I think my husband’s post about Brad Schroder says it all. What’s the summary: do NOT hire Brad Schroeder‘s DJ service in Springfield, IL.
In April Jon made the trek up to Wheaton to ask for Jim’s blessing to marry Katie. However, being the loving boyfriend that he was, he waited until the school year started back up to go through with his plan. (Why, you ask? Well, Katie made a STUPID comment about how it would be exciting to get engaged during the school year to share it with her students…. even though she took it back the moment it came out of her mouth, Jon respectfully followed Katie’s wishes.)
The new school year brought mixed blessings for Katie as it was a great place to work, but it still had its difficulties. Heading into October, Katie asked Jon, “I know it’s Tuesday and it’s probably not going to work, but can we get away this weekend?” Jon took the opportunity to get away with his girlfriend because she had NEVER asked to take a weekend before. Together, they decided to head up to Breckenridge in the mountains. They made plans to go up, have dinner with some friends who were up there for a different reason, and then have a nice relaxing weekend.
Arriving in Breckinridge on Friday, October 2,2009, they checked into their hotel room and found out it was a top floor, mountain view studio. It was SUPER nice. Katie thought to herself, “This would be a nice place for Jon to propose.” She quickly got rid of the idea because SHE had asked to go away three days before and figured there was NO way Jon would come up with something in that short of time. Together, they went out to dinner with their friends and had a wonderful time. Afterwards, Jon wanted to go for a walk around the town. Even though it was late and things were closed and it was freezing cold, he insisted. They had a nice time, but Katie was cold and kept things moving.
When they finally got back to the hotel room, there was a great sigh of relief for Katie because it was finally warm! Before she could even get her coat off, she stopped dead in her tracks and GASPED! There were rose peddles spread all over the bed and a gift box at the head of the bed. Katie’s mind was RACING! “Oh my gosh, there are roses on the bed! Are we in the wrong room? How did he do this? Did he get the staff to do this? Did they do this in the wrong room? This is happening, he’s proposing! No, can’t be… that’s not a ring box…. why would he put a ring in a gift box….. ” the whole time afraid to turn around in case it was a mistake. Finally, Jon disrupted her racing thoughts with a gentle, “Katie, don’t you want to open your gift?”
Katie slowly made her way to the bed and got the gift. It was wrapped with wrapping paper and everything (Jon barely puts tissue paper in gift bags). She slowly opened the paper as to not destroy the wonderful wrapping job that Jon did. As she opened the box, she saw it was a custom made picture frame from Jon. Katie got so excited that it was the picture frame (the story behind it is long… but important- trust us!). “Aw, this is awesome! Jon really knows how much this picture frame means to me. He went through all this to give it to me!! He’s not proposing, but that’s ok because this is great,” Katie thought to herself as her heart calmed down a bit. When she turned over the frame to look at the front, she GASPED again (and probably stopped breathing!) Inside the frame was a picture of a ring in the box! “Holy CRAP! That’s a ring, that’s MY ring… where is the ring? Oh my! He’s proposing, he’s really proposing,” Katie’s mind raced again.
Jon held her arms, looked deep into her eyes, and said some wonderful, kind, loving, perfect words. He got down on one knee, opened the ring, and asked, “Katie, will you marry me?” Jon barely had time to finish asking the question before Katie said, “YES!” and hugged him tight! After some hugs and kisses, and a few tears, Jon placed the ring on Katie’s finger and the deal was sealed!!
So how did he do it?? Jon had been planning for a very long time how, when, and what he wanted to do. He had been making the picture frame during the day while Katie was at work, putting it away, vacuuming the floor, and putting the vacuum EXACTLY where it was when she saw it last so she wouldn’t catch on to anything (Jon doesn’t vacuum much… so it was REALLY important). He also had been researching rings, diamonds, cuts, colors, etc. for weeks narrowing down the PERFECT ring to buy Katie. Once he had everything pieced together, the final step was to have his friend Josh help him get it all set up. Unfortunately, the weekend Jon wanted to propose Josh was going out of town and it was not where Jon had been planning to go (he has yet to expose that information— he’s saving it for later!). That same week, Katie had asked to go away and Jon thought, “This is perfect!! It is meant to happen this weekend. I’m going to have to find someone else to help me though.” Little did they know, Josh was also going to Breckinridge which is why they went to dinner with him. Jon drove the flower petals and gift box to Josh during the day on Friday. Then, during dinner, Jon gave Josh the key and map to the hotel. Jon and Katie HAD to go for their walk to give Josh time to set everything up in the hotel room!
The whole event was PERFECT and it was totally worth waiting for!
In one year since I last posted (well, over a year…) SO much has happened to me!
I lost my job at Erie High School, but that was quite alright with me. The principal is not the most ethical person to work for and I was happy to leave. As a result, I got hired at Niwot High School which is super awesome. The students are great and the teachers are wonderful. I have grown so much working there.
Jon and I got to go to Disney World in Florida in June and Mt. Rushmore in July. His friends as well as family also came by in the summer. I took a math class through the district to complete my induction process. It was pretty fun and very interesting. It was weird, though, taking it with ALL the Erie math teachers- by accident.
Then, in October this year, I went Breckenridge for a nice get-away weekend and came back engaged. Jon and I had a wedding website we set up that had a count-down, our story and the proposal story (which I’ll re-post here because it’s awesome!), as well as regular wedding info. It was the coolest site and I was so proud of Jon! We also used the website to be a little unconventional with our RSVP’s. On the back of the invitations we sent out, we gave everyone a code and instructions on how to RSVP. They would go to the site and type their code. Then, it would tell them who all was invited in their party and they could uncheck anyone not able to come. Then, they’d submit and it was done! Jon had all the info in electronic form and we didn’t have to deal with any paper or things being lost in the mail! It was super sweet.
Jon and I got to go home for Thanksgiving and see our families for the first time since being engaged. We also started looking at facilities to hold the wedding. In December, we went home for my cousin’s wedding which was very nice. Since I had finals to give and grade, I went back and forth a bit with Jamie’s wedding and Christmas.
February was kind of busy. I went home for one long weekend (had a day off school) for a wedding shower. It was great. Katie, Sarah, and my mom put together a wonderful party. Getting my gifts back was a fun task and luckily we were able to return some of the big-bulky items in IL and repurchase them in CO. Then, the last weekend of February Jon and I got to go back to Disney World by chance. That make three trips for me to Disney in 13 months- crazy! We thought it would be a nice break from wedding planning but it ended up backing things up more!
We got married on March 27, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glen Ellyn, IL. We had just under 100 people there and it was so much fun. The only problem we had was that the DJ we originally hired sent his guy to the wrong CrownePlaza- in Springfield (which is 3-4 hours away). We found a replacement and everything went so well. I’ll have to do another post about the wedding and honeymoon.
I’ve moved the important things to Jon’s place now. We still have my apartment, and will until we move in the next 6 weeks or so. It’s fun. I like living with him so far. It’s fun to be home finally. For a while now, I’ve had to go home and the end of the night, but now I AM home. I like feeling safe too. We’re figuring out how to merge our stuff- but so far it’s been ok.
That’s what I have been up to. Last post- single, this post I am all the way to married! Quite exciting.
So, yesterday at WordCamp, I was chatting with Matt (you know… THE Matt…) and he told me about a math text thing that’s on wp.com. So, Jon suggested I look in the plugin stuff for wp.org (since that’s the one he set me up with) and I found it! Pretty sweet because I thought !!
in let and st .
When I moved, it was a temporary thing. I didn’t know if I would really like Colorado, if Jon and I could actually date while living in the same place, or if I would find a job and like teaching in Colorado.
It was no big deal. I figured I’d just wait until the school year was over to decide what to do…. that was until I got my jury duty notice for DuPage County (in IL).
After my dad (because it was sent to my parent’s address which I have as my permanent address) sent in the form asking to be excused due to employment out of state along with my current address I was mailed back a postcard refusing the request. Ok- well, that sucks especially since it went BACK to my parent’s place (good thing they check their mail regularly and didn’t leave town).
After calling the jury commissioners office, I found out that I need to send them proof of residence or reschedule the date. I was also told, “you’re juror number is 202 which is pretty high. Just take your chances and call is if you get called.” Of course, as my luck would have it, they called from juror 1 to 212! So, next morning I call and am told I have until Monday to fax them proof of residence.
Well, this made me decide very quickly that I was to become a permanent resident of Colorado. The plan was to get a CO driver’s license on a Saturday because I teach all day. Stupid CO DMV… they’re only open M-F from 8-5! Go figure… so the average working Joe has to go…. when? Lunch?
Perfect… I had Friday off school. Figure I’ll go get it quick. I print off the documents list to figure out what I need to bring with me. It says that a social security card and a current driver’s license will prove the four things they need. I bring those (with a copy of my birth certificate because that’s all I have) to the DMV. I wait for over an hour to get called. I finally go up the counter and the woman asks for my DL and my birth certificate. WHAT?
I said, “Doesn’t the license and the social security card prove the four things?” “No,” she says. At this time I immediately take out the sheet… and sure enough it does. I tell her I have a copy of the birth certificate but that won’t due because it HAS TO BE the original, certified copy. Crap. Well, she goes on and enters all the information. Hair color, eye color, current address, is it my maiden or married name…. Then, she leaves. Few minutes later she comes back with another woman who looks at the information. Then they leave.
She comes back and tells me that I need to bring in a birth certificate or a pass port to prove my middle name. Well, Katherine Amanda Junta is NOT going to fit on the license… in fact, if I remember there was only a spot for the initial. This is stupid. So, I asked why I need to if my ss card has the SAME middle initial… she says I have to prove the full name. So then I asked, “if I the license and the ss card have the SAME name and middle initial, why can’t I just use the copy of the birth certificate to prove the full name… since that’s the ONLY thing you need?” She says, of course, “we only take certified documents. We need either your birth certificate or your pass port.”
BULL CRAP! I had to wait an hour with the documents YOU said would work… for you to tell me that they don’t? Also- why did you even process the information if you knew I had to prove the middle name?? FINALLY- why didn’t they just say on the sheet that I need to bring the birth certificate because I can’t do it without!!!!!!
The crappiest part- I don’t have a pass port because I’ve never needed one, my birth certificate is in a safe deposit box in a bank in Illinois, and I have to prove my residence by MONDAY!
ARG! I think the part that ticked me off the most is that there was a guy at the door that gives people a number… and then just sits there! It should be a part of his job description that he checks to see that everyone has the appropriate documents to save EVERYONE time!
I used to have a blog on blogger that I thought was pretty cool because the url was iamkt.blablablabla. I didn’t think it could get any cooler than that. Then, my birthday came along. For my birthday my boyfriend bought me my very own domain name (blablabal.com for those of you who don’t speak “computer speak”). Actually it was two: katiejunta.com and katherinejunta.com. Some of you (probably the ones NOT reading this blog) are probably thinking, “what a lame gift to give someone…..” However, my boyfriend is an awesome guy and so 1) it is sweet that he thought to buy me my very own domain name because it is unique and very original and he is also a computer GENIUS so 2) he wanted me to be able to have my own domain name so I could use WordPress for my blog (that uses IntenseDebate) because he now works for Automattic!!
So, anyway, tonight we (well, he… I don’t know how to do it!) switched my blog over to WP.org!! Pretty cool. I’m excited!! Thanks Jon!! Love you much!!
So, since I last posed… in MAY a lot has happened:
-graduated college summa cum laude and phi beta kappa-moved home to Wheaton for a few months-saw my sister graduate from College of DuPage-applied for my Colorado teaching license-saw a good friend from high school get married-did three phone interviews (which was weird) for teaching jobs in Colorado-got a new car!!-got a job teaching high school math at Erie High School-found an apartment to rent in Colorado-saw another good friend from college get married-moved to Colorado-got stuck in a moving scam… which I am still dealing with…-get to see Jon (the boyfriend) every day!!-joined a church: Cool River Church-took the PLACE test in Colorado to finish getting my teaching license (which was practically the same test I took in Illinois- but more money)-passed the test and got my official teaching license for Colorado-had my sister come and visit for a weekend!!!-wished my sister luck as she moved off to Florida to play in Disney World ever day-met new friends at the church (who happen to have the most adorable little baby girl I’ve ever seen!)-joined the worship band at the church-made it almost all the way through November of my first year teaching!!!
Well… that’s a lot of stuff. I’m so tired that there’s no energy to write more than that now. I’m lucky I even got this posted. … Teaching is a lot of fun but also very hard. It takes up a lot of my time and all of my energy. Poor Jon is lucky if I’m awake long enough to watch a whole TV show with him!
Well, if there are any questions just raise your hand , please!!
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Well, I suppose I am repeating myself …. but it has been a while…again.
Since my last post I have completed my student teaching. I was out in Winchester and although it was very small, I had a lot of fun. There are definitely some students I will not forget: Josey and arguing about impossible inverse functions; James asking me about cowboys vs my computer geek, man, I haven’t seen that kid in a “coon’s age!”; Kimberly and Jordan- PDA!; Corey and Morgan and their singing; Meredeth and her reminders to the rest of the class that fractions are our friends, and of course Mrs. Miller, or Candy… I have to get used to calling her by her first name now!!!! Those are just a few. I had a lot of fun with those kids (and my teacher) and will miss them all and wish all of them luck in all they do.
Student teaching couldn’t have come to an end at a better time tough. Jon’s dad, who was already struggling with Leukemia, took a turn for the worst the last few days of my student teaching. Jon came to town and they brought Dr. Fox to Jacksonville and so I was able to be there for Jon the whole time and not have to worry about planning lessons and the like. As unfortunate as it was, I was glad to be done teaching and able to be with Jon when his dad passed. It was hard on him, and everyone, and I was so thankful I was able to be at his side through all of it.
Shortly after all the events with the funeral concluded, I got to go back and visit Winchester. I had been invited, with the other teachers, to go their Junior/Senior Banquet and the Prom. It was a lot of fun. I never went to my prom in high school so it was fun to go to a prom, and it was a blast to watch all the kids having fun!
I spent a while packing and cleaning my apartment. Then- graduation weekend!! Thursday May 8th I was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Friday I took my parents to Winchester (and the ‘zoo’) and we loaded Jon’s dad’s desk into the trailer. Saturday we packed the rest of the stuff into the trailer and had graduation practice. Then, Sunday May 11 I graduated!!!! It was kind of stinky though because graduation was inside. It was the first time in like 20 years graduation had to be moved inside! Oh well, makes sense. I have had to sit through IC’s graduation the last three years playing with the band and so of course when it is my turn to graduate it would not be outside!
Since graduation, I have been killing time at home. Applied for some summer jobs but nothing panned out. I’m still working on a full time teaching job for the fall. It will all work out I am sure. For now, I am counting down the days until I go to Colorado!!!
AH! The Sunday before finals started back in December, Jacksonville had the WORST ice storm I have ever seen!!! I knew it would be bad when I went to bed and it was thundering and lightning outside while it was 26 degrees out!! I woke up the next morning to power lines snapping and exploding from the ice-covered tree branches falling on them! Shortly after I woke up we lost power and were out for four or five days. It was a quick dash to get the cars into the garage before the branches over them fell- since everything was breaking under all the weight of the ice. No more than five minutes after getting my car into the garage, the two or three branches above my car all fell to the ground! I basically slept under layers of blankets at night, showered and quickly got dressed to go to school, then walked to campus and lived in Parker for the rest of the day with only snack foods like Wheat Thins to eat! Still, I managed to get all my math assignments done! The first picture is right after we moved the cars. The big branch hanging down in the center of the picture is basically where my car was. The second picture is just a few minutes later when the branch gave out!!!
I ended my horrible semester in December to yet another lost assignment. The worst part is that this time, it didn’t disappear from my notebook…. it disappeared from INSIDE the professor’s office while the professor was not there! And yes, I had to redo the assignment- AGAIN!
While I was home over Christmas Break, I had probably the best Christmas ever. I woke up with what I thought was heartburn at 4am Christmas morning and after trying several antacids, throwing up everything I took (and then some), and the pain not going away by 10 am, my neighbor (who is a doctor) came over and sent my dad and me to the hospital with what he thought might be appendicitis. So, my dad and I packed up and got into the ER about 11 am and admitted into the hospital about 5 pm with gallstones! The best part of the whole day was the pain medicine they gave me through the IV…. no wonder people get addicted to those things!! December 26 I met with the doctor and decided to have the surgery to remove the gall bladder. The thing with gallstones is that they never go away. Kidney stones get broken down enough to pass, but the gallstones are just kinda stuck there. I was able to have the laprascopic (spelling??) surgery so I only have four small scars and was able to get on an air plane to see Jon five days later! My family and I were finally able to have our Christmas three days late while I was still in pain and a little drugged. Post surgery, we found out that NEEDED the gall bladder taken out when I did because it was three times the normal size with about 20 gallstones each a little bigger than a small marble! No wonder I was in pain!! I have since recovered well and have had no more problems with “heartburn.”
I was able to go to Colorado for a week after Christmas. I must say, it will be a little sad to not be able to watch the Chicago New Year’s Eve celebration on TV from CO! Jon and I made the most of our New Year’s eve since we had spent the day traveling. The rest of the trip basically consisted of me working on my management plan and the two of us playing and beating the Super Mario Galaxy game on the Wii!!! (it’s a lot more fun than I had anticipated!)
From the fall semester, I had an incomplete in two classes to finish projects. One was my classroom management class and the other was my math class. I worked very hard on my classroom management plan, got it done and turned in and got another A from the toughest professor I ever have had!!! He really liked my plan and thought it was one of the best that was turned in from my class! I also got my math project/paper/presentation done on time. It was definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders to get those in. (However- the other person in my class did not get the math project done until six weeks after the late-due-date!!……)
Unfortunately, the second week of class my education professor (the really hard one mentioned above) had a massive stroke and ended up passing away for days later. It was sad when it happened, but I have really been missing him lately. I did not like him at first last semester and did not want to think he was helping us by making us do all the crap we had to do. However, this semester in my student teaching and starting to do interviews, I have seen/used SO much of what he taught us! I wish I could thank him and tell him he was right, but I’m sure he knows and is just laughing with me at how prepared I really am.
Currently, I have been student teaching at a high school near Jacksonville and have been LOVING IT! It is a lot of work, but I’m having so much fun getting to know the students, getting to know my teacher, and just being involved in planning and teaching lessons to watch students grow! Also, my supervisor and cooperating teacher both think I’m doing very well as a rookie and will be an amazing teacher with more practice!!
A few weeks into the semester I also took my last test for the state of Illinois to become certified. There are three tests you have to take (a basic skills test, content area test- or a math test, and an APT test over the theory of teaching) and I passed all three on the first try!!! Now all I have to do is finish student teaching and get my IL certificate to be able to apply for my CO teaching license.
OH- and I have officially decided to move to Colorado to be with Jon when I graduate! I’m going out there next week to visit and have some interviews with several school districts!!!! Wish me luck!
One more thing- the week after finals I decided to get out of my living situation and have moved and am basically living by my self now in a really nice apartment! This is so much better than what I had before!!!
