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! : )