A quick weekend trip

Well I made it through the first week of summer school with my sanity barely intact. What got me through the tough time was the anticipation of my weekend trip to Seattle. It was time for Lindsay's bridal shower, and as a bridesmaid, I was invited to attend. :)

I was nervous about making the drive by myself as Herman usually does all the driving, especially long distance, but I decided that I just needed to get back into my college days mindset when I would make that drive by myself often. So I pumped up the music and jammed my way up I-5.

It was a relatively short trip, and WAY less painful than I had caused myself to believe. I arrived in time for dinner with Lindsay and Josh, and enjoyed a quiet evening with them.

In the morning it was time for Lindsay's dress fitting, so we jetted off to Everett to meet up with her seamstress. After making some alterations to the dress we were off to the bridal shower. I was put in charge of making the thank you list, and I have to say, I'm quite jealous of the loot she hauled in that day. I was quite impressed with all the presents she received, and the love her family and friends showed her that day.

Lindsay and I had some quality girl time until Josh arrived home from his all day motorcycle ride late that night. In the morning after a delicious waffle breakfast, I got to run errands with the lucky couple. We even went to IKEA and they let me help them pick out some furniture for their home. I scored a beautiful comforter that Josh's mom altered slightly for me. After a delicious dinner it was time to hit the road again, and head back to life in Portland. :(

Each time I leave Seattle, I wish I still lived there. I have fabulous friends up there who are like family to me, and I hate leaving them. At least I get to go up there again for a week at the end of July for her wedding in August!

Oh... and Herman is still fishing. :( I miss him

Take care-
Nikki H

A Crazy Week

Luckily for me, Herman has been in town for a little bit now, working on the boat, and waiting for the fish to arrive, so we have been able to talk every day. Having this time with him, even if its on the phone, makes it so much easier for me to handle him being gone. If all goes as planned, he will be leaving this afternoon but staying within cell range, so we'll have the best of both worlds: money being made, and connections kept.

This week has been insanely busy between my writing workhop/training the first part of the week and the summer school teacher orientation the latter half of the week. The training was hugely beneficial and I'm glad I went even though it was way to soon after the final day of school. SSA looks to be a bit chaotic, but hopefully things will fall into a groove and work themselves out once the kiddos show up on Monday. I can't wait to see some of my kids again. :)

So this weekend is a chance for me to rest from the whirlwind of last week, clean the home, work on SSA stuff, and get ready for Seattle next weekend. I'm really excited to be going up there for Lindsay's bridal shower, and to spend some time with friends again. Its getting lonely here.

That's it for now...

Much Love
The Hartmans

Another unexpected call

When Herman left to go out on this past trip, he said that he would probably be gone for a week or so, so imagine my surprise when he called yesterday afternoon! Unexpected phone calls from him are the best. This trip out was a lot better than the previous one, but still not super great. Keep sending those positive thoughts out his way!

I went and visited my new classroom at the high school yesterday after my workshop was over, and began to mentally arrange it. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the other 10th grade English teachers to see what they do, and how I could tweak it. I'm so excited to be teaching an established curriculum, even though they both do it a little bit differently. It should be a lot less work that this year was, even though I am teaching 2 preps. I can't start moving stuff in yet though because the previous teacher still has stuff in drawers and file cabinets. I don't know if he's planning on returning to finish clearing it out or not. I guess I can be patient and wait and see.

I am excited to see my kiddos next week. Its so different going from "mothering" 120 kids a day to none all in the space of a couple days. I won't see all my kids, but I am excited that some chose to take summer school even though they didn't officially need to. Speaking of summer school, teacher orientation is tomorrow, and I need to get some planning done.

Off to spend this lovely day curriculum planning (leadership for summer school, and English for the fall) and resting.

Hope you all are well

xoxo
The Hartmans
via Nikki of course :)

Summer Officially Begins!

Herman has made his first fishing trip of the year and returned, as usual, with a small load. The fishermen all seem to forget that every year, the season starts out slow, then gets better. It was amazing being able to hear his voice after a few days of him being completely away. I can hardly wait until August when I get to see him again.

Ever since I've known him, he's always had this (God guided) ability to know when I'm feeling the worst, and he just "happens" to get in within cell range and calls. This trip back to port was no exception. I continually thank God for blessing me with such an amazing spouse. Herman always knows just what to say to reassure me and comfort me. I am so lucky to be married to him.

While he's been gone, I've been trying to stay busy. Nights and weekends are harder, but during the weekdays, I'm fairly solidly booked for the next 6 weeks. This week I'm doing a 2 day writing workshop 2 days of summer school orientation, and one afternoon of meeting with my new department at the high school. Summer school begins on Monday, and I can't wait to see my kiddos again. We should have a lot of fun.

Speaking of my kiddos, they officially became high schoolers on Thursday!!! I was the proud mama hen snapping pictures of all my kids as they got their certificates, and then turned into the wacko teacher who thought she was cool, dancing with the kids at the dance. We had a lot of fun, and it was a great end to a great year.

After the first week of summer school, I'm off to Seattle for Lindsay's bridal shower. After a few weeks of summer school with Brittany, then it will be time for Lindsay's wedding!!! I'm so excited for her. She has truly met the guy for her. I'll be very sad if they move to Texas because we all get along so well. I can't wait to share in their special moment.

Well, I have that training in the morning, so I should sign off. Please send good thoughts Herman's way -- that he catches lots of fish, remains safe, and comes home healthy.

xoxo
The Hartmans
via Nikki

More News

Herman put the boat in the water today, which means that he is much closer to actually leaving and being gone fishing. It has been wonderful to be able to talk to him each day... it makes the separation a little more bearable. Hopefully this season will be successful and he will not have any major problems.

I got into PSU's graduate school of education! I start in the fall. Due to my new job at the high school, I think I will start out slow, as there will be a lot of work adjusting to a new curriculum and age group. Speaking of age group, I found out for sure which classes I will be teaching.

I'd like to present to you FGHS's newest Sophomore English teacher... both regular and honors! What an adventure this will be. My high school had 300 students total when I went there, and FGHS has 1800. Culture shock to be sure.

In order to keep myself busy, I'm doing some re-decorating (trying to keep it cheap, yet fabulous)... so we'll see how I do.

I'm getting ready for the summer, and enjoying my last few days with my kiddos. I'll see many of them this summer when I'm doing SSA, but it won't quite be the same. This year flew by so fast, and looking back on it, I never would have seen myself coming so far in that time period. It was definately a time of growth, both as an educator, and as a person.

I'm off to work on some parting gifts for my students, and enjoy this nice glass of wine.

Much love to you all-
xoxo
The Hartmans