Tuesday, January 26, 2010

One of those days...

This morning, I locked the front door and shut it behind me. Seconds later I remembered that my car keys AND my house keys were still inside...
...and I forgot my lunch today.

Monday, January 25, 2010

i blogged already but it got deleted...

I hate it when that happens. Anyway, here is a summary of what I spent FOREVER typing...

Great weekend, Daniel bought a remote control plane and had WAY too much fun with it. I get my wedding pictures today! Stay tuned for those! Tried the PW's cinnamon rolls and brisket. Rolls were ah-may-zing and the brisket was delicious! Finally, here are some websites you will love you little girls clothes, cameras, food...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BabyKDesigns
http://www.etsy.com/shop/denisehytonen
www.thepioneerwoman.com

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Dear iPhone

I really only have one complaint, and that would be of my iCal calendar. While I love having my agenda in the palm of my hands, so easy to access, add, edit, and more... however...

When I look at the month, all I see is a dot telling me something is taking place. When I added the daily Bible reading schedule to it, suddenly a dot appears on everyday. This can get confusing when I glance at my calendar to see if I am free for an event. Plus, it makes me feel busier than I really am just because it shows that I am "doing something every single day!" Can we please get a little more organized? How about colors! if it is a red dot, it is my Bible reading, blue dot for birthdays, red dot for school related agenda, and a green dot for fun stuff! Now there is an idea for you!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Thanks MLK

First of all thank you MLK. It is because of you that I got to sleep in this morning and am getting a day of rest. Hannah has been asking me to post on here so here I sit. Posting but not sure what to post about. I guess i'll just ramble about random things.

First I will talk about the happenings of the last month or so. Adjusting to living out from the roof of my parents has been different. There is quite a bit of volume difference in the house going from living with 9 other to living with 1 other person. I like it.

So I signed up for the MS 150. For those of you who don't know what this is it's a bike ride from Houston to Austin to support those with Multiple Sclerosis (sp?). It's a ride I've heard about for years and have always wanted to do however, I just haven't taken the time to sign up. Well this year I made myself sign up. Cycling is a hobby that each one of you should take up. Maybe if there were more cyclists there would be less people that would honk at them on the road telling them to get onto the sidewalk. If these people only tried to ride 20mph on the sidewalk if you haven't noticed alot of them aren't exactly smooth. Definitly not safe to ride that fast on the sidewalk. Anyway I'm trying to find time to ride more so that I can train for the ride. It's over two days so that's about 75 miles a day which is definitly do able. Just not today. By the way I need to raise 300 dollars for it. Let me know if you would like to support MS research.

I'm listening to Aaron Copland's Ballet Billy the Kid. It's pretty awesome. That's all for now.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Julie & Julia

It's official. The first major lesson I have learned in marriage is about food. I won't get into the details of the learned lesson, but I will say it's time to rescue my cooking. My strategy? I'm going Julie & Julia on my Pioneer Woman cookbook. Now I am certainly not going all out and setting a deadline to have cooked my way through her book, but I am going to try at least two recipes each week. She is an incredibly entertaining writer. No worries if you don't have her book. Everything is on her blog! This weeks menu?

Cinnamon Rolls (is it bad that I'm starting with this?)
Brisket (I try to make one thing each week that we can eat some of and freeze the rest. This looked like a good choice)

Any way. We will see if this goes any better. I had to throw my crock pot away... It has broken. (But I have told Daniel that my birthday is coming up and it would be an approved and desirable gift)

On other notes, I feel like I have SOOOO many friends who have recently (in the past few months) gotten engaged. Many of them got engaged right around when I did. It's weird to think I'm already married and they have only begun their planning. I highly recommend 7 weeks. It is PLENTY of time to plan your dream wedding, and then you can get on to being married!

I was recently looking at pictures of my nieces and nephews... can someone PLEASE tell them to stop growing up! Andrew will be TWO this month, Isaiah will be FOUR in March! This summer/fall Meelo will be 3, Joshua 1, and Claire will be 1. Time flies.

And my final random thought for the day- MY MOM AND DAD ARE DONE!!!! Well, not officially, but their youngest child has turned 18 and is enrolled in college at DBU for the fall. Now I know they will continue to be parents, but this is a huge deal. The house will be empty come August. While you may not fully grasp the magnitude of this, you must understand that they have had up to SIX kids living there over the last 29 years. Not to mention all our friends that would spend the majority of daylight over there. It is a huge milestone. They have been incredible parents, and I am so blessed to call them Mom & Dad. I LOVE YOU!

Time to head to church. My students are learning about Jonah today. Love my ninth grade girls!!!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Going Green...

...and by green I mean vegetables. Daniel and I want to start eating healthier. Why is it that the easy meals usually are high in carbs and fat? Just doesn't seem fair. It's been pretty hit-or-miss lately with the new recipes I've been trying out. For example, last nights sweet 'n sour crock pot chicken? MISS! Susan Minchew's tortilla soup? HIT! Crab cakes? HIT! Beef Stew? MISS!

I feel like I've wasted money when one of the meals I make doesn't turn out very good. None of them were awful, but I definitely won?t be making them again. This next week I'm going to try some meals that include fish and chicken and TONS of vegetables. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

movin' on up

I?m contemplating putting a workshop together for teachers in my district on the power of nonverbal communication. As teachers we are required to complete a certain amount of staff development each school year. I always get frustrated with this because the workshops are limited to the core classes (math, science, English, and history) or for those who work with the special, the gifted, and the illiterate. Rarely is there a course that a SPEECH teacher will gain from. I usually end up just sitting there to get the credit, not really learning anything relevant. There are at least 9 speech teachers in our district, possibly more, and the benefit of a course on nonverbal communication is that both speech teachers AND other subjects would gain from it. Speech teachers can use the information for a unit on nonverbal communication while other teachers can use the information to incorporate nonverbal communication into their lessons, better understand the power behind it, and help the interpret some of the actions/behaviors of their students. I feel that between Mrs. Sobhani (my fellow speech teacher) and I we are more than enough equipped to teach this course because we spent 4 days this past fall at a conference that was on nonverbal communication. Not to mention it would look good on my resume and be fun at the same time. Pray it works out!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Does this make me a bad teacher?

One thing I have learned living in Houston is that Houstonians are LOYAL to the Houston area teams. As a result, my students love to give me a hard time when I am rootin' for a Dallas team.

Last Friday after them harassing me for asking, "So, who's going to watch the Cowboy's beat the Eagle's this weekend?!" I was challenged by one of the guys. We ended up placing a "bet" on the winning team. If the Cowboy's won, he would have to write a poem in honor of their victory and read it to the class. If the Eagle's one, I had to attempt the "jerk"

As a result, here is the poem he read to the class today:

The Cowboy's won, I was wrong it's true.
I was wrong to insult the grey & blue.
Mrs. Jones, I'm sorry the Eagles got crushed, it was cold like a frozen slush.
When I watched the game I turned red & blushed.
Tony Romo played well which is weird to admit, Miles Austin caught passes, his hands are legit. The game for the Eagles just wasn't fair, nobody could stop Demarcus Ware.
Nobody can win in the Cowboys lair, with a giant screen with no glare. Jason Witten's a beast, Eagles are his feast.
When you play the 'Boys they're the greatest, your the least.
No matter who you are, Cowboys are Americas Team.
They were ready to make the Eagles cream.
Donovan was ripped at the seams, lit from all sides a sad sight to see.
Nobody's as beast as the 'Boys d (as in defense), but next week on national TV, the Vikings will beat you, you'll see!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Bombs Away

I have LOVED this week. It has flown by. I can't think of a better way to start back after an eventful break. My students are currently learning about group communication. Instead of going through the textbook, they were randomly assigned to groups, had to come up with a team name and leader, and together are participating in a series of games- 11 games to be exact. They have LOVED it and it really has forced them to work together and communicate. Way more effective than book work! Here are some of the games we have played or will be playing:

Human Knot (everyone links hands and try to untangle. fastest team gets the win!)
Block Game (2 versions, team that can stack the most blocks on top of each other with out it falling, and then rotating teams who put blocks on top of one another. Team who puts the block on it that knocks it down loses.)
Extreme Pictionary (they get a card with a word on it and either have to draw it blind, make it out of play dough, or race from the back of the room to the front of the room and draw on board, depending on which round they are in. This was FUN and INTENSE!)
Not Your Mom's Charades (student gets a card with a word on it and has to use the arms & legs of another student to act it out, only the helper student doesn't know the words. They can't talk and have to get their team to guess correctly. Other rounds include acting out a word by yourself but unable to move your arms, or your feet.)
Flip It! (team is giving a twin size sheet that has been cut in half. their whole team has to stand on it and together they have to flip the sheet over to the other side with out anyone stepping off. If even a shoelace is off the sheet they have to start over. Fastest time wins)
Protect the Egg (I can't wait to do this one next week! Each team is given straws, Popsicle sticks, masking tape, news paper, and a raw egg. They have to make a structure to put the egg in that is both creative and strong. We will then take them outside and I will be ten feet above the ground and will drop their egg in the structure to the ground. If your egg doesn't break, you win. There will be additional points given for creativity.)
Hum that tune (students will draw a card and have to hum the tune to their teammates to guess)
Pin Drop (students have a chop stick that they have to hold at shoulder height, arm straight and drop into a water bottle on the ground)
Balloon Race (two students put a balloon between their heads and have to race from one end of the class to the other and back with out touching each other, with out dropping the balloon. only your head can touch the balloon)

This next week will be my last week with my Fall Semester students. It's bitter sweet. I have truly enjoyed them this year, but I look forward to a fresh new group. God is good- I love my job!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

check lists

I do well with lists. However I hate making them. I think I feel this pressure to complete something if I actually put it on a piece of paper. Needless to say, I don't keep pen and paper readily available... There are currently many things to accomplish though. For example, I now prefer to keep the door to the guest room closed out of fear that the unpacked boxes lurking behind the door will come after me, taunting me with reminders of what is still to be done. There are also the thank you notes to write. I've got some of them done, and have seriously contemplated TYPING a generic one to send out but I know the wrath of my mother would make me forever regret it (don't worry mom, I love you for it and in the years to come I will thank you for it. Until then...). And finally, there is the daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning.... laundry, dishes, bathrooms... I miss the simplicity of living in a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment. Took just an hour to clean everything, and once it was done, it stayed done for a few days. However, I will greatly take my new surroundings over the old for they bring many more added blessings (like free rent!).

On another note, I'm on a search for the worlds best (and easiest) crock pot recipes. I recently tried a chicken one. As for cooking the chicken, it couldn't have been cooked more perfectly. However the flavor was pretty much garlic, garlic, and more garlic. I should have known considering the recipe called for TWO heads of garlic. If anything it removed the risk of any bad omens. Or whatever it is that garlic keeps away. Anyway, any good, cheap, and easy crock pot recipes out there, send them my way. I (and my husband) would be grateful.

Well. There is some ironing to be done... why does the dry cleaners have to be so expensive? I could possibly be in the wrong line of careers...........

(Just for your entertainment, as I type this my husband is playing lullabies on the keyboard?????.)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A New Journey

Whew! What a whirlwind the past few months have been! It seems like just yesterday I was laying in a hammock soaking up the sun back home in Weatherford this summer, and now it's a chilly day here in Houston as we jump back into the school year after one very eventful Christmas break! I was doing a pretty good job of blogging at least once a month on my old blog, but things picked up and I got busy! I wanted to start a NEW blog as a fresh start with a new year and a new life with my HUSBAND! Wahoo. I'm hoping he'll write on here some too. So basically, here is the break down of the last few months. Enjoy!!

Oct 30- Daniel proposed, I said yes :)
Nov 1- We decided to get married on Dec 19. Giving us about 7 weeks to plan a wedding. Yes, we were crazy, but soooo worth it.
Thanksgiving- One very full week! Lot's of planning and things to do, people to see, but it was certainly great being home
Beginning of December- I had a shower one weekend, although I don't remember the exact date. Maybe the 5th? It was a blessing. So many people from my life showed up to bless me with prayers and gifts. Truly a wonderful day.
Dec. 3-4 & 10-11 I went to ESL workshops. My students were troopers! They had a sub for several days between Thanksgiving break and Christmas break. That is hard on them (and me), but we made it with no permanent damage!
Dec 16- Drove 5 hours to Dallas to pick up my very best friend Emily at Dallas Love Field, then we drove 1 hour to Weatherford. It was wonderful having some time with just her before everyone else arrived for the wedding extravaganza.
Dec 17- errands & pedicures with Em, met up with Tara & Theresa who had just driven in from Houston for lunch at Olive Garden, then headed to my parents house. That night we had my bacholorette "party" at my very favorite restaurant- Fire Oak Grill. If you are ever in Weatherford, it's a must. It was a great time with friends from past and present, from Weatherford, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, and Houston. So blessed! After dinner we headed to my parents house and played Apples to Apples after some good talk time. Daniel had flown in that evening and after playing a mean trick on me telling me that my brother forgot to pick him up and he was still at the air port, and we let them join us girls in the game.
Dec 18- More errands, setting up the reception hall, waiting forever for the linens, making center pieces for rehearsal dinner, getting ready, and then off to the church! Rehearsal was pretty short and easy. Then we all headed to Chicken Scratch Cafe for some YUMMY dinner. It was such a wonderful time. The rehearsal dinner is always my favorite part of being in a wedding because it is everyone I love most in the same room. Some good advice was given, sweet encouragement and funny stories were shared, and all in all it was a wonderful time.
Dec 19- I forced my self to sleep in. My mom had told me I would have a hard time sleeping, but I proved her wrong. I slept in until 9:00, ate a good breakfast, took a long shower, then headed to the church. I did my own make up and my dear friend Micah did my hair. Everyone kept telling me I was so relaxed, but I didn't know how else to feel. It was all so enjoyable and fun! All the details and plans were taking care of, so what was there to stress over? I did however begin to feel super emotional. Just about anything made me cry. I was nervous because I didn't want to be one of those brides who sobs through the whole ceremony! Thankfully, as my dad and I waited behind the close doors, all those teary emotions evaporated and were replaced with excitement. The doors flew open and their was my love, looking quite dashing in his tux. I really don't remember anything that was happening around me. I wish I had looked around and taken it all in, but I was so focused on walking down the aisle, making it up the steps, and handing my flowers off to my sister. It was really a strange feeling. I was soaking up every word the Pastor said, not remembering that there was 300 people sitting behind us. It seemed like only minutes had passed when he said, "You may now kiss your bride!" What a wonderful day! The reception was so fun and the cupcakes were a HIT! Off to The Omni Hotel in downtown for a few nights and then next thing you know, we were back in Houston.

So, how did we pull off a wedding in 7 weeks? First of all, God picked the date for us. The church was available, the reception hall (at a discounted price!!), everything was available down to the dresses. 2ndly, a rock star mom who has had some wedding planning experience and can survive off little to now sleep, and friends who worked hard to help pull it all together. I am truly blessed.

Like I said, a whirlwind! I'll save the rest of Christmas Break for another day... that was only the first 3 days!!!