Summer Update

Summer officially began on June 13th and its been wonderful. Brandon is now one of the train conductor's at Short Pump mall (pics to come later). Jackie has been working her summer hours as dictated by the office which include ten hour days. We were fortunate enough to have time to take an eight day cruise on the Carnival Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Our ports of call included Cozumel, Mexico; Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama. We returned to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum in Mexico where this picture was taken. This time, however, we brought our suits so we were able to enjoy the awesome beach below.

Costa Rica attacked us!!!

We started our excursion in Costa Rica with a bicycle ride through the jungle and a town. Then we descended to the rapids of the Reventazon River. We think the translation is roughly "explosion." That is exactly what happened to us. We were minding our own business paddling when the river threw us out of the raft. After a drenching soak in the river (lungs and all), we resumed our ride. It was awesome! We survived and therefore won.

Our last port in Panama was uneventful and somewhat disappointing. Overall, the cruise was great.
As July comes to a close, Jackie will resume work August 3rd. Brandon starts at his new school (same county) August 17th but is very busy driving the train until then.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (M Ed x2)

The day has finally come. I am getting my Master's on Saturday, and as much of a pain as it was I am happily ready to be done. So now there are two M Ed in the house at 913 Kilby Station Rd. Both me and Jackie were also informed about two weeks ago that we would both be back into the county, but that we would have to wait to determine what school we will be at (Rusty...our wonderful principal is trying to get us both back). We want to be back as well we love our school and our kids. So I will be able to update my blog on a more regular basis. I will be able to find out what it means to sleep a normal nights sleep, I will be go spend more quality time with Jackie and our kitties. The days of staying up to research and type papers is over. What a wonder time. Hopefully, that will open up my schedule to get back in contact and see more of you on a regular basis. I knew that God would get me through this, but it was a long and stressful journey. His grace and mercy has gotten me through this and will continue to guide me in my journey of life.

God Bless
Brandon Smith M Ed.

The Blessings of Snow.

Ahhh, A much needed snow day tomorrow. I have neglected my blog for too long, and I have so much to share. I have been running around like a crazy rabbit these past few months and can't wait for May. I am taking 4 graduate classes to be able to finish by May so that my teaching license doesn't expire and so I can work next fall. But, then about a month ago me and Jackie find out the same day that due to budget shortfalls, we will not have contracts next year. Well then we are infomred that we are on a call back list. This means that if someone leaves or retires then we get called if we are at the top of the list. But there is no way to find out where you are on your list. So you just have to wait. Ahhh.
So we are just waiting now and hoping that this stimulus will help both me and Jackie as well as all the others on the list as well. This are nuts, things are busy, but we are good. God is Good and always provides. Especially when you need a SNOW DAY.

913 Kilby Station Rd

Well, we have finally moved in and have all of our services connected- tv, internet, phone, power, water. It is so nice to have a house again. One that we can decorate, and clean, and cook in. Thankfully we have some time over Thanksgiving to begin the process of after unpacking. Everything is getting out of boxes, but it is nowhere close to where it needs to be. We still need to hang pictures and frames. We really need to put a shed out back, install some more closet shelves for space and all the fun it's-my-house stuff.
I must confess something though. We we packed up all of our books from the old house, we took all of the screws from the bookcases and put them in their own bag inside of a larger bag. Makes sense right??? I will never do that again. We lost the so very important bag and had to go find new ones. I forgot why I dislike moving so much. Too easy to lose things. But, here are a few pics. I will try to to better with the blog now that we have our internet back. :)
Have a great Thanksgiving!

Our New Home

The beginning of the settling in and placing everything were it needs to be. And of course Jackie is relaxing with Tumnus.

The back of the house- still need to
add a shed and a nice outdoor dining table.

And what is a home without
lots of crazy stuffed animals?

New Job and update on house

Well the new job has definantly kept me busy. Teaching in the public school is a very different joy than teaching in the alternative setting. I love the new job and the kids are great. I have plenty of annoying kids of course, but they are half the fun and trying to get them to listen and behave. But more importantly our house is coming together and hopefully we will be able to close sometime in the beginning of November. I think we will be doing some painting and little decorating prior to moving since we only get plain white on the walls and we want some color. We are hoping to start moving things in on our long Thanksgiving weekend. But here are some updated pics.

The front of the house obviously.

Living room with gas fireplace.

Office

We couldn't post the other pics because it was raining outside, and well...we dont have lighting yet so the shadows are awful. We will post more as it comes together

Foundation is In!

Last Saturday we discovered that our foundation had gone in. The news from the builder is that we should be ready to move in by Thanksgiving. We are so excited.
On the current home front, we are in the process of working out a contract. A lady who has shown interest for a month or so has finally provided us with proof that she can get a loan. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Here are some pics.

This is the front of the foundation from the street.
913 Kilby Station Road.
Side view from the left
The back of the house from the wooded edge of our lot.
This is what our house will look like before the siding...sometime by the end of August.

Gid is good

I left work yesterday with a message to call Jackie's principal back. After talking to him I accepted a postition as a special education math teacher at Spotsylvania High School. I will be going up there on Monday to sign my letter of intent. I am saddened at having to leave my current job, but am excited about the doors I now have opened in the public school system. But the saving we will have in gas being able to carpool together and with another employee in the area are wonderful. This has been such an answer to prayer. It is hard to remember that God always provides for his children, especially the many things He has given me in my life. I will post more later as I hear more information.
Praise be to the Lord
His servant