Back in the Saddle Again

I recently caught Sleepless in Seattle on tv and it brought me back to being a kid. I used to watch that movie every day when I was like 4. I don't know why but I've always loved that movie. Anyway I titled this "Back in the Saddle Again" because we're back at regular life again. School year, xc season, dallin's living and working here again. That one scene where tom hanks is calling to ask a girl on a date they play that song, so that's why I thought of it.

Happy 4 Year Anniversary to Us!

I cannot believe how time has flown since this day. Time's weird. It feels like it's been forever and so much has changed, but it also feels like just yesterday.

All I know is, we're besties and he makes life fun :)

Cutie Jo

She is so funny. 

Eagle Days

Before school started we had Eagle days and lots of training. I got my room all decorated and it is so cute!

 We were still having xc practices and I got to see the track trophies from state last year when they were first delivered because I was interviewing the assistant coaches for xc. We hired one guy and he quit. That's been super annoying.

 Jake likes the Greatest showman soundtrack :)

 This was when we were on our way to get groomed :)

 Night Swimming with Dallin

 First Day of School for the 4th time

Dallin left me a letter by the coffee machine  because that has become our tradition on the first day of school. It starts off the school year on a good note and calms me down on the first day. There's my awkward first day of school picture too. lol 

 The Flanigans are Here

They're officially here now! We went to frozen yogurt this night and when we were in there it was a terrible storm. The power went out and we went home to find that our power was out too! It was a hard night because it was so hot. I tried to sleep on the floor because the tile was cooler, then we just went out and slept in the car for a while. The power came back on but not until like 3am. I was so tired the next day.

 This was us just chilling with candles because we had no light.

 My dad helped us put up a new barn door and take out our old flooring and put in carpet.

We had to wait for the carpet to be installed so we had our entire bedroom out in the living room so this was jake sleeping in the thing that was supposed to slide under the bed normally lol

Running Adventures!

We seriously go on adventures haha We will sometimes be running and just say I wonder what's that way and then just go. It's bad that I do that because then sometimes people get lost, but I can't help myself it is so fun! So we've found a few new routes this year so far and it's been good. (Besides the one time we were chased by a tractor out of a field. lol)

 

Floating the River with Gianna & Nick

This was their first time going and it was so fun!

 The only problem is that I forgot to put sunscreen on my chest. I put it everywhere else!

 I was trying to take a picture of Dallin jumping off the cliff but it ended up looking like I was taking a picture of the fat ladies that were by us. lol Dallin is that speck flying in the background.

August Bunco

We were short of course.... 

still fun to be social and see my friends. Just thinking of doing games instead of a game where you have to rely on a certain number going. 

 Once they started calling it the "sorority squat" and I realized there is no purpose if there's no one behind you, I decided I wasn't going to do that. But now it just looks like I'm the awkward one in the photo lol

Notes from the sweet students

I love the students I teach so much. They're so good because they all chose to come to the school, they had to get in, and on top of that they chose my class. So they're all motivated, kind, and hard working. It's the best. Plus I have 2 student aides!

 Dads get stuff done

I had been waiting for the maintenance guy at my school to hang up my white board for months, so finally I just had my dad and dallin do it. haha it's so sad that that one guy can't just do his job. But it was so nice of my dad to come up and help with a bunch of stuff. He took off these old doors, replaced our oven, and helped trim out the windows with Dallin. 

 Jake 

When my dad was here he forgot and left the gate open, so Jake ran away. Luckily we found him. 

We had some concerns about Jake's health because he has a growth on his knee, constantly licks his paws, and his hair changed color in certain spots. Long story short, we don't know but most likely the growth is benign. He has really bad environmental allergies and we're giving him medicine.
This was us at the vet.

 Dallin's a traveling guy

He has left like 10 times in the last 2 months. Here are his wing photos. It could be worse, but I still don't love it when he leaves. The team doesn't even believe that he exists.

He said he liked how green Tennessee was.

Adorable KidsTom sent Jake these boots for his birthday present :)

Best team at the school.  

Love these peeps. Our team captains are working so hard this year to make sure we do well. 

 Look how funny these boys are haha

 We work hard and play hard too

Yes, they take song requests.

It's hard work getting here so early every morning and running but you come to love it. 

 Game Night with the Girls

Raeanna, Lexi, Gianna and I played Scattergories and laughed and the hundred dogs Lexi's watching lol 

 Shoe Fitting Fundraiser

The shoe fitting was a successful fundraiser and it also helped our team have the gear they need so they don't get injured. 

 This is me and the store owner. He was awesome.

 Me and dallin both got new running shoes and went running together sunday morning. It was really fun!

 Pool Days

Happy Labor day! We swam- shocker I know. Lol having a pool is my favorite.

 We were having several contests this day. We raced each other on the floater's and this bet was who could stay on their knees on the float-ey longest. I won obviously hahaha Dallin clearly struggled.

This our newly found fav song

Teaching Dance

I seriously love teaching dance so much. I thought i liked PE but dance is way way better. I have such a cute yellow and gray room too.

  This is the dance that the beginners learned for their ballet unit. haha when I was trying to make the video I forgot what was next. Plus I'm rusty and old. lol 

 Yoga with Gianna

She had never gone before! We went to dinner afterward and laughed so hard. She is so funny!

 Baby Shower at Work

Everyone I know is having babies.

Cross country team dinner and meets

Janae braids all the girls hair before school and after practice. She has been the best assistant coach and Idk what I'd do without her.
Our team dinner was so fun. Even though they partied hard we still did great in the meet.

Date Night Out 

We went to a place where you can order dinner and they bring it to your seat and we saw crazy rich asians. Kindof cliche, a little cute, kindof been there done that. The food was also overpriced. But overall it was fun to try it.

Semi-annual PTC pictures

We didn't have that many people come, but we always have to have our parent teacher conferences photo shoot lol 

 Our rooms are right next door to each other but we're both so busy now days that we don't see each other that often. It's crazy busy but so fun.

 Well I guess that's it for now. It seems like there's a ton missing from this because it's been so long, but that's all the pics I got. Dallin is sick right now, Brian visited a few days ago, and my dad got a house here and sold his Nebraska house.
We're happy and doing well, just busy. When we've gotten overwhelmed, Dallin showed me this video and it helps keep things in perspective.

The new AD at the school gave me the advice that in every class period every day you need to do something that you yourself will enjoy. If you're enjoying yourself then the students will be too. So that was also inspiring because sometimes it turns into mundane repetition if you're not careful. Not that it has yet, but I could see that happening near the end of the year. 

Dance 1 is starting Jazz on Monday! woohoo!

-Sydney