Pictures from Oregon and of Reno, Nevada

An older picture from Siletz Bay. This is looking from the houses at Salishan. Maybe this was taken in July or August.

Looking south toward the road that takes you out to the bay. Beautiful Oregon sunny summer day.

Looking North at Lincoln City and the hotels. Kind of blurry pic. I need a new camera.

This is a picture from Fogarty Beach. One of the many beaches on the Oregon Coast.

Tony Lee walking away when I asked to take his picture. I took one anyway. Of his backside.

Barry Lee at a big tree at Lake Tahoe. We were there looking around. I think this was taken October 21st.

Tony at the same tree. His car is in the background. A Mitsubishi Montero. I want a car like that.

I love this picture. It says, "Stop.. Hammer Time!" This is a stop sign that we see everyday on our way to work. I laugh at it everyday. Remember MC Hammer in the 80's?

This is Reno. We are looking West at the downtown buildings and casinos. It reminds me of Las Vegas and the desert.
Same area, just a different picture showing the desert and houses.

I'm back on-line in Reno!!

Well, I just finished reading everyone's blogs. It only took me two hours to catch up and find out what's new. I love seeing the grandkids and greatgrandkids getting so big now. I can't wait to start having fun with my new baby. I have about 7 more months to go. I feel fine although sometimes I start to gag if I think about or see a dirty toilet or dirty sink. I almost threw up at lunch the other day. Maybe morning sickness will find me soon. I still weigh the same which is good. I don't want to gain too much weight early on. I am tired and irritable especially at school. My kids drive me nuts!!! I have 24 students in Kindergarten. 13 are boys and 11 are girls. I have six pretty terrible boys that punch, hit, spit, pinch, kick and choke each other and anyone else that they feel like torturing that day. I am out of ideas on how to handle the aggresive kids. I have had the principal, the nurse, the counselor and other special ed teachers in my room in the last week. Hopefully they will have some more ideas to help me get my class in order. Next week is half days at school and I will get to talk to each student's parents. I have to have a Spanish interpreter for half of the parents. I want to make up a contract for good behavior and have the parents and the child sign it. I can't teach a lesson with so many distractions and misbehaviors. I am firm, strict, and yell a lot. That is not working at all. I try to be positive and offer rewards, star bucks, which are like money to shop at the school store each month. They like earning star bucks, but I have some boys who came in at lunch time and raided my desk stealing star bucks and writing their names on them. I found out after lunch when I saw my desk a mess and papers on the floor. I blew up and lectured the class about not touching my things, not coming inside during lunch, blah, blah, blah. Some of the kids get it, but a lot of kids just look at me like I'm crazy. Who knows how much they are even paying attention to me. I have been reading my college books on Classroom Management, and Tips to Better Behavior Guide. If anyone has any advice for me let me know. We did go on a field trip the day before Halloween to a pumpkin patch. I didn't even lose a kid. I had Barry as a parent volunteer and I gave him some hard kids to watch. He thinks it is funny that I have such hard days. He trys to give me advice about being more strict and making the kids sit in time out. I try but it just doesn't work. I don't give up and I don't cry, I just get really mad and frustrated with myself because I can't solve this problem. I have only had this class for one month and they are all kids who started the year with another teacher and then had to move classrooms where they had substitutes for weeks until I was hired. The other kinder teacher told me that they have to have more time to bond as a class and learn to appreciate each other. The kids are only 5 and 6 years old. I would be happy if they just left each other alone and let me teach them. Anyway, I'm going to try to update the blog and add some pictures of the school, the house, and of the pumpkin patch.

My car blew up and I got a teaching job!!

My little blue Toyota Corolla that I have been driving for the last 14 years finally croaked. Barry and I were headed to Reno on Saturday and the car was driving fine for the first 3 hours. We decided to take my car because it isn't a gas hog, like his truck is. We started to hear a funny sound on the highway near Sutherlin, just north of Roseberg. I thought the tire was going to blow, but instead we heard a loud BOOM and smoke came pouring out of the hood. We pulled over and another car pulled over too. She went to her trunk of the car and pulled out a fire extinguisher. We didn't even know that the engine was on fire. I was going to open the hood and Barry came right over and moved me out of the way. He peeked under the hood and opened it carefully and indeed there was a big fire melting away at the engine. The lady who stopped to help us said that she saw flames underneath our car when she was driving behind or around us. Her dad is a fireman and insists that she carry a fire extinguisher in her car. So, she sprayed the whole can on our engine and the fire went out. Then, another guy stopped by and he had a fire extinguisher also. I guess when I get another car, I will keep one in the trunk. It sure came in handy. So now my car is at the towing company in Sutherlin. It's beyond fixing and I just sent them the title to my car and said good bye to my faithful friend for all these years. The towing company will turn the car over to the junk yard for other people to pick at the spare parts. I still can't believe that I don't have a car anymore.

Now for the fun part. We called Barry's brother Tony to come and rescue us. He just got a 1997 Mitsubishi Montero and he drove from Newport to get us. Barry and I were too embarrassed to call either of our parents. We thought we could make a road trip all by ourselves. We had to wait four hours at the local Dairy Queen for Tony to get us. Then, we all drove to Reno and got there at about 1:30 in the morning. Sunday we drove around town and found the locations of the three schools that I was going to interview at. We also looked at downtown Reno and walked around the casinos. Once you have seen one casino, you have seen them all. Reno looks and feels like a smaller version of Las Vegas. Monday I had two interviews and they went well. Tuesday I had one interview and then we started to drive back to Oregon that afternoon. I got a phone call from the school where I interviewed at second. The principal offered me the full time kindergarten job. She wants me to start on Monday, October 8th!! Barry and I are going to be giving a couple days notice at work and start packing the apartment. We are going to get a moving truck this weekend and drive to Reno on Sunday. We don't even have a place to live yet, but while we were there, we did look at several apartments. Hopefully, we will find something nice really fast. So now, I have a new job, a new apartment, a new car, and a new baby to look forward too. Hey, "Life Comes at You Fast" saying is appropriate here. I'm exhausted just thinking about everything that I have to do in just a few days. It will all be worth it because I am so much happier being a teacher. Home is where my husband and my things are. As long as I have Barry and a teaching job in Reno, it will be home. I will sure miss the green Oregon Coast and my monthly trips to visit Mom and Dad, Tiffany, Rhiannon, Ryder, and Racer. Everyone can come and visit after we get settled in. Maybe next summer when my baby is born, we can have a family reunion at Lake Tahoe. It's an idea. I'll write more soon.

More Interviews Scheduled...

I got phone calls from two more principals wanting me to interview on Monday and Tuesday. The first school I interview with has three openings and the next school has only a kindergarten opening. The one on Tuesday is looking for a 1st-2nd combo teacher. That one sounds really interesting to me and the principal sounds so nice on the phone. I won't know which job to take until I get there and see the school, the surrounding area and meet the staff. My choice would be to teach the older grades, like 2nd and 4th grade. But if I don't have a choice and I have to teach kindergarten, it won't be that bad. I have experience and all the lesson plans already from Las Vegas. Barry and I are leaving on Saturday, tomorrow morning pretty early. I have looked on-line and found some reasonable priced places to stay. I also have a map showing where all the schools are located with their address and phone numbers. I have picked out an interview outfit and Barry approved of it. Some clothes don't fit that well with my poochie stomach. I have my resume all updated and printed on very nice paper. I guess that's all for now. Wish me luck!!!

Moving to Reno, Nevada??!!

I have an interview with the assistant principal of Lemmon Valley E.S. next Monday, October 1. It is for a school in Reno, NV. She has three positions open in her school, kindergarten, 2nd grade and 4th grade. I also got another call from a principal at another school and she needs a 6th grade teacher by October 8th. She may call me back for an interview too. I would have to move to Reno pretty fast. Barry and I want to make the 10 hour drive so we have our car to look at apartments and houses to rent. He wants to move to Reno too. The construction company that he works for also has an office in Reno, so he could transfer with his job. During the summer, Washoe County, in Reno, only had about 12 teacher openings and I applied for all of them. Now, there are 24 more jobs available and I have applied to all of them again. Hopefully, I will get a full-time teaching job very soon. I knew that everything would happen at once. First, I got pregnant, and now a teaching job, then maybe a new car!!! I'm glad to hear something back after waiting all summer for a teaching job. I will write more when I get back from Reno.

I'm Pregnant!!!

Yes, you read it right. I am finally pregnant after waiting for many years. I am super excited and a little shocked that it actually is happening to me. I have called everyone I know and will send out an-email to everyone else who I don't have a phone number for. Erica, I tried to call your number but it won't go through. You will probably find out that I am pregnant by reading my blog. I woke up on Sunday morning knowing that I had to wait just one more day. I'm so impatient that I had to take the pregnancy test first thing in the morning. It was so easy to take the test and the results were only a minute away. It read "pregnant". I ran out of the bathroom and showed Barry. He seemed happy for me and a little nervous that I am making him a new daddy at the age of 42, he will be 43 by the time the baby gets here. I am thinking of a way to tell my coworkers at Salishan that I am pregnant. I'm going to buy little Baby Ruth candy bars and wrap them in pink and blue tissue paper. On the tag I'm going to write, "Guess Who's Pregnant?" and on the back of the tag it will say "ME" and the expected due date. I think it will be around June 10, 2008. I have to ask the doctor how you determine the due date. I know when the conception date was. I keep telling Barry, it's going to be a long nine months. I hate waiting for anything. I want things to happen right away. But, I know I will have to be very patient and enjoy taking long naps and a quiet apartment. When the baby gets here, it will all change. I feel that I have a lot of practice taking care of other people's kids, babysitting, teaching, etc... I also feel that I don't want to be selfish with my time and am ready to share my life with a child, giving them whatever they need. Mostly my love and time, not so much material things. OK, I'll write more when I have more info on the baby's due date. I love my family and I am so happy that they support me in making this decision to have a baby.

Wedding Pictures 5-21-2004

My digital camera is broken. I only had it for about 2 years. I bought it at Fred Meyers when I worked there. I guess you get what you pay for, it was only $70 or $80 after my employee discount. So, I brought a CD to work that has my wedding pictures on it. Hopefully, I can figure out how to download the pictures and write text above the pics. This is a picture of Barry and I about a month before our wedding. We used a similar picture for our wedding invitations.

I love this picture in sepia. Very country.
My beautiful mother, Priscilla Kathleen Bowman!!
Barry, escorting his step-mom Rose Lee and his dad David Lee.

Vince and Erica Fordiani looking pretty nice!! It was also their 10th year being married. They were married at the Secret Garden, too.

Barry's coworker Tim, and Ashley Juchau, who is now married. Her new name is Ashley Traines. That is not her husband. She also has a new baby girl named Regen. Barry's coworker Jim and Tiffany. Smile pretty Tiffy!!

Brett, my only brother and Lisa, my older sister. Brett was Barry's best man and Lisa was my matron of honor. Thank you guys!!

Ringbearers, Steven Rorman and Ryan Bowman. Aren't they too cute??

Flowergirls, Stephanie and Jessica Rorman, Jazmine Bowman, Anna and Olivia Fordiani, Alanna Juchau and Rhiannon Lewis. Anna actually held the back of my dress and Alanna handed out the programs. Seven beautiful flower girls!!

Me, waving to my adoring fans. Love that big horse and the driver is Max McKee. My dad is sitting across from me. I felt like a princess!!!