A Tumultuous Season

At last the time has finally come
When my full heart is overrun
By joys, delights and childlike fun;
The HSPE begs me reach for my… gin.

If you haven’t guessed, the above is a joke. A joke poem. A joem, if you will, that I wrote on the first day of HSPE testing. As much as I would love to divulge the HSPErrific, HSPElicious and HSPEtastic details (all words created by myself and my Proctor Partner to pass the time), I will save that for another time when a future blog post is not as plentiful with updates… but yes, in case you’re curious, the past three days of watching students test has propelled me into madness.

Well since we last spoke, the second semester of White River High School has begun in earnest. It’s been about a month and a half now and it is very different from first semester; the beginning was very trying and made me quite sad, I had no idea I had become so attached to my kids from before! But I have come to many realizations, though I feel that I am still learning and enjoying the experience a bit, that will be addressed later in the blog. I feel as though I am respected and have heard good feedback, but still... it isn't the same!

At the end of the first week of the new semester, I wasn’t feeling super fantastic about my new beginnings. When I got home, Richard had the car packed up with everything but me and asked me to get in for an adventure. Despite the headache and pessimistic attitude, I obliged. We
hopped in the car and sped off towards the sunset. He was surprising me with a short drive to Lake Tapps (I found this out very quickly… and was so excited because we hadn’t been yet!). Didn’t quite go as planned… we got lost on back roads and every park we tried was closed for the season OR blocked off by fallen trees from the Snowpocalypse. Well, we were missing the sunset and feeling somewhat disappointed, so we decided to just go home… but then I had a thought.

You see, we’d been discussing for the better part of two months whether or not we could afford a pet… or if we even wanted the responsibility! We decided after many long conversations that we could and that we wanted to; short story shorter, we’d been looking for a few weeks for our purrfect companion.

As we sat and thought of our failed attempt at a romantic sunset, I suggested that before heading home we stop by Petco just to see what (or who) had changed since our last visit. When we got there, we noticed that the same sweet 3 year old cat we’d looked at before was still there, but she
had a new neighbor. A little brown and gravy tabby kitten, 4 months old, started meeping next to us. We went to her, spent some time sticking our fingers in her cage to pet her and see her reaction, and knew that she was just what we were looking for. It took a while to get everything straightened out (we had to run home and get our lease agreement) and also had to get all the
fixings for our new baby, but about 4 hours after our failed sunset we arrived at home with our new baby girl! Her given name, Harriet, was immediately abandoned and replaced with Lily.

We’ve completely embraced our new parenthood, almost to the point of being weird (I call us the crazy cat people), but she’s so wonderful! We’re still trying to train her in some respects but she is absolutely perfect for us and has our goofy personality :) she’s brought us
nothing but pure enjoyment and we’re blessed by her. I’ve been thinking about the little reasons we love her and came up with what I’ve considered cat successes:
1. She hasn’t pooped outside of her litterbox. Yahoo!
2. She’s never pawed either of us… teeth are another story.
3. She has two different meows, one for dad (crazy cat man) and one for mom (crazy cat woman).
4. She isn’t destructive! Except for the blinds in the spare room… mortal enemies, they just get in the way.
5. She’s a real cuddler and obsessed with her crazy cat parents.
6. We can clip her nails after turning her into a kitty-fuzzy blanket burrito.
7. She plays on her own like a madwoman; we laugh so hard.
8. She didn’t eat at first but now she’s a piglet. Awesome.
9. The spray bottle is working, but she still tries to get away with things (only child syndrome).
10. She’s literally afraid of nothing, even when mom sneezes VERY loudly while she’s napping on mom’s chest.

The night we got her!

She's precious :)

And kinda weird.

Enough catness… on to the next topic! Since this blog is in chronological order, I’ll begin with the next event. I won’t dwell on it since it still hurts to remember a bit. Three days after we adopted our first born, I went to a Weight Watchers (*cough* Whale Watchers *cough*) meeting with
my mom. On the way home, I called Richard to see if he’d started dinner. He didn’t pick up at first but did on the second try. He sounded out of it, but I didn’t notice until I’d asked him if he was home. He said “no, I actually just got in a car accident”. My response: “don’t say that, that’s not funny”. His response: “I’m serious”. It was at that point that I started to freak out, trying to find out if he was okay and where he was; he didn’t know either. At one point he
needed to talk to the cops, so while he did that I called my dad and he told me what questions to ask and what I needed to find out (after calming me down). When I called Richard again, he put a paramedic on the phone and I got directions to where they were. In my nervousness and distress, I got lost but finally found him. Seeing his car made me break down again, but I was so glad
he was still upright and coherent; it could have been so so much worse. Quick synopsis of what happened in the accident: Richard was driving down a remote highway between Auburn and Black Diamond and an older woman turned to the left about ten feet in front of him while he was going 55mph and she was going 30mph. It was a head-on collision and she wasn’t hurt whatsoever. That’s the short of it. I whisked him away to Enumclaw’s ER (he said he didn’t want to inconvenience the paramedics anymore and refused transport… don’t worry, dad’s
talked to him about that :) ) where we spent 6 dreadful hours. Final count was: sprained left wrist, concussion, whiplash, two cracked ribs, and a lip laceration apart from other strains and bruises. The lip looked the worst; his bottom teeth pushed clean through to the outside. But after some scans, some 20 stitches, and some morphine, we were on our way home. Honestly, worst
experience of both our lives, but he probably would have died without his seatbelt. Moral of the story: WEAR YOUR SEATBELT!

Lily was trying to help daddy feel better :)

One good thing that came out of this mess, apart from Richard’s life of course, was…

Our new Honda Civic! His car was completely totaled and we figured that new cars’ financing and cost are low enough that we could do it :) she perty.

About two weeks after the accident, an interesting and controversial announcement was made. Our school district’s alternative high school, WRAP, is to be closed after this year. This not only means that those kids will be reintroduced into the general curriculum, but also that teachers
will need to be moved around. Since I am the bottom of the totem pole (along with my friend Joanna), we were told chances are high that we won’t be invited back next year. The Assistant Principal that hired me, Lainey, really wants us to stay and is even planning to train me this summer to teach AP Biology, but I honestly don’t think that my place is here. I know God intended my first year to be here and to be challenging, as it has been, but I’ve come to realist that this is not my place in the teaching world. Being bumped would be a blessing and a mercy in disguise; I have begun the search for middle school jobs in the area. We love this part of the state and would love to stay if possible! I’ll keep you updated, but rest in the thought that I’m happy with this turn of events :)

This past month, we’ve been lucky to have been able to travel down to Albany for Payton’s second birthday (please see Jenna’s blog :) ) and to go to Spokane to celebrate Richard’s birthday with his family. Both trips were wonderful and tons of fun, we’re so blessed by our families! On the
Spokane trip, we weren’t able to stay at his parents’ house because his little brother was quarantined with the flu; but thankfully, the rest of the family (including all sisters with spouses and children) made it to his sister Britta’s house for a birthday dinner! It’s the first time the whole family was together in a while which was great, and we laughed and talked wedding most of the time :)

Speaking of which, wedding plans are going splendidly! We’re waiting to tour our venue within the next few weeks but have TONS of ideas otherwise :) we’ve also decided on our honeymoon! Say hello to Seaside, Newport and the Oregon Coast :D Oh, and we’re also getting help (and discounts) from a budget wedding planner; she has a lot of decorations and linens and connections so she’ll end up saving us lots of money! It’s going to be beautiful and less stressful with her help. Not only has it been fun to constantly plan our own wedding, but I was just asked to be Maid of Honor in my best friend Chelsea Trotter’s wedding taking place this June. It’s going to be short planning for sure; I didn’t come in late in the game, it’s just a three month engagement, but it gives me a mental diversion from the end of my first year of teaching :)

I know this was quite a tedious blog as far as updates goes, so I’ll leave you with this little nugget. My mom came up a few weeks ago to Bonney Lake because the Marshall’s there is known to stock a large variety of Anna Lee’s, grandma’s favorites other than Bunnykins. When we were there, we spotted at the opposite end of the store these furry little friends:

And couldn’t resist :) I see them daily and am reminded of her; not a day goes by that I don’t think of her anyway, but these add some reassurance that she’ll still be there when another of life’s major events comes next summer :D I love you all dearly and miss you even more.

XOXO Chels

Being True to my Name

My lovely mother just reminded me that I am not being true to my blog name... no, not Chasing Chelsea, but the URL that reads www.tomakemymomhappy.blogspot.com. I guess my blog earlier, which is pictureless, did not make mom happy. Therefore, here are pictures. Love ya, mom! :)



Kinda blurry, but yay Victoria! Just found out :)

The beautiful Empress Hotel

Our (upgraded) deluxe suite :)

We frequented it's streets constantly, pricing between seven souvenir stores within arms reach of each other... compete, monkeys, compete!

The Undersea Gardens were in the bottom level of the boat behind us; so cool!

Merry Christmas to the royal-feeling commoners

The picture our waitress took right after the proposal :D this deserved the coveted Chelsea "thumbs up"!

Happiness... and blingyness.

In our hotel lobby after getting lost for two hours after the engagement dinner (we were both on our phones, didn't realize that we'd passed the restaurant three times on the way home...)

Chinatown! Home of some creepy alleys and an awesome pawn shop.

Victoria Harbor.

Fisherman's Wharf! We fed seals... twas awesome.

See! I don't lie!

Best. Fish. And chips. Ever. Fer real.

Welcome to Butchart Gardens!

Made Zoolights look like child's play... sorry, Zoolight enthusiasts. The one thing we drove to, but probably the coolest thing we did the whole trip! Also enjoyed the light scavenger hunt they had based off the song "The 12 Days of Christmas".

Inside the Government Building...

Outside the Government Building!

Royal BC Museum... there was real ice in the mammoth exhibit, ya know, in case he woke up.

Our future home will be modeled after this! I would have jumped in for the photo op, but we already had a follower (museum security we dubbed "the gustapo") at this point... I apparently took pictures I shouldn't have, but they should have made the signs bigger!

Sad to be on our way back to the "Big Kid" world...

My hope is that many are appeased. Blessings to y'all!

Love,

Chels

Ferries and Cars and Trains, oh my!

I know, I know... the first time I have legitimately big news and I haven't blogged it yet. But I
implore you, put away your pitchforks and torches! Here I come with all the tidbits :) not only because I promised a blog before the end of break (BARELY met my quota) but also because this is quite the nice little distraction from lesson planning! This and the Duck game, but I digress...

Well, this was quite the winter break! We basically spent three days total at home, but I wouldn't
trade it for anything :) After leaving school on Friday the 16th (last one to go too... the custodians were really confused by my presence because I was there until 4pm... not that late, but...) I went home to find Richard, pizza, a movie and my footie pajamas. Pretty great start, right? After a pretty uneventful weekend (apart from church at our new church home! We feel very blessed to be attending the Summit in Enumclaw and feel like it's a perfect fit for both of us individually as well as a couple) we headed off on a surprise trip (on my part) to Victoria, B.C.! I honestly had no clue where we were going, just knew what to pack :) keeping this a secret from me, especially for Richard, was no easy feat, but I didn't know we were heading to our neighbors to the North until we pulled up to the ferry. We stayed at the Empress hotel, another surprise, and walked to all manner of attractions and events! In the two and a half days we were there, we went to: Butchart Gardens, the Undersea Gardens, a bug zoo, the Royal BC Museum, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, walked all over town, ate all sorts of food and went to all sorts of souvenir shops (we don't play tourists very well... actually, depending on how you look at it, we played it very well!). We couldn't feel our feet by the time we were done each day! Either way, it was the most wonderful trip I've ever taken, full of adventure :) and it was really nice to not worry about anything!

And of course, the big news and the reason behind the trip, Richard and I are engaged! Our first
night there we had reservations for Il Terrazo, a very nice and locally popular Italian place in downtown Victoria. The sequence of events were pretty great and fairly indicative of how things usually go for us, so I'll share it with you as a play by play. Just imagine us, dressed in our finest and stuffed into a small table by the kitchen/bar/front door and yelling to hear each other:

Richard & Chelsea: *chatting back and forth about how happy we are and how wonderful this
trip is*
Richard: Chels, I am tired of looking at you
Waitress *walks up, interrupts*: How's everything tasting? Can I bring you anything else?
Richard: Thanks, it's great, we're fine!
Waitress *walks away*
Chelsea: Real nice. Please tell me that wasn't the end of your sentence.
Richard: No, she interrupted me! I meant to say that I'm tired of looking at you without knowing
you are going to be my wife.
Chelsea: We've already talked about this, I want to be with you forever!
Richard: *falls out of chair and knocks it over as he gets down on one knee, says sweet things
about how he knew I was the one that I honestly can't remember because I was so shocked* Chelsea, will you do me the honor of being my wife? *opens the ring box stuffed in his sock*
Chelsea: For real?! I think I'm gonna puke!
Richard: *as he gives me my grandmother's ring and busboys/water boys walk over his overturned chair and legs* 57 years of a happy marriage went into this ring, and I want us to
add another 57 to its legacy.
Chelsea: *cries and kisses and commences to staring between the ring and Richard for the rest of
the night*

Tada! That was the moment :) I can honestly say I've never been happier and that I've never felt
more blessed. He is my best friend, my support and rock, my ultimate encourager and understands me when I don't understand myself. With the most incredible heart of anyone I've ever met, I can't WAIT to call him my partner and husband and to spend the rest of my life with him :D

This happened on the first night we were there, so needless to say the rest was just a massive
celebration; we were pretty bummed to return. For pictures, check out Richard's album on Facebook! Or post your dislike of my not posting pictures here and I'll work on it...

When we returned, we had a few days to put our maple creme cookies away and move our clothes from our backpacks to the washer and back into a duffel bag so that we could head over to Priest River, Idaho for Christmas! Beforehand though, I got to spend a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Book family complete with homemade mustard, FaceTime between Payton and Logo, and enhanced Apples to Apples. Kyanne and Ryan were great hosts! And just a quick shout-out to Aunt Tanya for housing Richard and I the night before leaving for the East. She really took a chunk of stress away from our travels and even provided us with Christmas morning stockings... Aunt Tanya, you're too good to this family :) thanks again!

Our Priest River trip was awesome! It was great to spend time with his family, as always, and
engagement or no engagement they welcome me like family :) I couldn't have lucked out better in my future in-laws! (If that sentence makes sense...). We stayed with his sister and with his parents while also traveling around to multiple siblings' domiciles to play games and just chat (a lot of times about weddings). His younger sister Britta is engaged as well so we had plenty of wedding jazz to talk about :) on Christmas day, there was also a get-together with Richard's mom's side of the family! There were about 50 people there (which was roughly 1/3 of the people in his mom's side of the family) and they LOVED hearing about my little family of "five total cousins? Is that both sides?!" and we did one of those gift exchanges where you have number and open a gift or steal another one... twas great :) so much food, so many laughs! And I know Richard was happy to be with his family, sadly it doesn't happen enough, which made me extremely happy also :)

The day after we got back, I hopped a train down to Albany to see Jenna, Kyle and Payton. HOLY
STINKING CUTE! She is more and more fun every time I see her :) I loved spending time with her and my parents, but especially loved spending good talking time with Jenna. I miss her so much, and it just isn't the same over the phone... by far the best part of my trip was sister time with her :) we also got to talk wedding ideas which was fun! It's nice to bounce ideas off of my Matron of Honor :)

So here we are! I got back New Year's Eve night and Richard and I were lame and played games until midnight and promptly fell asleep :) since then I've been trying to get the house in a state of perfection (well, to me) and been putting off working on school work (hence the blog). But I'd better get to work since time is running low as are excuses. I truly hope that your Christmases and New Years were full of light hearts and heavy laughter, big joys and little stresses. You are all in my heart, and I hope to hear from you guys soon! I will try to be better about updating you; I hear the rest of my first year of teaching will go like the wind, but I want to make sure I'm keeping up :)

Love,
Chels

E002 - A Classroom of Champions

Hello beloved loved ones :) sorry, this is going to be a quick one again. I hope to have a full-on update during Christmas break, but until then I wanted to show you my pride and joy: my classroom! It's been quite a work in progress and more can change, but I'm really happy with how it's turning out right now. When I got this room, it hadn't been inhabited for four years but had been used for math, leadership, and english. By the pictures, I hope you will see how difficult that must have been. They also left all of their junk in there, so it was a fun one to clean for the first month or so of school! Anyway, here she is! Love you all, I'll talk to you in a week or two :) wish me luck to finish the week strongly and not die before my "seasonal non-holiday specific pre-winter break hootenany" (aka class Christmas party).

Eating the Elephant

Why hello! For those of you who are afraid that we are no longer living, don't worry, breath is still flowing in the good 'ole lungs and the faithful heart is still pumpin'. I'm afraid that this can't be a long post, I have 150 quizzes to grade tonight, but I just wanted to send a quick note to say that Buckley is awesome, the house is awesome (can't wait for you all to see it!), Richard is AWEsome, and work is hard but I'm making it through :) anyway, can't wait to see you guys, love you all and happy belated Halloween!

Summing It Up

So, long time no chit-chat! Hope that life is treating you all well and that your lives are filled with health and happiness. As the end of "my summer" comes to a close, I've been reflecting quite a bit on the transition out of college. It's been rougher than I expected, but also extremely growing. Anyway, that is neither here nor there... nor interesting, so I'll get on with telling you how I have occupied my time.


I have been and continue to be gainfully unemployed, but have been actively searching for work. Each week or so, I head over to the Washington State Superintendent's Office and go through each and every school district website and check their job postings. I've applied to a few places, mostly on the westside, but haven't really heard anything back yet. Any prayers or good thoughts you could send my way would be much appreciated! I'm putting in the effort, and I know that God'll plop me down wherever is right, but it's hard feeling as though my purpose in life is being unfulfilled. But it'll change, and I'm trying to keep my mind active as to what the future holds and all the opportunities I can create/take advantage of.


I spent quite a bit of time at the family's lake cabin, both helping wrap up the basics of the renovation and relaxing with the family. We had Payton for quite a while which was both a blast and enlightening... nothing quite like taking care of a little one to open your eyes as to the responsibilities of having children! But it was completely worthwhile, and I enjoyed every second. I haven't seen Payton nearly as much as I would have liked to since she's been born; it was a huge blessing to have built memories with her, even if she won't remember them, and to feel as though she finally knows who I am. I feel like the pictures below are a good representation of our time at the cabin with Payton:




The fourth was tons of fun and time with the family is always great, but I was missing Richard a lot during that time... but I received a wonderful surprise while at the cabin. I was cooking soup for the family dinner when my mom slipped out of the house, came back in and called, "oh Master Chef, come here for a moment!"; just as I turned around, Richard was slipping in the door with a vase of flowers. I instantly started crying, it had been a month since we'd seen each other! Although that's not a lot of time and we've gone longer than that before, I was really missing him. With him he brought a little novelty glass bottle with seashells and sand and a phone microchip that had a video of pictures of the two of us :) he had Jenna hide it under the dock so that I could stumble upon it! It was such a blessing, he was able to stay for almost three days and enjoy the cabin :)


After the cabin, I came home for a few days and headed out to Spokane for my planned vacation (well, didn't really have anything to "vacation" from, but...). Richard was able to get a week off work and a few shifts after that, so I mosied on over for time with him and his family. It was wonderful! We camped for three days which, we learned very quickly, is a long time to be in an abandoned field in the rain and with little to do. It was still great, but we had no idea how much it would cost (even with a free campsite... we camped at his dad's property in Priest River, Idaho that used to be his grandma's farm) and the work it would take. It took hours to cook a meal, and getting all that food and charcoal at once ain't cheap! Still great though :) we swam a lot, went to Silverwood with his immediate family (including his little nephews :) ), went to a family reunion of Richard's mom's side of the family at a family tradition known as "The Mudhole" (a local cove off of Priest River that has buoys and gates set for swimming), hunting for arrowheads, exploring Newport, went to a baseball game on fireworks night, lots of reading and TONS of talking. Overall, it was a great time and just what we needed :) then I came back, spent a little more time at the lake, and have been continuing to just plug away at family chores and such!


This is our lovely campsite in our nicely abandoned field :)




And the gorgeous view of the field at sunset!




I carmalized onions over the campfire. Oh. My. Gosh. Not even FUNNY how good it was with charcoal burgers.




This is the Mudhole I was talking about... tada, in all it's glory!




This was posted in a museum at Newport... glad these rules don't apply anymore haha.




Take me out to the ballgame! Oh, and a bag of peanuts... $4?! Ridiculous...





This past weekend, my dad and I headed to the Enumclaw Highland Games to find haggis, bagpipes and manskirts (*cough* kilts *cough*) galore. It was tons of fun! Those kinds of big events just have a fun energy, not to mention there are always fun people to watch :) for some reason, all the Renaissance Fair people think the Highland Games is the basically the same event, so bring on the pirates and fairies. Very celtic...


So yup! Still getting together with friends in spare time and working towards the next big thing: a job! I better get back to job searches, but I hope all's well and to see you guys soon :)


With love,
Chels

Endings and Beginnings

I'm sitting on the couch in my parents' living room, thinking to myself "wow, I can't believe I'm here". Not because it was some big surprise or because I thought I would be halfway to Mexico by now, but because so much life has happened in the past few weeks. I saw the end of Women's Choir, the end of my time as a Whitworth senior, the end of my undergraduate career and of student teaching, and the beginning of my Grandma's journey through eternal life. All were beautiful, but none were spared of emotion and difficulty. I don't know how else to put it, but if anything has shown through the clouds of change these paste weeks it has been love. Without a doubt, the love of my family, those around me, and God has been my saving grace. For all of you who have shown me unconditional love in this time and beyond, a thousand words of thanks. I can't express how you've impacted me, all explanations are insufficient. Know that I send it your way tenfold and that I love you all with all my heart.


I don't know what else to say or how to say it, so I'll move on. My mom informed me (shocker) that I haven't filled everyone in on what happened as the school year came to a close. I'll give you a quick synopsis, followed by what's been going on since I've been back (abridged) and what the future holds in store!


It's crazy to think that my time at Whitworth has come to a close... it feels like yesterday when I was moving into Duvall! Some much has changed since then, I don't recognize who I am anymore; I'm not against who I was, but I am thankful to have grown and become the person I am today. The weekend before my graduation, or "springing" as I may refer to it throughout the blog, was our Senior Boat Cruise in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It was one of those awkward times when you're stuck on a boat for three hours a bunch of your drunk classmates that you haven't seen for years and have to make small talk with, you know?! No? Okay, maybe not... I had a great (sober) time with some of my close friends and dancing on the top deck in the rain with the four other girls (my friends, of course) who weren't afraid of getting their hair wet. I was really thankful for the event, though, because it allowed me to see people I otherwise might not have before we all left, or "sprang".


This is my friend Natalie, social coordinator for Women's Choir, and I on the boat cruise!

My final week of college was spent partly at Whitworth, where we had mock interviews, portfolio presentations, guest speakers, group photos and awards (my mom, against my wishes, would like me to mention that I was awarded the Vicki Lewis Humanitarian Service Award from the School of Education. So there, I did it). It was a great connector to Whitworth, especially since student teaching had left most of us feeling disconnected from the Whitworth community. On the days that I wasn't at Whitworth, I was at Northwood finishing up my student teaching experience. It was bittersweet... I was ecstatic to have survived with a shred of my dignity and with recommendations that might actually help, not hinder, me in getting a job. At the same time, I didn't want to say goodbye to my students yet. They have made this whole experience worthwhile, and in fact where the point in me going through it.


In my final week, a lot of great things happened. My students presented their "Build-A-Body" projects, which were much more successful than I anticipated (as seen below... this is one of my crazy students and his project; he dwelled on the fact that his project was "feedable") and Dr. Mike of Whitworth's biology faculty came to my Dissection Viewapalooza (a day set aside to viewing seven different preserved animal specimens and sketching their connections to the human body systems discussed in class), bringing with him a Snapping Turtle (also seen below) and some awesome stories. Other memorable moments include my Tasting and Illusions Lab and the going away party my mentor teacher threw for me on my final day. It was so special, and I had no idea! He got a huge sheet cake that read "Thank you Ms. Casebolt, We Love You", there were balloons, he had each class period sign a poster for me, the works :) the students didn't know that it was the day, however, and there was a breadth of reactions; it ranged from the "cool, middle school guy" head nod to a boy vowing he would find me if I didn't come back before the end of the school year and a girl spending 30 minutes in the counseling center crying over my departure. Throughout the day, I smiled and laughed and said my goodbyes to my beloved kiddos. Inside, however, I just wanted to burst into tears. I held it together, though, until I was driving home. I didn't like the feeling necessarily, but I feel blessed that I will have the same sentiments each year for the rest of my career. It's a beautiful thing to love so much it hurts; I'm truly thankful for that ability :)




I want to share with you guys the story of my cap. My mortarboard, as you can see below, is a sketch of the human digestive system (one of the systems I tought to my students) with an apple in the place of the heart (since I have a "heart" for teaching, get it?!). After printing that off, I had all 140 students that I taught sign it :) it was so special to have, it felt as though I had them all with me; this was important to me since it was because of them that I was able to walk with my certification under my belt. It is one of my more prized possesions now, and I'm thankful to have it!



Also, I saw the end of my time in Whitworth Women's Choir those last weeks. I distributed the sweatshirts I fought so hard to get (don't remind me...), pranked my choir director and proclaimed it on YouTube, performed in my last choir concert with my sisters, and orchestrated the end-of-the-year Women's Choir dinner the Monday of finals week. The food was amazing, I improvised gifts and speeches throughout... it was quite the event! It's tradition to talk about what the summer and future has in store for us, so it was great to hear how many different places and things my people will be doing. I miss them all so much, but am so thankful for the opportunity to have made music with them!


This is the Women's Choir officers, the director and our accompanist... love and miss them :)


And finally, graduation! Here are pictures of some of the people I love with all my heart :)





The big moment!


Women's Choir officers!


Steph and I... four years as roommates, crazy!


This is Dr. Mike and I. We both cried as we said our goodbyes to each other... nowhere but Whitworth :)


That weekend was full of birthday celebrations for my dad's birthday, a Commissioning and Communion service for students and their families, baccalaureate, the "springing" itself and packing for home! Many of you know what ensued after I returned home, and I feel so blessed to have been a part of it. Since coming home, I've made it to Spokane twice (once to pick up the remainder of my furniture and again to visit friends and my classroom), have spent time with family, have knocked some things of the to-do list, been helping at Vacation Bible School rehearsals at Chapel Hill with Chels, and am still looking for jobs. I received my certification last week and my diploma today (wahoo!) so it's starting to sink in... just a little though :) this weekend is Richard and my 1-year anniversary of dating (I know, not a big deal to y'all who have been in long term relationships, but it is for me!) so he was able to get time off work and is coming to Gig Harbor for a weekend of fun :D I'm so excited, I'm planning fun little romantic dates and etc! I'll hopefully have pictures of those events soon... it's just good to be able to spend time with the most special man I've ever known, with the biggest heart I've ever encountered :)


I've actually had a hard time talking about Grandma Book, so I'm so thankful for Jenna's letter to her because it echos many of the sentiments I think we all feel. I hope that I'll soon be able to talk about it, but until then I know she knows that I can't wait for the day we all see her again and that she is a survivor, through and through. Love you grandma, more than anything.


With that, I'm off to convert mom's VHS home videos to DVD... love you all, thanks for seeing me through the end of my college time. Time to move on, but I loved what I've moved through :)


Love,
Chels