Valentine's Day

My first Valentine's Day with Brian was a great day. I woke up and the first thing Brian did was to give me my gift. He got me chocolate covered cherries from an amazing chocolate place in town-I LOVE THEM!!! He also bought me foot cream that I use all the time from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. :) We proceded to make breakfast together. I made pancakes and shaped them as hearts. We also enjoyed homemade lattes on my Starbucks machine. After breakfast I gave Brian his gift which was The Dark Knight on DVD and he was thrilled. So we sat down to watch it together. Afterwards, we went to the store for some items to make dinner. We also made that together and the menu included Lemon Garlic Tilapia with a baby spinach salad with mushrooms and almonds and a homemade Asian dressing. Brian and I loved it! For dessert, we made chocolate fondue in our fondue pot and it also was good. :)

We simply enjoyed our time together at home. It was perfect.

Back in the Classroom

I have finally begun to substitute teach here in Indiana! This past week I was teaching 4 out of 5 days, and it really felt great to get back in the classroom. I have not really taught since November of 2008 before I got married and then moved to Indiana. I was in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classrooms. I was exhausted at the end of the week, but so thankful that I had the opportunity to work! And to work with kids and teach them is fun so I am thankful to have a job I like. I really look forward to the day where I have my own classroom and my own students, but I am blessed to be able to teach period! We have been praying that I would get calls to teach, and those prayers have now been answered. We now pray that it continues. That's my update for now!

Warmly,
Jen

Love is a Journey

"Love is looking

into each other's eyes every morning

as if it were the first time and closing each day with a kiss

that says, "I can't wait until tomorrow."

"Love is working side by side

for something you believe in,

knowing there's

another person in this world

who is there for you."

"Love is growing old together

and falling in love

over and over again,

all along this journey you share."

The Apartment

This picture was taken in our moving truck on the morning we set out for Indiana. Brian and I had a very successful move to Indianapolis, Indiana at the end of 2008. We arrived at our apartment on New Year's Eve. We unpacked the moving truck, had Chinese take-out, set up our bed, and we were asleep hours before the new year arrived! The next few days of 2009 were specifically spent unpacking until every box was gone! It was a huge task-especially if you knew the size of the apartment-but we completed it rather quickly. The following pictures are of our apartment now.

This is our bedroom. The bedding colors are primarily sage green, tan, and a dark brown. The colors match the bathroom.

Our living room complete with a couch and oversized chair from Brian's dad. The picture mat that all of our wedding guests signed is such a precious thing to us and it hangs on the wall in this room.

Still in the living room. Our entertainment center complete with some pictures of family and friends. :)

Our cute, tiny, little kitchen!

This is the "office" room. The picture shows my personal space in this little room. Brian also has a desk and computer on his side. It is also holding some of our storage in a closet. It's not the neatest room, but it works. :)

This is our bathroom. It is the same color scheme as the bedroom. It is a tropical theme complete with palm trees on everything. :) We have palm tree shower curtain hooks if you look closely and palm trees on the hand towel, tissue holder, toothbrush holder, etc. It reminds us of our honeymoon in Hawaii, which was truly amazing! :)

So now you have a visual of our apartment in Indiana. We would love for anyone to come and visit, of course, so feel free to come and see us! :) We are enjoying our new life together. Brian started his Spring 2009 semester of school this week. I will be attending a substitute orientation and then hopefully subbing a lot to give me something to do, too! We are only in this location for about 5 months and then we will be moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana for Brian to attend graduate school at Concordia Seminary. He still wants to become a military chaplain. Let us know how you are doing, we love to keep in touch with family and friends! Feel free to e-mail us, comment on our blog, or call us anytime! We love and miss you! God bless. :)