Makenna is 2!!!

Can you see the excitement in my face while Makenna is opening presents? Wow!!!
Plus...Notice that I am wearing my Parsons shirt...classy 2 year old birthday party attire, don't you think?Good times on the slide...Reece and Makenna
...And me with the fantastic hat that way goes with my outfit!

I love these two girls so much! Precious!

Such a cutie pie! I cannot believe she is 2! And I will miss her so much when they move!!!

Health update

So, I thought I would just give you an update on my health. I have not been doing well lately, but I know (or am clinging to a hope that) they will find out what is wrong and hopefully fix the issue. I just found out that the neurologist will be able to get me in sooner than February 1! That was good news. I have not made the appt yet because they just left a message and I haven't been able to get ahold of them yet. I have a sleep deprivation EEG scheduled for Sept. 28. This is a little scary because it is a test that they use to find out scary stuff! If they find something in this, then what I have is not good. It also stinks because I have to get a sub for that day (which I REALLY did NOT want to do!!!) Also, it will completely jack up my entire week because it is on a Monday. I have to not sleep for 24 hours (so I have to be up by 8:30 on Sunday and have someone drive me the next day because I will have not slept) before the test. Crazy! I have never heard of such a test.

I also talked to the mom of one of my tutoring students who is a nurse. She told me that she has 2 patients who are about my age and have very similar symptoms to me. Then she informed me that both of them have MS!!! What?! I had never even thought that what is wrong with me could potentially be something as scary and dumb as that! Anyway, then I made the mistake of looking up MS online because I don't know much about it other than it is not good. SO many of the symptoms are exactly what happens to me. I am trying to not go there. I don't know that this is what I have...and it could be a simple fix. So, that is the update! I still do not know anything, and I have lots of doctor stuff in my near future.

My Classroom!!!!

Ok...so this is what my knees looked like after falling for no apparent reason! I now know that it is related to my health problems, but it was still really sad. I fell at Parsons and my knees were scabbed and bruised for at least 2 weeks! Goodness...I am so sad!

My cousin was so sweet and helped me set up my classroom! The following
pictures are from that day!

I absolutely love these two things that I put up!
The first is at the front of my classroom...a great quote.
The second is my favorite! I had my students complete the
phrase and write their response on 3 X 5 cards. It turned out
great and is so encouraging to both myself and the students.

This was such a surreal moment for me! Sitting at
MY desk...who would have thought? Craziness!

I absolutely LOVE teaching! It is the greatest thing in the world, and I could not
imagine doing anything else. This is definitely what I was born to do and I
am so happy that the moment has come for me to fulfill my dreams! Such an
amazing feeling!

Summer Madness!

So...I have been terrible at blogging! So sorry. I am just entirely too busy, but I wanted to post some pics of what I have been doing lately. Hope you enjoy!

Hannah, me (holding Bailey), and my cousin Rachelle (we are sort of like twins)
(I probably shouldn't share this, but this summer we decided that
any time one of us gets a compliment, we should call the other and
let the other know that WE got a compliment that day! We are so weird!)

Me posing...just being silly. My cousin was taking pics of me and I felt awkward,
so I just started posing!

Christina and Halle...Halle is getting so big! She is almost 10 months old

Just hanging out at the lake...Rachel and Rachelle!

Bailey in all her cuteness! She is almost 7 months old.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures! I would upload more, but it takes so long for each picture to upload. I hate that!

The wedding

This was a stressful, but fun adventure!
So, I am so happy that I was able to do this for my friend, but let
me tell you...this gave me so much anxiety! The cake, in the
end, turned out great and held up. I was so thankful that it did
not collapse. The only bummer is that the fish bowl topper was
too heavy with the heat, so we had to take it off and put rose petals
on top until the actual cake cutting part. We didn't want the fish to fall off
and die...that would be sad. Anyway, the 5 tier cake turned out pretty
well...and I am officially never making a cake (especially a wedding cake)
for free again. It is just too much work, time, and stress to do it for free!
I hope you enjoy the pics!Very messy!

Day of....finishing up right before getting dressed...

And DONE!!!

And...all ready!

Rachel Has Finally Lost Her Mind!!!

Ok...So today was another typical, stressful day for me. It started off shortly after 5 am when I got up and got ready. I then spent about 1.5 hours working on my lesson plan for today. After that, I headed off to school. My gas light in my very fuel efficient car was blinking, but I thought nothing of it because I get very good gas mileage and thought I had plenty of miles to go. School was hectic and crazy...but I made it through my lessons. At lunch, I got a text saying that I was supposed to babysit that night, but I had forgotten about it. I had scheduled 2 tutoring sessions after school and after track practice (that I am helping to coach). I promptly had to change my tutoring times and then I had to skip track today (so sad). Straight from school, I bolted to my first student's house...tutored for one hour, then left at EXACTLY 60 minutes to head over to another student's house. All the while, my little light was flashing. I saw that I had gone 448 miles, but I thought I could make it further. I was on the phone...in a frustrating conversation (another story for another time), when my car started having a little difficulty getting up a hill. Deep in conversation, I ignored this (what was I thinking you may ask? not quite sure!) I tutored my next student, then left and headed toward where I was babysitting...only about 5 minutes from where I was. After about 2 minutes of driving, I was in a dream. A big RED triangle with an exclamation point in the middle popped out, my screen said PROBLEM! and I could not believe it! I pulled over to the side of the narrow road...in the dirt...I, Rachel Runyan, ran out of gas!!! WHAT?! I then proceeded to call the person I was babysitting for...no answer. My dad...no answer. So, what did I do? I started walking. An older couple stopped, asked if I ran out of gas, and then offered to go back to their house and get some gas for me. So sweet!

They gave me enough gas to get to my next location. Then, Jana brought me more gas when she got home. It was pretty funny...the two of us trying to figure out which of the 3 nozzles that came with the gas can to use. Finally, we realized the simple, black one was easiest. I got gas, made it to the gas station, and filled up all the way.

The end!

(I do believe I am insane and have completely lost my mind! Officially, too busy!)

Bailey Grace...5 weeks old
Halle Olivia.......4 months old
Makenna Joy..........18 months old
My latest cake...for my friend's wedding shower
The theme of the shower was 'hooked'...hence the fishing pole

I found this pic the other day...hehe