Oops... thought I actually posted this back in July....
Well, before Suzie tells me one more time that I need to update my Blog, I am going to use my time sitting in a back-to-school training, to update what I can.
Things are going well with the pregnancy... We found out in June that we are having a little girl and are getting very excited about welcoming her to the world in late-October. We have been VERY busy since I last posted...
Rian left Le Cordon Bleu in mid-June. He felt it was time for him to move on in his professional career and it was perfect timing since a technical high school in DaKalb county was looking for a Professional Foods teacher to start this fall. The past few months have been stressful waiting for DeKalb to get all of his necessary paperwork together and processed in order to officially offer him the position. As we all know, Rian cannot just be doing nothing for too long, thus he found himself a "farmer Rian" position at a local organic farm located in Loganville to keep himself busy and learning while he waited to hear back.
We took at trip to Maryland in June to visit Rian's family and to see Chris Robinson graduate from the police academy in Salisbury. It was great to see everyone since I had not seem most of them since the wedding, which was two years ago. Hard to believe huh?! It was great to see Jordyn and get to hang him; he has grown up so much since we last saw him. Him and Baylee got along so well, chasing each other around the house and playing catch outside in the backyard. Sometimes we wish that we lived closer to family, it would make visiting so much easier.
After we returned, we entered getting ready for the baby mode. We wanted to have wood floors installed before she arrived and to get the rest of the renovations in the basement finished. Thus we had our work cut out for us. We picked out the wood for the floors, scheduled the install while we would take our last summer vacation to New Hampshire to my parents lake house, and starting preparing the list of items we need to purchase in order to welcome our new one to the world. And the list continues growing...
Over the July 4th holiday, Rian's mom came to visit for a week. While we tried to relax some, Rian had us going to the farm to see what his new summer job entailed, and working at the Powder Springs Farmers Market, which actually turned out to be fun, despite the extremely high temperatures. Towards the end of her visit, we put her to work, helping us pack everything in boxes so the furniture could be moved to install the new floors. Thus it was a jam packed visit.
We were able to finally relax when we boarded the plan to Boston on our way to New Hampshire! We had a great visit with my parents and sister. My mom planned a surprise 60th birthday for my dad, which was pulled off without any problems, the weather even cooperated! Just being able to do nothing for a few days was terrific. There is something about being at "the lake", that makes you just relax... the view from the house overlooking the calm lake and the fresh air. If only it was not in New Hampshire where it snows A LOT in the winter!
Although it was hard to come back to reality after a few days of peacefulness, it was nice to come home to new floors, ones that I do not have to steam clean almost every week in order to keep the white carpets clean. It was not too nice however to have to spend the last few days we had of vacation unpacking all our stuff, and cleaning all of the dust from the floors being installed.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Try it again
After last summer with our unfortunate situation trying to start a family, Rian and I decided to put it in the back of our heads for a while and let destiny and fate take over in that department. So much was going on for us professionally that it was not hard to do. We concentrated on our jobs and continuing to get Chef Mac, LLC established instead. We must have done something right, since around Valentines Day, I knew.. I knew that I was pregnant again. I hesitated telling Rian until I confirmed it with a doctor, but I could not wait, what better Valentines gift could a wife give to her husband?! than a baby.
Things have just taken off and are going by VERY fast now that the first trimester is over and the concerns about me having another miscarriage are in the back of our minds. We are thinking about a nursery, cribs etc, but before all of that can happen we have to get our hard wood floors installed. Too much too quick if you ask me. It is good that we have each other to get us through this though, otherwise I am not sure how I would do it.
On top of all of this baby stuff, I was not sure if I had a job as a Graduation Coach next year, until last week when Atlanta Public Schools finally signed our contracts for the 10-11 school year. Yeah, I am employed again next year. And Rian is looking to make a move professionally as well. Don't want to jinx it yet, so will write when the ink is dry on the contract.
Now that school is over for the year and I had all but 5 of my 100 seniors walk across the stage on May 29th graduating, you would think summer was low key, but no... I am working the month of June back at South Atlanta. I am working with the other Graduation Coach, Rachel, my partner in crime lately. It has truly been a blessing to be placed at the same school as such an amazing individual. I LOVE working with her! We are working with about 50 students, some seniors who did not pass the graduation tests and/or classes to make sure that they are able to pass over the summer thus graduate in July as summer graduates of 2010, as well as underclassmen who failed classes this year. It should be interesting.
Once again, I promised Suzie I would start a blog when I was expecting so I would make sure to document everything along the journey, thus I am holding true to my promise. AHH, what have I gotten myself into? I also promised that I would post pictures along the way.. so here are two, not great quality, but what can you ask of a camera on a Blackberry?
Things have just taken off and are going by VERY fast now that the first trimester is over and the concerns about me having another miscarriage are in the back of our minds. We are thinking about a nursery, cribs etc, but before all of that can happen we have to get our hard wood floors installed. Too much too quick if you ask me. It is good that we have each other to get us through this though, otherwise I am not sure how I would do it.
On top of all of this baby stuff, I was not sure if I had a job as a Graduation Coach next year, until last week when Atlanta Public Schools finally signed our contracts for the 10-11 school year. Yeah, I am employed again next year. And Rian is looking to make a move professionally as well. Don't want to jinx it yet, so will write when the ink is dry on the contract.
Now that school is over for the year and I had all but 5 of my 100 seniors walk across the stage on May 29th graduating, you would think summer was low key, but no... I am working the month of June back at South Atlanta. I am working with the other Graduation Coach, Rachel, my partner in crime lately. It has truly been a blessing to be placed at the same school as such an amazing individual. I LOVE working with her! We are working with about 50 students, some seniors who did not pass the graduation tests and/or classes to make sure that they are able to pass over the summer thus graduate in July as summer graduates of 2010, as well as underclassmen who failed classes this year. It should be interesting.
Once again, I promised Suzie I would start a blog when I was expecting so I would make sure to document everything along the journey, thus I am holding true to my promise. AHH, what have I gotten myself into? I also promised that I would post pictures along the way.. so here are two, not great quality, but what can you ask of a camera on a Blackberry?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Who would have thought that after I moved to Georgia that I would continue to deal with flooding!? But I guess the flooding issues I experienced in New Orleans, while at Tulane, did follow me to Georgia, but took a few years to surface. Although Rian and I are VERY lucky that our house was not one of the houses that was completely flooded, we did experience some issues with water coming into our basement. The small crack that the water entered the basement through seemed to cause some major water damage. On Monday morning Rian and I spent our morning ripping out carpet soaked with water and taking turns changing dripping towels that we used to stop the water from running through the basement.
The week was filled with numerous calls to AllState and lots of waiting on hold for agents to answer. We also experienced a great deal of trouble as many of our friends, getting out of our neighborhoods and finding open road to get to work. It took both of us double the amount of our regular commutes to get to work, when we finally made it out on Wednesday!
My parents came into town on Thursday night. They had already booked the flight before the flooding, but it was perfect timing. We spent a good deal of the long weekend, ripping out drywall and carpet, purchasing fans to help dry out the foundation and house frame and taking TONS of pictures of the already growing mold.
I learned on Friday that the AllState mold adjuster was not going to be able to make it out to do an inspection until half way through October! What were we supposed to do? leave all of the wet carpet and drywall in the basement to continue to mold and infect the house?! Well that is what they suggested so the inspector could assess the room to determine if there was mold from the leak. Sounds like a shotty plan to me.
My parents were such a HUGE help, that we are now in a much better place, no more molding materials in the basement, and we are ready to call Busy Dog to come give us an estimate on possible solutions to stop the water from entering the basement in the future and for the mold inspector to assess the room. Boy, he did not know who he was talking to when he told me to take pictures documenting anything that we did to the room to "show evidence of molding". I think I am going to burn him a CD of about 200 pictures of mold in our basement. HAHA!
The week was filled with numerous calls to AllState and lots of waiting on hold for agents to answer. We also experienced a great deal of trouble as many of our friends, getting out of our neighborhoods and finding open road to get to work. It took both of us double the amount of our regular commutes to get to work, when we finally made it out on Wednesday!
My parents came into town on Thursday night. They had already booked the flight before the flooding, but it was perfect timing. We spent a good deal of the long weekend, ripping out drywall and carpet, purchasing fans to help dry out the foundation and house frame and taking TONS of pictures of the already growing mold.
I learned on Friday that the AllState mold adjuster was not going to be able to make it out to do an inspection until half way through October! What were we supposed to do? leave all of the wet carpet and drywall in the basement to continue to mold and infect the house?! Well that is what they suggested so the inspector could assess the room to determine if there was mold from the leak. Sounds like a shotty plan to me.
My parents were such a HUGE help, that we are now in a much better place, no more molding materials in the basement, and we are ready to call Busy Dog to come give us an estimate on possible solutions to stop the water from entering the basement in the future and for the mold inspector to assess the room. Boy, he did not know who he was talking to when he told me to take pictures documenting anything that we did to the room to "show evidence of molding". I think I am going to burn him a CD of about 200 pictures of mold in our basement. HAHA!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Taste Buds
I think it is amazing to look back at what my husband was doing professionally when we met a few years back compared to today. In the past few years Rian has started to make his dreams a reality.. he has published his own cookbook, started his own business, and is really starting to make a name for himself in the world of culinary. I am so proud of him! Although sometimes it is difficult for me to deal with all of the extra work that comes along with a small business and helping Rian, I have to frequently remind myself that it is all worth it.
Recently, Rian has been working almost every weekend at a book signing and cooking demonstration. This does not seem like it entails that much, but in reality it starts on Thursday night with the grocery shopping, continues on Friday with all of the food preparations and continues on Saturday with the event itself.
The past weekend Rian did an event in Country Walk, which we thought was going to be well attended due to the exposure and interest he has had at other social events in the neighborhood, but ended up being slightly disappointing. The Mayor of Powder Springs stopped by and made a few calls to some neighbors, who stopped by as well, but overall, the attendance was not what was expected.
This weekend Rian is doing a cooking demonstration at the Decatur Book Festival. He is very excited about the opportunity and slightly nervous at the same time since he does not know what to expect. If you do not have plans for Sunday, come on out to the Book Festival and see what it is all about.
Recently, Rian has been working almost every weekend at a book signing and cooking demonstration. This does not seem like it entails that much, but in reality it starts on Thursday night with the grocery shopping, continues on Friday with all of the food preparations and continues on Saturday with the event itself.
The past weekend Rian did an event in Country Walk, which we thought was going to be well attended due to the exposure and interest he has had at other social events in the neighborhood, but ended up being slightly disappointing. The Mayor of Powder Springs stopped by and made a few calls to some neighbors, who stopped by as well, but overall, the attendance was not what was expected.
This weekend Rian is doing a cooking demonstration at the Decatur Book Festival. He is very excited about the opportunity and slightly nervous at the same time since he does not know what to expect. If you do not have plans for Sunday, come on out to the Book Festival and see what it is all about.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sad Life-changing news
As most of you knew Rian and I were expecting our first child in March and were thrilled to be starting a family. Yesterday, we received some sad news: the doctors could not find a heartbeat when conducting an ultrasound. This harsh, unfair and horrible reality has been indescribably hard for us to wrap our head around, but through the supportive words of friends and family throughout the day and night yesterday, we have come to a place where we are individually doing okay and together are moving forward to the future.
In the words of many of you yesterday, "Everything happens for a reason!" Rian and I strongly believe this as well. Just think about our relationship and how it was surely fate, destiny, or an act of a high being, that brought us together that night back in 2003 at Doc's Bar and Grill. There surely was no reason for either of us to be out at 4AM, but we both were! Things happen for a reason! Doctors had just told us in May that it was unlikely that I would get pregnant naturally, clearly doctors do not know everything and we proved them wrong. (Good Work Rian!) Things happen for a reason! Someone knew that our baby was not developing correctly or knew that it was just not the right time for us to be starting a family. Things happen for a reason!
We are thinking about the bright future that is in store for Rian and his business, for me and my first graduating class, and for what opportunities lie ahead for us that we are not aware of yet. And when the time is right, we are looking forward to starting our Macdonald Clan.
In the words of many of you yesterday, "Everything happens for a reason!" Rian and I strongly believe this as well. Just think about our relationship and how it was surely fate, destiny, or an act of a high being, that brought us together that night back in 2003 at Doc's Bar and Grill. There surely was no reason for either of us to be out at 4AM, but we both were! Things happen for a reason! Doctors had just told us in May that it was unlikely that I would get pregnant naturally, clearly doctors do not know everything and we proved them wrong. (Good Work Rian!) Things happen for a reason! Someone knew that our baby was not developing correctly or knew that it was just not the right time for us to be starting a family. Things happen for a reason!
We are thinking about the bright future that is in store for Rian and his business, for me and my first graduating class, and for what opportunities lie ahead for us that we are not aware of yet. And when the time is right, we are looking forward to starting our Macdonald Clan.
As most of you knew Rian and I were expecting our first child in March and were thrilled to be starting a family. Yesterday, we received some sad news: the doctors could not find a heartbeat when conducting an ultrasound. This harsh, unfair and horrible reality has been indescribably hard for us to wrap our head around, but through the supportive words of friends and family throughout the day and night yesterday, we have come to a place where we are individually doing okay and together are moving forward to the future.
In the words of many of you yesterday, "Everything happens for a reason!" Rian and I strongly believe this as well. Just think about our relationship and how it was surely fate, destiny, or an act of a high being, that brought us together that night back in 2003 at Doc's Bar and Grill. There surely was no reason for either of us to be out at 4AM, but we both were! Things happen for a reason! Doctors had just told us in May that it was unlikely that I would get pregnant naturally, clearly doctors do not know everything and we proved them wrong. (Good Work Rian!) Things happen for a reason! Someone knew that our baby was not developing correctly or knew that it was just not the right time for us to be starting a family. Things happen for a reason!
We are thinking about the bright future that is in store for Rian and his business, for me and my first graduating class, and for what opportunities lie ahead for us that we are not aware of yet. And when the time is right, we are looking forward to starting our Macdonald Clan.
In the words of many of you yesterday, "Everything happens for a reason!" Rian and I strongly believe this as well. Just think about our relationship and how it was surely fate, destiny, or an act of a high being, that brought us together that night back in 2003 at Doc's Bar and Grill. There surely was no reason for either of us to be out at 4AM, but we both were! Things happen for a reason! Doctors had just told us in May that it was unlikely that I would get pregnant naturally, clearly doctors do not know everything and we proved them wrong. (Good Work Rian!) Things happen for a reason! Someone knew that our baby was not developing correctly or knew that it was just not the right time for us to be starting a family. Things happen for a reason!
We are thinking about the bright future that is in store for Rian and his business, for me and my first graduating class, and for what opportunities lie ahead for us that we are not aware of yet. And when the time is right, we are looking forward to starting our Macdonald Clan.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Well the first week of school is over and I am home sitting on the coach trying to figure out exactly how the week went. A lot of things have certainly happened since I last posted.
On July 23rd I has gotten sick on not being able to sleep at night, being extremely tired around mid-day even if I had not done anything to make me tired. I was not sure what was wrong with me, I thought, I just might be having back-to-school blues, but decided to take a pregnancy test just to rule that out. Well it did just the opposite; it ruled it in! Rian and I found out that we are expecting a child! The doctor confirmed the pregnancy the next day. Rian was so excited, that he jumped up, started dancing and hugged the nurse a bunch of times. Despite a scare early in August, everything is going great! If the doctor had not show us the baby's heartbeat, I would not believe that I am pregnant. I feel perfectly fine, no morning sickness, not really any more tired than I normally am, just seems like normal.
Well I guess this now means that I really do have to keep up with my blog since I did make a promise to Suzie that when I got pregnant I would start blogging about the experience. Maybe Suzie knew something that I didn't and knew that I would be starting this blog sooner than I expected!
Well I went back to work on July 27 to Communities In Schools of Atlanta training for the week and managed to have my Macbook stolen out of my rental car. As if that was not enough, my external hard drive which I thought was backing up my laptop, is corrupt and I am unable to restore all of my old material to my new laptop which my parents so graciously bought for me as an early birthday present. I am hoping that the Genius Bar will be able to figure something when I take it in this week. But until then, I am slowing restoring all of our files from CDs I had from a back up a long time ago. It is going to be a process.
The first week back at school was interesting. Atlanta Public Schools has decided that they needed to change and rewrite the Graduation Coach's job description and responsibilities even though we are employed by Communities in Schools. It seems as though they have been working on these subtle changes since the middle of last year and they are still not finalized. Tomorrow I will be staring the 3rd week of my job and I still do not have an official job description. What I do know is that I am now reporting to two different principals in two different schools on campus, both of whom are very different people with very different ideas about what a Graduation Coach does. Thus I expect this school year to continue to be VERY interesting.
Things with Rian's business are really taking off and at times can be slightly overwhelming. I think it is AMAZING how much he has accomplished in such a short period of time. I know that he is looking forward to the day that he is only working for himself and not having to work a full time job on top of working for himself. He has a new publisist who is GREAT. She has been working to get Rian and Taste Buds out there in the public eye. It seems as though every weekend from now until the new year is already booked with some event. It has gotten to the point where we have to sit down in Sunday nights and sync our calendars in order to make sure that we are both operating on the same page. It is crazy, but at the same time exciting. I am so very proud of him and honored to be his wife.
Suzie and Brad just went home after another food-orgy at our house. Rian is entering two new recipes in a Mac-and-Cheese contest with Tillamook cheeses. Both recipies tonight were delicious: a chicken pot pie mac and cheese as well as a crab and panchetta mac and cheese. But as those who know Rian well know, he does not just make a little of a few things, he cooks a bunch of things and makes enough to feed an army. We also had pork chops and a potato hash, and steak and cheese subs; something I wanted all weekend, and he promised he would make since it was my birthday weekend.
Well, I think that brings you up to date on the major events over the last weeks while I was without a computer.
On July 23rd I has gotten sick on not being able to sleep at night, being extremely tired around mid-day even if I had not done anything to make me tired. I was not sure what was wrong with me, I thought, I just might be having back-to-school blues, but decided to take a pregnancy test just to rule that out. Well it did just the opposite; it ruled it in! Rian and I found out that we are expecting a child! The doctor confirmed the pregnancy the next day. Rian was so excited, that he jumped up, started dancing and hugged the nurse a bunch of times. Despite a scare early in August, everything is going great! If the doctor had not show us the baby's heartbeat, I would not believe that I am pregnant. I feel perfectly fine, no morning sickness, not really any more tired than I normally am, just seems like normal.
Well I guess this now means that I really do have to keep up with my blog since I did make a promise to Suzie that when I got pregnant I would start blogging about the experience. Maybe Suzie knew something that I didn't and knew that I would be starting this blog sooner than I expected!
Well I went back to work on July 27 to Communities In Schools of Atlanta training for the week and managed to have my Macbook stolen out of my rental car. As if that was not enough, my external hard drive which I thought was backing up my laptop, is corrupt and I am unable to restore all of my old material to my new laptop which my parents so graciously bought for me as an early birthday present. I am hoping that the Genius Bar will be able to figure something when I take it in this week. But until then, I am slowing restoring all of our files from CDs I had from a back up a long time ago. It is going to be a process.
The first week back at school was interesting. Atlanta Public Schools has decided that they needed to change and rewrite the Graduation Coach's job description and responsibilities even though we are employed by Communities in Schools. It seems as though they have been working on these subtle changes since the middle of last year and they are still not finalized. Tomorrow I will be staring the 3rd week of my job and I still do not have an official job description. What I do know is that I am now reporting to two different principals in two different schools on campus, both of whom are very different people with very different ideas about what a Graduation Coach does. Thus I expect this school year to continue to be VERY interesting.
Things with Rian's business are really taking off and at times can be slightly overwhelming. I think it is AMAZING how much he has accomplished in such a short period of time. I know that he is looking forward to the day that he is only working for himself and not having to work a full time job on top of working for himself. He has a new publisist who is GREAT. She has been working to get Rian and Taste Buds out there in the public eye. It seems as though every weekend from now until the new year is already booked with some event. It has gotten to the point where we have to sit down in Sunday nights and sync our calendars in order to make sure that we are both operating on the same page. It is crazy, but at the same time exciting. I am so very proud of him and honored to be his wife.
Suzie and Brad just went home after another food-orgy at our house. Rian is entering two new recipes in a Mac-and-Cheese contest with Tillamook cheeses. Both recipies tonight were delicious: a chicken pot pie mac and cheese as well as a crab and panchetta mac and cheese. But as those who know Rian well know, he does not just make a little of a few things, he cooks a bunch of things and makes enough to feed an army. We also had pork chops and a potato hash, and steak and cheese subs; something I wanted all weekend, and he promised he would make since it was my birthday weekend.
Well, I think that brings you up to date on the major events over the last weeks while I was without a computer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
