The news is exciting, but bittersweet. We are moving our family to Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. Since high school, Landon has had a passion for history and for students. Throughout our married life, he’s worked in youth ministry because of his love for spending time with kids and shaping their lives. Over these last two years, as he continued his education and got his degree, he became more interested in teaching in public schools. He’s constantly reading History books, blogging about what he learned, and using stories in his Sunday morning lessons, so teaching History was a logical career move. Plus, as a teacher, he will spend five days a week with students instead of just one or two. He’s not leaving ministry, he’s just doing it in a different way in a different setting.
Last year, he started an online program through Rio Salado College for adults with bachelor degrees who only lack a certificate to teach. He’s worked really hard while working full time, being a husband and father, and finishing school work. We knew the end of the program required student teaching, but hadn't figured out how we were going to manage it. Since we feel that the lack of a certificate is what’s holding him back from being a serious candidate, especially in this competitive job market, we decided some sacrifice was worth it to get his certificate. This summer my parents offered their house to our entire family so we could avoid paying a mortgage, cutting our bills in half, and Landon could student teach to finish his program. In June, we made the decision to take this step to accomplish Landon’s dream of teaching History. He will student teach in the Fall, get his Arizona certificate in December, and then start applying for jobs in multiple states. We don’t know where we’ll end up at that point! His end goal is to be a college professor one day, meaning we still have a master’s degree and a doctorate degree to get through! Dr. Anderson, wow =)
Last year, he started an online program through Rio Salado College for adults with bachelor degrees who only lack a certificate to teach. He’s worked really hard while working full time, being a husband and father, and finishing school work. We knew the end of the program required student teaching, but hadn't figured out how we were going to manage it. Since we feel that the lack of a certificate is what’s holding him back from being a serious candidate, especially in this competitive job market, we decided some sacrifice was worth it to get his certificate. This summer my parents offered their house to our entire family so we could avoid paying a mortgage, cutting our bills in half, and Landon could student teach to finish his program. In June, we made the decision to take this step to accomplish Landon’s dream of teaching History. He will student teach in the Fall, get his Arizona certificate in December, and then start applying for jobs in multiple states. We don’t know where we’ll end up at that point! His end goal is to be a college professor one day, meaning we still have a master’s degree and a doctorate degree to get through! Dr. Anderson, wow =)
Soooo, on July 7th my mom and I left in the Honda with the 3 boys for our 27 hour drive!! We made it in 3 days with only 2 illegal U-turns, 3 side-of-the-highway pee stops (one of which was mine lol), and an up-close and personal look at small town America.
First potty break in Wikiup, AZ. They had a tip jar outside of the bathroom to help pay for the occasional plumber because he has to make a 2oo mile round trip for any service calls, which must be expensive! The trading post and people working there looked right out of a movie.
Everytime the kids got restless, we started a new movie or passed back a new toy from our bag of tricks. Here they are playing with the mini army sets from the dollar store. Trenton was so imaginative; he set his up on the suitcase and we could hear him making voices and weapon sounds as he played.
Sawyer loved wearing his sunglasses for the road trip - upside down every time!
The pool at our first hotel. It was super nice and kid friendly. We didn't get in to St. George, UT until 8:00, which we found out from the alarm clock in our hotel room was 9:00 Utah time! We had already promised the boys some swimming so we rushed down to the pool before it closed at ten, without dinner, and then walked across the street to Denny's for a 10:30 dinner. Nothing like traveling to mess up your kids' schedules.
I think the boys watched about 15 movies over the three days!
Our second night was in Idaho Falls, ID and our hotel room faced the falls. The boys cared more about whether there was a swimming pool than a walk by the falls. =)
We made it to Coeur d'Alene just in time for dinner. And to test my boys even further, after 27 hours in the car and two restless nights in hotels, we took them to Olive Garden where we had to wait an hour for dinner! hahaha
Overall, I was amazed by the three of them and how well they handled our road trip. I have great boys =)
2 comments:
Not one word about the weather up there? I think you packed up at the perfect time. It's been brutal here lately. The pictures are great. They make me want to take a road trip myself. Did you get my email?
love and hugs, T
hahaha I didn't want to rub it in =) The weather is amazing - in the 80s so warm enough to go to the lake but not too hot to sit outside on the deck and blog!
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