floods, free-days, and four-wheel drive!

Due to a series of unfortunate events (namely, the four days of rain that caused flooding on many of the major highways and roads in Fairfax county), my first week at my new school has ended a day early. Although the timing of this "rain day" is rather inconvenient, I'm taking this time to get some things done around the house, play with my puppy, and share a little about what's been going on in the Crane house via blog post!

First of all, I'm excited to report that I am SO happy at my new school! I thank God everyday for providing me with such a great job (and a carpool buddy to make the commute easier!). I've received an incredible amount of support from my co-workers, who are all amazing teachers and all-around wonderful people. I am LOVING my three classes of seniors, and really enjoying my two sophomore classes as well. I feel so at home at Langley, which has made the transition to a new school district so much easier. I can't wait to post some pictures of my new classroom and share some ideas that I'm trying out.

In related news, the roles have really been reversed in our house since I went back to work. I had a lot of fun being a little house-wifey over the summer (and I'm pretty sure Jake enjoyed it as well!), but now that I'm working, we've been dividing up the household tasks. I can safely say that my husband has prepared more meals than I have the past couple weeks! He's also taken on the responsibility of packing lunches, which is a huge blessing (and it always makes me laugh when I open my lunch box and see a "Jake-size" lunch that I could never finish!). Jake has also been doing the grocery shopping, which has been a nice break for me. Even though life has been crazy these past couple weeks with the new school year starting, my husband has been an awesome support-system and source of encouragement.

Izzy, of course, is still her adorable, rambunctious self. She's growing so much and is too smart for her own good. My favorite part of the day is coming home to a REALLY excited puppy who can't wait to play!

This past week, after quite some time of looking and debating, we purchased a 2012 Chevy Equinox! I've never had a brand new car before, so it's been a lot of fun to have such a pimped-out ride. Having a bigger, more powerful vehicle was a huge blessing while driving through multiple "ponds" on Route 50 yesterday during the flood!

I'm hoping the rain will start clearing up so I can run some errands on this unexpected day-off. For now, this housewife/teacher is off to clean and grade some papers!