Welcome to the Jungle!

I went to a baby shower today for LeeAnn (Pelton) Krohn. She had the little guy 5 days ago and it was fun to have him there with us. I forgot how tiny newborns are! Their baby room has a jungle theme so that carried over for the theme of the party. I have to give major props to Jody Ellis for the awesome cake and "diaper cake". It was the first time I have seen a diaper cake and can't wait to make one someday. What a great idea. I couldn't get enough pictures of it.

Welcome to the Jungle Tatum!

Who is that?

I got my hair done today which I was very excited about! I went in thinking I would get the usual highlights, but I quickly decided to change the plan once I sat in the chair. Vanessa and I went shopping afterwards and every time I saw myself in the mirror, I got spooked. It will take a little while for me to recognize myself with dark hair again. I can't wait to see how my Kindergartners will react on Monday.

Trying to do a serious pose...

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Saturday was my dad's 60th birthday. Vanessa and I drove down to Vancouver to spend the weekend with him. After our slow 5 hour drive getting there, we enjoyed our time away. Saturday was full of activity! Maybe too much for a 60 year old, but dad seemed to handle all the excitement better than us. Our first stop was to Big Al's to go bowling and play a few video games while we were waiting.

Vanessa and dad really enjoyed Ms. Pac-man.
Action shot!
This is by far my favorite video game...BIG BUCK HUNTER. I did pretty good, except I hit a couple cows who were hiding in the trees. They shouldn't have been hiding!

Vanessa laughed at me the whole time because I was doing so well. As you can see here, I got a "double bull". We had to leave in the middle of my game so we wouldn't be late for our movie. Oh, how I wish we could have stayed longer.

After the movie, we went to Joe's Crab Shack for a little birthday dinner celebration.

There is nothing better than King crab dipped in butter. Yum!

After our long day, we still had to come home and have cake and open dad's present. By this time, we were all extremely tired, but were excited to have dad open his big gift.

The kids put together a "60 Memories of You" book. We each wrote 15 different memories we had of our dad and put it together with pictures and poems. It turned out really nice and it was fun watching dad read each of the memories. Happy Birthday Dad!

Mamma Mia!

One of my favorite Broadway shows is coming to theaters this summer. I CAN'T WAIT!!! Mama Mia is coming to the Paramount in March and Vanessa and I are hoping to get tickets. That would make it our third time seeing it. It's an awesome show. Enjoy a little sneak peak...

Just Sharing My Thoughts....

Today I had a lot of thoughts about my future. It was kind of an emotional day until I remembered a quote from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Frances, the main character, is struggling about her life and future and her friend, Martini says...

"Signora, between Austria and Italy, there is a section of the Alps called the Semmering. It is an impossibly steep, very high part of the mountains. They built a train track over these Alps to connect Vienna and Venice. They built these tracks even before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built it because they knew some day, the train would come."

As of now, I'm not 100% sure my "train" will come, but I will keep building my life as if it will....

love actually is all around

I taped the movie Love Actually from TV last year and have been watching this opening over and over. It is my favorite. I hope you are feeling the love of the season all around.

Christmas Miracle!!

Last Friday my principal came to me after school to tell me she spoke with the school district and that they made a contract for me. Since I am staying longer than 60 days, they were able to hire me as an official NSD teacher until March 21st! The contract is retroactive so I get back pay from November 5th!!

Living off of a substitutes salary has been ridiculously hard, especially not getting paid for any holidays, snow days, half days, etc. Knowing that I will now be paid for all of Winter Break makes me want to jump for joy. I also get retirement and benefits!! I don't have to keep paying an arm and a leg for my prescriptions! This is the biggest blessing in my life right now and I am so grateful where my life has been led. I've had to make some tough decisions lately and it just feels so wonderful to be blessed for my hard work.

My principal says that this is a huge foot in the door since I am an official employee now! Not just a substitute! She sent me an e-mail the other day saying she owed me big time for staying and she will do everything in her power to get me a job next year. I cannot tell you how nice that was to hear! Whether I am here next year or have a different adventure being prepared for me, I am grateful for the life I am living today.

To update everyone on my decision of moving to Utah....the job position changed from what I had originally thought. The job was broken up into two positions with a lower salary. Honestly, I would have loved to do the job before it was split into two positions. It sounded like a fun challenge that was right down my alley. I considered taking the newly offered receptionist job, just to change things up, but after a lot of thinking and praying, I decided to stay here for now. Who know what the future holds. Maybe in a few months something perfect will come along with a higher salary and I will be more open to the thought of big change. Until then, I'm enjoying today.