Home is Where the Heart Is....

...or at least I sure hope so! Considering that my physical home will be changing yet again this coming weekend, I'm realizing that home really is wherever Keith and I are. We made a wondeful home for ourselves in NH, and although our family wasn't there we have a wonderful "family" of friends that made NH feel like home. This summer, the campground has been home. The people here have been wonderful and it has been one of the best summers that I can remember having. This weekend Keith and I will move to Cheshire into a little townhouse (which is really cute) and that's more convenient to work for both Keith and I. Not to mention, it isn't a camper and has more than one floor...wooh! As soon as we're all set up I'll post some pictures here and of course visitors are always welcome!!!! We'll have plenty of floor space in which to throw some air mattresses and a spare bedroom, too! (Do you get the hint?). In other news, we officially sent out our save the dates to most of our guests for the wedding. Pretty exciting...hopefully people will find this blog through those (Hi!) and I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to post about soon...promise.

A quick catch up

So last time I spoke with you all I was just starting at Branford. Things have gotten into full swing and there definately have been some adjustments, but it's going well. A few thoughts:

• 8 period days are strange! I have been used to block scheduling (3 90-min. classes that meet for half a year). Now I teach 5 50-min classes a day plus have a duty. I have been exhausted! But I'm getting used to it and am starting to feel like I can actually teach something in 50 minutes.
• CT pays their teachers really well...enough said!
• The kids do really well with free time. When they have open periods they can pretty much go where they'd like. You would think this would lead to chaos, but no one really misbehaves terribly.
• I work with some really amazing, younger-ish teachers. Not that I haven't before, but Branford is strange. I think that 75% of the staff is under the age of 35. Seriously. And we are all in one staff room and they all actually collaborate and work together. Really neat atmosphere.
• These same colleagues LOVE HAPPY HOUR! I think someone goes every day of the week and if you don't go on Fridays then you're a loser.
• But despite all of this, I miss Nashua! I miss having people know who I am and having kids come by and poke their heads in. I miss my friends from Nashua and hearing their stories and having them know things about me and having adjacent classroom buddies (my rooms don't connect to anyone).

In other news, Keith officially started his new job today. He's working at a company in Chesire as a software support technician. We'll see how he likes it, but for now I think he's just depressed that he's back at work. I plan to make him a yummy dinner to celebrate/cheer him up. Speaking of which...gotta get to that....

Coming together

I feel like things with the wedding are finally starting to come together. After a lovely little church debacle (which I won't even start to get into because its long and boring) it looks like we'll be able to be married in the other congregational church in town. It isn't the church that I was confirmed at, but it is a church that I have been to considerably (my brother was confirmed there). And to be honest, I've always liked their services a wee bit better (that may be sacrilegious or something but oh well). We got our save the dates in the mail yesterday! So exciting.....no going back now. We also found a friend's dad from NH to be our DJ. He's a great guy and acquainted with both Keith and I. In fact, we've watched quite a few soccer games together as his son and keith have played together all the way through college. So that'll be nice. We found a photographer we like...now the only major things that are left are bridesmaids dresses and a florist. Nice!

In other news, I officially have to start school next week! I have orientation and then the week after next I'll be really really starting. Kind of overwhelmed about that, but I'll post more when I have more to talk about. About the only new development on that front is that I met the new chemistry teacher. She's nice, but she's no Allison....

Campground living is still going wonderfully. We had a nice weekend here this weekend with all of the old campground folks around. We did some campfire drinking, played some cards, and just relaxed. We floated in the river for a good chunk of time on Sunday which is the ultimate lazy sunday activity. It pretty much involves tossing a tube in the river, tying yourself to an anchor so you don't get swept away, and closing your eyes. Heavenly! We're looking forward to a trip to NH this weekend for a wedding and possibly a brief trip to winnipesauke...more later.

Almost over...

Just a quick post because I'm realizing that summer is coming to a close and by the end of the month I will be starting a job in a completely new place with new people and I'm slightly overwhelmed. I'm sure that I'll be fine, but I had gotten to be so comfortable at Nashua...I know that how I taught fit in well there and that the people I worked with were awesome. I just don't know what to expect this year except that the butterflies in my stomach before day 1 are sure to be bigger this year. I have orientations with central office tomorrow morning and then building orientation at the end of the month. So I guess here goes nothing...

On the wedding front things are going well. I still don't have a church to get married in yet (the church I had been at fell through....my fault), but we met with a photographer yesterday who was awesome! She just seemed like tons of fun and would put everyone there at ease. Plus she was reasonable priced. Good deal! Other than that, nothing much new. We went to our friends Adam and Courtney's wedding this past weekend. It was really nice and of course I was sure to take notes the entire time. I also got a chance to catch up with some old high school friends. I didn't realize how much I missed the company of some of those folks and it was great to catch up. We had a nice fire, some good drinks, and a nice late night visit to Denny's (yeah, kinda high school, but it was worth it). Welp, I have a Wii date that I should be getting to....bye!

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

Welp, we're in the middle of some severe thunderstorms for like the millionth day in a row and I'm sitting here in the camper that is currently without power. And I'm all alone. Needless to say, I'm bored to tears and everything in my camper (including myself) has taken on a permenently damp feeling. Other than that camping is going wonderfully well. Keith will be back this Wednesday from a work trip to New Orleans. He's been gone for close to 2 weeks now and I think I'm getting used to him being away. I've kept myself pretty busy trying to finish up some grad school work and visiting with the campground folks. We went out to dinner the other night at this Japanese hibachi grill where they cook in front of you. Pretty cool! There was fire on the grill and salt shakers tossed into the air and a whole lot of crazy cooking tricks. We also had some old campground friends that have since moved to California up for a night, so we got to do some visiting there too. Here's some campground pics that I was supposed to post last time to give you an idea of where we are and what we do.

Keith has been catching up on playing Beer Die, a drinking game made famous by the campground folks. He's been missing this terribly up in New Hampshire, so he's making up for lost time....

We've had lots of good campfires, too. The nice thing about the campground is that if you light a fire everyone comes and sits around it with you...lots of great chats. And usually s'mores are involved which is absolutly fantastic in my book!

Keith has also developed the genius idea of turning the TV around from inside the camper and playing Wii outside. This is Keith and a couple of buddies bowling (plus its a decent shot of my camper a.k.a. my summer home)

And after all that hard work, my boys like to take naps. Must be a rough life, huh?

Settling In

I had every intention of posting this with pictures of my new abode, but can't seem to find the connector cable for my camera so we'll have to simply settle for words. Keith and I have settled in quite nicely to our "summer home" (as my mother has taken to calling it). We're living in a camper for the summer at the same campground that he grew up at. It's been so nice for him because all of his old friends are still around and its been great to catch up. Don't think we're roughing it though...we have quite the setup. And Keith has figured out that if he sets the TV on a shelf and turns it around he can play his Wii outside through the window (I have pictures for proof....). We've had some wonderful relaxing campfires and some great late night chats with the neighbors. Rocky (my kitty) is adjusting wonderfully to being an outdoor kitty. In fact, he's become a totally different cat. He went from a pretty mean, ornery brat to the talk of the campground. He has made friends with EVERYONE here and lets complete strangers pet him. This from the cat who tried to take off anyone's hand that entered our apartment. He hasn't quite figured out though that a road is for cars not kitties and has taken to sprawling himself out in the middle of it and looking at cars like they're cramping his style. Ok for campground roads, probably not so okay for real roads. Think thats about it...we have a pretty busy month or so coming up so I'll try to keep this thing updated. Let's see how that goes.

Puzzle Pieces

The pieces are finally starting to fall into place! I just found out that I got a new job in Branford, CT. I'm a Branford Hornet now, I guess. The job has me teaching a few sections of underclassman biology and a few sections of upperclassman forensic science. I no next to nothing about forensics, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. The people at the school seem great, though I'm sure it will take some getting used to.
Along with all this excitment is the realization that I'm actually moving. Keith and I have made such great friends here over the past four years that NH really has become home. We're going to miss everyone so much! I was telling someone the other day that I'm finally to the point where I can go to the grocery store and see people I know (which is cool, but it means that I can't go looking too scrubby). We have some "old" friends back in CT, but it's going to be a strange adjustment.
Anyways, this week finds me out of school (wooh!) but packing up an apartment by myself...and I think Keith and I are packrats! We have so much junk! I've already filled about 5 big black garbage bags and am only about halfway done. Yipes! Guess I should probably go get back to that...