We made a movie.

I did forget one update. Jeff made a short film to enter into the HBO Project Green Light contest. Some of our friends came over and helped and a group of students from London's school were the stars! Unfortunately the film did not win. There may be some exciting news to come of it after all, so stay tuned for more information. Check out the film below! Click on the links.


Contest Version


Full Version

A really really long blog post.

I started this blog years ago with good intentions. I planned on using this blog as a place to keep in touch with friends and family that don't have Facebook and to write longer posts about our family and my life. So far, I've been lucky to write even twice a year and realize that I have not written since August of 2013. Well, so much has happened since then and now.

Last school year was such a busy one for me. It was my third  year teaching and my 1st year as the Special Education Team Leader at my school. Needless to say I was so busy my personal life disappeared. Something fun that happened was, I won a ton of contests. I started entering teacher contests on PennilessTeacher.com and won a ton of stuff! Here are some of the things that I won:

I also won an awesome electric pencil sharpener, a giant santa hat, a sticker maker machine, and a $100 to Paper direct that I still haven't used,  I'm pretty sure there is something else that I am forgetting also.

London went to Homecoming:

Got his first Car:

And had his wisdom teeth removed:

We went to see a friend play in his Semi-Pro football league and got a free tour of the Cowboy's Stadium:

We had a massive freeze that coated everything in a sheet of ice. We lost a tree.

We threw our first annual Christmas Party and enjoyed Christmas Eve/Day with the Jeff's Parents and Josh and Stephanie who came up from Austin. We celebrated with my family the weekend before at my parents house.

London and Jeff at the Jensen's 

Gift Exchange at the Jensen's 

Christmas Party

Our Christmas Tree 2013

Christmas Decorations

Snowman Mug Collection is Growing

Living Room 

Christmas Eve at Macaroni Grill

Jamie and Rick - Christmas Eve at Macaroni Grill

Josh and Stephanie- Christmas Eve

Christmas Day Dinner

London and Jeff- Christmas Morning

Stephanie and Josh- Christmas Day

Christmas Day 2013

My Christmas Santa Bread 

My Present from Jeff

My awesome present from Stephanie

Well, then London was awarded the Eagle Scholar Award for his Excellet TAKS test results and they ordered him a Letter Jacket with the Scholar "A".

And he went to Prom. He won a bunch of cool stuff at After Prom where he hung out with his friends until 5 am!!!!

He got a new Job. McDonalds. 

Then... He graduated High School.  He is currently enrolled at Collin College working on a Sociology Degree.

We had a Graduation Party for London.

Well, I finally was able to bid a farewell to the Mustang. Jeff Got a new car and so did I. Here is a picture of my car. I don't have a picture of Jeff's. But, his is a Hyundai also. He has an Accent and I have a Santa Fe. His parents have a Hyundai also, and so does his brother. I guess we are a Hyundai family.

We had some good times this year. And some milestones. We had some tragedy strike our family as well. Sometime after December, we found out that my sweet baby cousin, Sarabeth, had Cervical Cancer. She began radiation and chemotherapy and fought for her life. Eight months later, we lost her. The cancer was aggressive and was Stage 3 when she began her battle. It eventually spread through her body and her heart gave out. It has been a devastating loss and I am still deep in grief. London and I were able to travel to Colorado for a memorial with her friends and the family in Colorado. The rest of the family in Texas was not able to go. It was a very emotional experience. This was London's first trip to Colorado. I can't believe that I never took him there before. It was my first trip to Colorado in 10 years. Since the Brady's began traveling to Texas in the summer, I had just stopped going to Colorado. London fell in love with the mountains and I remembered how much I loved being there. 

Sarabeth's Friends and Family together to say goodbye.

29 Balloons sent to heaven to say goodbye.

London's scenic view of the mountains.

Sarabeth's Tree.

The house in Woodland Park where I spent my summers.

A trip down memory lane in Woodland Park.   

London and Emily on the way to the airport. 

Saying goodbye to Candy. 

Saying goodbye to Emily. 

Well, we had a pre-paid booked vacation scheduled less than one week after our return from Colorado. So a few days later, we packed up the car and headed out to New Orleans. The plan was  a short road trip with a stop in New Orleans, Florida, and Houston. I hated New Orleans. I thought it was dirty and gross. It was crowded and hot and I don't plan on returning. London and Jeff Loved it. They thought it was great and London can't wait to return. Florida was fun but it was cloudy and rainy a lot and we didn't get to do as much as we had planned. Also, I was injured. I stepped on something in the ocean and at the time there was no wound and I didn't think anything of it. Six days after returning my skin around my toe was numb. Two months and five doctors later, and I am in a boot and prescribed a compounded cream for my foot. I'm told I have a stress fracture and "turf toe". I've stressed the big nerve running down my foot. I still can't help thinking this has something to do with what I stepped on in the ocean... a sea urchin??? There were definitely splinters or bristles that were pushed out of my toe 6 days after the "incident". I plan on calling the Ortho doc on Monday and questioning weather or not I could have a toxin in my foot still, after the things I've been reading about sea urchins. I'll be wearing the boot for at least 3 weeks and no alcohol while using this cream... must be powerful stuff. A little be nervous about all this moving forward. What a ridiculous outcome from a family vacation. I don't plan on ever going back to the ocean. 

So, then school started. I've just been so busy with school/work as usual. I'll try to keep updating on here throughout the school year. Here's a few more images before I go.

My boot:

Lost another tree. Straight winds. 

Next week Candy is coming down for a few days. We'll be scanning pictures of Sarabeth and transferring VHS to DVD.  There will be tears. We will also be celebrating Mom's and Candy's birthdays. It is also Jeff and My 9th Anniversary. There will be love and laughter along with the tears. 

I will also be finishing a round of ESL Certification classes. I may not be able to start my Master's program, but I can at least work on some additional certifications. 

The next big thing is Halloween I suppose. So, I'll update sometime in November and post more pictures. Hopefully I'll still have my toe by then. =/