lately

Lately I have not blogged. I have done many things worthy of blogging. I have taken lots of great pictures with intentions of blogging. But I have not blogged.

In the last 2 and 1/2 weeks I have become a full time Pre-kindergarten teacher. I have helped out with 7 wet pants, 2 poopy pants, and 3 pukers. I have cleaned up countless spills, put kids in 1000s of time outs, made a few kids cry, told some kids to stop crying, emailed and called parents, planned out 1 million and 3 activities per day, and then fallen asleep.

Nope, not true either. I have gone home to clean, do laundry, grocery shop, pick up prescriptions, make dinner, pack my lunch, and love my husband.

but I have not blogged.
I have spent a lot of time reading God's word. And even more time praying- praying for many things- but mostly patience and love for these kids.

I'm glad that in making choices, I have chosen to take breaks from blogging (even though it is something I greatly enjoy) and NOT taken any breaks from God's word.

I have taken a break from working out. And I'm trying to stop that. I ran yesterday for 19 minutes and 32 seconds. Not very long. But longer than any day last week! Maybe I'll run again today. and maybe not. I'm really tired today- and when I'm tired- I'm grumpy. and When I'm grumpy- I feel bad for my students.

I am rambling. But at least I'm blogging something. I promise I have lots of fun things to share.

I will share soon.

Kimmy's Shower

A few weeks ago, I got to hostess a shower for my dear friend Kimmy. The shower was at this BEAUTIFUL home that I totally covet!! Don't worry, I snapped some pictures of it. In fact, I would pretend to be taking pictures of some of the guests, but really turn the camera and take a picture of the furniture or whatever. I know, I'm sly.

Bride-to-be and her mama, Rita

Kim's sister- Julie, dear friend Heather (miss her!), and dear friend Cari (get to see her!)
Some more guests

some more guests, please notice the house in the background :)

Girls getting food. LOVE the chandelier! Love the bird cage! Love the paint color!

The Spread...

chicken salad sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, fruit salad, cream cheese and raspberry chipotle dip, yummy bars (compliments of me), and petite fours (no clue on the proper spelling).

Close up of the precious petite fours and the beautiful flowers.

to drink... water or lemonade iced tea (aka- an arnold palmer).

served in real crystal of course.

The Favors (one of my additions)

"Tea Time is a Great Time to pray for Kim and Jason!"
(Kim's favorite drink is Chai tea- so there were 3 types of Chai all bundled up. Gave these out after our group prayer time for Kim.)

Now for the secretive house photos...

The Office Area (off of the kitchen)

built in cabinets, stainless steel counter, U-shaped, there were 2 computers

The "old" extra fridge

The guest bath. LOVE the tile work and the colors

The Dining Room built-ins - on both sides of an arch way. LOVE the dining chairs too!

The display in the living room.

Unfortunately, that's all I got. The kitchen was to DIE FOR! but I never had a moment in there by myself, so I didn't get any pictures. Oh well. The pictures are in my mind!

The shower was wonderful! and now we are on to the wedding!! Coming up so soon! July 16th in Colorado! Will post about it then!

Tonight we are on for Toy Story 3! I think the last time Ty and I went to the movies was at Thanksgiving in St. Louis... so I'm excited!

The Year of Leather

June 30, 2010 we celebrated our THREE year anniversary!!

And because I'm just a "little" cheesy, we (I) like to do the traditional gifts. So this is the year of leather!

Ty and I went to dinner at Sambuca's.

Of course I photographed the food for you :)

I ordered the Veggie Lasaga. It was delish!

(oops forgot to take pictures of our salads, they were good too)

Ty had the Blackened Red Snapper Etouffe (no clue how to spell that).

He loved it!

For dessert... the flourless chocolate cake! The creaminess was to die for!

After 3 whole years, sweet Ty has figured me out! He was about to bite into the dessert, but stopped himself and asked, "Do you want a picture first?" Oh how my heart swooned!

Do you think we liked it??

Ty came home from work with these gorgeous flowers for me! 3 sets of them... maybe for 3 years together? don't know- I need to ask.

And finally .... the LEATHER

We have been wanting a leather chair for a few years now. We picked this out together last week. It really completes the room! I want to replace the lamp behind it... I have some ideas and will blog when I do :)

Happy 3 Year Anniversary to Me and Ty!!

Catching Up

Yes I realize it has been many months since I've blogged. I have no excuse. The simple fact is, I've taken pictures of things I want to blog about and I've "written" blog posts in my head... I just haven't sat down at the computer in quite some time. Something about an iPhone and being able to read blogs on it instead of a computer.

Anywho... in a feeble attempt to catch up...

I have spent my time doing this....

LOVING every second of Kindergarten!

Man, I really miss those kids!!

Gardening!

The garden has grown and filled in so much since these pictures. I can't make any promises, but I would like to post updated pictures!

Hanging with Hubby

This picture I snapped as we were heading to a PGA tournament. We've gone to 3 this year. He loves them and I enjoy going too! This day was a "PINK OUT" day in honor of Breast Cancer. I LOVED the opportunity to wear pink AND match my husband!

Weddings

Ty, his brothers, and I at a friend's wedding. I was in another wedding in May, threw a bridal shower a few weeks ago (have great pics from that for a blog post), and am "in" one more wedding in July. Tis the Season!

I really do have many more ideas on things to share... and now that my summer break is in full force and I have successfully cleaned the house... I will begin posting more often. Yay! I love this!

Couponing... My New Hobby

In an effort to be extra frugal this year... and due to my intrigue and love for GAMES... I've taken up couponing.

Oh it's really a full time effort. I began by reading blogs about it and emailing some friends and trying to learn how to do it. I then came up with my own game plan (realistically I cannot shop at 3-4 grocery/pharmacy stores a week) and my goals... to save $10-15 on groceries.

I then began periodically buying the Sunday paper, stealing my mother-in-law's paper (with her permission of course), reading blogs constantly, and printing online coupons.

I have developed a system of filing them. A system for figuring out my grocery list each week. A system for walking through the grocery store with my coupons and finding the best deals.

And then a system of calling my husband when leaving the store to brag about how much I have saved. I leave out the part about how much I've spent.

Now truth is... I know some people do couponing WAY better than me. I know I could save even MORE. BUT- I am happy, I have met my goals, and although it truly is a new hobby, it has not fully taken over my life. I don't think I could realistically spend MORE time on this effort. So... here are some results I'd like to share...

Albertson's Grocery Store... I saved a total of $84.32 - based on a combo of sales and coupons.

I only buy things I would normally buy. And so to save money, I'm buying them when they are on sale and I have a coupon. So sometimes we may go a week without our "normal" snack, or I may try an "off brand" of it. But that is how I'm doing it. And then when things are on sale, I stockpile 2-3 of them and know that we will eat it.

Now on to Target...

I like to purchase a LOT of bathroom supplies at once. With teaching, it's just not realistic to go to Target often for shampoo. Plus I find that every time I go, I purchase other things that are NOT on my list. So, if I can limit my shampoo trips to 3-4 times a year, then I save by just not going to the store.

And then there are the coupons...
Here is my latest....

I saved $131.82!!

isn't that incredible??

And it was totally on shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc. Things I WILL use!! Wow!!

I am EXCITED!

Makes Ya Feel Good

"Would I play with Mrs. Sawyer? Yes I will play with Mrs. Sawyer."

Does life get any better than that?

Write it... Just like it sounds...

When this was turned in the other day (kindergarten, remember.)... I started to read it out loud, then paused and said, " Please read it to me."

This is what came out....

"You know who I'm talking about?"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Fred and Red."

The assignment was "use the rhyming words Fred and red." I LOVE how she just wrote a conversation!! She wrote it just like it sounds. Awesome!