oregon coast vacation...

for our 4th anniversary derek planned a long weekend getaway to the oregon coast. we started packing on thursday so we could get up early on friday and head for the water... but over dinner decided it would be fun to take off a night early and stay somewhere along the way. so, we loaded the car, left the house a mess, and drove through goldendale to portland. we got tired midway through portland so we pulled off and stayed at a hotel off the freeway (i have no idea where we were..) friday morning we woke up, had breakfast and stopped in at bridgeport village (an outlet mall... with a coach store!!!) we shopped for a bit and then got back on the road and hit one more outlet mall. and then we drove (and drove, and drove, and drove) and arrived in newport around 3pm. our condo was located right on the beach in newport and looked out over the cove to the lighthouse, it was perfect!!

our condo from the beach side...

from the parking lot...

the view from the master room and living room...

the kitchen (oh la la!!)

the living room and kitchen...


living and dining from kitchen...

master bedroom... with an awesome view!!

master bath...

after we moved into the condo (in our dreams) we decided to go out and explore town a bit... it was incredibly windy so our feeble attempt to go to the beach didn't go so well... fyi - flying sand feels very similar to being shot with a beebee gun. :( we went into town, got the fixings for dinner and gave ourselves a mini tour. we went back to the condo and i fixed dinner in the most fantastic kitchen i have ever had the privilege of using... then we watched a goofy movie (not worth mentioning) and relaxed in front of the fire place. we stayed up late, had cookies and milk, and then headed to bed. saturday morning we got up and i headed off for my day at the spa (hooray!!!). i had a massage, facial, body scrub, and eyebrow wax (OUCH!!!). after i was all done getting fabulous, derek picked me up and we went off to the newport aquarium (which is 100% better than the seattle one, fyi). we had tons of fun and took lots of pictures...

they really wanted me to feel comfortable..

my newest and coolest friend!!

i tried to steal one for mom...

chilling with the jellies...

puffins are just too cool!

puffins having fun!

in the shark tunnel...




not where i'd like to end up...

derek was performing dental work on the shark when he was eaten...

ahhh... puffins again!

crazy puffin playing in the water :)

after we left the aquarium we headed to the beach to take a second shot at walking the beach. the wind wasn't as bad (but it was still blowing like crazy...) we snapped some pictures and derek was supposed to be video taping the sand blowing across the beach... instead he got me acting like a total goober... as usual!

derek... i finally get HIM in a picture!

my first attempt at flying that day...

hanging onto my hood because it kept blowing off...

awww... happy tweedy's!

second attempt at flying... still unsuccessful.

yea... never trust derek with a camera... :)


on our way back to the car...

after spending a little while at the beach we were cold and hungry, so we headed back to the condo, crawled in bed and drank root beer and watched the waves... and i got in a tiny nap. we got up at about 6 and got ready for dinner. we decided to eat at a place called georgie's which is right on the waterfront. we had a great dinner (ate WAY too much) and headed back to the condo to watch another movie and relax...

derek after dinner...

(isn't he cute?!?!) :)

sunday, we grudgingly packed up the condo (we hated to leave it!!) and started making out way toward cannon beach. we stopped a couple of times along the way to eat, shop, tour the tillamook factory and snap some pictures...

a quick stop at the devils punch bowl...

the punch bowl...

you just have to love the oregon coast... so pretty.

we got into cannon beach at about 4 in the afternoon and checked into our room. it was a lot smaller than our last place (and lacked air conditioning... who would have thought??) but it was on the beach and within walking distance from everything we wanted to see. we drug our stuff up three flights of stairs and headed down the beach to haystack rock. afterwards we wandered through town a bit and then found an AWESOME pizza place right next to our hotel... so we ordered a calazone and salad and took it up to our room to eat while looking out at the view...

our hotel in cannon beach...

the view from our deck...

me and my favorite piece of rock...

haystack rock

it was cloudy but still beautiful...

trying not to break an ankle...
my two least favorite forms of sea life are seaweed and barnacles... and here i am playing in a whole mess of them!


derek and the rock...

:)

i found myself a GIANT puffin!!!!

derek and stefani
4 years :) and going strong!

a year in review..

wow... i can't believe i'm actually sitting here, able to write about my first full year of teaching. it has been loaded with ups and downs... and full of surprises. i promised one of my coworkers that i would write a book about everything that happened this year because it was the stereotypical "horrid first year". i don't have the energy or ambition to write a book but it might be fun to look back on these thoughts in a few months (or years)... so here it goes...

i started off the year with a broken nose. i got the flu, got dehydrated (details better left out), passed out, hit my face on the counter and busted my nose. two days later i was in front of my kids and parents for open house. it was an interesting start to the year, but i think it'll make future years much (MUCH) easier. two weeks later i was back in the ER with a terrible stomach virus. it wasn't how i planned on spending my first few weeks but i kept plugging on. i was stressed and overtired most of the year so even when i wasn't hanging out in the ER i still spent a large amount of time sick. i lost my voice completely for several days and had to develop a "sign language" for my kids to get by. i had strep more than once.. an almost constant cold or flu and wacky skin issues (like breaking out in hives during class and having to leave due to "itchiness"). i took minimal sick days considering what i went through because i learned quickly that having a sub was more work than it was worth.

then i think about the kids... i had some trouble right off the bat. kids that i didn't know how to deal with, kids that had needs i didn't feel prepared to meet. i had scissors thrown at a student within the first month, i had suspensions, sexual harassment from students, drugs, weapons... ah, the joys of middle school. a strange thing happened though, about midway through the year... some of these kids that were labeled as "trouble" became my favorites... they were the ones that i looked for each morning to make sure they were there and i worked extra hard to draw them in because i could see where they would end up if they didn't.

and last... and most importantly, i think about the successes, because that's what's giving me the optimism and energy to go back next year. i had some really good "ah-ha" moments during the year. being able to see my reading kids scores improve by one or even two grade levels within six months. having kids tell me that i was their favorite, that they wanted me again next year, that they'd miss me... pulling off a lock in that was against all odds... having other teacher ask me for advice or lesson plans... that is the stuff that makes me think, despite all the stuff from above, that i want to go back and do it all again in the fall.

memorial day weekend...

(better late than never, right?)

we had an extra special memorial day weekend this year because my parents came in to town and stayed with us for a few days. we haven't seen them since christmas and it was fun to see all their pictures from new zealand and austrailia. derek and i took them out for dinner at gasperetti's to celebrate mothers day, fathers day (early), derek getting into the masters program at heritage, and me getting my contract renewed. my parents also got to meet the frieisans (and of course, will and teresa :) we went to a bbq with friends and stayed waaaay too late and they even got to ride with me when i drove durk for the first time!! they didn't stay long enough (they never do) but we'll get to see lots of them this summer!!

mom and dad at dinner....

derek and i... waiting for delicious food

me and turkey... getting ready

turkey duky and turkey lurky :)

OMG! i'm driving!!

durk shrunk... oops.

a veeeery tuckered out harmony pulling twice her body weight :)