Upcoming Project...

I swear I border on being a hoarder. It might be in my genes. My paternal grandmother kept everything. That might have been a generational thing though. I love shopping on clearance and feel like I've won some sort of a game - I'm weird like that. I recently procured one more thing that I don't need but somehow couldn't pass up. There was a lady who lives in our development that was moving and had several things for sale that she sent out in an email the entire HOA. To make a long story short, after a week, anything that wasn't sold she said she would take $25.00 for.

What did I buy?
A Lane cedar chest.
Yep.

It's nothing fancy but it is in decent shape and it's solid wood. The top is upholstered in a blue fabric that has seen much better days but re-upholstery is a fairly easy fix - well, a fairly easy fix for the person I pay to do it. Ha ha!

It's sitting in the formal dining room right now and the wood just so happens to match the furniture that belongs to Ken's parents. It's not really in the way but is just kind of sitting there until I decide what to do.

I kind of want to try my hand at refinishing it and making it "in style" - whatever that is. I'm not really a trendy person but I found these two pictures on the internet of refinished cedar chests and LOVE them both.

I would take the hardware off of mine and make it more plain and then go and junk it up with the wood embellishments that can be glued on.

See how ADORABLE these wood embellishment things are ?!?!

We'll see what I end up doing with my cedar chest. Used ones sell on the internet for $150.00-$300.00 Mine is nowhere near worth that, I'm sure. But I am also sure that it is worth the $25.00 I paid for it.

Wish me well on deciding what to do with it and then actually doing it!

Dinner with the Pirate...

My brother Brian is a pilot. We sometimes call him a Pirate. It's a long story that stems from an Asian tourist asking Brian if he was his "pirate" for the flight - he meant to say "pilot" but you know how the letter sounds don't always come out like they should. We've gotten years and years worth of laughs out of that one! Anyway, Brian had an overnight layover in Dallas on Monday. We picked him up from his hotel just before 8:00 p.m. and took him out to dinner. We found an Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant (yummy, yum, yum!) very near the airport. Brian hadn't eaten there before and ended up really liking it. Although we had just seen Brian, his wife Denise and their 4 children the previous week when we were in Utah, it was GREAT to see him again!

Chips and salsa... and a really happy face. He kept pulling that "annoyed" look for the camera, but he wasn't annoyed. Must be his pirate face.

Speaking of faces, I can never get this guy to smile. He either makes his face look as ugly possible or he just looks grumpy. Those are my two options when I aim a camera his way.

Dinner! Notice their two faces... what in the world?! By the looks of those two you would think we had a terrible time. 

Ahhh... there's a smile! The picture is blurry but Brian, Ken, and I all had a really great dinner together.

I wish he had more overnight layovers in Dallas because the hotel that they put the flight crew in is only about 15 minutes from our house. I could get very used to having dinner with him several times a month!

Randomness...

I was going through the pictures on my phone and came across a few random pictures.

Fire ants hurt and Texas has a lot of them. I got bit by one on my pinky finger and holy cow, did it hurt! It also took a week to go away. Those little buggers have quite the bite! I also got bit on my toe during a fire drill at school. Argh!! You can't feel them until it's too late.

Ken somehow came down with swimmer's ear. He never gets really sick and never complains that much if he does but this one just about did him in. His entire ear canal closed off and his face got super puffy. I must admit, it looked painful. They put a wick in his ear (that's the white thing in the picture) to try and get some medicine soaked in. I'm not really sure that worked either. He was in a lot of pain. I kept teasing him that he had fungus growing in his ears and was going to sprout mushrooms. He didn't appreciate it... and still doesn't because I may or may not still tease him about it.

 Ha, ha, ha!! Saute those mushrooms up and you've got something yummy!

I had a really disturbing experience in my classroom last month. Actually, it continues to disturb me. Long, long, long story short I had a student who drew several of these pictures for other students.

"Jeff the Killer" is an internet phenomenon, much like Slender Man - if you've heard anything about that. I was completely unaware Jeff the Killer even existed. Google it if you want to but it's seriously disturbing and the pictures are super creepy. I have a student that is obsessed with him. When I found these pictures I turned them over to my principal and school counselor. We have since found out that the student was introduced to Jeff the Killer by another student at a previous school they attended. They have also tried to commit suicide several times, five times to be exact, all thanks to their Jeff the Killer research. The student is currently getting help but it is so scary to me! I teach 3rd grade, THIRD GRADE!! These kids are way too young to have problems like this.

We also lost all of our favorite Elders.

This is Elder Nanney and Elder Petersen.

This is Elder Petersen and Elder Price.

They took the Sisters out of our ward and put more Elders in. Then after a few tranfers, they took the Elders out and put in two brand new Elders, thanks to some other issues in the mission. Sigh. Now we have a new set of Elders to get to know (and we will love them, I'm sure) but we miss seeing those favorite smiling faces. The missionaries have become a big part of our life here in Texas. We're lucky to be able to interact with them and have them in our home.

A few end of 2014 things...

I didn't take very many pictures over the Christmas break. I wish I would have taken more. But here is a little catch up on what happened the last few weeks of December...

On New Year's Eve, my older brother Clint got engaged. I had a feeling he was going to do it but he wouldn't talk about it with me. He's been dating Olea for about 3 years. She has 3 boys so once they are married they'll have 7 kids together. Wow. 7. That will be a big adjustment for everyone. We REALLY like Olea. She is good for my brother and truly loves him. They don't have a date set yet but I'm glad they're planning a wedding.

Clint chose the ring all by himself. It is beautiful!

I didn't decorate much in Texas. I put a few things on the mantle. I found the 'Believe' banner at JoAnn's Crafts and Fabrics. The paper on it is all layered and I thought it was so cute. I picked it up on clearance for $3.00. Ken doesn't like the whole banner look but I do. He was a good sport and even helped me get it centered.

I also made Snowman Soup for my students. When I taught in Utah, I bought gifts for all of my students but the other teachers at my school in Texas don't do that so I don't feel like I can.

I put together a little bag for each student. There was a little poem on the back too. I felt like it was something I could give them that wasn't too "gifty".

We did Secret Santa at work again this year. Last year I had a teacher on my team and I got a different teacher on my team this year. I gave her the worst gifts all week long - we do one gift each day so I made sure to annoy her with stupid dollar stuff from Wal-Mart. She was mad! We eat lunch as a team so it was fun to hear her complain about her Secret Santa during lunch. Everyone felt sorry for her that she had such a terrible Secret Santa. I got her dud gifts because if I gave her what I had for her she would have known it was from me. On the last day before the break, I took my real gift into her. She was surprised (and embarrassed from having complained so much) that it was me. It was a really fun way to do a Secret Santa. Here's her REAL gift... stickers, treats, notepads, a DJ Inkers clip art disc, and other things she had on her list.

Ken put up the Christmas tree in Utah before we left from Thanksgiving. That way when we got to Utah on December 23rd, the tree was waiting for us. Ken did a great job on the tree!!

We had a great time in Utah and were able to see Ken's family, my family and a few friends (not as many as I would have liked). We woke up to a white Christmas (yay!) and had no problems on the drive to or from Utah. We were so glad to be home and be with our family for the holidays!

Another New Year...

Welcome 2015!

Well, another year has rolled over on the odometer of life. Let's be honest... it's really just another day. But for some reason a new year really does feel new-ish. I'm really not one for making resolutions. Somehow, taking down my old calendar and putting up a new one doesn't make me resolve to do anything. I wish it did, though. I found the above image and it sums up some things I need to recognize and work on. 

• FORGET MILESTONES REMEMBER MAGICAL MOMENTS - Am I the only one who somehow bases their existence on milestones? I've realized that mine aren't necessarily important or realistic. I get into the grind of the school year and sometimes just getting to the weekend so I can stay in my pj's is a milestone. I need to back off of getting from point A to point B. There are so many "magical" things that happen all of the time that come from a loving Heavenly Father that I often overlook. I need to keep my eyes focused on the magic.

• DRINK MORE WATER - My body is 55% water? Hmmm... mine is probably 85% Vanilla Coke Zero. That's pretty sad. I know it's a terrible habit but I still pop open the cans and stop at gas stations for a gigantic fizzy beverage. No brainer... more water. I'll be working on this one.

• CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY - I need some work on this one. I always forget that it's a choice, my choice. This is a toughy for me.

• GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK - Enough said.

• GET MOVING EVEN IF IT'S JUST AROUND THE BLOCK - I am having the hardest time trying to eat better and drop weight. With everything going on in my life (and even things that aren't that I want to have happen) it feels too daunting. One thing at a time, I guess. Drinking more water and eating more green things surely will help!

Whatever your goals, ideas, or resolutions are for 2015, all we need to remember is to take it one day at a time. Happy 2015!!