Fingers crossed!

This could be us!!!

Cross your fingers!! We submitted our bid tonight! We're hoping that even with the holiday the builders will follow through and let us know this week. Our realtor submitted our request after talking with the builder tonight by e-mail. He lives out of town and isn't sure if he's coming in tomorrow so he wanted to do everything he could from home and let us know. Lord, grant me patience.

We could actually be in our place by early April.

A year wrap-up

Today completed our Christmas celebrations. We had my dad's side all over from Wisconsin for a nice lunch and family game. While cleaning up today and talking with my aunts I started to realize that next year 2010 could bring about some big change. With that comes a lot of reflection on this year. With reflection comes gratitude. Some things I'm grateful are, in no particular order-

1. My boys- I love these two guys more than anything. They can truly turn around my day in seconds. A hug from either one of them is the absolute best.
2. My parents- hello, how many parents would let or want their married daughter, husband, and son live with them while the finish school and save for a down payment? Not too many, my parents are excited for us to grow and move out, but they have no problem assuring us we don't have to leave
3. Starbucks- I don't just mean for my favorite tea and coffee beverages, but I like to just peruse the aisles and sit back with a book or magazine for few minutes. Plus the smell, so good!
4. Having a job- it's up and down but I'm so lucky to have a job and a classroom full of great kiddos.
5. Target. Love, love this store for so many reasons.
6. Reading, I'm trying to get caught up on all the good reads I've been hearing about.
7. Our house, it's in the making, still the idea stage but just talking about it makes me giddy.

There are so many more things I'm grateful for. I can't wait to see what the year brings. What are you looking forward to?

Merry Christmas!

We got way to caught up this week and I let my blog go. We have had a pretty mellow Christmas this year. The North was hit with heavy snow and freezing rain so some family won't be making it down until Sunday. Here's T opening up a couple of goodies:

He's been loving to color and these are the new goggles for snowmobiling! Just what every 4 year old needs.

Here is my favorite gift- made by the Man himself. A bookshelf which took a lot of time. He worked close with my Dad which is so super sweet. He's hoping to make another and a matching table to go in our living room. I love homemade furniture.

As you can see I had no problem putting some Vera Bradley on it. This will actually go in the living room without the purses.

And drum roll please......

This is where our new house will be going! We took the Man's grandparents by the spot since its a block from their first home with their children. So excited. Fingers cross we hear from the bank soon so we can get rolling with the paper work and break ground by first of the year.

What I've been up to...

So I've finished my four student books, with study guides, quizzes and a final test for each one. Even with two of my books being very popular I couldn't find exactly what I want on the Internet. Luckily in the teaching world there are a lot teachers who share what they create and use in their rooms. After Hubby watched me work through these units he mentioned why not start a teaching blog of my own and put my stuff out there for others and maybe have other teachers share theirs. So now I have something else to think about.....

Anyways onto Christmas, what started with a picture turned into homemade cards. I found

some great paper and a snowflake punch that inspired me to create our own. The Man's mom is a fab photographer so she takes our pictures every year. I made a second but accidentally mailed them out before snapping a picture of it. We always have one on the Man's snowmobile that we mail to some family and his pals. It was fun but I'll have to start earlier next year or maybe just go with Shutterfly or something like that.

I also put together a few of these:

Just for my team mates at school, our teacher aid and T's teachers. I found these super cute holders at Hobby Lobby for $1, throw in some shredded festive filler, Ghiradelli (I butchered that I know) and Hershey kisses, plus gift cards for T's teachers and you have a simple gift. I'll a personal note to each one before handing them out. Even though we're trying to stay on a budget I want to make sure we thank the people in our lives that have helped us get to where we are.

Stay tuned tomorrow night for pictures of the lot we're building on. That's right- we're building a house! So exciting.

where does the time go...

I can't believe its been almost two weeks since my last post! Really? What in the world..?!?!

How I love to catch up on my favorite blogs but there's never enough time to write on my own. Tomorrow is time for catch-up. I'll post pics of our Christmas card, some crafts I want to try out, and of course fill you in on the home buying situation. One hint- the house we "found" will be brand spanking new and we spent an evening this week finding a nice grassy area for it :)

How many books can you read at once?

So I just realized that I'm kind of reading a lot of books all at once right now. It's not uncommon for me to have a couple going at once but this is a lot for me.

Here's the first by Jen Lancaster. Man I like her! She's witty, sarcastic, ballsy and a great writer. Very honest and preppy, but real. I literally laugh aloud while reading her. The Man thinks it's crazy- he's also not much of a reader.

This is one of her memoirs. I think she has four in print right now and she has a blog. I've loved all the books that I've read of hers.

The next four are the books my class is reading in lit circles. The Giver I have read before, so, so good! The other three were recommendations so we'll see how they go.

This one is for my higher level group, I'm excited because it discusses traveling through some areas I've visited so it'll be nice to talk with the group about it.

This is for my mid-level girls. I usually don't split girls and boys up but upon reading into this book I don't think the group of boys that are at this level would enjoy it- meaning they would whine, and whine.

So they are reading this, a controversial but enlightening book. I just hope they get a lot out of it.

My lower level group is reading this by Paulsen, the guy who wrote Hatchet. I'm not as excited about this one as I am the others. But it should be a quick and easy read.

The two other books I'm reading are very sporadic. This one I'm going to have to start all over again because it's been forever since I've read it. I love, love the Scarpetta series. These are all murder mysteries, with great character and plot development. I really enjoy reading books by Cornwell.
This one my mom recommended and I'm doing pretty good with it. Very interesting story line, I've stopped myself from reading the last chapter (which is what I ALWAYS do, ALWAYS). I'm giving it a try but it's really killing me not to know what's going to happen. I suggest it so far.

So that's all. In two weeks my student ones will be done. Hopefully I'll have read them by this weekend. It makes it little easier to teach and follow along with them if I know what's going on!

What books are you all reading? Anything good?

The rest of the Christmas Decor

So keep in mind, we're currently living in a basement. We don't have a fire place, we don't choose the outside decor, although my parents do a wonderful job, our space is pretty limited. But we make do, and we love the kindness my parents give us on a daily basis of letting us crash here to put away a nice down payment.

So- without further a do:

I used our book case to hang our stockings this year. My grandma actually made these stockings. Every single person in our family has at least one and my mom is one of twelve.

Every sibling has at least two kids, my mom still has stockings for my brother and I. When a grandchild gets married, you and your husband get stockings and a tree skirt- crocheted by grandma. Of course she also makes all her great grand kids stockings as well. It's incredible, we're talking over 200 maybe 300 stockings, all made by her.

Anyways, my Nativity set is also a favorite every

year. It's the Willow Tree (I think) set. I love the idea that each piece is individually made. There is a stand that's available with it but I like this way better. It's on doily also made by Grandma.

Then you have the staircase decorations, I tried to get the pictures during the day but I couldn't pick up the colors of the balls.

I can't wait to really decorate. This weekend is exciting we're going to look at houses and I'm going to grade my tail off so I can get my mid-term grades all squared away. It's cold and snowing which makes a perfect weekend to cuddle up!

Have a great one!!

Playing catch-up

Isn't it crazy what an unplanned day off can do to your schedule. I can't compare it to other jobs, but with teaching a day off doesn't just involve walking out the door and hoping the sub can figure things out.

Monday evening T was a little under the weather, by dinner I wasn't feeling so hot. I figured we probably caught something from our many Thanksgiving get together. Tuesday I woke up still feeling a little blue but I hate spontaneously leaving my classroom even when its organized. T woke up unexpectedly as I was heading out the door crying. I was not about to leave him so we cuddled for a few, my dad assured me that T and him would be fine. Fast forward to me being at school and just starting the morning off crappy.

By the time it actually came time to teach I didn't even want to be there. I had a ridiculous head ache and a sick little man at home I wanted to be with. I called our secretary and requested a sub. Luckily, my students were great and I was able to have them work and write up sub plans.

So today we of course have another morning meeting, followed by a building meeting. My double prep today disappeared because I covered for the music and media teachers who were out. It's not a big deal and I didn't mind, but its just a lot of lost time I usually work my arse off during so I can be home at a decent time.

At least tonight I got home and the Man was already here, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! With him in school Monday and Tuesday night I feel like I don't see him between Sunday night until Wednesday. We made dinner, I caught up on all my grading, the Man did homework, I cleaned and now I'm sneaking in some blogging.

In better news Christmas came to our house this weekend. I love our tree, it's an artificial pre-lite from Martha Stewart. I love putting it up every year. My favorite part and the least at the same time is that the Man played with the lights to get them to blink and now the middle section doesn't even light up!! Hilarious. It's a good things we're still in the basement and no one really sees it but us.

Here' s picture of what makes me smile, minus T who likes to re-arrange the ornaments daily.

Now, I'm going to enjoy relaxing, smelling my lovely cinnamon something candle and get my blog stalking fill.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day with family, friends, or who ever they might get to share the day with. We are lucky enough to have three gatherings to attend, while it may be hectic and tiring nothing is better than everyone getting together.

Cheers to good eating, a relaxing time to catch up and prep for shopping tomorrow!

What have I been up to...

First off, yesterday we went and saw this movie-

I LOVED it! SO, so good. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw did such an amazing job. The whole cast was great. Sandra's character totally reminded my of some southern women who I grew up with. I really want to look into the book it was written from. I hear it's (of course) even better than the movie.

It was a nice afternoon for the girls to go out. We picked up T and headed to Olive Garden for a yummy dinner. T loves their salad, between the black olives and croutons he can't get enough. He's also becoming a lettuce lover.

So right now I'm on a search. I'm looking for some really great shoes. I would love a nice pair of black boots, or brown flats, or a tan medium heel. With Christmas coming, and house saving I'm not about to spend a ton on shoes. It's sad that I find myself asking, buy this or put it towards a house. I'm getting obsessed with the idea of becoming a home owner. I'm craving my own space, my chance to decorate and create a home that's all ours.

Back to shoes. These are some that I'm coveting, thanks to Piperlime:

My shoes pretty much have to be comfortable enough to teach in all day. However, if they are cute enough I'm not above taking them off in the afternoon. I just love cute shoes though for an evening out or a luncheon date with friends. I love, love the bow on this one and ruffle on the other- the bow also comes in purple- cute, but not me.

Dear Hormones,

It has come to my attention that you have weaseled your way into my sixth graders bodies. My once semi-sweet (okay they at least tried to be) students have turned into happy and sad, hitting, hugging, "kick me" sign posting, pencil tossing, love note writing, boyfriend wanting, girl dodging middle schoolers.

This is worse than the swine flu. Worse than sorority house full of PMSing girls. Today one of my sweet girls literally walked in my door complaining, by snack she was happy, after PE right back to whining, after school she walked out the door and pushed a boy across the sidewalk. Her and I will be chatting tomorrow about how to deal with you hormones.

Hormones that don't belong in my students yet. You could have at least waited until later in the year- maybe the last day of school, at the earliest spring break. But really, BEFORE Thanksgiving. Geez hormones- I got enough of my own to deal with. Now multiply that by 22.

I had a rough and tough boy today tell me he likes sitting by my desk during homework time so I can be all his for when he has questions. AAAAHHHH!!! Somewhat frightening

*** In other news: Stay tuned for my current obsession this weekend.***

Birthday weekend

Yes I know the birthday was LAST weekend, but I'm always slow on getting my pics up. Here is T opening our gift, which was quickly put aside after realizing he was just getting two sweatshirts. He even made the comment, "Mama got me clothes- again." Too bad this little man never gets any new toys from the many family members.

T of course got a second cake for his "real" birthday. Shortly after this I was helping him pick a piece. I asked him if he wanted a "small piece". To which he repeated, "Mama, I ALREADY have a penis!"

No idea how he heard that, but we were dying laughing. What can I say, he's all boy, totally boy. Today we went to the doctor for a well-baby, which is more well- big boy checkup. He measured high in both weight and height which isn't shocking with the amount he eats.

We also went to small zoo right outside of town last weekend. The Man was showing T how rough the goats horn (antler, whatever). So of course T had to feel it, which meant giving it a little tug. Note to all parents- Goats don't like being tugged. They rear back and make VERY unhappy sounds.

We moved onto other animals that weren't so easily touched, such as a buffalo. Boy did we love the buffalo, especially after they wandered all the way up near us. The Man got a great shot and T of course asked to take one home. Unfortunately we lack the yard space. Would you like to have one of these in your yard?

She's baaaaack!!

That's right, Jillian is back in our house. She actually never left, her DVD was just placed under some new Pixar's and child friendly movies. My goal is to head into the holiday season body ready. At this point in the year I also feel like I say as soon as the holidays are over I'll get back on track. Now, I didn't fall off the wagon completely, I've been running a few times a week. I'm just being a little more aggressive.

The plan is to alternate running and Jillian for the next few weeks so that by mid- December I'm at level three of the Shred. I'm thinking of asking for Jillian's "No More Trouble Zones". Just to keep at certain areas. What I really miss is my morning swims. I used to swim before school last year and it was so refreshing. Maybe next year I can get back at it.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some b-day pics!

HE's 4!!!!

I can NOT believe our little guy is four today. So crazy!! The Man and I will head out to his parents house since T is with them all day for cake, dinner and presents. I'll add some pics later. I just can't believe how fast the time went- time to start planning Baby #2- hahahaha!

On the job front, I didn't get the job at my old school. Because of my prior contract and the time frame for when they need a teacher it wouldn't have been possible. The district wouldn't let them put in a long-term sub so back to waiting for the summer.

Happy Thursday all!! Our weather is beautiful so we'll be outside playing tonight before it turns back into Arctic temps- yeah!!

Sunday Catch up.

So I'll start with some pics. For some reason my camera wasn't on a good setting, could have been because I was playing with it earlier, so I only have a couple.

The cupcakes I made (toot, toot- that is my own horn):

The pirate opening his gifts, then after removing part of his costume digging in:

(notice the arm guards on the second picture- he got matching knee guards too- so exciting!!)

On the job front.....

So this week brought some very exciting thoughts to our house. I had applied for an opening for third grade at my old school in my home town thinking that it was for next school year. I knew the teacher was leaving for retirement and usually when a teacher retires in the middle of the year they fill the position with a long term substitute ( a regular sub who just stays for a long period of time). I got a call on Tuesday that they wanted me to interview , the position was to finish the remaining year out and full contract next year. Sounds great, but I'm under a contract for this school year as a sixth grade teacher in my present school 20 minutes away.

The Man and I had talked way earlier that I would stay at the present school until I find something new, and closer to home. There's a strong chance that the interview won't lead to me getting the job due to a previous contract. But a note goes in my file about the interview and when there are job openings it can help.

Monday morning I meet with my Principal early. We have a workday full of meetings so I wanted to get a meeting in before the district calls about a reference or information. I didn't tell the school that I was going for the interview. There is just so much up in the air. Honestly, I'll be shocked if they ask me to take the job knowing I have a contract. I'm going to school early to read through my contract again in the morning before meeting with my Principal so that I can ask some good questions. It's all SO CRAZY, I can't even fathom how its going to turn out.

This week is going to crazy, but I'm supposed to hear from the district I interviewed with early in the week, but in real time I'm guessing it'll be Thursday. Tomorrow is what I'm worried about, so I'm going to wear my new sweater from Gap and of course our new Sexy boot jeans. At least I'll look comfy even though I'm freaking out inside!!

SO cozy!!!

Another sweet giveaway!

Britt is a fellow mama blogger with her daughter Baby K- who is absolutly adorable. She truly reminds me of what a sourthern baby girl should be, I miss that up here in the freezing north.

Anywhoo- in honor of her year anniversary she hosting a giveaway from Flip Flopz Etsy shop. I love love etsy, I found my earrings for the wedding there and no one else in town as anything like them!! The signs are so cute!! I might be trying to create a larger one for our dining room sometime. So- stop over and check her out:

http://daveandbritplusone.blogspot.com/

Where does the time go?

Holy cow I haven't posted in a week. I'm not a daily poster but i had hoped to post more than this. I don't have my camera with me so I can't upload pics from the b-day party but it was a blast. The costumes were so much fun. The Man and I took an easy way out and were Superman and Lois Lane. I basically wore a pencil skirt, blazer, glasses and a sticker that said "I love Superman!"

Work is a little frustrating right now. I feel like we spent some much time in New Teacher Orientation going over things repeatedly that we missed very important parts to our school that I would have loved to know. I found out yesterday that our school has an after school program for sixth graders, it's been going on all year. This was after I talked with my principal about starting my own little after school remediation with some students. He looked at me like I had a third eye and said, "Why can't you just send them to after school? It's what it's there for!" Um, what after school?!??!?!

To make this more bearable we have exciting news that I'll have to wait until this weekend to post about. No it's not a baby or a house. But still exciting.

One other little tidbit- I am in love with this shirt. I have it on today and I love it. I'm a sucker for ruffles and this has just enough and I have it in navy which is totally winter. When I spotted it in our shipment ( I was there the night our new flow came in at GAP) I knew it was mine!!

I did throw a long sleeve faovite-T underneath so I won't freeze, but still so cute!!! FYI- It's now on sale. Give and Get (the new Friends and Family) is next week. Let me know if you're interested, I still have some invites left.

Too cute!

So I'm a mama, it's my right to brag about the cuteness of my almost, too soon to be four-year-old.
Sunday night my brother and family came over. We are smitten by our new nephew, he's my baby fix for the time being. When saying goodbye T told him, "I love you cousin T (different T). you are a special gift from God. and I love you with my whole heart." Keep in mind that he goes to a church preschool we spend a lot of time talking about God.

While in the car yesterday Shakira's song "She Wolf" came on. T asked what's wrong with the girl singing. Why does she breath funny? and proceeded to mimics her short, raspy, breathing, thing she does. Did she just get done running?

He was really concerned about her. Then went on to ask why she howls like a puppy, does she think she's a puppy? Do I know if she has a puppy? It was quite the conversation on our way to Target.

Our household has been pretty busy lately. This Friday we're having a Halloween birthday party for T. We figured it would give him another chance to wear his costume and it spreads out our fall activities. His actual birthday is November 12th but with a party then and the Thanksgiving, it feels like we never recover until after New Years. I can not wait to decorate and set up. We didn't go quite as big as I would love to because we're working on sticking to a budget- which I can do (maybe).

I'm thinking about doing Jillian's shred again. I never did the actual 30 days. I spaced mine out, did each week a bit longer. But I felt really good afterwards. So I think I might hit it up again before the crazy holiday season begins.

Stay tuned on some goodies I'm working on. I've decided to make all of our bows, tags, and Christmas cards this year. Yep- I'm Crazy! But I do get a nice Christmas break being a teacher- WOO HOO!!!

Rain, Rain

Go away already! Hahaha, but really it's been gloomy lately. Show me some sun! Honestly, I'd rather have our snow back, it's pretty when it falls and doesn't damage your air too much.

So I was going to write about another FABULOUS giveaway last night, but hubby was late getting home so we didn't get back from my in-laws until later. Anywho, one of my favorite blogging moms (she's a teacher too!) is having a fab giveaway. You MUST check out-

http://www.babblingabby.blogspot.com/

She is giving away a super fab, super cute, super handy diaper (but really any type of day out) bag. Polka dots and green, be still me heart!!! So go check her out. Be sure to also read up on her coupon/ shopping to save tips. Through her and some other thrifty, budget friendly mom bloggers, I've been able to slowly add extra dough to our new home fund. LOVE THAT!

I'm so excited it's Friday. My kids are being awesome today, which totally rocks my mood and day. I work tonight and tomorrow morning at Gap, apparently we're trying a special promo strictly for our store to monitor some of in-coming traffic. So we're getting buzz that this weekend could be super busy. Extra hours, means extra cash. The best part is I'm going in earlier tomorrow so I don't have to miss any afternoon fun time with the boys, I do miss out on a little sleep-in time though- oh well. More dough for the new house fund. It's crazy how bad I'm looking forward to a house I've probably never seen or looked at. It's the idea of it that makes me giddy!!

So happy weekend to you all! Halloween is just 8 days away- CRAZY!!

Young Love

A cute little excerpt from a conversation I had yesterday.

Remember I teach sixth grade, so there's a lot of young love budding everyday. I had a student come inside during recess and ask to talk to me alone. I immediately think the worst. Some other student has done something, there's a problem at home, something major that would have her skip her sacred recess time to come talk to me on her own.

A little background on this student, she's super cute, a little loud, funny, a little spacey but overall very nice. She is a little chunky but it seems more like "baby love" that she hasn't grown out of. Such a sweetie, a total sixth grade catch if you ask me, but I'm just her teacher so I think that about most of my kids.

Anyways, she comes in pulls up a chair and says, "I need to know more about love. My mom isn't giving my what I need."

Me: "Okay, do you want a hug? I don't think I can tell you I love you everyday, but you I care about you."

Student: "Um, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about real love. Dreamy boyfriend, I can't stop staring at him love. He's the cutest boy in sixth grade, I really love him. "

Me: "Oh, student! Isn't that the best kind of love? It really is. But I hate to tell you that right now, what it really is, is a crush."

Student: "No, no it's not. That's what my mom says. I really care, I care how he does at football. I like to talk about his family, what he had for dinner. Yesterday I even asked about his snake. I HATE snakes."

Me: "Okay, I'm going to be blunt for times sake. You're in sixth grade, you think its love. It feels like love. But really, you just really like him. You'd like him to be more than a friend right?"

Student: "Yep, but I'm thinking he just wants to be friends. Stupid boy."

Me: "Um, no calling other people stupid. But at this age friends are best. Wait for love, it'll come. who knows, maybe you'll be best friends through middle school and then in high school he'll fall head over heels for ya."

Student: "Did that happen to you and your husband?"

Me: "Nope, I met him during college. I had crushes in school a couple boyfriends in high school but nothing serious and for sure it wasn't love. I didn't know that then, but I know now. It's worth waiting for, you know. "

Student: "Well if (the guy) doesn't want me now. I'm moving on, I'm done asking questions about snakes, who likes them anyway? Stupid boys. Thanks! See ya."

And she was gone. I laughed aloud after this one. I remember being so "crazy in love" when I was younger. Did you have one of those crushes? where you think you'll never survive without seeing them or talking to them that day? So funny how life works out.

Giveaway

While catching up on my blogs, two of my fav's are doing giveaways. Check them both out-
http://pinkjulep.blogspot.com/

http://myblondereality.blogspot.com/
- You can also click on her MBR button some where on my page. Sorry, I would love to be descriptive but I'm still playing with my blog setup so some things aren't going to were I want them.

More to come tomorrow morning.

Not me Monday!

Yes, two Mondays in a row. I love reading what all the other parents and children did NOT do this past week. It's hilarious and another reminder that we're all human.

Lets see..

On Saturday I surely didn't let my son pick out a movie to watch in the comforts of our surround sound just so I could watch a chick flick on my own.

I would never let my son walk around Home Depot looking at every tool and gadget out there to wear him out a bit. While not doing this I would also never allow him to sit on every lawn mower they had as well.

I also would never skip on a co-workers baby shower to stay home in comfy pants and paint pumpkins with our son. Nope, I did not skip a shower just to have a PJ afternoon on our day off from school.

What did you not do this week? Check out more at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Not Me Monday

I love, love this post from MckMama every week. Cracks me up!

This weekend I most certainly did not tell my son that Target ran out of Dr.Pepper and that only Grandma and Grandpa can find it.

I for sure did not tell my husband that I need to answer some very important parent e-mails just so I could read blogs last night. I wouldn't do that.

I also would never tell my son that picking up pine cones (for my fall decorations) would prevent his snowmobile from getting stuck this winter.

I also did not pretend to grade papers so that I could get out watching the Twins play (lose) and listening to my family cheer and protest each call. I would never give up on the valuable family time.

There are a ton of cute ones linked on MckMama's blog. If you haven't visited her- you must stop by! http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Goodbye Fall, Hello Winter!

See that area in light grey? That's us! Snow and ice mix throughout the day. 1-3 inches possible, however we don't have to worry about it staying because the ground isn't frozen yet. So it falls but melts. Unless it's on your car which can get down to freezing overnight and you get the joy of scraping and brushing off mother natures present. I don't mind winter. It's very pretty in the beginning. I love our first snow day! I vow to do nothing that day but play outside with our son.

It will be a while (hopefully) before we get our actual snow day. While its cold/ freezing outside it takes a while for the snow to accumulate. What's unbelievable to me is that here it is October 12 and we have snow. Growing up in Kentucky this never happened. We were lucky to have a white Christmas. We didn't usually get snow until after New Year's. People up north are all talking about having a white Halloween. How crazy is that?!?!! Weather in the north still blows my mind. It gets cold so fast. We had "Fall" weather for maybe a week, now, to me, it's winter.

So what does that mean? It means scarves, clothes, cute coats, sweaters and boots. My FAVORITEs all at once. Mind you- come March when we're getting hit again, I'll be singing a completly different tune!

Feeling much better

So I wasn't feeling to hot mentally earlier today. Instead of editing or deleting my old post, those are still goal I'm hoping to accomplish, so I'm leaving it. From 2:30 my day looked up.

I worked with a student who had been struggling with some math and he had an "ah hah!" moment. We were able to complete his entire homework assignment and he left school with a smile. A teacher can't ask for anything better.

Then my team mate apologized. She mentioned that she was out of line, she was looking in my best interest and then quickly moved on to something else. We talked about our students and the conversation went very well. She just has one of those personalities that can be hard to get used to.

After school, I got in car and played my favorite tunes. I didn't car who could see me singing , I spend half my time passing cows anyway. That for sure made me feel better. Greatest stress reliever right there!

Anyways, I'm excited to relax tonight. A new Grey's and Private Practice, plus Jim and Pam are getting married (the Office). So exciting. Enjoy your night!

Plans for next year.

I'm a very goal/ task oriented person. I make lists, I stick to them, and continuously add to them. Last night I was feeling a little frustrated. We (just me actually) met with the bank to being our home mortgage paper work. The Man was busy at work and wasn't able to make it- he also "forgot" to call and mention that.

Anyways, I started to think about what I wanted in the future, big and little. These are the ideas I've come up with- which of course are subject to some change.

1. Put away a nice junk of money from each paycheck to reach our down payment requirement, plus keep the emergency fund substantial.


2. Find or have a dining room table built that matches our chairs.


3. Begin putting together our frame and picture collection. I'm looking to have this in our future home: (this is not what our home looks like, or probably will look like :))
4. Have a yard sale- we have so much stuff it seems, maybe because of our lack of space. Either way I want some of it gone!
5. Run a 10k, I would love, love to do the Breast Cancer- 3day walk but that takes a lot of fundraising and the Man isn't ready for another one of my conquests. 10k I can handle.
6. Finish a cross-stitch I "gave" my parents last year for their anniversary (actually they got an empty frame with the print out of what it will look like).
7. Craft or create more. I love art, love it, love it and I wish I took more time to create.
8. Baby #2, I told you big and little plans here. I would love to know by the end of 2010 when and if we're having baby #2.
9. Travel- I would love to visit the northern part of our state, being that we're so close to Canada and there are beautiful harbors up there I feel like I need to explore more of the state I live in. plau, I would love for our son to see more, he loved the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore.
10. Look into or start working on my reading certificate for teaching or being licensed in special ed, especially Autism. I'm extremely passionate about it and I'm sick of saying one day I'll think about pursuing it.

Just a few ideas, but a start. I would like to spend more time as a family but with the Man in school some nights it's hard. I'm going to work a little more at my part-time job to build up our savings. I just don't want anything to be at the expense of our son. He means so much and I hate that we're missing out on time with him.

Oh and of course I forgot #12- Win the lottery, be a stay at home mom and build the house of my dreams. :)

MTV- keeping ya young.

So I totally forgot what my Wednesday night show would be until last night. Duh people, of course it's nothing but:

Ruins is the newest Road Rules/ Real World Challenge set in Thailand- so beautiful! The regulars are back (which basically means broke again) and the competition has changed a bit with past winners (Champions) going against losers or newbies (Challengers). I won't recap the whole 1.5 hr long show, it'll replay probably 5 times before the next one, and I watched half while running on the treadmill so I missed the words. However, I did catch up on some fav characters:

Tanya- what's a challenge without her?!?! she's in all of them and seems to be getting "thicker" every time. Still has to fight with everyone and binge drink every night. You can tell her "life" is catching up with her, for one she's still coming on these shows years after being on Real World and still hasn't gotten her act together and gotten a real life.

Katie- the little ball of fire! She's been calm as of late, but once she gets riled up, she'll let you know. She's engaged this time, which of course makes it more interesting to see who she hooks up with.

Wes- oh Wes, this guy totally came on to settle some grudges, or beat the crap out of some people. Johanna his ex-fiance hooked up with someone else (Kenny) on the last challenge and he hasn't let go of that. He has hooked up with KellyAnn who just makes me laugh. I missed the actual words but she's still looks like someone who has no idea what's going on and loves to start trouble. Her ex is also there, he's hooked up with Johanna (awkward!!)

Kenny and the boys- there are about three or four guys that are in such a tight Bromance, really they are inseparable. They don't function without each other or make their own decisions. They come into the game ready to screw with people and return home with the bank.

I could on on the other cast members, but I'll spare you. Hubby can't believe I still watch all this MTV. He's a Discovery, Speed, Food Channel person. Not me, I love watching other peoples drama. Gives me a great reason to avoid it in my life!!

Fall shows!

I'm so excited all my favorite fall shows are on.

Tonight started with Brothers and Sisters, the Walkers are my favorite Monday night family. I used to watch Desperate Housewives but their size 0 bodies and crazy story lines were too unbelievable. When do you ever see lives like that in real life?

Mondays of course are for Rachel Zoe. Love her and her crazy style. I like watching her simply for her crazy taste in clothes and her crew. I loved, loved her Fashion Week episode. And her random sayings, "I die" watching her show.

Tuesdays will of course be the Hills. No need to explain. LC will be missed.

Thursdays will be Grey's Anatomy and the Practice. I love both shows, Meredith and Derek are a yummy couple. I'm so glad they'll be a few episodes without their on and off again status. George will be missed and Izzy is supposed to off and on again, should be interesting how they deal with the crew changes. The Practice is also one of my favorites! Story lines are great and I love all the actors!

What shows are you all watching?

Just some randomness

Nothing too exciting going on here. I just got off the phone with a guy who might be setting us up with a loan. So it could be really exciting. The Man and I are just trying to get an idea of what we qualify so that we can really start looking.

This has brought out so much more of each other. I already knew we had different tastes, we boughten furniture together so I've already learned how different our tastes are. The Man wants a big yard and would love a large garage. Even though I don't cook right now I want a great kitchen. I already know that whatever we find we'll be painting and eventually doing some changes. Luckily, both our dads are super handy and love to help! I'm just excited to be out on our own. Plus, we'd finally get to put out and USE our wedding gifts. For now I just look at them neatly organized in totes.

Here's a picture of our cutie on his first day of school. I can't believe how big he is! Almost four.

Our weekend

Note to all you ladies out there: if you don't like crazy, odd sounding aliens, that spurt nasty goo when injured this movie is NOT for you. I don't mind scary movies, I actually like them, however, scary aliens or living dead is not for me. I assure you, this DVD will NEVER be in our house.

My parents took our son to an Apple Festival so the Man and I had a night out. I love, love going to movie theaters, hubby hates it. So to be fair I let him pick the movie. He picked District 9. At one point I literally covered my eyes and plugged my ears. A couple of times covering my eyes was fine. Yes I know this sounds immature but really, I didn't want to see what was going on. The Man asked if I wanted to go but the movie seemed to be getting a bit better, so I said no. OMG, it got worse. I pleaded inside my head for him to ask me again, but alas he didn't. I figured that we paid for the movie, he seemed to be enjoying it, I at least could suck it up and watch. I will NOT be doing that again for a while. My loving hubby is going to take me to a "chick flick" this Wednesday to make up for it. Our first "chick flick" ever together.

On a better note I found this CD this weekend among our collection:

I love Madonna, okay I love some of Madonna. This album came out when I was super little. I used to listen to it on my cassette player all the time. My brother would hide it just so I would take break. My parents still joke that I went around singing, "Papa, don't' preach". A bit embarrassing for them being that I was about 4 and would sing it ALL THE TIME, grocery stores in particular. Just imagine a four year old, southern, twangy girl in the middle of the aisle singing, "I'm gonna keep my baby". Priceless. Anyways I found the CD this weekend and we jammed while cleaning, I should say I jammed, the Man kind of cringed. Our son loved every moment.

The things we pass on to our children. I swear our children will know good music.

Crazy weekend

So Saturday was my birthday and I must say my hubby is awesome. I just love the guy! We set up my itouch, put on a bunch of new songs, and went for a drive to see how it sounded in the car, okay that was our excuse to get outta the house. Dinner was fantastic. We had bacon wrapped steaks, grilled to perfection. We had a lot of company over because of the baby shower we threw for my cousin, so it was tiny bit annoying to be enjoying a nice dinner and my relatives who can't seem to talk in a normal "indoor" voice yelling in the background.

The shower on Sunday was great. We had three new babies there under 3 months, all so cute! Another reminder that I really, really want baby #2. The Man did great, usual my family can bother him, they can pushy although they are great. He's from an extremely welcoming family that you rarely if ever find drama. My family can feed on drama some times. Although lately its gotten much better. With some health scares and life changes our family has come together for each other which I love, love. Anyways, the shower was fun my cousin took home some great swag for her daughter- Madden.

After the shower we headed out to my in-laws. My FIL made juicy Lucy's- YUM!!! It's a hamburger with the cheese grilled inside so it becomes so juicy and cheesy- mouth watering good. they gave a gift card to Barnes and Noble and some cash, my fav! We walked around their annual flea-market/ out door yard sale they have in town. It's one of those hit and miss things. You can find great antiques and homemade furniture and house things, but also a ton of just junk people try to sell. I kept seeing stuff I would love to decorate our house with. Crossing our fingers that the bank calls today to set up a meeting to find out what we qualify for or if they need any other information.

On a sad note, my grandma fell yesterday while in Vegas. She went down with her brother and sister-in-law for a funeral, while in a restaurant she caught a step wrong and fell. So she's all the way down in Vegas while the majority of her 12 children are up north. She's getting a hip replacement and we don't know too much more yet. My mom is pretty much the medical go-to in our family so she was on the phone a lot last night. An injury like this can lead to a down-hill spiral for an elderly person so we're really trying to stay hopeful and praying for the best.

Did anyone watch the VMA's last night? Kanye West needs a class in manners. Taylor Swift won the award, yeah I was really shocked, I didn't think Beyonce would take it but for him to stand up and put her down like that rude. His apology was put on his website. I'm sure his PR crew had nothing to do with it. Overall the show was great, Lady Gaga a bit odd but no shocker there.

Anyways, today's looking good. Happy Monday all!

It's been forever.

I just noticed when signing on that I haven't posted in almost two weeks! That's forever- especially since I read my favorite blogs daily. We have been a little busy as of late, I'm not usually a down kind of person. I'm an optimistic, I love to laugh and I do have my bad days, but I don't ever remember being this kind of "off".

This last week was our first week of school, so the previous week was welcome back for teachers, the week before that was new teacher orientation. So I like the new district that I'm in. Very much smaller than last year's I still live in the same city. My daily commute is about 20 minutes, from an almost busy city to a farming community. I grew up more as a city kinda girl so its a little difficult getting used to the population and where some of my kids come from- it's just different.

The past three weeks have kinda led me to continually feeling down. These are a couple of issues I've had:
-missing half of my students desks- they weren't ordered until the month school started back it's been a week and still I have high school desks in my sixth grade room
-not having a working computer/e-mail/ tech stuff until the second week of teacher work days
-not having additional furniture in my room- ex. filing cabinet, reading table, extra chairs
-not being able to get a straight answer without pretty much stalking or badgering people
-having my team switch our math curriculum three days before school starts
-not getting ANY training on the tech programs our school uses

Last year I felt like I was in training all the time before school started, but I was completely prepared. This year, I've had little to no training and when I ask people for help they make round about answers the don't actually answer my question or direct me to someone else who doesn't know. I'm just frustrated at how disorganized our school can be. We've had high test scores on our state testing so teaching wise they must be doing something right. When it comes to orienting teachers- not so much. I've already said that I would love to be on next year's welcoming committee.

I'm trying to become more optimistic I have more freedom in what and how I teach this year which is great. But its seems like with every positive I can think of there are two negatives.

This weekend I've set myself to turn around. It's my 25th birthday. The Man is spoiling me which I love! He's making a steak dinner- so YUM! Some people like to go out, I love when the Man grills, he's such a master, mmmmmmm!! I just love it. He also surprised me with an itouch. We're kinda budgeting now in hops of saving more towards our down payment. I loved it, I had kinda set myself on getting a watch so I was really surprised when I opened the gift. He's such a sweetie and I need to do a better job at appreciating him, I'm just so lucky to have married such an all around good guy.

So I'm heading out with the little man to play cars and enjoying a yummy dinner. Stay tuned for our home shopping news. nope we haven't picked one yet.

The hubby's let down.

For some reason in my naive mind I always thought that when I got married I would immediately become the best housewife ever. Our house would be sparkling clean, I'd make dinners, fold laundry, take care of the kiddos, and volunteer or teach, maybe do swim lessons. For some reason I guess I pictured a stepford wife. So tonight, while procrastinating some school stuff, I googled "how to be a stepford wife" no kidding, there's a list:

Step 1: Always wear your makeup. No too far from real life, if we're going out in public I've got some coverage on- more than lip gloss.
Step 2: Always take care of your hair. Not a strand should be out of place. From years of being a swimmer, a ponytail works, that and having a 3 year old who loves to play, sometimes hair loses the battle.
Step 3: If you are not well-endowed in your torso area, use bra inserts, augmenters, or the chicshaper. Large bosoms featured prominently in Levin's original story. Got this one!
Step 4: If you are not thin, wear a girdle. I may not be tiny but no way am I wearing a girdle- NO SIR!
Step 5: Wear tight, but conservatively-cut clothing to show off your assets. (Remember to wear an apron during housework). Not everything is tight, I occasionally show off the goods but not too often.
Step 6: Look in the mirror. Imagine yourself as a girl in a television commercial; you should look flawless, at all times. The picture of the Stepford Wife is the picture of a person who is healthy and takes good care of herself. I wish!
Step 7: Clean clean clean! Everything needs to be spotless. Even if it takes a dozen repeated rubs, scrubs, and buff in the same spot. Clean and clean some more, in every corner of the house. I clean, not as much as I'd like, I would love to de-clutter more.
Step 8: Cook. I would love to spend more time learning how, but being that we still live with my parents its weird cooking in my mom's kitchen.
Step 9: Shop at the supermarket. Push your cart slowly. All items need to be placed in your shopping cart neatly, methodically, and in an orderly fashion. I could do this one!!!
Step 10: Practice gracious and polite behavior even when you are alone. Eat with the silverware in place even when you eat alone. Etiquette and proper manners begin at home, when no one is looking. Honestly, if I'm alone I still hustle so that I can get a lot done before they return, but I am neat.
Step 11: Never raise your voice. I just a loud person, not a yeller, but I laugh and joke A LOT!
Step 12: Always say "please" and "thank you" for the smallest things, in public and private. Another one I can do.
Step 13: Always apologize for the smallest things, in public and private. I do this, but it drives the MAN CRAZY!!!
Step 14: Do not possess any strong opinions on any subject, unless you are expressing enthusiasm for cleaning products or food ingredients and recipes. Why not just play mute??
Step 15: Your man is No.1. He is the kingpin in your life. You answer first to him, then to your son, and then other men (and only when you are spoken to). Um, no!
Step 16: Don't read, because who has time when you have this much housework to do and so many men to attend to? This is not even an option.

Okay, so clearly I am not a Stepford wife. But I would love to be able to clean and be home when our son is home. I really want to learn how to cook and sew- for real sew. But for now, unconditional love is what I can give and the most organized closets and dressers a guy could ask for. I enjoy being a teacher and working everyday, I hope to do swim lessons in the summers, but time with my guys is the absolute best. So for now honey, you get me!

SO much!!

So we're back from our Honeymoon road trip. Which was an absolute blast. We ended up changing our destinations and amount of time spent places but overall it was SUCH a great trip.

That'll be a whole post in itself with pics of course. The Nascar race was unbelievable. I felt a little redneck the whole time, but the experience was great. I'm thinking that going to races is something we might do more often.

I've finished the first week of orientation at my new school. There are a lot of differences between this district and my old, some good, some not so. My position was created because of the growing population. Meaning, they haven't had a fourth sixth grade teacher before, there's only been three. So everything I need is being either ordered, moved around, or given from team mates. As of right now I don't even have half the desks for my students, they're being ordered. We're really hoping the come in by the first day of school which is the 8th. Getting time to work in our rooms as been dodgy. We've had a lot of meanings and introductions throughout the week that seem to take up way more time then needed.

What's really hard is when there's just 8 of us in this orientation and one person keeps struggling with things. Logging onto her e-mail, choosing which insurance plan, understanding the building lay-out and so on, this woman has been teaching in a smaller community for the past 12 years and its hard for me to not get annoyed knowing that we're spending a ton of time explaining things and showing her things when we could be working on our own classrooms, websites, etc. I know what you're thinking, aren't teachers supposed to have patients? Yes, we are, and yes I do, but not with adults especially when everything was behind this week and I mean EVERYTHING. We were always behind on the schedule they gave us. I'm a schedule person, I plan and plan, when things go off track I get annoyed.

Luckily, Friday went wonderfully. My e-mail and website were finally set up, my teachers desk was delivered, I got a key for my room, but won't unlock the storage cabinets because the teacher before me still needs to clean them out, I have one out of about 12 books that my students will need, but I have my class list so that helps. I am very grateful for the job and very excited to work with my team mates. I just have to get through the introduction phase to the teacher phase and I'll be set. As soon as my room is all set I'll post some pics.

Okay, now that the ranting is over we're heading outside. It's cooled off and we've got some great wind so were heading to fly kites! FUN!!

The wedding day

Okay, so this took forever to actually post.

Timeline style is easiest:

I slept okay that night. Having the Man with me helped calm me down. Since the reception hall was all put together we didn't have any where to be until our hair appointment. So we slept until about 8:30, had a breakfast. I didn't realize it until later but I didn't eat much that whole day. It was nerves without being too nervous.

12:30 Hair and make-up

It was great because I love my stylist and it was very relaxing to just talk with her about our rehearsal dinner and relax. My matron of honor came in half way through and we laughed some more. My make-up girl was awesome, I'd never met her before but she was highly recommended (some might find it weird that I didn't practice my make-up but I'd never had a problem at this salon).

3:00 Dress time

We headed out to the house/ceremony site and both got changed- separately. I was so excited to see the Man all dressed up. He waited outside with his back turned and we had our moment together. I teared up so we immediately jumped into pictures.

3:35 Quick rain shower

It was so weird it was like a heavy misting/ sprinkle that lasted long enough to make all the colors pop and then pictures continued on.

5:45 This was the most stressful part of my entire day. Since so much of my guys family was there and that only happens once in about four years they wanted a family shot IN THE FRONT YARD WHERE THE WEDDING WAS TAKING PLACE!!! I was originally okay with this idea because it was going to be behind the house and any early comers wouldn't see us. Sure enough waiting for everyone to get together, one family to still arrive, and one to come back in the picture was terrible. I started to get so anxious, then I realized the quartet wasn't there. People were actually arriving and there we all are wedding dress and all trying to get a photo! I was a bit agree with some of the Man's family.

6:10 This part I will forever remember. I walked downstairs to where my brother and sister-in-law were and immediately told him to tell me something funny. I was so close to a break down, tears were coming! Luckily my brother is funny and a super long talker and he literally talked for the next 15 minutes and kept me calm until the wedding. I paced back and forth , kicking my mother out of the way at one point until we walked up stairs.

6:25 My hair stylist popped in the house, pinned a flower in my hair. I continued to pace. Gave quick hugs and high fives to everyone. This part flew! Literally five minutes was like 30 seconds.

6:30 The quartet played our processional everyone filed out. My poor dad wanted a few last words but considering that he was already tearing up I told him I couldn't take it. He could tell me during our dance. I know, I know, a little mean but I was not going to bawl right before walking out, no way.

We made it out the door, down the stairs, and the ceremony was beautiful! The sermon was perfect, the Man's uncle, our pastor did such a wonderful job. Our son ended up standing on the deck with us and waving at the audience, blowing kisses and the laying down. Some would be annoyed, but grand scheme of things I didn't care. He was cute, everyone loved it, if you look close in some of the pics you can see him laying behind me.

I'll post more about the reception and other details later some time.