Let there be (Pretty) Light!

Well one of the beauties of an old house is old light fixtures. Actually I didn't think they were beautiful at all. Antique maybe, but not beautiful.



Here's a picture of our dining room "chandelier." It was ugly and did not give off good light. And sometimes one lightbulb would blink on and off randomly.

Here it is again with the lights off. still ugly.

But wait... what is this??? Is this the SAME dining room?? yes! yes it is!! Complete with a beautiful new chandelier.

Here's a close up- with the new ceiling medallion in place.

And again, with the lights out. love this!!!

Now we venture into the guest bedroom. What in the world do we have here??

OH my, I do not likey.

But wait... here's the new and improved version :) (by the way, we just purchased a new bedding set for this bedroom- but it has not been put out yet... that will be later this weekend)

Look at it up close- so pretty. Love the yellow line details. We are trying to "update" but in an old traditional style so it matches the rest of the house. (the house was built in 1939 and has lots of old character)

Here's the guest bedroom light with the lights off. Gorgeous.

Moving into the master bedroom. Does it get any worse than this?? And actually, you can't tell from this picture, but when you stood at the doorway and looked into the bedroom, you could actually see the entire light bulb above the glass piece. Gross. The whole point of a light fixture is to not see the light bulb, duh.

Here it is lit up- with the small amount of light it made. yuck.

Well, we wanted to be fancy and put a chandelier in the bedroom. So we chose this one. We love it.

Problem is... our ceiling seems too low. The chandelier made the whole room feel smaller. Look. (don't notice the unmade bed or the messy dresser or the boxes in the corner please)

So, we decided we were unhappy with the chandy- and purchased this one instead (the electrician is coming back today to replace it)

The hallway.... look at how amazing this is! gross!!!

So, we went with a bit of a Texas theme :) I love this!!! What a cute little detail for a boring hallway.

And look- with the lights on there is a star on the bottom too!! So cute!

One more.... the garage. Please note the long brass ugly light fixtures. puke.

A close up in case you couldn't fully take in the pukiness. Plus with our newly painted red door and black shutters- these stick out like a sore ugly thumb.

But today, this is what you'll see out there!!

Still "cottage-y" but now cute!! I love these!

Today the electrician is coming back to replace the bedroom light, install lights on our newly built deck (built by us in the spring), and do some re-wiring in the garage.

Our next home improvement project... either making a real laundry room (right now our washer is in a "breezeway" and the dryer is in the garage), or drywalling the garage and making the garage attic more accessible and safe for storage. Both are useful, practical, and organizational- all things I love!! Can't wait!!

This weekend we're having a fun Friends Thanksgiving, on Monday my mom comes to visit, on Wednesday my brother arrives, and Wednesday night we're having my family and Ty's family over for a chili pre-Thanksgiving dinner. So... we must get these projects finished, house cleaned, and make things look presentable!! I love entertaining, and our house is almost ready!!

Happy Friday!

More Silly Sayings

student - Mrs. Sawyer, I'm thirsty.

me - I'm Mrs. Sawyer.

student - I have money!

me - Me too.

Student - I get a free snack!

me - But I thought you had money, are you buying it?

student - Yeah!

me - then it's not free.

student - I'm getting a popsicle!



if this conversation seems crazy and like it doesn't make sense to you- you are correct- and that is the world I live in!


****
another story....



A different student was telling me a story... it went like this...



"I was in the shower once and my brother was walking on his HIND LEGS sneaking up on me"



don't we all walk on our hind legs? Isn't that what people normally do? or am I just crazy??

****
one more fun one...

Me: Boys and girls, my throat hurts today, so please be good so I don't have to use my voice too much.

4th grade student A: I feel bad for you. One time my throat hurt real bad and I had to get a shot in my bottom.

4th grade student B: Hey, I'm 8 years old. I don't need to be hearing 'bout all that.

Thoughts on the Election... from my students

Here's a conglomeration of some of the things my kiddos have said about the election- before, during, and after.



****

student- Who did you vote for?

Me - Either Obama or McCain

Student- which one?

Me- I don't remember

Student - YOU DON'T???!!!



****

Is Mr. Obama a Christian? Because Alfred's mom says he's not. (names changed)



****

What does Republican and Democrat mean?

(I explained they are two groups who think basically the same as each other, but different from each other)

another kid followed with "Democrats take care of poor people"



****

Obama won with 290 votes. (try explaining the electoral college to kids, I don't even fully get it yet- I mean why do we do it anyways?)



****

My Personal Favorite



Back in October I was handing out a paper to do, it was a little challenging. One kid took the paper and looked at me and said "I'm probably moving to Europe next month so do I need to do this?"


I said, "Why are you moving to Europe? Your dad just got a job here."



He responded, "Well, if McCain wins, we're moving to Europe."



I told him he needed to do his paper.

Meet me in St. Louie, Louie, Meet me at the...Soccer Game!

Last weekend, Ty and I went to St. Louis to visit my dad and fam and to watch his last regular season soccer game. Dad had called earlier in the week to tell us how beautiful the 75 degree weather was. We couldn't wait!! Of course, Ty diligently checked weather.com, only to find out the weather was changing. And change it did. There was no 75 degrees to be found from the moment we stepped off the plane!



Friday night we got in late and relaxed with family. Dad had picked up our completed wedding album- so we spent time looking at that. It turned out amazing!! As we were looking, we came across one of my favorite pictures, but Ty's absolute least favorite!! A picture of us looking at each other with my veil up over both of our heads. Love it!! He announced he hated it more than anything!! About 5 minutes later, we look up and Ty says "Oh- you have that veil picture- blown up and FRAMED on the wall!" Dad and Cindy laughed hilariously!!



Saturday we tried to sleep in, but couldn't. Ty and I went to the gym- and I needed to run 6 miles- unfortunately we didn't bring enough money for the guest pass - and the very unkind worker man made us go home to get $3 more. So, I ended up having time for 5 miles. Oh well. Blisters still not healed- but thanks to school nurse, I now am wearing Band-aids Blister Ampoulles and they are amazing!!



Ok- so we head out to the game, thinking "it's not too bad out here." but after standing around during warm ups for about 10 minutes, Ty and I hit the car for extra coats.



Here's Ty in what we like to call "Dad's coaching coat." Yes- it is full length.


We sat on the bench- here's Dayna (step-sister) and Ty cheering on the Wash U Bears.

Dayna is very excited about the game! Ty is still trying to hide from the cold.

Here I am. Ok- now I don't really like the show South Park- but I think I look like the guy in the red jacket who you can never really see his face.

Of course- we think this is the coldest we've ever been. Then there's Dad- not even phased by the weather. His measly jacket seems to be enough.

As I was watching the game, I was reminded of how beautiful Wash U's campus is- here's a picture of a brand new building- I have no idea what is studied in there- but something for smart people. All of the buildings look like that.

This is the athletic complex- who would ever guess that there are gyms and sweaty people inside. OH and it's the home of the Presidential/VP debates.

After half time- we got smart and went and sat in the press box. That little box above Ty's head is a heater. That's right- there was a heated room all along and we froze to death.

In the 2nd overtime (yes the game was extra extra long) we won!! yay!!!

The team jumped on each other- great ending to a great season.

Saturday night was spent at Maggiano's for yummy Italian food. I ate a delicious special- whole wheat penne pasta with olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, chicken, peppers, green onions, spinach, and broccoli. Delish!!

We hung out with the fam- slept awesome and late.

Sunday morning- went to church with the fam- at the church we got married in - first time back since the big day. Then ate some yummy BLT's for lunch (for me, substitute mayo for hummus and add avocado) headed to the airport and came home to WARM Dallas.

I was Running!!!

Last April, I did my first half marathon- all 13.1 miles of it!! Here are some memories... (in photo form of course)

At the beginning of the rest- still excited, not sweaty yet (but blurry)

Ty and his sweet family followed me around the race track. This was at the 3 mile mark- the first time I saw them- then they surprised me and I saw them 7-8 more times- which made the run really fun!

13.1 miles and lots of sweat later, here I am happy to be finished!! In 2 hours and 1 minute! Wahoo!

Ty and I

Now, here's the reason for the blog... I want to do another half marathon. In fact I want to do the White Rock Marathon on December 14th. Which will be extra fun because my Dad and Step-mom are supposed to be in town that weekend.

The problem is, I needed new shoes. Heres' the shoes I wore in the last half. Why not just re-purchase a new pair of those?

Maybe the next picture will show it better....

Yes, I actually wore 2 different shoes! You see, I get shin splints on my right leg- so I need a special shoe for that. But that special extra hard arch support was making my left foot hurt really bad. So I got a different shoes, but then I had the shin splints again- so I just wore one of each. It worked just fine, until I needed to replace them- and one pair of shoes is expensive enough!

So, I went to Luke's Locker- my favorite running shoe store in Dallas, they watched me run, they listened to my problems. and they said Asics created the shoe just for me!! Here are my new shoes....

What's so different you ask? Well- the following picture will explain. The top shoe is for the shin splints- the dark gray area at the bottom is extra hard for more support. The middle shoe is a normal nuetral shoe, no extra hardness at all. The bottom shoe is a mixture of the two- no extra hardness, but special ribbing on the bottom to correct the shin splints.

Here's the ribbing on the bottom... (is this more shoe info than you ever wanted or needed?)

So, I happily (not really) started my training. And after my first long run in my new shoes, I had this.... A HUGE blister on the arch of my right foot. Who has ever had a blister there? crazy!

Don't see it? Look, there it is!

On a side note, I've always thought I should be a foot model, what do you think?? (just kidding, kind of)

Ok- so a couple of days rest, a short 2 mile run on Tuesday and I thought it was better. So I did another 5 mile run last night- it was a run where I'm supposed to work on speed- so 2 of the 5 miles were at a faster pace, 8;40 and 9:00 - they were supposed to be 8:30 miles, but I cheated.

Here I am coming home, done with the run. (By the way, I like to do my long runs on the treadmill watching tv- yesterday I watched What Not to Wear and Friends)

But NO! the blister was not better!! Now it's worse!!

These pictures aren't great, but you get the picture. oh well, maybe more days of rest are in my future :)

I love Day Light Savings!

Fall back time!! Love it!! first of all- these are the trees lining our drive way- beautiful!!!! Love the fall red!!

Here's our cute house with our fall flowers in bloom...

And the amazing part is.... these pictures were taken at 7:04 am- on my way to work!!! Normally I drive to work in the dark, but not this week! I love it!! So, join me as I document my drive to work in photo form.

I take a short cut through the neighborhood and stop at this light before turning on the main road (Garland Road). Sometimes I have to sit at this light for 3 minutes. As you can see, there is nothing much to look at and I get very bored here.

But then, the fun begins :) First I pass the Arboretum- beautiful! They always have some pretty flowers to look at. And on top of their wall they have big planters that they seem to change out weekly.

Then I pass the gorgeous White Rock Lake. We love living close to the lake.

Then I see the most amazing thing, runners and bikers! At 7 am doing 9 miles around the lake! and I think to myself, what time did they start running/biking? And what time to do they have to be at work? And how can I get that job?

Just after the lake, I make the next turn, Gaston Road. This road takes me all the way downtown and I only have to go through one school zone. Perfect.

I don't really know what this house is, but the flowers are beautiful and I was stopped at a light, so I took a picture.

Here we are at Baylor Hospital. This is important because every morning when I pass it I think of my friend Dr. Jen - she's in med school right now. I pray for her, then I decide that this is where she will do her residency so she can live with me in Dallas. I think about this every day.

And another favorite spot... the parking lot across from the hospital. No one was there today, but usually I see some people in scrubs leaving the lot. They look young- in fact they look like 4th year med students or residents to me, because they carry backpacks. They might not be, but they make me think of the people from Scrubs (love that show) and then I pray for the scrub wearing people.

Just after the hospital, I'm really in downtown. The pictures didn't really turn out of the tall buildings, but there is one place I pass that you can see right into the convention room- and it's fun to see how it's set up each day and the sales people (or whoever) waiting outside in suits at 7:15 to go inside and get started.

Then I pass the Dallas Art Museum, right now King Tut is on display. we're going to see him Thanksgiving weekend.

Last turn onto St. Paul.

There's First Baptist! (love the neon light)

I turn into the garage, and here's my parking spot.

Made it to school by 7:25 :) And all in the light! Love it!