Halloween in Porterville

Before I post about our fabulous weekend last week in Orange County, I wanted to post the pictures I took of my Halloween classroom door. Our school had a "decorate your door" contest, so I let one of my of my classes go to town (they decorated the rest of my room too!) - and they had sooooooooooo much fun! Look what a trip to Porterville's $.99 store can do! Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Pictures and Events!

Had to show off this delicious meal we had! We picked up Lobster Bisque at Costco and 2 sourdough bread bowls from our local grocery store, and we had an amazing meal!











Getting ready for the cold weather! As promised, here are our new peacoats! We took the picture inside because it was HOT outside! - but now we're twins - they look better in person :)











Updated classroom picture! I keep my kids busy!















Lastly, Jeremiah and I just celebrated 5 years together, based on October 17, 2004 - the day he decided to say hello in Rite Aid and we went on our first date. To celebrate the occasion, Jeremiah sent me these beautiful roses and adorable stuffed animal to my school! We named the bear Fiver - yes, I know - way creative! I have the sweetest and most loving husband! (Well, it certainly made up for the fact that he left that evening to see a Fresno State football game!)

The Apple Festival

Last weekend, my parents came up to Porterville to go see the Apple Festival in Springville, a town that is about 20 minutes from Porterville in the mountains. We definitely had lots of fun together, though there weren't that many "apple" things there- Mom and I were hoping to pick some apples or taste some delicious apple cider, but instead we saw lots of arts and crafts booths. We did pick up some yummy apple butter and apple syrup and a bag of apples, but still... something was certainly lacking a little. BUT - there was certainly a turnout - look at that crowd! There were cars going down the street too...because there's no other way to get through town! The whole town is on one main street!

Even the weather was off - no fall crisp weather - it was 85 degrees outside!

Nope - this is not an apple ice cone - but it tasted so good, we were really thirsty - this became the communal ice cone - it was HUGE! (But they didn't even have an apple flavor one!)



















We were serenaded by some country singers while we ate lunch...

For lunch, mom and I decided to eat an apple burrito - sweet apples packed in dough - yummy! Dad and Jeremiah had tri-tip sandwiches (nope, no apples in that meal!) If you look behind us in this photo, you'll see there was Thai Food and Mexican food... no apples there either... kinda strange, but then again, everything in the Porterville area never seems to be just as you might expect it to be! But, we had fun for sure!

First Rainfall in Porterville

We finally had some rain! Here are some pictures I caught at my school after the rain fell. This first picture is the parking lot of my school - how many people are lucky enough to have a tractor and haystacks across from the Principal's office?








The clouds were AMAZING that day - especially the way the sun shined through them. I'm so glad I caught this moment on camera.



For one of the first times since we moved here, we could see the mountains surrounding our school. My brother Frankie asked me how the security was at my school? Here's the answer!










It's so beautiful! And the air smelled soooooooo good. Too bad that the mountains disappeared the next day!

Our first REAL Porterville evening

I'm writing for the THIRD time today because this night brought us perhaps the most fun we've had since we arrived here over 3 months ago now! As mentioned in an earlier post from today, Jeremiah had bought two dinner tickets/vouchers for a restaurant in town as part of a fund raiser event at his school. The dinner tickets were to be used today only at this restaurant, but apparently, this place was an excellent steakhouse in town. So.... we were excited to try a new place to eat.

Well, we brought along my coworker Mike and his sister Katie and friend Aaron. They both came up from Orange County, and I was super excited to FINALLY have a girlfriend to talk to around my age! (she's just 1 year older). They agreed to come to this steakhouse, and Katie even wondered if she should dress up...

I mapquested directions to this restaurant, and even though I knew everything in Porterville could be driven to within 5 minutes or less, I was still surprised to see that this restaurant was literally next door to our home (on the other side of the 65 freeway). I've been to that area countless times as this is where the movie theatre, grocery store, blockbuster, fast food restaurants, 99 cents store and bank are (ok, basically, where EVERYTHING in Porterville is). But I couldn't picture this restaurant...

So we all drive together in our car, thinking that with 5 of us, we'd find it for sure...

So we drive to the area, and we look for the restaurant. We don't see it at first. But then Mike starts laughing, and so does Jeremiah, and then the rest of us begin. Below is the fancy steakhouse restaurant that we had dinner at tonight in Porterville...







Ok, the tickets WERE only $10 each... But, the food was pretty good. We had tri-tip.

But the company was even better! It felt soooooooooooo good to be among friends. And then everyone came over our home and we made cookies and played Quiddler (and watched the end of Austin Powers...what a strange movie). It was the very first time we ever had friends come over to our apartment, and what a wonderful evening it was!

Left On Our Doorstep!

How many people get a special treat like this on their doorstep? About ten minutes ago, our doorbell rung, Jeremiah answered it, and this is what he found!



This is the second time something has mysteriously been placed at our door! The first time was several months ago when we found a drawing of the 'Hello Kitty' character in an envelope taped to our door... Porterville is definitely a unique place to live!

Week 8 Completed!

Well, one more week left of the first quarter! Time is passing so quickly! We don't have any pictures to display of the last two weeks as we haven't done anything too special or unique, though I do want to take some pictures of the farm across from my school. This past week, we've noticed lots and lots of pumpkins there, and in the middle of the school day, tractors and wagons full of pumpkins have been passing by the campus. I have found this particularly enjoyable because I am not used to such things, and so, if I remember, I will take a picture of it this coming week. In Visalia (the bigger town near Porterville), we saw another Pumpkin patch last weekend, and hayrides were being offered to kids. This was very interesting to see, as I'm not sure you'd find something like that in southern California!

The weather has gotten much cooler lately. It was 49 degrees a couple of mornings ago! I don't know if I like the cooler weather or not...it's hard to get out of bed! And my classroom is cold! BUT, Jeremiah and I both picked up wool peacoats that will definitely keep us warm and snuggly as the cool weather comes in. We've heard that Porterville gets really foggy throughout the winter season, so I'm glad our schools are located only 5 minutes from our home. Our peacoats are both long and black and are of similar style, so we look like twins in them...again, we need to get a photograph. My parents are coming to town next weekend, so we'll be sure to get that photo taken. I call the coats "teacher coats" - I always said I would get one when I became a teacher....

Other exciting news... this week, on Saturday October 17th, Jeremiah and I celebrate five years together (from the day he first came into Rite Aid to say hello). How we are celebrating: Jeremiah is going to the Fresno State Football game with my coworker Mike, and I am going to the town's Apple Festival with my mom and dad... :) BUT, I'm sure we'll at least find time to say "Happy Anniversary!" to one another! Perhaps the craziest part is that, in just 6 weeks, we'll be celebrating our first year wedding anniversary. It's on a Monday, so we'll be working, but we've booked a hotel in Santa Barbara to celebrate that one (and our five years too...why not combine it all?!) We decided that winter break would be a great time to celebrate (it will be here before we know it) and so we'll spend one night at the Hotel Mar Monte right on the beach before heading toward Southern California for the holidays! We've booked a room with an ocean view balcony, and the hotel says they'll have a bottle of wine and a gift certificate for dinner ready for us! That's our way to celebrate!

Tonight, we're off to dinner with my coworker, his sister and his friend who have come up from southern California. As a fund raiser at his school, Jeremiah bought tickets that we bring into the Porter Street BBQ in town - and in turn they'll give us dinner. Sounds good to me... I wonder how Porterville's BBQ will be?

Back to work...lesson planning of course! (yes, even though it's Saturday!)