Welcome!

My name is Jessica.  I live in the beautiful area of Grand Coulee Dam, Washington.  I have a beautiful baby boy named Jackson and the best man as my husband.  I hope that you can use my writings as encouragement and inspiration. 

I write about all the parts of my life.  To read about the crazy antics of my little boy, check out the "Adventures in Motherhood" tab.  My adventures as a 2nd grade teacher can be found under the "Life as a Teacher" tab.  I also like to reflect each week on the sermon that my pastor, Steve Archer, gives at Faith Community Church in Electric City, WA.  Those can be found under the "Sermon Reflections" tab.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that something posted here touches your life, even if it is just by giving you a short giggle for a moment.  God Bless!

Unshakeable

One of my favorite things about moving back to Grand Coulee is that I get to return to my old church of Faith Community. Don't get me wrong, I loved my church in Anchorage, but the church in Grand Coulee is where I truly developed a relationship with the Lord.  Another reason I am happy to return to Faith Community is because for some reason, the messages and the songs affect me and hit my heart harder than they did at my old church.

Today's sermon really made me reflect on my personal relationship with God and Jesus.  I realized that on Sundays, the sermons really makes me think and reflect, but by Sunday night, I have forgotten about all of it. I don't want to be a Christian on Sundays only, but instead I want God's love to pour out of me every minute of every day.  So I decided that every Sunday Sermon, I am going to get on here, and write about the sermon.  It will be my way of reflecting and really letting the message penetrate into the deepest cracks of my soul.

The message this morning was called "Unshakeable".  Normally, Pastor Steve will focus the message on one small passage in the bible and pull a few verses from other parts to support the main idea of there sermon.  Today, he was all over the place, and I LOVED it!  Yes, it was slightly difficult to follow along because I couldn't find each passage quick enough to follow along, so it made me have to just listen.  I think there is something to be said about just listening to a passage of the Bible being read aloud.  I closed my eyes and let the Word fill me head and heart. The main point that I took from today's message it is that we, as Christ's followers, need to be unshakeable. 

The main passage that he read from was Mark 13.  In this passage, Jesus is talking about the end of the world.  "...But the one who endures to the end will be saved." We as Christians will we tested, deceived, and judged, but we just stand strong.  Mark 13:31 reads "Heaven and Earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear". When I read this, I put emphasis on the word never, like NEVER EVER EVER! The Word of the Lord will be strong. Earthquakes, famine, fire, drought, and everything else horrible will come, but as long as His Word is living in our hearts, we will still be standing when all others have fallen.

Pastor Steve, in making an analogy to attacks on the buildings of our capital, said "Our hope is not in the buildings, but in the people inside."  I just loved this.  It really made it clear to me that we need to have faith in God, and not the things of this world.  The earth will shake as will our lives, but His Words will stand strong and will be there to help us back onto our feet if we falter.  .

Having God's Word in our lives does not mean that we have His word in our head, but we need it in our heart.  James 1:22 tell us "But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." We need to live His word.  We need to live our lives in a way that allows God's love to radiate through us and shine so bright that no one can look away.

In summary, what I take from this message is that we need to have the Lord's Word as the foundation of our lives, so that when our earth shakes, for whatever reason, He will hold us together and keep us from falling.  In this world, it is inevitable that that our lives will be shaken,  but with Christ as our redeemer and with His Word in our hearts, we will be UNSHAKEABLE!

Going Inside the Building

Today was great! The superintendent of the district opened up the building for employees to come in and look around, which means I got to see my classroom for the first time! Yipee! The outside of the school is just beautiful.  I only got pictures of my classroom, but if you are interested in looking at the floorplans, etc of the building, they are at www.gcdsd.org and you will see a place to click for anything you may want.  My classroom is on the second floor. 

 

Floor plan picture taken from www.gcdsd.org with arrow and text "my classroom" added by me.

 

Now remember, I will be teaching 2nd grade.  The floor plan says that my classroom is a 3rd grade room, but they had to add extra 1st grade classrooms (and kindergarten I think?) so everything down stairs kind of got shifted over, and thus I got shifted up.  When my prinicipal told me that I was going to be in the upstairs room, she said that she had put me upstairs as opposed to one of the other 2nd grade teachers because I had a year of experience while the other new hire is fresh out of college.  So by putting me upstairs, the new teacher and the veteran teacher will be right next to each other.  This makes it easier on the new teacher for if she needs help.  This made me feel good, like she trusts me to be on my own.  

Being upstairs though kind of messes with the plans of the school.  Down stairs, each classroom has a set of cubbies in the hallway for students use (store their coats, lunches, backpacks, etc).  Upstairs, there are lockers set up in the same way and for the same use for those classrooms.  With the original plan of 3rd grade and higher being upstairs being changed by having me up there with them, my 2nd graders may be required to use the lockers.  I talked to the superintendent about it, and he said that there will need to be a conversation about whether my students will go down stairs and use cubbies or use the lockers assigned to the room we are in.  After thinking about it, I think I would prefer to have the students stay upstairs and use lockers, but we will see. 

Now I will show you my classroom!  Here is a panoramic shot of my classroom.

I am calling this my "teacher wall".  On top of the white shelves will be two white boards that will slide hiding the storage area behind it.  With those, there will be an interactive projector.  Also, in each classroom there is a microphone/speaker system.  I will get to wear a microphone around my neck so I will not have to speak as loudly and I can save my voice.  This will be a life saver for those days where I may have lost my voice due to a sore throat or something.

 

Along this wall, there is a sink and additional storage.  There is also a built in counter to be used for student computer centers.  (In this picture, you can kind of see the lockers outside of the classroom in the hall that I was talking about earlier). The room is about 2/3 carpet and 1/3 linoleum.  

Ok, so this isn't actually my wall.  This picture came from a 1st grade room downstairs, but you may notice in the panoramic shot that one wall is completely empty minus the items leaning up against it.  When everything is all finished, this is what that wall will look like.  The middle is a white board (the dots are part of the big sticker that is on the board protecting it before it is used) and then two bulletin boards on either side.  The wall that these are on is a "self-healing" wall, so it won't show holes from staples or thumb tacks after they are removed.

My favorite part of my classroom is the view! It is just stunning.  Here is a picture of what I will see whenever I look out my window in my classroom:

Ignore the nasty eyesore of the half torn down building...but I must pause for a moment and shed a tear in honor of my old high school...Ok, now looking past that, you can see the beautiful Grand Coulee Dam.  This picture doesn't even do it justice as to how well I can see the dam, but it is just magnificent.  I have the best view in the building, and I even thanked my principal for giving me such a gorgeous location. 

I was never a teacher in the old building, but some things I was told today about how this building is so much better include:

• Windows that open
• A/C that works
• Tiled floor in the classrooms (this was about 50/50 on whether teachers liked this or not)
• A huge library (and I mean HUGE!)

 While there, I also got to see some of the furniture that I will get.  My classroom will have desks (yay!).  These are not the traditional desks that you would think of though.  These desks are trapezoid shaped, so that means that they will fit together in multiple different arrangements for groups. 

So I am super excited about my classroom.  As of today, we were told that everything was on schedule to have the building opened to teachers and staff starting on September 2, that's just 18 days away!

While I was there, I also go to meet other teachers, including the veteran 2nd grade teacher. She was really nice and even gave me her phone number so I can call or text her if I needed help with anything. 

Update

It has been a while since my last post, so here are some updates about Jackson: he has started fully crawling (no flopping) and pulling himself up to a standing position, he understands the word "no" and cries when ever we say it to him, and he has really attached himself to Alex's parents and now cries whenever they leave the room.  He is no longer sleeping through the night.  This part sucks, but since Alex is here to help me, it makes it OK.

Alex and I have come to an arrangement for deciding who has to get up with Jackson and when.  We take turns who gets up with him in the morning and the other person gets to sleep in. The person that gets to sleep in is the one that has to get up with Jackson if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Its been pretty good recently because he will only wake up once and it is normally before Alex or I actually fall asleep.

Updates on teaching:  I have signed and turned in my contract, which means I am officially an employee of the Grand Coulee Dam School District! Yay!  I also got an email a few days ago about the new building.  I will get to tour it on August 15, and then (assuming all goes as planned) I will be able to start setting up my classroom starting on September 2, with the first day of school being September 15.  I couldn't be more excited.  Its weird to think though that if I were still in Alaska working at my old school, I would be returning to work tomorrow, meaning my summer would be over.  Thank goodness I have another month plus to spend at home with my baby boy!

Update on Alex:  Alex has been offered a position as a Journeyman Electrician at a company in Moses Lake (about 1.5 hour commute).  Unfortunately he can't begin working there until he gets his Journeyman card for Washington State which can take a very, VERY long time.  Ugh.  I guess its good though because it means that he and I get to spend our days together with Jackson.

I joined a mommy group.  So far I have gone to Spring Canyon (local swimming location on Lake Roosevelt) with them.  While there, I got to meet the man that teacher P.E. and Weights at the high school.  It was nice talking with him about what teachers are still around and who have retired.

Well, that was a lot, but I figured I should update you all.  Hopefully I will get on again soon and keep it up to date, but right now I can hear Jackson being to stir, so thanks for reading, and I will update soon!

7 Month Old Flying

I was offered the 2nd grade teaching position in Grand Coulee on June 4th.  I happily accepted the position and Alex and I started planning the big move from Alaska to Washington.  We had already purchased airline tickets to fly down to Grand Coulee for vacation leaving on July 1st, so we decided that the best plan of action would be to keep those tickets, fly down, and change my return ticket to my father-in-law's name.  They would then fly back up to Alaska, pack the Uhaul, and drive all of our belongings and our two pups down to Washington.  This meant, that between June 4 and July 1, I was packing nonstop (that is, at least whenever Jackson would let me).  Everything needed to be packed by the time that we left for Washington on July 1, and thus, my house started to look like this:

 

 

We finished pack just hours before we left for the flight on July 1.  I was really worried about Jackson on the plane.  He did really good in the airport, and even fell asleep in his stroller while waiting to board for our flight.

Once we got on the plane, Jackson was wide awake, and I was stressed.  But he really enjoyed looking out the window at the clouds.

He finally feel asleep about an 1 1/2 hours into the flight.  Thank goodness, because he was getting very fussy and I was getting very stressed.  Once he fell asleep, he was out for the entire flight and woke up only once we were on the train in Seattle and a group of flight attendants all burst out laughing.  I hope to never fly with a baby again, way too stressful!
  

Sleeping through the Night? Is this a Joke?

For about a week now, Jackson has been sleeping through the night (minus the occasional need for the plug).  My mom says that 7 months is about the time that my sisters and I started sleeping though the night, but I am still skeptical.  This isn't the first time that he has slept through the night.  Back when he was about 3 months old he started sleeping through the night, but then Alex left for a 2 week business trip in Haines, Alaska and Jackson got sick all on the same day.  Ever since, he hasn't slept through the night, that is until recently.  Not only has he been sleeping through the night, but he is going to sleep so much easier. I really hope this is not just a phase, but that it is here to stay.

The funny thing is, that I am still waking up at the normal times that he used to wake up.  I lean over and turn on the baby monitor (not sure what I am checking for, not like he will just get out of the crib on his own), then roll back over and try to get back to sleep. I admit that I am feeling much more refreshed than the previous 7 months of my life (and more if you count the "sleep" you get in pregnancy).  

By the way, I just love watching him sleep.  I recommend to all parents to invest in a video baby monitor.  I love that I can check on him without disturbing him.

First Blog, Bear with Me!

So bear with me, this will be my first blog (minus the ones I had to do as an assignment in my college class).  My intention with this blog is to just write about what I am going through as a new mom.  I will start by introducing you to me family, starting with me.

 

My name is Jessica.  I work full time as a 2nd grade teacher for the Grand Coulee Dam School District in Eastern Washington but first and foremost, I am a full time mom to a wonderful 7 month old boy.  I graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage in May of 2013 and just moved back to my home town of GCD as of July 1st. I am so happy to be home and excited to start my new job in the fall.

 I married my husband in December 2011.  We had a beautiful wedding with a Christmas theme (my favorite holiday).  Alex is my rock.  He is always there for me, no matter my mood.  He understands and knows what I need many times before I even know.  The stupidest things make him laugh, but it just makes me love him more.  He is my rock, my soul mate, and my one true love.  Alex supports me in everything that I do, including quitting his job and following my career to Washington.  Currently, he is driving with is dad somewhere between Glennallen and Tok, Alaska in a uhaul loaded down with all our belongings and two dogs, while I stay in Washington relaxing. And, must we not forget that beautiful baby boy he gave me!

Meet Jackson Alexander Tufts, born on December 5, 2013 at 2:29 pm.  He weighted 8 lbs, 2 oz, and was 21.5 inches long. He is now 7 months old, and at his 6 month check up, he was 19 lbs, 3 oz, and was 27.5 inches long.  He is growing like a weed.  I feel like he learns a new skill everyday.  He is currently working towards crawling.  He can do it, but he still has some learning to do.  He has also just started lifting his hands into the air when he wants to be picked up.  I know that Jackson is not an easy baby, but I wouldn't trade him for any other baby.




If you made it this far into the post I congratulate you and feel pride that I was able to engage you long enough to get to this point.  So, the goal of this blog is for me to talk about life as a full time mom.  The name of the blog comes from the fact that I am noticing how much I am like my mother.  The things I say, and the things I do all make me feel like I am watching an old recording of her.  Whenever I have a question about how to take care of Jackson, she is on speed dial (do people still use that??).  Without her, I am sure that I would have ended up hiding in a corner crying while Jackson screamed (well, more than once that is).  I hope to use this blog as a tribute to my mom and express my extreme gratitude towards her!