Simply Saul: It's Been A While!

WOW! I started this blog with the intention of writing at least once a week. I did not know how busy I would get this semester student teaching. Now that I have finally gotten into a routine with student teaching, I should be able to keep up with it a little more.

So much has happened in the last three months! Caleb and I are enjoying married life. I have changed my name on almost everything and what a hassle that was for a little while. For some reason, after I changed my name, a few of the utility bills stopped coming to the house. I had not taken the time to call the companies because I figured I would just fill out the information on the back of the statement when I sent in my payment. I did not ever imagine there would be a problem sending the bills to my house because the name had changed. After all, my last name changed to Saul but my middle name became Moeller. It does not quite make sense that some bills would stop coming. Apparently, the story I got from the post office was that around the same time my name changed, a new postal worker began taking our mail route. He was delivering a lot of mail with the name Holly Saul on it so he just assumed that the Moeller was the incorrect address and the mail ended up in a bin AT THE POST OFFICE. Of course, with everything going on, I failed to notice that the bills did not come and just assumed Caleb was taking care of them. It was not until I told Caleb that I needed to call the companies and change my name because he had been sending them off before I could fill out the form, that we realized the bills had never been paid. Oops. I called the companies and they were all pretty nice about it and we were able to get the situation taken care of. I then went to the post office and had it out with them but everything is up and running now and the mailman knows that "Moeller" is still part of a name here in this house...GEEZ! It's not like the first name ever changed...HA!

Anyway...besides the mail "crisis", Caleb and I are doing really well. Caleb is very busy at work. They are getting planes in one after the other and his crew is usually responsible for the area of the plane in the most need of repairs. He is the smallest guy on the crew so he usually ends up doing any repairs in the fuel tank as it is a small cramped area that only so many people can fit into. Those are my favorite days as he comes home reaking of gasoline and the smell does not easily wash out of his clothes. I started to use apple cider vinegar mixed with our laundry detergent and that seems to do the trick (it also gets the smell of must out of laundry if you accidently leave clothes in the washer for too long...haha...I wouldn't know though ;) ;)).

I am extremely busy with school and student teaching. I am in a kindergarten class at Pilot Elementary School. There are 25 children in the classroom so it can be a little bit overwhelming and stressful at times. I have a wonderful cooperating teacher, Mrs. Peacock, and have learned so much from her. Her assistant, Mrs. Barrett, is amazing as well and I really enjoy working with the two of them. Teaching kindergarten is a lot harder than I thought it would be. There is so much pressure on the teacher to teach these little ones the skills they will need to make it in the first grade. I remember kindergarten being a fun class where the focus was on the social aspect of schooling with some focus on the very basics like learning your ABCs and to count to 20. I am doing lessons with these 5 and 6 year olds on Cause and Effect, addition and subtraction, setting, characters and author's purpose in a story, spelling quizzes etc.... It is absolutely amazing to me that these children really understand some of these concepts or even have to at this point. I do know that they will be ready for first grade but I feel bad that allowing them to be kids is almost completely taken out of the kindergarten experience these days.

I have about a month left with these kids and then it is on to graduation...WOOOOHOOOO! I absolutely CANNOT wait! I have begun the job search and am applying in several different areas of the Early Childhood field. My number one choice is in the Chapel Hill Carrboro School System with a program called First School. It is a new program being implemented for children ages 3-8. We know that children's early experiences in life really shape their attitude toward the future and schooling. This program is seeking to work closely with families and children to see if the approach toward teaching and learning needs to be changed. Instead of a more curriculum based approach with the children, this program will take a more developmental approach. The classrooms will be child-centered and lessons will be planned around observations of the child's interests. It is a really interesting outlook on early education for children and I am hoping to land a job in this program.

Some of the most exciting news for Caleb and I is that we have bought a house. We are so excited. The house is being built in Whitsett, NC which is right outside of Burlington. Burlington is about 30 minutes east of Greensboro. This will put us in the middle of Chapel Hill and Greensboro. If I get a job in Chapel Hill, Caleb and I will have equal distances to travel to work. The house is scheduled to be finished (if we have nice weather) the end of May or the beginning of June. This is a lot sooner than we had anticipated so we are really going to have to start getting organized. We will be taking weekly visits down to the building site to see the progress and make sure it is being built to our standards...HA! I will post pictures as the building progresses! Right now, they have boxed off the area where the house will be and today they will be putting in plumbing. They will then poor the concrete for the foundation this week. They have to wait four days for the concrete to dry and then they will immdiately beging framing. It is fun being able to watch the house at each stage. We are finally getting out of a renting situation and could not be any happier!

I am on spring break this week, and besides jury duty tomorrow, am devoting this entire week to a little spring cleaning (in preparation for the move in a few months). I hope that this beginning of spring finds everyone happy and healthy! Look for more frequent posts! I have finally gotten myself into a routine of sorts! Lots of Love!!!!

I will leave you with a few pictures from our honeymoon!

Canopy Tour through the Jamaican Jungle (absolutely AMAZING)