Am I the only one???

Am I the only one who becomes emotionally attached to their vehicles???? I'm thinking this may be a serious problem! I would like to announce that "Black Betty" is no longer with us......I have moved on to "Pearl" the new 4Runner! While I am happy and love my new car, I just have this little pang of guilt when saying goodbye to the one who no longer belongs to me. Weird? I think so. I have felt this way about every single car......."White Lightning" the mustang, "Heidi" Honda and now "Black Betty." All of my cars have been so good to me and hopefully "Pearl" is just the same! Just a thought....... :)

D-Town and back down

We had such a great weekend! On Friday, I took a mental health day from school. Teachers, we all know this doesnt't really exist, but we need it! I feel like everyone needs just a day to clear your mind and feel like you're breaking the law by being out in public with the real world! I actually ran into a parent of a former student and seriously felt like I was busted.....lol! The life of a teacher......

Mark and I left Friday during the day to head up to Dallas for a busy weekend. We stayed with his sister, who just had a baby a month ago and visited with them until Saturday morning. We had such a great time hanging out and playing with baby E! Newborn babies are such a blessing and I absolutely love seeing Mark with babies. He loves them for about as long as he can stand and then passes them off to me. Bless his heart! :) He really likes them a lot better when they can talk. HA!

We left Saturday morning to head up to McKinney for a wedding that night. In the meantime, we got to see some of my absolute favorites! We met up with Shelby, her hubs and youngest son and Syd at The Pantry for lunch. It's always a good time with the girls formerly known as Zadows! I can't wait to meet Syd's sweet baby boy (who we all know will look just like Joe)...he will be arriving soon! Shelbs is one of my favorite things I found at A&M. Seriously, how can two people meet in Aerobic Walking and become like family??? I don't know, but I'm glad it happened! We also went fabric shopping at a store I have heard about for years. Seriously, if you don't want to buy fabric, don't go in there with Shelby! We came out with a bag fullllll of fabric and Mark's head spinning. He never knew what hit him. ;) Poor guy, he definitely needed a nap and that's exactly what he got!

After traveling so much, we both realize that you have to make time for yourself on these weekends or you feel so exhausted when you get back instead of rested after the weekend. We went to check in our hotel and completely lounged around until it was time to get dressed for the wedding that night. I was more than happy to see TU lose and do absolutely nothing until I had to get dressed. Amen.

The wedding was at 7 and we had an absolute blast! I loved all the little country details that some people might not have noticed but being a small town girl, I definitely did. Any wedding where the bride and groom dance to Dolly Parton is a wedding I want to attend! I seriously love Dolly and all people who share my love for her as well! The Cotton Mill was the perfect location and we really had a great time with great friends as always. We hit the road on Sunday to watch our poor Texans lose to the Cowboys and have gumbo with my parents.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Hope you had a good one!

It's all about the game!

Football season is in full swing people! For some of us, this is a good thing. For others, not so good. :)

I definitely know people who feel like football consumes the life of their significant other for waaaaayyyy too many months of the year, and for that, they are bitter. Not me! I get so excited for football season to start every year. I especially feel the love for my Texas Aggies. I have been to other stadiums but I definitely feel like the tradition just bring Kyle Field to life. Just like the picture says.....there's a spirit....can ne'er be told.....it's the spirit of Aggieland!

Mark loves Aggie football more than anything...including me at times. ;) I'm kidding but the boy does love our school and our team. Things are great when they win anddddddd he needs blood pressure medication if they don't. :) It's crazy to think that somehow in this universe, we found each other....both Aggies, both in Houston, both from Southeast Texas. It's strange to think about at times. Regardless, I'm glad he drags me to the games with him!

Also, our Texans are off to a great start this season! Our friends the Guillens are the most hard core Texans fans I have ever met. They so graciously offered to take me to a game this year and we watched them take out the Colts. Great game people! Please note the eye things.....indication that they are hard core...there was no option of whether or not I was wearing them. haha. Mr. Gavin loves the Texans as well and asked the entire game where Andre was....his favorite player! :)

Their seats are right next to the owner's box so sitting next to the owner as well as Clay Walker made for a great game! Thanks Guillens! You guys are very special to me!

Until next time!

change is good, right?

well people, i've got some big news for you. i've been major out of touch because of my current "change." 2 fridays ago, our first workday back to school, my world got rocked. this is how it all played out.....
we had been worried about our kindergarten numbers for quite a while. it's a numbers game every year with kinder and we all know it. when i started at wwe we had 6 sections of k. 2 years later, we lost a dear friend to another campus because our numbers were low. i had been hired approximately one month before her hire date so she was the "last hire" and was moved. the next year, we got another teacher because our numbers were high again. so 6 of us there were. as this school year came around, we thought our last hire on the campus would be moved. i was slated to be the team leader of kindergarten so when the principal came to me to talk about the numbers, i wasn't shocked at all. i thought she was telling me the other girl was leaving. about halfway through the conversation i realized that basically she was telling me i was leaving. how could this be you ask? she has more years in our school DISTRICT than i do. regardless of the fact that i had been at wedgewood for 5 years and she had been there for 1, i was moving. shock. to. say. the. least.
here is my poor, sad classroom all packed up. thank you lord for my team or else i could never have done this. i was so shocked basically all i could do was stand there and look around. crazy i tell you, crazy.

so, i've been moved to parr elementary and will be teaching 1st grade. so far so good. today was the first day of school and i can honestly say that it is the first time in my entire CAREER that there were no kids crying on the first day of school. can you believe that??? it makes me laugh to say that but it is true. i have some really sweet kids it seems. :)

and so my days as a kinder teacher are finished for now but my life as a 1st grade teacher have only just begun. i made some great friends at wwe and had a wonderful family there for so many years. it was such a blessing to be able to know such great people that have set the standard for my professional career. look out parr! here i am!

i'm 25. wait, no....i'm actually 26.

so the title of this post happens to me almost every time someone asks me how old i am. is this weird? maybe i have a phobia of being 26?? who knows. i will say this....26 has been one of my least favorite birthdays to celebrate, hands down. anyone who knows me knows that i LOVEEEEEEE celebrating my birthday! it's my favorite holiday! my mom's birthday is actually the day before mine so in my family, march is birthday month! my poor dad...he never stood a chance. there is just something about admitting to myself and others that i am now in my "late" twenties. boooooooooooo. not. a. fan.

anyway....as i look back 10 years ago, i think about what i thought my life at 26 would be. at 16, i thought FOR SURE that by 26 i would have been married for a few years and have at least one, possibly two children. what.in.the.world......was i thinking? garth brooks and i both are thanking god for unanswered prayers at this point in life! don't get me wrong, i'm not opposed to either of those things but i cannot imagine my life like that right now. it is fabulous for some people and so many of my friends have that life, but for me...i'm tired just thinking about it. :) i honestly think teaching will do that to you....working with kids all day will change your thinking about being a parent. there are so many people who need to go to training. ha!

so as i sit here thinking back...i know that i have so many things to be thankful for. a loving family, irreplacable friends, a great boyfriend, perfect little dogs, a great house and a fun job! life is good!

until next time!

oh the things they say!

being a kindergarten teacher is something truely amazing.......most days! :) one of the things that i have always said about teaching 5-6 year olds, is that their little personalities are in full bloom! they aren't aware of the worries of the world at that age, it is truely incredible. they say what they feel, believe what you say and come up with some of the most hilarious things if you just give them a chance.

like every teacher during the last months of school.......i am done. ready for school to be out and have a little time to let my brain rest and sit out by the pool all day. ahhhhhhhhhh the life! something always happens though......i miss the kids. i miss their little happy faces walking in everyday, i miss their hilarious antics, i miss the "little kid" conversations that happen at their tables when they're working and i miss the big "i love you" i get on a daily basis. even the kids that make you want to pull your hair out still give the best hugs at the end of the day. incredible.

my friend ashley sent this to me for an "afternoon funny" and boy am i glad she did! i'm sure i've seen this before but at this moment......i'm going through the "missing my students" phase so i think it's hilarious! such a cute little thing! even though the sight of the little kitties in the book make me sneeze, i still hope you enjoy!

and away we go!!!!

so here goes nothing with this blog! i mean to tell you that this has been a learning experience! i always get a little aggravated with people who don't know how to do simple things on a computer (you know you do too!)but my, oh my....this one threw me for a loop. i was almost to the point that i just needed to pay someone to do it for me! sad, but oh, so true.

so what have i been up to on my summer break you ask?...........NOTHING! AND IT FEELS FABULOUS. :) i will be the first to admit that i do get a little stir crazy, which is probably why i thought this blog would be a good idea, but it has been good nonetheless.

mark and i went on a little expedition around california a few weeks ago and that was nothing but fun! let me tell you though, cali is COLD in the summer! personally, i am a fan of the hot weather, regardless of humidity. i don't know why....it's just in my blood. so when i walked out of the san francisco airport to a whopping 60 degrees, i was in shock! i could have worn my bathing suit on the flight and a snow suit off the flight. needless to say, my sweater was my best friend! we had a great time zooming around the city in our little volvo hard top convertible. mark was not thrilled with my references to him driving like edward cullen, but he soon got over it.

here's a picture of the speeding bullet!

i did love that car but let me tell you something....when your boyfriend has a lead foot, driving the pch from san francisco to l.a. is NOT good idea. i had to hold my head out the window for the 4+hour drive. not amusing! i think mark started feeling sorry for me because he started opting to let me get out and take pictures, aka get some fresh air. thank you lord! i have never been so car sick in all of my life! at the end of the big sur area, mark started to get a little woozy too! then he started opting to stop a little more frequently! :)

we also made the trip from san francisco to napa valley, which was so. so. beautiful.

i have always wanted to go and people, it did not disappoint. it was gorgeous. i will say that i was "wined out" after those 2 days though. i couldn't even think of having wine for dinner for the rest of our trip! if you ever make the trip, we ate at some fabulous places recommended to us by some of mark's customers. mustards was great, gott's roadside had great burgers and fabulous chicken tacos and rutherford grille was fabulous. best cornbread, yes cornbread! i have had in a lonnnnnnnng time! all in all....a blast.

we ended our trip in l.a.

we did a little tour of the hollywood stars sidewalk and the touristy things like that. fun yes, going back, probably not. i've had enough of that city for a little while. i'm taking my self back to the florida beaches where it is hot and the water isn't ice cold!

until next time!

Hi!

Just making sure this works!