the countdown continues

Our wedding is exactly THREE MONTHS from today!!

hope for a job

So yesterday was a pretty good day for me. None of my kids were suspended or sent to the BRT (that's pretty unusual). Work got canceled and it was a beautiful day outside, so I got to take Coach running. The Office premiered. I finished Third Grade lesson plans for all of next week. I sent my resume and cover letter out to two more principals in Tallahassee. AND (drumroll please.....) the principal from Hawk's Rise Elementary in Tallahassee called me!!!!!!

I had applied for a fifth grade opening at the school and she said that she saw all of my information on the online application system and was very impressed by all of my experience. She asked if it would be a problem that I was currently living in Gainesville, and when I told her I couldn't start until December, she said she had to fill the position by October. However, she said that she might have a couple maternity leave positions opening up, and that she would make a note of my start date. She finished the conversation by saying, "I look forward to meeting you!"

I was SO excited to finally hear something back, because so far I've applied but haven't even gotten a "No Thanks." Speaking with her definitely gave me hope that I will get a job for January!! It was a wonderful little encouragement along the way....fingers crossed for more job openings!!!

More life and wedding updates later.

love,
j

wedding updates!

Our wedding is only 115 days away! We went home this Labor Day weekend and got LOTS of wedding things done. We bought Zak's wedding band, went to Deer Creek and chose entrees, appetizers, decided room arrangement, timing, and other things, picked out our cake design and flavor, and ordered tuxes! We also started taking care of some of the smaller details like welcome baskets, song choices, and a card box.

Here's a few pictures of our cake tasting:

And handsome Zak in his tux!

We're getting closer and closer and can't wait!

love, z&j

the countdown continues

FOUR MONTHS!!!

we've both been really busy: internship, school, work, sleep, start over. more updates later when we have time to breathe!

love, z&j

good news

Today Zak got home from work and found the following e-mail:

From: Chris Pignatiello

Subject: College of Arts and Sciences Tuition Waiver

Congratulations! I am happy to report that you have been selected to receive a partial tuition waiver for the Fall/Spring 2008-09 semesters. In order to receive this waiver, you must register for at least 9 graduate credit hours of which 8 will be waived. If you are interested in obtaining this waiver, please contact Ms. Ginger Martin, Graduate Advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences, room 010 Longmire Building as soon as possible to complete the necessary paperwork.

Regards,

Michael Creswell

Director, Graduate Studies

Associate Chair, Department of History

This means that 2/3 of Zak's credit hours will be completely paid for! It was completely out of the blue and we are SO excited! Just wanted to share the good news...


love, z&j

Visit to Nole Country

This weekend was full of many exciting things...starting with our first wedding gift! Rachel (one of Jess's bridesmaids) and her boyfriend, Fabian, sent Jess a medium-sized, fairly light box, which she was instructed not to open without Zak. Thankfully, Jess was visiting Zak in Tallahassee a few days later, so the waiting wasn't too unbearable. The box contained two gifts and two cards, with explicit instructions as to the order in which they were to be opened. We opened the first card and present and found a porcelain parrot (apparently no home is complete without one) and Rachel and Fabian were kind enough to supply us with our very own. Next, we got two "I heart NY" t-shirts (Rachel and Fabian live in the city). Finally, we opened a musical card that said WE WERE GOING TO NEW YORK! Rachel, Fabian, and the Reynolds family are buying Zak and I tickets to visit them in the city sometime this Fall. We were completely in shock and are so SO grateful and excited to go!! We're hoping to go sometime in late October.

We love you Rach and Fabian and can't wait to see you!

The rest of the weekend was filled with looking at apartments, wandering around FSU campus, eating yummy BBQ, shopping for mattresses, sweet tea, moving Becky in, and watching the Olympics. It was great helping Becky move in and seeing her awesome new apartment...we know where we'll be spending a lot of our time!! We'll be glad to help Becky make use of her pool, hammocks, full-size indoor basketball court, pool tables, big screen TVs, etc. :-) We also bought a mattress (so Zak finally has a bed other than an air mattress!), and think we found the area of town that we would like to live in. After driving by, we also decided that we are NOT living in FSU married housing. Just think: chain link fence, barbed wire, police tape around one building, playgrounds overgrown by vines and missing roofs. Sketchy. No thanks.

Jess started her internship on Monday. This week is pre-planning and next Monday the kiddies arrive. She's placed in an ESE resource classroom and will have 1st and 3rd grade reading and math groups. It's going to be a challenging semester, but definitely a great experience. Zak will start his orientation next week and register classes, which begin the following week. The rest of the year will be busy and exciting--especially December!! Only four and a half months!

love, z&j

it's official

Zak has officially relocated from Orlando to Tallahassee as of Sunday afternoon. He started work as a valet at a hospital in Tally Monday morning and will be working full days there at least four days/week until school starts. Right now he's sleeping on an air mattress in a room with no furniture (!) but should be getting a mattress, bed frame, dresser and desk in the next two weeks or so. Starting around August 20, he'll be attending FSU and history department orientations, registering for class and starting school! Hopefully he's able to get the classes that he's interested in and still be able to work two days a week as a valet for a little extra saving money. Less than 5 months to go! (15o days to be exact....)

love, z&j