First Day of School

Today was Rob's first day of school. He didn't actually have any of his grad classes, but he did teach his first class, Spanish 105 at 2:30. Here he is, the excellent Professor Rob on his way to school. Isn't he so handsome? :)

In case you were wondering, I did not have to pack or walk his lunch to him today. He ate before he left. More importantly, in case you were wondering, his class went great. He said some people didn't understand anything he was saying since he has to speak entirely in Spanish (I would definitely be in that camp!), but others were great at participating. This class is actually cramming an entire year's worth of Spanish into one semester so they can't waste any time. Typically, I expected the first day of class to be mainly going over the syllabus, but no, he actually had to teach a lesson today. No time to waste in Rob's class! He worked so hard to get everything ready and organized, going so far as to memorize most of the students' names and faces since he could see them online before class.

I should probably stop blogging and let him tell the rest of the day on his blog, http://mexispanolicano.blogspot.com/. You should check it out if you haven't already. Needless to say it was a good day and I'm really proud of my teacher husband!

Stay At Home Spouse

Considering we don't have children I can't be a stay at home mom so I've recently dubbed myself a "stay at home spouse". I could also go by the title of chauffeur, chef, housemaid, active job seeker, etc, but why be specific when I do all those things as a stay at home spouse?

Since Rob started his week long orientation on Monday I've been home by myself all day. The IU students returned yesterday and today making it almost impossible to get anywhere by car so I've resigned myself to not go anywhere which really is fine with me. I can barely find my way around this town anyways. The first day, Monday, was so refreshing. I haven't been by myself for weeks and my little introverted self just soaked up all the alone time. I've also started writing out small goals for myself every day (ironically, I had a similar list when I had a "real" job) so that at the end of the day I actually feel like I accomplished something. Crossing things off a list just feels so good. You should try it if you don't already.

Here's a short run-down of my daily life as a stay at home spouse:

7:15 am -- alarm goes off for Rob to get up and get ready

7:20 am -- alarm goes off again. I rub his back and encourage him to get up

7:25 am -- alarm again. I push him a little bit and he eventually gets up. I lay there until he's in the shower and then get up and make him oatmeal. (Yesterday I missed this step and fell back asleep and he was almost late because he had to make his own oatmeal...I decided I was not being a good stay at home spouse and decided from here on out I better get up on time)

8:20 am -- say goodbye to Rob and go back to bed

Somewhere between 9 and 9:45 am -- I get up and chide myself for being a lazy butt. (In my defense though I was awake a good chunk of last night because Rob was ranting in his sleep in Spanish. And I was hot.)

9:45 - 10:30ish -- Go for a brisk walk

10:30 am -- eat breakfast and check my email (usually this is with high hopes of hearing back from a job I applied for or someone I emailed about a job. So far, no luck with that)

11:00 - 12:00 -- Read, journal, pray, drink coffee. It really has been great to have so much time for this these days

12:00 - 4:00 -- this part of the day so far has held various things. Today it involved an hour long walk to take Rob his lunch. I considered that my exercise for the day and probably lost four pounds in sweat alone. I am learning however that most drivers in Bloomington are very considerate of pedestrians and the sidewalks are nice for the most part. Monday I worked most of the afternoon on a really nice dinner for Rob and a friend from his program he invited over. I also take care of little things like changing our address on stuff, pay bills, clean, and research places I think I might want to work. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm doing with my life and what I think I might want to do with my life in the future.

4:00 - 5:30 -- Watch Oprah and work on dinner during Oprah

5:30 - 6:30 -- Eat dinner with Rob and talk about what I think I'm doing with my life

6:30 - 10:00 -- Since we have all this cable for an undetermined amount of time we've been watching tv some and hanging out together. Last night Rob had some "homework" meaning he had to work on a microteaching presentation for his class today. I am also learning that stay at home spouses (really spouses in general) have to be the best and biggest encouragers of their spouses. So I spent some time doing that last night too when Rob was feeling a bit overwhelmed by his assignment. Ironically, it is helpful for him because I am about at the Spanish level of what his students will be so I just tell him to practice on me and when I look really confused he knows he needs to slow down. It doesn't take much to confuse me in Spanish though so maybe that isn't the best judge for him....

Anyways, I can see how this whole being at home all day thing could get old real fast, but for now it's great and I can tell this is exactly the place I need to be for Rob and for our family. It's helping us move more slowly into our new life here and that is really good. Oh and I'm also learning that looking for a job is a full time job so it's probably good I don't have one of those yet...

The Bedinghaus' in Bloomington

I'm back, finally. (Side note: I have a new appreciation for people who have slow internet or no internet where they live. It probably helps with things like not wasting time on Facebook, but really, it must stink sometimes not having Internet. We finally got ours installed yesterday and now I can update you on our brand new life in Bloomington!)

Last Friday, August 14th, Bob, Lori, & Lauren Bedinghaus came to our house and helped us load up the Budget truck. We were so thankful for their help because we had so much stuff! I was embarrassed about how much stuff we had really.

At this point there is still room in the van for the family

Stuff in our old house still waiting to be packed. At this point I was starting to panic that we weren't going to get it all in. But we did. Whew.

This is how you eat breakfast when your kitchen table is packed...

It was a good reminder that we don't really need all this earthly stuff, but sometimes, you just don't know when you're going to need to use something! So Saturday we packed up more stuff -- the Budget truck was full, then we had my car, Rob's car, Lauren's truck, and Lori's van with more stuff....yea....it was quite the caravan that traveled to Bloomington.

We all made it in one piece and started unpacking. The Bedinghaus' stayed with us until Saturday evening which was great because they were so helpful in carrying all our stuff into our apartment....it was a lot of stuff.

Too bad we didn't have magic to move because this is in our new apartment, but it looks just like all the stuff in our other house

Sunday Rob and I spent the whole day unpacking because I do not like boxes sitting around. By Sunday evening we had almost everything unpacked and put away which really was quite a feat. Yea! No more boxes! It actually started to look like a home.

When we got married we didn't register for dinnerware because obviously with Royce Yoder Potter for a dad we didn't need to. For the past year we've been waiting for our dinnerware and using dishes that came with our rental house. Here, Rob is eating oatmeal out of a saucepan because we're still waiting for our dinnerware....which apparently is coming this week...thanks dad :)

Monday, my mom flew in from Pennsylvania and stayed with us until Thursday. It is honestly an understatement to say that my mom is a creative decorator. She helped us so much, especially in my kitchen where I have way less cabinet space than in our last house. We had a fun few days shopping for stuff for the house (she bought the "fun stuff" like new throw rugs and pillows and I was in charge of buying the "boring stuff" like a toilet plunger.) It was so good to have her here and I think she was able to relax too. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of her being here which is a bummer.

Then, Thursday night we were on our own for real. It was kinda overwhelming, but after a few tears, I was ok and we moved on to Friday & the weekend. We've made some new friends and have already had some people over to indoctrinate them with Settlers. :)

Our office

Our bedroom. Definitely bigger than our last one

This is a view from our front door into the living room and kitchen. You can also see our little patio out to the left.

Our apartment is under the stairs

And now, this all is starting to feel like real life. We've been preparing for this move and life in Bloomington for a while now and I'm glad to finally be here. Rob starts his week of orientation on Monday and then class the next Monday. I decided that starting tomorrow I will stop watching TV (at least cut back -- we have cable here, but they haven't put in our basic channel filter yet so I am learning how addicting Food Network is...) and start actively looking for a job. I am excited for this process and to see what the Lord has for us now.

So...anytime you find your way to Bloomington, Indiana, don't be afraid to stop in and see us. We'll blow up the air mattress for you and take you to a favorite restaurant we haven't discovered as of today. But we will find it by the time you come...!

Slate Run, Pennsylvania

And now, for a completely different vacation than the one on my last post....Rob and I just got back from Slate Run, Pennsylvania where my large extended family (43 people there this year!) gathers once a year to enjoy each other, play games, eat A LOT, and basically do the funny stuff families do together.

To give you some background, this cabin is nothing fancy. It was built in the 1930s by my grandfather and nine other men as a hunting cabin. As the men grew up and had families, they began to vacation there in the summers. Now, all the older men have passed away, but each one bequeathed the cabin membership to one of his children. In our family, my mom is the member and in her life, she has never missed a summer going to the cabin. While the cabin itself is nothing special, the memories it holds are. It's quite picturesque with a creek behind it and big mountains all around. The town, Slate Run, is really small, but there is a general store, Wolfies, that makes a killing off the kids in our family buying candy there all weekend.

The cabin. It literally sleeps about 15 people. A lot of people bring tents and thankfully there is a newer bathhouse outside

This is a view up Pine Creek, the creek behind the cabin. Our cabin is just around the bend on the right side of the photo.

This weekend was no exception to the rule that everyone has fun and gets to do whatever they want at the cabin. For me, this year was extra special because it was my first year sleeping in a tent instead of the cabin. Rob and I missed last year after our wedding. The only not fun part of sleeping in a tent was that for Rob and I, our brand new tent leaked during a huge storm. In the middle of the night. Those of you who know me well know that being wet not my my choice is not my idea of a good time.

Our tent before it got all wet and damp inside...

Drying out all our stuff the next day in the sun.

I also got caught in another big storm while hiking with Rob, my dad, and my cousin. Wet again. Otherwise, the sun shone and we hiked, tubed on the creek, went to this sweet swimming hole we know, played wiffle ball, volleyball, ate together, biked, and sat around and talked.

Rob and some of my younger cousins at the swimming hole. Once you cross this creek you climb up a little bit and then....

...jump off of this rock. The water is ice cold, so cold it literally takes your breath away. I am only so daring to jump off the rock, some people like to swing off the rope too.

One night we did a family American Idol. Family members brought music and costumes and practiced for this event so it was quite hilarious. Almost everyone lip synced so song choices included Susan Boyle (Britian's Got Talent lady), Long Black Train, If I Could Turn Back Time, a song by Johnny & June Cash, and two kids songs. I was the esteemed judge Paula, Rob was Randy, and my brother Ben was Simon.

Of course Paula had to wear sparkles!

This was an encore of the winners -- the three little guys in the middle -- Rob, Ben, and Heather are singing along because it was a song in Spanish

There's a lot more I could say about this wonderful family and our long weekend together, but I'll just put up a few more photos to describe things.

Rob and Heidi playing two person Settlers, the big game hit of the weekend

My mom reading to Rio and Mattias. Hmm...think she's hinting that she wants grandkids?? :)

This is a typical meal scene. We eat a late breakfast and an early dinner, plus many snacks in between

Every night this black bear came and roamed around our yard. He was pretty close by when my cousin Dave took this photo. One night we found his footprints on the porch steps! He also really liked peaches and corn cobs we found out.

Those of you who receive a Yoder Christmas card might see a version of this photo later this year...

The whole wonderful family (minus 8 in this photo)

Needless to say, this is probably one of the biggest highlights of our year and one of my favorite places on earth. I cried when we drove away this year because I was so sad it was over. The good part is there's always next year to look forward to and many more memories to be made with this family in between.

p.s. In case you were wondering, we're done vacationing for now and are busy walking into the next season of our life as we move to Bloomington on Saturday!