Better late than never...?

So I realize that I have not updated this blog in a very very very long time.  A lot has happened in the last six months so I will just highlight some of the key points.

Heidi- I finished my student teaching, which I absolutely loved, in April and have been doing some temporary jobs since.  For about a month I actually taught ASL (sign language) at a charter school in Spanish Fork.  Do I know ASL? Not really.  Luckily I have a friend who is fluent so I would go visit him once a week and he would teach me what to teach.  Kind of weird? Yes.  But it was fun.  I have also been substituting in Jordan which has been great because I have been able to get A TON of ideas for my own classroom.  My most exciting news is that I got a job!  I am going to be the new fifth grade teacher at Butterfield Canyon Elementary in Herriman.  I can't even describe how excited and yet terrified I am for this.  A funny little story about this is that I interviewed with the Principal of the school and it went extremely well.  I think we really just clicked and I was able to be myself during the interview.  He called me a few days later and offered me the job and I accepted.  That night I went to Brad's cousin's wedding reception and started talking to Brad's aunt, Ruth.  She had heard about my job and was congratulating me when she asked if I remember my Principal's name.  It turns out that my principal is actually Ruth's brother.  He had no idea I was related to Ruth because all my paperwork still says Heidi Bradshaw not Perkins.  Anyways, what a small world.  I start on July 18th and school starts on the 25th which is crazy soon!  It is a year round school which means I won't get a 3 month summer vacation but I will get several 3 week vacations throughout the year.

Brad- Since my new job is in Herriman, Brad and I decided to move closer to my work.  We found an amazing basement apartment in a beautiful, huge cabin up on a mountain about 7 mins away from my school.  Way nice for me, not so nice for Bradley.  No, but really it is a perfect solution because Brad had decided to switch majors and has transfered to UVU which is right by the freeway in Orem.  That will be about a 35 min drive from our new place.  He was able to work his schedule out so that he only goes to school twice a week and the other days he is going to work in Salt Lake at his dad's shop.  So Herriman is close to being right in between Salt Lake and Orem so we feel good about our decision.  I think Brad is going to miss his job at BYU, office coordinator for computer labs, but I think he is excited for the change.  This summer has been kind of  busy one for him.  Whenever he isn't at work, he is working on upgrading our jeep.  He has done a lot to it and done a great job.  His latest addition is a roof rack that he designed and made himself.  I was shocked to discover that to buy a roof rack, not nearly as large as the one Brad built, is about $600!  We saved a ton and I think it looks perfect.

Here is just a bunch of random pictures from the past six months. Enjoy!

The magic of Disney!

For Christmas this year, Brad's parents gave everyone tickets to Disneyland. So we headed to California for a little sun and a lot of fun! Brad's aunt's family also came with us so we found it pretty entertaining watching the workers faces when they asked "how many?" and we responded with "eleven". We were quite the group. We basically spent 3 days non-stop at Disneyland/California Adventure. I could not believe how horribly my feet hurt! Every single step was pain, but there was no way that was going to stop me! One day while we were waiting for the bus to take us back to the hotel, this little boy in front of us kept telling his mom that his feet were "roaring like dogs". Haha we had a hard time keeping in our giggles, but for the rest of the trip we constantly comment about our roaring dog feet. The last day in California we spent at Laguna Beach. Now this was in December and we felt fine in a T-shirt and shorts. It was a very nice break from coldness of Utah. Emily, Brad's cousin, and I even made a super amazing sand mermaid!

All in all, it was such an amazing trip. I had only been to Disneyland once before, and it was over ten years ago. However I think I enjoyed it more as an adult. We had this trip planned out to the minutes and we rode more rides than I ever thought possible. We met a family on the bus ride who mentioned they had only gone on 3 rides in the 4-5 hours they were there. Not us. Thanks to Brad's fastpass skills, we hardly ever waited more than 30 minutes during on of their busiest times of the year. My man's got skills.

Better late than never...right?

So I realize I am about two months late on this, but these past two months have been insanely busy! Student teaching is exhausting so I haven't had much free time to update this. However, last night I finished my 57 paged Teacher Work Sample, so I feel a bit freer now. So now here goes my little Christmas update. We spent Christmas with Brad's parents this year, and we had a lot of fun. A few days before, we went with everyone to temple square to look at all the beautiful lights and decorations they have set up there. Here are some pictures from the Christmas festivities.

Road Trips!!!

So now that I am a married woman, I am officially part of the holiday schedule. This year is Thanksgiving with the Bradshaws and Christmas with the Perkins. For Thanksgiving we met up with Kyle and his family, and we hitched a ride with them up to Washington. It was really great being able to see everyone!

Less then a month later, we made the journey to Kennewick again! My best friend, Katie, and Brad's best friend, Sam, got married in the Columbia River Temple so we went up for the week to give them our support (it was a BIG bonus that my family happens to live there). The wedding was beautiful, everyone did such a great job. She looked absolutely perfect and Sam made such a handsome groom. Brad's parents and sister also came up for the wedding so it was kind of fun to combine my two families. I also got to do Katie's hair for her wedding so I LOVED that! We also did quite the job on their car... Overall, we ended having a great time. In all honesty, I was super bummed that I wouldn't be spending Christmas with my family this year, but this trip to Kennewick really made the transition a lot easier on me.

The Christmas blog is coming soon but here are all the pictures leading up to Christmas. Enjoy!