A Dream Fulfilled?

I have always loved horses. Not the crazy-horse-girl-with-horse shirts-and-other-paraphernalia but a deep longing to ride a horse over an open field with the wind blowing my hair and not a house in sight. It goes along with my desire to own land and have chickens and eat vegetables out of my garden. My aunt always had horses and I rode them occasionally when I was little, but my own shyness prevented me from taking full advantage out of the opportunity.

Elie is afraid of animals. I am not kidding. We went to the fair and she wouldn't even touch the bunnies. She will not even be on the ground if there is a dog in the vicinity. Horses, for whatever reason, she doesn't mind. She has had a few opportunities to go on a pony ride and the enthusiasm she showed when sitting on that horses back renewed all the old west desires I had been harboring for years. The result? I gave my aunt a call. Elie not only rode my aunt's horse bareback, but she started learning how to make the horse stop and go. It was so cute to see her sitting up there so tall yelling "walk-on."



I don't know if my Aunt knew what she was getting into when she said we could come over anytime...

Setting out

It is time for a new adventure for our little family. At the end of August we are moving to Portland. I was offered a part time job in Aurora as a Basic Skills Teacher in a tiny classroom, in a tiny school, in a tiny district, in a tiny little city. I have not fully processed the idea of working again- let alone as a teacher (something I said I would NEVER do). I have a big test that I have to take before I can begin teaching so please be praying that I can pass that! It is on August 7th and it basically covers anything a kindergartner - 5th grader would learn.

It has been an extremely difficult decision to get us where we are. I applied for the job on a whim and never anticipated I would actually be offered the position or the implications for our family. From the beginning, we could not deny the hand God has had in the entire situation. We are still seeing him working out details. Nick will continue to work at Corban while he finishes school. His boss has okayed him working from home one day a week with the potential of more. (!!!!) We are *temporarily* moving in with my parents while we save some moolah to hopefully buy a house. We have NO idea where we will be come June. My position is temporary- I am job sharing and my coworker's part time leave of absence can only be approved on a year to year basis. And Nick will be finished with school next fall. There is a lot of variables and unknowns in our future. I feel like Nicks and my 6 year marriage has been in a constant state of transition and I am anxiously awaiting some stability. As always, prayers are appreciated!




The school I will be working at starting August 30th.

What I am Reading...

Years ago my cousin came to town from AZ and took a tour of downtown Portland. They made a stop at Powell's. My cousin, knowing my love for books and specifically the *romantic* Austen, Bronte, Montgomery era suggested I read a new release featured entitled "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." That's right. Zombies. He recommended it as a joke- never suspecting that I would be intrigued. It has taken me YEARS to actually pick the book up, I was so worried it would be a defilement of the brilliance of my all time favorite Austen, but I finally did it. And... I am enjoying it. I am comforted in the knowledge that Austen had a sense of humor and wrote a short, satirical novel aimed at the rise in Gothic literature- (Northanger Abbey- another favorite) so I feel like she would appreciate Seth Grahame-Smith's embellishment. Grahame- Smith essentially added in a few scenes to Austen's book in which England is over wrought with "unmentionables." I have laughed out loud many times. For the most part, he keeps the same feeling of the original although Elizabeth Bennett and her sisters are renown warriors and their "pentagram of death" is deadly to Zombies everywhere. Overall a fun read.

busy busy busy

This is what is going on in our life this month...

http://web.mac.com/nicksaemenes/Eliahna/iweb_jan.html

Saemenes Family Picnic Highlighs

Elie and her almost 5 year old cousin, Joe.



Lainey got to meet her Aunt "D" in 3-D for the first time.



My unbelievably adorable niece, Nora.



The whole gang.



All the cousins.


So fun. And we are so excited for a new Uncle this weekend!

Random Power Outage

Last night most of Albany lost all power. It went out mid- Settlers game with Nick's sister Linnaea. So, we improvised and played a romantic candle-lit game. I still lost.




I didn't realize until just now how Ouiji board this picture looks. I promise, no spirits were called in the making of this picture.