All for Naught

As I said in my last post- all the ranting and breaking down was for naught- everything did work out as it needed to. Chad interviewed for Tuacahn High School (one of two interviewed out of 25 applicants- I'm very proud of him!!) and ended up not getting the music position. He will stay part time at Fossil Ridge Intermediate doing piano and part time at Hurricane Intermediate doing band! Yea! I will stay at Hurricane Middle doing special Education! Yea!!! The power of prayer works- living proof! I am very appreciative to the interim director of SPED for all the hard work she did to keep me!
We are currently looking for a house in Hurricane (to rent, not buy) so that we can move by the end of the month! We are very excited about life today!!

New Job??

This morning, as I was putting phone calls in to perfect our perfectly planned life (I don't exaggerate) I recieved a phone call that tore apart my perfectly planned life. I am a planner and a solver. I plan things WAY ahead of time so that if a problem arises I can solve it before a deadline. Well through careful planning and prayer, Chad and I had felt that our life was going great- we both had full time jobs in the same town, we could afford to move out there into an actual house, we had a timeline for moving, getting back to work, going to necessary meetings for work- all the things I do to keep myself sane. We had started looking in papers and online for homes to rent in Hurricane and I decided to call on them today. Almost every single number led to the same house- one that we came upon by accident and really thought was a cute house. It was right next to where I was going to be working, great rent- perfect for us, fate (as it were) was intervening!
Not quite so...I hung up with the landlord of the house and immediately answered a call from the Principal at LaVerkin Elementary School informing me that I would be working at her school next year- I had been reassigned. I had heard no such thing and asked politely if she could repeat that. She did and was entirely confused, so we both hung up and made our phone calls to the district office. I found out, quite to my dismay, that it was indeed true and that I would be teaching 3rd grade at LaVerkin Elementary next year. I spoke with the interim director of special education later tonight (she quite literally called in the middle of a breakdown I was having) and I feel somewaht ok with the situation at hand. There are still issues at hand that need to be settled, so I may yet be able to work in special education- but everything is up in the air- and for those of you who know me well- that doesn't work in my world...I NEED TO PLAN!!!
I am entirely conflicted for many reasons- I don't know about teaching 3rd grade- it has never been a goal EVER to be an elementary school teacher- my passion is special education. But if I didn't have a dual degree, I wouldn't have a job right now, as I am reminding myself constantly- I am lucky to have a job. I do have a feeling that the ranting and breaking down will all be for naught- things will work out the way they need to.
Thanks for listening-I'll keep you "posted" (he he) on the situation!

Family

It has been a while sit I sat down to bog. My mom, sister, and nephew came down and stayed with us from the 22nd until the 27th. They really came to see my new nephew, but I like to think they were her for me...just kidding. We went on a shopping spree to buy my niece, Anna, a new wardrobe since she hit a growth spurt and didn't fit into any of her summer clothes (and as you may know, St. George is a place where a summer wardrobe is a MUST-HAVE!!). It was lots of fun- all the girls went shopping while the boys went to my sister's house and played video games- we are obviously a very gender specific family!
We also went to a place called Jumpin' Jacks. For any St. George Residents with children or not- this place is AWESOME! It's an indoor place with the blow up play equipment (like slides and obstacle courses and boxing rings where you use gloves the size of Kansas) that you would find a carnivals and outdoor festivals. This is a place where parents take their children during the hot St. George summer days to play. Well for BORING adults, you can opt to sit and "watch" free of charge. Or if you're an AWESOME adult, you opt to play with the kids for $5. My sister, Mandi, by brother-in-law, Mike, and I opted to play. Mandi and I did an obstacle course together. I wish we would have had someone with a camera on us- it was hilarious. First we couldn't get up because we were awkwardly big and once we finally did, we toppled town the slides instead of gracefully flowing down them. Everyone ended up playing-it was ridiculous fun!
My dad came for about 5 hours on his way home from a business trip- he threw out his back and could hardly move two days before he left on the trip and then had huge weather issues coming home from the east coast- poor daddy! He made it to St. George, met the new grandson, and then got in the van with everyone else and headed home! Poor guy...
We BBQed and watched movies together, saw shows, spent lots of money, held the baby, played with the kiddos, etc. Its always fun to have family around.
About 2 hours after my family left, Chad's brother called and asked if they could come visit that night. We had planned on them coming to see Les Mis with their daughter, so we had already started laundry and they came around 9:00 on the 27th. We played games with them, saw Get Smart (which was MUCH BETTER than I had originally thought it would be- I was impressed), I got to see Les Mis with them. We always love having them around. They left the morning of the 29th. They are such wonderful positive people- I need to be around them more!!
It was an eventful week. Needless to say, Chad and I crashed when all was said and done. It was a very fun week!

More Vegas Fun!

We made a quick trip to Las Vegas again- this one was much "quicker" than the last. A few weeks ago I found out my best friend , Leslee, from childhood was going to be in Vegas for a few days. I had not seen her since I was 19 (I know...SOOO long ago) so I talked with Chad and we decided to make a trip down to see her and meet her boyfriend/may as well be fiance, Chris. We met them at Mandalay Bay and went through the Shark Reef (which was pretty awesome- not Sea World, but in the desert, I'll take what I can get). We also went over the the Bellagio to check out the seasonal plant display (super cool, as always) and over to the Forum shops at Caesar's Palace. It was so great to spend some time with them and get to know Chris a little bit. We also went to see Beauty and the Beast that my sister-in-law, Stephanie did all the choreography for- it was wonderful! She did a great job! I've included a few pics of the time we spent with Leslee and Chris.

They take a picture of you in front of a green screen and then you can choose the background you want when you buy the picture. I have such a wierd huge pointy nose in this pic. It makes me wonder if my nose always looks like that in pictures...

Yea- friends in Vegas!

You know you're a Titus/Mallory when...

Last week I was rummaging through my picture box (3 ft long, 1 1/2 feet wide, 5 in deep- it took a while to get through all of them...) and came across a few pics that just made me laugh. My nieces look quite a bit like me- see below.

This is me on my 4th(?) birthday. When we asked my niece Anna who this picture is of, she said, "That's me!" (Refer to the pictures on "The Long Awaited Arrival" for pictures of Anna- it's a bit crazy how much she looks like me.)

We also asked Anna about this picture. She had wised up a little and said, "Bethy?" We asked who the baby was- "That's baby Brayden!" Of course, we are so silly, how could we not know?

The picture on the top is of me on my blessing day. The one on the bottom is my niece, Emma, wearing an hierloom blessing dress. Look at the faces.

We all know that these little girls will be the cutest little kids ever- and now I don't need to have kids because I know what my little girls would look like!!

The Weekend

We spent our weekend in sunny Las Vegas! Chad is from Vegas and we've spent a fair amount of time there in the past three years. We have come to love staying with Chad's brother Colby and his family. On the 6th, 7th, and 8th, we got to participate in the wedding festivities of Colby and Stephanie's oldest son, Judd! The kids were married at the Las Vegas Temple and had pictures with everyone afterward- they looked great, tired but great! The reception was great- lots of food, candy, music, etc. The whole thing was beautiful, fun, and relaxing. We ended up staying two extra days just to hang out with Colby and Stephanie. We went to the park and had a picnic, played croquet, and ran through the fountain with Baylee- my personal favorite! Stephanie also does a stretch/toning class every morning at her home (she is an awesome dancer and I hope I look as great as she does when I am her age)! Both mornings we were there Chad and I BOTH did the class- It was awesome, we're continuing the moves she taught us at home so that we can both "have bodies of greek gods (according to Chad)" by the end of the summer (yeah...we'll see). We also got to spend some time with Chad's aunt and uncle- they are great, understanding people- we realy enjoyed our time with them. They have two adorable dogs- we left wanting to get dogs when we move in July/August. We got home and are struggling to get back into being humans with responsibilities again.

The Long Awaited Arrival!

After 9 long months of waiting (especially the last few days) - Brayden Alan Winslow has finally joined the posse of our awesome nieces and nephews! He was born last night at 9:45 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 1 oz and measuring 20 in. long. His big brother and sister Tyson and Anna have been staying with us since Monday night and were very excited to hear from their dad last night that "their new baby" was born! Much to Tyson's relief, the big bump that was mom's belly is gone (that was his first question)! Chad and I took the kiddos up to Cedar City this morning to meet their new brother! Brayden is very mellow and even tempered. He gets a little angry when you take his hands away from his face and he likes to suck on his fingers! His mom is really happy that she FINALLY got a baby with dark hair. Here are some cute pics of Brayden and the new "family of 5!"

The whole family!

He's still squishy and looks like a little old man!

Brayden Alan Winslow- he's pudgy and cute!

Tyson and Anna are excited to bring their new baby home!

"Anna you have two brothers now- you're not going to be able to handle it." -A quote from Tyson as we were visiting!

Anna's voice gets about three pitches higher when she even talks about Brayden!

Uncle Chad will be notorious with Hayley's kids as the "comfy uncle." He's warm and comforatble, so babies naturally fall asleep on him. As soon as I held Bradyen he was wide awake! I guess I'll be known as the bony ice queen (according to Chad).

Uncle Chad holding and feeding the smallest/youngest baby he's ever touched!

My two favorite St. George Nephews...cuties!