Valentines and a tough week...

...And what a tough week it was. I knew going into this past week that it was going to be a long one, but I wasn't aware HOW long and hard it was going to be.

Monday was Valentine's day. I had by far the best Valentine's day I have EVER had. Boyfriend dropped no hints, gave no clues, or did anything to give me any idea whatsoever what we were doing Monday night. I left for work thinking that maybe we were just going out to dinner. The kids and I had a pretty normal day, and I let them pass out their Valentines after lunch. We had some snacks, and had planned to head outside for recess--it was a GORGEOUS day outside. All of a sudden, I get a call from the office. "Ms. Brown, you have something in the office". I sent a child up to get it, since I couldn't leave them alone. I watched as the boy came back carrying a very large and gorgeous bouquet of flowers from none other than my love!! :) It was such a beautiful surprise. Of course, I thought that was the end of the surprises. Boy, was I wrong. Zach told me to be home at 6, hungry and ready to get dressed up to go out. So naturally, I think we're going somewhere nice for dinner.

I got home right on time and redid my hair and makeup. I noticed that Zach had vacuumed and made up the bed, which I thought was very sweet. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to wear, so I just put my sweatpants on and waited for him. Turns out he was running late, and he got home around 7. He said I wasn't allowed to come out of the bedroom, and neither were the animals. I waited for him and listened closely...I hear him clanging something around, and he came in and out of the door a bunch of times. I still had NO clue what he was doing. When he was finished, he lead me out into the dining room where I found the kitchen table covered with a new tablecloth, new dishes and silverware, and a single candle surrounded by rose petals. Turns out, he had planned to cook an entire 5 course meal for the two of us. We had bacon wrapped scallops for an appetizer, potato and ham soup, a salad, and Fillet Mignon and lobster tail with asparagus for the main course. We even made chocolate covered strawberries for dessert! It took about 3 hours to cook and eat it all (with a break in the middle for him to take me to the bedroom and discover the box of Godiva chocolates sitting on my pillow), and we were stuffed by the time we got to dessert. I sat down in the living room to let my food settle, and all of a sudden Zach comes out wearing the same exact outfit he was wearing the night we met. Turns out he had wanted us to get dressed up to eat, but because we were running so late we didn't have time. He told me that was the last surprise, so we took our strawberries in the bedroom and decided to call it a night.

I made a comment that it was the "perfect ending to a perfect night"...and Zach paused for a moment and said "well, maybe not". He went to the hall closet and pulled out a box. It was a Tiffany's box!! I opened it up and found the most beautiful pink sapphire necklace. It was the BEST ending to the BEST Valentines day ever. Even though we didn't get to bed until after 11, it was worth every moment I got to spend with my wonderful boyfriend.

Wow, that took a lot of time to write. My week at work was a very different story--and I'll update later about that. Time to go help bring groceries in! Toodles :)

Hip Hip Hooray!

It's been a year full of exciting news! I won't bore you for long...just a quick update.

First off, I got a call at the end of January from the teacher that I student taught under last year...she wanted to see if it was okay with me if she mentioned my name to the principal because they had a 5th grade position coming open. Due to budget problems, she didn't think that they had the money to hire a teacher but she thought maybe I could do some long term subbing. Of course I said yes, because any permanent teaching opportunity was a step up from the on-call subbing that I was doing! It just so happened that I had also accepted a management position with a tutoring company in Durham that same day. That night, I went to bed a very happy girl. I thought that I would be subbing and then tutoring as well. Turns out, things don't always go the way that you plan them to. God had a different plan for me.

The following Wednesday, I got a call from the principal. She asked me if I would be interested in the job, and she told me that she was going to recommend me to the board in Alamance County--as a certified teacher! As long as UNCG had applied for license, I could take over the job full time as a teacher with a temporary contract. As you can imagine, I was over the moon. I talked to her a few more times just to confirm with her, and she asked that I start in a subbing position on the following Monday until the recommendation could go through and I could become official. SO, long story short, I've been a fifth grade teacher for two weeks now and I'm absolutely loving it. I had to turn down the job with the tutoring company because the demand of being a full time teacher is much more than just simply substitute teaching.  The kids are having a little bit of a tough time adjusting, but we're beginning to bring things together beautifully. :)

The second piece of news--well, actually. I can't say anything. But I'll let the cat out of the bag as soon as I can! I'm really excited about this one, too.

I'm excited to spend my first Valentine's day with Zach tomorrow. He's got something planned and I have no clue what it is. It's going to be a long day, trying to teach while being so excited about our date! I love Valentine's day.

Lots to be excited about and thankful for, lots of blessings in my life in just 2 months! Here's to making 2011 the best yet.