JULY

We spent the afternoon at my mom's for 4th of July and then headed to Lilli and Cece's house for dinner and fireworks.  I don't really care for fireworks but the girls loved them.  Cece loved the poppers and Lilli wanted everything!

The girls and I enjoyed our first trip to the MK Nature Center.  So much fun.

 We love summer and spending time in the water.  The girls loved helping Marcel wash my car.

Our July envelope date was to hike Jump Creek.  We were both prepared for a much longer hike but still had a great time.  Even though this sign warning us about rattlesnakes made me really nervous!  Now that we know what to expect we are going to take Lilli and Cece since we know they'll be able to make the hike and will love the waterfall.  Marcel and I didn't swim but enjoyed walking through the stream on our way back out to the car.  I don't feel like I'm a particularly big nature girl but being there reminded me that I do enjoy it once I get out in it.

The girls and I were at Albertsons one day and Lilli noticed the fair rides getting set up and begged to go.  The fair isn't my favorite thing, because the rides make me sick and they are so expensive, but when Marcel found out that it was free on the opening day from 12-2pm before the rides were ready we decided to go.  We saw lots of animals and made a quick trip through the exhibits.

 All of the pigs were sleeping when we were walking through so when we'd ask Cece what a pig says she'd pretend snore!

On our way back to the car Lilli noticed that her sunhat in her shadow looked like a cowboy hat.  "Look, I'm a cow girl ready for the fair."

And after we got back home, we all enjoyed the fudgesicles Lilli and I made the day before.  I love finding recipes for treats that are a bit healthier than the alternatives.

Marcel got asked to be the stage manager (or a similar position) the God & Country Festival at the Idaho Center before the 4th of July, which he normally does as a volunteer, but this year they were going to pay him!  And it has led to a lot of work.  The Village in Meridian has a 8 week concert series on Friday nights and Marcel is now working them.  He also worked at a company conference in a Boise hotel and spent the last week of July in Bend working at the county fair.  It has been a big sacrifice to give up so many hours of his precious time off during the summer but we are so grateful for the work.  He really enjoys it even though the days are so long (the concerts are about 14 hour days outside in the heat)

We also continued to train for our 10K.  I'm at about 4-4.5 miles on the way to 6.2 and Marcel is just a little behind.  His crazy work schedule has slowed his training down just a bit but we still have 9 weeks left.  He'll be ready by race day!

Dear Marcel

Marcel,

I hope your first day of school went well today.  I've loved the time I have gotten to spend with you as you walk around the classroom trying to decide if everything is just perfect.  Those 90+ kids are so lucky to have you as their teacher!

I'm so proud of how hard you have worked to get to this day.  It wasn't always a bump-free ride but we made it here together and now you are doing what you've always wanted to do.  How many people get to do that?

Thank you for continually putting me ahead of everything else on your over flowing plate.  It means the world to me!

Love,
MaryBeth

River, Park, Sleeping & Ice Skating

Wow, I need to blog after every picture worthy happening, instead of having to combine so many things into one super lost post.  Here goes nothing!
Marcel got a job and we decided to celebrate.  We floated the Boise River, something I hadn't done since high school and something we'd never done together.  It was a great afternoon spent together just talking.  We also discovered that I'm the worst paddler ever.  Well, I can paddle just fine if Marcel tells me what direction to paddle.  I can't paddle on my own to keep us from running into trees and rocks.

A few Friday's ago, Marcel and I took Lilli swimming at the pool in my mom's subdivision.  It didn't last long before she needed a major diaper changing, so once we were done, we stopped at their little park.  She climbed to the top to go down the slide but then never would go down it, but she loved the binoculars and kept saying "I see you".

Lilli isn't really smiling (maybe we had told her it was time to go) but I love this picture!

We took Lilli with us to Marcel's classroom to start getting things set-up.  I thought I wouldn't get anything done because she was there and would want too much attention, but she was actually very helpful, so helpful in fact that she barely made it out of the parking lot before falling asleep...

 Saturday, August 20th was teacher appreciation day, and Marcel went and was appreciated.  A bag full of wonderful classroom supplies!

That same day was also free ice skating day, and you better believe we went.  It was free, after all, and that definitely fits in our budget :)  Just like when we went roller skating, I really struggled at first, but eventually got the hang of it.  Marcel, of course, is like a professional, especially compared to me.

Tomorrow is September 1st and that is the day I officially start counting down the days until my birthday.  And this year it is my golden birthday.  I think that is cause for a extra big celebration!

Mr. Bailey and other news

As of about 10:30am this morning, Marcel signed his very first teaching contract!!

The day of Hannah's wedding, her photographer told us the school she worked at had a part-time band teacher position open.  She gave us the email address that would get his resume directly into the right hands.  His resume went in Saturday, and even without the application they sent back to him to complete being done, he had an interview yesterday morning.  Only about 3 hours later, he was offered and accpeted the position.

We're very happy about this position and now that it is just right for Marcel at this time.  It serves as yet another reminder that God does have a plan for us.  When we felt like we needed to turn down the job he was offered in Boise, it was hard and neither of us understood it, but now all the pieces of our puzzle (at least in regards to Marcel's employment) fit together!

In other news, here is what we've been up to, at least what we have pictures to show for.  And yes, some of them are very old!

We met Marcel's mom in Kennewick after having Snoh for 3 weeks.  We have always talked about being able to take a drive when we're not in a hurry to get to where we're going or coming home, so on the way home we decided to stop at the viewpoint near Pendelton.  It was so beautiful!  On a side note, while driving with Snoh, he said, "Hey, we're in the desert.  I think I'm going to see the pyramids soon."  He wasn't too bummed when we informed him that we weren't going to Egypt!

We saw Harry Potter 7, Part 2 and LOVED it, after Marcel had to tell the people in front of us to stop talking.  Really, they were having a full on conversation.  We waited until after the movie for our picture, but still Marcel didn't want a flash, so you can't really see either of us.  This same day we enjoyed PF Changs & TGI Friday's appetizers with some wonderful coupons!

We went to the Boys & Girls Club night at the Boise Hawks game with free tickets Marcel got at work.  It had been a long time since I'd seen a baseball game and we had a great time.

And Miss Lilli has become quite the reader, even wanting to read Marcel's super boring sound tech magazines.  Even more, she's become quite the posing queen.  I only had her 1 day this week and Marcel and I are both missing her like crazy. 

An Afternoon Spent at Petco

Today, Lilli and I met my mom for lunch at KFC/A&W.  I've always wondered if Lilli remembers my mom since there is often so much time between visits, but today it didn't matter.  She received such a warm greeting.  Lilli enjoyed plenty of french fries, but only after she dipped them in ranch, Wende's iced tea, NOT my lemonade and a chocolate pudding dessert, my mom just had to buy her, since she is in a far-off, very distant, way her grandbaby.

Then we headed to Old Navy to spend a $10 gift card I had and in a very unusual fashion after Lilli was out of the cart, she decided to walk on her own, as opposed to being carried.  She made it in front of PetCo and when the automatic door opened, she walked in like she'd done it a million times.  She found a cart just her size and began pushing it around.  She didn't not appreciate my hand on the silver pole helping to steer her, but I did it anyway because I'm the adult and I didn't want to cause any crashes :)

The first animal we found was a cage full of rats, and I really didn't know if she saw/noticed them, but she definitely saw the ferret in the next cage and didn't like it, which Marcel blamed on the fact that I don't like them.  Then we saw a huge display of books, (in the picture above) all of which had pictues of dogs on them, so Lilli began barking at them (She can tell you what a kitty cat, puppy, and cow says; when we read one of her books she moo's at the zebras, which I LOVE; and she's close to knowing monkey & snake even without the pictures from her books).  Then we saw a real-life dog and Lilli just froze, got super excited and blew kisses at it; she blows kisses when you say "I Love You" to her.  Guess she loved the dog.

She LOVED the fish, and enjoyed talking back to the singing birds.  She was also amazed by the turtles that would come up from out of the water, rest on a rock and then swim away.  I don't know how she feels about reptiles, because, while I can handle ferrets in a cage, reptiles and I aren't very good friends!

This was the first time around the store and only seconds before she was at the tank.  She wasn't afraid!

We had made it around the stores about 3 times, each time stopping by the adoption center and looking at the kitties, but the first 2 times they were all sleeping.  On our last visit the 2 in the bottom cages (just at her level!) we awake and sort-of interested in playing.  Lilli blew them plenty of kisses, and even gave them a few real kisses (through the cage and never getting all the way to the cage).  She waved hi and meowed at them, and stared at them as if in confusion as to why they weren't also meowing.

We had a great time getting out of the house and doing something fun!  We'll definitely be going back for more excitement :)

PS:  I used my phone to take these pictures so I could send them to Lilli's mom so I apologize for their poor quality.  I really need to remember to start using my real camera more often

PPS: I LOVE that I labeled this post "Jobs".  I was in fact working during this trip and I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful job!

In Our Life

A whole month without blogging.  Not typical for me.

We haven't taken any pictures, so that must mean we haven't done anything too exciting, so in summary...

MaryBeth
*Still absolutely loves Miss Lilliana to pieces!  She's 14 months old and the things she is picking up on is fascinating.  She's officially walking (she's been able to walk for awhile, but it has finally overtaken crawling as the primary mode of transportation).  It should also be noted that when I first started watching her, when she was 5 months old, she served as great birth control for me, but those days are long gone!  more about this at the bottom of the post!
*Started working at Michael's as a seasonal employee and is already counting down until January 1st, when she is "let go".  Even if offered to become a regular employee, that is not happening!  It is good for our budget to have this other job, but it is not good for my sanity (and therefore Marcel's) for me to dislike it as much as I do.
*Is just about caught up with scrapbooking for 2010 and is VERY happy about that accomplishment.  I haven't printed pictures from our trip to Yellowstone but I think I'll wait until the holidays are over to consolidate orders.
*Has started a countdown to Marcel's graduation and as of today we're only 179 days away!
Marcel
*Is in his last week of student teaching in his elementary school placement.  His cooperating teacher has a VERY different teaching philosophy and style from Marcel but he's made it through just fine.  Now he's just got to put the big work sample together so he can get licensed, which can't officially happen until after the next round of student-teaching.
*Looking forward to his next placement, which allows him to be in a middle school AND a high school because that's what his cooperating teacher teaches.  This is the same teacher he worked with when he was helping with the marching band.
*Still keeps plenty busy volunteering at church on the sound team and the worship team playing drums.  He loves it, but I'm selfish and hate having him gone Wednesday nights for practice.

We're both very excited for Christmas.  We are still on the hunt for a gift for each of our mothers and Marcel to get my presents, but I'm done and it feels wonderful.  Our tree is up and decorated and while I had hopes of hanging more lights in our house, I don't think that will happen.  And by working at Michael's I've become jealous about not having decorations for our house but realize it is just stuff and we're only spending money to pay our bills (and finish Christmas shopping); everything else is out of the budget for now, because...

We've decided to go on a cruise in June, after Marcel graduates.  We're not entirely sure where we're going, but I'm pulling for Mexico.  And it is still very tentative because even though we'd be able to pay for it in CASH (the only way we'll vacation or pay for anything now, thank you Dave Ramsey!), we may need the money for savings if Marcel is unable to find a job or if we need it for moving expenses, which could add up fast if we move to the other side of the country :)  And we'd totally be okay with that.  Yes, we'd be terribly sad to move away from family but trust that God will move us to where we need to be.  So it is still up in the air, but for now it has been great motivation to not spend money and it feels wonderful that I haven't swiped my debit card in a few weeks!

When I put the cruise plans on facebook as just a BIG celebration to being done with school, my sister started a bad thing saying she was hoping for a nephew and then people went crazy telling me how great of a mom I'll be, etc.  There is still no Bailey Baby in the picture!  Marcel came home from school (his college) one day and had a classmate very upset and just wanting it all to be done because her kids asked her when she'd spend time with them again.  It made me realize how happy I am that we've decided to wait at least until Marcel is done with school.  We struggle to spend enough time together with his hectic schedule and couldn't imagine adding a baby to the mix.  We talk about it like we talked about and planned our wedding before we were even engaged, just knowing it is coming sometime in the future.  After June 4th, we'll start praying for God's guidance and know that we'll become a family of 3 (or 4, if my mom gets her wish of me having twins) at just the right time!

Back to School

Marcel left just a few minutes ago for his last first day of class, as a student that is.  His program was so generous to give him the month of August off, which sounds lovely, except when you think they only go once a week anyway, so it wasn't too much of a break.  I guess the no homework thing is the nice part!  He has hated reading on facebook about everyone packing up to head back to school and not being able to do it too.  I told him he could if he felt like it but I was staying here :)  He reasoned his rearranging not only the living room, but also our bedroom and his corner of the hobby room, by saying "well it's like getting a new place like I've been doing at this time of year for the last years."

He gets to meet his pedagogy teacher tonight.  That's the guy (maybe girl, I don't really know) that is going to teach him specifically about teaching music.  He is STOKED to finally be in a class more directly focused on what he wants to do, but that doesn't mean he hasn't thoroughly enjoyed all the other general classes.

He only has 2 more months of classes before getting in a classroom to start student teaching.  He is in an elementary school from November 1st until whenever the school breaks for Christmas and then in an high school for the spring term. 

He's very excited for the schools he was placed in and I'm counting down until June to see him look so handsome in another cap & gown!  And for us to be able to spend a Thursday night together.  And to know where we are going to live.  We're 100% open to searching in all 50 states to find a job, because graduation means student loan payments which can't get paid without a job.  A job is very important!

Speaking of that, I'm still in search for a job.  A few months ago I was totally sold on trying to find a full-time job and give up Miss Lilli, but now it just about breaks my heart to think about not watching her anymore.  I have been very surprised about how much I've enjoyed her baby stage (I knew I could handle watching her, but I've always been a little afraid of babies!), but she is just about to the age I just absolutely love.  I can't give up now :) so I am now open to find a part-time job for the evenings.  Just something to make up the difference of Marcel not working as of November 1st. 

I'm off to do some shopping to help me feel better about being alone for the first time in quite awhile, at least with school being the reason!

Dress-Up

Every Friday, the Boys & Girls Club of Ada County (Marcel's place of employment for the summer) has a themed dress-up day. Marcel is super excited about all of them. The only rule I've given him is that he can't buy anything for his costumes, because his job cannot be costing us money, it has to be earning us money!

As of now, there are have been 2 days. I don't have words for the photos, I think they say plenty enough on their own!

NERDS
(there may have been a more PC term!)


BLUE

The blue snuggie-turned-cape is hiding the fact that the shirt you see is a tank-top and he was wearing a blue shirt with sleeves underneath that

Priceless

Are there any words for a picture like this?

All in a hard day of work (oh, and Marcel's artistic photographs)

Sleepy Time

This is my new job!

Doesn't it look peaceful?!?

I didn't know Marcel was taking pictures, but when we got home from the concert and put pictures on my computer, I found these. He's so sneaky, but he's still worth keeping around!!

My Hardworking Husband

Today as I was cleaning the living room, I straightened up Marcel's pile of school stuff. It has a designated cubby under our coffee table, but I had never realized just how much work he does each week.

(his school cubby is where that paper is)

As you can tell, he has 6 books that he has been reading this week. He's currently enrolled in two classes, but is presenting his final today for 1 of them, but being done with that class will only remove the book on the bottom of this pile! The good thing about George Fox is that your books are included in our tuition so just about every week when he goes to class he come home with a handful of new books. He also has a designated shelf on our bookcase to store the ones that he is not currently using.

Finding this today made me realize how hard he is really working. On top of subbing about 3 days a week, he has homework like crazy to keep him plenty busy. Also, the night before I FINALLY put in my 2 weeks to Banana Republic, I told him that I hated working there. I understand that there will always be period where you don't feel like going to work, but I had gotten to the point where I dreaded it everytime. I started dreading it each night when I went to bed if I had to work in the morning. He said that he didn't want me to feel that way and insisted that I quit, even if it meant he'd have to work 5 days a week. He's just that supportive :) I'm a pretty lucky gal. Good thing for Marcel, I will be babysitting a 5 month old in our house starting March 22nd, so I won't be staying at home doing nothing while he is out working and then coming home to do homework!

Taxi Drivers, Landlords, and New Bosses!

Marcel has subbed 6 days now and has been an instructional aide (at Desert Springs Elem, Sage Valley MS), PE teacher (Birch Elem, Vallivue HS), 1st grade teacher (Central Canyon Elem) and an Alternative School teacher (Vallivue Academy). He has loved each of them, even if he was a bit nervous going back to first grade. They have each provided many wonderful opportunities for him. Like today at Sage Valley, he wasn't really needed as the classroom aide, so he was able to meet the Band teacher and even conduct the jazz band! At Birch, he was able to meet the music teacher who has now personally requested him to sub in her classroom for 3 different days! Back to the original point of my post.

Being a substitute teacher is quite an art form. I learned that from a guy I worked with at the gym. Because of what Dan taught be about subbing, this is our nightly routine:

Check the sub site multiple times throughout the night, and right before bed. Wake up at 4am to check the site again in hopes of there being an opening to claim before the calls start going out to fill spots last minute. Return to bed until needing to be up to get ready for the big day of work!
(last night was the first time Marcel had a job prior to going to bed)

That alone is quite an art, but we also do one more thing nightly:

We call/text the people pictured above to see if Marcel can be driven to work in the morning.

This is how awesome they are: we are able to put them "on-call" to take him all the mornings that I am at work and they get him to wherever he needs to go. Marcel just calls them at 6:45am (when my mom gets up) and lets them know where his job is for the day.
(Marcel has been able to get himself to work only twice, which happened to be his first 2 days)

Our current financial situation requires that we both be working (and ideally, more than we are!) but without the public transportation that we had available in Oregon, it would be impossible for Marcel to sub and for me to stay as a stock associate at Banana, because of the schedules. Also, because of our financial situation it is not feasible for us to get another car. We did some used car shopping when we got here, but it is so hard to think about adding another expense to an already tight budget.

We are so grateful for all the help they provide us. Besides this amazing taxi service, they are also great landlords that don't expect payment while Marcel is in school. I don't know what we'd do without them.

They are going to be able to retire as taxi drivers soon, as I have been offered a job to watch a 4 month old in my home, so Marcel will be able to take the car. The family is a bit worried about our 1 car situation, because if Marcel was working, I'd be stranded at our house with no means of transportation. But, our awesome landlords/taxi drivers have come to the rescue once again! They have agreed to let me park their old suburban at my house to be used in case of an emergency; not that I'd want to drive it any other time because of the cost of gas for such a big vehicle. I need to get in contact with the parents again soon (we always seem to play great games of phone tag!), but it looks like I will be starting March 16th!