Happy October!

It's October!?!?! When did that happen??

I started my new job at Transition Plus through Saint Paul Public Schools. I am an Education Assistant/Interpreter so I'm not just letting my hands fly, I'm also doing a little teaching and, well, some assisting. We only have one student who needs an interpreter, and there are 2 of us who are EA/Interpreters, so sadly, I haven't been interpreting much so far. I'm slightly nervous that my skill will decline, because I've never been in a work environment where I'm NOT interpreting all day every day. But, I'm sure it'll be just fine. I just need to pick up some more VRS shifts and I'll be good to go!

So far, I'm loving my job. I work with 18-21 year olds who are "transitioning" into the real world and aren't quite ready for their diploma. It brings about it's challenges, but what job doesn't? I really feel like this was the perfect fit for me. I get to do some teaching, I get to help the students out with their needs and I can still do what I love which is interpreting.

In September, we had our first experience at Target Field! It is a beautiful place and I'm so pumped to get on the ball and go to more games next year!

And now it's October, which is kind of scary because I really don't remember much of September.... But it means Halloween is coming up, then Thanksgiving, then my FAVORITE time of the year!! While our life is not in an ideal situation right now, things are going really well and I'm grateful for what we have. Happy October!

Let my birthday begin!!

It is that time of year....it's my birthday! I will be 28 years old on August 17 and I'm SO excited for it! It usually ends up being about a week of celebrating since I have dinner with both sides of the family and usually do something with my friends.

Wednesday afternoon we went to Don Pablo's with my family for yummy fajitas! Then we went back to my parents' house for my favorite, yellow bunt cake with chocolate frosting!

Yesterday we went to Il Gatto in Uptown with Bobby's family for dinner. It was pretty good. The booth was pretty snug and we all ordered hot food, so we were way overheated during dinner. They have a decent Happy Hour menu and the HH goes until 7, which you don't see a lot, but was nice because we met at 6 and still got to enjoy the specials. It's mostly Italian food. Bobby and his sister had pasta and they both seemed to enjoy it. I had Italian Fish and Chips which were yummy, but HEAVY on the chips!

Today I spent the afternoon with Ryan in downtown Stillwater. We had lunch at the Freighthouse restaurant which was yummy. The sweet potato fries are delish! We stopped at Tremblay's Sweet Shop and picked up some truffles. While there we saw a stack of brochures titled "Stop Diabetes"....oxymoron?? Then we drove up to Anoka to check out Lillian's, which is my favorite boutique! I had a birthday coupon so we both got a new pair of sunglasses, I got some earrings and Ryan got on of those key chains that hangs over the side of your purse.

Tonight we're meeting a small group of friends near our house for drinks and yummy food! Happy Birthday to me!

A Non-Guilty Pleasure

Ok, I love ice cream. In fact, I've been known to say it's my favorite food. Well, sometimes, too much of a good thing isn't all that good. I've been trying really hard to adopt a healthy lifestyle and get more exercise. Bobby and I really enjoy yogurt and have tried putting just a regular tub of yogurt in the freezer and it was SOLID, couldn't even enjoy it frozen. We also enjoy Yoplait Whips yogurt. I saw on a commercial that they suggest putting this kind in the freezer, so I tried it! Oh my goodness, SO good! It's a personal size, so it's just the right amount of calories and it really is the right amount of sweet. They have the fruit flavors, strawberry, raspberry and others. They also make a chocolate flavor, plain or with fruit flavoring. I've got to say, I am SO glad this works so well because I have a sweet tooth after dinner almost daily, I just don't have to feel so bad about it now!

Wait...summer is almost over?!?!

I looked at the calendar this morning and couldn't believe it's already August 9th! I'm not complaining because that means I'm officially off for 3 weeks. I say 3 weeks because I'm determined to get a job that starts with the school year. I have sent out several applications to various school districts and now I just have to wait.

I did get two phone calls/e-mails this morning for interviews so that's awesome! It's scary knowing that the official start-up to the school year is just 3 weeks away, but I'm feeling more positive each day that something will come my way.

We've already been enjoying August. The picture above was taken at Paws on Grand. Bobby, Karen (Brad was up north), me and our dogs went to Grand Ave and got to walk the dogs, get some free stuff and see our Homeward Bound friends! It was very hot but all 3 dogs did very well.

Another reason that I'm totally fine with it being August.... my birthday is next week! I love my birthday because it turns into a week-long thing. I'm starting on Wednesday with lunch out with my family, then out with friends Friday night and the rest is up to Bobby! I'm just excited to spend the whole day with my husband, no matter what it is we're doing.

Oh and let's not forget....the State Fair! I LOVE the Fair! We really want to go during the day on a weekday and listen to the live broadcast of 107.1 FM because we didn't get the chance to do that last year. We'll probably go twice, like we usually do.

AND, my dear friends Angela and Nick are coming to Minnesota over Labor Day weekend for her brother's wedding, so if the stars align, we'll get to see them and baby Josephine! All in all, I'm looking forward to a relaxing and fun August!

Fun pictures!

My friend Stefanie's sister, Melanie has started doing photography and she took some pictures of the 3 of us back in May at the park near our house. We got some great shots, take a look!

Her website is: http://www.wix.com/motwins18/MelanieSwansonPhotography Check her out!

Our new favorite thing!

I signed up for Netflix back in August when Ryan was living with us so we could get a bunch of movies to watch on the weekends between the two subscriptions. Well, not too long after I got a disc that I could use to stream any of the "Watch Instantly" shows/movies through our Wii. However, we had to know our wireless password, which we haven't been able to remember since I used it initially when we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. I've been going back to the Wii several times to try different things, nothing works. Well, we got into "Dexter" and finished season 1, knowing that we could stream season 2 through our Wii if we could just get the password. I searched high and low for that post-it note with the password I wrote down back in 07. I found one, but didn't think it was right.... but it was! I was running around the house screaming with joy that we can finally stream movies and TV shows on our Wii!! Not to mention people can bring their laptops over and use our wireless network now!

So our new favorite thing/obsession is the Netflix Watch Instantly streaming through our Wii! It has been around for a while but we were just finally able to use it!! It's especially great through the summer when there's really nothing new on TV except sporting events.

If you don't have Netflix and have been considering it, I highly recommend it! You can get the cheapest subscription where you only get 2 movies a month by mail but you can stream Watch Instantly stuff through your computer or capable gaming systems as much as you want! The downfall that I've heard about is that you can't use closed caption on the Watch Instantly application. That stinks, and I may even send in a comment to Netflix about that. You can't even use the CC on the TV for it, which I think is silly!

We love it and have been able to catch up on a lot of shows that we didn't have time to sit down and watch during the school year. It's not as good as DVR just because the most current episodes aren't available, but if you have patience and can wait for the whole season to come out, it's well worth it!

Lazy puppy....

Lazy pup and lazy dad watching "Dexter"

Taking a break from his nap to see what's up