*Sigh*

Well...it's been a little while since I've updated. Things have been a little crazy in my head lately. I want to preface this blog by saying that I absolutely, 100% love my job. It's exactly what I want to be doing and I know it's where God wants me to be. Saying that- it's been pretty stressful lately for me. The past two weeks have been hard on me and it might be my own fault. I have had several students that are going through major stuff right now, stuff that junior and seniors should NOT be going through. My heart breaks every time I sit with one of them in my office and listen to their stories. It yet again reminds me how blessed I am with the life God has given me. Too often I take that for granted, even when I tell myself I don't. So...I sat down and made a 'gratitude list'. It really is amazing how many things you tend to forget about that are right in front of your face. I suggest every do it sometime. It's eye opening.
Everything that I've been seeing and hearing lately with my students makes me so excited to be a mom. Not that I'm close (no, this is not a hint!!), but it just proves to me that good people (no, I'm not being cocky, but I am positive I will be a good mom) like us need to have kids and raise them to do great things with our world. There are so many 'good' kids out there that have crappy parents and therefore are limited on what they can do. In the Bible God tells us to be fruitful and have kids (I'm totally paraphrasing) and working where I am only solidifies that.
Alright-I'm off my soapbox. Lots of other things going on. Beth, Chris, and Owen are coming to see us this weekend to stay at our house!! VERY excited!! I'll have pictures next week. Saturday night while they are visiting family, we are going for "game night' at the Spaniks and I'm sooo looking forward to it. I need a night with my 'gang' or so I like to call them! I'm also very excited for the election to come to a close next week. I've been proud of myself because I really have jumped into this election and have done research and have come to my own opinion on who to vote for. This election has really produced some crazy things and I'm looking forward to moving on. I pray every night that America gets it right...although I find comfort knowing God is in control no matter who wins. So...go out and VOTE!!
Have a happy week!

Dana's Married!

Dana's married!!! Dana and Keith tied the knot this past Saturday and I was honored to stand by her side and it was such a fantastic time! The wedding ceremony was outside, and it was beautiful, but cold! The reception was amazing. It's always so great when friends get together and can celebrate and have fun. My whole family was there too, which was so nice. Dana looked stunning as usual, and I am just so happy for them both!!! Their wedding tied up the 2008 wedding season...now we just have to wait until May when it starts all over again!

Update!!

My wonderful friend Sarah reminded me it's been ages since I've updated and I guess I have had a lot going on. Time sure does fly!!

The biggest thing that happened to us recently is that we lost power for TEN days!! That wind storm really did us in! We had a huge power surge and lost lots of things in our house (to be exact: 3 tv's, 2 vcr's, computer, ceiling fan/light, garage door openers, and our furnace...oh and all our surge protectors and fire alarms!). It's been quite an adventure. Nate's parents were nice enough to loan us a generator that allowed us to have our fridge and one or two lights while we had no power. I tried not to complain too much and when I did, I reminded myself that there are peopl way worse off than us that lost a lot more. It was still frustrating though!! It was annoying to have to go to the dining room and plug in my hair dryer and dry my hair in the dark at 6am!! But...we've almost come back. We just got our garage doors installed. We still don't have our furnace fixed, which has been kinda crappy the last couple of days. Thank goodness for spaec heaters!!!

A couple weekends ago I made a trip to Hershey to visit my favorite family- The Wagners!! Chris was out of town for the weekend, so it was just Beth, Owen, and I! We had so much fun!! Owen is still the most amazing and cutest little boy in the world!! We did lots of fun things and they are coming to visit us at the end of the month!! Here are a few pics from the weekend!

That is the activity walker that I bought him...he loves it :)

Last weekend we made the trip down to Baltimore for Steve's wedding. We drove down and roomed with Josh and Dana and had so much fun! The wedding was beautiful and we sure did have fun! I'm posting some pics from that as well.

At the beginning of September we had Sarah and Ava's rescheduled baby shower and it was great!! What a great way to celebrate Ava and get together with the girls of Discovery. I really enjoyed it and I still have yet to see Ava cry...I'm waiting Sarah ;)

Alright..that is good for now. I promise I won't take so long next time! Dana's wedding is next weekend so I'm very excited for that! Pictures to come!!!

Doing the Tag thing!

Alright Sarah- You are probably the only one that reads my blog...so enjoy :) Yea, I'm pretty lame. haha.

Here are the tagging rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag


Random things:
1. I am ridiculously addicted to celebrity gossip. It's my guilty pleasure in life. Yes, I know that I am prying into the private lives of other people, but I somehow just don't care! For a wedding present to myself I got a year long subscription to People magazine and I LOVE it!!! I check celebrity websites sometimes too. It's pathetic...but it's me! I also am addicted to lame tv shows, but who isn't?? Haha!

2. I am allergic to pretty much everything in life. On a daily basis I will have at least 3 sneezing/couging/ wheezing attacks. Apparently it's sort of annoying to other people, or they feel bad to me. I, on the other hand, have become pretty used to them. As has Nate. I am allergic to dust (pretty much everywhere in the world), cats, horses, grass (yea, sucks huh?), hay, most things outdoors like pollen. It's not so fun actually!

3. Every person that knows me makes fun of me. I'm not sure how it happens really. Even if they have no idea who I am or who my other friends are, they seem to automatically know that they should tease me! Now, 99% of the time I actually like it. It's what I'm used to and if people don't make fun of me, I almost wonder if they secretly don't like me!!! I always react, which is part of the game. The other 1% I do get irritated, usually when they think my reactions are serious. Then they start teasing me about being sensitive and it just goes downhill from there. Usually it's just my normal life.

4. I'm addicted to candy. I love most all candy, especially chocoate and gummy things. I usually have some kind of candy in my purse at all times. Stashes at work, home, etc. If I'm there, I usually have candy on me.

5. Up until I met my husband, I honestly thought I would never get married. I grew up knowing that the one goal I had in life was to be a wife and mother. After dating someone for four years and then breaking up, I really thought God wanted me to be single (silly I know, seeing as I was only 23!). All my friends seemed to get married young and I was the typical 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride". I know that sounds silly, but I spent many a nights praying and asking for some kind of answer. And I remember praying that if I was meant to be single forever that God would give me the wisdom to know it would be okay. Don't get me wrong, I think there is nothing wrong with being single, but for me...being a wife and mother was everything. Of course, God has His own timing and He gave me the most amazing and faithful man I could have asked for. Praise God!!!

6. I cry ALL the time!! I seriously don't know what's wrong with me. It's not bad crying, it's just crying. At movies, tv shows (even lame reality shows!), stories people tell, most every week at church, songs...pretty much everything you could think of. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, means I have emotions and feelings...but sometimes it's a little out of control!!!

And...I'm lame and have no friends and I can't tag Sarah back...so I guess that is it :) It was actually fun!!!

Good stuff!

Whew! What a week I've had!!! I started my new job...and boy is it overwhelming!! So much information in my little brain is just too much :) It's a little scary and a little nerve wracking, but I know I'm going to love it! We saw kids for the first time today and it became even more real. I know it's going to be rough for a little while, I'm just looking forward to a couple months down the road when I feel comfortable!
We went to the Pirates game last night with Anne and our friends Sarah and Nathan (have I said lately how incredibly happy I we met them!!!). It was fun, although REO Speedwagon left me wanting more ;) They looked 90 years old dressed as 19 years old. It's nice to say I saw them though. So...Styx, Foreigner, and REO....all I need is Journey!!! It was fun though. Sarah is very close to having baby Ava and I'm sooo excited for them!! It's so nice to have friends close by that we can totally be ourselves with. Yes, I'm my dorky, obnoxious self with them and they still seem to like us!! They even understand my sarcastic joking ways...which I think some people wonder when I'm kidding! I'm sooo blessed to know them :)
I've also starting 'decorating' the house...which is way more fun than I thought it would be! With the help of my sister, I'm starting to LOVE my house! I mean, I have always loved it, but it's starting to look like 'home'. Nate has been great and has been working EVERY night on something. He built our new desk, works continually on the bathroom and does everything I ask. What an amazing husband :)
We got our pictures back from Andrew and WOW do I love them!!! I'm so pleased with them and can't wait to get our album :)
That's it for now...hope everyone is doing well :)

Exciting News!!!!

Well here it is...the exciting news...

I got a school counseling job!!!

I went to the interview today. While I was waiting, four other people went in wearing suits, panty hose, and briefcases...I was sure I was done. I went in and did my thing...and I thought my Mt. Lebanon interview was better...so I thought for sure I didn't get it. Well, they told me they would contact me in a couple of days if I got it. Well, an hour and a half later I got a call and he said, "We just finished our interviews and we decided we want to offer you the job". I almost died!!! Granted, it's not a permanent position, but it is a year long position. A whole year!!! And with 11th and 12th graders. I'm so excited. It's going to be such great experience!! Hopefully get me a better job next year. The only bad news...it's realllly far away!!! Well, I think so. It's at Butler High School. An HOUR away from me :( So...the Rav is going to get lots o miles on her!!! But it will be worth it and gas is going to be a killer, but we still think it will be worth it. Nate and I had talked about it already and decided I should take it if I was offered it. I start in like three weeks!!! Now I just have to quit my job now...eeek. I hate doing that. Hopefully they don't hate me!!!

So...I can finally say I'm using my masters degree for what it was meant to be used for. Yay!

Good times!

It's been pretty busy lately, but we've been having such good times. This weekend was a blast, but it definitely went too fast! Friday night we went out to dinner with the Spaniks and Berry Anns and then went back to Jon and Val's to play games. I haven't laughed that hard in quite a long time. It was so fun and I'm so glad we have all kinda 'bonded' as a little group of friends! It's so nice to have just 'nice' and kind people to hang out with!
Saturday afternoon was Dana's bridal shower and it was perfect!! Dana was so beautiful and got so many nice things. Although it did remind me of my own shower and made me a little sad that it was all over...but I knew that was going to happen! I had so much fun at Dana's shower and it was a beautiful day. I can't wait until the wedding :)
After that we went to the 3rd Annual Bixler Bonfire. I was excited because this was the first year I didn't have to work! There were so many people there and we all had so much fun! We played some good ole Cornhole and ate wonderful food. Good times had by all!! Nate and I are looking forward to having our own soon!
This weekend is the yard sale and I'm so excited because this means I can get rid of more junk!!! And it's also sooo much fun, sitting with everyone and laughing at some of the strange yard sale junkies. I can't wait to see how much we can make from all our junk ;)
On the last note, Andrew (my photographer) sent me a slideshow of some of our wedding pictures. He isn't totally finished with all of them, but the ones that are done are beautiful! I love them!! Here is the link if anyone is interested :)

http://www.andrewrush.com/beckey/

Rachel's Outing a Success!

This past Saturday was the 11th Annual Rachel A. Mogielski Scholarship Golf Outing and it was a success!!! It was the first year Heather and I were the co-directors and I think we did a pretty good job. Of course we had tons of help, and our friends really stepped up for us and graciously gave us their day to help out. I'm pretty sure all 168 golfers had a great time and we reached our goal that we set for ourselves in order to give out the same amount of scholarships last year. And the best part as always was meeting the scholarship winners and hearing what they had to say. It just reminds everyone why we do this every year and of course to remember and honor Rachel- who I think was darn proud of us too. We learned a lot this year and are looking forward to next year :)

On another note - we got some wedding pictures!!! Our wonderful friend Val took a lot of pictures for us and gave me the cd yesterday. They are wonderful!!! I'm so grateful for them because I still haven't gotten our professional ones. I'm just going to post a couple now and add more later! Enjoy!!

Golf Outing...

Sooo...everyone keeps asking me if we are getting settled and used to being married. Well...the answer is kinda yes and kinda no. Yes because it's strange coming to Nate's house (well, my house) every night instead of my parent's house. No because I have been soooo busy since we've gotten back with the golf outing.

For those of you who don't know, my sister and I are the co-directors of a golf outing which benefits the Rachel A. Mogielski Scholarship Fund. This is our first year as the directors and it is a lot of work. BUT, we knew going in that especially with the wedding and all it would be busy. We are so happy to do it, but it's crunch time now and there is a lot of running around! Thank goodness for the previous directors and their help. The outing is this Saturday and I think we have done a good job so far...let's just hope everything goes alright this weekend!!!

As for when I do feel 'really married'...it's been AMAZING :) I married the most amazing man and I have been truely blessed!!

I'm a Walker!

Okay...so I'm actually doing this. I'm blogging!! At least two people promised they would read it, so here goes!

I am officially a Walker now!! Nate and I got married a little over 2 weeks ago on June 28th. It was the most amazing day of my life. Besides it going way too fast, it was perfect. I wish I could have frozen time so I could have spent more time with everyone, but all in all it was everything I have ever thought it would be. We spent our honeymoon in Hawaii and that was absolutely amazing as well. I have tons of pictures to put on here, but I haven't gotten the time at this exact moment so you'll have to wait in anticipation ;)

I'm starting to settle into the house. There are things everywhere right now, especially clothes. Since we haven't gotten our new furniture yet, my clothes are just about in every room imaginable. I love having a house though, it's such a good feeling. I think it's finally settling in that I'm married...which is so strange! But wonderful :) I already love being a wife.

So...keep a look out for pictures!!