Bad Blogger

As you fellow teachers know, things have been nuts lately. Upon our early release today, I came home and took a really good nap. It was awesome. Nathan and I took engagement pictures about a month ago and I wanted to share a few. We went with Mariam Khalili (someone we were in band with in high school). I loved her urban style and untraditional photos. I really didn't want the Olan Mills kind of pictures. I was looking for something I couldn't do myself. Mariam has been wonderful and did an amazing job. I can't wait to do bridals next and see how they turn out!

Little Nathan

My Dad is making a slideshow for Nathan and I's rehearsal dinner. I got the fantastic job of going through Nathan's mom's photo albums for pictures. Fun, right? It was, until I had to go through and scan every picture twice. The first time I went through them the scanner was jacked up and all 250 pictures came our crappy. (Why did I scan 250 pictures? I'm indecisive and also had no idea what my Dad was looking for. I also wanted them scanned so if I needed them for anything in the future it would already be done. Not to mention that if there was a fire or something at his parent's house all of those pictures would get destroyed forever. ) So I got to scan all of the pictures all over again. Yeehaw! Here are a few of my favorites...

Nathan's grandpa Walter

Blond hair!

Troublemaker :)

Panda. Very original. Panda was in a million pictures.

It's the overalls and sippy cup that up the cuteness.

Lazy lazy

Just finished taking a nap on a Friday night. Yes, it was awesome. Those kids wore me out! Now it's time to clean the apartment and begin packing for Illinois. I'm going to need some warm clothes. The highs for Thanksgiving Day are in the 30's. I don't think I'll be running in a tank and shorts like I did yesterday.

I'll have to do a real update soon, but in the meantime... I found a teal argyle blog background. I am in LOVE! More updates next week when I'm in Carbondale. They don't even have a Target within 40 miles! HELP!

Wordless Wednesday

Are you a rabbit?

For Red Ribbon week, everyone could dress up as their favorite book character on Friday. Most of the grades did things as a team. We had to think hard because with eight people on your team, a lot of books get ruled out quickly. We decided to dress as the different mice from the Kevin Henkes books. I immediately wanted to be Julius (a baby mouse) so I could go to Target and get adult footy pj's. (I'd secretly been wanting some for a while.) I made our ears so they would match the color of the mouse in our book. I got asked all day if I was a rabbit because of my white ears. :)

Back row: Chester's Way, Sheila Rae, The Brave, Julius, Baby of the World

Front Row: Weekend with Wendall, Wemberly Worried, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Owen, Chrysamthemum

Wordless Wednesday

October 2007

You Know You're a Texan When...

... you click on a 'cuisine' tab and get upset when Bar-B-Que isn't there. HA!

Poor thing. :(

Yesterday I was taking care of some wedding details and had to run in to Alfred Angelo for some bridesmaid stuff. While walking in I noticed the two girls who were ahead of me in line. (Warning: I'm an eaves dropper!) Here's how their conversation with the sales woman went:

Sales Lady: "Good afternoon. What can I help you with?"

Two Girls: "Do you have any pants suits?"

SL: "Hmm, let me see... We only had one and it's been discontinued. You could buy the sample if if fits. When is the wedding?

TG: "November 12"

SL: " Ooo. I don't know if we can get it cleaned for you in time. It would come in the week of the wedding. Would you like to see it?"

TG: "Sure. Why not?"

The sales lady proceeds to put out the most horrible pant suit known to man. (No wonder it was discontinued!) The girl didn't like it but was going to try it on because they were having trouble finding an ivory pant suit. I felt bad for her. I'm marrying a man and want to wear a dress. There are a ton of them out there. She wants to marry a woman and wear a pant suit and can't find anything. (And before you roll your eyes and think, "Well, if she was marrying a guy and wearing a dress she wouldn't have that problem," we supposedly live in a 'free' country and she should be able to marry whoever she wants. It's about equal rights and not judging others people! Moving on...) I figured that a store like Alfred Angelo would cater to all types more so than a boutique. Poor thing.

Big what?!

Anyone, seen the ads for or watched TLC's Say Yes To The Dress: Big Bliss? (Watch a clip here)I have issues with this show. 'Nuff said.

I have a veil! I wanted to borrow Jamie's for my 'something borrowed' but it wasn't the right color. :( You'd never think there could be such a difference in peices of tulle, but there are. Some of those things were. . . not me. I picked one that I had tried on when I got my dress. Two layers of ivory tulle with beading on the edge, simple. Anyway, another thing I can check off the list.

Always a Bridesmaid...

I found bridesmaid dresses! I need to thank my girls for letting me make them try on lots of dresses before finding one that I liked and that looked great on everyone. Thanks! Here's a quick snapshot of Lauren in the sample dress. We've ordered them in black/black. One more thing I can check off the list! Next up, a trip to Brickhouse to make see if Jamie's veil matches my dress and if not, ordering a veil.

They'll be great in the right color and once we take the straps up. They made them SUPER long for some reason.

A Major Award!

If you've ever seen the movie A Chirstmas Story then you know about getting a 'major award'. Today, I got mine!

That's right. I won something at a race. No, it wasn't a door prize either. I got 3rd place in my age group! Ha! Needless to say, it wasn't a big race but who cares! I saw other people in my group finish after me and yes, there were more than three in the group. It may be the only time in my running career that I get a prize so I may as well live it up. :)

The race was the Live Healthy 5k put on by Dickinson Beautiful. I won a pair or running socks valued at $15. WHOOP! They are fancier than my other socks that's for sure. They are labeled 'R' and 'L' since they're made differently for each foot. Goodness knows I wouldn't pay $15 for a pair of socks either. I might have to now if they are super comfy!

Picking up the Pace

It was back to the grind today. Oh yes, back to school. Goodbye staying up until 1. Goodbye sleeping in until 10. Goodbye laying out by the pool. Goodbye... until next June. :)

~

So. I got lazy this summer. Yeah. I never do well on a strict diet but today I went back to eating only whole foods again. That I can do. It's easy to know and understand what to eat and why. I'll let you know how it's going every once and a while. Happy eating!

I want one! :(

So last night on Facebook I posted that I was going to try out Zumba for the first time. I also asked if there was any sort of dress code (like that you wear stretchy pants to yoga and not running shorts) that I should be aware of. I was told no and wore my usual running gear. Everything was good when I got there (in plenty of time of course) and I was all into it until the instructor told us that the next song was a 'booty shakin' song'. Ok, I can shake my non-existent butt. But then I notice everyone going to their bags and getting those coin belt things that belly dancers wear. Something similar to that. I was totally jealous! I wanted to jingle around while doing all the dance moves! The instructor had some up front if you wanted to buy one after the class but I decided to wait until I stick with the class. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to go back soon!

Southern Florida

Last week Nathan and I headed to Florida for a last minute vacation. Heath convinced us to meet him down in the Keys to hang out. Heath had to go back to work before we got there so we headed down to hang out with his gf Beth. Her mom grew up in Big Pine Key and they still have a house down there. We decided to spend two days in the Keys and two days in Miami. Here's a few pictures...

We went on a snorkle trip to Looe Key and saw a Reef Shark! Nathan laughed at me because I was swimming after it like crazy trying to take pictures. It wasn't scary at all so why not follow him, right?!

It's only the Southernmost Point if you can't figure out how to sneak onto gov't or private property, or don't want to pay money. I told Nathan that we need to hit up the Noth, West, and East points now.

Beth's dad (an A&M professor, WHOOP!) has studied Key Deer for 40 years or so. We learned lots of info about them while we were there. They are endangered but not very afraid of people. It's illegal to feed them but we still got to pet them! They are endangered because to the lack of space. They are found on Big Pine Key and No Name Key and not really anywhere else. They only allow two homes per year to be built on Big Pine Key no to help preserve their habitat.

Nathan's big Tarpon. Different environment than our Tarpon adventure last summer, but same result. I have other pictures when he's picking it up out of the water. Yes, that's me running around in the background like a nut.

An airboat tour of the Everglades was a must, no matter how touristy and cheesy. Our boat was filled with European tourists. Heck, all of Miami and South Beach was filled with European tourists! Anyway, they were enamoured with the herons and egrets flying around and almost went to the bathroom all over themselves when they saw an alligator. I guess Nathan and I are jaded by the sight of an alligator.

Nathan and I were keen on hitting up two National Parks in one day: Everglades and Biscayne. Success! you can't see it in this picture but downtown Miami is in the background. It's a small park but pretty none the less.

At least once every vacation I want to get a little dressed up and go out to a nice dinner. We were tired of Cuban food so we went to an Italian place within walking distance from the hotel. It was amazing! Our pastas were fan-stinkin-tastic and I wanted to die while eating desert. It could have been my last meal for all I cared. Any desert made from dark chocolate that oozed out more chocolate and had vanilla bean ice cream has my name on it!

Oh, you didn't know that I have my own beach. I forgot to tell you! We didn't stay at the Nikki Beach hotel but I sure did take a cheesy tourist picture next to it! (And yes, the green dress in almost every picture was my go-to lazy/beach dress for the trip.)

Standard beach picture. This was a few minutes before we saw some topless Euro chick. Um, no. I am obviously a prude american because I couldn't get over it. What about the small children on the beach?! what about creep-os who would take pictures?! I don't think I'll be topless on a beach anytime soon.

Peacocks and Spillage

Mandy and Dillon got married! (I know both of them through my college roommate Leslie.) They had the wedding and reception at Safari Texas Ranch in Richmond. I've come across the place in looking at venues but didn't look into it since it was too far away. They have all kinds of wild animals (think zebras) roaming the grounds, behind fences of course. When Nathan and I were basically running to the ceremony, we were running a little late, I saw a peacock. I'd just asked Nathan what they sounded like the day before but he couldn't describe it to me. Fast forward to the vows... "I Dillon, take you Mandy..." CAW! CAW! Nathan leans over, "That is what a peacock sounds like!" Ha ha. It made everyone giggle and lightened the mood for sure.

At the reception Nathan hit the bottom of my wine glass and it spilled all over me. Lame. Thank goodness for wearing a washable, knit jersey dress (LOFT of course) and it was dry within 30 min or so. Good thing since they didn't have any hand dryers, only paper towels. Nathan and I took my 'drying time' to work on a wedding playlist based on stuff we heard that night. Multi-tasking for sure.

Overall it was a super fun time and after Stephen's wedding on Saturday, I'll be next! WHOOP!

Good Dog, Crazy Dog

(No making fun of how I talk to the dog in a silly voice. Thanks!)

He listens sometimes...

And goes crazy sometimes!

ex·trav·a·gan·za

Extravaganza - any lavish or opulent show, event, assemblage, etc.

I'd say the the bridal extravaganza today follows that definition. I wanted to go just so I could say that I had, you know. Like a right of passage or something I guess. I doubt I won anything but you never know. I should find our next week if I did.

My thoughts:

• The fashion show was lame. I didn't see anything I liked. I think they sent out things to wow the crowd which is not my style. Too big, too poofy, too sparkly, etc.
  I wish they had more free food and cake
• There are some c-razy brides out there
• I love my mom, Lauren, and Krissy for their sense of humor
• I had a good day

Chloe Dao from Project Runway! LOVE!

Krissy, Bridesmaid and Lauren, Maid of Honor

My Mom :)

Why I should win the Fiancee of the Year Award: Getting epoxy from Ralph who Nathan found on Craigslist.

Doggy Daycare

Porter, my animal nephew, has come to visit this week. Chad and Jamie are in Seattle/Vancouver for vacation and I volunteered myself to keep Porter at my apartment. I would consider myself a 'dog person' but I may be reconsidering. I love the little guy, but goodness-gracious, having to take him out to the bathroom all the time is a pain in the butt. Standing out in the rain waiting for a dog to pee is not cool. Even though it's kind of gross, cats going to the bathroom in a box is way easier. Moving on, he and Blanca are not getting along very well. He has no clue that she exists, but she is furious with him for being here. I've never heard her hiss in the past 3 years and she's hissed at him for getting too close 5 times in the past two days. Poor thing. and she's mad at me too! moody little thing. I can't say that I blame her. I'd be mad if it was all about me and then I suddenly had someone come in and take over. Maybe she'll adjust over the next few days... probably not.

Venue!

In a little over 8 months time I'll be a married woman. Word. So Nathan was ok with whatever venue I wanted since we aren't following the "being engaged 12-18 months" guideline. We decided that a hotel ballroom was out and we wanted to do it all in one place if possible. I went to Butler's Courtyard last Wednesday and loved it. I went back today and booked it. March 18, 2011. We're hoping to keep it on the smaller side and not invite anyone we ever met just to get gifts. I'm sure there will be some people there I don't know, Nathan's parent's friends and whatnot, but I don't want to spend the entire night wondering who in the heck is at my wedding. Whatever. Here's a few pics we took today and a super cute gift from Mrs. Kenas.

I'll be getting married in THIS SPOT in 255 days.

Wedding magazines! A planning book! And a bag with a new initial on it! (Too bad it took me about ten seconds to realize why there was an 'S' on it. HA!)

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

Next chapter, here I come! Nathan proposed last Friday and we're getting married!!! WHOOP! I had poked and proded for a while (to say the least) but wasn't thinking it would happen before he left again. Crazy!

Short proposal story: Went to the beach to look for seaglass (he knows I love that and calls me a seaglass crackhead), he "found" some and was down on one knee. He asks me and I start screaming, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" about three octaves above me normal voice. I eventually say yes.

The past week has been tiring and it's only the beginning. HA! I've been drving down to Mom and Dad's almost everyday which is the tiring part. (Thank goodness I only have a five minute commute to work or I'd never survive.)

First things first, the venue. Nathan and I want to get married and have the reception in the same place. We don't have any ties to the churches we went to as children and neither one of us attends church on a weekly basis, it;s more like a bi-yearly basis. Anyway, I saw a few places today and LOVED Butler's Courtyard. the only thing I worry about it weather and having to pay for a tent because of it. I also wish Nathan was here to help me. Lame.

~

Here are some pictures if you didn't see them on Facebook.

Stuff You Think You Need 'R Us

I walked into my current nightmare today: Babies 'R Us. That place is a stinkin' nuthouse. I'm surrounded by pregnant people and people with small children! AHHHH!! I realize the luxury of getting to shop at a baby specialty store but for someone who does not want children (maybe ever) that place is stupid. They fill that place with crap that mothers think they need even though mothers have raised children for thousands of years without them e.g. Boppy pillows, Bumbos, shopping cart covers, video monitors, etc. I'm sure it's nice to have but it's all overpriced, unnecessary crap! It just follows the desired extravagance that we as Americans feel we deserve, our sense of entitlement. I'll try to stay off my soapbox, sorry! Maybe moving to Costa Rica for a year would be good for me. :)

Field Trip, Buddy Day, Silent Auction

If you teach, you know how much is going on at the end of the year. I wanted to share a few pictures and info about what's been going on lately.

~
Field Trip to HMNS

How knew IMAX and fossils were so gosh darn exciting?

Buddy Fun Day

Me and my buddy, Krissy.

I served my time in the dunking booth my first year. It was Holly's turn. :)

Second Grade Team

Silent Auction

We held a Family Day at school a few weeks ago and teachers were encouraged to offer up their time in a silent auction to raise money for a teacher that was diagnosed with cancer this year. I raised $145 to take two of my students to a movie and lunch. WHOOP! Krissy also had two students. We went and saw Shrek: The Final Chapter before heading over to Fudruckers. They truly enjoyed themselves and you know they are excited to go when you pull up to their house and they are waiting on top of the car looking out for you! I had a blast and would love to do it again!

It worked!

130.5!

I'm a day behind but whatever. My new pants i got two weeks ago were too big! I'm trying to decide whether or not to exchange them for a smaller size. Seems risky this early on. I'll blog this week's plan later!

Again, ignore the tan. I'm starting to see some abs poke through!

Books Through the Decades

We had a theme week for our Book Fair. I do love a good theme! We did 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. I had to miss 80's day because of the second grade field trip. Lame. I would have picked a different day if I knew it was going to be 80's day! I'll post on our field trip another day. It was succussful, no lost kids. :) Anyway, here were my outfits for the other theme days...

50's: My aunt's cheerleading skirt and my mom's letter jacket.


60's: Tie dye (thanks Target!) with double braids in the hair parted down the middle.

70's: Funky printed top. (Thanks clearance rack at Target! I got told all day how cute it was, which cracked me up.)

YAY!

Nathan comes home on Thursday! WHOOP!

1 step down, 1 to go...

No change again in weight (dang it!). I worked out M-Sa this week and feel like a have a workout schedule back under control. Eating is another story. Some days were really good and I stuck to my plan, most days were bad/out of control though. But, I have a plan for this week! After the mother's day festivities today, I have a meal plan for each day through Saturday. It's following Jillian Michael's Master Your Metabolism book. Basically you are eating/not eating certain foods at certain times of the day to balance your hormone levels/cravings/sugar highs and lows/etc. It worked and was filling for me before, so it's time to eat well again. NO processed foods and mainly organic. Here's the workout and eating plans for this week:

Workout:

M- Blast Fat, Boost Metabolism DVD

T- Running

W- No More Trouble Zones DVD

Th- Running

F- 30 Day Shred DVD

Sa- Running

S- Rest

Eating:

M- Egg whites & grapefruit; Southwest chicken salad; apple w/ walnuts; tilapia w/ roasted veg.
T- Berry Smoothie; salad w/ chicken; carrots w/ hummus; salmon w/ veg.
W-Breakfast Burrito; sirloin w/ brown rice; apple w/ greek yogurt; pork chop w/ green beans
Th-Berry Sm.; Southwest chicken salad; carrots w/ hummus; turkey tenderloin w/ asparagus
F- cottage cheese w/ grapefruit; tuna sand w/ carrots; apple w/ walnuts; tilapia w/ roasted veg.
Sa- Breakfast Bur.; Hot tuna sand.; greek yogurt w/ blueberries; chicken w/ salad

I've done it before so I know I can do it again! Wish me luck!

I'm hoping to see some changes for next week!

Update

No change in my weight this week. It must have been all the baklava (combined with going to the movies on Friday and downing Raisinets, Twizzlers, and Sour Patch Kids after we'd gone out to eat and I had an Oreo milkshake). So good. :) The girls and I decided May 1 was a good time to start over again so I was a good girl yesterday and so far today. I also picked up 'No More Trouble Zones' and 'Banish Fat Boost Metabolism' by Jillian Michaels at Target on sale. I already have her '30 Day Shred' video. I did the Touble Zones yesterday and I actually called her evil to the TV like she could hear me or something. Krissy and I are going to do the Metabolism one after school on Monday. Hopefully I'll be looking and feeling fantastic by the time school gets out!

Movie Night!

So a few of the single girls at school have banded together and started getting together for dinner and a movie once a month. We've rotated between houses and it's been fun! Last night, it was my turn. Two thoughts popped into my head when I realized last week it was my turn to host: 'Holy Crap! I need to deep-clean my apartment ASAP!, and I've never cooked for anyone outside of Nathan, my roomies in college, or my family! What if they think everything is terrible?!' One of the girls is super picky with her food and hates sauce on anything. Well, crap. What am I supposed to do with that?! Hmm. I decided on Greek food. YUM! So the menu was tzatziki with pita for an appetizer, salad, Greek chicken (I just put Greek seasoning on it and baked it- no sauces, remember), couscous with tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta with lemon juice, roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli and roasted asparagus. We also had baklava for desert! SO GOOD! I went to Niko Niko's to pick up salad dressing, the tzatziki and the baklava because there's no way mine could be as good as theirs! I can only do so much. :) We watched Law Abiding Citizen. Crazy movie, good though. I enjoyed the girl time but forgot to take any pictures during our get-together, boo. I did snap a few pictures of the foods that I had prepped before it was time for the real cooking. I thought everything turned out tasty. Success! I'd love to do it again! Anyone want to come over for dinner?

Romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, kalamata olives, peperocini peppers and I added feta at the end. I need to make that salad more often. Delish!

Couscous with cherub tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and lemon juice. One of my fav things to make and snack on in the summer. So light tasting.

Baklava! Enough said!