Almost April

Time is flying again. It seems to fly faster every day. At first, it was hard to believe it was time for Christmas, then Valentine's Day, and now, here it is, almost April, and Easter.

I've been at the museum now for right about two months, and its great. Sure, there are days that are a little hectic, but that doesn't mean I don't like it...it just makes me thankful for the days that are a little slow! Then, starting June 13, we are going to be open on Sundays as well, so we will see how that goes, with all of the scheduling!

School-wise, I'm almost done, yay! I have four classes left until I graduate, and should be finishing up one class by the end of May, so that will leave three classes to finish by November 30, and then I'm done! Whoo hoo. After that, it's just a matter of finding out exactly what I can do with my degree...but there should be something out there, right?

On St. Patrick's Day, after I had finished my morning shift, Kelli and I hung out for the afternoon, along with Mia and Michael (my first meeting of Mia!). It was a lot of fun, because we hadn't had a chance to do that in awhile. However, it's great to know that even though we don't have a whole lot of time to hang out, that we're still close, and hopefully that'll never change.

Until next time....

How Time Flies

It's already the middle of February. Where does the time go?

Dakota is HUGE. I was just looking over some of the old pictures that I have of him, and he was so small!

I started a new job about a month ago, and I love it. It's at the Children's Museum, which means, if you have kids, come see me!

Well, today is Thursday, October 1. It's hard to believe that it is October already...Halloween stuff already in the stores (which, by the way, I bought Cody and me a Halloween gingerbread house to put together...we'll see if it actually gets done!) and within a couple weeks, the Christmas stuff will already be out. Which reminds me. I have some Christmas stockings that I bought last year, and before it's time to hang them up this year, I want to embroider (with some help from my mom) our names on them. We'll see if that gets done, too. I have high hopes for Christmas this year...including an official picture that we can use as our Christmas card picture and to have all the decorations up and stuff like that. I have a lot of fun with decorating. If I put my  mind to it, I could probably decorate for every holiday. It's just one of the many things that I love about the holiday season. Back to Halloween, I love to dress up, although there's hardly anyplace to go, but that doesn't matter since Cody and I are pretty much homebodies. I did buy Dakota a costume, his first Halloween!, and I want to at least get a picture of him in it before he destroys it. Maybe then that way I can get him a Santa hat and he can and will wear it for our picture. I'm also hoping to take him to Petco for his picture with Santa. After all, they aren't lying when they say your dogs become your children. He starts puppy school on Sunday, the 4th, and we will see how much he learns from that. If there is a good outcome, we (meaning I) are going to sign him up for the Intermediate and then Advanced classes so he can learn all kinds of things (not to mention it'll make things a little easier on us, too!)

New Dakota Pictures

I'm excited : ) I finally updated the layout of the blog, and so it's all nice and coordinated. Now if only I could remember to update on a regular basis...however, since there is hardly anything worth mentioning, I just blog it as I see it...

Anyway, if you do by chance happen to read this, let me know what you think, and leave some comments. My blog is like, naked without them, lol.

More Updates

Well, just to keep everyone up to date on things (though I don't really think that many people seem to read this), Cody and I got married August 10. Then, on September 13, we adopted the newest member of our family, a siberian husky we named Dakota. I will put up pictures as soon as I get them onto the computer.

Other than that, we haven't done much else, nor anything exciting. I have been working as much as possible, so that for the next few weeks I can devote my time to doing my PCE at St. Joseph, so I can complete this semester and then do my student teaching starting in January. The student teaching I'm not so worried about - it's the getting everything else done on time that I am worried about. I have to get ten more tasks completed and passed by Oct. 15, which shouldn't be TOO hard, and then getting everything else finished, as well as taking the last of my exams by Nov. 30. Although, the bright side is, that once I get all that completed, I will have the entire month of December to relax because student teaching doesn't begin until Jan. 5, so I will have some time to prepare before I start that. I met my host teacher and class yesterday, and I think it will be great. There are fourteen kids in the class, so I should be able to get everything done and completed on time.

More later.

It's On!!

It's official. August 10, 2009 I will become Jennifer Rebecca Nedbalek Schubert. What a mouthfull. Lol. I've often joked that in the classroom when students misbehave, they will have to write 1,000 times "I will behave for Mrs. Nedbalek-Schubert." Just writing the name will give them handcramps.

Everything has been planned, just about. The time, the place, the attire. We are just waiting for a few things to get here in the mail, etc. A week and a half. I'm so excited!! So very very excited.

And Finally, It Happens...

It is finally official! Cody and I are getting married : ) We have set the date for August 10, (yes, 2009). It is just going to be a small family affair with me and him, his parents, my parents, Amy (my sister), Brandy (his sister), Robert (Brandy's husband) and Lexie, (Brandy and Robert's daughter). We decided that just going for it would be the best thing and to just do it!!

More to come after more things happen (like when I get a picture of the ring).

My Book Facination

Let's see. I just started re-reading some of my old Baby-sitters Club books. The funny thing is the discrepancies that I have noticed, and how little they bug me as compared to those found in the Sweet Valley series. The funny thing is, when reading Mary Anne's Book, more or less, all of the plot of Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic was recapped, yet the picture in Mary Anne's Book showed Mary Anne with the short hair, that is shown on the cover (right), yet during the time of the story, she still had long hair (left). I just thought that was quite funny and something worth sharing. However, I recently read an article talking about Ann M. Martin poured over each story before it was published in order to make sure that everything fit. So I guess we should just let the picture go.

There are 131 BSC books (just regular books, not including the Mysterys or Super Super specials). I have all of them. There are 35 (I think) mysteries. I have all of them. 15 Super Specials, yeah, you see where this is going. For the past few years all of those books have been boxed in the garage. When recently I started cleaning out the garage, I was afraid of the shape of what the books would look like. I was surprised (and grateful) that all of them are in good shape, except for a few stains on two or three, that actually could have been there to start with. I remember that my very first BSC book was Mystery #1 Stacey and the Missing Ring. I bought it at the school book fair in 3rd grade, and was hooked immediately, and after that point, I bought them whenever I could, and then finally caught up, and then waited each month for the next one to come out and then bought those, as well as the Little Sister books. (Which I have almost all of those, and am working on completing that series). It may seem nuts that I'm 26 1/2 (literally!) which puts me in the close to 30 range, and still reading these books. However, you must take into account that they first came out when I was about 3 1/2 ( so obviously I couldn't have started reading them then.)

My shopping at used bookstores, online, and at thrift stores, I have been able to get all of the books in the series. What'll happen after I read the ones that I haven't yet read? I guess they'll get put in the box with the ones that have been read. However, this time around, I'll keep up with the books, keep them INSIDE and always make sure I know where they are. It's a wonderful way to go back and mark special attention to certain books or passages that are metnioned by others in their blogs or on websites.

A Few Moments to Vent

Well, it seems that now I can't mention anyone or anything by name because there are SOME PEOPLE who like to take my words and turn them around for their own personal gain. Which truly pisses me off, because everyone knows that when you resort to that, it's only yourself that you're afraid of.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning lately, both literally and figuratively. It all started with me helping my mom to clean out the garage (oops...I said her name!). After finding books that have been boxed up in there for like, a hundred years, as well as my old report cards and school programs, it put me in a nostalgic mood to reconnect with old school friends as well as to remember the past. In part, it has worked. Between me and one friend of mine, we have uploaded half of those school pictures you get at the end of the year, you know, the ones with your whole class? There were always four classes for each grade, and we never were in the same class. Which works out great for this, because now we just need to find people in those other classes to give us their pictures. I think this is a great start to our reunions. That's right, it looks like I'm going to be heading up our 10 year reunion that is going to happen in 2 years. I think it'll be fun though.

Meanwhile, during all of this, it has inspired me to clean myself of the past, without forgetting it completely. That's probably a sense of irony or a paradox or something, but it seems to work. I'm tending to remember all the good stuff and throw out the bad. Like, I remember that in 6th grade, I loved the beginning of having creative writing and getting all into it, but I hated being targeted by the snobs and bullied. So I'm tossing that out, and remembering the good stuff. Easy as pie. Or so we think...

At the same time, other plans are going great : ) I have decided on a color scheme...purple and white. Not just purple though, but all shades, from the lightest lilac to the deepest purple. I like the monochromatic scheme (see, all those years in art did SOMETHING for me!) I already have everything picked out, and it's just a matter of actually buying it, organizing it, etc.

Hmm, what else is there? I guess nothing, at least at the moment,

until next time.

Mother's Day

It is officially Mother's Day. I feel really bad in the fact that I didn't get my mom an "official" Mother's Day present, however I do have something planned that I hope is received the way that I see it.

Mother's Day is one of those days that I think about more than Father's Day. I guess because growing up my mom was always there for me a lot more than my dad was. I mean, she was the one who went to school functions, who actually paid attention to what was going on in my life, and basially my dad funded everything. Now he always wonders why we only go to him when we need money. I wonder why? That is the only thing that he has ever been good more, as sad as it is. But then again, as the saying goes, if the shoe fits...

But back to my point. Anyway, like I said, when I was in school, my mom was always the one that went on field trips with me, who came see school programs or parties or the what not. My dad was always "too busy". Except when it came to Amy's field trips. He decided he needed to "be a dad" and actually went on a few. Not that I'm jealous. I had a lot more fun with my mom than I would have had with my dad. The only thing he ever went on with me was to Camp Allen in fifth grade. He didn't even take off work. He drove down after work every day and then went home. We were only gone three days. I don't think it'd have killed him to take a few days of vacation.

Speaking of, we never went on a family vacation. Ever. The only things we ever did was go to Astroworld once a summer (c'mon, it was in Houston...not the moon). Now that Amy and I are all grown up, adults, he wants to "do things as a family". It's a little late to do the right thing now, as the song goes.

I'm now getting off topic. This started off being about Mother's Day, and ended up being a rant about my dad. But trust me, that could be a whole book all on its own.

Basically, I want to say that I hope my mom has a Happy Mother's Day, even though there is no chance she will ever read this.

Just another Saturday

Well, I finished McKettrick's Heart today. It was a bit different than I was expecting. I'm hoping to find the rest of the series, Sierra's Homecoming, High Country Bride, Secondhand Bride, Shotgun Bride, and A McKettrick Christmas soon. Though I might hold off on the last one for awhile since I don't think it is in paperback yet, and I just hate buying hardback, as they are so expensive, not to mention hard to hold.

Before I start on anymore of the series that I got yesterday (Bridget and Skye of the Primrose Women series, A Wanted Man [both by Linda Lael Miller], several Liz Carlyle books, and then a few others that look promising), I want to re-read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. I bought a new copy yesterday and am looking forward to reading it again. I think the first time I read it was when I was in fifth grade, and then again in eighth grade. I don't know if I have read it since then. Somewhere I own the definitive version, but at this point in time, God only knows where it is.

I have really come to re-appreciate reading in the past few days. It is the one thing that can always get me through, no matter what I am going through.

My Plans for Summer

I know, I know. It's not even the middle of May yet and already I'm talking about summer. But can I help it if the real school year is ending on May 18? Those that were lucky enough to have passed TAKS, have 90% attendence and passing all classes get to start their summer May 19, while the rest have to wait until June 3rd. Anyway, that doesn't all techincally apply to me, since I'm not a student.

Anyway, back to my summer plans. Let's see, on June 13 I have to go to to the U of H to take that Praxis test again, since I was one point away from passing last time. Yeah. One stupid point. Oh well, at least this time I should do really well since I know what I'm doing. At least I think I do.

My other plans include finishing up all of my school assignments over the summer, except for those that have to be in a classroom. There are 19 or 20 in classroom tasks, that hopefully I'll finish within the first month of school. But this summer, all of the rest are planned to be finished. I have to keep myself motivated so that I can get it all done.

I also plan on reading a book a day. That's right a day. I have started reading novels by Linda Lael Miller, mainly the McKettrick series, and have fallen in love. I finished McKettrick's Luck yesterday and read McKettrick's Pride today. I plan on looking for McKettrick's Heart tomorrow, and any of the earlier books that I can find. Once I do all of that, I get to start on her Creed series, which is a branch of the McKettricks (apparently they have HUGE family) and I have the first book, and so I'm still looking for the others. That should keep me busy for like, a week or two. I should also get started on the McGregor series by Nora Roberts, that at least I have all of them.

Other than that, who knows?

Loser?

This is really random, I know. Not to mention that it is only a few hours after my last post. But sometimes, do you ever just really feel like a loser? Like a complete outcast?

Every once in awhile I feel that way. Especially now as all my friends are getting married and having babies. I feel like I am just kind of pushed aside, not really intentionally, and it makes me sad. I mean, I don't want to sit around and cry like a baby or anything, but I just get a little down by it.

I'll check facebook and read comments that people leave, that say such things as "Congrats on the upcoming marriage" or "I heard about the baby - congrats!" And then I just feel like I am so behind everyone. I mean, i should have graduated like, four years ago. And here I am, planning to graduate in a year. 9 years after I graduted high school. With a bachelor's, not a master's. And then I'm not even going to get into the failed engagement that I went through, which really made me feel like a loser. However, I know it isn't my fault, I wasn't the one who called it off like a coward, but somehow I feel like people look down on me and think a lot of things they aren't saying.

Then there is the whole baby thing. I'm not really sure what the whole fuss is about, except that EVERYONE seems to be encouraging me to have kids. I mean, my mom AND Cody's mom are always talking about grandchildren, our friend's ask us when we'll have a kid, etc. What is the deal? Not to mention that if I were to tell them I was unsure about having kids, then I'd really be the black sheep.

I mean, all I want to do is be able to fit in, but I think that I missed my chance somewhere in there down the road. Maybe it was in 6th grade when I had a hard time making friends. Maybe it was 9th grade when I didn't get contacts until the second semester. Maybe it was around the time I turned 16 and didn't get a job or start driving like all of my friends did. I know it was definately about the time when I ended up sticking around and going to Blinn with no idea what it was that I wanted to, instead of going someplace safe like SHSU and being able to gradute in 2005 with an education degree. I would be able to say about now that I was graduating with some kind of master's instead of just a bachelors. By the time I finally finish, and if I do get a master's or doctorate, I'll be too old to be able to use it. I'm probably going to be the first teacher in history to start when I'm 30. Most are probably looking forward to retirement about that time.

So anyway, that was just some random thoughts that I was having at the moment. Let me know what you think.

Finally Friday

Today - Friday, May 8 - an interesting day. For starters, it marks the 14th anniversary of the day my grandpa died. Weird, I know. But my mom is always talking about it, so it's hard not to think about it. Also, this morning was Stephen's graduation. I didn't get to go :( but I know that he did great. Well, it was a graduation, so he didn't really have to do anything, but still. Now he has a master's degree. Let's just hope he remembers the little people (me!).

I also found out that I am supposed to be subbing next Friday, which will probably be my last day before the school year is over.

This morning I got a pedicure, and I love the shade. It's some kind of dark pink, a berry something something or other. I splurged and got the flower painted on. It's pretty.

Erin called me around noon to help finalize some things before her court date. I think that it is

If you've noticed, I have been very faithful with my posts. I plan on trying to post something every day, even though it probably won't be very exciting. I want to get in the habit of always writing something, so then that way maybe I will at least get some readers.

My (almost) Last Day of Work til Summer

Well, I thought today was going to be my last day of work this school year, but I was wrong. I'm going to be working again next Friday, for the class that I subbed for on Tuesday and Wednesday. They aren't bad kids...just a little rowdy. I wish it was for the group I had today, though.

I found out yesterday that I have to re-write my philosophy of teaching paper again. It's not fair. I wrote it last semester, and they liked it. However, whoever is in charge of reading it this time didn't think that it quite fit the bill, so I have to re-write it. I mean, what does philosophy of teaching mean, right? It's the way you feel about teaching? About how teaching is these days? Oh well. I guess I have to just look it up and go with it. At least they liked everything else. Except for my resume, which they said could be re-done so it didn't have little dots. I'm like, what gives? I didn't see any dots when I checked it. So who knows?

It's also hard to believe that the end of the school year is here. It seems like I was just waiting for it to start so I could get some money, now here I am again, on the brink of summer, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself for three months. Although, I do have a few goals. Although, that is for another post.

Just a few updates

Let's see, there's not much to update about our lives. We went out to Lake Bryan on Sunday, May 3, and Cody and I have a lot to show for it. We both have killer sunburns...at least Cody's is starting to fade into a tan, and well, I'm still red but at least it doesn't hurt as much as it did. Cody also hurt his leg jumping into the water, and so now he's on light duty at work for at least a week, he goes back to the doctor Monday to find out for sure if he can go back or not to his regular stuff.

Amy is graduating next Friday, the 15. I thought that it was the 8th, but I was wrong. However, Stephen is graduating the 8th. Then the Budweiser picnic is on the 16. So we have a few things lined up for the next few weeks. Beckie wants us to come and visit over Memorial Weekend, but it all pretty much depends on Cody's schedule and if he wants to. That's the main thing right there.

I talked to Kelli yesterday, the first time in awhile, I mean actually on the phone, we've messaged through facebook and stuff like that but it's been awhile since we talked on the phone. She just found out that they are having a baby girl - which is exciting since they already have Micheal. And I mean that in the nicest way possible :) Just that now they will have a boy and a girl. I don't know if they have any names picked out yet, but all of that will come in time. I'm already picking out presents to buy for the shower :)

So now, all of my closest married friends are either having girls or already have girls. Beckie has Ivy and Rose, and then Kelli, Jaime, and Stephen are each expecting a girl, and Sharon has a girl, who is like 3 or 4 (I haven't talked to her in forever, but she was a close friend in middle school and the beginning of high school). I just hope that the girl fever rubs off on me when I'm ready :). Though I'm really hoping for twins - a boy and a girl.

Hmm, all that color formatting was fun. There is a lot of pink on here. I could add some more blue, but that would just be in talking about the one I know that is expecting a boy, and the one that recently had a boy. Not really exciting. I mean, they already had them, and I don't even know them all that well.

Well, I guess that is it for now.

I'm signing off.

It's Almost Summer

I realize that it has been a really long time since I posted anything. However, the saddest thing is that there is hardly anything ever worth posting on here. After lots of stress, I decided that instead of stressing myself out even more, I am going to wait to student teach in the spring, instead of the fall. That will give me another semester to finish up my methods, observing and all that good stuff, since the Bryan public schools are rude, and inconsiderate and non-helpful. I will be doing all of this at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School, as well as hopefully doing my student teaching there. I had ended up emailing all of the principals in Bryan, and only one responded...and then the teacher I was supposed to work with never emailed me back, so we ended up going to Plan B. (Ha ha. No pun intended.)

It's hard to believe that it's almost May. Harder even to beleive that Friday is May first, and that school is out on the 18th. That means I have about three weeks of work left before the summer. Yea for summer! That means I have three whole months (just about) to finish up all of those other assignments and get everything in, except for my in-class stuff, and then in September I can start on that, and finally get everything under way.

What's even harder to believe is that Cody and I have almost been together a year and a half. It just doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed.

Even harder than THAT to believe is that by time my birthday rolls around again, every one of my close friends, at least just about, will have at least one kid. Beckie already has her two, Stephen's is due sometime in the summer, and then Kelli is due in Oct. Where has the time gone?

I'm trying to keep up with updating this, I really am. However, I doubt that anyone even reads this. Right now I'm sitting here, waiting for the kids to come in so we can have PE. Who ever would have thought that I would teach PE? Sure, I'm only substituting, but still. Me, who hated PE with a passion for years, actually enjoys being in here. Maybe it's because I'm on the other side of it and can actually find some enjoyment in it. Not to mention that it's fun when you don't have to actually do anything. You just supervise the kids and they do the hard work. It's a lot of fun. PE, Art and Music are probably my favorite classes to sub for. I get to see different kids all day, and usually we do fun stuff. Mostly it's watching videos, but it's still fun regardless.

Other than that, there isn't much that has happened. I finished up one of my classes last night, and luckily, it posted. That means that I just have to finish writing up a few lesson plans and turning those in, and then I can get this next class finished and passed and then it's time to move on to the next group.

Today: October 14, 2008

It's hard to believe that it is already the middle of October. It's even harder to believe that 2008 is almost over,  and that Cody and I will have been together for a year. It hardly seems that long at all. Although I guess that is a good thing, because if it seemed like a long time, that would probably mean that we weren't as happy with each other as we are. If all goes according to plan, I will be getting ready to graduate about this time next year. I will be completing my student teaching, getting all of my graduation forms together and ready and be ready to just be finished. And then will come the matter of all the nit-picky stuff like the final tests to get certified in Texas and all that good stuff. But like everything else, it will all happen in due time. I'm substituting right now, and while I love it, at the same time I can't wait until I have my own classroom and will be able to have my own rules and be able to better handle a classroom. On the bright side however, I am learning all sorts of ways to keep the kids under control and so hopefully on that first day of school, I will have all of those students under control. Well, I have another year to practice, so we shall see what happens.