The Second Move-Wisconsin to Wyoming {with some Colorado in between}

So much, and at the same time, so little has happened since June. We embraced all of the troubles and excitements of moving to a new state. I think I shall begin there as even though it all occurred just months ago, I am again wondering how I ended up in yet another "W" state.

Rewind back to Verona, Wisconsin: Adam and I were walking to Culver's one night. {I always justify these trips by convincing myself the walk canceled out the calories from the $1 treat we would consume. Magically, I still put on about 5 pounds while living in the dairy and beer capital of the U.S.A.} We got to discussing how great it would be to spend the summer in Colorado. It then dawned on us that there was really no reason to stay in Wisconsin as the move to Wyoming was eminent. 

So, in the next week both of our amazing, gracious, loving sets of parents journeyed from Colorado to, again, help us relocate. Our dearest Peter and Brit drove over from Milwaukee to help us load the truck. On June 21, 2014 we said goodbye to 530 Enterprise, our wonderful neighbors, and the state of Wisconsin. 

My car---Adam's car---my Mom's SUV---my mother-in-law's van---and our U-Haul truck then proceeded to drive though Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and finally into Wyoming. We put all of our belongings in storage and met our new realtor, Judy, who I am still convinced was a gift directly from heaven. Under her expertise and organization we saw about 20 houses over the next two days. We made an offer. God didn't want us in that house. Made another offer and headed to Colorado for the rest of the summer. God didn't want us in that house either. {And come to find out, PRAISE JESUS} Fast forward to August: At this point Adam was close to starting work. Our angel Judy let us live in one of her rental houses for a reduced rate AND overlooked the fact that we own two large white dogs who are usually not welcome in her rentals. We made yet another offer. We found where God wanted us this time around. Six weeks later we moved into our perfect, cozy new Wyoming house. 

Year in Review...Plus Some

I was approached to coach high school varsity volleyball a little over a year ago at this time, at which point my blogs became few and far in between. Adam, Mickey, and I enjoyed many, many adventures and I am going to attempt a short recap. Let's call it my "Year in Review...Plus Some."

January 2013: January in Wisconsin is rough, especially when one goes to sunny Colorado the month before. This marked our 5 month-anniversary in Verona. I spent most of my weekends unpacking and homemaking. I painted the downstairs bathroom a horrendous color. I am embarrassed to post it. Use your imagination, envisioning a shade along the lines of "Easter Basket Green."

February 2013: February in Wisconsin is just as rough as January. Maybe more so as teachers in OSD do not get any days off. Adam and I celebrated Valentine's Day (a few days late due to a rehearsal) at Tutto Pasta Trattoria where I ate heart-shaped lobster ravioli. Sadly, I did not take any pictures. (One of my New Years resolutions was to take more pictures...)


March 2013: March was fun! My parents came for a visit. We toured New Glarus Brewing Company and downtown New Glarus where my Mom bought us matching Vera Bradley purses. We visited the National Mustard Museum which turned out to be at most, interesting. After the Mustard Museum we walked down the street to Hubbard Diner which made-up for the Museum decision. The pie alone haunts my dreams. My father, the bakery connoisseur, was in his own baked-goods version of heaven.

March also marked my husband's 28th birthday. I put together 28 surprises for Adam's birthday, ranging from his favorite candy, a gift card to his favorite restaurant, to brewery tour tickets. The gifts consisted of mostly trinkets and homemade items. I was pretty proud of my creativity on a budget.

April 2013: April begins concert season for UW. I went to many, many concerts in April and May. I am constantly amazed by his talent.

May 2013: May is gorgeous in Wisconsin! The colors are vibrant and the air is finally warm. I love it! I said goodbye to Adam when he headed to France for 2 weeks. Two of my best friends came out for a weekend visit. May was wonderful.

June 2013: Adam and I went on a "mini-vacation" to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We loved catching up with family and making memories. I would love visit Michigan on a yearly basis. June was full of quality time, naps, and small adventures.

Our 2nd Anniversary
July 22, 2013

July 2013: At this point in the summer, volleyball was in full swing. Adam and I went to Wisconsin's Great Dane restaurant for our two year anniversary. Adam's burger had 3 different kinds of meat. Again, I wish I had pictures as there are no words. Adam bought me diamond earrings and he received a tablet from me. We also experienced the Wisconsin Dells for the first time.

August 2013: August was pretty much all volleyball. Adam was very patient as I was a mess of stress. I flew Colorado's legendary Angela Knopf out to run my high school camp. I ran my first tryouts and coached my first varsity match. We have officially been living in Verona, Wisconsin for one year at this point.

September 2013: Adam and I both went back to school. He came home day after day with a huge smile, reinforcing we are where God wants us. School and volleyball took over my life. September was a whirlwind of lesson planning, practice planning, game preparation, and grading. Looking back, I had absolutely no idea what I signed up for when I said yes to varsity coaching. Would I do it over again? Yes. But so much would change.

Sammy

October 2013: My parents came out for another visit. Adam, my Mom, and my Dad drove out to Oregon for our volleyball homecoming parade, watching as goofy high schoolers from every program (athletics to music) wave and hurl candy off their floats. I just love my supportive family.

November 2013: The Oregon volleyball team earned a regional championship. We fostered our first puppy and named him Sammy. We celebrated Thanksgiving with great friends Peter, Brittany, and Adam's sister, Tiffany. I made my first Thanksgiving dinner, 20 lb. free-range turkey included.



December 2013: I played a little too much volleyball this year...and over the last 18 years. I underwent a Micro Fracture surgery at the UW hospital. I saw the worried and the "I have no control over this situation and I don't like it" side to my husband. I love him even more after the whole ordeal. He took wonderful care of me, driving me around for six weeks (including all 30 of the hours to Colorado and back) until I was cleared to drive myself.

A few days after surgery, we headed to Colorado for Christmas. The weather was gorgeous. It snowed on Christmas and was a sunny 60 degrees in the days to follow.

January 2014: BITTER. COLD. Poor Mickey would begin limping around in the snow after just a few minutes, so we bought him snow boots. We bought Adam boots as well because he was in charge of the pup and I was still under house arrest thanks to the fact that knee surgery and ice don't mix.

February 2014: Adam bought me a fantastic camera. I have enjoyed photography since high school and now I feel a little bit more legitimate and caught up with 2014 digital age.

March 2014: Adam enjoyed his spring break. A week later, I enjoyed my spring break. After three years of persistence from Adam, I broke down and said yes to another dog. We began "fostering" Maisy. There will be another post to come about this adventure.

Kailey, Noah, and my gorgeous sister

April 2014: We welcomed our niece, Kailey Joy, into the world. She's incredible. I am so thankful for my parents as they used their credit card miles to fly me down to Louisiana to meet Kailey.

My husband rocked spring concert season, in a classical, choral sort of way. In addition to his collaborative piano recital, he directed the amazing Madison Chamber Choir. Adam's parents and our dear friends the Hollows attended this performance and it was a wonderful weekend also including hikes at the Madison Arboretum.

J. and B. exploring the Arboretum

May 2014: Adam has been faithfully sending out applications to to collegiate music programs since November 2013 and he finally got an interview, and a job offer, at the perfect college. (There will also be an upcoming post dedicated to our Lord's faithfulness in this marvelous instance)

June 2014: I resigned from my teaching and coaching positions at Oregon High School because we are moving to Riverton, Wyoming so that Adam can serve as the new Director of Choral Studies at Central Wyoming College.  Picture me beaming as I type this glorious announcement. Not only it is five hours from Loveland, but it is just outside of Yellowstone, Adam says the music facilities are fantastic, and the list goes on and on. God is SO good.

Iron Kluck

In order to avoid taking notes on America's imperialistic expansion, one of my classes recently posed the question, "If you weren't a teacher, what would you be?" (This same class convinced me to re-watch 10 minutes of a movie clip that I still think we had already finished) After a long discussion regarding my hypothetical options, my 8th hour class helped me come up with the following realizations:

I know that I do NOT want to be...

1...anything dental related. One of the main reasons that I chose secondary education was due to the fact that I would not have to deal with loose teeth, hanging from strings of skin in some first-grader's mouth. No. No. No.

2...a chef. I have no self control and a love for pasta, french fries, and anything cheesecake.

3...a professional swimmer. I would be cold and wet, at the same time.

4...a principal. I could write a novel detailing this decision.

5...Iron Man. Thanks to the large, metal knee brace that I have to wear for 8 weeks, this class has taken to calling me "Iron Kluck." Due to my claustrophobic nature, I would not enjoy being Iron Man. My class was remarkably disappointed. I am also not a brave person, removing firefighter, police officer, CIA operative, and Batman from the mix. (I do, indeed, teach high school...freshmen)

Should aptitude and talent NOT play into the mix, I would like to be... 

1...an orthopedic surgeon-but only if the hospital and my fellow surgeons resemble those seen on Grey's Anatomy. Having recently been in a dumpy, cramped operating room, I know that I my surgical skills require top of the line space and equipment with plenty of windows overlooking scenic regions of the United States.

2...Kelly Clarkson. I love to sing. Loudly. Both Adam and Mickey adore my singing, but I also control what they eat for dinner, among other things. They are a biased audience.

3...a professional athlete who plays pretty much any (not wrestling) indoor sport. I do miss training for volleyball. While we were planning for the ridiculous, I wished to be an athlete free of screws, plates, and scar tissue, with plenty of cartilage to go around. My students agreed to all of the aforementioned.

Finally, If I was really not a teacher, what else would I be...

1. I would want to be a writer-historical fiction, biographies, pretty much anything that would require time in the archives. They found this "too predictable."

2. I would want to be a photographer. I loved photography in high school, but with a double major in college I did not have credit hours to spare. (There were still a few kids working to convince me that Iron Kluck was obviously a better alternative)

3. I would want to be crafty, maybe become famous on Etsy.

At this point in my history lesson of nothingness, I began explaining the fact that this pie-in-the-sky type of Etsy dream would not come true due to the current level of supply and demand on Etsy, much like the overproduction issue faced by the United States at the turn of the century...

And just like that, there was the slamming of notebooks on their desks, enough whining to make tired three-year-olds look mature, and a silent coup in which they universally decided they were not going to talk to me for the rest of the hour because I ruined their game. This class is hilarious and I have many, many more stories. If my teaching day was filled with only these kids, I would never dream of being anything else.

May, June, & July

If consistency equates to a quality blog, I fail. Tonight's post is going to be in bullet format because nearly three months have come an gone since my last post.

May

• Adam left for France on May 21. I took the day off of school to bring him into Madison where a tour bus was waiting to take his choir to Chicago for the flight. I am used to being the person getting on the bus. The one saying goodbye to friends and family after they came to watch a volleyball match. I never understood why my parents would stand in Notre Dame's parking lot waiting for the bus to actually pull away. It usually took a while for 15 girls to shower, change, ice, and get loaded on a bus. But my parents waited. Every time. After experiencing the "waiting" side of a tour bus, I decided that I'm not a fan. Adam had about a million things to do and I was useless. But for some reason I needed to see the bus actually pull away from UW-Mom and Dad, I get it now. Adam was only gone for 11 days but WOWSER was he missed by Mickey and me.

• While Adam was gone, two of my best friends came out for a visit over memorial weekend. Steph and Court arrived from two different states on Friday night. I still marvel at Steph's grace. She made traveling with a four-month old look easy. The three of us have been friends for 13 years now and we always knew Steph was born to teach and to be a mom. Even with all of her hard work, she makes both of those occupations seem effortless. We enjoyed three days sightseeing, coffee shops, wine, chick-flicks, ice cream, and late-night chats. The girls even came to my school so that I could check up on my students who were supposed to be in Saturday school. The visit was a God send but re-established how much I miss just being able to call them up and plan a coffee date.

Court, Steph, Baby Audrey, and Me
[Photo courtesy of Courtney]

June

• June 6 brought an end to my fifth year as a teacher and my first year teaching high school. I have been exposed to some very cynical and misinformed people-teachers and non-teachers alike. Thanks to their interpretations of the high school teaching profession, I went into my new job believing that I would have copious amounts of time thanks to my two plan periods and the fact that most high school teachers only have 2-3 preps. High school teachers "have less grading" and "more time." They "spend less time in front of students" because "high school students are more independent learners." L.I.E.S.

• Never before have I worked so hard. The grading never ends. Parents are just as involved and concerned. While I may have two preps each day, the majority of "my time" was spent meeting with students, working in the achieve room, and responding to parent and student emails. My lunch is not my own. At the end of the semester, it got to the point where I would come out of the bathroom and there would be students waiting for me with just about every question, comment, and or concern known to man. I am expected to attend basketball games and spring musicals. I stay late to tutor and come in on the weekends to help with Saturday school...and I LOVED it! Maybe it is because this is the first summer in a long time that I have not had to job search, but I am so happy to be returning to OHS this fall. 

• June was also when I accepted the varsity volleyball coaching position. I have never run a program on my own, but I feel confident (and very lucky) after coaching under the talented, loved, and successful Caleb and Brenda at Rez.

• In between the end of my school year and the beginning of Adam's "Baroque Music" summer school class, Adam, Mickey and I ventured to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a vacation with family. We went to the Hop Cat Brewery and the Grand Rapids Brewery as well as the Grand Rapids Museum to see the Titanic Exhibit that we missed in Denver. We walked along the river, enjoyed frozen yogurt, and the time away in general.

 

My gracious family included us in every possible way. We enjoyed  copious amounts of food. Let me say that again, copious. amounts. of. food. 

We wrapped up our Michigan time at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Bonnie's cottage. I am so sad that we forgot to bring the camera because Adam water skied for the first time and actually did well. After Adam went around the lake, my cousins got in the water flying around the lake looking like something I would watch on ESPN's competitive water skiing. Again, I wish we brought the camera. Both parties were pretty amazing to watch.

Adam's new talent still comes up in conversation on a weekly basis. "Hey, remember when I water skied and got up on the second try?" Adam and I concluded that we love Grand Rapids and would not mind if God put us there next.

July

I am still trying to decide if I feel guilty about our 4th of July. We cleaned the house, Adam played computer games, I scrapbooked some more of our wedding (yes I realize that was 2 years ago), and we walked to Culver's for $1 raspberry shakes. We made no attempt to journey into Madison for fireworks or any of the surrounding festivities...but I really enjoyed our day. 

Feeling Sentimental

It's springtime. I love and hate the spring. I love the weather. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the twitterpated students in every school around America. I love that the end of the school year is sight yet I have trouble with the high percentage of females who decide to wear as few clothes as possible.

The spring also signifies Adam's concert season. While I love watching the actual performances, I hate the copious amount of time he spends away from me. For instance, he was at dress rehearsals until 10:00 PM three of five weeknights this past week and he will perform Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, repeating this schedule next week.

I remember when we were dating and I went to his graduate concerts.You know those moments where you're doing something routine and that everyday occurrence grabs your heart and you realize how happy you would be if this ordinary event could occur regularly for the rest of your life? I know we had only been dating a few months but Adam was on stage conducting his little heart out and time seemed to stand still while I pondered what I hoped would become everyday happiness. I feel like God speaks directly to our hearts in those moments. Fast forward four years...

I have now spent a few nights on the UW campus at various musical events. I still love watching Adam. I'm so proud to call him mine.

Gray Skies & Groupon: Dangerous Business

Whatever the reason, I find myself far from motivated these days--school, home and gym included. I pinpointed one problem. In Colorado, the sun comes out at least one time each week. In Loveland, it’s a pretty big deal for snow to stick around for more than a few days. With that being said, I blame my lethargy on the determined-to-never melt dirty Wisconsin snow covered by weeks of gray sky.

I have had copious amounts of time to further ponder this dilemma as I do little to no work these days. I decided to focus on my home-time with Adam as well as our time at the gym. I found a FANTASTIC deal for a couple’s massage. I purchased it, but immediately encountered buyer’s remorse…which faded quickly as I bought two more Groupon deals …and read my friend Courtney’s blog about her coming travel adventures.

Now, what to do with these great deals… I could just enjoy each deal with my husband but that does not solve the problem of the seemingly mythical gym that takes money out of my account each month, not to mention the lack of pants that actually fit my derriere. Reminded by the PBS incentive philosophy (Positive Behavior Support, [basically bribery, which I fully support and we can debate the philosophical evils later]) I realized that I need some enticing in my own life. Adam and I agreed to each drop five pounds before we use the couple’s massage-which is rather brilliant because Groupons have expiration dates thereby putting a time limit on our personal endeavors.

As for my other two impromptu purchases: Both involve copious amounts of time with my husband, away from our tiny town of Verona. I have not decided whether we should continue our weight loss incentive program or if I should give these two pretty great Groupons to Adam for his birthday in March.  I would love to share the contents of each in order to foster informed decisions, but on the slight chance that Adam read my blog post, I don’t want to blow my really great finds.

Rewind: 2012

January

I had a plan in my head, leading me to honestly believe that we would receive multiple offers and a decision about Adam’s doctoral program during the month of January. HA! During the year 2012, I provided our Lord with a tremendous amount of comic relief.  I will admit that during the month of January, I struggled to look past the perceived lack of divine intervention. Jesus knows I love to plan.  

February

I wish I could say that we had a romantic first Valentine’s Day, but I remember spending the evening at 14-year-old volleyball practice and Adam had high school musical rehearsal until 10:00. Honestly, I do not remember much of January, February, or March-other than my desperation to know God’s plan. I do remember Adam spent the better part of February and March trying to convince me that we needed another dog.

March

March was much more exciting. My friend’s husband came home safely from over a year in Afghanistan. With incredible calm and confidence, my teaching partner performed the Heimlich on a seventh grader. Adam turned 27 and we celebrated with couple’s massages and sushi in Denver.

April

April was a big month. Adam decided on Wisconsin. I would love to be the humble, submissive wife, but in this case, submissive is all we are going to get. Adam received offers from Wisconsin and Nebraska. Wisconsin ties the culture of the city, the beauty of the country, and the romance of the Midwest into a thirty-minute drive. Nebraska is eight hours away from Loveland. From my parent’s front porch, Nebraska clearly wins.  But I submitted. Holy Moses did I submit. Jesus rewarded us as Wisconsin is tremendous. Adam is part of a distinguished program, I have a wonderful job, and we own a condo with, as my Dad would say, “a water view.”

Adam, Mickey, and I went on our first road trip. We celebrated my cousin’s marriage and were able to spend time with family we had not seen since our wedding. While we were in Michigan, Noah, the cutest kid on the planet, made his entrance.

May

I actually got to meet my nephew and I feel in love. I remember my astonishment at how tiny he was when I first held him in the airport.

On a sad note, I said goodbye to the greatest group of 7^th and 8^th grade students. I am sure that my feelings were directly related to the fact that I got to teach great material and I finally felt like I had my act together with four years of teaching tools, but I really loved that group and it was tremendously difficult to say goodbye. Never had I felt so loved by a group of kids.

June

I remember packing. I remember applying for jobs. I remember cleaning on a daily basis to keep up with the showings.

July

Adam and I made our second trip to Madison and made an offer on a horrible decision. On a whim, I dropped my resume off at what would be my new high school. I embraced the idea of Madison and we went sightseeing at the Madison Conservatory and the Madison Botanical Gardens.

Adam and I celebrated our first year of marriage by going to On the Border. We both ordered fancy drinks and reminisced about our rehearsal dinner.

My gracious Mom and I drove out to Wisconsin for my interview. I was offered the job that day. I’m pretty sure that I smiled for the rest of July.

August

On August 10, we spent our last night in our first house. Since everything was packed except our furniture, we enjoyed a bottle of wine in plastic cups with carry-out Chinese.

On August 13 we officially sold 707, making us semi-homeless. On August 15 we became genuinely homeless when we pulled our offer on the horrible decision.  The shining point of August is due to our new Wisconsin friends, their baby girl, and their two pups. God bless our Wisconsin friends.

September

Adam and I started our new jobs from a hotel room. We closed on our new, Jesus-saved-our-unwise tails house. Our parents arrived with a yellow Penske truck filled with our belongings which we unload in less than two hours in 75% humidity. That night my parents, my in-laws, my husband, and I enjoyed our first Wisconsin fish fry.

October

Adam and I carved pumpkins in our new house. We had our pictures taken by another one of our new Wisconsin friends. Adam still wanted another dog.

Fall photos taken in downtown Madison

November

Our dating anniversary (19^th) and my birthday (20^th) fell on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving break and Adam nailed it this year. We went to a restaurant down the street from the house (perfect as I was exhausted from the high schoolers) where the waitress brought the both of us free birthday shots tasting very much like grownup caramel ice cream. My birthday present consisted of a 150 year old book that Adam tracked down about President Lincoln, my most recent historical interest. We then rented Disney’s “Brave” which we watched from our bed because let’s face it, the ice cream shot just about did me in.

Adam really wanted "official" Wisconsin Cheese Curds

December

Adam, Mickey, and I drove to Colorado for Christmas with our families. It was white, wonderful, but rushed. We were able to witness our nephew’s first moves as a crawler. On the 30^th, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Wisconsin. We celebrated New Year’s Eve by going to sleep at nine. We celebrated New Year’s Day with laundry, which is still better than 2011…sick and in bed at 8:00. 2013-We might make it to midnight.

My Dad and his Grandson

Adam and his Dad

I live in Wisconsin.

I teach, coach, and walk my dog in Wisconsin. I grocery shop not at King Soopers, but at Copps. We own a house in Wisconsin, a great house.  Adam, Mickey and I are going on three months of no Colorado.  I was married 15 months ago and now I live in Wisconsin. I say it over and over because I still wonder how it all happened. I love it here. I desperately miss my family, my friends, and the mountains, but I really do like it in Wisconsin.

After reading blogs belonging to my friends, I decided I enjoy the bullet point-posts. Today’s “I Live in Wisconsin” bullet point-post reviews the last five months of my life.

• I coached high school volleyball in Wisconsin. Not just any volleyball. I was outnumbered 22 to 1. To those who coach sports like football, 22, I am sure, seems like nothing. From a volleyball perspective it makes us want to cry. We are allowed to have 6 girls on the court at one time which means I have 16 antsy girls sitting on the bench and [at least] 32 unhappy parents sitting in the stands. Exhausting. I drank a lot. Not in the margarita sense, but in the water-to-keep-away migraines sense.  I like the plastic cups with straws as they are easy to clean and the straw livens up the water. Over the course of 2 days, I broke both of my straw-cups while teaching. On the last day of practice my girls surprised me with 22 cups filled with my favorite candies. I love the girls, but I am thrilled that season came to an end.

• Adam and I carved pumpkins. I attempted to make one of my pumpkins look like one I found on Pinterest but it did not photograph well. I needed to make the holes bigger. It looked great in person, not on smart phone camera or blogger. Adam cared less about the carving part and more about the salted pumpkin seeds part.  

• I am addicted to Pinterest. And fall. And Christmas decorations. I am not addicted to baking. I actually hate baking. I make a huge mess and most of the mess is not dishwasher safe.  I am then left with copious amount dishes to wash and buttery treats to eat. When I was single, the aforementioned were especially dangerous, hence the no-baking habitat. When we lived in Colorado, my mom would come by every weekday to let Mickey out. She would sporadically leave baked goods on our table with a cute note. This kept my husband’s sweet tooth at bay. One of the many, many reasons I miss my mom, my husband still wants baked goods. I fulfilled my Pinterest and fall addictions by attempting pumpkin muffins while avoiding the baking mess as the muffins only required a box of cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I loved the muffins, Adam did not. Wisconsin baking attempt #1-fail. 

• Today, dear friends, I felt brave. And well rested thanks to the time change. I baked, and not from a box or a can baked, but from scratch. We’re talking flour, yeast, measuring cups, and nutmeg. Adam is downtown this afternoon, so I can’t tell you if he enjoyed the Cinnamon & SugarPull-Apart Bread, but I love it! 

I did it. I baked and I bullet-pointed.