Welcome to thedevrieses.com

After many many months of talking about it and trying to figure out the best way to do it and blah blah blah blah, Ive finally gotten off my butt and put this here website together. This site will be used in place of our Blogger blog. Having an entire domain allows us to do much more. We have a photo gallery and over the next few months we will be adding many old pictures and any new pictures to it. Anyone is able to post comments here on the journal as well as on the photo gallery. Your first comment will need to be approved, but after that, as long as you use the same email address, the comments should appear right away. Please come by often and comment as much as you like. It is always nice to hear from everyone.

Shadow Mountain

This is a picture from a recent hike we took with the dogs. Shadow Mountain is practically in our back yard. It was a nice hike, moderately difficult because of some pretty steep areas. We liked it because it's less recreational than other mountain preserves. We could let the dogs off the leashes and be more free to climb. Last weekend we went to Lookout Mountain, and tomorrow we'd like to go to North Mountain as long as it's not raining. Yes, every once in a while it does rain here in the Valley of the Sun. Apparently there is a storm on its way and we have a forecasted 100% chance of rain.

Ramblin'

Our trip was a success, my last week off was nice, but short, and now we're back in the swing of things. It's strange, all that time off and I hardly thought about my classroom, it seemed like a world away. Now it's like I never left...waiting for the next break I guess. The next break just so happens to be this weekend! I get Monday off for a nice 3 day weekend.

I have a pretty tough class this year and it's not easy to get up and go in every day. I don't dread going and when I think of all I've done to get here I get my lazy butt out of bed and am thankful for the job. Many days, like today, things go pretty well and I love my job. There are also days when I wonder why I ever became a teacher. It's a difficult and often times thankless job. Kids are kids and even though they still like school (mostly) at this age, they don't thank you for being their teacher. It's awesome when I get to play around a little with them and they totally get what's going on...there are the thanks I guess. Anyway...that kind of explains why my updates are few and far between. I come home exhausted and have a million things I want to get done.

We have decided that when our lease is up in June, we'll be moving to Colorado. This may surprise some of you, but it's what we've wanted for a while now. If I would have been able to find a job there in the first place it would have been nice. It's beautiful out here and it's a great detour. I've gotten to do so many things I never thought I'd do and have more in mind before we leave. Leaving the white of Michigan to return to the heat of Phoenix really opened our eyes I suppose. I miss the change of seasons and of course the snow. Honestly, I can't stand the summer here either. I know it's only been one summer, but I don't need the experience of a second! We want to settle down and buy a house and find a place we'll love and it feels like we're wasting time here because we know we won't stay. We have no set plans yet as far as where we'll live...I'm watching job postings and working toward getting my Colorado teaching license. We'll keep you updated as soon as we know things for ourselves!

Happy New Year!

A new year...five years ago, did I ever think I'd be here now? Honestly, no. But, here we are and life goes on. We had a wonderful visit home, although we didn't get to see several people that we wanted to. It was awesome to be home for Christmas and to see so much snow! It felt like we never left, then of course we did have to leave. It was harder for me to leave this time than when we moved in the first place. And let me tell ya...coming down from Flagstaff into blue sky and 60 degree weather was not as comforting as you might think. If it only gets warmer from here I don't think I'll make it!

It is good to be home, although very quiet! Dave's already been back to work, and I'm thankful I have a few more days. Time to clean, relax, read, and get mentally prepared to jump back in head first. Truthfully, I'll be glad when this school year is over, it hasn't been easy and I don't think it will get easier. That's okay though...I'm learning valuable lessons about what to do and what not to do in the future! Here's to a less stressful 2008...one can hope!