And finally a couple more...

Let's just say dance party + friends + 80's music= FUN

More pics from the crazy weekend....

A birthday and a baby!

I thought that title would get ya... not OUR baby of course, but the teacher I am filling in for had her baby last Monday (as in a week and a half ago). The baby came two weeks early, which means I've been teaching for a little over a week now and things have been crazy... The transition has been rough, with a lot of long days (we're talking 12+ hour days on a regular basis), but eventually it will get better. Maybe after Thanksgiving?

Given this news, here is a brief rundown of what has been going on in our lives the last week:
-Joe turned 25 last Wednesday and we had a relaxing, but nice birthday celebration at our place... just the two of us, with Jack of course, and we ate a nice meal in (sometimes those relaxing nights are the best)
-Friday 5 of our best friends came up to stay with us for the weekend. It was a crazy, but super fun time. We rocked out playing "Rock Band" on Friday, watched the Beavers STOMP the Huskies at UW, and went out dancing Saturday night. Let's just say it was bananas!! A good time all around, but my weekend might've actually been more exhausting than my weeks are (which is hard to imagine). Here are some fun pics from the weekend...

Mrs. Newton is BACK in action!

Well, it's been awhile since the last entry, but I am back and have some GOOD news... I got hired yesterday as a long-term substitute for a teacher going on maternity leave! I will be working at Sammamish High School, teaching US History and AP Gov, and am super excited! That means NO MORE 5am wake-up calls, going to different schools each day, not knowing any of the students I am "teaching" (aka baby-sitting), or showing up to a classroom with no lesson plan or attendance sheet. I also get to make my OWN lesson plans, be a REAL teacher, have a consistent schedule, and best of all, really get to know my students (and the other teachers). Things are starting to look up... :)

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

There are many pros and cons to being an athlete (and/or married to one)... Yesterday, we experienced some of the perks. Joe and I had an awesome, impromptu date night courtesy the Seattle Seahawks. Or as Joe and his buddies would say, "we got the hook-up"...

First, we headed to the Woodland Park Zoo for the Seahawks family day. What did this include? Oh, simply FREE admission, FREE parking, and best of all, a personal tour guide who took us through the Jaguar exhibit! SO cool!! Forget the fact that all of the other "families" there were players and wives with their young children, Joe and I had a blast learning about the animals and checking all of them out. While all of the animals were awesome, by far the coolest was the jaguar. Did you know that the jaguar is the only wild cat who can pierce its prey's skull with one bite? Jaguar literally translates into Mayan "the one who can crush with one bite". All other cats go for the throat and/or internal organs to lacerate and slowly kill their prey, but not the mighty jaguar. Um, also you should know they are so freaking pretty. I really wanted to pet it, but a thick glass wall (and common sense) kept me from doing so.

After walking all around the zoo, we were quite hungry so we headed to Troiani in downtown Seattle for some delicious Italian food. This brings us to hook-up #2. We received a gift card here for going to a charity dinner last week, so we ate an AMAZING meal and barely had to pay a thing. I've decided that I might have to add pancetta-wrapped prawns into my weekly dinner menu... what could be better than prawns, wrapped in bacon, and topped with pesto?? Although dinner was amazing on its own, doesn't food always taste better when you don't have to pay for it?! I think so :)