Wrap Up 2013

So I am well aware that it has been absolutely forever since I have written. I was actually debating on looking, but decided not to. (It doesn't matter.)

As all the Christmas letters were rolling in this year, I kept thinking man. I haven't blogged in ages. So I decided that I would take a minute to wrap up our 2013 Year for you.

The Fiechter's wish you a very belated Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had an absolutely wonderful time with friends and family. Andy and I spent time with all of our family members and it was very nice.

Ok so the wrap of up 2013. Andy and I joke that we are not a very exciting family, because we like routine and we like things to stay the same. So we don't ever have any big news to present for people. So our Christmas letter (which we do not write) would be very short.

February 16, 2013 - Andy and I said I do, and became the Fiechter's. Can you believe that we have been married almost a year! I sure can't. It has been so much fun being Mrs. Fiechter. I have never been happier in my life. That same weekend we welcomed Henrietta into our home. She is feisty black cat, that we love to pieces. Sometimes we aren't sure she loves us back.

March 2013 - Andy and I went to Gatlinburg for our Honeymoon. It was cold and snowy, but we didn't let that stop us. We had a blast and enjoyed all the new memories we created together.

August - I celebrated my 31st birthday. Not really something that I like to admit.

October - I went to my first ever bachlorette party. This was a rare occasion for me, but I did it because I love Katie Howard to pieces. We celebrated with our friends Katie and Mikey Howard as they said their "I Do's"

November - We are so exciting that we are happy to announce that we got new gutters installed on our house! We have a long list of other items we will attempt at the beginning of the year.

And that brings us to December -  Andy celebrated his 32nd birthday. I just finished up the first half the school year. (Yes, I am half way to the end of the year -- and according to my FIL (Steve) I am only 2 months away from another break) I happen to like it that way.  As always my December wrapped  up with Riley Week which is our schools fundraiser for Riley Children's Hospital. It was once again a very successful time. Our school raised over $6,000 dollars, which put our lifetime total at $101,000. It is such an amazing thing to observe and help with. I absolutely love this exhausting week. (Did I mention it falls the week before we get out for break) Some of the things we do to earn the money is sell all sorts of pop and goodies, we have an Auction, Minute to Win It games. Also my pride and joy is the Talent Show. My Aunt and I have worked together for the 4 or 5 years to put together the talent show. This year was no exception. The exciting part was that Dad and Pam were able to attend and see what I had been working so hard on.

I absolutely love spending time with my family, and this past week I have spent a lot of time with them. I even got the opportunity to have my nieces spend the night. Which was super fun. We played Hide and Seek, Play-Do, Xbox, dolls, and of course watched movies. It is so fun for Andy and I to play with the girls.

As we close out this year I am going to ask for prayers for my entire family. We are going to have some tough roads ahead of us, and could all use the strength of the LORD to get us through.

We will be bringing in the new year with my big sis and her family. It's going to be awesome. I'm really excited about it. Of course since they are coming over it gave me a chance to have some cooking therapy (which you know I love!). For tonight I have prepared my Hot and Spicy Chex Mix (requested by Jeremy), Pickle Wraps (requested by Jen), Oreo Balls (aka. Sweaty Balls -- also requested by Jen), and Puppy Chow (first attempt.) I feel better and I'm ready for the New Year.

I hope you have a fabulous end to your 2013 year!! 

Just another crazy few months.

So I was in my car on  my way to school the other day, and my mood was less than positive. It has been really overwhelming lately. Of course on the radio comes "How Great Is Our God" and I had to smile because that was exactly what I needed to be remind of that morning. It made me take five minutes and thank my AWESOME LORD for all the wonderful blessings he has given me over the years. All the wonderful victories he has allowed me to realize what I have had. In this time of being thankful to my LORD, it allowed me to have the perspective to look beyond myself and see that a number of the things I had been struggling with. It was such an enlightening experiences as I prepared for another day at work.

Upon arriving at school, first period I had this ground breaking moment about what I was teaching and how I was teaching it. The funniest part was I can't believe that I didn't come up with this idea years ago. I can't wait to put some of my new idea's to work. Hopefully, it will work. But for the first time, I'm honestly willing to try and fail (though I don't feel like it will).

Since going back to school I have had a number of great adventures. I attended my first Bachlorette party ever. It was a very cool experience. I attended my first Scrapbooking retreat with wonderful friends and my family. Andy & I attended a wedding of a dear friend. Another friend had her second baby (which I can't wait to see). A close friend just celebrated her first year of marriage. So many wonderful and positive things have been happening in our lives.

My co-worker and friend (Kate) and I just wrapped our hour Student Council Halloween party and dance. Which is always an interesting time. Our kids just got their 2013 shirts, and we are jumping right into the Veteran's Day program. This is a very stressful program, because I want to make sure that it truly honors those who serve our country, and those who have served our country. Once we finish with that we will jump right in and begin working on the BMS Has Talent - Talent Show. Sounds busy, but being involved with Student Council is one of the coolest things I get to do in my line of work. I love working with these creative kids.

Andy & I celebrated our first Halloween. We were so excited to get to welcome our first trick-or-treaters. However, with the nasty weather, and our location we only had one adorable little kitten/witch show up for treats. It was kind of sad. However, it left some nice candy for me!

 On top of all this we are entering the Holiday Season! Andy and I will be learning to mess our two schedules together, and spend some wonderful time with our families. I look forward to spending time with our families.

Back To School

It's back to school time! After spending some time in the classroom this summer I have my NEW room decorated and ready to go.

This room really is huge! I have spent some time getting my bulletin boards ready to go. A few new additions to the room, are the black and red pom poms, the new black and red, decor. We also have a new fish who has yet to be named. (For those of you that are wondering, no he is not black and red)

I've added a new bulletin board, and I have created a couple projects to just add some personality to my room.

I'm really fond of the black, white, & red wreath that is now hanging outside of my door. Of course I wouldn't be ready for school if I didn't take the time to update our Student Council board.

Finally I decided to pick a theme for my room this year. The theme is based from a quote from Mother Teresa "You can do things I cannot do. I can do things you cannot do. Together we can do Great things." It was great to incorporate this theme into the room and then realize that our new principal and created a theme for our entire building "A place where we help each other get better every day".

Have you ever thought about how you help someone else get better?

This year was probably one of the toughest starts to the year that I have ever had. But after three days I am starting to get into the groove, and though I have a lot of work to do after school each evening, I am getting there. I look forward to seeing how this school year develops and expands.

Cooking Therapy

Sometimes when life gets stressful, I just need to spend some time in the kitchen. I need time to work out some stress. It results in an accomplished feeling, a nice smelling house, and wonderful treats! When Back to School season starts, life starts to get a stressful again. As I am heading back to work in just a few more days, I am starting to feel the crunch. So instead of working on school stuff I headed into my kitchen. Of course! Today I took on two NEW recipes, and one that I needed to work on a little. (I absolutely can't wait for the taste tests!) Of course I have one more recipe on the table for this week that I will be trying either tonight or later in the week.

The late morning started with a chicken salad recipe. I always love the chicken salad you get at like Arby's or someplace like that, but have never really thought to make one myself. I have to say I loved the fresh taste of my new creation.  Very delicious and fresh. It will be a wonderful lunch tomorrow when it has chilled completely.

Yep, it's a blurry picture of chicken salad!

Then after lunch time I moved on to Zucchini bread (I was a little nervous to attempt this one, because my sister's Zucchini bread is AMAZING!) I decided to experiment with the recipe a little. Creating a two plain bread loves, one with pecans, and one with chocolate chips. Only time will tell if any of them are very good.  ;) I'm sure they won't be as good as my sister's breads, simply because I had to make these myself. Yes, I really did make four loves of Zucchini bread today! I'm thinking there will be more because I have some Zucchini in the freezer, and two more on my counter.


This turned in to four loaves.

While the bread was cooking, I took on my Granola bars. This is something that I have wanted to work on because I can pronounce all of the ingredients in my granola bars as opposed to some of the ones you buy at the grocery. Not to mention it's just kind of nice to have something homemade. This is a recipe that I have made before, but my granola bars were a little two crumbly. They would just fall apart when you unwrapped them. However, I think it might have worked this time. they went back in the Saran wrap a lot batter this time.  I guess when we eat them I will no for sure!

I probably started cooking at around 11:00 this morning, and worked on it until well after 3:00 pm. I am just thrilled that I had time to get the kitchen all cleaned back up before my husband came home to see the mess. Yes, I'll admit it I am a messy cook! There is always flour spills and this and that. Of course it always wipes up. My dear friend Cathie says "That's why you have tile floors!" lol.


I have to say that after all my cooking/baking today I do feel a little more relaxed, and well a little sore and tired. But I feel accomplished! I'm sure a nice hot shower and some relaxation is in my near future when my husband gets home.

Unfortunately, I will probably have start working on school work tomorrow. At least I'm ready to go now.

If anyone is interested in the recipes I used this afternoon, please let me know and I will post them!

Changes, Changes, and more changes!! Whew!

It has been forever! Last time I wrote I was still in school trying to finish up the school year. At that time I had no idea all the changes that would be taking place in my life over the course of the next couple of months.

Now I have never been one to particularly like change. As a matter of fact I would just assume everything keep going the same way all the time. However, GOD often makes me work on these aspects of my life. By throwing curve balls at me. I like to call them curve balls, you make call them bumps in the road or trials.

A few years ago I had a lot of changes all at once, and decided that I would really enjoy not having an changes at all. The LORD blessed me with, with a nice simple life for awhile. And then the changes began. Here is a small list of changes that have taken place since school has let out. Of course because I didn't write them down they probably aren't in order.

After school let out this summer I changed classrooms. Which results in me spending a lot of time at school this year redecorating and reorganizing a classroom. Everything is different. Big change. The new room is going to change a lot of things. It's even going to change the way teach the class. Who knew! I am really excited for these changes, and am finally starting to feel a little settled into the new room.

Then comes the switch over from Moodle to MyBigCampus. This is resulting in all students and teachers learning a new system in order to manage information and assignments. It should be a very interesting. It is definitely a lot of work. The learning curve is out there again.

We are also getting a new Principal that all of us will be getting to know as the new school year begins. This comes with a number of people switching positions and new teachers being hired in. This will definitely change the climate in the building. The prayer is that this is all of a positive change, though it make be stressful and difficult. Change always is.

Of course by this point you are thinking is all the change school related? Well no! Mom and I recently decided that we needed to find a church. So we picked a church that was exactly half way between my house and hers. So it is great to get to meet in the middle and enjoy some worship time with my mom. This is something that hasn't happen in quite some time. At least when it was happening I wasn't old enough to appreciate it. We've decided to keep giving this church a chance. Of course with summer being busy we missed a few Sundays. To come back to church and realize that the pastor has changed. The first sermon of the new pastor and the first sermon mom and I got when we returned after our absence was a sermon on nothing other than change! She was good! Not to mention I knew the LORD was speaking to me, since I had been so upset and concerned about all the changes taking place.

Some other more fun changes that have taken place this summer are: my husband got a new to us car, which is really nice. I went on my first big family vacation with my new family. I repainted a redecorated our bathroom (this was interesting). We have started redecorating our living room.

One of my goals was to learn to sew and I did! I have made a skirt, a couple of curtains, and a sewing machine cover. I can't wait to see what other projects I will end up making. I'm super excited.

Well that is just a few things that have been going on in our household over the last few months.

Teachers

You know it's funny to me when I think about teachers. I often think about the experiences I had as a student. But then I take time to think of my co-workers. Since this week is Teacher Appreciation week. I thought it would be fun to write a little something about teachers.

One: I am thankful for ALL of the teachers in my life. The teachers that I thought were awesome and the teachers that I didn't care for. All of them have helped shape me to be the person I am today.

Two: Teachers don't have an easy of a life as many may think. We deal with students who have zero respect, and could care less what we have to offer them. However, on the flip side, we have amazing young talented people walking through our doors everyday. I feel so blessed to get to know some of these amazing leaders of tomorrow.

Three: I teach almost every single kid in this building at some point in time in the year. Every 9 weeks I learn 120 new faces and names. I would go to bat and try to protect each and ever one of them.

Four: I spend my summer time thinking of new and creative ways to reach out to the young minds that I will influence the following years, I plan my classroom decorations, and collaborate with my teacher friends. (Yes we do take a little time to relax) so we can do it all again the next year.

Five: I love my job! The most amazing thing about my job is watching the kids become adults, and then members of our society. Keeping track of different ones long after they have forgotten who I am.

This year during teacher appreciation week has meant something a little different to me. It is normally a week where we get different gifts from the PTO which I am always grateful for. However this year a young lady in one of my classes has been super sweet all week. Here are a few items that she has sent for teacher appreciation week. Each item appears on my desk with not so much as a smile, until I figure out who it is from. These kids are so sweet and warms my heart. Also a young man brought in some gorgeous flowers today. (Lilacs)

Flowers with a pencil vase (lilacs added today)

Mounds of Thanks for All You Dew

Rice Krispie Treat Apple (how cute!)

My whole purpose for sharing was that it does mean so much to us (myself) when people take their time to show appreciation. Especially because when it gets close to the end of the year often times teachers are just as tired and worn out as the students are. It's nice to be told once in awhile that we are doing a good job, or that a student has learned something from us. Have you thanked a teacher latterly!

I'm Back!! Two recipes!

I'm back! It has been a crazy almost two months. Who knew?! Well I am officially a married woman. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and so far the marriage as been just as beautiful except for the overwhelming feeling of having a house that is stuffed to the brim of stuff, that well I just don't know what to do with. Garage Sale days are coming up, and I think this newlywed couple is going to have a big sale!

So when part of being a wife is meal planning, which as many of you now I absolutely love. I love thinking of new things to make and try. One day I might even be able to come up with my own recipes. For now I like to share and give credit to those who are way more talented than myself.

EASY PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN
allrecipes.com
submitted by Helmans Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (i used reduced fat)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used the tenderloins)

4 teaspoons italian bread crumbs (I used regular and mixed in some italian seasoning... It's all about what you have on hand right?!!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease your pan.

2. Combine mayo with cheese. Mix well. Lay the chicken out on the pan. Coat the chicken with mixture, and then sprinkle with bread crumbs.

3. Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Comments:

I liked using the chicken tenderloins because it was liking eating chicken strips. Very tasty. My chicken wasn't very crusted. The bread crumbs weren't soggy but they were real crispy either. HOwever I probably put too much mayo on each of the pieces of chicken. I would make the chicken again just like I did before however. This was an excellent recipe.

The second recipe I tried was a nice pinterest recipe. This recipe came from www.mommyskitchen.net

This is probably one of the cheapest desserts and easiest I have found.

STRAWBERRY PIE

Ingredients:

1 packages of Kool-aid (you can use any flavor -- I have only tried strawberry so far, but can't wait to try other flavors)

1 - 9 inch graham cracker pie crust

1 - 8 oz container of cool whip topping (i used generic and it worked just fine)

1 - 14 oz sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together, and pour into pie crust. (I used my mixer to make life easier, my cool whip was a little frozen).

Put in refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Enjoy.

Comments: You must visit Mommy's Kitchen (the link is above) she gives suggestions on what to do with the different flavors. I can't wait to try another flavor. If I were to take this pie somewhere I would cut up a strawberry and place it on top. I might try to mix some strawberries into the next pie filling.

Well there you have it. Two fun new recipes. This week I am trying another new recipes so be looking for the second blog of the week. 

Also I'm going to be reading a series of books about BRAVE girls. I saw this on pinterest also, and thought to myself. How nice, I want to promote brave girls instead of pretty princesses. So be looking for a few book reviews. 

As much as I say I don't want to blog about cooking and books. It always seems to be the thing I come back to so for 2013 we are back to books and cooking!

Almost There. 3 More Days!!

Well, I'm almost there... The dresses have been fitted, the hair has been fixed, and all the details are falling into place. The last few things still need to be finished, but in just two short days we will be decorating and having rehearsal dinner.

This has been a long and wonderful journey. If it is any indication as to what married life is going to be like, I say BRING IT ON!!! Many of my friends have warned me that being engaged is some of the hardest times in a person's relationship. I kept telling my fiancé this is going to be the most difficult time in our relationship that we have been through yet. However, to be honest, it hasn't been that miserable. Sure we have squabbled a couple of times over who to invite, or how to do this or that. But I wouldn't call it arguing or fighting. Just disagreeing.

He has had to deal with my emotional unrest, and my stress. He has been AMAZING! When I get overwhelmed he puts things in perspective and we move on. If it wasn't for this man, I wouldn't be ready to walk down that isle. This has truely been an amazing experience for me.

Our friends and family have been so supportive and loving through all the planning, and arranging. We have been blessed beyond what words can say. I can't wait to be married to my best friend. God really did have an amazing plan for me, it was just a matter of waiting long enough to see it.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have felt so uplifted and a certain peace floating around in my heart. If I had to guess, a few of my favorite people in life have been including me in prayers. Including us in prayers.

Over the course of the last couple of days, I have been getting random emails and voicemail messages to confirm the feeling I was getting. Because of all of those, I am READY! We are READY!!

Please continue to pray for calm nerves, and a lifted spirit as this is about to be the best day of our lives. I'm so excited to start gaining experience on being married and having a home. It's time to begin making this new life. I can't wait to see what my next 30 years brings.

This will be my last blog as Miss. .. when I return it will be as a Mrs.

Love you all!

I Miss Cooking/ Wedding Upd

So everyone knows that I LOVE to write about the new adventures I've had in my kitchen. However, with all the wedding planning, bridal showers, packing, and working. There just hasn't been time to try anything new. Lately, I've just going with my old quick and easy standbys to get something done fast. I can't wait until my new kitchen is all settled and I can try something new and glorious. I am way more happy and excited when I know a new recipe is just around the corner. I will admit that I do have a new quick and easy recipe that I MIGHT get to try tonight. So be on the look out for another blog soon.

I honestly haven't  been that nervous about the up coming wedding. I wasn't that nervous when I took my dress for the final fitting. Or when I went to my first bridal shower. Which was fantastic. Or even that nervous when the second Bridal shower came around. It was also fantastic.

I wasn't getting nervous when Andy and I sat down to get apply for our marriage license (note to self: I need to learn to spell both of these words correctly before I actually get married).  I will admit that I was starting to get slightly nervous about the room mate still living in the house and we are three weeks away from the wedding. However that has been resolved and the nerves are gone from that.

So by this point you are probably saying yeah right! So what is going to make you nervous. Well here it goes, I had to sit down today and work on my lesson plans for the four days that I will be gone from work. NOW THAT MAKES ME NERVOUS!

Because any educator knows the minute you come up with the PERFECT (for you non teachers -- there is no such thing) lesson plan. The students will decide that they have forgotten everything you have been working on in the past week, and won't be able to do it. Leaving the substitute teacher complete stuck for the next four days. I'm a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to my SUB plans and so I always have a back up plan. However in planning for these four days (the longest durations I have ever taken a planned absence), I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed and like my back up plans need back ups. Don't laugh I'm being serious!

We have 23 more days before the big day. In those 23 days, I still need to finish the decorations, (My mom is my hero in this department, because she will probably do most of the work. And I'm convinced I get in the way for most of it) I need to pack up my house, go to Michigan for a trail run on my hair (which I have decided I might just need a whole new makeover right before the wedding) How many of you are screaming BAD IDEA!! Then I need to finish tanning, and get my nails done.  But I'm really honestly truly not that nervous. So when will the nerves sink in? When will I think that I am going to loose it?  We will have to wait and see.

Well more later from a girl whose dreams are finally coming true :)