Christmas season & house update

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas decorations.

I promise once Christmas is all down we will do official before and after pictures of our house. I did sneak one in this post just for fun. :)

Picture by Boyd & Allison - LOVE IT!

Picture by Boyd & Allison (Thank you guys!)

This shelf probably looks familiar to you because we had it in Utah. It found a nice spot in our Ohio house, too.

I just LOVE our tree. Shaun took this picture!

BEFORE PICTURE:

This was our old door before we replaced it...

The door would not latch properly even though we had the previous owner put on a new door knob. (We found toilet paper inside the knob ?!?)

This is our new door all "wrapped up" for Christmas. :)

Picture by me...Sorry these door pictures are in the dark...I keep forgetting to take them when it's light outside. and it was very cold so that's as good as it will get for now. :(

Shaun and I have really enjoyed the Christmas season this year. I honestly cannot believe that Christmas is this week. Time is truly flying by so quickly!

This fall I joined the Wayne County community choir. It has been so fun for me to go and sing each week. The director is a blast and I am throughly enjoying myself. We had a couple of Christmas concerts throughout the community and it really helped me get in the spirit of Christmas.

Shaun and I have also been hard at work on the piano (for me) and the violin (for him). We have helped the ward out for the Christmas program and Shaun has been able to share his musical talent with many. They all think he is amazing! -which he is!

I have also started teaching piano. I teach two twin boys who are in first grade. It is a great experience and I am loving their enthusiastic energy for music!

We feel so blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives! Thank you for your love and support. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that you can take time to enjoy the old memories and make some new memories too.

Love,

The Brodericks

p.s. one of these days we will get a picture with both of us in it to post on here. Ü

fun, fun and more fun

This year for Thanksgiving break my sister and her family came to visit us. She currently lives only 6 hours away so it was great to be with family! Shaun and I had SO much fun having them here. Our house was not completely done (i.e. we still have trim to attach, and some more caulking to do) but it was close enough. :) You may see some sneak peaks into the finished kitchen.

Seleta and Brett's son, Collin, loves to go, go, go. One day we took him to the Rubbermaid store. The third floor has a huge area where kids can play on the slides, cars, etc. He was in heaven.

Thanksgiving dinner turned out great thanks to my husband who is an amazing chef! Shaun cooked most of the food and it was delicious.

Our neighbor, Emma, and my cousin, Christy, also joined us. Christy was able to stay a few days. We had a great time eating and playing games!

Doesn't that look delicious?

My man cutting the turkey. I remember a long time ago that my Grandpa always cut the turkey with his electric bread knife. Anyway, if you look closely you can see some of our new amazing kitchen. Soon I will post pictures of before and after so you can really appreciate the end result. :)

We also enjoyed some football. This is Brett relaxing!

I got to feed and hold Daphne a lot! She is such a sweet baby and so easy going! It was fun to get to know her better, too.

I also got some great Auntie time in with Collin. He loved to play cars with me. He would even sit on the couch by me for a solid fifteen minutes just reading books.

I can't believe how quickly this weekend came and went. It was so fun to spend it with family and friends. Even though we still missed seeing ALL of the family, it was a wonderful holiday. One of my favorite parts was during Thanksgiving dinner when each person went around and said something they were thankful for. I know Shaun and I are so blessed! Even though moving to Ohio has been challenging in some ways, we are being taken care of in every way.

In need of a new cell phone...Please Help!

Nicolette and I had a very long Sunday afternoon nap and now I can't fall asleep. So I'm posting a blog because I'm in need of a cell phone. I purchased a new cell phone back in March but didn't activate it because I was given another phone to use. I thought I would use the gifted phone until I broke it, or it stopped working. That phone broke, and I activated my new phone. It is useless. I plug it in all night, but it will begin beeping at me for 4-5 days saying that the battery is dying until it finally just dies.

Maybe I should go back to the golden age of home phones...

Okay, maybe not.

I'm on a pay-as-you-go phone plan where I get 1,200 minutes and 1,200 texts for $29.95 a month. The carrier (Page Plus Cellular) uses Verizon's network and requires what is called a CDMA phone. It's a cell phone that doesn't require a SIM card.

I just need a CDMA phone that does 2 things: lets me make clear phone calls, and lets me send text messages. Lots of people have old phones just lying around their house and in drawers. If you have one, I would love to buy it from you.

OR,

If you can recommend a reliable, durable CDMA phone for me, that would be great. I would prefer one that doesn't have an antenna sticking out of it. I don't need any bells or whistles. It doesn't need to count my steps, have a QWERTY keyboard, double as a breathalyser, store my family photos, run Apps, call my wife automatically when I say "honey", or even have an electric toothbrush attachment. Just plain and simple will do the trick for me.

Halloween 2010

With so much going on at our house Halloween was kind of an after thought this year. Thankfully a family in the ward had a party so we could dress up. My school didn't even let the kids dress up. I was very sad. But here are some fun shots from the party.

I am an OSU cheerleader. Go buckeyes!

I made Shaun dress up like a chef. We both loved the show 'Chopped" on food network so he became a Chopped Champion for Halloween. Here is the sign that was on his apron. Shaun wanted to make himself into a walkman since they just stopped making the original cassette tape walkmans, however, he ran out of time so this was a easy last minute idea.

Another couple moved in our ward just recently. They dressed up like ping pong paddles and their little boy was the ball. So cute!

I love his costume!!

This is Christina and Nels, the couple that hosted the party. Their six kids were dressed up as characters from Alice and Wonderland.

I'm glad we got to celebrate Halloween this year! Next year our costumes might be a little more original.

The end is in sight! at least for the kitchen Ü

Shaun and I were able to spend a lot of time working on the house this weekend and yesterday we finished laying all of the tile. It was a longer process than the rest of the kitchen because many pieces required cutting. Tomorrow we will grout and then Wednesday we will seal the tile... which means our kitchen floor will be done!

Also we are scheduled to get carpet on our main level on Friday. We are thinking we will have our main level up and functioning by Halloween! Hurray!!

Our house...

So our house is taking a little (okay a lot) longer than expected. We were hoping to be finished by September 23rd, the day Shaun had to start class, but we are still not quite there.

Here is what we have been up to lately...

Shaun installed a new front door. Our entry level only has one sliding glass door to let light in. It really felt like we were living in a basement. Plus the old door was very old and didn't even have a deadbolt lock. Yikes! Well, Our townhome is part of an HOA so they have certain requirements. One being that our trim around the door has to be a certain (ugly) dark brown and the door itself has to be a certain lighter (ugly) tan color. Well, right after we installed the door it got really cold so we put off painting it. Then we got a letter in the mail from the HOA...basically saying, "paint your door." We had to prime the trim with spray paint and then I painted the ugly brown color. It was SO cold my hands were going numb I had to get my blow dryer out so it would dry before the next storm blew in. Can you see those goosebumps on my arms? Shaun was outside the back door cutting tile in the same freezer weather. We are crazy!

My hands after spray painting.

This is what we are using as our current kitchen. We are a few weeks away from having our real kitchen put in but this has been a decent temp kitchen. I have everything I need: a microwave to heat up freezer food, cold cereal, popcorn, and supplies for hot chocolate. (Did I mention how cold it has gotten here?) I can't wait to start cooking real meals again! I really miss my kitchen sink.

Patience

Continue in Patience

If you have a minute...this video is worth your time! It was a good reminder to me!

Wayne County Fair

The Wayne county fair IS the event of the season around here. People come from miles around for this famous fair and for the fair food! They even give the kids a day off of school just for the fair! Here are some interesting things we saw...

Corn higher than an "elephant's eye." :)

pretty flowers

Do you see that price tag? 149,ooo for a tractor! The Fair had an entire section for just tractors.

Check out this beautiful horse! I think Shaun would love a violin bow made from this animal's hair. It kind of reminds me of the a Barbie horse.

The info booth for where Shaun is going to school!

We did try some of the food too! They had so many options, but we settled on corn dogs, fries and cobbler. The corn dog was amazing however next year we have our eye on the blooming potatoes.

A Tornado hit our town

Shaun and I had quite the experience!! Yesterday our little town of Wooster, Ohio was hit by a tornado! And the tornado was about 4 blocks from our house. Check out the link below to see pictures, etc. Shaun and I feel so blessed to be so protected. He decided to come home from work early to work on his paper at home. Thankfully he was home when the tornado hit. Most of the damage was at the OARDC- where Shaun's lab is located. YIKES! Our car and home are fine. Sad enough our neighbor, Emma's, car was smashed in by a tree. :( We were without power for less than 24 hours but are safe and sound.

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4896073

Visit from my mom & my new neice

My sister was due with her baby girl so my mom came to visit Shaun and I on her way to NY. We had her around for a couple of days and enjoyed our time together. Mostly we worked on the house... It was great to have some extra hands! Sorry mom for putting you to work.

My sister and her little girl, Daphne. Daphne was born on Monday, September 13th. She was 10 lbs and 22 1/2 inches long!!

Seleta is a trooper and I sure love her! She is such a sweet mamma!

My sister is the oldest. When I was born she went around the house chanting, "I want to be an only child!" My sister's first little boy is not talking that much yet, but we are hoping the transition goes well. Good luck guys!

Congrats to the family! I can't wait to be Daphne's favorite Auntie.

baby...

Kittens

I came home from work one afternoon to discover 5 baby kittens living under our porch. They are so adorable!!

These aren't the best pictures because they wouldn't hold still. Imagine that. :)

The Momma cat is kind of the neighborhood stray. Apparently every year or so she has a new batch of kittens and people around the neighborhood adopt them. The Momma keeps them in the window well next door for safety when they are not playing under our porch.

Here they are sleeping all cuddled together. So cute! I am amazed at how different they all look from each other.

Emma is thinking of adopting two of them. How could you say no to a face like this?

Shaun is very allergic to cats so sad to say none of these will be joining our family. (I am secretly okay with this.) But it has been fun to see these kittens playing together and discovering the world around them.

If you want a kitten just let me know. Ü

Nicolette's Birthday!

It's Nicolette's Birthday today. She got a card from Seleta that is really funny. I thought I would share.

Inside it says:

"You have a way of making anything look elegant."

Thanks Seleta!

Normally I make a chocolate cake for Nicolette's birthday but our kitchen currently looks like this:

Our neighbor offered to make Nicolette a cake this year instead. Thanks Emma!

Nicolette,

I love you. I hope that you have a great birthday this year, and I look forward to spending many more birthdays together. You really do make everything and everyone better around you. You are a great example to me.

Happy Birthday,

Shaun

PS sorry, no Josh Groban CD this year. :(

Shaun and I have been hard at work tearing things out of the kitchen. I spent a day just taking down these fake bricks. I had the fan on to keep me cool and wasn't paying attention and it hit me right in the head. :( I was very careful after that blow. (just a bump, not any blood was shed.)

This couple in our ward is in need of a used kitchen for their daughter's college downstairs apartment. So they came over to help us rip everything out. It took hours, but we enjoyed having such a great crew! (And Shaun was excited that he brought his BIG power tools with him.)

The First night we made it to this point

Saturday we hit it again, literally, and cleared out the rest of the dry wall, tile back splash, etc. It was a big project.

We were thrilled that the laminate wood floor came out in large pieces. Shaun is modeling his gear, too. We had heavy duty masks, gloves and Shaun even had coveralls on.

Tomorrow the contractor is coming to move some pipes and vents for us and then we will begin the rebuilding process. Currently we spend most of our time upstairs. It is almost ready for before and after pictures just working on some finishing touches. :)

stay tuned...

Mrs. Broderick Returns

I want to share an experience that has really strengthened me the last few days. So you all know how bummed out I was about not getting a teaching job. I was finally starting to accept the fact that my future was at the mercy of being a substitute. Well, out of the blue there was a job listing for a par time math coach for 4th and 6th graders. I wasn't too interested because I didn't feel that qualified but I decided to apply just because the school name had a nice ring to it. Well, I NEVER expected to get an interview but on Friday I was emailed for an interview time on Tuesday. I was freaking out. What did I even apply for? I had to re-read the description and I was really temped to just cancel my interview. me teach 4th and 6th grade math... but Shaun gave me a pep talk about how I can do things out of my comfort zone if I really want to, but then he left the decision up to me.

For some reason I felt very confidant and peaceful about applying for the position despite the job description.

The interview came. I had to present a 15 minute lesson on an assigned Ohio standard and then in a different room I was asked a series of questions. I felt like I could completely be myself and that things would work out how they were supposed to.

During the interview portion the job description was clarified and it was actually for a 1st-3rd grade math coach job. Really? I wouldn't have to teach 4th & 6th grade math? That is even better!

Well, I was called in for a second interview this morning from the assistant superintendent and that was pretty rough. I thought for sure he wasn't too interested in hiring this out of stater. (He seemed like he wasn't having a very great day.)

But at lunch time I received a call from the Principal and I got the job!!

I start TOMORROW! WOW!

I truly believe when you follow your impressions that everything works out for you even if the task at hand seemed less than desirable. I am grateful for this miracle in my life!

Thank you everyone for your prayers!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

One of my favorite times of year is actually "back to school." I love love love school supplies, getting things all nice and organized. I think new crayons and a new planner are my absolute favorites!!

This year back to school will be a much different experience for me. No classroom to call my own, no team to be a part of, no list of children all awaiting Mrs. Broderick to be their teacher, and no district meetings to get us pumped up for the year. I am definitely struggling to find my place in our new town. *sniff, sniff*

Because of the lack of vacant teaching positions I am planning on working as a substitute teacher. I really love the kids and want to give it a try. The good news is I did survive the substitute teaching training. (The longest three hours of my life) The other good news is that closest school district ONLY allows people to substitute if they have a Bachelor’s degree in teaching. So chances are I should be subbing a lot. (Hopefully)

In the meantime I am trying to keep myself positive and focused on getting our house beautified, helping out in the ward, and learning some new skills. (besides caulking.)

I know things will work out how they are supposed to and that Ohio has a lot to offer for us. This is a really great place to be. It will just take a while to get some roots. I am really grateful for the ward members who have reached out to us. That has really helped me with this transition. Ü

Every night at 9:30...

Shaun and I get to shower...

Meet Emma! This is a girl who also works in the same lab that Shaun is working in. We met her in March when we came to Ohio to check out the school. She lives right across the street from us and lately, she has been SO KIND to let us shower at her house.

YES, we have not had a tub or shower since Saturday and every night Emma lets us walk across the street to shower at her house.

WHY do we not have a shower/tub?

When we got here we were surprised to find three giant cracks in the tub and to make a long story short we have to replace it.

Currently, Shaun has been working very hard to put in the new tub and we should have our own shower back by Saturday. (hopefully)

Thanks Emma for helping us not stink and not go crazy.

Until then I am dreaming of...