Aaron is such a hard worker! Yesterday he left the house at 8:30 AM and didn't return until 10:30 PM. While I am grateful to have such a hard-working husband, it is somewhat lonely to be home all day by myself. The great thing about yesterday was, I have a new car! It's such a blessing to be able to leave the house even when Aaron is away at work all day. For the past few months, I've had to kiss Aaron goodbye in the morning and then just sit at home until my husband gets home from work. I've been feeling a little like a suppressed 50's housewife. Anyways, I'm just so thankful for the life I get to lead here in our cozy little house... and even more so now that I am no longer imprisoned in it whenever Aaron is gone.
In other news, faculty meetings start tomorrow, which means it will be back to work for me! I'm so excited for school to start up again! Excited to get to meet my new batch of students, excited to do more research and class-planning this semester, and excited to hopefully reconnect with some friends I made last semester during our Spanish conversation time. Winter break, you've been great, but I'm ready for you to be gone!
Also, I'm in need of some great ideas for spring events. Part of my job is planning Hispanic-related events and I need some ideas for those. Last semester we had a 16 de Septiembre "Grito" party, an outreach event at the Day of the Dead celebration, and a Christmas party with a "Posadas" theme. My current ideas for this semester include: Dia del Amor y la Amistad party, something for Semana Santa, and, of course, a 5 de Mayo event. Let me know please any ideas you have for these or any other events, I need some inspiration! :)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Iowa City Visit Photos
On Monday Aaron gave me a tour of Iowa City.
Here's us in the car.
This is the only stop on the tour.
You can see what our priorities are.
Another angle.
For Aaron and I, this sign holds a lot of meaning. Since we first started traveling I-80 two weeks after we started dating (back in 2008), every time we pass this sign one or the other of us says: "Would you rather name your child Belle Plaine or What Cheer?" The "Would you rather name your child..." tradition began in Illinois the first time we passed the Rochelle and Mendota exit. Since then, we've compared countless city names as possible monikers for the future little Woodards. Our all time favorite, though, is Belle Plaine and What Cheer in none other than middle of nowhere Iowa.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
My New Car
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy First Anniversary to us!
Well, we've survived one year as the Woodards! I find it amazing how after celebrating that milestone last night, I feel even more in-love with my Aaron than I did on our wedding day! Even though we weren't planning on doing anything big, we ended up coming to Iowa City for the night. We got a really good deal on a fancy room at the Best Western Cantebury Inn & Suites here and so we came to celebrate our first year together.
It was a really nice relaxing time, and even more special because we got to see our dear friend, Paul Nelson, from Wheaton. I worked with Paul on several political campaigns and committees at Wheaton and Aaron and Paul were on the same floor Aaron's junior year. Paul is an inspiration to me and a really special part of our lives. One day we will be so proud that he's a Wheatie and an Iowan when he is a really important person in D.C.
We also had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden and enjoyed the fancy whirlpool in our hotel room. Our hotel has a castle theme and our room is the coolest because it's the only one with a fancy shield on the door. We also listened to the recording of our wedding and looked at pictures. All in all, it was the perfect way to spend the day.
It was a really nice relaxing time, and even more special because we got to see our dear friend, Paul Nelson, from Wheaton. I worked with Paul on several political campaigns and committees at Wheaton and Aaron and Paul were on the same floor Aaron's junior year. Paul is an inspiration to me and a really special part of our lives. One day we will be so proud that he's a Wheatie and an Iowan when he is a really important person in D.C.
We also had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden and enjoyed the fancy whirlpool in our hotel room. Our hotel has a castle theme and our room is the coolest because it's the only one with a fancy shield on the door. We also listened to the recording of our wedding and looked at pictures. All in all, it was the perfect way to spend the day.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
In Bed Today. Not Leaving Soon.
Two days ago it was almost 60 degrees outside. Today it is only 11. The nice thing about Iowa weather is that it's always changing, so these frigid temperatures are only temporary. With that said, today is a perfect day for me feel sick.
We got our heat bill yesterday. Which means that as a reactionary move our house is about 40 degrees right now. While I haven't resorted to wearing gloves, every other part of me is covered with at least two layers and I have three blankets over my legs. I'm in the warmest room of our little trailer (the bedroom) which is DARK because of the four blankets I put over the curtains.
I made myself a bottle of tea which is also functioning as a hot water bottle. That has lessened the soreness of my throat, but my inability to breathe properly through a stuffy nose and my constant sneezing means that I probably won't be leaving the house anytime soon. I have to mend, though, because tomorrow is our first anniversary and a little mini-vacation we're taking to Iowa City. :) I hope it's warmer there.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Learning to Fly
Well, the end of 2010 is upon us and I must say, I'm almost ready for it. With the coming of the new year begins the second year of our marriage, and another chance for new beginnings, new goals, and new dreams. But for these next 24 hours, I find that I must look back and think about the challenges of the year gone-by and the chances of the year to-come!
For Aaron and I, 2010 was a year of learning. For anyone who has ever learned anything, they will know that learning is never easy. This first year was never easy, but always good. 2010 began with the most wonderful event, our wedding day... and the honeymoon that followed... but a week later we returned to Wheaton to find that my promised job had fallen through, the rent was due, and Aaron had class and track practice to busy himself. Those first few months were ones of loneliness, boredom, and rejection. I tried to settle in to our tiny apartment in the middle of Wheaton winter, find a job, learn to drive, and navigate the stormy waters of newlywed life. Suffice it to say, I failed on each front. Right off the bat, I hit a Jaguar and got my license taken away, which made for a hard time in the job-finding department. Long days alone at home searching for job openings online pushed me further and further into a dark hole of depression, while knowing that my friends were still going to class, still eating in SAGA, and still hanging out in the Beamer center - just steps from my front door - made me feel so alone. For someone who loved planning the wedding and anticipated that beautiful day for months and years, I couldn't handle the post-marital depression that came from the lack of anticipation. Poor Aaron was unsure of what to do with such an unhappy bride. It was a cold, dark time for us.
But emotional and physical difficulties aside, the hardest part was the financial challenge. We had NO money. To this day, I don't know how we paid the rent each month. I am certain that angels visited our doorstep the night we found $300 in an envelope slid under our front door. Our church and our family helped as they could, and each month the heat was on and the electricity worked, for that I am thankful. By March, my job at the census could not have been more needed.
The summer was hard for many of the same and some different reasons. Moving to Des Moines and trying to make this old trailer livable was a different, but just as difficult, challenge. While winter cold had banished me to our Wheaton apartment, in Des Moines in July, the heat in our trailer was almost unbearable (especially considering the lack of shower for the first month). Aaron began his job at McDonalds, which could not have come at a better time, and I got more comfortable with driving on the wonderful traffic-free roads of Iowa. I got my first credit card, which has been a learning experience in itself, but the loneliness and the challenges never stopped coming. My first real job, the Spanish Program Assistant at Drake University, is one of the biggest challenges yet, which I have yet to overcome.
Through it all, we have been like baby birds pushed out of the nest. Were we ready to be so rudely shoved out? Well, we must have been, because only in falling are we learning to fly. And we have had so many blessings as well. My greatest blessing of this year is my Aaron, the man who I am proud to share my life with. Whether we're falling or flying, I'm so glad I get to do it with him. We are also surrounded by such a supportive family on both sides. My parents have encouraged and supported from afar, and Aaron's parents have given such practical blessings of food, shelter, and toil on our still-to-be-finished home. Also, we are so thankful for the wonderful people at our dear church in Bondurant.
But now to the matter at hand: FLYING.
A year is spent... and per our agreement, only three more until we want to start to expand this little family. Aaron and I are planners, since before we were engaged, we had planned our entire courtship and beyond, even talking through baby names and how we wanted to raise our children. Well, now more than ever, I have begun to realize how little time I have until that life-changing event is "scheduled" in our plan. So this year's New Year's resolutions are, for me, more like Baby Resolutions. Instead of making promises never to eat chocolate again or to exercise every day, I find it is better to have goals, sort of like a to-do list. So here is my to-do list for the next three years, or for however long or soon it will be when we two become three:
- Get my Master's
- Finish a marathon
- Work a job for one full year without quitting
- Read a whole book in French
- Visit another continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, South America... or I guess, Antarctica)
- Buy a house
- Get published
- Memorize the book of John
- Find a bosom friend
For me, these are lofty goals, that will take dedication and hard work. I am a horrible finisher, and every one of these goals requires some sort of completion. However, each of them should hopefully make me a stronger person: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. I hope that developing and finishing each of these goals will build in me not only these strengths, but in the end, a strength of character. It won't be easy and I won't always succeed, but I pray that instead of falling and not trying again, through each new challenge and failure I would seek the opportunity to learn to fly!
For Aaron and I, 2010 was a year of learning. For anyone who has ever learned anything, they will know that learning is never easy. This first year was never easy, but always good. 2010 began with the most wonderful event, our wedding day... and the honeymoon that followed... but a week later we returned to Wheaton to find that my promised job had fallen through, the rent was due, and Aaron had class and track practice to busy himself. Those first few months were ones of loneliness, boredom, and rejection. I tried to settle in to our tiny apartment in the middle of Wheaton winter, find a job, learn to drive, and navigate the stormy waters of newlywed life. Suffice it to say, I failed on each front. Right off the bat, I hit a Jaguar and got my license taken away, which made for a hard time in the job-finding department. Long days alone at home searching for job openings online pushed me further and further into a dark hole of depression, while knowing that my friends were still going to class, still eating in SAGA, and still hanging out in the Beamer center - just steps from my front door - made me feel so alone. For someone who loved planning the wedding and anticipated that beautiful day for months and years, I couldn't handle the post-marital depression that came from the lack of anticipation. Poor Aaron was unsure of what to do with such an unhappy bride. It was a cold, dark time for us.
But emotional and physical difficulties aside, the hardest part was the financial challenge. We had NO money. To this day, I don't know how we paid the rent each month. I am certain that angels visited our doorstep the night we found $300 in an envelope slid under our front door. Our church and our family helped as they could, and each month the heat was on and the electricity worked, for that I am thankful. By March, my job at the census could not have been more needed.
The summer was hard for many of the same and some different reasons. Moving to Des Moines and trying to make this old trailer livable was a different, but just as difficult, challenge. While winter cold had banished me to our Wheaton apartment, in Des Moines in July, the heat in our trailer was almost unbearable (especially considering the lack of shower for the first month). Aaron began his job at McDonalds, which could not have come at a better time, and I got more comfortable with driving on the wonderful traffic-free roads of Iowa. I got my first credit card, which has been a learning experience in itself, but the loneliness and the challenges never stopped coming. My first real job, the Spanish Program Assistant at Drake University, is one of the biggest challenges yet, which I have yet to overcome.
Through it all, we have been like baby birds pushed out of the nest. Were we ready to be so rudely shoved out? Well, we must have been, because only in falling are we learning to fly. And we have had so many blessings as well. My greatest blessing of this year is my Aaron, the man who I am proud to share my life with. Whether we're falling or flying, I'm so glad I get to do it with him. We are also surrounded by such a supportive family on both sides. My parents have encouraged and supported from afar, and Aaron's parents have given such practical blessings of food, shelter, and toil on our still-to-be-finished home. Also, we are so thankful for the wonderful people at our dear church in Bondurant.
But now to the matter at hand: FLYING.
A year is spent... and per our agreement, only three more until we want to start to expand this little family. Aaron and I are planners, since before we were engaged, we had planned our entire courtship and beyond, even talking through baby names and how we wanted to raise our children. Well, now more than ever, I have begun to realize how little time I have until that life-changing event is "scheduled" in our plan. So this year's New Year's resolutions are, for me, more like Baby Resolutions. Instead of making promises never to eat chocolate again or to exercise every day, I find it is better to have goals, sort of like a to-do list. So here is my to-do list for the next three years, or for however long or soon it will be when we two become three:
- Get my Master's
- Finish a marathon
- Work a job for one full year without quitting
- Read a whole book in French
- Visit another continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, South America... or I guess, Antarctica)
- Buy a house
- Get published
- Memorize the book of John
- Find a bosom friend
For me, these are lofty goals, that will take dedication and hard work. I am a horrible finisher, and every one of these goals requires some sort of completion. However, each of them should hopefully make me a stronger person: physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. I hope that developing and finishing each of these goals will build in me not only these strengths, but in the end, a strength of character. It won't be easy and I won't always succeed, but I pray that instead of falling and not trying again, through each new challenge and failure I would seek the opportunity to learn to fly!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Broken Down Computer
So the bad news is, Aaron's computer (my old computer) is totally breaking down and I don't know/haven't figured out yet how to download pictures onto my computer. This would be my excuse for the lack of blog posts since the middle of September. A lot has happened since then: two family visits, a wedding, AWANA every Wednesday, and dozens of fun and exciting Spanish classes. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I owe you all about 40,000 words. Over the next few days, I will hopefully be able to put up a few posts just letting everyone know everything that has been going on here since my birthday. Okedoke?
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