Sunday, August 14, 2011

Old Memories & New Opportunities

This summer is coming to an end, and with it comes a lot of new beginnings for Mark and I... but I'll get into the beginnings in a little bit.

This summer has been a busy one!  Last fall, I knew I was going to have to take my final class, a ten week internship, this summer.  I had a couple of options.  I could either find a preschool in the Golden area and do a distance internship, or I could do my internship at the UW Early Care and Education Center in Laramie.  I felt that I would have a better overall experience in Laramie, and so I made plans to spend my summer there.


Amanda was also in Laramie this summer, working at her job at Sweet Pickles, a children's toy store.  Her roommates for the school year weren't there during the summer and so I got to spend an amazing summer living with my sister and finishing school. 

I did my internship in the infant classroom and to be honest, I loved it.  I got to know those little guys in a way that's so different than toddlers or preschoolers.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to work with that age group.  As part of the internship, I had to completely take over the classroom for four weeks... planning lessons, leading activities, etc.  We investigated instruments, dancing, food of different textures, boxes, and many more things!  One of our biggest explorations while I was teaching was dirt and mud.  At the end of my internship, I had to do a documentation panel on this activity in the hall outside of the classroom.  Here is all of my documentation laid out on the floor... the hallway was pretty narrow so it was hard to get a picture of the completed project, but this is the just of it:





I can't believe I'm finished with my bachelor's degree!  Well... for now that is : ).  My final degree is in Professional Child Development with a Director's Certificate and a Birth - 5 Endorsement.  I am strongly considering going back in the spring to complete five classes (that can be distance courses) for a Special Education Endorsement. 


This post wouldn't be complete without a little tribute to my summer with Amanda.  We really loved living together.  We sort of thought that we'd end up hating each other, or at least fighting a lot, but that really didn't happen.  Instead, she became more of my best friend than she already is.  Thanks for the memories, Amanda.  I'll NEVER forget this summer!









While I was finishing school in Laramie, Mark has been in Golden finishing his thesis.  This has not been the ideal situation, obviously, but we are both doing what we need to do in order to make it work for us!  He has had a lot of late nights, but he's almost done!  He will be defending his thesis in less than two weeks!  I am so proud of all of the work he has done, and I'm proud of us for making it through this summer.  It's sure been a crazy one.  We're almost finished and ready to move on, literally!


And... that brings me the next item of business... moving!  If you'll remember, Mark has accepted a job in Fort Worth and we'll be moving there in less than a month!  A week ago we took a trip to Fort Worth to look for a house to rent and we found one!  It's in the area we wanted to be, the price was right, and the neighborhood seems really nice.  Also.... I found a job too!  I had an interview on Monday morning, and was actually offered a couple of positions.  I'll be working at an after school program in the afternoons, and be a substitute teacher at a child development center in the mornings.  Working with early childhood and elementary is just what I wanted, and I can't believe I'm so lucky to be able to do both.  Although it's still a little surreal that our lives seem to be changing all at once and we're moving so far away, we're excited for a new beginning and new opportunities.

Ready or not Fort Worth, here come the Moyer's!











Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Celebrating With Family


Our Independence Day weekend included lots of time spent with family and friends.  We started off the weekend with a trip to see our handsome godson, Xander.  He's getting so big!





We also had a HUGE get together with Mark's dad's side of the family.  His grandparents were Grand Marshals in the parade on Monday morning, and all 6 of his grandmother's siblings were able to make it in to see that. 









What a wonderful weekend that went by way too fast! 

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Fast Forward

SO much has been going on since February!!!!  I can't believe that was my last post!  I feel like the whole world is speeding up so fast around me and I'm just trying to catch up! I'll follow up with some more posts, but I want to share our spring break trip first!

The middle of March, we took a trip to Washington DC with my sister.  We drove the WHOLE way there and back!  According to Google Maps, it was supposed to take us 1 day and 3 hours to drive from Golden to Gettysburg, PA where we were staying... We made the entire trip there in 1 day and 6 hours!!!!! 

Amanda and I had never been back east at all, and Mark had once, but he didn't remember much of it so it was really new for all three of us.  Here are some pictures of the highlights from the DC area:

Trying to figure out the Metro ticketing system.... worked great the first day... the second day we found out the hard way that the "All Day" passes are only good after 9:30 AM... How does that even make sense?!

 Arlington National Cemetery.  I was humbled and amazed at the same time.
 We were able to see the changing of the guard.
 Everyone was so quiet and respectful.
 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 
 The Lincoln Memorial
 He really is as big as he looks!
 The Washington Monument.  Unfortunately they had the reflecting pool drained, but it was still cool to see!
 The Vietnam Wall
 The White House!  We were glad to have gotten this picture, because the second day we were there, we couldn't get close at all.  Something special must have been going on!

 The World War II Memorial.
 Relaxing after walking WAY too much : ).  Mark and I decided that we'd like to take our family there some day, but not until our kids are old enough to walk by themselves for long periods of time!
Amanda and I in front of the Capital
We got to see the Hope Diamond at the museum of natural history.

There's SO much to do and see in DC that I think I could spend a month there and still not get to it all!

We stayed with a friend's parents in Gettysburg, PA and so we got to see a lot of the Civil War history in that area which was really neat!













We also got to see the farm where our friend has worked in the past.  There were so many different animals to see!








On our way home, we took it a bit slower : ).  We stopped in Louisville and went to the Louisville Slugger Factory and the we saw the Arch in St. Louis but we were too late in the day to go to the top of it.








 We had a great time on our trip!  I'm so glad that we decided to drive!  All together, we went through 13 States in 6 days!