We've spent the past seven months working, spending time with our small group at church, playing games (Ben more than me...) and cooking (me more than Ben...). Nothing too exciting but we've been having fun :) Ben is still working at the bank and I am at the elementary school I started at the day after we got back from our honeymoon.
I. Love. My. Job. It is so perfect for me! I work with groups of 5-8 kids who need a little extra support in reading or math. I have kindergarteners through sixth graders and I adore them all! I love going to work, have fun while I am there, and feel proud when I tell people where I work. My supervisor and the principal really want me to get my teaching license. Which I still may some day (although right now, it's not really an option budget-wise). But honestly, at this point I don't think I would want to be an actual teacher! I love working with small groups. I think I would have a hard time going from this to having to teach 30+ kids at once, while being unable to give them one-on-one time that they will inevitably need. That's my entire job right now, and I just love it! Plus, it doesn't hurt that I get to go home when school is out and I don't have to spend hours planning lessons and grading assignments.
I have taken advantage of my extra time in the afternoons to tutor kids in Spanish. I have been working with one student since November, and he has gone from failing quizzes and not understanding anything, to getting grades of "proficient" on his tests and doing really well with conversing. I really enjoy it! Not only getting to use my Spanish, but I just love languages and teaching, so it's a perfect combination!
Other than that, my afternoons are spent cooking or planning what I'm going to cook on Pinterest. I am so grateful to have a husband that works so hard so that I can work part time. And to have a husband who so appreciates all I do at home and how happy and energized that I normally am, that he doesn't want me to work full time. I keep bringing it up, that maybe I should find a "real" full-time job so we could be making more money, and he tells me I'm crazy - that I'm so happy where I'm at why would I want to do anything else?!
So from my spare Pinterest-crazed time in the afternoons, here are some amazing recipes I have tried and loved:
I have never been much of a waffle person. Pancakes either, for that matter. They are the last things I would ever order for breakfast at a restaurant, and I never choose to make them myself. My dear husband, on the other hand, loves them. So to make him a yummy breakfast I made waffles one weekend using this recipe. Now we make them almost every weekend. Because I just can't get enough of them! I think the trick is whipping the egg whites. It makes them so perfectly fluffy soft on the inside, but super crispy on the outside. Oh dear I want some right now!
I try not to make sweets too often. But I usually fail at that and make them more than I should. And then end up eating them all because Ben has way more self control and limits himself. BUT. These are one thing he had a hard time limiting himself with. Unfortunately I am home more than he is and have way more opportunities to eat brownies. I had a potluck at work the other day, and decided to try out this recipe for fudgy brownies with a whipped peanut butter frosting. Oh dear. I made a double batch so I would have plenty to take to work. When I got back to the lunch room less than two hours later, there were only a few left. And I had requests for the recipe. Which is very simple, and I had everything needed in the cupboards already. Oh make these immediately.
I also brought this yummy white bean and roasted red pepper dip to the potluck, which was so easy to make and was delicous. Think hummus, with regular white beans instead of garbanzos. A little spice, a little sweet, a lof of yum.
Anyway, that has been our life for the past few months :) Ben tells me I can keep working part time so I can keep cooking these things for him! And now, I have to go finish off these yummy ribs for dinner in Sunriver :)
