The life of Jim and Marisa

Birthday invitations

2011-01-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about making invitations for Tate's first birthday using my scrapbooking skills and supplies. However, I received a code for 10 free cards from Shutterfly. Perfect!! And I just needed 10. We are throwing 2 different (small) parties so here is one of the invitations I created.

Presto Blocks Boy Birthday Invitation

Personalize your happy birthday cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly card

2010-12-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

Snowtastic Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

This is one of the Christmas cards from Shutterfly that I made to send to friends and family. You can post a card on your blog and receive a $25 gift card to Shutterfly.

Shutterfly

2010-12-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly is one of my favorite websites for ordering photo gifts. All items I have received have been of the highest quality and all arrived in great condition and on time. Last spring I ordered a notecard set with our family picture on the front to use as thank you notes. They are so cute and add a personal touch to the notes. I also love their calendars. They have so many backgrounds and layouts to choose from. You can truly customize your gift. You can also add special dates. I love to make personal birthday cards on their site and they cost no more than a card from the store. What a deal! Now that Tate has joined our family, I like to send out a Photo card at Christmas time. Shutterfly has many new styles. I'm sure it will take me awhile to decide which I like the best. I am writing this post to participate in their photo card giveaway for bloggers. You can participate too! Follow the directions here: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/. Hurry this offer ends on Friday.

I am excited to pick out my cards and send them to family and friends to share our lives with them.

Nothing New

2009-03-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I said I would keep a weekly update...so here we go.

Movie Review: Taken: Good Movie. B+. Good plot and soild acting. Fun and not slow. A good movie to watch if you like action.

March means College Basketball! I will try to post my bracket for all to see. Next Sunday the brackets come out. No better sportig event is better than March Madness.

Lastly, spring is coming. Two weeks ago when it was snowy, people would have called me crazy. But spring is coming. Next warm day make sure to go outside for a 20 minute walk. It will do you good.

Until next week...

Education

2009-02-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I am a high school math teacher, so I have an opinion about education. I am also getting me master's in education. So, my education point number one:

Education is a balance. People ask why kids are failing. They are really asking who is responsible for learning. Obviously, teachers are important, but the student is responsible for learning. You can lead a horse to water and even put salt in his oats, but you can't make him drink.

New Computer!

2009-02-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally have a new computer! This means I can blog at home, so that means I will be updating atleast on a weekly basis. Please tell your friends and family that this blogsite is alive from the dead.

One discussion topic: Government.

All I want to say is: I want freedom. The freedom to succeed. The freedom to fail. The freedom to not be taxed to an extreme. All the government needs to do is get their grubby hands off of the people's money.

Long time no see...

2007-11-12T07:26:00.001-08:00

Well, i have not fallen off the face of the earth. Life has been busy, but I think I will do a little better...

Anyways...on with the news.

Nothing new with my job. Nothing new with Marisa's job.

Awana is going great! the Trek group is a little crazy. We have a lot of bus kids whose hormones are going haywire. But, everything is going well.

Marisa and I bought a new couch! OH it is so comfortable! got to enjoy the small things in life.
We are looking forward to the holidays where we get away from the daily grind of work and spend sometime with friends and family.

Lastly, Current Events:

Voting! last Tuesday was an election here in Indiana for mayors of South Bend and Mishawaka. Thankfully, Jeff Rea will remain as Mishawaka's mayor! But thing I want to talk about is Americans RESPONSIBILITY to vote.

Every American needs to vote. I talk with a coworker and asked her if she was going to vote. She said no, because she is not informed. It is every American's responsibility to spend a little time getting informed and voting. We spend time watching TV. We make sure to spend time to party. We can simply go on the Internet and view what each candidate stands for. Millions of people have died so we can have the privilege to vote. Take time to pray and to get informed. It is one of your jobs as an American.

Pictures!

2007-09-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I still don't know what I am doing, but here is my first picture!

Yeah! Old school Awana uniforms!

Awana!

2007-09-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well, another busy time of year has come: Awana!

Awana started last Wednesday with a bang! Actually, nothing noteworthy happened - which is great! We are doing something new with our Trek club (JV). We are putting them in small groups for "handbook time" so the kids can actually understand the verses!!! Also, they will be joining the Youth Group for songs and game, but they will have their own time for lessons. By putting them with the Youth Group for part of the night, we are hoping to keep kids coming to Youth Group after junior high.

Michigan News : 1-2. Beat Notre Dame. If they beat Penn St., Watch out!

Bears News: 1-1. Offense needs work. Defense carries team to victory over Chiefs.

Jim and Marisa news: Going to look for a house after the first of the year! YEAH buyers market!

Finally, Movie review: Minority Report. Kinda long, but the end is worth the wait! You are on the edge of your seat and you can have an in-depth conversation about free-will afterwards. Go Rent today.

Start of School

2007-08-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back at school and so is Marisa. I will try to update this blog more often now.

Marisa and I enjoyed a nice quiet weekend! First weekend where we did not have a wedding or activity to go to!

We went to go see Ocean's 13. Great movie. B+. Goes back to the orginial magic of Ocean's 11. A must see movie.

A momemt from Pastor Stout's Sunday's Sermon: The Bible is not of private interpretation. There is only one true interpretion of God's Word. Man can not pick which one he wants. God meant what He said. (2 Peter 1)

Amen Brother!

August!

2007-08-06T07:51:00.003-07:00

Well, a new month, so a new blog. I will have more access to a computer once school starts, so my blog will be updated a lot more.

Anyways,
The corn is over with! My car lasted the whole summer! It now has over 178,000 miles. Yeah, time to be shopping for a new car.

Also, Marisa and I went to visit our niece and brother and sister this weekend. It was a good time of catching up and visiting. Lily is adorable, but I know what you are thinking, we are not planning on having a bundle of joy for atleast a couple of more years.
Also, stopped by Mr. Brian Hartsell's home. We played some Wii, and now Marisa and I are debating on whether or not to invest in one. Maybe a Christmas gift for the both of us. I highly recommend the Wii.

School is starting for the both of us. Marisa has her own classroom! I helped her decorate last week, and it looks good in spite of my help.

Ok. the ever popular movie critiques.
Breach: A very good story. Not much action. In sightly. Good characters. A good relaxing movie that will entertain all types of movie lovers. It was also nice to have a movie without BIG special effects.

Premonition: GREAT story! Intriguing. You will not know what will happen in the end. A thriller with twists and turns. A good movie to watch with a special someone. Sandra Bullock does a great job. A movie for people would like a little bit of "scariness" but without the gore.

August!

2007-08-06T07:51:00.001-07:00

July's Post

2007-07-12T15:57:00.001-07:00

Well, sorry, but I have lied about getting pictures up on the blog sight. It is probably easy, but I just don't have time since I do not have internet at home. Maybe when school starts, I will be able to be a faithful poster of pictures. So forgive me, but no pictures are in the near future.

Anyways, to the heart of the blog.

July: Hot and dry. Corn is being detassled. I do enjoy walking outside, but I am looking forward to a more exciting change of pace when school starts in a month. Marisa and I enjoyed our annual pilgrimage to Black Squirrel golf course to see fireworks! It was a perfect night! The fireworks were awesome, and it only took 9 minutes to get to the first stop sign after fireworks. (For those of you know, that is quite impressive.) Anyways...

Another milestone: The 1993 Chevy Caprice Station Wagon has gone over 100,000 miles! Wow! I have great memories in that car. Driving to the beach with friends. Driving through corn fields. Driving to see my girlfriend and fiance at IWU. Countless trips to Wal-Mart. Trips to see family. And driving away from the church on my wedding day. Oh cars...how wonderful they are. Please remind me of this blog the next time I have to take it to the shop.

Let us see...Oh yes. This last Saturday my lovely wife and I went to Warren Dunes State Park and watched the sunset from the famous Tower Hill. Good times.

Movies review. Only seen one more new movie: Ratatouille... Amazing movie! Better than Cars! A- from me. What makes a good animated movie? A simple story line...not a dumb complex or ridiculous plot...mixed with some FABULOUS characters!!!! That is what makes Ratatouille so special. The characters are awesome! Think about it. Why was Disney Cinderella so good? Not the plot. Everyone knows the story. But the characters were great! Gus-Gus.

Ok...almost done.

Current events: Health care for everyone! That is a big idea pushed by the Democrats. First of all, this will not happen anytime soon. Too many people oppose this idea and the implementation would be too big, but this might be a slippery slope. "Health care for everyone!" is what a lazy man screams! Health care is not that expensive. Good health care is pricey. But cars, electricity, food, housing, and gasoline are also expensive. Should we give this to everyone too? Health care needs to be budgeted BEFORE IPods, movies, eating out, vacations, Cell phones, Air Jordan's, and cable TV. American is the land of opportunity - not the land of handouts. Ok..off the soapbox.

Prediction of the month: Detroit Tigers will have the best record in MLB at the end of the year.

Summer!

2007-06-20T11:55:00.003-07:00

Well, Summer has finally come! Marisa and I are busy busy busy busy! I am working in the corn, and she is working with Boys and Girls clubs. She is enjoying it even though it is very tiring to work with kids all day. Corn is corn. June 9th my good friend Geoff Peck got married in Pennsylvania, so we made the trip out there. Note to self: Always bring something to decorate the car with. Sadly, the car was not really decorated with...well...class. Kinda disappointing that there was no writing on the windows or any balloons or any pop cans tied to the bumper. Anyways...
my brother and sister-in law just had a baby girl - Lily Grace Mackiewicz. I am an uncle! wow...i am an "uncle Jim" and I have an uncle Jim. Interesting.

My two cents on Current Events:
Movies: Shrek the Third - not as good as 1 and 2...but i gave it a B-
Pirates - Good story with twists and turns. Great Actions. I loved the fact that we did not know what Jack was going to do. What was he going to do with Davy Jones' heart? Some weird quirks in the movie, but a great story that was not predictable. A-
Ocean's 13 and Ratatouille: Coming soon

Presidential Candidates: My prediction: Fred Thompson wins the Republican nomination. Hillary wins the Democratic election. Fred Thompson learns from history and emulates Reagan as a trust worthy leader and a great public speaker. Hillary tries to be cool and win the YouTube generation. But 18-28 year olds don't vote, so Thompson wins in a close election.Ok. I know many people think I am not even close. I probably am not. But who really knows?

Last Current Event - weather: IT IS too Hot! i like the upper 60s to lower 70s.

Summer!

2007-06-20T11:55:00.001-07:00

Softball, Mall Madness, and School

2007-05-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, today is a fabulous day! Normally Mondays are deemed the worst day of the week, but today is great! Why you may ask? Today the 2007 Church league softball league for Community Baptist of Edwardsburg begins with a doubleheader. I am hoping to bat over .400 this year. I think i might keep track. Anyways...
Saturday was a funday! (Sounds like a 9 year old girl...i know) Marisa and I participated in a youth activity. We went to the mall to shop and walk around while teens tried to locate us. I dressed so that I would simply blend in (aka...I wore jeans and a t-shirt). Marisa was more creative. She looked like she was pregnant. NO this is not an announcement. Anyways...it was fun hiding from the teens.
12 days of school after today! I am excited to have one year under my belt! I am also excited about seeing my AP Stats presentation. My students have to give a presentation about a couple studies that they did. Should be interesting. Ok...well, maybe one of these years i will put up some pictures.

Spring!

2007-04-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

I love Spring!

This weekend was very nice weatherwise here in Northern Indiana. I finally beat Marisa in Putt-Putt. She is still winning 2-1. We had a very nice time walking around and enjoying the spring weather.

AWANA is Finished! The Fun Fair went fabulous! Nothing note worthy...which is a good thing. Awana was awesome this year. There are so many wonderful people who know what they are doing.

Amazing race is finally getting back to racing and instead of "can you catch a plane." The Amazing Race is about driving, doing well in challenges, and being smart. Not about catching the right flight. Anyways...people are dumb. "Ma'am, I told you not to touch the screen." Inside joke is you like the Race. Survivor is awesome too...but i will write on that later.

Ok..well, this summer is coming up...and there are a lot of trips that need to be made. One to PA. One to Ohio to see my niece. One to Michigan.

Finally, Marisa got a summer job with the Boys and Girls club.

I know...I know...

2007-04-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

I know it has been almost a month since I last posted.

What is new eh? Well, Marisa and I went on a quick spring break trip to DC. It was a beautiful time! We loved walking around seeing history. I saw the actually Declaration of Independence! OK...no big deal...but it was cool anyways.

After that, we reluctantly went back to work for the last 7 weeks of school. Now there are only 31 days of school left! YES!! Then the corn fields. Yes, I am going to be an inspector again. I don't mind it. Anyways... I need to be a better steward of my blog. I have been convicted, and I need to A) put up more PICTURES! more would actually be 1 in my case and B) write some opinions about things.

My first opinion: About Don Imus:
Don Imus is a moron. He never should have said those horrible things about the Rutgers basketball players. However, he did not do anything illegal. Wrong, but not illegal. Would I have fired him? Sure, but I can not believe the sudden outrage. We have musicians and movie makers who are portraying women as simply toys for men. And people give them Grammys and Oscars! Anyways...as for the Rutgers basketball team: My advice is to get over it. People are going to call you names all through your life. We tell our students to let it go and move on.

Done with opinion.

Hopefully I will be able write to you next week.

Well, Another good week

2007-03-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

I know...I know... I have not put up any pictures yet. Life is busy. But at least I am updating this every week.

So, what is new? Spring BREAK is Coming! The students are dying to get out of here...almost as much as me. Marisa and I are going to DC for about 5 days to do the touristy thing. We are super excited! We are leaving at about 3:30am on Saturday! I loving driving in the morning. Anyways...

Awana is going super! Last night was crazy but good. Since the kids raised over 180 dollars for Adopt-a-Club, the commander was soaked in super-cold water! I think the kids liked it. Only 2 more "normal" (if any night is normal) weeks of Awana then the closing program.

Awana games and such

2007-03-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I did! I posted a blog for this week. I wanted to post one at least once every week, so I am pretty pleased with myself. Small victories.

anyways...Awana games went fantastic! The girls were in a rebuilding year with 5 sparks, 3 third and fourth graders, a fifth grader, and one sixth grader. They were awesome! got 4th by only one point!

The guys were spectacular! Both of our balloon relay teams won by 10 seconds! We got second by 6 points.

In other news...I ate a bad apple on Wednesday and proceeded to be bed-ridden for the evening and the next day. But I think I am going to live. Those bad apple can get ya.

I know...I know... I need to get some pictures. I will work on it this weekend.

I will try to do better...

2007-03-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I am going to try to keep this up-to-date. Adding pictures is something I would love! to do. But that is a pretty big goal, so I will just try to post something new every week.

Marisa and I are excited about our upcoming spring break trip to DC. We are also excited about AWANA Games on Saturday. We are both coaches...with very different teams.

First of all, I am the assistant coach for the boys (Gold medal coach Matt Dickey is the head coach) and Marisa is the assistant coach for the girls ( Gold medal coach Ruth Cline is the head coach)

Also, the guys team has some veterans. The girls...well, half the team is Sparks.

Also, the guys have speed and height. The girls...well, speed...but no height.

But we will both win on Saturday! A coach has to be confident for his team. Pray that the clubbers enjoy the day. That is all the counts.

Awana

2006-12-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this last Awana night, the clubbers got to place 4 pies into my face. The Awana club had to raise $150 the week before for Adopt-A-Club. The clubbers raised $153! I was hoping for $149, but it is still cool. Pictures will be coming later.

Friday night Fun!

2006-12-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this last Friday night I went out with my wife and her parents. We went into the bustling city of South Bend to do some bowling. We rented a lane for 2 hours and ended up bowling 3 complete games. I bowled a 63, 72, and a 127! Ruth and Dean were solid bowlers. I was impressed. Marisa played well too, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

After this most joyous activity, we all went to our apartment for refreshments and merriment. We watched the end of Rudolph. You need to sit down and watch your favorite Christmas movie. This is a requirement for a good Christmas. Hope to start taking some pictures and posting them on this blog.

I do not know what I am doing...

2006-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I am trying to start a blog so people can see what "exciting" things my wife and I are doing. I am trying to figure everything out...so bear with me. Well, we will try to keep this up to date.

The start

2006-12-04T08:53:00.000-08:00

This is the start