My husband and I met at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR where we were both going to graduate school. I was getting my Masters in teaching and he was getting his Masters in Physician Assistant Studies. We were apart for a year when I was honoring my teaching contract for the Vancouver School District in Vancouver, WA (where I taught Kindergarten for two years) and he accepted a position at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. Being apart made our relationship stronger because we knew that we wanted to be together. That spring Joe proposed to me when we were in Maine for our friends wedding.
That summer I decided to leave the West Coast where I've lived my entire life and try my hand as a New Englander! Joe and I bought a house in Middletown, half way between Hartford and New Haven. On July 3, 2005 I became Mrs. Stacey Mendes! It was such a fun day filled with all the special people from our lives. We spent our honeymoon in Madeira, Portugal. It was extra special for us because Joe's parents were both born on the island. We relaxed by the pool, explored Funchal the capital city and went wine tasting to taste the official Madeira wine only made on this small island. It was good that Joe spoke fluent portuguese because I speak none! I did pick up a few key phrases while we were there and am still working on learning the language! Joe continues to work and is a physician assistant in the ENT department at Yale New Haven Hospital in the department of surgery doing head and neck reconstuctive surgery. I started a new job this year teaching in the West Hartford Public Schools. I love my new district and also my new adventure! I have taught Kindergarten for the past 6 years and this year I'm trying my hand at First Grade! Teaching still is my passion. I wake up every morning excited to go to work and see my little first graders read and write. They truly make my days the best they can be! First Grade is where my heart truly lies because I get to teach them how to read. Watching their progress and excitement grow for reading is truly my calling! Kindergarten was fun because I was able to give them their first schooling experience, but I love the new challenges I'm facing with my new grade level.
Those are a few of the updates with us, stay tuned for new happenings in our family!
1 comment:
umm...something is missing here...you forgot to tell the whole world how wonderful your "neighbor" is at school!!! I dont see anything about Miss PF here!
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