more Christmas Celebrations

Here are some picture to capture the rest of our Christmas celebrations...

family getting presents, Zachary hamming it up for the camera, grandma's cooking!!

dirty Santa, lots of people, good times hanging out, new puppies (not for us), family love,

matching presents, lots of presents, giving and receiving, loving and sharing, rock band playing,

more matching presents, WKU attire, more giving and loving, fun times all around!

O yeah! I learned how to shoot a gun, rifle and shot gun mind you, AND I learned a clay pigeon is not at all a pigeon.

Christmas Fun

As I am sure everyone else has the same story, we have been VERY busy the last few days. It has been great to be home today and able to relax and clean up the train wreck that came through our house (I can't imagine what it is like if you have kids). I'm going to try to capture it all in a couple blog posts. I would do it all at once, but I am terrible at uploading pictures onto this thing!



We started off having my dad's side of the family over to our house for the Jochim Family Christmas. We, of course, ate too much food, but enjoyed the company. The next day, Andrew's family came up from Bowling Green and down from Indy to have the Cohron Christmas. We once again hosted, and ate warm chili. After watching the Titans pull out a win, we ate, opened presents and played The Office trivia. It was so great to have a home and to have family over!

Andrew's mom and grandmom.

please pray for this sweet boy

This is a story that was on the news about a kiddo at one of my schools. The young man and his family need your prayers! He is the sweetest little boy!

http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=117072

Most parents have high hopes for their children.They want to see them succeed in life and be as happy as possible.But for one local family, that dream became a nightmare when their son was diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease.In this weeks Family First we meet nine year old Alex HuckHe was good at sports and did well in school, but all of that changed last school year, when Alex started acting out in class.At first school officials and family members attributed it to ADHD, but as the symptoms got worse, so did the fears there was something seriously wrong with Alex.After a visit to Riley's Children's Hospital last fall, Alex was diagnosed with Adreno leukodystrophy, a deadly disease affecting boys between the ages of four and ten.Alex's little brother has a fifty-fifty chance of getting the disease as well.He's getting tested later this week.A fund for Alex has been set up at Integra Bank to help family members cope with the mounting medical bills.The PTA will be holding fundraisers for Alex in the coming months.

Halloween Weekend

We stayed pretty busy this weekend, but had TONS of fun at the same time!

-Friday Night- Autumn Fest at CFC. Putt-Putt volunteers. busy. lots of candy. lots of kids dressed up. Andrew and Chris bull riding. interesting. missed it though. late night. house guests.

-Saturday-Family pictures. crazy dogs. Family reunion. family. food. friends. fun. FINALLY...IT'S A GIRL!! Bella. March 24. WOO HOO. Trick or Treat. Costumes. more fun. more food. house guest.

-Sunday- MS walk. church. 4/5 Sunday School. hacienda. Mud Slide. Baby Registry. Target. evening at home.

His Love

This morning at church, pastor David spoke about love. He spoke of God's unending love for us. It was a very emotional service and one that touched me in a way I wasn't expecting when I went to church this morning.

Click the following link to see the music video we watched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUiW-zC8qNo

WOW! I hope it was able to touch you the way it touched me. There are so many children that I work with on a daily basis that don't come from the warmest and loving home life that I did. I hope they realize that in the darkest of times that they have someone that loves them.

I am so very thankful for the people that love me. Andrew, my parents, my brothers, sister-in-law, all of my in-laws, my grandparents, all of my family, my friends, but most of all my Godly Father loves me more than I could ever fathom. All that I do and have was given to me by god because he loves me.

I will update more about what we have been up to soon. *which is not much might I add* just the same - o, same - o.

Sorry, it's been a while!

So since my last update, we have been to St. Louis, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, and we had company times 2. AND my pictures of the experiences are on my memory card, which we left in Bowling Green. :(

Andrew had never been to St. Louis. So we up and left Friday afternoon and went to the arch (but not up in it), got to go by the new Busch Stadium, and went to a concert in the park. Then, Saturday we got up early and went to the zoo, followed by lunch and the Science Center. We ended the day with the City Museum (which I suggest to anyone going to St. Louis). Finally, we were pooped and we drove back to Evansville.

The next weekend we went to Cincinnati with my parents and went to IKEA. Then, we ate dinner at P.F. Changs (YUMMO!!). After some time in the hot tub, we called it a night. Sunday, we went to the Newport Aquarium and then headed home.

Company was next. The sweetest Gilliam family came to visit. Andrew took a half day Friday and we went swimming *all the pics are on my camera in BG*. We came back to our house and cooked out, then went to walk on the river front. *the pics below* Saturday, we got up and hung out, Andrew made some pancakes and they were on their way. As they left, we headed out for Lake Barkley. Some friends have a house and my aunt and uncle have a pontoon. Andrew and I had the pleasure of sharing a twin bed, which we choose instead of the floor.

Bowling Green is next in the month of craziness. We were able to go in time Friday to eat dinner with the amazing Snyder game and went to see the Chamber Kentucky Concert featuring the Beatles. After babysitting for the show year after year, I finally got to experience it and it was great. We spent the night with the Snyders and got to hang out Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon, we headed to Hendersonville, TN to party with Andrew's cousin Michelle for the graduation from MTSU. Saturday night, we got the precious Crosby boys and headed to Andrew's parents house for dinner. Sunday was great to be back at Living HOpe and to see dear dear friends there. Then we went to lunchw ith Keila and Andy and got to hang out with them for the afternoon.

Last weekend, Andrew's friend Will and his g/f stopped by our house on their way from Bowling Green to Chicago. It was great to see Will and to meet his g/f and dog. Sunday, we were on the river all day with Uncle Paul. Now school is back in the full swing of things! I'll post on that some other time, it's a whole post in itself:)

YAY!!!

First and foremost...

I GOT A JOB!!!! WOO HOOO!!!!!! Well it's pending board approval, but I accepted the position. I will be an Elementary School Special Ed. Achievement Coach. I will be going to a few elementary schools and getting their more involved sp. ed. students into the regular ed. classes. I will be there to help with the supports and meetings between teachers. I don't know where I will be yet, or where my "home" base will be. I should be finding out more soon in new future. For the 3rd year in a row, I have to go to new teacher training Aug. 6 and 7, then report for the teachers first day Aug. 10!!

Now, this past weekend, we went to Camp Carson for the Tri-State MS S'mores and More weekend. It was a great time as we spent the day at the camp in the water, doing crafts, playing cornhole, eating, etc. Then, we spent the night at a local hotel and went back for a few more fun activities Sunday. I was having a great time and decided to be brave and go on the BLOB!! http://www.campcarson.org/flash/main.html When I threw someone off the BLOB and moved down to the other end for someone else to "throw" me off, a little 50 lb. girl was behind me, but when it came time for the person to "3...2...1...BLOB me" I FLEW!!! Much higher than the girl in the picture! Andrew had snuck up and threw me off. Let's just say, it's a good thing I had my life jacket on and my legs are literally black, blue and purple because I landed on the back of my legs and IT HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I'm not baby, but it really did hurt. So, still hurting, I go to the zip line. I am not afraid of heights, but when I got up there, I couldn't make myself go, so the worker pushed me off! It was AWESOME! I loved it. I got a bit of a wedgie, but no biggie and I paddled myself to where I could touch and the worker came down to un-hook me. I am almost unhooked and I am standing up with water to my knees. AND my dad, who was taking pictures, says...Amanda, fix your suit...HOLY MOLY i just mooned EVERYONE!!! I was brave though and went 1 more time and remembered to fix myself before I stood up.

So yeah! That's been us for the last couple days!

VACATION!!

We just spent a week camping at Turkey Run with the fam! It was super fun, but super hott! We spend as much time as possible in the creek or in the pool.


The dog's feel the same way we felt on the way home. We had a hott week out in the sun, sleeping in a tent (wasn't all too bad), it was muggy, and we all wanted to sleep on the way home. Only, Andrew had to drive and due to the AC not being fixed in the escape, it was TOO hott for me to sleep. As a matter of fact, I rode with one leg up on the dash and that leg was 2 shades darker after the 3 hour ride. Pathetic...I know!

This is one of the many covered bridges in the area. This is what we saw everytime we picked up people that were done kayaking. You can also drive in this bridge which is super neat.

We made it:) The girls, mom, myself, aunt pam, and monika were the 2nd group to kayak. It was tons of fun and relaxing.

Pictures like these make me thank God for this beautiful earth. WOW!

Family photo next to a tree that had been uprooted. The dogs were VERY uncooperative and tried running away. The blue thing I am carrying is to help us slide down a rock. Which was VERy fun, but it was way too foggy down in the cave area to get pictures...sad day.

A Busy Little Bee came to visit

Once upon a Wednesday night, a busy little bee came to visit. The bee worked very hard and got a lot of things done. He meet me at Comb's nursery and helped pick up some shrubs for the landscaping out front, then he came home and planted them. He also dug up the sod that was positioned under the landscaping rocks that smelled of something awful. So awful the trash can is already next to the street and pickup is not until Monday.

and...the Busy Bee put up shelves in the garage and I am getting very frustrated putting up pictures. so take it as it is and tomorrow I will have more pictures of what the busy bee has done. He will be going to pick up a tree!! WOO HOO!

Lovin' my kitchen

I LOVE my kitchen!! Not only do I love all the cabinets, new appliances, the island, but I also love that it is the only room in my house decorated exactly how I want it. O yeah, AND Andrew and I can cook in there without running into each other.

I LOVE trying new recipes. Last night I made a chicken lettuce wrap recipe from a Good Housekeeping Magazine. I think I used too much celery and it made it taste a little weird. I might try it again, but probably not.

I LOVE that Andrew made his own hamburger patty maker with PVC pipe and something else from the plumbing department at Menards. He made some good lookin' burgers that we froze for our camping trip next week. I wish I had taken a picture!

I LOVE that Aldi's had blueberries on sale for .99 cents and my mom told me about them. So I went out and bought some and here is the result.

The move and since...

So as soon as school was out Friday the 29th, I headed up to Evansville. I didn't even make it to my house before Andrew and I were out of town again. We helped a cousin get the rest of her stuff up to Indy. So, Andrew drove the U-haul and I followed behind. We were exhausted when we got there and went to bed, got up early, unloaded and made a 45 minute trip to his grandmom and granddad's house. It was a very nice afternoon visit. We headed home and did laundry all day Sunday, cut grass (only in the back), weed-eated, went kayaking and played softball. So, Monday when I was FRIED, I got to clean! WOO HOO!!!

So, I am helping out my cousin and working with her daughter this summer. We learned short "a" and read a bunch of "at" words, it was fun and awesome to get to hang out with them.

Tuesday, WE GOT GRASS!! Woo Hoo!! They came and put sod in the front yard and it made the house look completely different. We are now obligated to keep it soaked for the next 2 weeks and try not to keil over when the water bill comes.

Wednesday the craziness started again. Every year my family has a HUGE rummage sale and ALL of the proceeds to go the Tri-State MS Association. Wednesday night, we set up tents and tables. Then Thursday, we unpack the semi trailer, all garages, and the mall storage. It takes ALL day, and at 5 the madness occurs. Check out the pictures below to see some of the madness.


The house with grass!!!

People were everywhere. It was the black friday of rummage sales.

There was this many people for at least 3 hours Thursday night.

This is the people lined up waiting to come in.

THE RESULT: Almost $6,000 raised!! Go Hirsch Fam!

So as soon as everything was cleaned up Saturday, we made the haul back to Bowling Green. Some friends from our small group had a daughter turning 1, so we went to her birthday party. We then, went to Andrew's parents for dinner with them and aunts and uncles. It was lots of fun, even though the boys beat us in PopCulture Trival Pursuit. Sunday, we made our way to the Hughes' family reunion, only to be greeted by tons of people I had never seen before, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. They were all very sweet people.

Now, we are home for the evening. The dogs survived with my little brother and cousin. Addie got to cuddle with Nathan since I wasn't home. Tomorrow starts another week and hopefully landscaping will get done:)

Decorating ideas!!??!!

The game room...WKU theme and I have some ideas for the huge walls, but it's still in the process of getting done, so offer suggestions...I might like your ideas too:)

Guest bedroom...obviously not much on the walls...I am not creative, so any cheap, cute ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The HUGE entertainment center that we got a HUGE deal on. I think I want to move the plate on the left and get a vase with fake flowers...suggestions?

The living room except we got a much bigger mirror and we are in the process of exchanging the ottoman...We are getting one with shorter legs and matches the color of the chair.

Maybe I will get better...

I am not very good at keeping up to date on my blog. I will post pictures when I get them uploaded onto my computer. I am currently sitting on my new couch at the new house!! I had an interview at an elementary school Thursday morning, so I took Friday off too, so I didn't have to drive back and forth again. Please pray that I can find a job up here. The sooner the better so I can have a relaxing summer.

The dogs are both sleeping right now and Andy Griffith is in the background. I just finished laundry and I am getting ready to clean the bathroom. I am listening to the builders working on the other houses on the street. I am going crazy to find out who is going to live next door. I hope and pray we get awesome neighbors. I also hope we get grass soon. I am sick of driving up to a mudd pit as a front yard. I want to plant flowers, and put up my "H" sign, but I have to wait until we get grass.

8 more days of school left with kids, and 9 for teachers. WOO HOO!! but sad all at the same time. I LOVE my job right now and I am going to cry like a baby when I have to leave my kiddos. These kids have taught me to so much and my assistants have been so awesome to work with. My fellow teachers rock! I couldn't have asked for a better year.

We are going camping next weekend. We are going to put up our tent in the garage tomorrow to make sure it is all there. We usually sleep in the camper with my parents, but since we got another dog and Andrew snores so loudly, we have been kicked out of the camper. I hope all goes well sleeping in the tent with 2 dogs. I will post more pictures later tonight when I finally get them uploaded to the computer.

HOUSE PICTURES!

MORE TO COME!!! My computer is about to die!

GOING CRAZY!!!!

So, I have always thought that I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Now, after having 4 snow days in a row, I'm not really sure just what I want to do. The whole time I thought about how much school work I needed to be doing, but it is all still sitting out in my car and was only moved to allow room for the dog in the front seat. So, instead of doing school work, I thought I would read, only I finished my book on Tuesday and had 3 more days of "nothing" to do. So, I was totally addicted to facebook. I know, it's pathetic, but when the dog doesn't talk back and you live alone, there is nothing else to do. Especially Tuesday night when the cellular connection didn't work either. I mean, I went to the gym every day, but still there was not much interaction. I even went to the paint store, still not much human interaction.

However, I was lucky enough to have lunch with some friends yesterday who also went to the gym with me. Then last night, I got to go to a MaryKay/Tastefully Simply party and my Ester Bible Study. The few days off, I was able to without any rush spend some time in the Bible with Ester in my Beth Moore study. I have not been very consistant in my quiet time and devotionals. I had strayed away with the expection of my Wednesday afternoon date with Romans. Even then, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. So, hopefully the past 4 days have helped in developing the love of reading the Bible. I am excited to get my Ester book out tonight and dig into it again.

On a funny note...I hung out with Ann Marie McDonald today (who was not happy that I forgot her birthday was Wednesday). She was so funny. She said (after Addie would not lay with her on her black couch) "How about, we change places and I live in this compartment and I lay on your red couch not my black couch". I mean I love my compartment...but yeah.

Andrew is now on his way to BG, and this is awesome since he did not oget to come due to the weather in Evansville Wednesday night. YEAH!!!!! HUMAN INTERACTION all weekend:)

^^Please pray for my family up in Evansville. My parents, one set of grandparents, and brother are staying with another aunt and uncle while the rest of the family is spread amongst other places. My cousin had a lot of family staying with her, then she lost her power today. So, that is even more people misplaced. Her sister, who has 2 small children also lost her power. My parents, like most parents, had a freezer in the basement with all kinds of meat, that now has to be cooked. It's 46 degrees in my parents house. It's not pretty up there and it could be weeks. So please pray for God to grant patience to those without and those with that are housing other people. Pray for the Utility workers who are working around the clock to get this fixed. Pray for things to get better soon.

The house!!!

Here are updated pictures of our house. It is so exciting to think that it will be done in less than 2 months. We got a refrigerator a couple weeks ago. It is the kind with the freezer on the bottom and the fridge on the top. I am excited about that too!! I can't wait for some of the walls to have color on them. We are planning on painting a wall in our room choc. brown and a wall upstairs red:) YAY! Everyday being here in Bowling Green, I want to start packing, but then I realize how much longer I am going to have to live here and I don't think I am ready to live out of boxes yet. I am going to attempt to explain what the pictures are, but it's going to be hard to visualize since it is all just drywall.

There is a little brick up, but it got SUPER cold
and they had put a hold on the brick.

the garage, and yes there is a furance and hot
water heater now...

This is looking from the kitchen into the living
room. You can see the front door and the view
from the front window.

Looking from the kitchen into the dining room. Our bedroom is the left door and the laundry room is the right door. The laundry room leads to the garage.

This is the kitchen. The window looks into the

back yard and the sink will be in front of that.

The dishwasher will be to the right of the window

and the microwave/range will be in the middle of

the left wall. The fridge right next to the wood wall

that currently has no drywall. There will also be

an islandout in the middle.