This is my second post today!!! So scroll down to see some more Abby tales.
Today is a very special day!!! The National Association of Agricultural Educators has been working hard to designate today as National Teach Ag Day. This campaign helps to give us resources to show our students and others what being a agricultural educator means to us. Not that I am near retirement age by any means, but it is never too early to recruit exceptional future ag educators!
To celebrate this special day, the FFA is having the Staff Breakfast, then I am doing a radio interview and a newspaper interview. I have been working with Willow Marketing out of Indianapolis as one of the Wisconsin Ag Educators chosen to help get the word out.
Some people wonder why I do what I do...This video clip highlights my reasons for being an agricultural educator. Check it out!
http://www.naae.org/teachag/video.php
Today, take time to thank someone who has made a difference in your life and has influenced you to choose the career you have chosen for yourself. We are all blessed to have those people in our lives. I sure appreciate Mr. Bielinski and Mr. Wendt for showing me the ropes and encouraging me to be the person I am today! Without their positive influences and the opportunities they gave me all those years ago, I am not sure who I would be today.
Truly blessed,
Rachel
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Two Weddings and a Baby
Hello Friends:
See...even though I was absent in the blog world for a few weeks, doesn't mean we weren't running around all over the universe! And before you begin to freak out that there is a new baby coming to the Sauvola house, it's not happening now. The baby refers to a visit made by a friend! :)
So Abby is the Dancing Queen of the house. It's no secret! People stop her at church and ask her about her dancing. In the grocery store, they want to know when they'll see her dance again...it's serious! We need to get her into lessons! haha
She was recently featured on the blog of the wedding photographer for Maureen and Aaron Cochran's wedding. Maureen is one of my former students who sang in our wedding. She's such a sweetheart! Leah Dunbar, Maureen's wedding photographer caught Abby moving to the rhythm on the dance floor. You can see Abby here in a collection of Maureen's photos:
www.leahdunbarphotography.blogspot.com
Then another former student, Shelly got married. As soon as we walked into the dinner hall, all Abby talked about was dancing with the boys!
Here she is consulting the bride about dancing...while her dancing pal looks on...
Then she makes her move...
And then paid a dollar to dance with the groom...courtesy of another former student we spent time with at the wedding. How fun!
Then one of my scrapbooking friends brought her new baby to visit. Abby loved Anya and had to hold her. What fun!
See...even though I was absent in the blog world for a few weeks, doesn't mean we weren't running around all over the universe! And before you begin to freak out that there is a new baby coming to the Sauvola house, it's not happening now. The baby refers to a visit made by a friend! :)
So Abby is the Dancing Queen of the house. It's no secret! People stop her at church and ask her about her dancing. In the grocery store, they want to know when they'll see her dance again...it's serious! We need to get her into lessons! haha
She was recently featured on the blog of the wedding photographer for Maureen and Aaron Cochran's wedding. Maureen is one of my former students who sang in our wedding. She's such a sweetheart! Leah Dunbar, Maureen's wedding photographer caught Abby moving to the rhythm on the dance floor. You can see Abby here in a collection of Maureen's photos:
www.leahdunbarphotography.blogspot.com
Then another former student, Shelly got married. As soon as we walked into the dinner hall, all Abby talked about was dancing with the boys!
Here she is consulting the bride about dancing...while her dancing pal looks on...
Then she makes her move...
And then paid a dollar to dance with the groom...courtesy of another former student we spent time with at the wedding. How fun!
Then one of my scrapbooking friends brought her new baby to visit. Abby loved Anya and had to hold her. What fun!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thank You to All Who Serve
Hello Friends:
A few weeks ago we welcomed home two bus loads of New Richmond community members who were serving in Iraq for the last 14+ months. On those buses were former students, brothers, fathers, uncles, local leaders and heroes who didn't hesitate to leave their lives and their families to serve others.
As they were set to arrive home, we lined Main Street with hundreds of other community members to welcome them home. Abby was super excited to sit in the back of the truck and wave as the buses came by.
When the buses rolled on down the street, I was overcome with emotion. I was relieved for their safe return. I was thinking about all those families who didn't see their loved ones for over 14 months. I was thinking of all the moms whose children were on those buses. I was thinking about all the people who make the decision to become part of the military, knowing the sacrifices they will make for the benefit of others.
Wheww! I cried and I cried lots! Abby was wondering what was up because even Dean had tears in his eyes. We had to explain happy tears versus sad tears, but what a great lesson to learn at such a young age!
I am so thankful for those individuals near and far who fight for our freedom.
As a side note...much less serious...check out the color of my blog and my great new green coat in the photo! Gotta love Land's End!! This ensemble was part of my Christmas present from Abby and Dean. I love it because it's unique! :)
Grateful for freedom,
Rachel
A few weeks ago we welcomed home two bus loads of New Richmond community members who were serving in Iraq for the last 14+ months. On those buses were former students, brothers, fathers, uncles, local leaders and heroes who didn't hesitate to leave their lives and their families to serve others.
As they were set to arrive home, we lined Main Street with hundreds of other community members to welcome them home. Abby was super excited to sit in the back of the truck and wave as the buses came by.
When the buses rolled on down the street, I was overcome with emotion. I was relieved for their safe return. I was thinking about all those families who didn't see their loved ones for over 14 months. I was thinking of all the moms whose children were on those buses. I was thinking about all the people who make the decision to become part of the military, knowing the sacrifices they will make for the benefit of others.
Wheww! I cried and I cried lots! Abby was wondering what was up because even Dean had tears in his eyes. We had to explain happy tears versus sad tears, but what a great lesson to learn at such a young age!
I am so thankful for those individuals near and far who fight for our freedom.
As a side note...much less serious...check out the color of my blog and my great new green coat in the photo! Gotta love Land's End!! This ensemble was part of my Christmas present from Abby and Dean. I love it because it's unique! :)
Grateful for freedom,
Rachel
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Shopping with Abby...
On Sunday, I eluded to the fact that shopping with Abby is always an adventure. As I look back at my childhood, I never shopped as much or ate out as much as kids in today's society. Abby is an example of a kid in today's society!
Since I am a scrapbooker, my camera is always close by! That really helps when we run into those Kodak moments on our adventures.
In the last month, we found the most gigantic Disney characters:
We rode a pony at Sam's Club:
But, my personal favorite is when she starts talking in her special stuffed animal voice to all the mannequins and asks them questions about what they are wearing!!! It's hilarious and often times Dean and I are doubled over giggling uncontrollably as are the workers, managers, and fellow shoppers! Then she knows she's the star of the show and she "works" even harder to entertain! haha
Here she is with one of her new "friends" -
I don't know how I ended up with such a hilarious kid, but I am soooo blessed to see her personality shining through on a daily basis. Most days I wonder what thirteen will be like, but I know we're set for more fun and adventures for many years to come!
Here's to a great day,
Rachel
Since I am a scrapbooker, my camera is always close by! That really helps when we run into those Kodak moments on our adventures.
In the last month, we found the most gigantic Disney characters:
We rode a pony at Sam's Club:
But, my personal favorite is when she starts talking in her special stuffed animal voice to all the mannequins and asks them questions about what they are wearing!!! It's hilarious and often times Dean and I are doubled over giggling uncontrollably as are the workers, managers, and fellow shoppers! Then she knows she's the star of the show and she "works" even harder to entertain! haha
Here she is with one of her new "friends" -
I don't know how I ended up with such a hilarious kid, but I am soooo blessed to see her personality shining through on a daily basis. Most days I wonder what thirteen will be like, but I know we're set for more fun and adventures for many years to come!
Here's to a great day,
Rachel
Monday, February 22, 2010
Happy National FFA Week!
Today begins the crazy and hectic National FFA Week celebration at New Richmond High School. The officer team has some fun events planned for students and staff. We use this week to celebrate our agricultural roots and thank those who work hard to help get our food and fiber from the field to the table. Moreover, it's a week to celebrate the 500,000+ million National FFA Organization members who work hard to practice good citizenship and gain valuable lifelong leadership skills while working to promote agricultural literacy! GO FFA!!!!
Here's a picture of my Officer Team who is working hard to plan events:
We recently had our annual speaking contest competitions. We came home with first in Parliamentary Procedure. Pictured below is the crew who competed:
One student also placed second in Job Interview as a sophomore.
Way to go! It's onto Sectionals on March 8th.
Celebrating agriculture,
Rachel
Here's a picture of my Officer Team who is working hard to plan events:
We recently had our annual speaking contest competitions. We came home with first in Parliamentary Procedure. Pictured below is the crew who competed:
One student also placed second in Job Interview as a sophomore.
Way to go! It's onto Sectionals on March 8th.
Celebrating agriculture,
Rachel
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Valentine's Dress
Hello Friends:
Boy, time sure flies! Since I got some flack from my dad for not posting again in awhile, you'll see some great things this week! (Gotta love that you can plan your posts!) Apparently, he's stalking his daughter's family from afar and wants to see more of Abby's adventures.
Abby got great mail on Valentine's Day. Grandma Sharon sewed an adorable Valentine's dress! Of course, she wanted to model it right away. Here are a few of the wonderful princess shots! You can see swinging around was a big hit too!
Grandma Sharon, thank you for accomplishing something on your to-do list! Abby clearly loves the dress and hopes to model it for you in person someday soon. :)
Since Abby was sick on Feb. 14th and Dean was snowmobiling in Michigan, we actually celebrated Valentine's Day last night with a great dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Stillwater. Afterward we shopped...a whole other adventure with a 3 year old, going on 23!
Lots of love,
Rachel
Monday, February 1, 2010
Remember Me?
Whewww! I haven't posted in a LONG time! It's not as if I haven't thought about you or this blog...it's just that time goes soooooo quickly sometimes! First it's Monday, then it's Friday, and then it's Monday again! I can't believe how fast the time flies by! Do you find yourself in the same predicament?
Since I am behind in the blogging world, I will give you the skinny on the last six weeks in the coming days. I have oodles of pictures to upload and tales to tell!
I even have some artwork to share! I am trying to get better at taking pictures of my stuff before I give it away. :)
So here's to you not giving up on me and staying tuned to all that I have to reflect upon!
Until tomorrow,
Rachel
Since I am behind in the blogging world, I will give you the skinny on the last six weeks in the coming days. I have oodles of pictures to upload and tales to tell!
I even have some artwork to share! I am trying to get better at taking pictures of my stuff before I give it away. :)
So here's to you not giving up on me and staying tuned to all that I have to reflect upon!
Until tomorrow,
Rachel
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