Recent Holidays in Pictures

corned beef hash and cabbage
st. patrick's day 2010
doesn't look pretty, but it's delicious!

easter 2010

easter 2010

Of course no pictures of the food. The menu was delicious, though, if I do say so myself! Honey cured ham, sweet green beans, Ruth's Chris potatoes, baked macaroni and cheese, homemade rolls, and two kinds of cake for dessert!

Bucket List

No, I'm not planning on kicking the bucket anytime soon. But Bing! Travel came out with a list of 12 places in the world that might be playing soccer with the proverbial bucket. And some of the places were really surprising! Now, I don't claim to be a world traveler... far from it, actually. Up until a few years ago, I really didn't even have the desire to see new places. I don't mind traveling. I just never thought about places I'd like to go. But I'm changing. Maybe it's being married to a guy who spent 2-3 weeks every summer of his childhood exploring all 48 of the continental states. Maybe it's the friends around me who all have places they'd like to go... Alaska, Europe, Hawaii, etc. Whatever it is, I now have my (in)complete list:

(in no certain order)
the Florida Keys: beach. sun. sand.
New York City at Christmas: the lights!
Florida Everglades: Alligators and huge pythons... am I crazy?
Lake Tahoe: D has always wanted to take me here.
Ireland: if you know my maiden name, you know why.
Venice, Italy: "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man"- NYTimes
The Great Barrier Reef: Glass bottom boat, please! No scuba diving for me!
Bahamas: see Florida Keys.
re-visit Grand Cayman: ditto.

What about you? Where in the world would you like to go?
*sings Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego*
Whatever happened to that show? I loved watching the contestants put the flags on the different places at the end of the show. I know, I'm such a thrill-seeker.

My Spring Break To-Do List

Update: As with all to-do lists, the fun is crossing off the things you've accomplished... right, Penny? So I'm updating this post by striking through those tasks that are done. finished. complete.
Today (Monday): It took me half the day to finally get moving, but I did!
1. Take a shower (that would require getting off the couch)
2. Make my menu for the week (Tonight is a traditional Irish meal in honor of St. Patrick's day- corned beef hash and cabbage!)
3. Grocery shopping (my re-organized pantry from last week looks bare, to say the least.)
4. Laundry.
5. Make dinner and some kind of dessert. Spring Break always gives me a sweet tooth.

Sometime this week:
1. Organize closets in guest bedrooms (one down, one to go!)
2. Organize my closet (to make room for new spring clothes... yeah right!)
3. Re-organize bathroom cabinets
4. Dust, dust, dust.
5. Make a spring wreath- getting accomplished this afternoon
6. Clean bathrooms so glad that is done.
7. Schedule my massage that D gave me for our anniversary. Last June. Overdue much?
8. Weed the flower beds in the backyard.
9. Drag D to look for flowers to plant.

Time to get off and busy marking things off my list. Happy Spring Break!

crazy week... cute craft

The week before spring break. The week seems like it will never end while the days fly by as I try to cram impart last bits of knowledge before the 9 day vacation. The craziness doesn't end at the end of the school day... our evenings have been on the crazy side too.

Monday we enjoyed a delicious dinner with friends before our 9:30 volleyball game. I don't know about you, but playing volleyball is not the first thing on my mind at that time of night. It was hard to fight through the yawns, but we did and won the game.

Tuesday found us at the Upward awards ceremony. A church full of elementary-age kids and a magician. Enough said.

Wednesday was finally my first day at home. I cooked dinner so D could get to his Bible study on time, then planned on spending the evening relaxing on the couch, in front of the tv, and not moving until it was time for bed. However, at some point I got this crazy 2nd wind and decided to finish sewing curtains that I had been working on. This led me to organize my sewing materials, which then spurred on a complete re-organization of my pantry. After I finished at 8:30, I noticed my Hobby Lobby bag that contained the supplies for my next craft project and thought, what the heck. This project literally took me only 30 minutes to complete and would probably go even quicker if you use a stencil for the letter. Tada!



You can find the tutorial for this project here at my new favorite blog for cute, crafty ideas.

This is a cheap one too! I bought a pack of three canvas bags for 1/2 off... $3.50 for three! The doilies and fabric paint were also cheap- just a few dollars. I already had the spray adhesive and I printed off and made my own stencil for the letter. I'm anxious to try the freezer paper that Ashley Ann writes about in her tutorial. The canvas bag is a little smaller than I thought, so while I had planned to use this as a grocery bag, I think it will be perfect to take my lunch/other goodies to school in.

Tonight is our Spring Concert- An Evening of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. It is a really sweet time for the Lower School to come together. Kindergarten will be singing an assortment of songs about light, including This Little Light of Mine and an all-time favorite of mine Shine, Jesus, Shine.

Tomorrow is Friday! In less than 24 hours, Spring Break will officially begin! Really, I'm not that excited. ha!

Crafty Valentine Gift in pictures

fun valentine paper and ribbon

your favorite glass bottled soda

colored candy

voila!

valentine gift fun!

could easily be modified for other holidays like st. patrick's day (do they make festive m&ms for that?) or easter!

Happy Valentine's Day

Thanks to my good friend Penny for the idea behind this post... and causing me to finally post, period! In celebration of "Love" Day, here are 20 things 10 things that I love. But to be different, I'm going to countdown...

10. Flats (as in shoes, not apartments) I wear flats all the time. They are so comfortable to teach in and versatile too!

9. Scarves. Enough said.

8. Matt's El Rancho- seriously has become one of my favorite Mexican food restaurants... if only it wasn't so far South!

7. Curling up on the couch with a book or a movie, especially on a cold, dreary day.

6. P-Dub. Or Pioneer Woman, whichever you prefer. I cook way too many of her recipes, but they're so good!

5. My Longhorns.

4. My friends who are so much like a 2nd family. You're the greatest.

3. My family. So much fun. Can't wait for Girls Weekend in a month!


2. My D. Love living life with him.

1. My Jesus. Learning to lean on Him more and more every day.

Yea Orange! Yea White!

Tomorrow is the National Championship game... in case you didn't know. And my Longhorns are taking on the Crimson Tide from Alabama. Needless to say, I'm a little excited. And nervous. And relieved. You see, for the past couple of weeks I've been trying to figure out how to work my burnt orange attire to fit the teacher dress code at my school. Then today I got an email that made me go running out of my classroom (don't worry- there was a parent reader) to the first grade teachers, where I interrupted their conversation to tell them that tomorrow has been declared a jeans and Texas attire day! Don't worry. They understand me so they didn't look at me like the crazy that I am.

And the pictures above? That's the setup that I'm taking to my kindergarten class tomorrow in celebration of the big game. They also know how crazy I am about my Longhorns.

Hook 'em!

A New Decade

Thanks to Kelly I'm actually posting on my blog! Her New Year's post has inspired me to sit down and close out 2009 while looking ahead to this next year.

5 things I'm thankful for in '09:





1. I'm so thankful for D, of course. I know it sounds so sappy, but I truly do love him more now than ever. He's my best friend, the one I can rely on always. Sure, we get on each others' nerves, but we also laugh at each other a LOT! Life with him is so much fun.




2. I'm thankful for my close friends. I'm so thankful that I can pick up the phone at any time and I know I'll have a listening ear on the other end. I'm thankful for their friendship, their advice, their prayers and encouragement, and for being able to take a break from "life" to laugh and have fun. I'm just sorry I don't have pictures from the past year with each of them!




3. I'm thankful for my family. My brother and sisters are the best. I so look forward to our girls trips (which seem to be increasing in frequency, but I'm fine with that!) My brother's witty ways and sarcastic sayings always leave me laughing. It's so great to have a close family who looks out for each other but isn't scared to give tough advice.

4. I'm thankful that no matter what I do, God never leaves me. I'm thankful for His forgiveness. His grace. His mercy. I'm thankful for the ways He shows me that He's taking care of me. I'm thankful that His plan is perfect. I'm thankful that He knows the end of the story. I'm thankful that He tells me not to worry. In fact, He commands it!


5. This might sound really off-base compared to the other things I'm thankful for, but in 2009 I am so thankful for our summer vacation we went on. It was one of the high points of my year. Taking off and getting away from it all really helped keep me sane.


And of course I'm thankful that my Longhorns are playing in the National Championship game next week. I'm so thankful for being able to go to 3 games this past year, including the Red River Rivalry and Senior Day. Hook 'em!

5 things I want to improve in '10:

1. I want to be more attentive to the needs of people around me. This includes family, friends, and casual acquaintances. I feel like I'm kinda oblivious when it comes to things that others are going through or are needing. I want to be better about noticing these needs and taking care of them.

2. I want to be a better neighbor. I know, I sounds like Mr. Rogers, don't I? I just hate that we live in a relatively small neighborhood and I really only know one neighbor well enough to start up a conversation with. Growing up in the country, we only had 2-3 neighbors (and I'm using that term loosely) so we knew everyone around us. Now living in a suburb, I have no idea how to go about getting to know those around me without looking like a weirdo. Any ideas are welcome!

3. I want to be a better blogger. Not only do I want to make an effort to post more, but I want my posts to be authentic. I want to find the time to write about the things that matter to me as well as things that are going on in my life. This will be a tough one to do...

4. I want to experiment more with my cooking. I feel like over the past 2-3 years I've gotten better at this, but I want to continue improving. I cook with fresh vegetables a lot more than canned or frozen like I used to. No more canned green beans or frozen corn as a side. Now I'm making roasted garlic potatoes or fresh garlic green beans. (Garlic? I told you!) This year I want to try vegetables that I haven't cooked with before.

5. I want to grow in my walk with God. I know that sounds like such a stereotypical resolution for a Christian to make, but I truly do want to become a better Christian. This past year, I found myself straying from having a daily quiet time or reading the Bible at all. In November, I had a wake-up call and have started spending time daily doing this. I'm still not where I should be, though but I'm getting back in the habit. And the anxieties and struggles that I have felt bogged down with have been lifted off my shoulders!

5 ways I want to give and help others in '10:

1. I want to sacrifice more for others. This past year, I found things not going my way and my way of making myself feel better was spoiling myself. My mindset was if things aren't going to go the way I want them to, then I'll just treat myself to this or that. Not that an occasional treat is bad or anything, but this led to a self-centered attitude that is really disgusting. I want to get out of the "what's in it for me-mindset" and become more others-oriented.

2. I want to help an international cause. Compassion is one that has been on my mind. I really like that you not only help a child in poverty, but you can actually develop a relationship with that child. And they hear about Jesus! Sponsoring a child is a responsibility that I don't want to take lightly, so D and I will have to talk and pray about it. But this is something that I really feel strongly about.

3. I want to volunteer in the community more. D and I both already volunteer at our church a lot, but I really want to do something that will help the greater community and will force us to put faces to a need. Our Common Ground group has registered to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, but we've never actually had days work out for us. I want to work harder at trying to nail a date down so we can do this.

4. I want to pray for others and follow up on prayer requests.

5. I want to be a better Common Ground guide and foster community within our group. I want to be in contact with all the members on a regular basis and always seeking ways to help those in our group.

Happy New Year! What are your resolutions? Are you making any?