Omaha Shmomaha

Well, I did it. 

I flew all by myself. 

No husband to hold my hand and tell me where to go or the next step.

It only took me 22 years... 

I'm such a wuss when it comes to serious things like this. I take after my dad. 

ANXIETY

But I did it! Layover in the crazy Denver airport and everything! I even got myself a taxi when I finally arrived to Omaha.

My solo travel essentials

I cried.

Because I didn't want to leave my husband, let alone Utah. 

I mean, look at that.

Stunning if you ask me.

I haven't even been here for two weeks and I can't wait to go back. Summer can't come soon enough! 

I love you, Utah. 

My four dollar, five minute project

Love this kind of craft.

The quick, easy, no mess kind.

Okay... I'll admit it. I love ANY craft. Even if its something I do at work with the 1st graders. You can never get too old for some crayola crayons, safety scissors, and a purple glue stick.

ANYWAYS!! :)

I purchased two packs of these little arrow clips at Target in the dollar section. One single dollar. One of them. Less than you pay for the parking meter around here.

I got me some "kids craft magnets" at Walmart on my next visit (that's what the old toothless worker lady called them).

I scurried my little tooshie home; over the river (literally) and through the fog to my humble, frozen, and human-less house.

PS- Kelly, please come home.

PPS- that is probably not a correct usage of a semi colon. Over it.

I plugged in my glue gun to heat up while I munched on some carrots and did dishes.

It was finally time.... Creating time! Woot woot!

Simple... Glue, place, done.

And look how cute!

Why they call me Mrs. White

I present to you...

Bloomer Elementary!

This is my place of employment. It is a public elementary school with lots of adorable, grimy, smiley, germy, tricky, funny kids.

Within all of those kids, there is one in particular who I am paired with. I won't tell you his name because I don't know if that's like against some HIPPA law or something.. Do those exist in this field of work?

This sweetheart of a boy is visually impaired. Not blind... just visually impaired. He has a special machine that can bring the teachers face closer to him or zoom in on a book he is reading. My job is really simple. I help him with his machine and help him stay on task.

So that is the basic idea of what I am doing these days. I love spending time with kids. They are so witty and hilarious to be around.

On Monday, I told my little guy that I got him a Christmas present but I needed him to show me that he could be really good and do what is asked for the rest of the week and I would give it to him on Friday.

He asked me, "What is today?"

I said, "Monday..."

He goes,"(gasp) Monday?! It's almost Friday!!"

haha Yes little L.. It is almost Friday!

We had an ugly sweater day on Friday.

I got told by three teachers "your sweater isn't even ugly! It's really cute!"

bahaha

And that is how these ugly sweater makers stay in business. 

xoxo

Mrs. White

PS -- ♥    I love being Mrs. White. I wouldn't choose any other Mrs. to be.

Brought to you by yours truly

Okay this is hilarious and I laugh at myself more and more every time I watch it.

But in the spirit of Christmas, I give you a video of our living room decor.

I tried to take pictures but decided a video would capture it a little better and would be way more fun.

For you that is.

Because I felt like an idiot.

And I talked real quiet because I didn't want Kelly to hear me from upstairs.

And I'm using some lame-o camera that plugs into my computer. Really awesome.

And I'm sitting on the floor. 

And don't look at the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner. Crap.. now you're going to look! :)

And maybe I should have just stuck with good ole pictures.

Annnnnnddd.... here it goes!

There you have it! 

The first and probably last video of Rileys Little Secrets!

five minutes later
Oh heavens guys... I just watched the video myself and the quality blows. 
I know  you are really concerned and really wanted to see the details of our home. 
Lucky you!! 
I took pictures. 
Now you get pictures, too!

Bonus! Now you get to see the lights from outside, and a little detail!

 That nativity is sitting on the "hobo hutch" which desperately needs some TLC. Mainly a good stain job. Don't worry, I know it looks a little junky now. But I love its character!

PS, no we do not have a Christmas tree.. lame sauce, I know. 

Merry Christmas!

Mom, I did not forget about you

Uhm, HELLO!  

MY MOM CAME TO OMAHA FOR THANKSGIVING!

Since we aren't good at taking pictures, I decided to compensate by that extra large announcement.

Playing games after the big Thanksgiving meal. 

There were millions of pies and scrumptious muddy buddies.

We started our Black Friday off kind of slow. We first attempted Toys R Us but decided it was a bust because they were only letting 50 people in the store at once. One person comes out, one person goes in. Slowest moving line ever! 

Next was target. I am not joking when I say the line extended into the field that is next to the building. Even with it being the main store we wanted, we were NOT going to wait in that line. We are talking thousands of frozen humans here. So we hit up Shopko and got some killer $5 scarfs.

Then we went back to Target, didn't have to wait in line, and still got everything we wanted. 

Boom! 

We went back home to eat some leftover before heading out for round two.

Okay kids..  here is where the madness begins. 

Victorias Secret. 

A fight broke out before they even opened the doors. 

This is a video of what it was like.

Keep in mind we are at a mall where there was a shooting five years ago. Sketch. 

NO JOKE! 

My mom and I gave up even trying to get anything once we were in the store. We stood in the middle of the madness, unable to go anywhere, being pushed around, swaying back and forth with the crowd. Hilarious!! We stood there, arms linked, dying laughing. That is what that picture above is. VS chaos.

We lost Caramie.. she was probably underneath us! She kind of got trampled and almost lost her shoes and purse. Later when we were in Gap, she found one of the huge clips that VS uses to hold their sale signs on boards in her purse!

This is where it gets serious.. 

The Shooting Scare

We went to a few other stores and then were trying to finish and get out of there. It was late and our beds were calling. I left my mom in the hallway of the mall to catch Caramie and Carrie as they came out of VS and I went a couple stores down to wait in line with Emily at Express. So there we are, it's almost our turn, and all of a sudden there are men (grown men) running to the front of the store. Not saying anything. Worry in their faces. Everyone started running to the front, by the registers. No one really knew what was going on. Someone said there was a gun. We didn't know if it was just express or if it was the whole mall. Emily and I hid behind a rack of tights and panties (haha) and tried to call Caramie. Our phones wouldn't go through... we were all separated. Scariest 30 minutes of my life! The stores had closed their gates at the front of the store so that we were all locked in. We finally were able to talk to the other girls and we all calmed down. On the bright side, we jumped to the register and were the first ones to check out. Then as soon as that gate opened we were out of there and scurrying our little turkey-butts to the car! 

Scary, right? 

Turns out, it was just a scuffle between two fellow Black Friday shoppers and there was no gun. A metal sign had fallen off the table and hit the floor and people thought it was gun shots. A lot of craziness for some $15 boots! 

My mom and I went back out at 5am to see what else we could score. We did some damage. 

Oops. 

My cute mom taking a nap with Cora and Ayzlie. 

Cora saying, "I want you to sit heeeeeeeere!!"

Farris Wheel time and Scheels! 

 We went to this funny donut shop.. look at all the cat posters. Crazy lady. 

Caramies favorite restaurant. Blue. 

I tried sushi.

Yuck. 

Not for me.

 Last but not least.... I show you what happens when you put bread in a warm oven to help is raise a bit faster. 

You forget about it! 

Well, at least we do!

I found this two days after my mom had left. SO funny.

Poor Kelly had been studying his little noggin off.. he did allow himself to join in on a couple of the festivities but for the most part, he is a very dedicated student. 

So proud of him and thankful for his hard work! 

Love him to pieces.

It's official

Phew! I did it. 

I quit my job! 

No more CVS Pharmacy on my itinerary... 

I really have been done since last Friday but I have been so busy being lazy that I haven't blogged about it yet. 

We had to wear bar code stickers on our hands at work to "scan our credentials" for everything we did. This was the second to last day I had to wear the dumb thing. 
Woot woot!

I really wanted a job that was more of a 8:00-4:00 kind of thing and one that I would be able to go home for Christmas and Summers. 
Problem solved. 
Prayers answered. 
Flights home booked. 
I got a job as a para-educator. 
Basically, I will be working one on one with an elementary student that is struggling. 
I love children. 
I really am so excited and I hope I love it as much as I think I am going to! 

We are just waiting to hear back from my background check which seems like is taking foreeeeever. 

a festive night full of dancing little elves.

These little cutie-shmooty girls had a dance recital last week. 

They are hilarious on the dance floor.

I love my not children children. 

Catch that?