2 Years Down

Well I have officially finished my second year of teaching and I must say I definitely feel like I knew more what I was doing this time around. I was by far much more organized than I was last year and that is always a plus!! Hopefully that organization will continue to grow over the years. Our last day of school was Friday and I must say it was little bittersweet knowing I would see students walk through THAT door for the last time, taking my kids to lunch for the last time, and seeing my bus kids off to their buses for the last time. I know I will have many more students to teach throughout my career but it was more sad than I thought it would be doing it all for the last time at Hartwell Elementary. I think I am destined to be even more emotional this week during our three days of post planning. I love all the wonderful teachers and friends I have made there these past two years. They already feel like a part of my family and some of them have seen me through a lot. They were there when my grandfather died, they were there to hear about the engagement, they were there to help me out when I was crazy getting stuff ready for the wedding, and they have been there to love on me and support me in this time away from Jonathan. They are all amazing people and the Lord blessed me tremendously the past two years to give me that family. I will never forget those people and will miss them all dearly.

Cash is doing pretty well. We had a scare a week ago when I took him to the vet for a vaccination. He had an allergic reaction to it and within ten minutes of me having it home his whole face was two times its normal size and he looked awful. He was absolutely pitiful. After rushing him back to the vet for a shot of benadryl and two small doses of benadryl later that night and the next morning he was back to his normal self and far less pitiful. It was definitely a freak out moment for me and Jonathan assured me I was doing everything I needed to do for him and it gave us a glimpse of what parenthood might be like for us. Me- freaking out, Jonathan- trying to calm me down...seems about right!! lol :) He is up to about 4 pounds now and he doesn't seem so small to me but I know it's because I am around him all the time. I know when I put him down outside in the grass it becomes VERY apparent how tiny he is!! lol.

Well we are down to 75 days, 11 more weeks until Jonathan gets home. I am oh so excited but also planning on living up my summer spending as much time as I can with family and friends. My sister, in particular, to my joy is planning on keeping me busy with my nephews this summer. I am very happy to spend as much time with them as I can because I am going to miss out on so much with them! My sweet lil Sam won't even know me when we get back! :( Well, I am talking to Jonathan now so I am going to go ahead and end this update, see you next time!!!

Here Comes Cash

So sorry that it has been a while, Laura! ;) Things have been super busy with school wrapping up and Cash coming. Last Saturday I went to McDonough, Ga. and picked up my sweet lil guy. He is a 2 months old miniature daschund that is choc and tan. He has the biggest ears I think is possible but that just makes him even cuter. I can't wait for daddy to get home and meet our sweet baby. He has done pretty welll so far. We have had very few accidents thus far, so good job for sweet little Cash! This past Saturday we went to the Marigold Festival with mom and dad and he had a lot of fun getting loved on by his mema and getting lots of "awwwws" and "he is so cute" statements from many of the festival attendees. Right now he is regularly sleeping in his kennel at night and while I am gone at work. This was difficult at first but he has gotten better. I can't wait to spend the summer with him.

The school year is quickly coming to an end. I have two more weeks to get my babies ready for first grade. I feel like this year has just flown by. It is going to be especially hard to let my little ones go this year because I will not be able to watch them grow next year. I am also going to miss all the sweet and wonderful people that have become part of my work family over the last two years. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with some amazing people that I will never forget.

Jonathan is at about 13 weeks, 90 days, as of right now. That seems like forever but I keep reminding myself that it is one less day than before. I know that this time has made us stronger in a lot of ways but it has also been difficult to really connect in ways. It is very hard to feel so distant from someone that is so close to your heart and not be able to do much to fix it. We are both ready for this time to be over and truly start our lives together. Christ has been so faithful to get us through this time and I know that we can get through anything with Him in our lives.

Cooking Class in Session

Well, tennis season ended on Wednesday afternoon with a tough loss to the number 2 ranked team in the state. :( Oh well. I decided that since tennis was over and I would have more time in the afternoons now that it was about time I started learning how to cook more than macaroni and cheese, that is a stab for my sister that thinks that is all I know how to cook. Well a couple weeks ago I purchased this cook book that had some of America's most wanted recipes from several well-known restaurants. I decided to start with a favorite of mine, the fett. alfredo recipe from the Olive Garden. I deemed my first success on my new cooking adventure. It was a little more complicated than I thought it would be and it made TONS of pasta so I took the leftovers to school where everyone said that it was good.

I plan on trying more things down the road so I will keep you posted on how things go. I am getting excited about August getting closer and closer and Jonathan getting back. We have 15 weeks to go. I think the thing I am most excited about is knowing that once I am in his arms again I can hold tight knowing that I won't have to let go in a few days. That is the first time I will have been able to do that in a year and a half!!! Well I am off to go get ready for bed!

Hallo...a new adventure

Well I drove up to my sister's house on Thursday to spend the day with her and the boys. She very politely informed me that it was time for me to update my blog, so here I am.

Easter was pretty good. I went to church with mom and dad. We went to Grandaddy and Glendia's for the great food, fellowship, and finding of eggs. I had a lot of fun helping Jack with his eggs and also got in some cuddle time with sweet little Sam. I also engaged in a very interesting conversation with Brooklyn about how she weighs 11 ft tall. :) I love little kids! hehe!

I have been on spring break this week and it has been fairly uneventful aside from a few tennis practices and some spring cleaning. I did get to spend some quality time with big sis and nephews on Thursday. That was fun. Jack was very excited that he was going to the football game on Saturday. This will be his first Ga football game, even though its only a scrimmage. It will be interesting to see how he does.

On a BIGGER note, Jonathan received and has signed his contract. We will be going to...GERMANY!!! Hence, the "hallo" for the title. I am very excited. Now on to making sure everything that needs to get done actually gets done. I need to get my teaching job figured out. I need to get a physical done at the navy base in athens as well as get my military ID. I have already started to look up things to do and places to go that I hope we will get to all of them. The biggest thing about all of this is that I will be WITH my husband!! I am sooo excited. We have 17 weeks to go!!! This has been a trying time and it has definitely made our love for each other grow in a very special way that I will never regret. On the other hand I am ready to see my husband on a daily basis rather than a few months basis. God has been faithful through this time and has kept both of us strong. We are about to truly begin our lives together but it is more than that. We are also beginning our lives together by embarking on this amazing adventure. I am very excited about all of it and for my sister's sanity will try to keep you updated more often! ;)

Annual Cough Fest!

Well every year at some point in time I develop what I tease is my smokers cough. No, I don't smoke but at least once every year I get a really bad cough with a cold of some kind that makes me sound like I put a pack down everyday! ;) My cough started last night but I woke up around 4:00 this morning with a for sure fever. My head was burning up but my body was freezing. Luckily, the fever has subsided for now but I still feel extremely weak but do not really want to eat anything. I need to go to the store and get some gatorade or something but I am soo tired. I need to get up and moving around somehow because I am supposed to go up to Laura and Josh's house to celebrate Josh and mines birthday. I hope I feel a lot better by then. The sad thing is this means I need to stay away from my precious newborn nephew, Sam. :( Oh well. I did manage up the strength to take a shower so one victory accomplished.

I was planning on going to school today to get some serious planning done because this past week has been soo crazy!! We had a tennis match on Monday which we won 3-2. Of course on Tuesday we had our snow day. On Wednesday we had pictures and practice. On Thursday we had an away match at Eastside, about 2 hours away from us. They only had four courts to play on and we didn't get done until 8:30. We had to stop and get something to eat which didn't get us back to school until around 11:30 where I had to drive another 20 minutes to Royston to get in bed!! It has been an exhausting week and with tennis season in full swing there are bound to be more just like it! Well I am going to attempt my next task of going to the store and getting some gatorade to hopefully give me a little more energy!

Hard, Harder, Hardest

I don't complain much about Jonathan being gone in Cuba. I feel like if you were to put in on a meter the number of my complaints, the line would be at the very bottom. Sometimes, it is more how I appear. But there are times when I am by myself when I can't help but think why God has called us to go through this time. In the past year I have spent about a months worth of time with my husband. He left for training last March so it has been almost a year. We are coming up on 7 months in Cuba, 5 to go. When it is all said and done we will have spent the better part of a year and a half apart. Most days I can keep myself busy enough to not think about it too much but I can never trick myself completely because I am always well aware of the empty space beside me that should be filled. I am always aware that when I come home at the end of the day there is no one else there. I am always aware that the amount of communication with my husband that night depends on whether the internetor or the phone lines in Cuba are working. Thank the Lord for technilogical advances that allow me to hear my husbands voice and see my husbands face. Now if only there were a way to feel his touch, feel his arms wrapped around me, and tell him "I love you" whenever I want. People ask me often how I am and I usually respond with ok or fine. People ask me how is married life and I honestly do not know what they expect me to tell them so I always laugh and make a joke.

The truth is it is hard at times, harder at others, and hardest at rare occassions. The truth is that I am painfully aware that I am alone when I come home and am sadly used to it. I have wonderful family and friends that keep me busy and thanks to them and my faithful God most days are good days. I constantly remind myself that there are others who are much worse off than me. I constantly remind myself that I am no martyr be any means. God constantly reminds me that in due time even if I never see why I will forever have the knowledge that this time will bring us closer to each other and closer to Him.

Christmas Day in GTMO

0615 The alarm goes off and Jonathan and I roll out of bed.
0625 People driving by look at us like we are crazy for being at a bus stop so early in the morning on Christmas day.
0630 We notice someone else at a nearby bus stop and begin not to feel quite as foolish.
0700 Begin cooking breakfast for the guys at Jonathan's apartment that just got off work.
0900 Catch the bus back to our hotel room.
0915 Fast asleep in bed.
1000-1500 Lay around watching movies and catching up on sleep.
1900 Begin making dinner with pans we borrowed from the kitchen in the main building.
1930 Enjoy our closest thing to a home-cooked meal we will get for Christmas.
2100 Put on the movie Elf and enjoy the last few hours of our first Christmas together.

For everyone back home, we miss you and hope your Christmas was just as relaxing as ours. We love you all and wish you a happy new year as well!

Love,
Jonathan and Emily Rupard