Summer's End is Drawing Near

~Here is a recap of Summer 2012 for the Taflans~

We celebrated our first Mother's Day and Father's Day!

Grama and Grampa Taflan visited from Ohio

We reaped the benefits of home gardening

Our little one began sitting up (5 mos) and eating solids (6 mos). We're mostly following the baby-led weaning approach to food. He also got his two bottom teeth in!

5 months

6 months

We celebrated July 4th with cousins and Matthew got in a swimming pool for the first time! 

We took a trip to the mountains - went in caverns, shopped, and stayed at a nice resort. 

I hosted a Christmas in July crafting party - getting a head start!  

I celebrated my 25th birthday the beginning of August, the same day little man turned 7 months.

We went to the beach with my family in August, as we do every year, only this year Matthew was there to join the fun! He had such a good time! Our boy loves water :)

While at the beach, our family drove down to Medieval Times and cheered for the yellow knight! We got the biggest kick out of little Matthew raising his arms in the air and yelling in excitement over and over again until he crashed in exhaustion from all the fun. 

We've also spent days at home catching up on housework, working outside and around our home, enjoying time with friends, and reaching new milestones... like crawling!

7.5 months

It's been a wonderful summer and though I'm sad to see it come to an end, I will certainly welcome the cooler weather and colorful leaves! In the meantime, Matt and I will continue to enjoy every moment with our son, (his happiness amazes us!), as it is already going by so quickly. We look forward to what the months ahead hold for our little family!

North Carolina Residents :)

Well, it has been exactly one week since we arrived in NC with the last of our belongings. We said good-bye to Florida as we made the long drive up I-95, stopping at rest areas along the way to capture some video of our trip (hope to be edited soon!). I'm happy to say that the majority of our stuff is organized into some designated area here at my parents' house and we've had quite a productive first week!

On July 4th we attended my family's church where we were greeted with warm smiles and welcomed into the area. We spent the evening watching fireworks at the town next to ours and were able to enjoy a day at Tweetsie Railroad on Monday. We went as a family since my dad was off of work and my youngest sister had a friend with her. I had not been to Tweetsie in over 10 years and it was quite the treat. Matthew and I marveled at how peaceful and relaxing the park was compared to a busy Disney World. We decided we'll certainly take our own children back there one day so they can experience the train adventure and the beautiful mountains (ah, mountains make my heart sing!). We thought our niece and nephews would love the place as well. Following Tweetsie, we drove down the road to Blowing Rock and paid the small fee to see the sight, an Indian legend. After taking pictures and eating some much needed ice cream, we loaded up the cars to make the 3 hour drive back home.

In the meantime, I have applied to approximately 5 more jobs and was called for an interview on Thursday! My sweet husband drove the hour long commute to drop me off and picked me up after with a pretty bouquet of flowers. I love his thoughtfulness :) Overall the interview went well and I will find out the decision sometime next week. I'm hoping to get the rest of my paperwork in Monday/Tuesday and will continue the waiting period from there. We've been praying and listening during this time of waiting and Matt & I know God will certainly take care of us and show us the right way. Aside from my job hunting adventures, Matthew hopes to be in the office of a production studio helping out in the next week or two. He received an e-mail about coming in to assist with editing and we pray that will lead to something great!

We had lunch with friends, the Elias, in Durham on Thursday and loved the time we were able to spend visiting and chatting with them at a great place called Parker & Otis. Tonight we are going out for pizza in downtown Raleigh as we are now a part of a pizza club (woohoo!). Friends of ours, a couple we did video work for in their wedding down in Florida, has moved to the local area here and invited us to join. They are heading it up and were a part of a pizza club in Orlando in the past. We get to eat pizza at popular places once a month as we search for the best. We're excited to be with old friends and meet new ones, as well as get some good food!

We'll be leaving Borders soon to head out for dinner. Internet at the house is sadly very slow... so venturing out for internet will be quite frequent for us. Thankfully the library in the town over from ours is very nice and has great internet service. We just happen to be at Borders (a favorite of mine) in Wake Forest because we shopped around the Raleigh Flea Market today. It's tempting to buy all the wonderful things I see, but I am reminded that we don't have a place of our own yet, and we don't know what our next place will look like. We will have to share our interesting finds in another post though!

I'll close with a picture of us on top of Blowing Rock. Look at those mountains!

Carolina Bound

A suburban, one trailer, and 15 hours later my husband and I arrived at our destination in North Carolina on Wednesday. We were blessed to borrow a trailer from a friend at church and spent ALL day Tuesday loading the thing. It was SO incredibly hot and humid - as in over 100 degrees. Of course, this is expected in Florida, but a little break would've been nice. We managed to move all our furniture ourselves and leave behind a small portion of what will be needed when we go back for two last weeks of Florida living. Here's a photo of the accumulation of boxes in our family room with the exception of furniture already loaded in the trailer. It'll be crazy to go back and hardly have anything left! Matthew said it'll make our next trip seem like a breeze.

Oh, I can't forget to mention the little fact that this trip is really only supposed to take 10 hours... with a trailer we drive slower of course, but with a broken alternat0r which leads to a dead battery means no driving at all. Yes, we were stuck at a rest area 2 1/2 hours away from my parents' house for an hour(thank goodness it was there and not on 95!), then managed to get the car jump started and drove on little to no battery for another hour before deciding that it was too dark to not turn on our headlights... which we were avoiding using because we didn't want to suck all the life out of the battery. We managed to exit to a gas station, as the lights on the car were slowly dimming and waited another hour for AAA to bring the tow truck. Thankfully, my dad was in a very late meeting only 15 minutes away and happened to have a hitch on his truck so he could take the trailer, and the birds, and us home. What would a girl do without her dad? Needless to say, my dear husband fixed the car himself the next day and it appears to be working well. I am quite proud :) Guess the true test will be tomorrow when we drive it 650 miles back to our apartment... God has us in His hands that day as it could've been a whole lot worse!
The night before we left we added a new feathered friend to the family. Meet Monte (pronounced monty) - at least we think that'll be his name. We had several ideas, but Monte makes the most sense given that Altamonte is the city of our first "home" together and Sunny is already named after the Sunshine state. He is a blue parrotlet, which is the smallest parrot in the world. We had discussed getting one before to keep Sunny company during the day while we're at work, but didn't have easy access to any. I just happened to be at the pet store dropping off the last of the gerbils (thank goodness they are ALL gone!) and they had just weaned parrotlets in sky blue and then the darker blue. Our family may think we're crazy for getting another bird, but we didn't feel like it was a bad idea and having a friend for Sunny will be good. I guess that makes us bird people? We hope one day the birds will like each other, but for now we have to keep them supervised at all times when they're both out of the cage. Our Monte has a lot of character already and is much more active than our Quaker. He's a big bird in a tiny body! And he was quite a trooper as his first full day with us was spent on the road to NC. Our birds will have some miles on them!

Isn't he cute?

We've set the date!

It is official... the Taflans will be moving to North Carolina on July 3rd! We are both excited and anxious as we wait to see what God has in store for us. We'll be settling in the triad area with my parents temporarily until we locate jobs (yikes!) and figure out where to live in relation to work. We feel at peace about this decision and are thrilled to be near loved ones. Living in Florida has made us homesick now and again and we hope to be rid of this as we settle in closer to both families :)

Let the accumulation of boxes begin!

Gentle Rain and an Oil Lamp

It's Sunday evening and my husband and I are sitting in the tiny room of our apartment that we like to call the nook. It barely fits the table and chairs for four, but we love the two large windows and the storage closet :) It's where I set up my sewing machine and where I sometimes bring my computer to accomplish things when I get distracted in our office. Tonight a light rain falls outside the open windows and my husband has lit the oil lamp I bought him for Valentine's Day (see photo below of how I modified it). He and I need to take more moments like this to enjoy the simplicity of our little home. If only the weather would stay this cool when it rains... we do not look forward to the humid afternoon short Florida storms that leave steam rising off the streets in a matter of minutes. For now, we'll enjoy the weather as it is.

I added artificial red flowers with stems to the base, along with valentine stickers that can be read when the lamp is lifted, to give the red tint and filled with oil. The flowers in the chimney were just for show of course.

Spring break has come and gone. Even though it was only two short weeks back, after going back to teaching this past week I feel as though break was eons ago. I can't believe there are only 8 weeks left of my first year of teaching! To make the most of my break, I created a long to-do list of all I wanted to accomplish before the week was over. This included groceries, shopping for items for my classroom (this happens most constantly), finishing plans and paperwork for when I returned to school, sewing anything just to satisfy my desire to do so, reading up on blogs, packing for our brief trip to NC, among other things. I'd like to share some of my spring break efforts.

*Easter started my break. Matthew and I were invited to have an Easter lunch with a couple at our church and their family on Saturday. We really enjoyed ourselves as we played Bocci in the yard, conversed with church family, and ate yummy food. The next morning we went to church for the Easter service and headed over to the beach for some fishing. We certainly did our share of fishing... only without the fish. What we did catch was too small. We saw more wildlife that day than we had in a long while. We love going to Canaveral National Seashore because of the privacy of the beaches and untouched nature. We saw raccoons on the bank searching for clams, many many porpoises (it was unreal how many we saw that day - usually it's countless manatees), and horseshoe crabs that swam quite close to me.

Outside our apartment Easter morning. Notice our apartment number is on the ground. Guess the painters didn't feel like replacing it when they finished their job.

Taking a break from fishing to move to another location in hopes of more fish. No such luck.

*Before we left for NC, I tried my hand at sewing again. When you don't really have anyone to show you how or what to do, you spend a long time looking at photos online or reading pattern after pattern - at least I do. I thought I'd be basic and sew a simple skirt, and by simple I mean no zippers or buttons, just some handy dandy elastic. Using some fabric I had lying around, I set to work and the skirt turned out alright. It's a bit big, but I wore it to school this past Monday. I began working on another one and need to finish the hem and waist. The Wal-mart closest to us hasn't remodeled yet like the others meaning fabric is still there! For a little over $5 and some time, I can have myself a new skirt. I don't wear shorts much when it's warm, so skirts and sundresses are my favorites. Having more skirts for school is always a bonus! Here's a photo of the navy skirt I finished, the almost finished skirt, and then some fabric I haven't yet touched. I'll have to think of something crafty to do with the scraps.

I hope to be able to whip these skirts up in an hour or less one day. I do love the idea of making my own skirts for $5.

*I have also been working on a crocheted fabric rug. I was browsing Wal-mart's fabric section over the break and came across these rolls of fabric called Stripz. I had always wanted to buy some, but couldn't decide if spending the $20 would be worth it. To my surprise, they were marked down to just $9! There happened to be a print I fell in love with so I snatched it up and headed home. I had a vision of this pretty crocheted rug in my future laundry room. Right now our "laundry room" is more like a closet so the rug won't work in there. I began working on the project and love it. I sewed the strips end to end and used two rolls. I believe I'm going to go back and crochet some rounds of darker green fabric to finish it off. I bought 3 rolls, and am saving the last roll of my stripz for some sort of matching curtain? when we have a laundry room. Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead, but what wife wouldn't want something pretty to look at while doing the chore of laundry?

I finished my second roll of fabric and am now on the hunt for a darker green to finish it off. Such a simple project!

*In North Carolina we had a relaxing time. Sadly, my youngest sister and mom were away on a trip to Europe with my sister's school. Ok, sad for us, but definitely not sad for them! We really missed seeing them though. We did enjoy visiting my other sister at UNC Chapel Hill for a day and hanging out with my dad around the house. Matthew and I visited my grandma and cousins in Virginia, and played in the tall wildflowers at my papa's house. We were sure to stop by Missy's Grill, the local hotdog place, to get our fill of the delicious hotdogs. The 10 hour drive was worth it as always, and we look forward to the day we are there for good!

Outside of Missy's Grill. Hotdogs with ketchup and slaw... yum, yum.

With the sis at UNC. Can't wait to see her more!

Wildflowers a.k.a. weeds. I tell my husband that I've always wanted to wear a white sundress with a straw hat, and have my photo taken in a field of all sorts of wildflowers. This is the closest I've come, lol.

That about sums up my break. It's dark out now and my mind is slowly switching into school mode as I think about what I need to gather for tomorrow. We've planted lima bean plants this week and our caterpillars arrived as well! Much excitement in the classroom as always :)

2 Months in One Post!

About a week and a half ago, I was flying over Georgia during this time. I had about 45 minutes before the plane touched down in Florida and it was back to my husband (smile) and work. I had just spent Labor Day weekend in NC with my family and it was great!

So much has taken place since I last took the time to write. I spoke of a cruise with my family to the Bahamas and shortly following our return, Matthew and I boarded a plane to Ohio for a week with his loved ones. We stayed in his parents’ home, visited with many friends and family, and relaxed during our time up there. My in-laws planned a reception for us at their church that Saturday so those who couldn’t come to the wedding could come fellowship and see wedding photos, etc. It was nice to celebrate our wedding once more. We even had a small, beautiful wedding cake! Aside from seeing some of Matthew’s friends, we spent the majority of our time relaxing with family that we don’t see often. Actually, I hadn’t seen them since the wedding and that was 8 months ago! We held our three week old nephew (that makes 4! And one niece!), toured OSU where his brother attends, played card games with Matt’s grandma, and drove around Bellaire – enjoying the sights of his hometown. It’s neat to visit his side of the family because his parents live in a log cabin they built in the hills around 30 years ago. The property is the same property that his Grandma grew up on and the sidewalk, as well as the stairs from the house still remain. Also, the local high school was attended by Matthew’s dad, brother, sister, sis-in-law, and bro-in-law. Lots of family history in a small town that I find interesting because I’m married into it ☺



On our way back down from Ohio, we stopped in Charlottesville, VA for the night. It’s a city we have considered re-locating to in order to be closer to family. We drove around looking for garage sales as a way to get to know the area better. We were praying that if God wanted us there, we would know. We left feeling ok about the place. It’s beautiful and very historic – but we didn’t feel a strong pull in that direction. I don’t think God has closed the door completely, but it’s not in our near future. From there, we drove to my parents’ house for the night. It’s always so good to go home. I love being there at the house and seeing my sisters and parents. Walking around the property is exhilarating. The two of us left there with an even greater longing to move. We even considered moving things out of our apartment and into my parent’s basement starting Thanksgiving if I didn’t get a full-time teaching job… which leads me to my next news…

Driving home from NC after our Ohio trip was a long, bittersweet drive. We were sad to leave family behind and go back to life in the Sunshine State. We were happy though to know that our quaker parrot we’d been wanting was weaned and ready for pick up! Yes, we now have a new addition to our family – Sunny ☺ We decided on that name because it seemed fitting for a bird from Florida. He’s about 4 months old now and has quite a personality. Matthew has enjoyed building perches and play areas for him and we enjoy spending time with him, waiting to see what noise he’ll make next. So far he can say “step-up,” and makes a LOT of noise when we turn on the tv. Here he is:



Now, back to my news. On the drive back down to Florida, I received a phone call to come in for an interview at a local elementary school the following day. Well, I went and was called back the same day to come in again for a second interview, and then was called later that evening to let me know that I got a kindergarten position! I was so incredibly excited. It’s such a blessing! And here I thought I’d have to go back to subbing all school year… When Matt got home that evening, I waited for him to greet me with a kiss and I said, “do you know who you just kissed?” A bit confused, he said, “yes, my wife.” I then proceeded to tell him that he kissed not just his wife, but a teacher! We went out to dinner to celebrate and now I have a classroom of my very own.
I can’t believe we have been in school for four weeks now. My class of 18 is quite wonderful! The team of 8 K teachers I work with are such a blessing as well. So far, so good for a first year! It’s been exhausting and overwhelming, but each time I’m in the classroom most of that fades away. Now Matthew and I can really begin saving to move out of state, Lord willing! We discuss and pray about it quite often.



The day is coming to a close and sleep comes earlier now that I have so many little ones to care for. It feels great to post again. Hopefully once I get a better grasp on a schedule and routine, I’ll be able to post more! I look forward to catching up on my reading of other blogs…

A Mess of Blessings

What a week it has been! I can't believe this time last Wednesday I was on a flight with my husband to NC. It was an incredible trip and seeing family was so wonderful. Here's some trip highlights:

Thursday morning we visited my Papa. It was good to see him because I'm not sure how much longer he'll be around. Afterward, we came home and took my youngest sister to have her ears pierced - second hole. That was part of our birthday present to her.




I can't believe she's 16! She got her license while we were there so we were sure to have her drive us around some :)

On Friday, Matthew, Meredith, and I went to visit my other sister at UNC Chapel Hill. She's a music major there and loves it. It was fun walking down Franklin St. and the beautiful campus (probably my favorite!) and seeing her dorm. We hung out in her room while she went to Spanish class, then took her home so we could all get ready for Meredith's party. Matthew took a picture of us with a UNC ram (not the official, I don't think) - he was just wandering around the area...



Friday night was the Sweet 16 party. What fun! It was held at this classic soda shop and they let us have the entire front portion of the restaurant. There was a stage for karaoke, a dance floor, everything was in the classic red/black/white colors, and of course there was unlimited soda! It was the cutest place and I'd love to go back on a Saturday when they have live music. Matt & I provided the music for the party and even sang karaoke with my middle sister and her friend (nothing to brag about). The cake was very unique and overall it was a great birthday for her. Here's just a couple of the photos taken that night. I don't have a good one of the inside of the place - it's on another camera in NC.





Saturday morning Matt & I left with my mom to go visit relatives on both sides of the family. They all live in the same town which makes visiting easy! I love going to Danville, VA because it's where we've always gone to see family since I was born. I like the familiarity of it and the memories the town has. We started off seeing my Grandma - she's the crazy one (dad's side) :) - and then saw my mom's aunt, stopped for lunch at Momma 'Possums (yum!) and off to visit mom's sister. When we left my aunt's house we visited my cousin and her husband at their adorable home. They've been married a year now and seeing their house made me hope Matthew and I can have one of our own closer to everyone soon! Our Saturday was busy, but completely worth it!

We had a unique opportunity while in town. Matthew's cousin happens to go to college somewhat locally and was in an art show this past weekend. The art show was in Durham, less than 20 minutes from the house. We took advantage of the opportunity since Matt doesn't get to see his cousins often and headed to the big art show. Adam is so talented! You can see some of his work in the background of our picture. You can view his artwork at www.achmoser.wordpress.com



Sunday was filled with church, relaxing, and good-byes as we boarded our plane back to Florida. It was 5 days filled with family blessings.

The blessings kept coming when we got back to our apartment. On my way to a sub job Monday morning, I got a call from a secretary at a school in Orlando letting me know a temporary teaching position for Kindergarten opened up until the end of the year. She basically told me the job was mine if I got all my paperwork in and the county approves, etc. Overwhelmed at first, I wasn't sure what to do. Just the week before I had come home from a day at that school and told Matthew I wasn't crazy about going back there again. Then the next day the secretary called and said she was going to use me more... and now she's been bending over backwards to help me get this job! I finished all the paperwork today so I now just wait to hear something. I'm still going to try to sub somewhere tomorrow, since I've spent the last two days getting paperwork done and missed out on working. What a blessing it'll be if I do get it! Even though it's only for a month... it's consistent work and that means the stress of not knowing where I'm going or what I'm walking in to will be gone (for the most part!) It'll also be teacher pay for a month which would be great :) We'll see what happens...

Another blessing happened yesterday when the lady in charge of my summer job e-mailed and asked if I'd be willing to step up from servant leader (teacher) to site coordinator (more like a principal). It's a 5 week job for the Freedom School and I was looking forward to being a teacher to the students. The possibility of being site coordinator would be wonderful too! I've always wanted to organize and oversee things and this would be great experience. The pay is $800 more too - not that money is everything, but every little bit does help pay those bills and Matt's student loans. I won't know until Monday because she is waiting to hear from the current site coordinator about whether or not she will be able to fulfill the role based on family problems. God's been opening some major doors this week and I'm anxious to see where they go...

My evening has been quite relaxing - I baked us some grouper, caught up on e-mails, drank pineapple smoothies with my husband by the pool, and played an intense game of Rummy while watching Planet Earth. He won by the way... we were tied and then his natural winning ability took over :( Next time I'll get him! Time for bed...

Going Home!

This evening Matthew and I will be flying home to see my family. I can't wait! We'll come back late Sunday night - so we'll be able to enjoy 4 days there. I probably won't post while I'm there, unless we have some down time. If not, I'll be sure to post about the trip next week. Our plans are to simply relax and enjoy being with family :) We haven't seen them since the wedding in December and haven't been home to NC since Thanksgiving. We'll also be providing entertainment/music for my youngest sister's Sweet 16 party Friday night and visiting all my extended family on Saturday. It's so nice that my relatives on both sides of the family live less than an hour away - in the same town. Matt and I will also go hang out with my other sister at UNC Chapel Hill (she's a freshman!) on Friday and bring her home for the weekend.

Here's pictures from the last time we were home.

That's Dad and Matt putting up Christmas decorations. I love having the house decorated!

This is me with my sisters ~ Hillary is in the middle and Meredith is on the right.

Well, I have much to do before we leave! I must get busy tackling the things on my list...