There's a hurricane a' comin'!

As with the last post, many of you are watching or even experiencing Hurricane Irene.  Did you know that the name Irene means peaceful?  That's funny since I'm pretty sure this Irene will not be living up to her name!

It's been a crazy past few days with tracking the storm.  Ben and I went out Thursday night to get supplies and there were no batteries, water, radios, or matches.  Hardly any bread left.  We managed to find some water and we have our bathtub filled in case we lose power.  So right now we are all settled in to see what Irene brings us.  I think our biggest concern is the potential flooding and losing power.  I hope we don't though because I don't want school to be cancelled on Monday!  I am excited to see how the first week of school goes!

Most of my family lives on the Eastern Shore which is currently under a hurricane warning, tornado watch, and a flood watch.  Noone lives near the water thankfully but we do have a little condo in Ocean City, which was evacuated yesterday.  Luckily our condo is on the 2nd floor and doesn't face the ocean so hopefully that will help.  Other towns on the Eastern Shore, like Oxford, St. Michaels, and Kent Island, were under a mandatory evacuation too.  The storm surge is supposed to be anywhere from 5-10 feet high!

When Hurricane Isabel came up the bay in 2003, the Eastern Shore experienced a lot of flooding.  There were boats in trees and people were kayaking down the streets of towns!  People even saw goldfish that had gotten out of backyard ponds swimming in the middle of towns!!  It was crazy and I am hoping Irene will be nicer to us than Isabel.  Hopefully I will have some pictures for the next post if we have any good ones after the storm.  Stay tuned!

Earthquake!!!

I'm sure many of you heard of even experienced our 5.8 magnitude earthquake on August 23rd!!!  That was a crazy experience.  It was both of our first earthquake.  Ben was at work and he stayed in his office till it was over then went outside to see if there was any damage.  I was at school in a planning meeting when the ground and my body started to shake.  At first, no one else said anything so I thought I was either imagining it or this was normal!  Maybe a train track was nearby?!  But then our desks and computers started to shake violently.  One teacher did get under the desk, like we were supposed to.  The rest of us sat there and kept saying, " Is this an earthquake?  What do we do?"  After it was over, we all started to contact family to make sure everyone was okay.  We did leave school early that day but luckily there wasn't any damage to the building.

Then, at 1:08am on Wednesday morning, Ben felt the 4.5 magnitude aftershock.  He thought it was another earthquake and came in to wake me up.  By the time I was awake though, it was over.  It was certainly a nerve-wracking experience!

I think the whole West Coast is laughing at us!

School is about to start!

Next Monday is my first day at Elkridge Elementary!  Howard County teachers report Monday which means I do too!  If you missed a previous post, I am interning in a 2nd grade class with a teacher named Kristin Stansbury.  I really like Kristin and I am excited to see what 2nd grade is all about!  Click on this link Elkridge Elementary Departments and then click on Kristin Stansbury under 2nd grade.  You'll see her bio and mine!  It seems so official now!!!  Kristin also gave me a welcome to Elkridge goody bag!

Mom also gave me some school supplies too so I think I'm set!!!  I will let you know how my first day goes...stay tuned!

Some Summer Pics

Just some pictures for you to enjoy!

 Orioles vs. Tigers!  The Tigers won, 5-4 :(

 Ben and Riley snuggling together

 My two cuddle buddies when I was at my parents house with out Ben.  Oakley is on the left and Mali is on the right.

My Hard Rock pin collection!  I've finally filled my board and now I need a new one!

Don't mess with Matt Damon! He fights for teachers!

Last weekend, there was a march in DC called SOS (Save Our Schools).  It was a march against the use of standardized tests as an indicator of how well teachers, students, and schools are performing.  Matt Damon's (who is an actor) mom is a teacher so below is his opening speech.  Disclaimer:  There are a few curse words but it's an awesome speech!

This next clip is a great clip!!!  Again, a few curse words but Matt Damon totally smacksdown a reporter and a cameraman during an interview.  Go Matt!!

Riley!!

Today is Riley's adoption birthday!  We picked her up from the vet's a year ago today!! It's crazy to believe how much she's changed!  She was 10lbs and 11 weeks old when we got her and she's now 50lbs and a year old!

Check out the picture below...the two on the left are two puppy pictures of the night we brought her home and the right is her now.  Look at how much the coloring on her face changed!

It's been awhile!

It's been awhile since the last post!  We have been B-U-S-Y!!! I just finished my last two summer classes yesterday so the past few weeks have been pretty crazy with papers and projects and presentations.  Ben has been a little less busy but he's not as into blogging as I am!  So here are a few updates...

Last weekend, Ben went on a camping trip with his college roommates.  He had a great time but he said it was a little hot and buggy!

Last weekend, Riley and I went to my parents house for the weekend to visit with family since Ben was gone.  And we did a lot of schoolwork!

Today, Riley and I are going to a get together that my classmates are having to celebrate the end of summer classes!  12 credits down, 30 to go!

This weekend, Ben and Riley are staying home while I am heading to Ocean City, MD to have a long girls weekend with 3 of my closest friends!!!  Can't wait!!!!!!!!