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!

Snow Day #3

Hello Everyone! As you can see from the title of this post, I am working on snow day #3, of this week alone. And, I just found out that we will be having another snow day tomorrow. I think it's safe to say that I can kiss most of my spring break goodbye, which definitely stinks because JJ and Bailey (my brother and his girlfriend) were planning on coming down. We have kind of made it our yearly tradition, but I guess we'll have to play it by ear now!  Despite the fact that I may not have spring break, we (Mason, Gus, and I) have enjoyed our time together, as you can see from the picture below. Gus is pretty spoiled! :)

Most of the time during snow days, I am completely unproductive, but I have to say that this time around I am pretty impressed with the progress I've made, with the exception of cleaning. I've decided that cleaning doesn't count though, because that's supposed to happen even if there's not a snow day. I spent a lot of time Tuesday working on our wedding programs. Now, I realize that's still pretty early, but at least all I'll have to do is put in the information I need and print them off. I also got the wording figured out for our invitations. I made a very strong attempt to print them off, but for some reason I just couldn't get the settings right on our printer, so it was decided that we would take them to this printing place in Rolla and save us the trouble! The RSVP wording is also ready, along with the maps to include in the invitations. It's just a matter of getting them all printed off and put together, so that makes me feel better. We are under 150 days until the big day, which is crazy! Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited, but I'll be happy when the day is here and we can just enjoy it along with our family and friends.

I also got my taxes done and filled out the paper work to get my student loans consolidated. Talk about depressing. Not so much the whole taxes thing, because I'm looking forward to getting my return, but realizing just how much I owe on my student loans is definitely not fun. Oh well! I suppose it'll be worth it in the long run! :)

Mason and I did get outside a little bit the past couple days. We played outside for awhile yesterday with Gus, and found a fun hill back in the woods behind the house. We don't have a sled but it was steep enough that we were able to slide down on our behinds! It was nice to get out of the house for awhile. Today we ventured out for a little while too. We went to Rolla and visited with Mike for awhile at his shop while I got my oil changed and Mason got his front tires changed. I went to Wal-Mart too, and of course spent too much. That darn store gets me everytime! Ha! But, I did find some stuff for the wedding and a few cute things that I had to pick up for Carson. Mason's sister, Tabitha (and husband Greg), is due with Baby Carson in April so we are excited to have a nephew. It's coming up quick, and we are definitely looking forward to it!

Above are a couple of pictures from the last couple of days. Other than that, not too much is going on. I'm going to head to Springfield tomorrow with a friend of mine because I need to pick up Mason's ring from the jewelry store, and to shop of course! :) But that means I need to go through some of Mason's clothes today so I know exactly what he has before I buy him anything else. So, I guess I should probably go for now. I'm trying my hand at ham and beans, so I need to keep an eye on that as well! For those of you blocked in by the snow, enjoy your day(s) off! TTFN, ta ta for now! :)

This n' That

As promised, I said I would post some pictures of our house. I'm only going to post a few because I already added some to Facebook. It's actually Mason's Aunt's house, but she has graciously been letting us live here. For those of you who saw the house in the beginning stages of remodeling, it was definitely a scary sight. A large tree had fallen down in front of the house, so not only was the house a disaster, but so was the yard. Mason spent a lot of time cleaning up both the yard and the house (I helped a little), along with his dad and a few of his friends. Shockingly, there was enough junk left in the house to fill a 40-yard dumpster! To put it nicely, when Mason told me he planned to move into the house I smiled and gave words of encouragement, but secretly thought he was half crazy for even considering it. That's how bad it was. It has come a long way, and it actually feels quite cozy now. Even though I don't want to live in Edgar Springs forever, it's a good starting point.

This is our bedroom. There is also a VERY tiny closet to the right of the nightstand.

This is looking at the back of the living room from the kitchen. There is another full size couch to the left, and the front door is on the right side.

This is a view of our kitchen from the bathroom door. The living room is directly to the right, and our laundry room is that door straight ahead. It's kind of scary in there right now so I chose not to take pictures. It's purpose is laundry/Mason's closet/wedding storage/dog sleeping area so it's slightly messy at the moment! :)

This view is from the center of the kitchen looking toward the bathroom door (it's the one that's open). The door opening to the left goes to the living room, and the closed one directly ahead is our pantry.

And last but not least, here's our bathroom. The door and toilet are to the left, and you can see where the shower is from the reflection in the mirror. When the fire first happened, I had absolutely no desire to decorate anything because I had literally just finished decorating my apartment the weekend before it burnt down. But, I've picked up a few things here and there and have gotten a few things from people, and it's starting to look like a nice little home! :)

School started up again last week, and I have to say that it was the Longest. Week. Ever. The sad thing is, we only had four full days with the kids because we had a work day on Monday. Having the luxury of sitting around for two full weeks definitely made it challenging to go back, but it was nice to see the kids and all of my coworkers again! Speaking of school, Mason made the Dean's list last semester! He is very excited, and I'm very proud of him as well! He is taking the Para-Praxis test this Saturday so hopefully he will pass and be able to get a position as a paraprofessional in one of the schools nearby this fall. He will be a great teacher someday, so hopefully this will be a stepping stone in the right direction! Unfortunately, this means we will not be able to go to Illinois like we originally planned. :( My Aunt Sara (and her husband Eric) had baby number two, Parker Steffen Shook, at the end of December, and his baptism is scheduled for this weekend. Since I clearly didn't plan ahead very well, we had to back out because I didn't really plan on making the trip on my own.

This past weekend I spent some time with a couple of my girlfriends who I haven't seen in awhile. The day was complete with a lot of not-so-good food and a chick flick (The Backup Plan). It was very relaxing, and it was great to see them! After that, I met Mason down at the river where many of his family and friends congregate to go gigging, boating, fishing, and in general, just hang out. Since it's gigging season, we got all bundled up (I now own Carhartt bibs, a coat, hat, and a nice pair of Muck boots) and hopped in the boat. For those of you who don't know what gigging is, you take a jet boat that has lights on the front that look down into the water so you can see the fish. Up on the front of the boat is a rail where the people gigging stand with their gig. While the boat is moving you take the 16 foot gig that has a trident-like spear on the end, and attempt to stab the moving fish. As if that isn't difficult enough, you also have to take into consideration that it is extremely cold and your fingers are like ice the majority of the time. Having said all that, I finally gigged my very first fish! I've been gigging a couple of times, but was not very successful. It's definitely a sport that takes a lot of practice, but I'm hopeful that I'll get better! Poor fish..

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much. We have started meeting on a more regular basis with the deacon who will be performing our wedding ceremony. We both really like him a lot. Mason actually graduated with one of his sons, and since we have the opportunity to get to know him more, I think it'll make our ceremony a little more personal. Last week we met with him at a local micro-brewery that just opened in Rolla called the Public House. His daughter and son-in-law just opened it, and since Tom (our deacon) has been helping them out a lot, he asked if we would be okay about meeting there. It's a really classy place with a unique atmosphere. We are looking forward to meeting with him again this week. We have our readings all picked out, so it's nice to see that things are starting to come together. It's easier to imagine what our ceremony will be like now, and it makes it even more exciting! In fact, we just got our invitations today too! Nothing fancy, but they will do the job. Now I just have to figure out how in the world to tie the ribbon without it looking silly! Haha If anyone has any pointers let me know!

So far, 2011 has been pretty uneventful, which I'm happy about. Last year there was a little too much excitement, and not in a good way! Well, Mason is attempting to fix our Direct TV (he messed it up the other day..), so I'm going to go see if I can be anymore successful!

Happy New Year!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite a while now, mostly to keep our family and friends up-to-date on what is going on in our lives. I'm still not 100% sure about this, but I'm giving it a shot! I figured that since one of my goals for 2011 is to stay in better contact with people, this may help a little as well!

First of all, I feel like I need to explain the name of the blog "The Heavins." I realize I'm not technically a "Heavin" (pronounced Hay-vin) yet, but I'm not going to worry too much about the technicalities right at the moment! :)

I'm sitting here this afternoon (doing nothing), when I really should be getting ready for our New Year's party we are having here tomorrow night, doing laundry, mopping the floors, etc. I have been thinking a lot about the happenings in our lives (Mason and I) this past year, and I have concluded that 2010 has been both the best and worst year of our lives. Even though I said that I wasn't going to worry too much about the "technicalities" at the moment, Mason and I actually met in October of 2009. Since it was more of a blind date situation, and since Mason is 4 and a half years younger than me (yes, I'm a cradle robber), I didn't really expect that much out of our night out. Who would have thought a dinner at Applebee's followed by a movie would turn into something so great?! Well, lucky for me, it did, and Mason and I began spending a lot more time together. Little did we know all the challenges we would be faced with!

When  we first started talking Mason informed me that his grandpa, Clyde Arlan "Buzz" Cooper, was struggling with the complications of cancer. Not even a month into our relationship, we went up to Bethany, Missouri to visit him, along with Mason's mom and sister. We decided to make it a hunting trip as well. However, in route to finding a good spot we rolled Mason's truck and totaled it-- we had to crawl out of the front window that you see in the picture. We were very lucky that nothing happened to either of us, but his truck was not so lucky.

Since we still had to get home, we took Mason's grandpa's truck home, a little Nissan that was painted camouflage, complete with burlap on the hood, and a set of deer antlers. Yes, we saw a lot of pointed fingers and laughter on the way home, but hey, it got us there! The next morning, November 22nd, we found out that Mason's grandpa passed away. In the picture below is Mason with his mom Shelly, his sister Tabitha, and his grandpa. Since his grandpa lived with Mason and his family for the majority of his life, it was definitely hard as they were very close.

December started out well, and we were excited to decorate and share our first Christmas together. On my way back to Missouri from celebrating Christmas in Iowa I ended up going in the ditch off the interstate. As luck would have it, nothing happened to me or my car. I got pulled out and continued on my way home. Despite the slight set back Mason and I both had a good Christmas. However, my family was hit with a shock when we found out my Grandpa Cletus Steffen had pancreatic cancer. It was definitely hard to see such an active man suddenly become so limited in what he was able to do. We lost him January 22nd, 2010. Although it was very hard, in a way it was a blessing he went quickly so he didn't have to suffer. He is missed terribly.

From there, our relationship continued to grow. Mason worked a lot on his aunt's house so he could move in and I was busy with school and grad school. On March 25th, my life was thrown into a whirlwind. We woke up at midnight to the sound of my fire alarms going off. I opened my bedroom door to find smoke up and down the hall and fire coming in around the front door. Since fire was coming in through the door and around on the balcony, we had to go back to the bedroom to get out. While Mason opened the window, I attempted to call 911 with little success because the next thing I knew Mason was picking me up and throwing me out the window. Keep in mind, this was from the second story. Granted, it's not that high, but it's high enough. We both got out safely, with only a few scratches and cuts, and only the clothes on our back. I was wearing a yellow t-shirt with white and red plaid boxer shorts with ants on them. Classy, huh? Mason had to go get some oxygen from one of the ambulances but otherwise he was okay. It was a cold, rainy night, and by the time the firefighters were able to get the fire out, my apartment was gone, along with everything in it. I was fortunate, however, because I not only have very supportive family, friends, and coworkers, but I also had renter's insurance. Only three of the twelve families affected had it. I can honestly say the following days and weeks were a blur and very stressful, but I made it through with the support of Mason and everyone else. Mason dealt with my breakdowns and helped me in any way that he could. Plus, he threw me out the window! How lucky am I?! ;)

This is a picture from the road behind the apartment complex.

The white post is what was left of my balcony. The first window to the left was where my guest bedroom was, and the next one over was my bedroom where we jumped from.

Although life was crazy following the fire, things gradually started to fall back into place. Mason's dad and several of our friends helped to get the house he was working on livable for us. It is finally starting to feel like home, and I will post pictures later of the house. At the time of the fire I had to drop two of the classes I was taking, so that prolonged my graduation. I was able to start classes again in the summer, which was nice to get back on track. Mason continued working with a company called Dieman Construction in Waynesville, framing houses, while I enjoyed my summer vacation. I went to Iowa for a while and got to spend some much needed time with close friends and family. I even got to see my friend Jenny from college get married, which was great. From there I came back to Missouri for a couple of days. My friend Cara met me down here in good ole Edgar Springs, and from here we took a road trip down to Georgia where she and her husband Joey are stationed. Since he was deployed at the time, we got a lot of much-needed girl and pool time! :)

The morning of July 1st, I left Georgia and flew to Springfield, Missouri where Mason was picking me up. Little did I know I would be getting the surprise of my life. He greeted me with a big hug in the waiting area and we went to go wait on my luggage. As we caught up and I began to share my trip, he suggested that I set my other things down since it would probably be a bit before they started unloading the luggage. I did, and when I turned around he had a box out. Now, I was a little shocked, and didn't really know what to expect. I thought it was a ring, but didn't want to get all excited just to find out it wasn't. Well, he opened it and sure enough, it was a ring! He asked if I would marry him, and I apparently asked, "Are you serious?!" I, of course, said yes, and spent most of the day looking at my ring and admiring how shiny it was! As a newly engaged couple, we decided to go to Bass Pro. Mason looked around while I followed and called everyone I could think of that may be home! It was definitely a wonderful surprise!

Shortly after, we celebrated the 4th of July with his family down at the river. We spent a lot of time boating, chatting, and eating. It was a very relaxing day, and we even brought our dog Ike along. Well, we were getting ready to go that evening and had put Ike in the back of the truck like we always did. The rest of Mason's family that was there had already started shooting off fireworks so we decided to stick around for a few minutes to watch. Unfortunately, the noise scared Ike and he was able to pull enough slack in the rope and jump out. I don't think I need to go into detail for you to figure out what happened. Needless to say, we were both pretty devastated. We decided that we wanted to get another dog, and since I was on summer vacation, then would be a good time to get one. We found some more border collies for sale nearby, so we went to check them out. They were adorable and ended up picking one we named Gus. So, he is our "child" until we decide we want a real one later down the road!

As summer came to a close, school started, and life became a little more hectic again. Mason went back to class at Drury; he's going to school to become a teacher as well. Shortly after school got back into session, Mason was laid off from his job, which was definitely a challenge as well. However, we made it through and we were even able to make a couple trips to Iowa. We were hoping he was going to get to come with me to Iowa for Christmas, but work started picking up again with the company he was with before so they called him back. He has been working again for close to a month, which is great!

We had a wonderful Christmas! I graduated with my masters (finally!) and got to spend some time with my family and friends, as well as Mason's. We spent some time in St. Joseph with his mom and sister, and down in Rolla with his dad's side of the family. As you can tell, we have had quite a crazy year, both good and bad! Even though I have already wrote a novel, I could write a lot more, but I tried to just cover the basics this time. I'm definitely looking forward to 2011, not just because we are getting married, but because a new year somehow provides a fresh start. It's very refreshing. Now, before I ramble anymore, I wish all of you a very happy and safe new year! Goodbye, 2010! Hello, 2011! :)