Our 6 Month Anniversary

Well, we just celebrated our six month anniversary and we took a few pictures. I thought I would put them here so you can all see it. First we stopped at Jennifer's school to print a coupon for a free appetizer (it was a good deal), and then we realized as we walked into the school there was water ALL OVER THE PLACE...Apparently, an air conditioner in the library broke and was pouring water out for quite a while, since it was a snow day on Friday. Here are those pictures:

This is what we first saw as we walked in.

This is the door to the library.

Here is the water actually falling out of the ceiling. The doors were shut in the library for an entire day of this so when we walked in, it was very humid!

Here is the floor in the computer room, which is right next door to the library. It wasn't a pretty site.
That's all the pictures we have the leaky school...it was an adventure. But after that, we did end up going out to eat at a place called Houlihans. Here are a few pictures of that:

These were the coasters we thought were pretty funny.

Here are the plates, they were cool.

That's all from our trip.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

The other day, Dan and I went out and bought ourselves a Christmas tree! We even have presents to go underneath! Super exciting. Here is a wonderful picture of our quaint tree:
Now a little more up close to see the beautiful angel Dan made when he was just a little tyke ;)
One week until Jeremy and Jackie arrive!!!! 5 days of school left for me and 6.5 left for Dan. We'll see if it works out!

God Bless!

Only in Michigan...

Last weekend Dan and I ventured up to Michigan. I don't really feel like doing a whole post on that weekend. But, I did want to post these pictures.
This is something that you will only see in Michigan:

Only in Michigan would you see a deer strapped to the top of a car...

Here's a picture of me and Dan in the place we got married 5 months ago:

ok that's all. bye bye!

Our Trip to St. Louis, MO

This past weekend Dan and I joined his parents and Tara on a trip to St. Louis for Tara's soccer tournament. Neither Dan nor I had actually visited St. Louis before. In between soccer games on Saturday we were able to visit the famous Arch of St. Louis. Now, I have seen this thing before but I had never ventured up it. Needless to say, it was a very interesting experience. I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the weekend. It was great to be able to relax a little outside of Demotte for a while.

Now for some pictures to highlight the trip:

that's Tara in the center
our attempt to take a picture with the arch...that's a tough feat!
some of the soccer girls (Tara on the far left)
yep that's how high it is

a view of the car from the very top-it's the green van in the center of the photo
the itty-bitty windows we got to look through...or at least Dan looked through :)
I wasn't into the whole leaning over thing...but Dan found something he liked...
A baseball field
to get to the top of the arch you had to ride in these ridiculously small pods that hold 5 people...as you can tell...Tara enjoyed it more than me :)
It was beautiful there. Fabulous fall colors and seventy five degree sun shining weather! We could not have asked for a better weekend.

Now it is back to the swing of things. I have parent teacher conferences Thursday and Friday. I am anxious to see what these will be like. Not having my own class makes it hard for me to plan ahead for these. Jr. High conferences are a free for all. The parents show up and go to whatever teacher they want to talk to. We'll see if any talk to me :) Dan is still busy at school, working hard. The soccer season is over so he can refocus on his classes.
But of course, we are counting the days until our next relaxing weekend. Thanksgiving can not come soon enough. Then there is Christmas when we finally get to see Jeremy and Jackie again. It will be nice to see my family for a change :)

Happy October!

So this might be a little late...but...

HAPPY OCTOBER!!

The weather is beginning to cool and the leaves are beginning to change. Fall is in the air :) Now if we could only find an apple orchard to pick some apples and drink some awesome apple cider everything would be perfect! Oh and some pumpkin spice donuts would be nice too ;) If only Demotte had a Robinettes.


Well, I must be off to 6th grade art now. Until later!

A Chicago Weekend

This past weekend Dan's family came down to celebrate his birthday on the 18th of September. Since we live so close to Chicago and had not visited since our moving to Indiana, we decided to head up to the windy city and see some sites...

Here's a few pictures to highlight our adventures:

The wonderful Shedd Aquarium...fyi teachers get in FREE!!!

Do you think he knows there's something sticking out of his head?
They feed the eels by attaching a plastic fork to a pvc pipe with duct tape...greatest invention EVER!
Lovely Sea Stars
A view of the city
Millennium Park

A shot in the bean :)

And now for the wedding parade...let's count how many weddings were at Millennium Park...
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
probably the best pizza place I've been to in the Midwest!!

Another thing I found to be interesting:
This-
was on the corner of-
(Wabash)

and (Wacker)
am I the only one that finds that funny??

oh well...Here's a closing picture of the sunset

Not much else is going on in our lives here in Demotte, IN. Dan is mid season in being the assistant soccer coach at Demotte Christian School. Meanwhile I am keeping rather busy at Crown Point Christian school trying to figure out how to be a Pre-K-8th grade computer teacher,5th-8th grade art teacher, a 6th grade reading and writing teacher and a network administrator...Life has truly been an adventurous journey that only God knows the plans for.

humble beginnings

Dan has been at DMC everyday since Aug. 1st preparing for his first day of school on Aug. 18th. He has had meetings with the principal, time to connect with the other jr. high teachers, and time to figure out exactly what he is doing. In the past 2 weeks or so, Dan created probably his first ever bulletin boards!

The constant...this board will only display necessary school/class information

These boards are also in the front of the classroom, he's not quite sure what to do with them yet...that's ok he still has a week :)

also, that's Dan's desk computer...unfortunately, his desk is in the back of the classroom and the computer is in the front. The only way to get the computer in the back is to have cords running the length of the room under the students desks...guess it's going to stay there for now :D
Here are some classroom and storage room shots Dan took today:

...notice the computer and desk positions above...
the nicely stocked storage room.

Today was the first day for me at CPCS. I only stayed about 3 hours due to lack of clue of what to do. While I was there I was able to make a bulletin board behind my desk:

it says Mrs. Broersma's with Computers coming from the M in Broersma-in case you couldn't read it ;)
The following is the nice computer lab I was supplied with...I'm still trying to figure out arrangement and workability...it's difficult considering everything is bolted into place

Those are the latest on the picture front. On our lives, neither of our schools provide dental insurance so we are now beginning to figure out if/what insurance we should get. If you have any suggestions, please let us know! I've always found insurance to be something of an annoyance, too many deductibles, co-pays, limited benefits, etc. Some how life has caught up with us and we really weren't planning on having it come to visit anytime soon. Justin really is right, once you get married you turn "old." Thanks a lot Justin...way to be right...again

I think it's time for a fun picture from our trip to Mackinac Island. Let's see if you get it...

it made me laugh :) hope it makes your day, too!

a very relaxing Saturday

Today was a nice and relaxing day. Dan and I slept in (until 8:30!!), leisurely watched the Olympic, then walked down to Town and Country Day down the street (too bad I forgot my camera!). Saturdays have pretty much become "clean up" day for me in the apartment. I like to do a quick vacuum and wipe everything down. It's surprising how many messes can be made by two people in one week.

Anywho, I figured out that my parents and California siblings have never seen the finished product of our wedding guest platter...so I took a picture :)

It turned out really well! Right now it is chilling in the middle of our IKEA coffee table...it might move...who knows. I was also able to take a couple more pictures of our place...

our kitchen

Our water softener in our laundry room
My Pantry!! :)
The Living Room
our very unorganized linen closet ;)
behind the door in the bathroom
and now our deck!
the sliding door back into the apartment

well that's more of our apartment. Hopefully you can get the gist of it from those. Maybe once we figure out what we are hang on our walls I'll take more pictures. As for tomorrow, Dan and I were invited to a member of Community CRC's house for lunch-their daughter is also in 8th grade at DMC. It's nice living here in Demotte because the people from the church and school really take care of you. Starting on Monday, I will be going to CPCS more regularly...yes, I am nervous :)

Until then! GOD BLESS and have a wonderful weekend