again. So needless to say, I didn't even leave school until well after when I would leave on a regular day. Then I was chosen for the random car inspection as I entered post. Awesome. It's not a big deal and I did finally make it home! Mason, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He is still stuck at a friend's house as I type this. He was driving home from work in the midst of these storms, and ended up stopping at his friend's house because it was hailing and getting pretty bad out. And now, he's stuck there because of flooding. Oh well! He's safe so that's the important thing!

On a better note, I plan on spending the next couple of days laying around and doing a lot of nothing. Mason and I are going down to Branson for the weekend, and then I start summer school on Tuesday. Luckily, they are only half-days and will go until June 17th, so it will go very fast! Eight days after that and I will become 'Kayla Heavin.' Weird! Here's hoping the next month goes smoothly! Congrats to all the students and teachers who are finished or will be finishing school soon!! We did it! And lets be sure to keep all those affected by all these storms in our thoughts and prayers, especially all the residents of Joplin, Missouri! Happy Summer!! : )

Busy Bees

Whew! It has been one crazy month, and it's only a little over halfway through! Well, we made our first big purchase as a couple. Her name is Piper and she is a 2010 Pontiac G6! It wasn't that we necessarily needed a different car, but both of Mason's vehicles have well over 200,000 miles, and we didn't want to chance one or more of them going out at once. So, we started looking and really liked this car and decided to go for it!

We started the first weekend of May up in Iowa, which was wonderful. And we got to test out the G6, and she ran great! I took a personal day on Friday so Mason and I could head up earlier. We hung out with some friends on Friday night and then Saturday I ditched Mason for a day full of girl time!! I had my first bridal shower, which thoroughly exceeded my expectations. Many of my aunts got together to help make it a beautiful day for me and I am incredibly grateful for the time and effort they put into it. Everyone was insanely generous and I enjoyed getting to see everyone again. From there, the girls (Lindsey, Ashley, Nichole, Nicole, Bailey, Laura, and Amy) and I headed to Cedar Falls where we hung out at the hotel for awhile. We decided to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which was delicious! Unfortunately, something didn't agree with my stomach, and I ended up getting sick. Even though we didn't end up going out like we had planned, I still had a great time hanging out with the girls in the hotel room. Sara (my aunt) and Amy (my cousin), also came up to hang out for awhile!

Me with my bridesmaids, minus Cara and Tabitha. From the left is my sister Laura, and friends Ashley, Lindsey, and Amy.

Amy with a few of the other lovely ladies that were able to come-- Nicole, Bailey, and Nichole!

Yes, we are related. And yes, you should be jealous! : )

This was my cute outfit for the evening! Even though I didn't get to go out because I didn't feel well, I still rocked it! : )

The Monday after my shower in Iowa I went in for my first dress fitting, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I wouldn't need any alterations-- thank heavens!! Then on Tuesday, a couple of my good friends at school threw me a bridal shower as well. It was complete with good company, wonderful food which included chocolate covered strawberries, and another generous amount of thoughtful gifts. It was nice to hang out with each of them without having to worry about school stuff! From there the week went very smoothly, until Thursday. We started the morning on lock down because they brought the drug dogs in to check lockers and classrooms. So naturally the kids got pretty wound up. At the beginning of third hour, we were told that we would be on lock down again. We continued to stay on lock down until about 1:00 in the afternoon. None of us really knew what was going on so we just went about our normal class routine. Come to find out there was a gunman not far from our school that the police were trying to find. Long story short, he ended up getting arrested right near Edgar Springs, which is way too close for comfort!!

That Saturday, I made my first trip to Branson with a little over 100 7th grade National Junior Honor Society members. Since I am going to be the adviser for NJHS next year, I was invited to tag along. I had a blast wandering around Silver Dollar City, so Mason and I decided to get season passes and will be heading back down there for a visit next weekend!

In between all that craziness, Mason finally finished this semester! He was incredibly happy to be finished, and he did very well. He is signed up to take the CBASE test this June. If he passes, it will allow him to be enrolled in the college of education at Drury. He still has a little ways to go until he's finished, but he's definitely making progress. My brother, Jonathan, was also very happy to be done with school. He graduated last week with his Master's of Social Work degree. He has worked incredibly hard to get to this point, and I am a very proud sister! He'll definitely do great things!

This weekend Mason's mom Shelly and step dad Eric are coming down to stay with us because I'm having another bridal shower down here. Tabitha, Greg, and Carson are already down here but we haven't had the opportunity to see them yet. Carson is already over a month old and has changed so much!!  Other than that, I'm just working hard to get through the rest of the school year. T-4 days and summer vacation will be here! Since I'm teaching summer school, I guess I'm not technically on summer vacation yet, but they are only half days so I'll still get a break! I. Can't. Wait.

Carson Lee Wacker

Baby Carson will be the primary topic of conversation for this particular blog, so I feel like I should apologize in advance for all the baby chatter. : ) Tabitha (Mason's older sister) had Carson last Tuesday (April 12th), and he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. I was pretty surprised, and I think others were as well, that he wasn't bigger than that. But he sure is a cute little thing. Since it was the middle of the week that he was born, Mason and I had to wait till the following weekend to go visit. That actually worked out pretty well since they stayed in the hospital until Friday. We got up to St. Joseph on that Friday night and were able to spend some time with Tabitha, Greg (her husband), and Carson before we all called it a night, which was very nice. I'm typically not what one would call a "baby" person, but I sure loved getting to hold and love on him! He is a very mild-mannered baby, and doesn't seem to get too shook up about anything. He didn't seem to particularly enjoy having his diaper changed, but that was mostly because of the cold wet wipes, I think....On Saturday we spent about half the day there and then went to do some shopping with Mason's mom, Shelly. I found some super cute baby sunglasses, thinking that they would fit great, only to find out they were actually quite large on the handsome little man.

 

We stopped by again Sunday morning for a few hours before we came back down to Edgar, and I had the chance to feed and hold him again, which was great! I never thought I'd be so excited to have a little nephew, but it's sure a neat feeling, especially since I'll get to see him grow since birth. I just wish we all lived a little closer so we could see each other on a more regular basis. 

As you can see, Mason is pretty smitten with the little guy as well! He'll be a good uncle!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband Joey, is also pregnant, with TWIN boys, and is due in August. I actually just had an amazing conversation with her tonight, and she is having a wonderful pregnancy, which is great! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her at the wedding, so hopefully everything will continue to go well for her! I definitely can't wait to meet those two little boys either!

Completely switching topics, Mason shot a turkey this morning! Looks like turkey breast for supper tomorrow night! Yum! He went out at about 5:45 this morning, and had one by 6:15. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone at home so he wasn't able to let me know until I got home. It was a pretty good-sized turkey, weighing around 20 pounds. The beard was about 9 and a quarter, so he seemed to be pleased with it! It wasn't quite as big as the bird he got last year, but at least he didn't cut open his forehead this time! I tried to upload some pictures of his turkey, but for some reason it didn't want to let me.  Mason also found about 70 mushrooms the other day, so we got to chow down on some fried mushrooms. Completely unhealthy, but totally worth it! : )

Other than that not too much has been going on. We celebrated Mason's 22nd birthday on the 10th. He was hopeful that Carson would be born on the same day, but it just wasn't in the cards. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Colton's Steakhouse with a couple of friends. He got a scope, a pair of boots, and a cute cake from me, and I think he was happy with that!

I also found out I'm probably going to get to teach summer school which is also great! Our school year officially ends on May 25th (completely unbelievable..this year flew), and then summer school will start May 31st and go through June 17th. Summer school is only half days, which is nice. It will be perfect timing, because that will still give me about a week before the wedding to prepare for whatever we need to do when that time comes. Speaking of which, on Monday there will be exactly two months until the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited to marry Mason, but I'm also very excited to get to see everyone!! Invitations have been sent, so hopefully we'll start getting replies soon!

It's Spring!

A lot has gone on in the last month since I have written on here, and for the most part, it has all been awesome! I could definitely tell that cabin fever had set in with all my kiddos, because in the weeks before spring break, they were (to put it nicely) insane! However, I can't say that I blame them; I was the same way! It's been great to finally have the windows open and not have the heat run constantly, and to be able to go outside in just a t-shirt! And even better, I don't freeze to death every time I let the dog in or out! Hey, it's the little things, right?! ; )

Despite the craziness of the kids, and teachers at times, school is continuing to go very well! I feel more confident each day with the content and kids I'm teaching, which is great. I've heard that it takes at least 3 years to really start becoming comfortable with a teaching style and with the content that is taught, and I definitely feel that next year (being my third year with 7th grade language arts) will be very promising! On a side note, please try not to judge any errors I make in this just because I'm a language teacher. : ) I have to say I can't believe there are only 9 more Mondays before the school year is OVER...where on earth has the time gone?! It seems like we just barely got started!

As I said, a lot has gone on this month, and it started with a fun weekend in Hannibal with Sara (my aunt) and Amy (my cousin). We met in Hannibal on the morning of the 12th and had lunch before we were able to check into our hotel room. We had big intentions of going to do the touristy stuff when we got there, but we had too much fun chatting in the room that we never actually left (except when our power went out). Don't worry, we got it turned back on. : ) After ordering in pizza and talking about just about everything one could think to talk about we decided it was probably a good idea to go to bed around 2:00 am. The next morning we got up and moving around with the hopes of doing the touristy stuff that day, momentarily forgetting it was Sunday and nothing opened until around noon. So...we went to the same restaurant as the day before and then wandered around to the different shops downtown and went on a little tour that had information about Mark Twain; all the while we made sure to keep an eye out for Injun Joe, just in case. ; ) Shortly after, we decided we better head our separate ways, but it was definitely a fun weekend that I hope we can repeat soon!

Once I got home on Sunday, I did a quick-clean on the house, just in time for JJ (my brother) and Bailey (his girlfriend) to come down for spring break! Mason and I were both supposed to work on Monday but Mason got rained out so he was able to keep our guests company for the day. On Tuesday, JJ, Bailey, and I made the trek to the lake. I took care of the cake stuff for the wedding, and then we did a little shopping at the outlet mall. From there we went back to Edgar so we could meet Mason for supper before he had to go to class. However, the little stinker that he is, skipped class, so we began a vicious game of The Farming Game. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the best game EVER! Seriously. I still need to purchase myself a new copy from when it burned in the fire, but luckily my brother brought his down and the farming began! We played for a few hours and then decided that if we were going to be coherent for our trip to St. Louis we had better go to bed.

Our first stop in St. Louis was the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Although I've been here several times, Mason had never been, so we wanted to make sure he had the opportunity. It's probably one of my favorite places to visit in the city. No, not just because of the product they produce, but it's really a unique place with some neat history!

After going on the tour and spending some quality time in the hospitality room trying some of their frothy beverages, we went over to the Science Center. It's a pretty neat place too, but seemed to be geared more toward kids. Don't get me wrong, we had fun, but I don't think that we'll go again until we have kids of our own that are old enough to enjoy it. After the Science Center we were on a mission to find food (I get cranky when I'm hungry...). We wanted something different than normal, but literally every place we stopped at was either closed down or weren't open yet for the day. So, we settled for Long John Silvers. Definitely not our first choice, but by that point we were desperate. We scarfed down and went to one of the malls to do a little more shopping. Unfortunately, I got sick from good ole Long John Silvers so we came back home to finish our Farming Game we started the night before!

Thursday we pretty much just hung out and lounged around all day, which was kind of nice. Since it was St. Patrick's Day we decided to go to The Tater Patch and have their amazing tenderloins and celebrate there. Our friends Duane and Paige both came as well, and we had a good time singing, dancing, and just hanging out. We got home around 12:15 and received a surprise phone call from our friend Adam who had literally just made it down to Missouri and was at the Tater Patch looking for us. He was originally going to come down but then was unable to, so we weren't expecting him. So he ended up driving the rest of the way to Edgar so we could all hang out. Even though he didn't get to celebrate with us, it was still great to see him!

Here are just a few pictures of our St. Patrick's celebration. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Adam this time around. For the next few days I felt like a terrible hostess, because I literally felt terrible. From Friday to Monday I had terrible abdominal cramps. It felt like someone was taking my stomach and twisting it like a rag. I thought it might be food poisoning, but never did find out for sure. It was the worst on Saturday. I had good intentions of going to school on Monday, but the pain was still bad enough that it just wasn't going to happen. So instead I spent about 3 hours at the doctor. They took my blood and let me know that I didn't have appendicitis and that my kidneys and liver were functioning properly; essentially taking my money without really being able to tell me anything. At this point I feel 100 times better, so I guess that's the most important thing!

It was definitely an eventful week, but one that Mason and I thoroughly enjoyed! I can't wait until we go up to Iowa the beginning of May for my bridal shower so we can see everyone again. I'm still continuing to plan the wedding. Even though it's coming quick, I can honestly say I'm to the point (again) where I really wish we would have eloped. Although I'm incredibly excited for it and for everyone to be here, I feel like it's becoming a bit of a hassle for everyone involved. Maybe that's just the stress talking. Everyone says it will be okay, so I'm hoping that's true!

Anyways, if you actually made it to the end of this novel, I applaud you and I hope this finds you well! I'm sure there will be more updates to come! : )

School, Babies, and Life in General

I just felt like writing tonight, so if you are reading this, please bear with my random blabbering because it's quite possible it will be all over the place! Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Everything has been going well in the Steffen/Heavin household, just busy, busy! I believe I mentioned in one of my last posts that Mason was going to be taking the paraprofessional praxis. Well, we found out that he passed it according to Missouri standards! So, we were definitely very excited about that! That means he can apply to be a paraprofessional this fall, so we're hopeful that a position will open up that will be a good fit for him. He has also been busy this semester with classes, especially since he is working full time as well. The last couple semesters he was able to have class on just Tuesday and Thursday nights, but this one he has class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Though I miss him when he's gone, I can catch up on some other important stuff...like The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, and Grey's Anatomy. : )

School has been going well for me as well. I've never referred to "school" as "work." Even though teaching is definitely challenging at times, I've never really looked at it as a job. I just really enjoy going and getting to work with my students (most of the time). : ) I'm really fortunate this year because our team has a pretty good group of kids, and I have a great team to work with. So even on those tough teaching days, it's refreshing to know that during 7th hour, we can all chat and I have that support system available.

On another note, Mason and I had an enjoyable weekend. His mom Shelly and step-dad Eric came down from St. Joseph for Tabitha's baby shower. It's crazy to think that she will be having a baby in mid-April. We're definitely looking forward to meeting Baby Carson, and are excited to be getting a new nephew! Tabitha's baby shower was given by her in-laws up in Owensville, and it was a great day aside from the yucky weather. Everything looked super cute, and Tabitha seemed to have a wonderful time which is the most important thing. Let me just say, that is going to be one stylish kid! I don't think I've ever seen so many baby clothes! Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he does have a lot of super cute clothes!

This is a picture of Tabitha and her husband Greg, along with Carson of course! :)

Speaking of babies, I think there must be something in the water because A LOT of people I know are expecting, in addition to Tabitha. My Uncle Joe and Aunt Renee are due in August (if I remember correctly), my good friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband are having TWINS in August, Mason's Aunt Avery is due in May, my cousin Jess is due in June I believe, plus there are a couple ladies at school who are expecting this summer. Sorry if I forgot anyone... It's super exciting, and it will be fun to meet all these tiny humans!

In other news, Mason and I are REALLY excited for spring break because JJ (my brother), his girlfriend Bailey, and possibly our friend Adam are coming down for a visit. I'm not really sure what we are going to do, other than visit the Tater Patch, but I'm sure it will be a good time. It will definitely be great to see some familiar faces from my Iowa home since I probably won't be up there again until May. That will make almost 5 months since I've been home or seen anyone from up that way, so it will be great!

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much. We've just been hanging out and getting ready for the big day. Only 123 days left....CRAZY!! I'm so ready for it to be here, along with our trip to Cozumel, Mexico! :) Well, it's almost time for this girl to head to bed, so I hope all is well with everyone, and have a great night!