My One and Only

I know that a lot has happened since I have really updated my blog.  And when I say a lot…I mean A LOT! 

I like to think that God has a sense of humor, like He lets me go and plan my life just for fun.  So if you think that it is sacrilegious to blame God for my year…then you might not want to read on. 

Just when I thought I had my life figured out, resigned from my job, made concrete plans to move and stay in Mesa, found roommates, applied for jobs, had my full time school schedule planned out until the end of my Graduate program, etc…just when I had it all planned out…God laughed.  And my plans…they were altered. 

So just when my “concrete” plans were working out and I was feeling good about the change in my life, to finally walk out of Thatcher for good…I can’t.  I swear to you, the Gila Valley wants me to stay in it, or this is where I am supposed to be because every time I try to leave, something is thrown in my path to bring me back or make me stay.  This road bump that God put in my path this time was none other than Ryan.

Now, to be open and fair, I have had my fair share of “bumps” or stalls in my road when it comes to the male gender the past couple years.  Ryan is by no mean a “bump” or obstacle in my road (thank goodness.  One more not so decent choices in relationships would have sent me fleeing Thatcher for Antarctica and away from my bad judgment in guys as fast as I could).  He was just an unexpected extra…and a handsome one at that I might add. 

So here begins our “Once Upon A Time”…

Let’s just say that I have known who Ryan is for a few years, just because some of my friends have dated him and I have seen him around.  However, just because I knew who he was doesn’t mean I knew him…or had ever talked to him.  And in the tradition of a true man, he doesn’t remember me at all until we “formally” met.  I think we were definitely supposed to meet though because there are too many factors in our lives to bring us to together to just be coincidence.

One day in our single’s ward I saw Ryan sitting by himself on the back row.  I kept thinking that I should introduce myself and invite him to sit with my roommate and I.  I mentioned this to my roommate, who knew who Ryan was so she started telling me about him.  Before I knew it church started and I never got the chance to talk to Ryan.

Luckily, just a few days following this almost encounter, I happened to be at Doug’s house.  Now I had been friends with Doug’s extended family for years, but had only just begun a close friendship with Doug’s immediate family.  Doug teaches at EAC, where he taught Ryan and used to work with Ryan during the summers doing construction.  Coincidence…probably not.  Anyway, I was at Doug’s house and he mentions a guy named Ryan who he thinks I should be friends with.  He tells me that Ryan’s friends are all married and that Ryan needs some single friends to start hanging out with.  At this point I had no idea that Doug was talking about the same Ryan I had seen at church just a few days before.

Doug continues telling me about Ryan and finally he tells me that Ryan wants me to have his number so that we could hang out.  Doug then gives Ryan the story that there is a girl in Ryan’s singles ward that wanted to hang out.  Then he said that I wanted Ryan to have my number.  Tricky Tricky Doug!

One of us (neither of us can agree on who) made initial contact through texting just to get to know each other a bit.  Ryan asked me out to lunch on one of the only sick days I took the entire year.  Of course I had to decline since I was sick.  So in true Ryan generosity, he asked if he could bring me lunch, such as soup.  Well, since it was lunch time and I had yet to shower or even brush my hair by that time, I declined again.  I think I scared him off because I didn’t hear from Ryan for a month even when I would text him to invite him to do things.  At this point I hadn’t even really met him yet so it didn’t bother me, no big loss.

During that month I resigned from my job and prepared to move to Mesa to attend Graduate school.  I had just returned from visiting Rex and Amber in Utah when Ryan all of a sudden made an appearance again.  He texted me so I invited him to come hang out with some friends of mine.  We all went to play racquetball…Ryan left really fast after our game.

I told Erin that I thought he was nice but that I doubted I would ever hear from again because he left so fast!  However, Ryan apparently had other plans.  Randomly over the next few weeks he would show up and he texted me constantly.

The week he finally asked me out, I had a date with someone else.  I was actually really excited for my other date.  However, when it was all said and done, on the night of the date I couldn’t wait for the date to be over so I could talk to Ryan.  Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.  In fact, (and this might be really bad to admit) Ryan came over after the date with the other guy and that night is the first night we kissed.  Oops.

I told Ryan we could only date until May because I was moving.  Well…by the time I moved we knew things weren’t even close to being over for us.  I still moved.  In June we got engaged.  I did major Grad. school courses until the middle of October, then I moved back to Pima.  I was lucky to make my schedule at school work to where I only had to go to classes on the weekend in Phoenix and online.

Ryan and I were married on November 5, 2010 (I had so much help in preparing for my wedding! 

I can’t even express how grateful I am for my family’s help, Erin, Kayla, Kasi, and Cassie’s help…or my photographers Katie and Dalene…there aren’t words) in the Gila Valley Temple.

I love him so much and he has been the BEST thing in my life. 

Anyway, that is the short synopsis of us. 

Oh, and I finished Graduate school only 3 weeks ago!  Life could not be better.

Well…it could be.  I need a job.  Then it will be complete…for now.

Shout out to The HOUSE

Some of you may be wondering who or what the House is. I will tell you. The one and only House is Officer Jordan Boltinghouse (unless you are Christy Dobbs, in which case it is Householder).

Jordan has been my friend since I student taught in the Thatcher Middle School Library, where he often though, "Who is this odd person who is in charge of Mrs. Simmons's classes and who is ruling my library?" Well, it didn't take him long to find out who Ms. Elliott really is. And it didn't take me long to find out that this ridiculously mature librarian was really a couple years younger than I am.

Well, as you can see, the library became our playground of sorts. It is where we really got to talk and know each other. We also had a little bit of fun.

However, the fun didn't stop in the library. Jordan was also a security officer at Eastern Arizona College, where we often met for walks at night or just visited while locking up campus. Sometimes my friends and I would make him do a scavenger hunt just to keep things entertaining. And a couple times Jordan even helped me prepare pranks on our friends. Such as, setting up a set of "beer" and "drugs" and getting arrested. Or having my friends do delinquent activities to see how fellow security officer trainee would handle the situation. In every situation we had a good time.

And then there was the time I made the tragic mistake of telling Jordan and Justin that there was a really creepy abandoned house that I wanted to explore. Why was this a mistake? They proceeded to tell this BULLCRAP story about how there was a murder there called the "Fishstring Murder". Not only did they tell me this story, but when they knew I wasn't buying it, they called Jordan's dad! Jordan's dad is also an officer, so of course I kind of believed him. But not all the way. And a few days later when they knew I was starting to even doubt that, they brought me a file...with a police report...and pictures! Well, I still checked out the house...and the story ended up being complete and utter CRUD! Stupid prank, but they did a great job at trying to convince me. (And to be fair...I did believe them for a bit).

And one of the best and most entertaining things we did was the Haunted Hallway, where we transformed the middle school into a haunted house for people to walk through. It was gory and took so much work...and we were EXHAUSTED by the end. But have you ever seen such a good looking group of psychos?

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And then there were a couple nights of random picture taking around town. Or the time we kidnapped Jordan (which I can't find pictures of). The only complaint he made the whole time we had him cuffed and blindfolded was that we were about to drive away without putting his seatbelt on him. Of course he would complain about that!

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This is when we went to Relay for Life together and some of my old students paid to have me jailed...which cost 4x as much to get out. What did Jordan do? He laughed and left me! What a jerk!

Jordan is also one of many talents. He was not only a librarian by day and security guard by night, but he also dabbles in the art of plumbing. Our toilet was leaking and flooding our bathroom, so he quickly researched possible solutions and showed up at our door looking like this...ready for a flood.

And without me, Jordan would have never known the meaning of green M&Ms. That New Year's Eve was entertaining...and lasted far too early into the morning.

And we can't forget about the times we had while coaching Middle School Track and Field. Or the summer where Jordan and I taught a Drama class for College for Kids...where we did such a fun play! Or when I kicked his trash during racquetball. Or that I called him Papicasa and he thought he could pimp out Erin and I after that. Or that this blog would not be updated without Jordan reminding me that I am a slacker when it comes to blogging.

Now Jordan has graduated from the Police Academy and has signed on with Sierra Vista Police Department and we don't see each other...ever. However, if ever I get pulled over in that area I can only hope that Officer Boltinghouse is the one to do it. Perhaps I should take a trip to Sierra Vista and drive as fast as I can around town. Just warning you, it might happen.

So Jordan...don't cry because it is over, but smile because it happened.

…and I’m back!

Yes, yes, I know you haven’t heard from me in a million years, but I am alive and well.  Instead of trying to catch you up on my life I’ll just start with the basics.  First, I put in my resignation for my job last week.  After this school year I will be moving to the Phoenix area to get my Master’s degree in School Education (which I already began taking online courses for).

Teaching is going good, been busy.  It is definitely a high maintenance group of kids.  I am also in charge of the after school Drama program still, but instead of just involving the 5th grade, it involves the 5th and 6th grade….over 80 students!!!  We are working on 4 plays right now to perform on the stage for the primary and elementary schools and a night performance for families.  It has been busy!  I am also volunteering with the middle school Track and Field team again, which started a couple weeks ago.

Right now I am on Spring Break and I have been in Utah the past couple days.  It has been WONDERFUL!  I am staying with my dear friend and old roommate, Amber (affectionately called Hamburguesa).  My wonderful (and one of the best) friend, Rex, picked me up from the airport on Saturday morning.  We have been having such a good time.  We’ve gone to breakfast (which is becoming a tradition for Rex and I), gone thrift store shopping for crazy green outfits, gone to concerts, gone to crazy Wicked parties, gone hiking, had wonderful conversations, many adventures, and countless laughs.  I am going to be so so so sad to leave these friends tomorrow.  I also got to visit with Kiara for a bit.  I sure do love that girl.  The weather has been nuts!  Saturday it rained and snowed a lot!  Then today it was too warm to even wear a jacket!  Sigh…it’s been  the best trip.

Anyway, now you know what I have been up to…kind of. 

Read to the End to see the surprise!

I finished my first year of teaching...holy crazy! It went by WAY too fast.

I was also named Teacher of Distinction. And my name was on the radio and in the paper. Here is the little blurp about me...

Thatcher Elementary School—Katie Elliott: “Our nominee is Katie Elliott. Elliott is completing her first year of teaching and has demonstrated the willingness to go above and beyond what is expected of our teachers. She gladly volunteered to supervise an after-school drama club the students asked that we offer. With her assistance, the students have performed two quality plays and are practicing a third play. Miss Elliott has also volunteered to assist in coaching the Thatcher Middle School track team this spring. She arrives very early in the morning and, on many occasions, stays late in order to accomplish all that she does.

I also turned 23...big gulps! Why am I getting so old so fast?! My amazing friends in Gilbert threw me a little birthday party, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was such a good weekend. I went to the valley with Kyle and Kyia. And I stayed with Erin. We swam, watched a movie, shopped, I ate lunch with Allen. Then Kyle and Kyia and I went to dinner at my mom's in Queen Creek where my grandma made a scrumptious meal of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. YUM! It was a great day with some of the best people.

Minette came to visit! She is so pregnant and such a great friend! I have loved being able to spend time with her.

I started my Master's classes for the summer and I can barely keep my head above water in that class! It is so much busy work, which is cool, but there is so much! I can do it though. I have 2 days that I won't be there next week so I'm trying to get everything done for those days as well.

I also started teaching College for Kids with Jordan. It has been really enjoyable and the kids are so much fun. We are in the process of preparing a play for Friday...such little time with so much to do! But it is a really really cute play and we have these little boys that make it even more cute and so funny!

Thursday little miss Brittany Lundin with become Mrs. Hatch! I can't believe she is getting married! I think that we are all just growing up way too fast! But I like who she is marrying...and I like to take credit for them getting together. After all, they did meet because of me...and he lost out on getting together with another girl thanks to my ear drum (long, painful story). So CONGRATS Mr. and Mrs. Hatch!

And in a week I am going to...dun dun dun....Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala! I am so EXCITED!!!! I can't believe it is that close!

And last, but most certainly not least (but probably the most entertaining part of this boring post that is going on and on and on and on and on....you get the point).

Meet LOLA! My little bear. Oh my heck I love her! She is a Miniature Australian Shepherd and a total pain in the butt, but she has me wrapped around that fuzzy little paw of hers. And those eyes....they get me every time. *sigh*

Negative!

The tests came back negative!
No chemo for my mom!!!

Miracles happen...like me finally updating my blog. We both knew this day would come, we just didn't know when. But now this day is here...finally!
To begin, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has had my mom and I in their prayers. It has been a trying past month, but things are looking much better. Let's start with my mom.
MOM UPDATE:
My mom had surgery to remove the tumor in her breast. They did some tests on her and found out that none of the cancer had gotten into her lymph nodes yet, which made it so much better. A little less than a week after her surgery she started radiation twice a day for five days. So things sound like they are really good. However, she has a doctor's appointment next week. The doctor has been running tests on the tumor for different things and if some of these things come back with high levels then she will have to start chemo. We are really crossing our fingers and praying that won't have to happen. Thanks again to everyone who has kept her in your thoughts and prayers.
ME UPDATE:
Remember that pink slip I got? Well, one day when I was off of work, I got a couple visitors at my house...while I was in my pajamas! Those visitors happened to be my school superintendent and principal. Go figure. They had heard that I was starting to apply to other school districts. They told me that they were doing all they could to keep my job for me, that I should really consider not applying to other places. And then the next week they pushed a revised salary schedule through the school board...so now I have a job for next year! And last week I was presented, in front of the whole school, the Teacher of Distinction award. Let me tell you, I was not expecting that. I was sitting there minding my own business trying to guess which teacher they were talking about...and then they said my name. Haha, my kids said I looked shocked and turned red. You would turn red too if you had to go in front of the whole school while a person from a radio station talked about you and the superintendent took your picture.
Let's see...the track season ended last week, so I don't have track to coach anymore this year. We have the sports awards this week, but other than that it is over. But that doesn't mean I've been any less busy. Since track has ended, I have been practicing with my Drama kids everyday after school for a little over an hour. Their last play is on Thursday and is called "Mere Mirror" and is going to be so cute! Anyone who can make it should come. It is in the Keith Claridge building on Thursday at 1:40 pm.
This summer I am teaching a College for Kids class with my good friend Jordan Boltinghouse. We are teaching Theatre Production. And it is going to be so fun. I have to say we are going to be the coolest teachers! I will also be taking a couple Master's classes. AND....I am going to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala for 3 weeks! I'm going to go deliver books to remote schools to start libraries and I will be visiting some of the ruins. I am going with my good friend Allen Beach! I am so excited!
So there you go. I think that should sum things up. Sorry I've been a slacker.

Coming Clean

WELCOME WELCOME EASTER MORNING...
I am sitting on my porch this beautiful morning. The sun hasn't broken through the clouds yet, the breeze is refreshing, and the rain from yesterday makes the whole earth smell inviting and fresh and cool. The sounds of birds welcomes in this morning with a peaceful hello. And for once I am not wishing I was back in bed.
It is amazing that God would give us such a morning like this on Easter, where the Earth here has been made clean from the rain, giving us hope that there is more to come. Just like the Atonement where Christ paid for our sins, that if we repent we can be made clean and fresh.
And sitting here makes me reflect on how much I love Thatcher, AZ. How blessed I have been to have the roommates and friends and family that I have. That even though there have been hard times in my life, it is mornings like these that I live for, mornings like these that remind me that there is more to life than my job, my health, or the drama that surrounds me. And I couldn't imagine wanting or needing anything more or different. Oh what a beautiful morning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc