Introduction and an Update!

Hello and welcome to my first blog post! I'm so excited to be starting this new way of keeping family members and friends up to date on our busy, busy lives! I had a blog for a short time in college, but because of my priorities at the time, I wasn't that great at keeping up with it. This time, however, I am optimistic that I will be able to stick with it. As an introduction, I'm going to give the short version of what Jeremy and I have been up to the past 20 months.

The biggest project in our lives has been the construction of our first house. Holy smokes has that been quite the project! We were lucky enough to find a lot in town that still has the feel of being in the country...complete with five deer who visit us often. We went from this...

To this...

Ok, so this isn't the finished product, but apparently I never bothered to get an "after" of the outside! Although, to be honest, the outside is far from being finished. We still need to paint, pour the sidewalk, and put in landscaping. All three are going to be huge projects that we're hoping to be able to complete after we get our tax return.

In other news, Jer and I were finally able to head back to Palm Springs, CA with my family for Spring Break '09. I was so happy to see the sun! It had been a loooooonnnnggg 2 years without going down there and we were glad to be able to make it. For those who don't know, my family has travelled to Palm Springs every year for Spring Break since I was 16. We go with the Carlson Family who are great family friends and so much fun to hang out with.

This year, both families rented a house to share. It was super nice and relaxing to have our own pool and hot tub and not have to worry about getting out there early each morning to save chairs! I can't say enough about how grateful we were, and still are, to have been able to stay with everyone and enjoy the vacation time with family and friends. We're already looking forward to next year!

Professionally, Jeremy is still working in commercial construction. Unfortunately, due to the economy, we're not sure how much longer his job will be around, but trying to stay hopeful that it will last. Jer has also decided to begin volunteer firefighting in town. This commitment means he is gone Sat. and Sun. at fire academy as well as having drills on Mon. and Thurs. nights. He is 2/3 finished with academy though and then he will be able to respond to calls. In the mean time, I get to hear that aweful pager go off in the middle of the night! He loves it though and I am very proud of him!

I have been substitute teaching all school year, mostly in town. Most days you can find me at my parents' school teaching 6-8th graders. I know I'm crazy, but what can I say, I love that age group (most days!). :) Just recently, I started working at the elementary level too and have enjoyed that as well. It is very very different from the middle school, but each have their own set of challenges.

Hopefully this was a good update for everyone. I am off to get ready for one of many fire department events...the crab feed!

Lots of Love, Britt