Baked Chicken and Roasted Potatoes

i figured that now that i have a kitchen again, all of my appliances, and a dishwasher to help clean up the mess, i can cook again.  im very excited about it.  so today i thawed out some chicken breasts, cut up some potatoes, and added one of those seasoning packs from the store.  this seasoning packet had garlic, pepper, rosemary, and paprika.  i added olive oil and salt, threw it into a bag, and mixed.  then i added the chicken breasts, cut in half, about four ounces each, and the potatoes, cut into half inch pieces.  i tossed the chicken and potatoes into the bag and coated them with the olive oil and spice mixture.  i was very excited to find that the recipe on the spices was perferated and came out as a recipe card, especially since the dinner turned out so great.  im going to experiment some more with spices, because this was an excellent meal.  also, i hadnt made a lot of roasted potatoes before, but they are awesome.  if you want the full recipe, just give me a hollar.  love you all.

We Live In Wichita!!!

hello friends.  this is my second attempt to write this post and make it work.  just wanted to update you on our lives.  we made it to wichita safe and sound and we love it here.  we are slowly getting unpacked.  i will put pictures of the apartment up here on the blog as soon as we get internet access and i can use the computer.  the phone doesnt seem to want to upload pictures here.  harlee is enjoying her new home.  she has lots of new smells to check out.  she seems very confused by our bedroom window.  in our other apartment in our bedroom there was a balcony.  harlee seems to think that in our new apartment she should be able to go out the window.  hopefully she will get it figured out.  we are exploring wichita more and finding what all there is to do, its been a fun time.  will keep you posted about all the goings on as life gets more exciting.  love you all.  let us know if youre in town, we would love for you to come see our new place.

Interview in Burrton - How Did It Go???

well, ive had a lot of people asking me about the interview, so i decided instead of sending out fifty different texts, id just blog about it and you can all hear the same story.  my interview in burrton was yesterday at ten thirty.  for those of you who dont know burrton is about an hour north west of wichita between there and hutch, its east of newton and about an hour southwest of salina, basically the middle of nowhere.  it seems like it would be a really nice place to work.  its a small district with only one class at each grade level and those classes averaging around seventeen students per class.  they asked me a lot of question, four pages worth, about what i thought about teaching and what i would do in some different situations.  i feel really good about the interview.  i was comfortable with the people there and felt like they would welcome me into their school.  im glad i already have two years under my belt, i think those years have really helped shape who i am as a teacher and made me all the better.  they said they were going to finish up interviews this week, then by either friday of this week or tuesday of the following week they would be calling the candidates to let them know one way or another.  so keep your fingers crossed, keep praying, and keep sending those good thoughts my way.  while this isnt the ideal job because of the distance, the rest of the aspects of the job seem very good.  we will just have to wait and see what happens.  stay tuned, and i will keep you updated as i know more.  thanks guys.

2 Years Together! (...and final day in Manhattan)

Michael and I are celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary today!!  Hooray!!  No big plans, just enjoying our last little bit of time here in Manhattan.  We're going to finish up our packing today, then both of us are headed to Wichita tomorrow for my interview, then to get the moving truck and bring it back to Manhattan Thursday.  This morning we went to Panera for bagels and coffee for breakfast (we've been eating out more and more the last few days as we don't have any food here anymore!!), we sat around and chatted for a couple hours, it was a nice relaxing morning.  Then we went home and got Harlee and went to Pillsbury Crossing for what I assume will be the last time.  Then to the dog park.  Finally, we stopped at the Kansas State University sign to get another picture to go with our Manhattan collage.  Our evening will probably just be more packing, then going to bed early so we can get up early and drive to Wichita.  See you all soon!

Living room and dining room are looking very empty.

More and more boxes stacking up in the second bedroom.

Even our cluttered bedroom is looking empty.

Playing in the water at Pillsbury, before my shoe broke.

Harlee is a model.

It was a beautiful day out at Pillsbury!

Harlee was always on the lookout for a good stick.

Yummy!!

She would have just laid down and ate it, but she doesn't care to get her belly wet.

Tasty!  And with my new car, I can actually pull out into the water area!

Such a fun place to spend a summer day!

Another picture to add to our Manhattan collage.

We will miss you K-State.

Our Alma Mater.

Life Updates

i realized its been a few days since i posted, so here i am again.  michael and i are continuing to pack and are getting ready to move.  school ended friday, im pumped but also very exhausted.  glenn and linda came up today to get a couch for nathan and chelsey that michael and i found.  they also took us out to lunch.  thanks again, guys.  tomorrow if our anniversary, woohoooo, two years.  no plans yet.  my interview in burrton is on tuesday.  after my interview im going to help sis in her classroom the rest of the day tuesday and all day wednesday.  thursday we will bring the moving van to manhattan. we will do most of the moving van packing in the evening, the afternoon is too hot.  friday morning we will clean and check out of our manhattan apartment.  we will get to wichita around two or three friday afternoon.  we will unpack and try to get settled before we have to leave for kansas city for nick and maggies wedding.  it will be a busy couple weeks.  cant wait to relax.

Thursday, May 19

8:15 - Morning Work (Math Worksheet)
8:45 - PE
9:15 - Restroom Break
9:25 - Writing (Poetry)
10:15 - Wii Party!!
11:45 - Recess/Lunch
12:25 - Teacher Read Aloud
12:45 - Spelling Sentences
1:00 - Desk Clean Out/Pack Up
1:30 - Junk Food Party/Watch the movie "Sounder"
2:30 - Recess
2:45 - Restroom Break
3:00 - Computer Lab
3:40 - Go Home

It's a good day to be in Mrs. Voss' 4th grade class.  :)

2.5 days left!!!

Just wanted to alert you all to the countdown...  There are only 2.5 days left of school!!

(In other countdowns....)
6 days until our anniversary!
10 days until we move to Wichita!
16 days until we head to Kansas City for the wedding/vacation!
17 days until Nick and Maggie's wedding!
29 days until Sis's birthday!
7.5 weeks until Sis and Adam's anniversary!

That's about all going on right now. :)  Love you all!!

Job Interview - Burrton

Hello loved ones!!  I have some exciting news!  I have a job interview next week!!!  It's in the Burrton School District, USD 369.  This is an hour away from our apartment according to GoogleMaps.  While the drive is not ideal, I'm not really in a position to turn down an interview as Michael and I are both currently without jobs for next year.  So please pray my interview goes well and that more interview opportunities come up that are a little closer to home.  :)

Graduation Day!!

Well, yesterday was a truly wonderful day!  We had lots of family in town and had a great time celebrating Michael getting his Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering!  I am so proud of him!!  We squeezed all of our family into our tiny apartment (for anyone who's been here before, you'll be impressed when you see the list of people!).  Here's who all joined us: Michael, myself, Sis, Adam, Mama, G-ma and G-pa C, G-Ma and G-pa H, Uncle Ed, Glenn, Linda, Nick, Maggie, Nathan, Chelsey, and G-Ma Judy.  All together we had 17 people squeezed into our living room!!  It was a tight fit, but I thought we made it work well!  Wish I'd taken a picture of that!!  We went to Valentino's for lunch and to eat cake and celebrate.  Then, a few of us and Michael went to campus to get pictures in front of the Kansas State University rock in the front of campus.  Then we came back to our place again, squeezed people in, chatted, and let Harlee entertain us for a little while.  Finally, at 6:15 the graduation started!  It took about 2 hours but seemed to go by pretty fast.  It was such a wonderful day!!  Thank you to all of you who came, it was awesome!!  Thank you to all of you who couldn't come, but sent your well wishes, we had a great day!  For those of you who couldn't join us, here are some photo highlights of the day!  :)  Enjoy!!

All dressed up, ready to get his picture taken about a bazillion times! :)

Michael and his proud parents on graduation day!

My amazing hubby in one of his last moments here at K-State.  So proud!!

Michael and I, both officially alumni of Kansas State University!

Michael and his brothers, who were both able to come and help him celebrate!

The whole group!  All of us (who went down to take pictures) got together for a group shot.  :)

Walking in at graduation!  HOORAY!!!!

I know you can't tell, but Michael is at the end of the last row, closest to the aisle.

Standing up to get in line and walk across the stage!!!

HE DID IT!!!!!!!  WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

Michael James Voss, graduate of the College of Engineering!  Class 2011!

Michael and 3 of the guys who lived on the same floor as him his freshman year in Marlatt, all graduating in Engineering this year!!  I'm proud of all of them!!  WONDERFUL group of guys!  :)

Michael and Chad were roommates their first semester their first semester their freshman year, now here they are all GRADUATED!!  :)

Michael and Grandma Judy, who came all the way from Cedar Rapids, IA to celebrate with us!!

Kevin was another guy who lived on Michael's floor freshman year!

And shortly after getting home and getting changed, Michael began writing his thank you cards to everyone for being so generous and for coming to celebrate his day!  :)

Graduation Day has Finally Arrived!!!!

i have been waiting two long years for this day to come, michael is graduating from college today.  wooohooooo.  im so excited and proud of him.  he has worked so hard for five years now and its now time to celebrate.  for all those of you who are coming into town today, here are the tentative plans
two oclock through two thirty everyone will be arriving in manhattan.  you can come to our place or go straight to the resaurant, valentinos grand italian buffet.
we will eat lunch there, give michael his gifts, eat cake, chat, and celebrate the day.
then we will have some more free time before graduation starts at six fifteen.  i thought we could go on campus and take some pictures of michael beside various kstate stuff.  i heard the weather is supposed to be crummy today, so dont forget a jacket and i promise we wont stay out too long.
after that im not sure how much more time we will have to kill before graduation, i was going to show everyone around campus, but because of the weather we might do a short tour, then head back to our place.  please excuse our mess, as we are in the process of getting things ready to move.  less than two weeks now.  yeah.
so we can all come back to our place and hang out for a while until its time to go to bramlage for graduation.  michael seems to think he needs to be there an hour early, im going to try to keep him until thirty to fourty five minutes till, but we will see.
after graduation you are more than welcome to come back to our place and hang out some more.  however, i know everyone has quite a drive, so if you decide to leave right after graduation, we understand.

thank you all for coming and making michaels day a special one.  we love you all.  see you soon.

Field Day

Today is field day here at school, and it's going really well.  My kids were a little bummed that they only got 2 hours of stations in the morning until they realized they also get another 2 hours in the afternoon.  They were also bummned that I put science on the schedule, which makes me sad.  They were pumped, though, when they found out that science was a Mythbusters video.  :)  I am so cool!  :)  Today we're played musical hoola hoops, ran a 3 legged-race, had sack races, colored with chalk on the sidewalk, played with bubbles, had a dance party, had scooter races, played on large bouncy balls, did some cup stacking, and shot basketballs so far today.  :)  It's been a good day!  Hopefully the afternoon goes as well.

Also, I promised pictures of the egg drop, so here they are!  We had 11 eggs live, and 9 eggs smash.  Mrs. McElroy's class had an even 11 lives and 11 smashes.  :)  Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Countdowns

as the school year approaches its end, michael and i have many countdowns going on in our lives...

• one oral report and one final until michael is done with college
• six days until michael graduates
• nine school days until the end of the school year
• fifteen days until our two year anniversary
• three weeks until we move to wichita
• less than one month until nick and maggies wedding and our mini vacation in kansas city
• a little over a month until sis birthday
• a little over two months until sis and adams two year anniversary
• one summer away from tugfest

we are going to be very busy for a while.  please know that we love you, and if we dont see you, its not you, its us and our crazy schedule. love you.  hope to see you all for michaels graduation this weekend.

WE MADE AYP!!!!!!!

Ok, I lied.  I said I wasn't going to say anything else about state testing for a while, but I had to share with you this exciting news!!  :)  We didn't make AYP in math last year, so we were considered a school "on watch".  But this year we worked our tails off and we made it!!!  :D  I'm so proud of my kiddos and the rest of my staff who worked so hard this year.  What a great accomplishment!!  :D  HOORAY!!

A Fair Test

This is the last thing I'll say about state testing for a while...  I got this picture from a friend and it sums up quite well how I feel and many teachers feel about state testing.  Enjoy!

Nothing new

Well, it's been almost a week since I posted, so I thought I should update you on our lives...  But not much is going on.  Here are a few highlights:

• State testing is done!  WOOHOOO!  On science I had only 2 kiddos not pass.  Overall, 4th grade ROCKED the tests!!
• I only have 12 more days with students!  (Not that I'm counting or anything)  ;)
• Michael graduates in A WEEK AND A HALF!!!  (You're coming, right?)  My hubby is all growed up!!  :D
• We will be moving to Wichita in 24 days.  Found out yesterday that we are approved and ready to go!
• 4th grade is doing an "Egg Smash" experiment this week where they build contraptions to keep a raw egg safe when dropped off the top of an 8 foot ladder.  (I will post pictures!)
• We went to the Mechanical Engineering Senior Dinner tonight and Michael got a cool name plate for his future desk!  :)
• Harlee is nutso, but that's not new.  She got a bath on Saturday compliments of the Riley County Humane Society donation dog wash.  :)  She was not too happy
• I packed my 3 boxes up this week!  Only 3.5 more weeks to pack!
• Michael's Senior Design class is done (for all intensive purposes, ask me if you want to hear the rant).  ;)
• We took pictures around Manhattan to make a collage to remember our time here at K-State.  Enjoy the pictures below.

 That's about it.  Sorry we're boring right now.  Mostly counting down the days until the end of school and moving.  Love you all!!

Where Michael and I spent a great deal of the first semester

 we were dating.

The street where Michael and I have lived the first 2 years of our marriage.

Where Michael lived with Nate and TJ, before we got married.

Bill Snyder Family Stadium

Where I worked for 3 years as an usher and security guard for football games.

Our view of the stadium from our overnight security post.

Our post for overnight security.

Where all of the basketball magic happened.

Michael spent a lot of his waking hours here in the engineering building.

Michael's more artistic shot of the Engineering Building.

More artsy shots of Michael's beloved Engineering Building.

The Plaza outside the Union was a great place to spend a warm afternoon.  Harlee also likes to drink from this fountain when we go on walks around campus.

Cru met here in the Little Theater.  Michael and I met at Cru as well.  :)

I spent a lot of my time at K-State here in the Education Building.

I always thought it was cute that we have Lover's Lane here on campus.  I wanted to get our engagement pictures taken here, I guess I'll have to settle for this.

Varney's bookstore and the main stretch of Aggieville is here on Moro.

Definitely one of the best places in Aggieville, and my favorite coffee shop in town.

One of my 2 favorite bar's in town, I love the atmosphere down in the basement here at Auntie May's.

Aggieville

This is the scenic overlook, where Michael asked me to be his wife.  He couldn't have picked a more beautiful spot in all of Manhattan.

Building 920 has been a great place for us to live to begin our marriage, can't wait for all the new memories to be made in our new home in Wichita.