We were married on June 28, 2002 in Oakland, California. For our first anniversary in 2003, Brian had a friend who husbanded horses and she let us come our and ride a couple of her grandest steeds in Benjamin, Utah. We found a secluded area in the hills and had a picnic and then rode back. Brian was working for Nebo School District and he may have just gotten a job as a migrant coordinator in Provo School District. I had just graduated from Brigham Young University that spring with my bachelors and I was looking for a job. We had been living in an apartment complex just south of BYU campus called Union Square. I decided that I had enough of apartment living and so we moved to a little house in south Provo that same summer where we lived for two years. While we lived in that little rented house Brian entered a Special Education teaching program and I finished my coursework for my own teaching certificate. I had been working as an instructional assistant in the ESL program in Nebo School District and Brian had been teaching in emotional/behavioral Special Education unit also in Nebo.
We bought our first house in July 2005. The house we bought was in Springville, Utah. By this time we were both teachers at Springville Junior High. I also started teaching classes in the ESL endorsement program at BYU in August 2005. At the junior high, I taught ESL and ninth general education English classes for two years on a 2/3 contract and then I taught a year of eighth grade and ESL as a full time teacher. I continued full time when I returned to BYU to get my master's degree and reading endorsement. I taught ESL, reading support, general education and ninth grade honors English for the next five years. When Brian finished his Special Education certification program, he changed positions from the ED/BD unit to mild/moderate resource English. By the time I finished my master's program in 2010, Brian was starting his and he had also started to teach classes at BYU. Hannah was born in October 2011. My in-laws lived with us from the time she was born until June 2012 (going back to their own house for short breaks).
This little narrative explains why after that first anniversary, we really have never celebrated much. Most years, Brian worked at the district migrant health fair so we could have extra money. Then we were in classes getting more certifications and additional degrees. In August 2008 we went to Europe for the first time for an academic conference and so we decided not to do anything particular then because we were saving for Europe. We have been back to Europe in 2010 and twice in 2012. This year we are in PhD programs. The year that we had Hannah we didn't manage to get a picture of the cake. This year, I did not make one at all. One year when we are again unshackled from school, we will go on a fabulous anniversary excursion, but for right now, we settle for a dinner out and the company of our little girl.
We bought our first house in July 2005. The house we bought was in Springville, Utah. By this time we were both teachers at Springville Junior High. I also started teaching classes in the ESL endorsement program at BYU in August 2005. At the junior high, I taught ESL and ninth general education English classes for two years on a 2/3 contract and then I taught a year of eighth grade and ESL as a full time teacher. I continued full time when I returned to BYU to get my master's degree and reading endorsement. I taught ESL, reading support, general education and ninth grade honors English for the next five years. When Brian finished his Special Education certification program, he changed positions from the ED/BD unit to mild/moderate resource English. By the time I finished my master's program in 2010, Brian was starting his and he had also started to teach classes at BYU. Hannah was born in October 2011. My in-laws lived with us from the time she was born until June 2012 (going back to their own house for short breaks).
This little narrative explains why after that first anniversary, we really have never celebrated much. Most years, Brian worked at the district migrant health fair so we could have extra money. Then we were in classes getting more certifications and additional degrees. In August 2008 we went to Europe for the first time for an academic conference and so we decided not to do anything particular then because we were saving for Europe. We have been back to Europe in 2010 and twice in 2012. This year we are in PhD programs. The year that we had Hannah we didn't manage to get a picture of the cake. This year, I did not make one at all. One year when we are again unshackled from school, we will go on a fabulous anniversary excursion, but for right now, we settle for a dinner out and the company of our little girl.
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