As if 17 years weren't enough...

Today was my first day of a new graduate program I started. I decided to go back to school to complete the work to get a teaching certificate. One reason I decided to go back is high school freshmen starting this fall will be required to take one semester of Finance in order to graduate. Since that is what my bachelor's degree is in, I figured this would be a good use of my knowledge.

When I graduated ETSU, I really wanted to be a financial planner OR someone that helps people go through the transition of retirement (especially if they are moving). Well, in order to get any kind of job that works solely off commission, it is helpful to have another steady source of income...you know, just in case. Well, we don't have that at the current moment. Seth is a full-time student and since I went to school while only working part-time, I figure it's only fair that he can do the same. Anyway, he works part-time doing odd jobs and for our church. Since any type of job (especially in my field) is hard to come by right now, I am working for Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin. It's a great job but definitely not something I want to do forever. Since I work night shift, I decided that going to school 10 Saturdays a semester for 2 semesters would let me finish right as Seth finishes. Then he can work while I do my student teaching in the fall.

While I was in college, I said that I did NOT want to become a teacher. I think most of that stemmed from the fact that both my parents and my sister were teachers. You know, something about being different, etc. Now, I have decided that I like the way we grew up: Having summers off, having both parents at home in the evenings and the summer, snow days, etc. It's perfect for when we have children. Then, at least I will be on their schedule. So here I am, going back. By next December I will have completed my student teaching and will have 18 hours of graduate credit. Then I will only have to take 15 more hours to complete my masters. What a deal! Pray for me though, it's been awhile.

Birthday Girl!

August 7th was Nattie's 3rd birthday. I know this is SO cheesy but I remember the day we went and picked her up from the breeder. She was 10 weeks old and such a momma's girl. She stood right up against the fence where her momma was and didn't want to play and didn't want anything to do with us. Of course, we picked her and I almost cried the entire way home because I had taken her away from her mom. She just cried and laid in Seth's lap the entire way back to my house.
Fast forward 2yrs and 42 weeks. She is still a momma's girl and a daddy's girl (wow Kate, you have severe problems :)) Anyway, she still loves to crawl in your lap like she is a 5 pound poodle, if you will lay with her, she will wallow you to death, and don't even think of rolling down your car window to talk to her unless you want it scratched because she will jump up to say hi. She may be a German Shepherd but she is so gentle and so obedient. My neighbor actually told me the other day that she is amazed how loyal Nat is. She stays in the yard when we let her out, she comes when we call her and when we say "House" she goes and stays regardless of whether the door is open or closed. Anyway, I can't believe she is 3 already. For her birthday, we took her out for one of her favorites...ice cream cones! Shhh...she loved it!

Happy Birthday Nat!

Nattie and me celebrating her birthday!

Umm...Mom, I think you dropped some.

Dad, can I have some of yours? It seems to be melting faster than you can eat it. I can help:)

PS~If I am like this over my dog, watch out when I have kids. Whoa!

Dollywood Date

Every year in August, NFS gives all their employees/spouses a free ticket to Dollywood. The Family Fun Day was August 15th but we couldn't go that day due to previous plans. We were given the option to go earlier but if we went, we had to upgrade to season passes. We decided to go 8/8. The night before, I went to bed really early because I hadn't slept that morning when I got home. Seth came in to tell me goodnight and I said, "Why don't we go in the afternoon? That way all the little kids will be ready for naps and they will all be leaving." He said okay and that we could get up about 9 and run by a couple places before we went. Note: This was tax-free weekend :) Anyway, I was wide awake at 6:30 the next morning and of course he didn't want to get up then. Figures. I got up and got ready and played on the computer a little. I finally got him up and we were off. We had to run by the bank and the gas station before we could go so it was almost 10:15 by the time we left.

We got to Sevierville at about 12:00. Since it was tax-free, we decided to run by Bass Pro and see if we could find anything we couldn't live without. We did. They had their trail cameras on sale for $70! What a deal. We got one of those and a little book that has all the tracks of the animals in the Southeast. We have a Bass Pro credit card and we had store credit so we ended up getting the book for free! I love free stuff. We ran by the knife store next because Seth needed a little thing to put his knife in because it always falls out of his pocket. He forgot the knife at home so we ended up getting 2 just in case we got the wrong size. They were only $2 each so it wasn't a huge crisis. Then we were off to Dollywood.

Okay, I must tell you that going to Dollywood, or any theme park for that matter, isn't Seth's idea of a good time. He doesn't care for the roller coasters or all the people. Me on the other hand...I love it! I would go all the time if I could. Anyway, with only half a day in front of him, he went anyway. We had a good time but got a little wetter than we expected. Who ever thought Timber Tower was a water ride? Apparently not the people in seats 21 & 22. And of course, after that on a 90 degree day, you are just miserable and sticky the rest of the day. Yuck.

After Timber Tower...I mean, really?

We got there about 3:00ish, ate lunch and watched a show. By 4:30 the majority of the little kids were gone. I think the longest we waited in line for a ride was about 15 minutes. We got a whole bag of chocolate and vanilla taffy and a big bag of Kettle Korn. That was all I wanted, just those 2 things. We got to ride the train before we left and I had to sit on the outside. I got covered in little black specks. Seth told me, “I had to sit on the outside last time. This time is your turn (smirk).” We decided to upgrade our tickets so I/we could come back for the Fall Festival and to see the Christmas lights. I haven't seen the lights since I was probably 14 or so. I’m looking forward to it. I hope my taffy lasts until October.

The train ride

On the way home, we decided to stop at Burger King and eat dinner. When we came back out to the car, besides having two high schoolers sitting in their car playing their music super loud, we saw the biggest beetle I have ever seen. We wanted to move it into the grass (over my dead body was I touching it) because if I would have hit it with my car, that definitely would have been an insurance claim. We took this picture next to Seth’s foot so you can see how big it really was.

~shudder~

Cooking 101

Rule 1: Never cook any shrimp that has been in your freezer for 3 years.


Can you say disgusting?! I decided that I was going to attempt to make a homemade alfredo sauce last night and Seth reminded me that we had a bag of frozen shrimp in our freezer. That sounded like a good addition to the noodles and sauce. I knew they had been in there a while but they were frozen, how bad could they be? Well, let's just say that if it wouldn't have been for the shrimp, my first alfredo attempt would have been wonderful. The sauce was really yummy (a little thick but I left it on the heat too long) but the shrimp was nasty. I don't even know how to describe it. It was rubbery, and very dry. I thought it looked a little odd when I got it out to thaw but I figured we would try it. Bad idea! Seth said that the sauce was really good, we just needed to get some fresh (shudder) shrimp the next time. Thanks for allowing me to try again and not be completely turned off by the thoughts of it. I made him an personal oreo dessert for his kind words. I think I have the best husband EVER!


Next time, we will try with chicken

It actually didn't look too bad when it was hot. My, looks can be deceiving!

Silly girl

I found these pictures on my phone while I was cleaning my card off today.

She absolutely LOVES the water hose!

This was a rawhide gift basket my mom had gotten somewhere. Seth said she carried it around for a little while like it was her pocketbook. haha