~5 days until bliss~

The wonderful last week of school before Christmas break has finally arrived! My class has been anxiously awaiting Friday's arrival for about as long as I have. Last Wednesday the 2nd graders had the annual Christmas performance. They did a great job! Then, on Friday the entire school had a visit from the Orange County Choppers and Santa for the CHOC Toy Drive. This week will be the official countdown. I can hardly wait for my two week holiday break! Next Tuesday my friends Kay, Rob and Tracie get to town for Christmas. I am so excited to see Kay and her husband Rob because she is pregnant and I haven't had the chance to see her little tummy yet!! I am also looking forward to every moment of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Being able to be with family and friends is an incredible gift. I am overwhelmed with joy for all of the blessings I have been given. Towards the end of my break, I will be called to duty with my mom. My dad will be having a second knee replacement surgery on Monday, December 29th. I plan to help out in any way I can to make sure my dad is comfortable and has everything he needs. Thank goodness he has my mom around!!! She is the best :-)

Bring on the Holidays!!

Well it has been quite awhile since I have last posted anything to my blog! The last few months have been wonderful. My first Fall session of school ended and I got two more A's in my classes. This was the best feeling ever! I am loving my counseling classes and can't wait to actually start counseling as a profession. I finished my 3rd 1/2 marathon in October!!! I will be running my next in January then another in February. November began rather interesting with the election. Well, I don't have much to say about that!! The only thing I will say is that I am thankful that I live in a country where I am proud to express my voice and my concerns.

Time seems to just be flying by which is great but sometimes can feel overwhelming. Thanksgiving was wonderful. I was able to spend the day with family and friends and ate much too much. It is so easy to go through everyday not considering all of the things I have to be thankful for as I get caught up in the daily hectic things about my day. This year I am very thankful for the several blessings God has given me. I have a job that I am able to inspire young minds and challenge them to think. I am able to have a warm house to go home to everyday and a nice wet kiss from Tucker!! A loving family that is so supportive of me unconditionally. Wonderful friendships that will last the test of time. And finally, I am thankful God has blessed me to be an AUNT 3 times this year!!! Two of my best friends are expecting, and one is expecting TWINS!

2009 is just around the corner, new goals new resolutions! I am going to take the next few weeks to find peace, and joy with the small things in life. I am going to try to enjoy the simple moments in life! I look forward to a wonderful holiday season!

Back to School!

Tomorrow is the first day of school!! I am really looking forward to my class this year. I have a pretty small class and most of them are girls. 11 girls and 6 boys. I am thinking I may have a little drama in my class this year. I have a lot of great parents in my room so that should be a big help. This year is bittersweet, it is the beginning of the end. I am definitely ready to move on and become a school counselor; it is just hard to leave a position that I know so well and I am so comfortable in. But comfortable is just not challenging and I am ready for new adventures. I am excited about my last year, I am sure there will be many stories to share!

I don't think I am going to have a chance to update about my trip! It was a great time, we were on the go often. The classic line was, "you on bacation!" The entire trip was great up until the last day. Kyle jinxed me and I got the infamous Montezuma's Revenge! Gotta love Mexico! I was sick the entire plane ride home and then some. I am not sure what caused it. I drank bottled water and purified ice. My dad thinks it is from all of the pico de gallo I ate! Who doesn't eat pico de gallo in Mexico!! Till this day, I am still not 100% better.

The next few weeks are so exciting!! I am going to the river for Labor Day weekend with the family. Then, my friend Jean Anne is coming in to town on the 2nd for our 10 year REUNION!!! It is on Saturday the 6th. After that the countdown to ALOHA begins. I leave September 27th for HAWAII!

So long to Summer!

The time has come, summer has officially ended. I go back to school tomorrow!!! Luckily, this week is pretty simple. It is filled with many meetings, meetings, and more meetings! :-) The kids official first day isn't until the 26th. I will be busily working in my room this week getting everything ready for the new kiddos. Oh boy!!

I have had a great summer. I went to the river, Disneyland, the beach, visited Allison in La Jolla, Jean Anne came to town, 3 great friends got married, ate great food at many bbq's, went to the Del Mar Races for my birthday, and of course all the while went to summer school! It ended on a high note with a great vacation to Cozumel, Mexico. I have so many stories and pictures to share from our trip. Hopefully sometime this week I will have a minute to update and upload!

Mexican Vacation!

Tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. I leave for Cozumel, Mexico! I will be going to our family time share at the Reef Club Cozumel for a week with my mom, dad, Megan, Kyle and his friend Ashley. The last time I was in Cozumel was in 2003. A lot has changed since then! In 2005 a hurricane destroyed the resort and much of the island. Since then, it has been rebuilt and it is absolutely beautiful! My parents and Kyle have been there since the rebuilding and they tell me I will not recognize it! A new area of the resort is an adults only section. Apparently there are some "tops optional" sections. Megan and I have agreed that we will probably not be that adventurous this time around!! We are already looking forward to many exciting adventures. One day we are going to take the ferry across to the Riviera Maya to go to a place called Hidden Worlds. My friend Summer was just there with her husband on their anniversary trip and their pictures looked like so much fun. Hidden Worlds has snorkeling, zip lines, repeling...we are going to have a blast! I also plan on swimming with the dolphins. They are so sweet, not nearly as sweet as my Tuckeroo... but close!! :-) Mom, dad, Kyle and possibly Megan are going to scuba dive too. That is just not for me! We will do a little shopping and enjoy the night life at Carlos n Charlies. Other than that my days will be spent with a cool cocktail in hand while I lounge at the pool or on the beach!

I added a couple pictures of the resort!
~ADIOS!~

Hooray for A's

After a long 6 weeks of summer school, all of my hard work has paid off! I got an A in each of my 3 classes!!!! I have now completed 5 of the 14 classes I need to take. Only 9 more to go! :-) There were moments when I wondered how I would ever finish. Yet I did and everything worked out better than I could have ever imagined!! My first Fall session begins on September 2nd. After the grueling summer schedule, I am geared up for a new challenge and a new year. I leave Thursday for my fantastic vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. I will definitely be able to celebrate with this new and exciting accomplishment!! Yippee! :-)

Off to the Races!!

Sunday, July 27th was my 28th birthday!!!! To celebrate, I spent the day with my family and friends at the Del Mar Races! The day started by taking the train down to the race track. Once we were there, we all got a quick lesson from Uncle Bob about how to make the best bets. All of the different ways to bet~ place, show, trifecta, exacta, across the board~ I was definitely overwhelmed! I decided to choose my horses by their names!! I ended up winning $15.00! Even if the win was small, it was something! Our seats were awesome; they were right at the finish line! While our favorite horses were racing we cheered and screamed!! We all stayed until the 6th race. Then, we boarded the train to head back home. Once we got back home a big group of us went to Javier's for dinner. To my surprise, my friend Jean Anne and her husband Matt from Texas were awaiting my arrival. Megan had been plotting the surprise all week!! She did a great job, I was definitely surprised! We all enjoyed a delicious dinner. By the end of the evening we were exhausted. It was such a memorable day and one of the best birthdays ever!! I cannot thank everyone enough for making my birthday such a special day!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Edmisten!!!!

On Saturday July 26th, two great friends of mine were married at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. Tracy has been a friend of mine since college, we are sorority sisters. A few years later, I met her wonderful now husband at school. He teaches 4th grade at Fairmont. Luckily for me I know both the bride and the groom so this wedding was extra special for me!! The day was absolutely beautiful. Their colors were black, white and apple green (very suiting for two teachers!) The wedding began at 6:00 in the evening. The entire ceremony was breathtaking. Joseph was amazed by his brides beauty! :-) I was very excited to learn that I won the centerpiece!! The persons who's birthday was closest to the wedding day got to take home the centerpiece. Well, I won that hands down given my birthday was the next day! During the reception my friend Summer and I took pictures in the photo booth! We spent the entire evening dancing away. As we left the reception, we were all excited to find a candy bar full of green, black and white candy! The newlyweds are now off to Jamaica for their honeymoon!!

Officially DONE!!!

As of a few moments ago I have officially finished 9 exhausting units of Summer School. It has been the longest, most intense 6 weeks ever! I am now looking forward to relaxing the last few weeks of summer before heading back to school August 18th.

Ready, Set, Blog!

Too many friends are starting to BLOG, so I thought I would join them. I have been on summer vacation now for one month. It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone. So far my summer has been filled with school, sun and more school. I am currently getting my Masters in School Counseling and a Pupil Personnel Credential. I had a crazy thought to take 9 units in 6 weeks!!!! Good news, Friday, July 25th is the last day!!! Even though school has definitely occupied my time, I have also been able to do some really fun things over the summer with friends and family. I celebrated with my friend Kim at her wedding over 4th of July weekend in La Jolla and I went to the river with my mom and Tuck to spend some time in the sun! To finish off my summer, I am looking forward to a few things; 1: My birthday at the Del Mar Races!!! I can't wait to bet on the ponies and 2: My friend Jean Anne is coming to town from Texas!!! And finally to finish off my summer, I am head to beautiful Cozumel, Mexico for a little R & R before returning back to school for the 2008-2009 school year!