So the weather did not have the same plans as me about networking yesterday. School was cancelled due to ice. I have made some phone calls to find out that the principal started scheduling interviews on Monday, and that a decision will not be made until after the break. I hope she decides to interview me!

On the home front, we found a new home for Jake. He has been really naughty lately. Ryan spent some time doing research on beagles, and they are a breed that require A LOT of training. If said training is not done, you will have a devil dog on your hands. He was in no way that bad………..YET!

My mom’s best friend was interested in him when we first got him. She came over and had an immediate bond with him. She stays at home and will have the time to invest in making him the best dog he can be. I already miss his soft ears and playful run, but it’s best for everyone.

LOL! Exciting news on the teaching front!

I have a habit of checking the current openings websites of almost every school district in my area. I especially check the McKinney ISD website almost daily since that is ideally where I would like to end up. My persistence might actually pay off. An open kindergarten position was listed TODAY! I confirmed with HR that is was a position for this year and not next fall. I’m thinking that this position will start in January.

I started making calls immediately. The principal at Jenn’s school is going to call on my behalf. Also, Jenn’s school is sister schools with this school. The kindergarten teams do training together. On top of that, two of the teachers on Jenn’s team (that I worked with back in September) have taught with two of the teachers at this school. They are going to put in a good word for me too.

Funny thing about that training that they do together. They have one scheduled this Tuesday, and it’s hosted at Jenn’s school. I just happen to be substitute teaching for Jenn while she is at this training! She’s going to introduce me to a few teachers from that team on Tuesday morning.

AND, I emailed my resume to the assistant principal and almost immediately got a response back. Here it is:
“Thank you for your interest in McKinney ISD and our campus.  We are beginning the process of reviewing applications online.  I will include your resume to review. Thank you and good luck with your future endeavors.”

Could my time of waiting be over? Is it finally God’s timing for me to step into what He has gifted and prepared my heart to do? I’m trying to not get too excited, but this just seems like fate and His will. Be praying for me!

Jenn, Jaque, and I braved the Black Friday shopping to get some awesome deals. We started at Kohl’s at 4am. It was sprinkling at Kohl’s as we waited in line. Nothing too bad with our umbrella. After standing in line for about 30 minutes to just check out, we headed out to Target. We originally want to go to Toys ‘R Us, but the lines at Kohl’s took way too much time.

This is when it started to POUR. We let two other people get under my huge Blue Angels umbrella. We still got wet though. After Target we hit up GameStop, JoAnn’s, the Mattel Store, JCPenney’s, and a few other stores in the mall. We also made a stop and McDonald’s and Starbucks!

All of this before 1pm. We were exhausted, and we had so much fun visiting and laughing!

Here we are at the Mattel Store. Not bad for tired, wet, and no makeup! LOL!

And, here’s our knight in shining armor, Jon. He met us to unload some of our packages from the Jeep (and to see just how much Jaque was going to spend at the Mattel Store!)

As I’ve been asked by people over the past week why I get up so early to go shopping, I’ve come up with two reasons.

1. I have more time than money! It is worth it to get up for the great Christmas gift deals for me.
2. I have so much fun with my girlies! Even if I had no shopping to do, I would still go. I treasure this time we spend together bonding. It’s a tradition I plan to continue for many years to come.

So let me know next year if you want to join us! It will be an experience you will not forget!

Today this sweet boy is five months old.

He is such a good baby. Now he has two teeth, and he bites when he gets frustrated. He has started to giggle and yell. He loves the dogs, especially Charlie. He spends lots of time watching them walk around the house. Jordan also got his first taste of baby food over the past month. Green beans were his first. After he ate them, Jon took a bite and gagged. He kept saying, “I’m sorry Jordan! This tastes like chalk.”

This photo I call “Comfort.” Jordan loves his pacifier and lovey. He has a puppy one too. He rubs his little face with it or covers his eyes when he’s ready to go to sleep.

Man I love this little guy. He has his Aunt Brooke gladly wrapped around his finger.

We had an amazing Thanksgiving at our house. Everyone relaxed, visited, and enjoyed some good food. And to top it all off, there was NO drama!

Ryan took a stab at frying a turkey this year. I have one word….AWESOME! It was the best. I’ve had fried turkey before, but never like this.

Just look at that yummy fried goodness. Jordan was sad that he didn’t get any turkey this year.

He did get to have sweet potato baby food though! He thought that was pretty yummy! Next year he will get to have Aunt Brooke’s sweet potatoes and maybe one of those cute turkeys! Thanks for the idea Amy! Check out her blog here for other great and crafty ideas. Jaque did a great job of putting these together.

At the end of the day, I really felt like it was the best Thanksgiving ever. I am so blessed!

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is my all time favorite Christmas movie. We watched it the day after Thanksgiving to usher in the season (after naps from shopping at 4am of course). Here’s one of my favorite scenes.

Well, last night we were all sitting around watching Fringe, and Jake starting howling nonstop as he ran across the living room towards the kitchen with his tail between his legs. At first we thought he had gotten in a fight with another dog. Then we realized that he was all alone.

Jaque said, “I bet he was chewing on the Christmas tree.” Sure enough, one of the branches of our new tree was not shining with it’s little white lights. That dumb dog electrocuted himself! After we all determined that he was alright, we laughed! Merry Christmas!