Remember when I used to blog!?

Well, hey there dear, sweet blog friends of mine!!  Are you still actually there!?  Still checking back to see if I've posted, updated anything, or am even alive!?

I assure you I am alive!!  Just super busy, living on caffeine & a prayer ;)

Remember when I used to have all this free time over the summer?  And before that, when I was in a good routine/flow with school!?  And when I actually, regularly posted on my little blog!?!

{Sigh} I sure do.  That was fun!

Between getting back in the swing of things (aka waking up at 520 everyday and working until 4ish), having a puppy, and trying to get my fitness on daily amongst the other gajillion things to do - there is so little time for blogging :(  wahhhhh!!  I've yet to even recap our weekend trip to Michigan :'(

I will eventually recap & share our pictures, but until then, I'll leave you with a little teaser...

Yes, Brandon & I are certifiably insane!!  Thought I was going to die!  But more on all that later :)

Ok friends, just bear with me while I get my school legs back on!  And don't worry, Stella Michelle will get her groove back ;)

Thankful Thursday

Well hello there little blog of mine!  I haven't meant to neglect you since Monday, but in case you've forgotten, right now is the beginning of the school year.  It's just a tad busy {that's sarcasm, y'all!} so, sadly I haven't had beaucoups of free time to sit & write!

But I thought it would be more fun to be thankful today, instead of griping about the easy, leisurely days of summer being ripped from my grasp... tear :,(  <-----that's a tear!

So today, I'm counting my blessings!  Here's what I'm thankful for....

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1.  My job.  As challenging, under eye, dark circle provoking, and all time consuming as it is (see this post), I'm thankful to have a job, an abled body in which to use to work, and a paycheck at the end of every month!  Amen.

2.  Changing seasons.  There's just something about the change from summer to fall - the cooler temps, the football games, the smell of sharpened pencils!  Leaves changing, boots and scarves, chunky sweaters, and pumpkin things!  Oh yes, it might be my favorite.

3.  A pretty, working, non-peed-on phone.   It is so pretty!

4.  Friends who will watch our fur babies & treat them as their own.  This weekend will be our first time to leave Berkley!  Our friend Andrea & her kitty cat Oliver will be staying at our house to watch the babes!  She's sweet to give up a weekend of freedom to play mom to our fur babies (a puppy mind you!).  She's played mom to Benson, though, many times before :)  I know Benson & Berkley will love having Oliver over to play!

5.  A weekend away.  Brandon left yesterday afternoon for Michigan & I'm flying up Friday, mid day! We're headed up for B's Company's annual summer work party!  We were hoping to squeeze some family time in, but most everyone is busy when we're free :(  We're planning to make the best of it though and have an out of town date night!  Fun right!?

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We're over the hump, friends!!  Happy almost weekend, y'all!

Weekend Recap!

Well friends, as always the weekend flew by and I feel like I need another weekend to recover from my weekend!  If only we could work that out somehow.  

But alas, today was back to work - we have lots of training this week and a different grade level is bringing breakfast each day!  That sure makes coming to work a little easier, knowing a yummy breakfast is waiting, hah, but not so fantastic for the waist line.  Whoops!  Thursday is open house & I get to see all my kiddos, and Friday I'm off to meet B in Michigan for the weekend - should be a good week! :)

But back to my weekend recap...

Friday night we fought off the rain & headed downtown to get our tailgate on!

My partner in crime :)  And a rude photobomber!

Bromance

Andrea, Angela & moi

The men!

A sweet friend from school gave us their tickets for the night and we scalped a few more!  The game was so fun and my Panthers were looking pretty good!!

A little blurry but I love the background!

The night was going perfectly according to plan - rain held off, fun was being had by all, a new Panthers shirt was bought, the Panthers were winning (and won!), and then I had to go and ruin the night by dropping my phone in the toilet!!

Did you get that!?  Yes, I dropped my phone in a dirty pee toilet!!! 

You see....my phone was in my back pocket, I went into the bathroom as we were about to leave the stadium, and as I was sitting, my phone fell out of my back pocket into the toilet.  Unfortunately, I did not see it at that point, and proceeded to pee on my phone!  {Sorry, TMI?!?  Haha}

Then, I stood up to fasten my pants and proceeded to turn & flush the toilet only to realize first, that, oh yes, that is my phone in the toilet & second, the toilet is FLUSHING!!!  Automatic flush!

Thankfully {or maybe not} my phone was too big & didn't flush down the toilet.  So you better believe after it flushed I stuck my hand down in that dirty pee toilet and grabbed my water logged phone!  

I was basically in a state of shock!!  I have a mild {ok, extreme} addiction to my phone and never in my 10 years of owning cell phones have I completely ruined one.

Until Friday night.

Upon getting home, I put my phone in a bag of rice and it stayed there until about 4 pm Saturday.  I tried plugging it into my computer, but nothing would happen!  The apple would pop up, then go away, but even when it popped up it looked...wet.  Haha.

So I spent the weekend phoneless and contemplating my options.

Saturday, we attempted to sleep in and I attempted to pretend my phone wasn't ruined!  We watched a few episodes of Dexter Season 6 (!!!) and finally convinced ourselves to work out.

We had friends over Saturday night to cook out & Berkley got to meet 2 doggy friends, Rookie & Hugo!  I'd love to show you pictures, but I didn't have a phone, so therefore none were taken :(

It was fun to hang out, watch the pups play, and just enjoy each other!!  We have some great friends!

Sunday was a lazy morning with more Dexter & I went to upgrade my phone :/  Thankfully, I was eligible for an upgrade, but I upgraded to the white iPhone 4S (I had the iPhone 4) which wasn't exactly cheap.  

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B was none too thrilled.  Expensive mistake friends!!!  PSA - Ladies, do not keep your phone in your back pocket when going to the restroom!!  Please and thank you!  You're welcome :)

We finished our Sunday off with a long workout, the grocery store, some laundry, and fighting off the Sunday night blues!  

Another work week, but B is home tomorrow night before flying out Wednesday, I have a working phone & a great week ahead...I guess I can't complain!

Happy Monday, y'all!

Friday's Letters

I'm linking up again today with Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds for Friday's Letters!

Shall we...

Dear Husband, thanks for supporting my leisurely summer off of work!  I'm excited to once again be contributing to the bank account instead of sucking it dry ;)

Dear Summer, Remind me how you slipped away so quickly!?  I knew it would happen and every year it truly goes a little quicker than the last!  Thanks for the memories though, they're priceless :)

Dear Friday, Even though it was only a 2 day work week, knowing it was Friday made the alarm sound friendlier and the rolling out of bed a little easier!

Dear Teacher Workdays, Thank you for slowly easing me back into a work schedule!  I think with one more week of workdays, I just might be ready to hit the ground running with students.  Ahh!

Dear Berkley, I can't lie, I'm sad your other ear popped.  :(  I knew this day would come, now I feel like you're all grown!  And don't worry, I'll beat up any kids who make fun of those big things...you'll grow into them!  I hope.

Dear Panthers, I've got my jersey laid out for tonight, the cooler is ready to be packed & we're rip roarin' ready to go!  It may only be pre-season, but this girl (and my people) will be cheering like it's the real deal!

Dear Weekend, I love you!

That's all!!  Happy Friday y'all :)

Summer "To Do List" Update

Since today's my last day of summer vacay, I thought it would be fitting to do an update on my Summer "To Do" List and share what I finished!

1 - Clean out my email.  Check!  Although it's already starting to pile up again...never ending process I guess :)

2 - Complete the Photo Wall in our bedroom.  Check!  You can read all the details and see pics here!

3 - Make a desk for our bedroom.  Totally scratched that idea!  After completing the photo wall, I decided I'd rather have a long bench or low table underneath it instead of a desk.

4 - Spray paint the door knobs & hardware in our house.  Downstairs - Check!  We are about halfway through with this project!  

The downstairs is complete except for the deadbolt on the back door (does anyone have any clue how to get those off!?) and we're almost complete with all the doors in our bedroom.  12 doors down, 11 to go!

This project is not hard at all, just time consuming as the summer humidity makes it take longer for the spray paint to dry!  Brandon has kind of adopted this project, so knobs and hardware are only getting painted on the weekends when he's home.

We love, love, love how it's looking, though!!  We feel very DIY savvy ;)

5 - Get a chair for our family room.  Check!  We ended up getting this chair this past weekend!

I originally wanted a colorful, printed chair; but after lots of looking, nothing could be shipped within a timely manner & this one was on sale and is very comfy!!  It's from By Design.

Ben's in his lion perch :)

Since the chair isn't colorful, I added some colorful pillows!  I'm still trying to decide if I love it and may keep looking for something I like better.  We can always move this chair to our bedroom if I find a different chair down the road.

6 - Organize our closet & create a jewelry wall.  Check!  God Bless us, we have a huge stinkin' closet and this girl right here isn't complaining!!  As of today, closet updates are finally complete!  

I organized all my clothes several weeks ago and hung the jewelry wall 2 weekends ago.

neutrals and pants way down there

Jerseys, scarves, and light jackets 

Colors!  And dresses

Here's my shoe wall just for fun :)

jewelry wall

Then today, I picked up the final jewelry organizational pieces - these 2 dishes from World Market to hold my bracelets and earrings on top of my dresser!

Without the dishes, my earrings and bracelets were all over my circle plate - it was a confusing mess! I love the way it looks now!

7 - Change the title for my car to be solely in my name.  Unfortunately, this task is not complete!  I did pay off my car (yay!!) back in July and I've been waiting to receive the title in the mail ever since.  Thankfully, I decided to call and check on it and they told me it had been 'returned to sender'!  Weird considering they had the correct address!?

It should be in the mail now, though.  Sadly, I now have to pick an afternoon after school to spend at the lovely DMV.  Joy!

8 & 9 - Get a queen box spring, mattress, & railings and make a headboard for the guest bedroom. Ha. Haha. Hahahaha.  I knew this one wasn't going to happen!  Not this summer anyways! But it is still on my house 'to do' list.....for one day :)

So since I scratched #3 and I knew 8 & 9 probably wouldn't happen, I completed 4 1/2 tasks out of 6.  Not too shabby!  

Truthfully, I'm just thankful to have a summertime to relax, vacation, complete some "to do's", and rejuvenate before heading back to teach my kiddos!

I'm convinced summertime was really invented for teachers ;)

Last Weekend of Freedom!

Sounds dramatic, huh!?  Our weekend really wasn't.  Just for effect ;)

But truthfully, it was my last Sunday night where I didn't have a care in the world or a thought of work the next day!  Gone are those Sunday evenings.

We did have a great weekend, though!  As always, it went by quickly!

Friday night, Berkley helped me read up on potty training...

And from what I was able to actually read, looks like we're doing a lot right!!  So that's encouraging!  Just takes time for puppies to fully get the hang of it.  But slowly & surely, we're getting there!

I made THE best pizza in the world.  Ok, I can't lie, I don't really know if it's the best pizza in the whole world.  I am quite a pizza connoisseur, though {home girl really likes some pizza!} and this pizza was amazeballs!!

Pesto, Goat Cheese, Chicken Pizza

The recipe hails from Christina at Carolina Charm.  She & her hubs actually made a Portobello Mushroom, Pesto, Goat Cheese Pizza - but I do. not. do. mushrooms!  Oh gag, I've tried, but I just can't like them!!

So we subbed chicken for the portobellos, and again - SO good!!

Saturday morning was nothing short of fantastic...

I woke up with some coffee and a side of Zack Morris :)  Saved By The Bell reruns were on so B and I dozed on the couch all morning before finally getting busy.

I proudly repped my team during my workout and then B and I went shopping for a chair for our living room!  More on that later...

We played with our floppy eared boy...

Still one floppy ear for now :)

...before heading up the street for some wings, beers, & football!!  My Panther's didn't win, but it is only pre-season and my QB Cam-ron only played a few series.  I'm ready for the game this Friday! Woo!

Sunday, I was lazy bones.  No working out or cleaning or nothing!  And we had breakfast for dinner!!  Happy girl & happy belly :)

This morning I met Ashley, little D & Rachel for breakfast at Panera then we pooled it up a bit!  Gotta squeeze all the summer fun I can into these last few days.

I managed a trip to Trader Joe's, cleaned all the bathrooms & got in a good workout/run.  I'd say it's been a good Monday!

Hope y'all had a great weekend & a super easy Monday!

A little Friday love...

Happy Friday y'all!

Good news - you made if through the work week!!

Sad news - by next Friday, I, too, will have also made it through a work week...eeep!  A 2 day work week nonetheless, but my summer will be over and I will have returned to work.  Common Core & Lesson Plans & Scheduling...Oh my!! :)

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Since it's Friday and all good things are summarized in this day of the week as it surely begins the weekend, I thought I'd share just a little of what I'm loving this week...

1. First & foremost I'm loving the feedback I received on my last post.  It's sometimes hard to convey your true tone or the meaning behind any "serious" post per say.  

I, by no means, was digging for pats on the back or props for my job & would never want to minimize anyone else's job!  I certainly could never be a nurse {Change a bedpan or clean up vomit!?  Eww, no thanks!}, salesman {Oh, you're not interested in my product?  Ok, sorry I ever bothered you!}, police officer {Me? Take down criminals weighing in at 285 and 6'3 with my 5'1 self!? Ha}, or many other professions!

But I think y'all really understood my tone and that I just needed to write from my heart on that subject :)  So thanks!

2. I'm loving the clothes I got Wednesday when I did a little back to school shoplifting ;)  

Next Thursday means wearing actual clothes every day again & not lounging in my pajamas until I decide to put my workout clothes on, so I thought a little back to school shopping was in order and Brandon obliged :)  

I stopped by Old Navy & NY&Co {they're having their annual BOGO Pants Sale!} Here a few of the treasures I got...

Yep, these are the same shirt & I got 2 different colors :) 

This tank was 5 bucks!  And I got a new cardi in navy, but couldn't find it online!

3. I'm loving that it's August & that means one thing....FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!  The Panther's have their first pre-season game this Saturday!  Woohoo!!  We're not going, but we are going next Friday night when they play the Dolphins!  I can't wait!!  Are you ready for some football!?!?

New logo!!

4. I'm always loving these 2 stinkers...

....but that goes without saying!

5. I'm loving the summer thunderstorms each night!  It's perfect to relax on the couch with a book & the Olympics playing in the background :)  Although I'm not loving potty training a puppy in the monsoons each night!  Ugh!!

6. I'm really loving my healthy eating habits this week!  Feel like I'm finally back on track from vacations, summer & eating pretty clean again.  My waist line says Amen.

That's all I've got for today, friends!  May your weekend be warm, sunshiny & blessed!