Garden and Beach

Today was a refreshing start to the new week ahead. Will really likes to get up early at least one day on the weekends to have some "solitary" time, which works out quite well for our marriage because I will always choose sleeping in just a little longer :)

This morning when I got up at 7, Will had coffee made, a coffee cake in the oven, the dishwasher running, and a load fresh out of the dryer. I know, he is pretty much awesome.

We spent some time outside on our back porch while breakfast finished cooking, just talking.  I treasure those moments when we are able to have quiet chats- usually they aren't of any particular importance, but there's something special when the day has just begun and chaos hasn't yet ensued.

After church, we stopped by Lowes to pick up some supplies for Will's grand plans for the afternoon.

When we bought our house, there was zero landscaping in the backyard. The only thing back there was a storage shed that we were made to rip out because "it wasn't up to code" per the HOA (they said it was too close to the fence, and it may have been. I just have an issue with it because you can drive around the neighborhood and count over 25 other houses with sheds within 10 feet of the fence.) Pretty much all work in the yard was put on hold to this year because, like all people, we had to budget our funds and we decided we'd rather prioritize the inside space where we spent most of our time. Will was really hoping to replace the fence this summer, but we've decided against it for now since the main reason he wanted a fence was for cosmetic reasons, not structural reasons. However, his compromise was that he wanted to plant some vines and other things that would help hide the fence.

Add landscaping? I can get on board with that!

We planted two Texas Lilac bushes along the left fence that we see as soon as we step out the back door. They should eventually grow to be pretty tall and wide.

My phone lens was apparently foggy for some of the pictures

And we planted a Creep Myrtle tree in the corner. For now we put down the landscaping fabric, cut it where we had dug holes. and covered it with new soil. I'm not sure that we'll plant any fillers since these are supposed to get pretty big. Eventually we will get pavers to line all of the beds that we've planted so far. 

Along the back fence, directly in front of the back door, I planted to grape vines. I'm pretty excited about these, and I'm hoping we'll be able to eat them next year. We were planning on getting regular lattice to screw into the fence but these were all Lowes had. 

This area under our window looked horrendous due to our dogs and a cousin dog spending several weeks on play-date  tearing up a few parts of our backyard. As a temporary fix Will put down a bunch of scrap wood and rocks so the dogs couldn't really get in the mud, but I absolutely hated it. I suppose it was better than having muddy dogs every time it rained, but our backyard looked like a junk yard. 

A week or so ago, Will got started planting some rose buses under our bedroom window. Only, it started POURING rain a few minutes into his project, so I let him take care of it himself. 

Now, not to belittle how hard Will works and tries to make me happy, but he kinda messed up a little. I mentioned in the store that the bushes needed to be planted about three feet apart from each other, but he planted them like a foot apart. Since I knew they were supposed to be that far apart we only bought two bushes, but since he planted them closer it was kind of lopsided and obvious that we needed a third bush to round things out. So we got a third bush today and I planted it.

You can see how it looked lopsided with only two bushes. Also, dogs are caught red-handed!

Three's much better

Now, you might have noticed that much bush look a little puny compared to the two that Will planted. For one, the one we bought today was on sale, so that could imply that maybe it was a little past its prime, the gardeners weren't taking such care with it, etc. But also, I learned that Will did not plant his bushes in the ground. No, he plopped the rose bush on top of the gardening fabric and poured a whole bunch of new dirt around it. I'm not sure what that is going to mean for the longevity of those bushes (will the roots be able to get very deep through the fabric? Is it too late for me to go back and replant them?), but we're both super amateurs at gardening so we'll probably just wait to see what happens. 

And finally, I bought these other really pretty flowering vine-things (a very technical name, I know) that needed full sun. Originally I had thought we'd plant them along the back fence next to the grapes, but that would push them into the day-long shade of the tree. The right side of the fence pretty much has full sun, so that was our only other option. 

For the past six months or so we've had these lovely remnants of our out-of-code storage shed leaning up against the fence:

So we halled them out of the yard to the side of the house where they'll be easy to put on the curb on heavy-trash day and then we planted the small vines:

The don't look very impressive yet, but I'm hoping they'll grow quickly and add some drama to the fence. I'm not sure what else we're going to do to this side of the yard; it's kind of awkward because it's right next to the back gate and we have an electrical box just to the left of this picture, and we can't really plant/do anything close to that. So I guess it will just have to stick out like a sore thumb? 

Up close: 

Befores and Afters:

So around 1 p.m. we had accomplished all this and it was time to head to Galveston to meet up with Will's family for beach time and dinner at my sister-in-law's. Will and I went to the beach for a short period of time a few weeks ago, but it ended up being cloudy and a little chilly. This was our first time to go to the beach for a few hours and really feel like summer has arrived. 

I may or may not have gotten a little sunburned. And that may or may not be a bit of an understatement : / 

After the beach we headed back to Megan and Brent's house, where she made a new pasta dish and a fabulous strawberry dump cake. Megan and my mother-in-law are both trying so hard to try new dishes that are vegetarian friendly and it means SO MUCH to Will and me. I know it can seem daunting or overwhelming to cook for people who eat differently from you, so seeing them make such an effort reminds me how much they love me. It would easy for them to fix a meal they would normally eat and expect us to eat the sides, but they both go above and beyond, finding new recipes and experimenting. They are pretty much the best. 

And finally, we made it home in time to watch a few episode of Season Four of The Vampire Diaries. Not gonna lie, I like that vampire series a lot more than the Twilight movies. 

Our evening ended with a classic twist: a dog (not sure who) had a visit from the Tinkle Fairy ON OUR BED. This has never happened before, so I'm not sure what's up. But I do know I am not looking forward to squeezing onto a half of the bed with Will tonight while the other side dries from the cleaning stuff. Oh, and let's hope my mother-in-law's washer is big enough for our king-sized comforter and mattress protector.

Ah, this is the good life. 

Summer 2013

I made it.

There were many times I thought I would never make it to June, but after my first semester of teaching, I can proudly say I not only survived, but I finished out the semester strong. My first semester at my "big girl job" deserves a post of its own, so for now I thought I'd talk about the thing I have been waiting for since spring break: SUMMER!

Source

We all look forward to it; it's a time to slow down a little and enjoy the simple things in life. Of course, here in Texas we have to slow down because we'd all die of heat stroke if we moved too quickly. For me, though, I have been looking forward to the next few months because I can finally tackle some projects that have been on the back-burner for the past ten months.

If you remember, I started student teaching last August, which left me more exhausted than I have ever been. I know, I know- we all feel like there are times when we are burnt out and completely exhausted, but there is something to be said for student teaching, and I think most teachers would agree. For one, you start a brand-new job that is at least 40 hours a week, but I think it's safe to say most work more like 50 hours a week. Plus, it's not a desk job where you sit all day, but you are literally on your feet all day except during your conference period (unless you are running all over the school doing errands and making copies) and during lunch. My feet have never hurt so bad before in my life (but thankfully they got broken in and don't bother me much these days). On top of beginning a new pseudo-career, my sister-in-law was getting married in December so we spent a lot of time helping her get ready for that and getting our house ready for her bridal shower and hosting family for Christmas. Oh, and I was still taking two online classes for my university, so there was all of that.

Then I got hired to teach full time after graduation. I was extremely overwhelmed with all the new responsibilities (I mean, I was in charge of and responsible for the safety and academic progress of 120 teenagers throughout the course of the day, and I feel like I am barely out of teenager-hood myself!), so I was up at 4 a.m, at school by 5:15 a.m, and not home until after 6 p.m. for the first few months. It was really hard not seeing sunlight at all except through the window in my classroom. I was working so much because, obviously, I was brand new and had never done any of this so far, so I had to start from scratch whereas other teachers with experience usually have materials and lessons they have used before and can fall back on. I will be there in a few years, but not just yet. In addition, part of my new job is being the debate teacher and coach, so I stayed after school with the kids who wanted to practice. This also meant that on Fridays I taught half a day, left school with the debate kids and traveled to tournaments and didn't get home until midnight, only to get back on the bus at 6:30 a.m. on Saturdays and not get home until 7 p.m.

While this may feel like a bit of a pity party, it truly is not. I thank God every day for giving me this job when I know so many are jobless. It is a hard schedule, but in the end I will be a much better teacher (and person in general). My kids, for the most part, are wonderful young adults and I am so proud to see the progress they make both in and outside the classroom. This illustration of my life for the past several months is to emphasize the fact that, by and large, I have not had the time nor energy to tackle many of the things on my to-do list. Which is why it all got saved up for a big Summer 2013 to-do list:

In no particular order... just the way it came to my brain

A short explanation of each:
1. I have the fabric. I have a brand new sewing machine. I just need to do it.
2. Almost all of our cloth napkins are going on three-years old; we need some new ones
3. We've been putting this off, even though it will be one of the easier rooms in the house to paint because I really want to do board and batten. However, Will and I decided that project isn't on the forecast any time soon so it would be worth going ahead and painting the last room in the house to be touched.
4. I know, I know. After I waxed and waned how much I love bright and fun colors, I decided I wanted to paint it grey to match the rest of the house. Though I still LOVE the green, it has been extremely difficult to decorate. Pretty much black and white accessories are the only thing that work with it, and we are trying to move away from a bit from that (I know, again, after all this). I look forward to a more neutral pain that will allow me to have a bit more fun with accessories.
5. We recently painted the two hallways to match the living room, but I painted the long hallway at night which made for some spots that need a little more coverage, and Will painted the short hallway by our bedroom, which basically means that there are a lot of touch-up spots :)
6. Like any home with some years under her belt, our baseboards could use some touch ups. The ceilings need it due to one husband who is not quite as careful as his wife when painting without tape :)
7. This room is small but (kind of) functional. I have dreams of adding a counter over the washer and dryer, adding shelves that are lower (and therefore, short-person-friendly), and removing the existing cabinetry. All of this may not be in the budget for this summer, but I think I can at least make it a little more cute with little money.
8. I can't wait to show you all the progress we've made on the back porch, but it's not quite done yet!
9. This goes with number 8- I want a place for gardening supplies as well as a place to put drinks/grilling stuff.
10. Yeah, this stuff is pretty nasty despite frequent mopping sessions
11. We added new curtains to the bedroom when we repainted, but I want to line them to make them more light-blocking because this girl is a crummy sleeper and light seeping in from the neighbors' porch lights does not make me happy
12. I haven't read something for pleasure in a while- I have already started And the Mountains Echoed by my favorite author.
13. This one and numbers 14 and 15 all go with number 12- I want to go to the local library to get my four books, which will likely be read at the beach or the pool.
16. I have a few no-fail vegetarian dishes that I love, but it's time to up my repertoire and find some more.
17. Will and I started CrossFit in February and we LOVE it, but I want to add some running in the mix to aid with goal number 21...
18. I saw my family at my graduation in December and few two days in May for a friend's graduation, but I deeply miss them. We're trying to work out a few days for them to come down to visit since they haven't been here in over a year.
19. I am thinking of a particular area that has some fantastic stores like West Elm, Restoration Hardware, and the Container Store.
20. This shouldn't be too hard if I actually get going on my list
21. Since we started CrossFit in February, I've lost ten pounds. It's certainly not a huge number, but it's made a big difference in my energy levels and self-confidence. However, I've hit a stall the past few weeks and while I haven't gained anything back, I haven't made any progress. Ideally I'd like to get back to the weight I was when we got married, so I need to amp up my clean eating and throw in some additional running to keep things burning this summer.
22. Woop- I've done this the past two days so I can cross it off my list!
23. I know- but it's a guilty pleasure

It's kind of a lot, but at the same time it's not. I also plan on having lots of relaxation time as well. It is the summer, after all.

Spring Break

My, my. I looked down and suddenly it's spring break. And we're already over half-way through that, to boot! Obviously, life as a teacher is taking its fair share of time for me this semester. Yep, I am a bona-fide, certified teacher at a wonderful high school not too far from our house. It's still a bit overwhelming to me to think that I am THE adult who is IN CHARGE of approximately 120 high school students throughout the day.

As crazy as it is at times, I know now more than ever that this is what I meant to do, and I am so happy to finally be in the development stage of my career. Here's a peek at my classroom:

I made a book wreath for my door- no mistaking this for a science classroom!

Objectives board

This Twitter wall has strips of laminated paper that the kids can write on. This day I had asked them to use their favorite vocabulary word in an original sentence. 

Quote board- one of the students asked to write this one 

This was a project we did while reading Night- each student received a poem that was written by a child during the Holocaust and had to create a butterfly representing that child. 

 Other happenings in our lives-
Lucy is growing like a weed. Seriously. She has this massive belly that swings while she walks, and she's barely 6 months old! I think the next time we buy food, this little lady is getting some weight control help.

We repainted our bedroom! We loved and still love the dark blue walls we previously had, but because the walls were so dark we had to have a light-colored bedspread. Ours was white, and it got stained from the dogs jumping on it with muddy feet after a few months of having it. We got a duvet cover from Ikea that was nice, but after we washed it once it shrunk really badly. So we were on the hunt for a new bedspread and found one we really liked, but we knew it wouldn't work with the dark walls. Enter:

Yeah, we pretty much went with white. But it's not just white white, it's a beautiful, slightly creamy, warm white that has made our bedroom feel so much more peaceful.

Primer on Friday evening and two coats of paint on Saturday and we knocked this project out in two days!

Ta-da! These are crummy I-phone photos, but you get the jist. We also recovered the headboard with a gray sheet from Target since the old design definitely would not have worked with the new bedspread.

We threw up some old curtains we had in our apartment, but they'll have to go as soon as we can find some new ones that match the new chair we just got from World Market. We also installed new blinds, a slow project we've been tackling in all rooms of the house. We actually installed two separate blinds in this window. Because the window is so large, we would have had to custom order blinds that would have been way out of our budget. I thought two different sets would bother me, but after living with it for a few weeks it's not a big deal.

 And obviously these four approve of the new renovations.

And finally, in other news, my mother-in-law is here! She and my father-in-law have been on the job and house hunt down here, and she landed an awesome job in the same system she currently works for, which is great since she's so close to retirement. She's staying here in a temporary living situation until their old house sells and they can get a new one down here. They have a contract on their house in Canyon to sell and they're putting a contract in on a house down here this afternoon, so we're crossing our fingers that everything works out.

Other than that, not a ton of stuff has been happening around here.

2012 in Review

Yes, here I am with a cliche post about what the past year has held. But really, it has been a wonderful (and difficult) year.

We kicked off 2012 with my sister-in-law and her then-boyfriend. We went out to eat and then went to murder mystery dessert event. It is the same thing as the murder mystery dinner, but since we only ate dessert it was half the price :) . Pictures of this even exist somewhere, but like almost all of my other pictures from this year, they are scrambled somewhere between our new computer, our external hard drive, and other various flash drives.

That was also the week we first spotted our new house. You can read more about that journey here.

In February I ran my first 5k on Valentine's Day weekend with an impressive time compared to all my training runs. Unfortunately, it wasn't because I suddenly became really fast, but rather it was because it was negative two degrees outside and I knew if I stopped running I wouldn't be able to start again.

In March we spent all of spring break moving into our house. We could not have done it without all of the help from our families and friends. Also in March, we welcomed Scarlett into our lives! She has been such a joy, and we cannot imagine life without her.

April flew by, and in May Will graduated with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

We also celebrated the marriage of some long-time friends, Seth and Jordan.

At their rehearsal

June and July were both wonderful and miserable at the same time. Will moved into our house and started his new job, and I stayed in Canyon to work and take a few summer classes. I was able to go down there for a few weeks and tackle a lot of projects.

In August I finally left the hometown I've known all my life and headed south to start a new life with my husband. While there have been so many incredible things about living down here, I still get homesick every so often. I miss my family and friends the most, but sometimes I also miss the traffic (or rather, the lack thereof) and the customer service.

In September, we welcomed Lucy into our home, even though I had sworn I never wanted another cat. Once again, I can't imagine our life without her. During September, I also celebrated my 21st birthday. Honestly, though, I was so exhausted from beginning student teaching that we stayed in and celebrated with Will making me a homemade dinner and dessert.

In October, Will celebrated his 23rd birthday and continued to melt away in the Houston heat.

In November, I finished my student teaching and passed both of my certification exams. The hunt for a job commenced.

And lastly, December was our busiest month of the year! I graduated with a B.A. in English with a secondary ELA certification, and received a job offer to teach sophomore English and Speech/Debate at a coveted high school in the school district where I student taught. Will's parents and my sister-in-law and her fiance all came and stayed with us for the Christmas break and for my sister-in-law's WEDDING!

My SIL has been planning this wedding for quite a while, and I think the evening turned out perfectly. It was so beautiful and personal- but most importantly, two people deeply in love were able to join their lives in holy matrimony.

Now all of our guests are gone and we both return to work tomorrow. Our house seems awfully quiet after housing seven adults, three dogs, and three cats for the past week. We enjoyed 2012, but we are ready to tackle 2013. I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.

Cheers to 2013.

Megan's Bridal Shower

My beautiful sister-in-law is getting married at the end of this month, so last month Will and I had the honor of hosting her bridal shower with a few other lovely ladies.

I started planning this back in the summer- just getting some ideas together for a theme. I didn't want it to be an over-the-top theme, but I definitely wanted it to have something to tie it all together. With Megan's help, I eventually chose a "linen and lace" theme. Before they chose their wedding site, a lot of Megan's pins on Pinterest were inspired by rustic, outdoor weddings with lots of natural elements and burlap and those kinds of things. Once they decided on a venue, she realized a lot of those previous ideas she liked wouldn't fit with the more elegant decor of the venue. So I thought pulling some of the things I knew she liked would be a great way to make the shower feel very "Megan."

I designed the invites in Power Point (I know, I am awesome ;) ) and had them printed from Vista Print with a coupon. BTW, I've used Vista Print for numerous things (including our wedding invites), and I am always pleased with the quality for the price you pay. As a bonus, there is almost always a coupon code out.

Will and I went a little crazy cleaning the house for this event. I know that no one would be looking at my floors and the curtains and the blinds, but honestly those big things hadn't been done since we moved in last March, and it was time. We were just glad it coincided with a big event so that it would feel like all our hard work was worth it.

I didn't have a chance to snap a ton of great photos of all the decor and of the event, but I think overall the shower was a great success. The day was really all about Megan and her future with Brent, and I think that was accomplished :)

All the food was in the dining room.
(and sheesh, it's about time we paint and get some artwork in that room!)

For the food table, I used a white table cloth with a lace curtain I got at a thrift store a few years ago over it to tie in the "lace" part of the theme. I "made" a table runner out of some linen fabric from Hobby Lobby. The candles in the center are sitting on a plain piece of wood that I sprayed ORB.

Petit Fours are one of Megan's favorites, so I asked her grandmother to get some for the shower. 

The little chalkboard signs were made from some small wood signs I've had for a few years. I almost got rid of them this summer since I never used them, but then I remembered this shower and decided to save them. I sprayed them with ORB and painted the top with chalkboard paint. Unfortunately, I decided to use a new chalkboard marker on all the chalkboards in my house that day, and when I went to clean up the marker would not completely come off! These little signs are ruined (unless I want to sand them down and repaint). My big chalkboard in the kitchen faired a little better, but if you look at it the right way you can still see "Congrats Megan and Brent!"

Will and Megan's grandmother helped me get a lot of the food together. She made these awesome croissants- some were chicken salad (one of Megan's favorites) and the others were pimento cheese.

Will made these mini pumpkin bread cupcakes for me.

We also had a cream cheese/raspberry perserve dish and sausage balls.

The entry table- guests were supposed to grab a tag and write their "key" to a good marriage/relationship and sign it instead of signing a guest book. No one did it, but my great MIL saved the day and made it into a kind of game and passed it out to everyone before we ate.

I'm sad I didn't take an actual picture of these favors. I found a big box of assorted holiday teas at Marshalls a few weeks before and grabbed that, knowing we wanted to have a lot of tea to serve since Megan is really into tea. Since there was so much, I figured it would make a good favor for everyone. I found small pockets made out of brown craft paper at Michael's and got some washi tape (also from Michael's) to put on the front of each pocket. I labeled each with the kind of tea that was inside.

One of the other hosts

I cannot wait until the big day!