Lessons learned on my first day

Well today was the big day! It was my first official day in the schools as a substitute teacher. And I am tired!

In the past few weeks I have been dragging my feet getting into the schools. I never wanted to be a sub because the idea of it terrified me. I remember what we used to do to subs when I was in school and I just knew that to pay me back for being mean I would have a terrible experience. Plus, the whole reason I love teaching is getting to know the kids and helping them progress and grow. As a sub, you don't get to do any of that! However, I have been told multiple times that here in Great Falls you have to sub if you will have any hope of getting a full time job. So, I sucked it up and finally applied to the Great Falls Public Schools as a substitute teacher.

I got a call while I was on vacation in Minnesota for a group interview and I was terrified! I had never done a group interview before and I did not want to have to fight over other applicants to get a job. So, I polished up my resume, dressed in my best interview clothes, rocked out to some Weezer (thank you Claire!) and showed up to HR for my interview! There were about 7 other people in the interview room with me and we began by watching 3 movies about blood borne illnesses, first aid and how to be safe on the job. After about 45 minutes it was time for the interview! My hands were sweaty, I was shaking and I was frantically going through all my good answers in my mind but as we went around the table and introduced ourselves I began to feel better. It turns out that I was the only person there with a teaching license and one of two that had a degree in teaching. In Montana two years of college education for subbing are encouraged but not required to sub and a license is given preference but also not required. You can even sub as a sophomore in college! Wow! So we were all hired and told as soon as we turn in our paperwork, we will be on the list. It took me a little over 2 weeks to get everything in and once I finally turned in my Tuberculosis test and got a very unattractive ID badge, I was in the system and ready to be called!

So, Tuesday night I sat with Anthony and watched a movie but I didn't really pay much attention to the movie because I have never been so nervous in my life! All night all I could think of was how much I didn't want to be a sub, how I desperately didn't want to get called in the morning, and how there was no way in the world that I could do this! Anthony was super supportive and really helped me but there was just always a knot in my stomach. So after a nice, big glass of wine to help me calm down, I finally got about 4 hours of sleep before my alarm went off at 6…. ick!!!

So I was up, face on and teeth brushed before the sun came up and then the waiting. I was told that the call can come in as early as 5:45 so I was ready but 5:45 came and went and so did 6:45 when Anthony  left for work. By my 3rd cup of coffee I was questioning whether or not I was going to be called. Finally at 7:15 I got a call from the sub desk and it was go time! My first assignment was to be a rover at Lincoln Elementary. I spent one period in the 3rd grade classroom, and one period in the 6th grade classroom and they were great kids. I was so lucky that I was able to actually talk to the teachers I was working for so they walked me through what to teach and what to expect. I finished there at about 11:15 and headed over to River View Elementary to teach first graders. Once again, I was lucky to be able to talk to the teacher I was working for and for the most part the little ones were pretty good. A summer working at the Youth Center was the best way I could prepare for subbing and I am so thankful for that! There were a few little ones that I had to use my stern voice but overall they were adorable. How do you get angry with little ones that say you look like a princess!?! One child got a bloody nose but I made it through my first day subbing with no children running away and no major catastrophes. The day was capped off with coffee at crooked tree with a friend and wine and Christmas movies with Kim!

Well I learned quite a bit from the first day subbing. It was terrifying, exhausting and very exciting. Most of the day I had no idea what I was doing or where I was supposed to be but as long as the kids didn't know that I was absolutely lost, I was doing alright! Just one more day until Christmas break! Hopefully I will be able to post this weekend and update everyone on our lives outside of the schools! Only 6 more days until Christmas!

Christmas time in Montana!

It's Christmas time in Montana! Here are some ways that I have decorated our new house! It has been slightly challenging because we are starting from scratch with all of our decorations but thank you so much to everyone who has sent us Christmas cheer in the mail!

Our Christmas card holder! There are little clothes pins along the string of lights to hold the cards!

My stocking! I glued a high heel ornament to a blank bottom and bought the sparkly stocking

A big thank you to my aunt for our very first Nativity set. It looks great by the tv! (Yes I took this while Anthony was watching the Bears game on Monday night)

Our little trees looked so cute yesterday! Then Montana wind kicked up and almost completely covered them… I think I will have to continually dig them out of the snow but it is worth it!

Thank you to Mom for the musical advent calendar and aunt Kathy for the beautiful vase!

Our cute little tree! I had it from college so it is a skinny thing but it does the job!

My favorite decoration so far. I found a Darth Vader ornament and glued it to a blank stocking holder and then found a Darth Vader stocking! Anthony is a very happy camper! 

Our back porch! I had to get a little creative with how to keep the lights up but it looks very festive back there at night! The top lights are kept up with Christmas ornament hooks!

Addresses needed!

Hi family and friends!
I am so sorry that this has not been updated in a while but there will be a new post coming soon! Now that we are back from our wonderful vacation to Minnesota, things are happening!

However, for right now I have a request for you! I am getting ready to send out our very fist Christmas card together :) But we are severely lacking in the address book department. If you would be so kind, could you send me your address to my email: hannahmwegner@gmail.com or call or text me! I really want to share our card with all of you so please help me out! Thank you all in advance! Keep looking for that new post that will come soon!

Photo Shoot!

      So today we were so blessed to have our friend Kim take our Christmas card photos. I had wanted to do nice photos for our first Christmas card together but unfortunately everything is so expensive! I was disheartened that we would not be able to have nice photos and I had begun planning alternatives when Kim offered to take them for us and edit and everything! It was so much fun to take pictures and it means so much to me to have nice photos of the two of us in our new home. We took some photos here on base then took the rest at Giant Springs State Park just outside of base. Unfortunately the bugs at Giant Springs were horrendous and Kim looked like she was standing in a snow storm of bugs when she was taking the picutres. She was a trooper though and took fantastic pictures! Anthony put up with the photos like a champ too even though he hates having his pictures taken. He knew how much this meant to me and he didn't complain once! What a great group of people I have around me! Here is a taste of what we did!

Pumpkin Carving!

 The patients all ready for surgery!

Kim and Ryan planning their pumpkin 

Cory was such a gentlemen and set a table for us to have dinner!

The boys beginning their carving

Ryan slightly judging Cory as he carves 

Lilly watching with concern 

Cory's Jack Skellington pumpkin

I got Anthony to carve the tricky parts of my pumpkin. 

Minnesota!!!

Anthony's awesome batman!

October Updates!

Hello world!
I am so sorry for my absence. I kept reminding myself that I really should update my blog then I would get distracted and suddenly a week would go by and I had forgotten about it completely! Our lives have not changed dramatically since the last update, just much more busy!

Anthony- He is still living his missile life and September was a terrible month for him. For a few weeks, he would come home from work as I was leaving to go to work so we did not get to see each other much. Now that October is here, we are hoping that he will have a better schedule. However, with the government shutdown, things have been changing on almost a daily basis so we really don't know what's happening. He originally was supposed to have government inspections in early October, then they were moved to late October and now there is a rumor that they are not happening? I can't keep track with all the changes, all I know is that we can't make plans longer than a few days out because we don't know what next week is going to look like! Oh well, it's not like we really are going anywhere anytime soon! Anthony is a better sport about all this than I am but even he is starting to get tired of having so many different schedules and working constantly. Someday we hope that he will get moved to a job where he has real hours. Perhaps in December or January but I'll believe that when I see it.

Work- Things on base in general have been crazy because the government screwed everyone over. Everyone was very grumpy, especially when they were worried that they might not be getting paid. Luckily, the Youth Center was deemed essential so we stayed open and I still got paid! For now I am still working as basically a secretary at the Youth Center on base. I love the people I work with but I did not go to 5 years of college to answer phones and shred papers. I am working on my substitute teaching application but unfortunately we are still facing the same issue of the one car family. Right now we are at a stalemate and soon we are just going to have to pull the trigger and get a car because there was frost on the grass this morning and I am not biking miles in freezing weather! Luckily, my boss at the youth center was really great to work with and I will be working there on Monday, Tuesday and some Fridays and Saturdays. That way I have 3 free days a week to sub and I still have some income coming in from the youth center because subs out here get terrible pay!

Church- Lately I have been attending Bible study on Monday mornings to study Catechism and the Catholic Church. These ladies are fantastic because they help me to see how to survive life as a military spouse. We get together on Mondays, have some coffee and treats and talk about what it means to be a Catholic and Christian in this world. We are studying prayer right now and it has been wonderful to learn how to pray like God intended. The church on base has a very small group that regularly attend so they are constantly asking for help, which we are happy to do. Some Saturdays we usher or count money or whatever we need. One Saturday someone approached me and asked if I could help with Sunday School. I said I would be an assistant but I would not be comfortable with my own classroom because I have never taught before and frankly, I have only been a Catholic for 2 years and I am still learning a lot! The next Sunday I showed up to help with school and much to my surprise, I am in charge of teaching the 5th, 6th and 7th graders! Crap! It has now been 3 weeks of teaching and I love that class. I do my best with the teachings and I feel pretty comfortable because we are really just learning the Bible. We go over the Gospel from Mass, discuss the meaning, move on to the Bible lesson from the day and we always end with a game. So far the kids seem to have a lot of fun but they ask some very difficult questions! How am I supposed to know what language Adam and Eve spoke in the Garden of Eden!?!? They definitely keep me on my toes and I am trying to get them to see how to take lessons from Church and apply them to their everyday life. Hopefully it goes well!

Finally, Kim just introduced me to a class on Wednesday nights called Sacred Marriage. The class teaches you how God created marriage to make us more holy, not necessarily more happy all the time. Last Wednesday we discussed that people don't necessarily fall out of love, they fall out of repentance. People are quick to jump out of a marriage because it becomes difficult and we are seeking our own happiness in marriage, not considering what God is trying to teach us during difficult times. We learned how God gives us a spouse whose shortcomings are exactly what we need to make us more Christ-like. This was a very difficult concept to wrap my mind around but it makes sense the more I think about it. God gave me a spouse who will challenge me because I have my own failings that I need to work on. The book we are reading is fantastic so far and I think more couples need to think less about what they can get out of the relationship and more about what God wants them to get out of the relationship. I look forward to going back to the class and I would recommend this book to any newly married couples!

Friends- Unfortunately I have not been able to make it to many spouses club meetings because I have been working until 7:30 at night and all the meetings start at about 6:30 on weekdays. I made it to this months book club meeting and that was fantastic! I have never read The Great Gatspy before and I'm almost done! The book has been good so far and the movie was wonderful but sad. I hope to make it to more events if my work schedule lets me. I also ran the breast cancer 5k on base here on Thursday which was rough! I am so not in running shape but we got to run on the flight line so it was at least cool scenery.

Well I think that's all for now! More updates to come soon!

Halloween preparation!

Although we do not have a lot yet, here is the beginning of my decorating! Anthony and I have decided to save most of the decorating money for Christmas but I like to at least look a little festive. Everything is fake because, well, everything dies out here! The bottoms of the flower pots and the pumpkin are filled with rocks because the wind takes everything here! Hopefully we get lots of little trick or treaters this year and now to work on my costume! More updates to come! And I am very sorry for my absence!

How I survived my first 6 months

Well, August 18 marked our 6 month anniversary of moving into our house on base. Although it feels like forever ago, I started thinking about myself when we first moved here. I was excited to be with my husband, nervous to be in a new place and carefully optimistic about the future. I also started thinking about how I have made it through this time and I have narrowed the list down to a few things that have kept me sane and helped me adapt to my new environment.

1) A fantastic husband. This may seem like a given but hear me out. When Anthony and I first arrived here, we were hundreds of miles and a time zone away from our closest friends and family. Sure, we knew a few people here who came up with us from Vandenberg but those we were closest too, we knew we were not going to see for a very long time. We had never lived together before and prior to coming out here our time together was limited to short visits and summer breaks. We came out here and quickly had to learn a lot about each other. This sometimes proved difficult because two people who were used to living on their own suddenly had to adapt and change to accommodate the other. However, I think this has been the best thing for our marriage so far. We were out here, alone and had to rely on each other. Our fights could not last long because we had no where else to go and no close friends or family nearby to talk to. If we were upset about something or cranky we had no choice but to talk about it and figure it out because we were all we had. Now, we had gone through 5 years of a long distance relationship so we were pretty good about communicating but we have gotten a lot better since moving here. I realize how lucky I am to have a husband that will put up with me, especially on those days when I had minor freak outs wondering "how in the holy name of Jesus did we end up in this God forsaken place!?!?" Those days have gotten fewer but he has been understanding, patient, and encouraging with me, even when I decided "Hey honey, I am going on a 5,000 mile road trip to travel the Oregon Trail! See you in two weeks!" What a sport! Now, I'm in no way saying we're perfect but I count myself very lucky that after almost 7 years together we can still enjoy just spending time together and we still laugh like little kids when were together. 

2) Faith. In the 6 months we have been here I think I have prayed everyday, a few times a day. There has been a lot of uncertainty and a lot of change but the one consistent thing is our faith. I know that whether I am here or in Minnesota, whether Anthony is home or away, I can count on God to see us through. This has been especially true lately as I am trying to decide what job path to take. This job has been incredibly challenging and everyday I pray for patience and strength to get through. I am unsure if I should stay at the youth center where I know I have a job and a consistent paycheck or if I should jump into substitute teaching where my hours and income are uncertain. I have been praying for guidance and I know that with a little help, I will find the right choice. I think it is important to keep in mind that you are not alone in your travels and my faith has been a constant compass in my life. 

3) Friends. What would our time here be without them?!? This part was especially challenging for me because making friends has not always been easy for me. I have always been the type of person that waits for others to call or ask me to get together because I do not want to bother or burden people. Which is silly because usually the person on the other end thinks the same thing! But I have always been insecure and frankly, a little awkward around new people and I tend to either talk waaaaaay too much or not enough. Either way, I was nervous about making friends. However, we have a wonderful group of friends here that are like our Malmstrom family. We are all in the same boat here, plopped in a new place and facing new challenges. Our little family has come to be a wonderful support system that I know I can count on if things go wrong (aka- the car breaking down a million times!) We have our cook outs and parties and we really enjoy our time together. I am so lucky that I have met this group of fabulous people and I look forward to many holidays with them and making many joyful memories!

4) Family. Last, but of course certainly not least is our families. I cannot say how appreciative I am to have such a loving and caring family. My parents, who are singlehandedly keeping the post office alive, always send us the most thoughtful care packages. Even the small things remind us that we have people who love us and are thinking of us. Little reminders of home, like twins peanuts or caribou coffee can make a terrible day so much better. I know that I can always call my parents or my sister or my cousin for a chat and in those moments on the phone I am back in Minnesota! We have always been a close family so being away from them has been very hard but I am so thankful that they are always up for a chat, especially on days when Anthony is on alert. Family, you have no idea how much I treasure our phone conversations but they kept me sane those first few months when Anthony was gone and I wasn't working. I went a little crazy being in the house alone so thank you all so much!

Thank you for all of you who have made our first 6 months memorable and we look forward to making many more memories in the future!

Almost 6 months in Montana!

Today at work, a sweet little 6 year old noticed that another staff member had the same water bottle as I did. She decided that mine needed to be different and pretty. Naturally she put ribbons, stars, a sheriff badge and glued one pink googley eye on. Now my water bottle is pretty and unique! Needless to say, she made my day! It is children like this that help me get through my day and boy are they saving me!

Work has been one of the most challenging things I have attempted in my life. I am not used to being talked back to or ignored when I am talking and now it is an everyday occurrence. It takes everything in my power to not to lose my cool when I tell a 7 year old to do something and they turn around and say "no" and continue on with what they are doing. Granted, they do not get away with it for long because Ms. Hannah does not tolerate that but some of these children test my patience everyday. I have made improvements dealing with them but some days I feel like all I have done is yelled at kids. After spending the day saying "don't do that" "don't hit him" "don't put that in your mouth" I have come to the conclusion after talking with other childcare workers that children are like tiny, drunk humans. They run into things, they fall down a lot, they have violent mood swings that often do not make sense, say whatever is on their minds and you have to tell them the same things a million times. My job is to wrangle these tiny drunk people and keep them from hurting themselves or others. There are times when these children are adorable, then there is the other 90% of the time. I realize that, although I can handle children of this age, I much prefer to work with the older ones. God bless anyone who can work with these tiny terrors!

As the new fall semester is approaching, I am very hopeful that soon I will be able to apply for substitute teaching jobs. I am faced with the dilemma of continuing to work at the youth center and limiting my hours I can sub or telling my boss that I will be seasonal and hoping that I will get enough sub jobs to supplement our income. The problem with Anthony being in the military is that no matter how many jobs he works, how awesome he is or how much extra he does, he will not get any form of raise until he is scheduled to get one in about a year. So if we want any extra money coming in, only I can make that happen. I will be submitting my sub application and hope for the best but I am very nervous about what is to come. I guess only time will tell! For now, I am happy to have any sort of job.

We are very sad that the summer is quickly coming to a close. In a few short days my family will be heading up to Ely and for the first time in 22 years, I will not be going with them. Being out here in Montana has made us miss several important moments in our family's life and that has been very hard. Ely marked the last hurrah of the summer and the McDonald family would spend the entire year counting down. I know that we are lucky that we are not stationed somewhere farther away and I am very lucky that Anthony is not deployed but there are days when it does make me sad that I cannot be there for the important moments in my family's life. On the bright side, this August marks the first time since first grade that I will not be dreading going back to school and the first time in 5 years that I do not have to say goodbye to Anthony for a long period of time. Those 5 years were very difficult and I cannot say how happy I am that we are together now and we finally have a life together. 

Well, I think that is all I have to say for now! I hope to write again soon!

Recommended reading!

Check this out! A little insight into the life of a missileer. Proud of my husband! Thank you Kim for sharing this!

http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/466808/for-missileers-perfection-is-the-standard.aspx

This sign we saw in Idaho is how I feel everyday and why I have not had time to post lately! The kids are stealing all my energy! Hopefully as the weekend approaches I will have a little free time to update you on our lives. Nothing too exciting is happening but we have been very busy! Stay tuned!

More progress

Curtains hung and pictures moved! A surprise for Anthony when he comes home tomorrow :)

Also, I got to play with puppies at the pet store last Saturday. Here is a picture of my furry friend!

July

Well, after a long period of inactivity, I am back! I am very sorry for the lack of posts lately but life has just caught up with me!

I am full into my job now and it is very interesting. I definitely know that I am a secondary educator but I am enjoying my time with the little ones. At the youth center on an average day we have about 72 kids divided up among staff members. I am assigned about 12-20 children to keep track of during the day as we go on walks to parks, field trips or just play at the center. Getting this job was easy, filling out the paperwork and doing the training, thats a whole different story! Because I am working on a military installation, I have to get intensive background checks and security clearance which means the Air Force talks to pretty much everyone I ever knew and wants to know everywhere I've ever been! I have also had to go to a few different briefings with active duty servicemembers on equal opportunity employment, harassment, food safety and hours and hours of training. I have also had my fingerprints taken 3 different times. They are not messing around here.

I am used to 12-18 year olds and 5-9 year olds have many surprises that I definitely did not expect. I am quickly learning that just because someone cries, it does not mean something is seriously wrong. On a daily basis I think I have 5 little ones have crying fits because someone did not share toys, someone said shut up, someone doesn't want to be friends or someone skinned their knee. At first this terrified me! I thought children were dying in my hands but it turns out, they all bounce back surprisingly well. By the end of my second full week, I am more comfortable handling crying but the fluids that they leek are a much different story. I am not used to nose picking or noses leaking and the first day someone threw up, I had to run to the other side of the youth center to avoid throwing up myself. I may have made great strides dealing with little ones so far, but I am not quite ready for that yet. Baby steps.... I have been working about 30-40 hours a week and I finally feel comfortable there. I still don't know the answers to a lot of questions but I am getting much better with the little ones. Hopefully all this will prepare me to be a great aunt to my little niece when I see her! Who knows, I may even be prepared to change a dirty diaper! But not quite yet.

The major adjustment that I had to make since taking this job is the difficulty of having both me and Anthony working full time.  I was used to seeing him all the time when he was home but since I started working, we have not really had a lot of time together. It doesn't help that he doesn't get regular hours or weekends. Oh well, just one of the many joys of working! I think we just need to get a feel for my schedule and hopefully we will get some time together soon!

Anthony is doing well at his job, even though it has been quite intense lately. On a very positive note, he was awarded crew of the quarter last week and got a lovely glass plaque for it! I think there is more to it than what I understand but as far as I know, it is a big deal and he did something good! I am very proud of my husband!

As you may have seen on my recent blog post, we now have a home. We have couches, a dining room and a lot of Anthony's stuff from his house in Minnesota. It is so nice to have a place to have dinner and friends over. I feel like we are finally settling in here and now that it is nice outside we are able to walk to many of our friends houses whenever we want. A few days ago the power went out for 5 hours and we walked to our friends house and played monopoly by candlelight. It was a ton of fun!

I now feel more comfortable living on base and I am not always on edge, worried that I will do something to be arrested. I know the hours of the commissary, where to get new air filters for the house and what the different security levels mean. I am falling in love with living on base. Yes, the speed limits are slow, the exercises make it difficult to travel, and everyone knows all of your business but we also have made true friends here, I feel very safe and most things are within walking distance. In my experience, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I would definitely recommend new couples to the Air Force live on base.

Well, coming up we have a base pool party and the farmer's market tomorrow! I will try to do better at keeping things updated and I hope all is well in your world! Nighty night!

Our home in progress!

Well here is our living room and dining room in progress! We are so thankful to my mother and father in law for giving us furniture to fill up our house! The dining room still needs some stuff on the walls and the curtain panel is a trial. I am still trying to decide if I like how it fit in. The living room actually has enough seats now! Before we had to have guests sit on folding chairs or the floor but we can comfortably seat many more friends now! I put up the wall decal myself so it may not be perfectly level, it was a beast to try to hang! But it's up and I really like it! There are still many boxes that need to be unpacked and stuff that needs to be hung on the walls but we are on our way!