The Move

I had to add these few pictures documenting a little bit of our move. Since Jeremy was in school up until the day we actually left Rexburg, I took on most of the packing and such. As I have never moved like this before I tried to be extremely organized. This color-coded schedule of cleaning helped with this. :) I guess I take after my mother in some things. 

I didn't take any pictures of packing the truck or anything in Rexburg, so I snapped a few before we took the truck back. Of course it was raining while we were unloading the truck and I didn't capture any of that madness. The Evans, the Rudds, and the Passeys were complete saints with everything they did to help us with this move. Driving the moving truck and van, helping us load and unload, letting us completely take over the garage and upstairs...I seriously don't know what we would do without our families. Thank you all so much for your love and support and of course your help with everything!

The lovesac...I just can't get rid of it! For the next few months it will be living on Tyler's bed at the Evans' house. I just hope that it makes it on our next move!

(They did get it to fit inside the van!)

Our Last Hurrah in Rexburg

Jeremy moved to Rexburg in September 2007 to start his education at BYU-Idaho. It seems so unreal that only five years later he has finished his bachelors degree! We have both been waiting for this day for a long time and have been counting down the days. Not only does this day coming closer mean he is graduated, but it also means that we are moving away from Rexburg! We couldn't be more excited; however, as the days creep closer, a feeling of miss starts to take over. Jeremy and I have both done a lot of growing up in this place. This was Jeremy's first home away from home. We spent my first semester here together. Our first home together is here. So much history in our lives took place in this little town and it's starting to sink in how much I am truly going to miss the memories that we have created here. As I drove around town doing errands this last week, I started to get a little teary-eyed thinking about when I first moved here and would get so lost. Now his place seems just as familiar to me as the town I grew up in. But this is all part of life. This adventure is coming to an end, but another one is just beginning. 

Last Day of School at BYU-Idaho

Jeremy ripping off the last link before the day of graduation. (Graduation was represented with the gold link!)

I had to throw in this cute picture of our sweet neighbor kids that came to say goodbye to us. We had the best neighbors and I loved having Sean and Emma be my buddies the last few months of being out of school.  I will totally miss them!

Even though the last few days of living in Rexburg were so hectic with finishing projects, tests, packing, cleaning, etc., I couldn't miss out on a little photo shoot right before Jeremy had to be at the school for commencement. At my graduation we had to do these weeks later because there was no time but we didn't have that luxury this time around. 

The Graduate!

I had to borrow a cap and gown so we could capture this...two BYU-Idaho alumni!

Thank you Brigham Young University-Idaho!

We are all so proud of Jeremy and all the hard work that he has put into school, especially to graduate so quickly! It was the best feeling to hear his name read and watch him walk across that huge stage! Proud moment!

Family picture

(The baby bump is just barely showing in this picture but the baby made it in at least!)

There was one picture that we didn't get to show all Jeremy accomplished at BYU-I...totally forgot. But Jeremy achieved the cliche at BYU-I...he will be leaving with a degree, a wife, and a baby on the way! WOOT!

Proud Family

We were so happy the Jeremy's parents and one set of Grandparents could drive in for his graduation. It meant so much to have them here with us to help celebrate this moment. We also can't thank them enough for all their help with the move. We don't know what we would have done without them!

This was the longest ceremony EVER because the College of Agriculture & Life Science is so huge. And of course Jeremy was at the very end! But watching him walk across the stage made the wait worth it! Plus Costa Vida was waiting for us after! :) 

Waiting...forever!

Jeremy on the Jumbo-tron!

The Procession 

Jeremy: So happy to be done! 

After the graduation and dinner at Costa Vida, we ran home and finished last minute cleaning. Mom and Dad Evans graciously offered to drive the moving van since Jer and I are under 24 and would have been charged to drive it ourselves. They were planning to leave at 3 am to try and get a head start since they would have to drive slower and they were pulling the corolla behind. (Seriously I don't think we will have be able to repay them for this service to us!) So we had them go to bed in our clean and empty bedroom while we finished cleaning. By about 1am Grandma, Grandpa, Jeremy and I were in bed in the family room. We woke up just a few hours later to pack the remaining things into our cars, take out the trash, and hit the road by 5am. Of course not before snapping a couple goodbye pictures.

Looking at these pictures brings tears to my eyes. I will totally miss this place...our first home together.

After a short moment of sadness, we jumped in the car ready to start the drive. (Those are Grandma and Grandpa's headlights in the back window so they made this picture too!) Little did we know what lay ahead for us on this drive. Of course because this would be our last time (at least for a very long time) making this drive, it had to be the worst experience! 

It started out great with no problems. We even stopped for a nice lunch with Grandma and Grandpa on our way. Then we hit Truckee. We had gotten a little separated from the van by this point. We hadn't seen any signs saying chains were mandatory but when we tried to go through the checkpoint they told us to put them on. Totally bugged we puilled over and tried putting hem on, only to find the chains that we had (which we originally bought for the Corolla) were one size too small for the Hyundai. I was about to loose it. So we had to turn around, go back into Truckee to buy chains that were too expensive and put them on in the parking lot while it's snowing and freezing before we could get back on the road. On top of it all my phone is dying and Jer's is dead, we're exhausted, and I'm hormonal. Awesome! We finally got back on the road, drove with the chains way longer than necessary (again lack of signs), got stuck in crazy traffic due to accidents, and arrived in Brentwood 16 hours after leaving Rexburg completely covered in mud, tired, and hungry. I should just reiterate that we will not be making that drive again anytime in the near future.

Substituting

Since graduation I have taken up substituting for a few different districts in the area. Sadly, I really don't love it. It's a bummer but it's not the same as having your own class. I went into teaching because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of children. In one day all you can really do is get all the things done that the teacher leaves and make sure nobody gets hurt. But I have been trying to make the best of it. The best jobs are the ones that are for an extended period of time. It gives me a chance to set expectations and get to know the kids. Also, the few goods days make the not so good ones bearable. I try to focus on those! I thought I'd document a few of those.

In one of the second grade classes that I subbed for, there was a little girl with a broken arm. She had a doctor's note keeping her in from recess. However this day I had to do yard duty so I asked her if she would like to come out with me and we could just talk together at recess. She did and we talked about how she had just moved here. She was having a hard time making friends and being in a new place. I told her that I had moved at her age and we talked about it. Then we saw a little girl crying so we went over and tried to talk her through the struggles she was having with her friends at recess. We were successful in cheering her up and then this sweet little girl that I spent my recess with says to me, "Substitutes always know how to make things better!" So sweet!

Over Halloween, I was given a three day job. This was a job I really liked because I had enough time to set expectations and hold the students to them. The teacher's plans weren't great and the party wasn't planned well, so I put my skills to use and did what I could to make things run smoothly. I had a couple boys who thought I was "hot" and took the opportunity to tell me so. After I got after them and gave them a little lesson on respect, they didn't like me as much but we worked it out. Halloween was awesome because I planned a super fun organized party and of course dressed up! I dressed in my Hershey's candy bar dress. The kids loved it! During the school's costume parade all the kids watching were chanting, "Hershey's! Hershey's!" over and over as I walked by. When we went outside to go to the next side of the building I was telling my class how great they were doing and how everybody loved their costumes. One of the boys that was at the back of the line with me said, "They don't love us. They just love your costume!" I died laughing.  

My old practicum teacher asked me to sub for her fourth grade class for a full week. This was so awesome because I had a lot of time and I was comfortable with the teacher's style. We did a lot this week and I had a lot of good moments. One of the naughty boys admitted to me that he tries to get out of trouble by using his cute smile...he said he worked on his mom. This class was full of characters and sweethearts. One little girl wrote me a note thanking me for being the substitute and being brave enough to do it. But my favorite was on the last day. A boy in my class, that had been a gem all week, left me this brownie on my desk. 

He was so embarrassed when I thanked him it was absolutely darling! I hope I can teach my kids to be as thoughtful as this. 

So even though I constantly complained about my job as a substitute, I guess it wasn't all bad. It's moments like these that remind me how much I love to teach and how much I love kids!

Thanksgiving

We took our regular trip down to Utah for Thanksgiving this year. We were bummed that BYU-I shortened the break, but still couldn't miss out on any time spent with family. (Especially since this would be our last time seeing Tyler before he left.) We really had a blast! It has been forever since we've stayed with Jeremy's Uncle Dave and Aunt Nancy and their family and we loved it! 

Turkey Bowl: Thanksgiving Morning

The first group of players

Us girls freezing but cheering them on!

All the players at the end of the game

I always love spending time with all the little ones in the family! With two new editions in the Evans family (Connor and Ty) I got in a lot of practice for when our little one comes!

Hannah and I have matching jammies! But I traded Jeremy for his basketball shorts while I was cutting the little boys' hair. (My mom would be so proud!) We had to take a picture of the twin cousins!

Jeremy also did some hair cutting helping Tyler prepare to enter the MTC with a fresh missionary haircut!

We also fit in a trip to the temple with the Evans family which was very special and I'm so glad we were able to do this before Tyler left.

With all this family in town, we also had Ty's blessing at Dave and Nancy's house. It was so special to be there for this! He is such a sweet baby and I love that red hair!

Our last day with Tyler included a lot of pictures of course! (There was so much going on they are basically all blurry but I love having these last few pictures before Tyler is gone for two years!

And then we said our goodbyes to the rest of the Evans crew. 

We love this family so much! It was such a blast spending the week with them! I truly am so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family. I couldn't be more blessed!