The realities of an inner city school

This Christmas, Kyle gave me Teacher Man by Frank McCourt ('Tis and Angela's Ashes). He's a fabulous author. The main gist of this book is to basically paint a portrait of the art of teaching high school. I love it!
One thing I really miss about LCHS is actually teaching academically. I loved having deep discussions with my lovelies about anything and everything. I have to remember that, for most of my students, coming to school is an achievement by itself. None of my LCHS kids had to navigate the city bus system for up to an hour. None of my LCHS kids were responsible to get their babies fed and ready to go off to daycare. These inner-city kids have some gumption. However, how do I teach them??? Do I just pass them for showing up? One of my students is under that impression because she's at school every day but, she doesn't do a stitch of work. She's in grade 12 so, this type of behaviour has obviously worked for her. Or, what do I do with the 17 year old single father who was raising his one-year old until their social worker took her away because he can't seem to let go of his drug habit? He spends his days being mopey because he's missing her or partying because he's free from the adult responsibility that was weighing him down. How do I make curriculum connect with him?
I'm being challenged as a teacher. It's good for me. This year is character building.
I have also realized that I live a charmed life... maybe this is my way to give back for having it so good!

Christmas renos

Hmmm, in order to work off the two days of family Christmases, Trevor and I have decided that, instead of signing up for a new gym membership, we'd renovate.
We loved the double days of opening presents, eating turkey and playing games with family. Now, we're down to business...
Home ownership means that holidays will never be the same again. Hopefully, we'll have all the drywall up by New Year's in time for our soiree!

Christmas is just days away...

Man, time sure flies when you're having fun. I can't believe how close Christmas is.
Trevor and I are flying through our "TO DO" lists. Soon we'll be able to relax.

A few weeks ago, I decided it would be great to wall paper our hall with paintable wallpaper. For those who don't know, our house is plywood and not drywall. Good idea, right? Once we stripped the vinyl off the walls, my Mom and I tried our darndest to hang this stupid paintable wallpaper. All the seams wouldn't line up. GRRRRR! Our plywood has bowed a little so no wallpaper for us. Trevor will be back to drywalling over the holidays.

I'm having a good time teaching. I'm teaching Psych and Drama this quarter. I've had some good times teaching single parents about human dev't in Psych and playing drama games with some gang kids. That probably makes my job sound bad but, it is actually really rewarding.

I went to the W's girls Christmas baking spree on Saturday (thus the pictures). It was grand. Now, Trevor and I have a freezer filled with jam tarts, short bread and other kinds of goodies. :)

We're really thankful that we'll be able to do Christmas with both our families this year. My family's Christmas will be on the 24th and the W's Christmas will be on the 25th. We were dreading having to do 2 Christmases on one day. This works out so much better.

Merry Christmas!

November

I feel like we've happily settled into married life. We're starting to connect more with other young couples at our church and I'm starting to get used to my new routine.
Teaching has it's ups and downs. I really miss my academic students from Lanigan (yep... I consider them academic) however, I really like the impact I can have in some of my students' lives. We're almost done our first Quarter and soon I will be teaching Psych 30 and Drama 10. Yeah... classes I've already taught before! :) However, the trade off is that I don't actually have my own classroom anymore. That's a little hard for me to swallow but, I'll make it work.
I'm coaching Improv and I have 6 amazing students. We're competing in the Canadian Improv games coming up in December. It should be swell.
Trevor and I are going on a family holiday for the Remembrance Day weekend. My parents are flying Trevor and I, themselves as well as my brother and his girlfriend up to Edmonton (on AirMiles) for a week end of silliness. I'm pretty pumped. My mom and I are pretty excited about IKEA. We'll have some fun makin' memories!
Well, the Riders are playing the Stampeders in the Quarter Finals and I'd better go watch. Go Riders! Go!

Married Life

Well, life in our little blue house is swell. Every morning we wake up, drink some coffee and head off to our jobs.
Trevor is still working for for the feds. Somedays it's a really fun job and he gets to "investigate" farmers and their files. Other days, he wishes he can find something in HR (the field he trained for). Trevor's also pretty busy teaching Jr. Youth Sunday School and working for Big Brothers as their volunteer HR guy.
I started my job teaching at the beginning of the school year. Even though I am busy with extra-curr, my own marking and prep work, I am technically considered a sub. I'm working at an inner-city school and my heart is always breaking for the students I work with. I have really led a charmed life when I look at the realities of my students'. The challenges of teaching kids who are lacking skills, who's basic needs have not been met and who are constantly being bombarded by life complications (gangs, domestic violence, crime, single parenthood, pregnancies, STDs, need for income) are great. Please pray for my students if you get the chance.
We love being married. It's so great to walk around the park together, cuddle in front of the TV with, share meals with and snuggle at bed time with.

Wedding Pictures

We finally got our internet hook-up so now we can do a wedding photo update.
We've been married for a month and a half now and it is the best thing ever. I love being married to Trevor. We are both busy at work and at home. Our house is a work in progress. We're really happy with the results so far. It'll be really great to see how the rest goes.
Well, here are some wedding photos:

The countdown is on...

Well, pretty soon I'll be a Mrs. I can't believe that it's happening so fast. It's so funny, I've been getting a lot of phone calls lately and the most common questions are: "Are you nervous?" and "How are plans coming?" The first question is simple: no! I'm pumped about marrying Trevor. He's my world. I can hardly wait until the wedding is over and we can work on our little house together and start our lives together. As to the second question, plans are going well. We're done the programs and the favours and what we can do for the centrepieces. We have church decorating day tomorrow and tent decorating day on Friday. My mom and Trevor's mom have been amazing designers and I can hardly wait to see the finished product.
Sadly for me, I woke up on Monday with this terrible cold and I can barely talk. It makes life a little awkward. Hopefully I'll be able to talk loud enough by Saturday to say my vows. Ah well, that's what happens to teachers in the summers (they get sick because they don't have to book subs).
Well, Trevor is making supper for my best friend Shiya and I. Lucky us!

Soon and very soon

The countdown is on! Our wedding in less than a month away. Actually, in one month today, we'll be in BC on our honeymoon.
It was so exciting to begin wedding plans back in November. I had all these great and grandiose ideas. Now, I just want to be married!
School is almost over. I have 1 1/2 teaching days left and then finals, and then grad. Whew! On Canada Day, I'll be leaving little Lanigan. I'm getting sad to leave the kids and my staff. I'm really excited about this new chapter in my life but, I'm really going to miss things here.
Trevor is hard at work renovating our house. Buying an old house has its pros and cons. We've had some happy surprises (like finished hardwood floors under stinky carpet) and some little surprises that have been not so happy. It's hard being in Lanigan. I really wish I could help Trevor out more.
It's a little weird owning a house. As first time home owners (and people pleasers), Trevor and I are always finding that everyone who comes to our house has some ideas on what we should and shouldn't do. It's BIZARRE the amount of conflicting advice we've been given. It would have just been nicer if people asked us what our plans for the house were and then only given advice on things we were actually asking about. Ah, but I don't think life works that way. Oh well. This is just part of the home-buying adventure.
If you have had any good home-reno adventures, Trevor and I would LOVE to hear about them. We need other people's adventures to inspire us and to remind us that renos are always a gong-show. :)

When it rains... it showers

Happy birthday to us on this rainy day in June. Today, I am 27. Wow! Trevor's B-day is on Thursday. It's a busy time for us. On Saturday, we took possession of our little home. It's sooo cute and we absolutely love it. However, we have our work cut out for us. In the morning, we lovingly explored our new home and did little jobs like line shelves and look at paint colours.

In the afternoon, we thought we'd do a little cleaning (silly us, we thought people actually clean their houses when they move out...)! I started wiping down the baseboards and realized, to my horror, that what I had initially thought was a little dust was really animal hair. The baseboards were covered in thick dark animal fur (2 cats and 1 dog lived there before us). BLECH! I think that there have also been some "accidents" on our carpet... thus the odd odour. Trevor took out the central vac and started to vacuum up the the fur. As he was vacuuming, I started smelling a hot cat smell. It turned out that the central vac was full of animal fur. Ew! Trevor cleaned it out and we're thinking about replacing the filter. It's a good thing neither of us have allergies.

Although kind of gross, this is really a small thing. We're okay with some hard core carpet cleaning and maybe lifting some of the carpet. We're also picking out paint colours and we'll eventually start that process as well. I know that I'd love a "ready-to-move-in" home but, I also recognize that good things take time (that's why they are good). We're ready to learn to make our home our own.

Also this weekend, I had my second bridal shower. The first was really small and silly. It was my staff shower and I wasn't the only bride so it was pretty easy. This shower was at Parliament. It was really wonderful. The ladies who planned did such a good job and I felt so cared for and loved. My goodness, I was overwhelmed with gifts. I can't believe that people (some I barely know) were so willing to go out of their way to provide Trevor and I with some material things that we really need right now. It was really awesome.

So, it was a chaotic weekend. One of many so far. However, we're getting closer to being married. I hope that we'll have pictures of our cute house that we can show you soon.

Preparing for the big move...

Now that we have bought our house, we're waiting for our big move-in day. I (Jill) have started to slowly dismantle my classroom and my apartment. I officially resigned from Lanigan High (sigh). I s'pose I'll have to start letting go of life in LaLaLaLanigan. My kids and staff have meant so much to me; it'll be hard.
Trevor and I have been busy getting this wedding ready. I'm glad that the invites are finally out. We're starting to get a trickle of yes and no answers. Thanks. That's helping us figure out numbers.
Lastly, the play is a week and a half away. YEAH! The kids are doing a stellar job but, I'm tired. Poor Trevor has to deal with a Jill on the verge of breakdown every few days. I'm not keeping up with my school work as much as I'd like and I'm missing out on my runs. Ah, this too will pass.
Ciao!

The pieces are coming together!

Hi!
This is Trevor and I'd just like to clarify some things about this wedding blog. First of all, all of the entries below this one are written by Jill. So yeah, I haven't gone on a vacation to Mexico with a friend named Shiya or enjoyed wedding dress shopping with my mom (even though the entries have my name below all of them). Second of all, I'm excited that you've taken the time to come to this blog to read about myself and Jill.

This has been a very exciting week for Jill and myself. On Saturday we spent more money than any other day of our lives. We bought wedding bands for each other. (that was really fun, we customized them together and they're going to look great!) We also bought a house! The house is a 3-bedroom 1050 square-foot bungalow. It has a detached, insulated, two and a half car garage. And it's right near the Park. Jill and I are really excited about moving in together there. And we're both getting ready to be homeowners by visiting Home Depot at least three times a month! I'm also trying to learn about different colors like mauve and burgandy. And Jill is getting me really excited about doing "man things" like removing stipple and painting.

Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to check out this blog. Jill and I would really appreciate any comments you have about first-time houses, or anything else for that matter. If you leave a comment, I guarantee that you'll make Jill and myself very happy. And I promise to stop stalking other blogs and start leaving comments myself. I love you all. Have a great day!

Trevor

Wouldn't It Be Nice? - The Beach Boys

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long
And wouldn’t it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
You know it’s gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through
Happy times together we’ve been spending
I wish that every kiss was neverending
Wouldn’t it be nice
Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do
We could be married
And then we’d be happy
Wouldn’t it be nice
You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But let's talk about it
Wouldn’t it be nice
:)

Happily overwhelmed...

We're happily overwhelmed at this point. We're working out invitation ideas (of which there are plenty... yet nothing concrete), working on flowers, favours and rentals. Ahhh... if it were just the wedding.
I have committed myself co-directing a full length play that will take place the last week-end of May. There are 17 actors. It's hilarious. If anyone is around Lanigan around this time, I highly recommend a quality evening show. (I realize that most people reading this are far, far away for Lanigan. It'd be a cool road trip!)
Trevor and I met with a realtor this past weekend and we are starting to house hunt. I love it but it's scary. There's so many things to know (and we just don't... we are trying to learn quick). This coming Saturday, we're going on a parade of homes in our price range. Should be fun.
We're also trying to work full-time, coordinate family things, job hunt (ah yes, I'll be knocking on public school doors) and date long distance. On that note, if we seem like neglectful friends or, if you think we've fallen off the face of the Earth, sorry... we're just happily overwhelmed.
The picture is of us at Blue Mountain (North Battleford) where we chaperoned my Outdoor Ed winter adventure a few weekends ago.
If you have any house-hunting tips you'd like to share, leave a comment.

Caterer Debate - Your Feedback

Officially, we're at the 1/2 way point until we're Mr. and Mrs. YEAH!

We've decided to hire Charlotte's Catering for the reception. They have 2 basic meal choices: turkey dinner or roast beef. We still need to decide which people would like better. We'd really appreciate some feedback to help us with our decision. Leave a comment and let us know which you'd prefer.
Thanks!

Dresses and flowers and Dave... oh my!

Every week-end has become an opportunity to tackle a new project. Trevor's ingenius sleuthing helped us track down an awesome caterer and a very creative photographer (for a really great read, check out our photographer's bio at http://business.accesscomm.ca/oktoberrevolution/main.html).
This past week-end, I went material shopping for the girls' very elegant dresses. I think that a nice shade of periwinkle is divine. We're making the dresses in hopes to save our girls some moolah.
Mom and I checked out a flower shoppe. We wandered in on "bride-day". Yikes! Weddings can either be really elegant or really, really cheesy. My goodness! After sifting through some pictures of the "cheese", we had an idea of what would work.
Pastor Dave has been real swell to take pre-marital counselling from. He's so down to earth and practical and wise. We've really appreciated our sessions with him. We've learned our "love languages" (to find out more about your's, see http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/). We've also talked through some potential "issues" like family planning, individual time and couple time, finances and household chores. All in all, it's been very good.
We'd love to get any suggestions you have about cool invitation ideas.

Bridal Convention in Mexico

Due to the serious stress caused by all the wedding plans, I have decided to attend a relaxing Bridal convention in Mexico. No gentlemen allowed (sorry Trev) so, my best friend (and maid of honour) Shiya and I will have to go. We'll attend such sessions like:
1) lay on a beach and read novels
2) work on tans (remember those tan lines need to match wedding dresses)
3) plan the girly stagette
4) snorkel (to see if any of the tropical fish would make good centerpieces... or guests)
5) giggle
6) check out the local market in case I find the china pattern of my dreams and,
7) eat fresh fruit.

Ah, it is a rough life for this bride-to-be on her winter break. I hope that Shiya and I can survive our Mexican Bridal Convention.
Adios...

Bridezilla

Yesterday, I went to a Wedding Expo with my mom and my lovely bridesmaid Tif. It was a really good experience. I got some good ideas, picked up a few freebies and ate all the cake samples I could.
I also met my nemesis: Bridezilla. I knew that she was out there lurking. I just didn't know when or how I'd meet her.
In university, I worked in a floral store and I dealt with a lot of brides. Some were a little high-strung and others were down-right nutty. I made a promise to myself that when the time came for my wedding, I would be calm and focused on my marriage, not just the wedding day. No Bridezilla-Jill! However, walking through the bridal expo, I came up to a photography booth and she appeared in my head: Bridezilla. I was looking at this fabulous wedding book. It was a digitally produced album that was gorgeous. My scrapbooker's heart was in love with it. All these beautiful pictures done up as the story of Jill and Trevor.... and only for $3000. I didn't even choke at the price, I just ooohed and aaahhed. Sure sign of Bridezilla taking over. I realized what was happening and ate another wedding cake sample, took a deep breath and went over to a cheesy invitation printing booth to clear my head. Slowly, Bridezilla disappeared and my frugal self came back.
Of course, there will be no $3000 wedding book in my future and I am good with that (although, it was gorgeous). I'd love to think that that was my one-time meeting with Bridezilla but, I have this sad feeling she may be back... around the time of invitation creation or flower selection. Erg...

Christmas 2005

We had a busy Christmas. We managed to fit in 4 Christmas feasts as well as a trip to "Menno"toba to visit Trevor's family.
We're excited for what 2006 has for us! Next Christmas we'll be married!

Planning... and still planning...

As a teacher, I spend much of my life planning. However, a wedding is a little absurd in the amount of little details that need attention.
This Christmas, Trevor and I spent some time (while we were not feasting) getting some details organized. The guest list is a scary thing. 353 people on it? AHHH! I feel like I need a scalpel and a lot of morphine to make some painful cuts.
I also found a dress. My mom and I spent a few days shopping in town and then we were off to MJ with my Aunt Leone and we found the perfect one. It's really simple and elegant (yes Trevor, with poofy sleeves and a high collar and a hoop skirt).
As the six month mark draws closer, we're getting more and more excited. :)