Pinterest

Source: thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com via Jeramia on Pinterest

Dear Ladies in my Life (LIML),

Ok, I am definitely obsessed with this site. Basically anything you see on the internet, you can "pin" onto one of your "boards" for future reference. For example, I have some wedding boards set up so when I see something I like for the wedding, I "pin" it onto the appropriate board and later on down the line I can refer back to the board to remember what I liked. It is the eco-friendly way to keep an inspiration binder :)

Click here to check mine out:

Paz,

Jem

Bird Release

Dear Kate,

Yesterday I went to the bird release in your honor. He was the cutest owl I've ever seen up close (ok, also the first) and had only needed to be at Liberty Wildlife for about a month to get back into tip-top shape. We got to say a wish as he flew away in the hopes that it gets carried up to heaven to you. I selfishly wished that you will continue to support me on my never ending quest to become a person that will change this world for the better. You were such a great role model Kate and I will never forget all of the things you did for me and for the people I love.

The morning I found out that you had passed I called my Mom crying and she told me we couldn't be selfish about this, that we needed to be happy that you were not in terrible pain anymore. I am happy that you didn't suffer long Kate, but I am devastated for this world you left behind. You were one of the "good guys" and we needed you. On this Mother's Day you will be in my heart because you helped me grow into the woman I am today. Keep watch over us down here and we will see you again someday.

I love you!

Jem

Adele and Billy's video was much better than mine (I was facing the sun) so I am going to steal theirs and put it here :)

I Love Glee

This video of Chris Colfer accepting his Golden Globe reminds me of my favorite episode of Glee, Original Song.

Love. This. Show.

Substitute Teaching

Dear Familia,

So I started substitute teaching in January and so far it's been...interesting. I've taught every grade from k-12 and done Math, English, Science, Art, and even sports (hilarious). Some days are amazing and some days seriously test my patience. For example, today I had to call security twice at the shall-remain-nameless high school where I was covering a Math class. Once the kids were literally lighting things on fire and once one of the kids refused to give me his name when I was writing him up. I actually didn't call security the second time, but they showed up and I let them deal with his attitude. Outrageous. I've only been to Mountain View once and haven't been to Kino at all which makes me super sad. Skyline High has been my favorite school so far and I even have a favorite class of kids. They make me want to ditch the masters track and sign up to get my teaching certificate (Amundsen's 4th hour, you are superb).

It's a pretty amazing feeling to teach someone how to do something and even more amazing just to get to connect with students on a day-to-day basis. Only having classes for a day is really hard even on days like today. I want to be able to stay with those kids and help them realize that they should be taking full advantage of a FREE education. Even if Arizona is behind in the US education game, Mesa has one of the best districts in the state and we are light years ahead of countries like Guatemala. I had some incredible teachers over the years that truly inspire and motivate me to this day and it is pretty special to even be a tiny bit connected to this profession!

Paz,

Jem

Zane's Job

Dear Familia,

I get a lot of questions about what Zane does for a living so I thought I would take the time to give you all an answer. These days you can find this amazing man lending his numerous talents to the Overseas Programming and Training Support (OPATS) division of the Peace Corps headquarters in DC. The office has three main units: the Program Support Unit, the Training & Evaluation Unit, and the Knowledge Exchange Unit. They are in charge of pretty much anything and everything having to do with training in Peace Corps. 50% of his job is being the HR Rep for his office. When someone in OPATS has an HR issue he deals with the HR department for them.

The other 50% is being is the "Administrative Specialist" to the three unit managers, the Chief of Operations, and the Director of the Office. One of the very cool things he does in this role is attend the weekly Directors meetings where he gets to hear from development professionals with decades of experience under their belts. He mainly works with the Director of the Office but occasionally something will come up with one of the other four. This week the Chief of Operations had him help out on a new initiative USAID is rolling out called Feed the Future. The program is a government wide effort to increase investment in the agriculture sector and Zane was very excited that OPATS would be the lead Peace Corps agency on this initiative.

Right now he has a 2.5 year assignment and after that he might stay with OPATS or move within Peace Corps for another 2.5 year assignment or move on to another organization (kinda strange but you can only work for Peace Corps for a total of 5 years consecutively, then you have to wait 5 years before you can work for them again). Considering we can't even give you a 100% on a wedding date and location, giving you a 3 year plan is a stretch ;)

Paz,

Jem

PS The picture is from Peace Corps Guatemala...a tradition they started in his site of signing an American flag at Close of Service (COS). He was the first, but there will be 4 before the end of the year!

Happy Friday!

Dear Familia,

via

This is a great video that is sure to perk up your day :)

Paz,

Jem

Viva la Raza!

Check out Style Me Pretty's Shoot Here

Dear Familia,

Happy 5 de Mayo everyone! Although most people don't know the actual reason for the holiday (the Mexican defeat of the French in the Battle of Puebla and not Mexico's Independence Day which is September 16th), it is a fantastic way to celebrate Mexican pride and eat amazingly delicious food.

This year it was especially fun to see some of the wedding blogs feature some hispanic flavor in their posts today and reminded me of all of the great details I'll be able to use at my wedding!

Paz,

Jem

Wedding Questions

Dear Familia,

Since we've only been engaged 3 days, we still do not have a lot of the details ironed out. However, we do know that there is a 99% chance that it will be at All Saints Roman Catholic Parish in Mesa, Arizona in 2012 ;) What, not enough details for you?? Haha.

As some of you may know, I am currently waiting anxiously to hear back from Georgetown Law regarding my admission off their wait-list (and thus into the dual MPP/JD program with the public policy school). Their seat deposits are due today so I should find out in the next couple of weeks if I am in or not. Until then, it is hard to nail down the date which in turn makes it hard to nail down pretty much anything else. We have a list of 9 possible dates (compiled by my amazing fiance using my academic calendar) and I will let everyone know as soon as we choose one! Expect a wedding website to be up and running by June 1st.

Paz,

Jem

Engaged! (a recap of the bday weekend)

Dear Familia,

My birthday festivities started at midnight on April 29th and continued right through till Sunday morning! On Saturday afternoon Sam and Sarah, Tara and her family, Roberta, and Sari and her kids came over for the Grilled Cheese Party. It was great to have everyone over, especially because Zane made a birthday toast that turned into a proposal that I happily accepted!! He got down on one knee and everything :) After the party, Auntie Lisa invited us out to Queen Creek for a celebratory sushi dinner that was delicious and so fun. Then we had breakfast with Auntie Lucy on Sunday morning before Zane flew back to DC. It was an incredible weekend to say the least! Unfortunately only cell phone pics were taken of us after the engagement, but I will make sure we have some beauties on our wedding website!

Paz,

Jem

Kaiya's 1st Steps

Dear Tara,

Does this seem like she was auditioning for "flower girl" or what? Taking her first steps just a few minutes before Zane proposes, how ridiculously cute :)

Paz,

Tia Mia