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It’s been long since my last post.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy…ever.  I just wrapped up another semester at Westminster, only to jump right into the next.  Summer term will be my hardest yet, with nine credits…the most I’ve taken since my undergrad days.  The good news is that I renewed my teaching license on Friday and am now searching for a teaching job for the 2011-2012 school year and beyond.  I am licensed to teach grades K-8, so the job hunt begins.  I have been consumed with filling out applications, sending transcripts, and putting myself on the teaching job market.

This has all come so fast and quite prematurely from what I had in mind for my life’s plan.  I originally planned to stay home with my kids until Julia, my youngest, began first grade, but oh how things have changed.  With my 35th birthday fast approaching, I now am in a higher age bracket for our health insurance and our monthly premiums are pushing $1200 per month.  Ahhh, the world of private health insurance.  Bottom line…this family needs some group health insurance and fast.  It feels like we’re being eaten alive by health costs.  Fortunately, I have a skill that will hopefully provide this necessity for our family.  We just cannot be without health insurance, ever.  I always knew that I’d go back to teaching and am actually looking forward to this new adventure.  It’s funny how you see your life one way and it usually never turns out like you originally planned.

Today was Julia’s CF clinic appointment.  She is doing splendidly!  She is in the 74th percentile for weight and 84th percentile for height.  This is so great!  She still proves to be tall and skinny.  What I was most amazed by was her FEV1 of 104.  This is her highest blow yet!  She has the lungs of a superhero!  I’m thinking of naming her Big Bad Wolf because this girl can huff and puff.  Now, I have the week long anticipation of the culture results.  I’ll keep you all posted when I find out what she’s growing in there.

This morning’s appointment was an early one…8:00 AM.  That’s not so early right?  I had to wake Julia up at 6:00 AM to fit in her hour long treatment, breakfast, and dressing routine.  That’s early for a three-year-old.  Clinic visits seem so standard these days.  We seem to wear CF like an old t-shirt.  I’d like to draw mention of another mom’s blog about her kids’ most recent annual CF clinic visit.  I just love her descriptive writing and say it like it is attitude.  She describes just what it takes to get it done and on top of it all…she’s a career mom!  Visit Life in a Pickle Jar…I love this mom’s blog.  I must warn you…she has a mouth that goes with her attitude and can speak sailor with the best of them, but it’s moms like these that get ‘er done.

On top of it all, we managed to take a little holiday and headed south to the land of sun.  We left Salt Lake City and the snow and within a few hours landed safely in Long Beach and welcomed the 80 degree temperatures.  The kids were shocked by the heat as they weren’t accustomed to it.  I loved it and soaked up as much as I could before heading back.  We felt the necessity to squeeze in this trip as this summer is jammed packed with my Master’s program and with the prospects of possibly teaching in a few months, it could be a while before our next excursion.

Here are a few pictures of our trip!  With almost 200 pictures taken on the trip it was hard to narrow it down to a few.