much ado about nothing: In like a lion, and out like a...lion?!?

WOW. It's April. I can harldy believe how crazy busy March seemed! It started oober busy and even the end of the month, my spring break, passed with nothing but busy craziness!

To sum up...work in March was filled with testing, testing, testing. One of my super favorite things to do. Strike that. We had about 70 students take the state English language assessment and on top of that our district was audited by the State Department of Education, which apparently only happens once every five years or so. Oh so glad I could be there to be a part of it. Strike that too. I was more than ready for a week away from work needless to say.

School also has been relentless. I was, however, well aware of how much work taking graduate classes and teaching part time would be, but boy oh boy has it been a LOT of work! When I'm not in class, Monday and Wednesday nights, I'm thinking about what's due next class or completing online work. Good thing I'm a great multitasker! I did get a little break from two of my classes during spring break, which helped.

On to the exciting stuff! My little brother, who does not seem so little anymore, and his wife Nicoleta came back to the states on March 12th! They got married in Italy a little over a year ago, but are planning a reception for October in Oregon. Their new home will be in Tuscon. Needless to say there was much planning to be had including venues, wedding dresses, catering, etc. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE and ENJOY doing all these things?? LOL, ok, so I'm not Ms. wedding planner. I tried to be a good big sis and sister in law by playing along for some of the planning. They did end up finding a terrific venue (special thanks go out to mom and Angel) as well as a delicious caterer and pretty much the most FANTASTIC dress ever for Nicole! It was great to see and spend time with the whole family together, including a night of kareokee competition between Josh and I:) but family time is almost always busy time so I was tired! I also watched my sister's house and pets for most of the week while they were in Idaho. Some much needed time away on my own doing what I love to do...watching baseball:) If I could not be watching pre-season baseball in person you better believe I watched as much as I could on tv! A little sidenote...FIRST SEASON BASEBALL GAME ON SUNDAY APRIL 4th!!!!

The first weekend of spring break was spent with everybody at the beach. Here are some pictures of our family weekend beach getaway to Depoe Bay where we enjoyed sunny weather poolside, explored seaside junk shops, ate good food, drank awesome beer and enjoyed good company. All in close quarters too!! We must love eachother;)