Long Time, No Blog!

I love the blog world!  I love to read blogs and get a peek into the lives of those I know, and those I don't know.  During my recent blog-stalking, I realized that I have done a horrible job keeping mine up to date.  I have several excuses : )  First, I don't feel like I have anything exciting to blog about.  Kevin and I have no cute children to post pictures of, we are not going through any huge life changes. and we are not traveling around world.  Second, we can't find our camera anywhere!  I love to take pictures of events and people in our lives and share them with friends and family.  But without a camera there are no new pictures to share!  We have our fingers crossed that the camera is at school in my field trip backpack.  During the crazy last weeks of school, my class had several field trips and I cannot remember if I took my camera on any of those excursions.  Now I just need to find the courage to enter into my classroom during the summer!  Third, well there is no third!  

I hope to do a better job updating you on the small details of our life...hopefully with pictures coming soon!

13 days to go...

I see the light at the end of the first-year-of-teaching-tunnel!  As I approach the end of the year, I am full of mixed emotions:

I am really excited to close the door on this year and begin fresh next year. 

I am let down that the first year is over but feel like I have so much to accomplish.  

I am overwhelmed by the end of the year procedures and paperwork that stands between me and summer!

I am pressing through the next 13 school days in anticipation of a restful and relaxing summer!

Influenza

It all started Sunday afternoon. I was working on lesson plans and grading papers when I got slammed by a sore throat, runny nose, and aches. Although I didn't feel great, I didn't pay much attention to the cold-like symptoms because I have been suffering from a cold since I started teaching my germ-carrying fourth graders. It wasn't until Sunday night that I began to think I had more than a cold because I started experiencing chills and body aches. I was shivering to the point that my teeth were chattering! My aches were so bad that the weight of my clothes felt uncomfortable on my skin!

If you know me, you know that I am a really "good" sick person. I can pretty much fight through sickness and tough it out at work. This time was different...I went to bed Sunday night contemplating if I should call out sick on Monday. Just thinking about taking off work for being sick was a red flag for me!

I took off Monday and made a doctors appointment for the same day. After a long wait at the doctor's office, and a very uncomfortable nose swab, I was informed that I have influenza. My doctor told me that I wouldn't feel well for about 5 days and will not feel back to normal for about 2 weeks! YIKES! My first question for her was, "I am a teacher, when can I go back to school?" She got wide-eyed and said, "Not tomorrow! You are contagious for 2 - 5 days and it would not be good for you to be around your students." She even asked if I needed a note for work...it made me feel like a kid.

As I told people that I came down with the flu, they were thoroughly mistaken by what the flu really is! A lot of people think I have stomach issues and vomiting. That is not the flu! People may call that the stomach flu but it is in no way connected to the flu...as in influenza...the virus you get flu shots to prevent! I am glad I had some idea and got to the doctor's quickly!

I took off work today as well and I am playing it by ear to see if I will go in to school tomorrow. A few days off work would normally be nice, but this is the worst time of year to miss days with my kids! First, I have a bunch of tests to prep them for (CAT, CRTS, etc,) Second, the end of the year is creeping up on me. And third, it is beautiful here in Nebraska (60's) and my class can finally enjoy some time outside on the playground and I am stuck inside! The main reason I don't like being sick (except for not feeling well) is that I am supposed to sit at home and rest. I don't like to rest! Last night I was about to start laundry and Kevin looked at me sternly and said, "Just go rest! You have the flu! You are not being lazy, you are sick!"

It is 7:50 am on Tuesday and I am already antsy! Maybe I will do a load of laundry : )

Pray for Kevin that he doesn't get sick, it would be an even worse time for him to miss days with his students.

The EverTree

Kevin and his good buddy Brandon dreamed up a brilliant idea to de-Christmas-tize the evergreen tree. To do this, they started the EverTree revolution (which is their creative way to avoid taking down the Christmas tree after the holiday season). An EverTree is an artificial tree decorated for all major holidays throughout the year, not just Christmas. I thought Kevin was quite funny but did not believe that he would follow through with it.

After the Christmas ornaments came down, the tree was moved to a much less prominent spot in our home and was quickly adorned with Valentine's Day decorations! It is quite a sight and many people laugh that I am actually allowing it in my home. What is life without a little fun?!

If the EverTree is still around for another holiday, I will post a picture! Maybe we will have a St. Patrick's Day or an Easter tree?! Stay tuned!

A quick recap of the last 3 years

After the wedding and honeymoon we settled into married life pretty quickly. Here are some of the big events that have happened since March 6th, 2005:

We became an aunt and uncle in May of 2005. My brother Matt and Rachel had a beautiful baby girl named Madeline Kaye! She is beautiful like her mom and goofy like her dad!

In the fall of 2005, we traveled to the East coast to celebrate with my brother and Rachel on their wedding day! They had a beautiful wedding and I was so excited to gain another sister (if only we lived closer).

Kevin and I enjoyed living and working at Camp Wabanna for the summer of 2006! Kevin was once again the head sailing instructor and I was the camp nurse! I earned the title of Nurse Jess with only two years of nursing school Being the ONLY nurse for over 200 overnight campers was quite an experience with a lot of 2 am tummy aches! We survived and enjoyed living in one tiny room, sharing dorm-style bathrooms, eating camp food, washing laundry during a 2 hour assigned time slot, and just having fun on the Bay! With our time off from camp (one night a week) we spent time with my family in Severna Park. At the end of the summer the Navy moved them to Japan for my dad's job.

The fall of 2006 was a busy one for the Johnsons! I spent the semester student teaching a fourth-grade classroom. Student teaching kept me on my toes as I was learning to teach in a real world setting. At the same time, Kevin became an assistant athletic director at Benson! He has always enjoyed working with the athletic department and was honored to accept the position. Kevin spent a lot of time at Benson being a full time Math teacher and coordinating underclass sporting events!

We became an aunt and uncle again at the end of September. Kevin's sister Kristy and her husband Zach had a handsome little boy named Hudson. As soon as we heard the news, we traveled through the night with Kevin's parents to meet the little one in Chicago, IL.

Towards the end of the year, Kevin and I were truly blessed to join an amazing small group. Well there are 14 of us, so it is kinda a LARGE group. We are so thankful to be creating amazing friendships with other young couples as we live life together. God is so good!

I spent a lot of time in the Spring of 2007 looking for a teaching job after graduation. I was so lucky to inherit the classroom that I student taught in! I was familiar with the school, staff, and curriculum. What more could I ask for? In May, I finally graduated from Creighton University with a Elementary Education degree. College was over and I was ready to take on my first classroom!!

Kevin and I bought our first home in April! We love being home-owners but it sure does take a lot of time and energy! We spent the summer getting settled and buying Kevin a lot of yard work equipment! Kevin stayed busy taking classes. He is pursuing his Masters of Administration degree at the Univeristy of Nebraska at Omaha. I stayed busy organizing and setting up my first classroom!

At the end of the summer we had some much desrved vacation time. We traveled to Holden Beach, NC to relax at the beach with family. We had a blast hanging out with Emily, Mom, Tee Tee, Matt, Rachel, and Madeline.

The Fall of 2007 has been a blur of business, stress, and excitement for me. Being a first year teacher is quite an exhausting, yet rewarding experience. I spend a lot of time at school planning and working on my classroom and a lot of time at home grading papers! Even though teaching takes up most of my time, I am really enjoying it! Kevin has been an amazing supporter and encourager throughout it all! I am so lucky to be married to someone who understands the pressure and time commitment of teaching.

And that brings us to right now, the winter of 2007!

We tied the knot!

After a year of traveling between Omaha and State College, we decided it was time to experience life in the same town. Omaha made the most sense, so I transfered to Creighton University and moved into my first apartment. A few weeks after I arrived in Nebraska, Kevin traveled back to Camp Wabanna for the summer. (He commited to working there before I knew I would need to start classes in the summer to catch up with my program.)

We spent a long six weeks apart - me in an unfamiliar town trying to get my bearings and Kevin on the east coast without me! Kevin was nice enough to buy me a kitten to keep me company. We named her Harper in honor of the place we met (Harper's Ferry). August finally rolled around and I couldn't wait to pick Kevin up at the airport. Right after Kevin walked through security, he was down on one knee asking to marry me! I was totally surprised!

We got married 7 months later on March 6th, 2005 - a beautiful day in Nebraksa!

How we met...

Kevin and Jess met in the summer of 2003 through a neat series of events. Jess was a student at Penn State and was living at home (in Severna Park, MD) for summer break. At the beginning of the summer she met a friend who worked at a Christian camp on the Bay. She visited camp a couple of times and loved the atmosphere at Wabanna.

Kevin traveled from Omaha, Nebraska to spend his summer as a sailing instructor at the same camp! Kevin was a high school math teacher and had spent several previous summers working at Camp Wabanna. He arrived in Maryland a few weeks into the summer because he spent the first few weeks of summer break teaching summer school.

The weekend after Kevin got to Wabanna, the staff planned a day trip to Harper's Ferry. Jess had been invited to go along. Everyone met the parking lot after church and divided up into different cars for the long drive. Jess volunteered to drive her black bug, hoping she would know someone who got in her car. When the cars were full and we were ready to hit the highway, Jess had only one passenger who introduced him self as KJ. Kevin and Jess spent the drive there talking and getting to know each other. By the end of the day, Jess was very intersted in getting to know KJ better and Kevin knew he would someday marry Jess!!