80

Today marks 80 years of life for my dear Maw Maw. So glad that for her age she is still doing so well and is as sassy as ever! We celebrated her birthday this past weekend and gave her some cute decorations to spruce up their house with.  

Day 30: The Final Day!

Day 30:  I'm thankful for a couple of things today. First, Buddy didn't dig any new holes in the yard! Yay!  Second, I had the best sub experience of all yesterday at a school I had not been to until then.  I subbed for a third grade class and the other teachers on the team were super nice and invited me to eat lunch with them. I REALLY needed this today and the Lord knew it.  I was really not wanting to go to work at all, but these sweet ladies renewed my energy.

Day 28 & 29

Day 28:  I am thankful for my education.  I am lucky to live in a country where we can get a free education.  I was blessed with many great teachers who I looked up to, and were what made me want to be one.

Day 29:  Even though they are hard, I am thankful for life's little challenges.  Going through rough times can help teach so many life lessons and make you realize how important things are.

Day 27

Day 27:  I am thankful for a pretty decent trip to the dentist.  If you know me you know this is a big deal! Had my teeth cleaned yesterday and no new cavities! I do sometime soon have to replace an old filling, so boo on that.

Days 23-26

Ok we've been gone for the holiday, so I'm catching up!

Day 23:  I am thankful for safe travels.  Daniel and I and his sister and brother in law both made it safely to my in laws house last Friday and we all made it home safely yesterday.

Day 24:  I am thankful that my sweet mama came over to our house to feed our dogs for us while we were gone!

Day 25:  I am thankful for my paid off car!  And that it is still in great shape!

Day 26:  I am thankful that I don't have to work today so that I can get this house back to normal!

Day 22

Day 22:  I am thankful for yet another family Thanksgiving get together.  It was our second year hosting Thanksgiving at our house and even though it's a lot of work to get everything together it's all worth it.  So blessed to have my grandparents around for another Thanksgiving day.

Day 21 & The Turkey Saga

Day 21:  I am thankful for food. Yes of course we need it to survive, but I'm so glad that we have such a nice variety to choose from and can occasionally pig out on special occasions like Thanksgiving!

Now onto the turkey saga of 2012.  So this year Daniel and I are having my family over to our house for Thanksgiving.  Our main job is to cook the turkey.  This year we decided to fry it up.  Last Christmas Daniel got money to buy the turkey pot and we bought it at Academy when we got home.  It has sat in the garage since then.  He had inherited his grandfather's old cast burner to cook it on.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Daniel stopped by Tractor Supply and picked up a hose and regulator for the propane tank that we didn't have yet. So then Daniel goes out to check the cast burner.  He then discovers that it's not complete and will not work and there's nothing he can do to fix it.  There's lesson #1, we should've checked the burner out before now.  We still don't have a propane tank yet, so Daniel goes out to buy a new burner and a propane tank.

We get the new burner put together and find out that the stuff he bought at Tractor Supply he no longer needs. Great. Good news is that the burner works!

Then we get out the big box with the turkey pot in it and discover that it is missing a couple of pieces to it.  There's lesson #2, we should've checked the stupid box when we brought it home last January.  So we call Academy and explain the story, they said we could bring it back for another one. Yay!

Daniel volunteered to take me to see Breaking Dawn Part 2, and of course I didn't object, and then we would make our rounds to TS and Academy.  In the end we finally have everything ready for the big day tomorrow!

Days 19 & 20

Day 19:  I am soooooo grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for me on the cross! Without him I would not be here!

Day 20: I am thankful for quality time with my husband.  His work keeps him fairly busy, so when we have a moment to go to a movie, dinner or just running errands around town I love it.

Days 17 &18

Day 17:  I am thankful for fun times spent with good friends.  Even though life is busy and there isn't a ton of free time to spend with friends, it's nice to find the time and have fun together.  Last night we used our new fire pit and had our good friends Johnny and Jen over. We had a great time eating smores and enjoying the fire!

Day 18: I am thankful for cell phones so that I can keep up with friends and family more easily.  It's nice for keeping up with those who live farther away

Days 15 & 16

Day 15:  I am thankful for time.  Here lately Daniel has been super busy with his work, it's planting time again, so our time together has been somewhat limited.  While I am very glad he has a great job, I am not a big fan when he has to go away for a couple of days.  But it does make me very excited when he comes home and I get to spend some time with him. :)

Day 16:  I am thankful for music.  When you're in a bad mood and you need lifting up the right song can instantly make you feel better.  When you're in a great mood and wanna dance around the house a good song can get you groovin'!

Day 14

Day 14:  I am SUPER thankful for my health.  I know and hear stories of so many people who are battling serious diseases like cancer and it just breaks my heart.  Trying to eat right and stay healthy isn't always easy, but I'm thankful to be healthy and alive!

Day 13

Day 13:  Tonight I am very thankful for two things. I am so thankful that my father in law's surgery was a success today and that it will help his back pain.  I am also thankful for a fireplace.  It is so cozy to sit and watch a nice fire and listen to the wood popping on a cold night.  This picture is cute Alice last Christmas morning when she got to come inside for her present. :)

Day 12

Day 12: I am thankful to have two wonderful and loving grandparents. They are super supportive and always keep things lively! It's an adventure taking them out and about places! 

Days 9, 10 & 11

Day 9:  I already mentioned how thankful I am for all of my family, but I am especially thankful for my mother.  She worked very hard to raise me and made me who I am today.  She is a great mother and friend!

Day 10:  I am SOOOO thankful for great in laws!  I have friends who aren't as fortunate to love both of their in laws as much as I do.  They graciously welcomed me into their family and raised such a wonderful son.  They are a lot of fun to be with!

Day 11:  I am thankful for the brave men and women who serve in our military.  Several men in my family have given their service and for that I am grateful.

Day 7 & 8

I slipped a little a forgot about day 7 so I'll do two at once. :)

Day 7:  I am thankful that I have such a great church family.  Daniel and I love our church and love getting to know the people there.

Day 8:  This one may sound silly, but I am thankful for pinterest.  I have found and tried several recipes on there and we've eaten some awesome stuff! When I was in the classroom I found and used many cute lesson ideas.  I love that it's so easy to use and it's highly addictive!

Day 6

Day 6:  I am thankful for Daniel's job.  Thankfully he has a good job that pays all the bills around here, cause subbing alone sure isn't going to do it!  Sometimes the hours can be a bit crazy, and I worry about him when he's on the road, but it all works out.

Day 5

Day 5: I am thankful for a job.  Now that I am subbing full time I realize how difficult it is for some people to find a job.  This may not be my dream job, but I know that someday soon God will put the right job in my path.  Until then I am glad that I can work what schools and grades I want to and take off when I want to.

Day 4

Day 4: I am thankful for my two sweet dogs!  Ever since I was a little girl and we got our first dog I've had a soft spot for the furry little friends.  I adopted Alice a couple of years ago and we were lucky enough to adopt Buddy last May.  Both of them are such sweethearts and Alice is a pretty good guard dog. We're still waiting for Buddy to mature and calm down a little bit, but I can't imagine life without them!

Day 3

Day 3:  After watching the news every day and seeing how much destruction went on from hurricane Sandy, I am so thankful for a home to live in.  It may not be my dream home, but I am thankful that we are fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads.  

Day 2

Day 2: I am thankful for all of the sweet, crazy, fun and loving family members that I am blessed with. Each one of them holds a special place in my heart.  Even though I don't get to see some of them as often as I would like, the times we do get together are special! Love you all!

30 Days of Being Thankful

It's now November and I saw that a couple of people on Facebook were going to post each day something that they're thankful for.  I thought this was a neat idea, but decided to do it on the blog.  There are SOOO many things to be thankful for that it should be easy coming up with 30. So here goes!

#1: I am so incredibly thankful for my sweet husband.  He means more than the world to me. Like Easton Corbin says, "Lovin' you is fun!"

Pumpkin Carving

Happy early Halloween!  Last year after Halloween I bought a pumpkin carving kit for like 40 cents, holla for Target clearance!  I can't even tell you the last time that I carved a pumpkin, so I decided it was about time.  While we were at HEB yesterday we picked up a pretty cheap pumpkin.  After looking through the pattern choices the carving book gave us, of course we picked one of the hardest ones to do.  The little details were harder than I thought!  We even saved the seeds to roast and ended up roasting them just a bit much and they were just gross.  But we had fun carving it! Maybe this will be the start to a carving tradition!

Daniel at work

Starting to cut, excuse our hamper in the background. It was also laundry day. 

The finished product!

Things I've Learned As a Sub

This school year has started off a bit different for me.  Not having my own classroom has been such a weird experience.  Being a substitute teacher is a whole different ballgame from being a regular teacher. It's definitely been an eye opener for many different reasons. Some of these things I wish that I had thought more of when I had my own classroom, and hopefully will get to put them to use in the near future.

1. Going into a school you've never set foot in is just weird.

2.  Some schools I have felt like no one but the people at the front desk even saw me there. When partnering with another teacher, I've had the other teacher not even bother to introduce themselves. I sure hope that I always did this!

3.  Kids are surprised when I tell them that I have been a REAL teacher before.

4.  I've been in some schools that I don't ever wish to work at.

5.  I've also been in a few schools that I would definitely work at if the opportunity came up. (This is one advantage to subbing at different schools.)

6.  Some teachers leave super detailed plans, and some barely leave any.  Again, I hope that I was always very detailed. It's frustrating when you aren't sure what to do.

7.  When I say super detailed plans I mean SUPER. Most teachers leave decent plans, but will say things like it's time for specials, but won't say where they go.

All of this to say that if and when I get to return to having my own class, I'm going to be sure to be extra friendly to subs around me and remember the little details when leaving plans.

More Bathroom Updates!

Now that we've finished the bathroom closet, we set out to tackle the bathroom sinks and cabinets.  The old sinks were plastic. I mean who puts a plastic sink in a house?!  We made one big Lowe's trip and got new sinks, a new faucet for our bathroom and all the other odds and ends. Last weekend Daniel's parents were here and Daniel and his dad spent a while working on putting tile in the bathroom closet and the new sinks and all.  I worked on painting the cabinets and doors a couple of days.  The hall bathroom had the original wood finish cabinets and ours had been previously painted white, but were in need of a new coat. I had found the knobs and drawer handles on clearance at Target for a steal and saved them for this project. Last night Daniel put the new hinges and hardware on and hung the doors back up.  I am so loving it! It looks so much nicer than before!

The old plastic sink and our old faucet

The hall bathroom, the faucet here was still nice so we reused it.

Our bathroom with lovely new faucet!

Bathroom Closet Makeover

Now that we're done with painting both of the bathrooms, it's on to the cabinets.  Our master bath doesn't have a closet or anything in it, so this hall bath closet is it.  I didn't get a shot of the cabinet doors on, Daniel was too fast at taking them off!  We had three cabinet doors and one of those laundry slots you dump your clothes into.  The laundry slot was really a big waste of space.  Whoever put this cabinet in had built it ahead of time and slid it into the wall space.  Well when Daniel took out all of the cabinets we gained a few inches of extra space on the sides and back. Space we needed!  

We decided to put in the adjustable metal shelving so we could change the shelves up if we ever wanted to.  Daniel worked hard to put in the bi-fold door and trim and today we finally got everything together. Sometime in the near future Daniel is going to tile the floor since the cabinet base had covered the concrete underneath, and he'll have to give the door a coat of paint.  But so far we're loving it!

Before (the cabinet doors looked just like the ones under the sink)

All the wood is gone!

Daniel had to screw these pieces into the studs to hold the rails for our shelves

Ta-da! Organized and everything fits so much better! And there's even one more shelf up top that my camera couldn't see!

The finished look!

The 4th, Blue Bell and More Painting

Hope you had a great 4th of July holiday!  We had fun celebrating my Paw Paw's 82nd birthday and the 4th. (His birthday is on the 3rd)  It's just not the same without going to see the big ol' Centerville parade! 

Daniel and Mom

Paw Paw the birthday boy

For our July date we went to the Blue Bell factory in Brenham.  Daniel had been a couple of times before, but I had never been and was dying to go.  It was neat to see the factory and of course the sample of ice cream at the end is great too!  We also went and ate at a 50's style diner in Brenham and had a great hamburger.

Paint, paint and more paint!  After our fun day we went to work painting our bathroom.  We used the same color as the other bathroom.  I just finished the trim today and it looks so much better with bright trim!

Before (with a cute guy in the shower)

Finally done!

Just A Swingin'

Daniel and I finally wrote out a list of all of the little projects we want done around the house within this year, and let me tell ya, it's a big one.  Now that I'm done with the hall bath, I've been slowly but surely painting sections of the baseboards. Now THAT is a slow process. 

We inherited a swing frame that was Daniel's grandparents and it has sat outside for a while now.  And for Daniel's birthday he received a swing to put on it.  The frame was white and in need of paint, so the other day Daniel took some black spray paint and painted it. And he put the swing together!  Looks so good!  Now I just need some lower temps to really enjoy some swing time. :)

Hall Bathroom Refreshed

What a day!  With summer comes home projects and the first one I tackled was painting the hall bathroom.  Even though a bathroom is smaller, it's harder to paint around all the little things in a bathroom!  We found a can of Valspar paint at the Habitat for Humanity store here in town for $2!  It was about 3/4 full and had more than plenty for this room.  I also painted the ceiling and the trim around the room. It's not a big color change, but seeing it in person makes it look a LOT better. Cross one thing off of my list!

Before

After (not a big color difference)

After: I like the new, little bit darker shade

Domestic Diva

I love how summer gives me the chance to get housework done at my own pace and allows more time to do fun crafty things.  

The other day I took a trip to Michael's and found some canvas that were on sale and bought a few cheap bottles of acrylic paint.  I saw a similar project on pinterest and decided to give it a try.  Now I wish that I would have painted the background, but it didn't turn out bad.  Hopefully it will look good in mom's bathroom.

I also found this idea from a pinterest inspiration.  We had this frame lying around with no glass.  I painted the frame with some acrylic paint and while I was at Michael's I bought the letter H.  I had some scrapbook paper that I traced the letter on and then used mod podge to glue it to the letter.  Not sure where we'll hang it yet, but I like it!

I just had to throw in a family picture. :)  I just love this picture of all 6 of us!  We had a wonderful time visiting with Daniel's parents, sister and brother in law for Father's Day.  We don't have many chances for all 6 of us to be together, so when we do the time sure flies and we have a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Yesterday marked 29 years ago that the most wonderful man was born. This weekend we had a fun family filled celebration with lots of good food and conversation. 

I hope that your birthday was as special as you are Daniel! Thank you to everyone who made his birthday so special, we love you all!

The Perils of a Digging Dog

How can we get mad at such a cute little face like this?  Our new dog Buddy is such a sweet and loving dog, but he has one problem.  He's a digger.  Now the good thing is he's not trying to dig out of the yard, but we come home to holes around the side of the house every day.  

So I Googled what to do about a digging dog and we are going to try a couple of solutions.  We don't mind him digging a small hole to lay in since it's much cooler, but the hole is starting to get deeper and that's just not cool.  So we bought some chicken wire to put down so that he can't dig too deep.  We are also going to try to put some small balloons in other places and see if the pop scares him from digging.  If only we had a hidden camera to see his reaction!

We decided to treat the babies to a special treat, so we picked up a couple of beef rib bones at the grocery store today. Spoiled mutts! :)

Buddy Boy

Happy Mother's Day weekend! I not only have a spectacular mother and grandmother, but now a wonderful mother in law as well!  All of these ladies are an important part of our lives and we love them dearly. :)

Today also marks 9 months that Daniel and I have been married. What a great time it has been so far.

Yesterday we adopted a new dog!  A couple of weeks ago we went to the animal shelter to look at a dog we saw online.  We saw him and his cage mate and we really liked them both.  Since Daniel had to be out for work all the next week, we knew we couldn't take a dog home that day.  So we decided that we would check back in a couple of weeks and if one of them was still there then they were meant to be.  

So off we go to the shelter again and one of the dogs was gone, but the other one was still there. And to make it even better he was only $12 to adopt!  So we brought him home!  His name is Buddy and he is a mutt, and a sweet one at that!

Love!

I had to add a picture of the pretty roses!

Buddy!

They love to play with each other.

Alice: "I'll show you my teeth!"

Buddy: "I'll show you MY teeth!"

Sweet boy!