O State Fair, How I Love Thee

I am slowly starting to update my blog. I love blogging so I don't know why I am such a slacker. The state fair was months ago but I have so many pictures that I had to post!!!

Every year it is a tradition that my parents come and visit us and we go to the State Fair of Texas. I look forward to it for a whole 365 days. My family loves food and we will try anything.

I get so excited for the State Fair - it feels like Christmas!!! I realize that it goes against everything I teach about Nutrition- and I am completely honest with my kids about it. They all were so excited to hear about everything i ate in detail. They couldn't believe I ate so much junk. I also went back again for the spam contest for school and I ate another funnel cake. I felt like I had to admit that. Just being honest guys!!

Family Pic. Patrick was taking the picture- or he would be there too!

Look how happy we are....it's because we are about to eat a bunch of grease. Yay! Patrick's beard got shaved soon after this event. Sometimes I miss Wolverine but I really am glad to have a clean shaven husband back!

V saved her bag. I ate my whole bag. Reminds me so much of our childhood. I am such an impulse eater. It was worth it.

Mom and V

I love theese potato chip fries!!! I get them every year. They are so salty and greasy...perfect combination.

My dad and his corny dog. Side note: Patrick's corny dog fell on the ground....I am not going to tell you the rest but we did not buy a new one. Do the math. :) My husband isn't afraid of anything.

Sausage on a stick brings so much joy to people. Too bad they only come once a year.

I thought it was funny that the fried butter sign said "Big as Texas." Ha ha. I still ate it.

I LOVED the fried butter- it was like a butter warm biscuit. Yum!!!

This was my apple, covered in peanut butter, covered in caramel, then battered and fried!!! It was good but the apple was really frozen. I still ate it because it had peanut butter on it. My favorite!

Me and the fried butter- what a pair. :)

State Fair, hurry and come back soon!!!

Good Bye Lakewood....

We are saying good bye to Lakewood tomorrow...it is a sad day but we are excited to have more space. (and a dishwasher!) We have loved our little home and Maggie will miss her window. I will post more photos soon of the new house!

Girls Weekend 2009

This past weekend was my annual college roommate girls weekend 2009!!! We had so much fun and loved every minute we got to spend together. We were roommates at Baylor and all got along so well. We have tried every year since college to get together and for the most part - we have done it! This year we traveled to Austin to a spa hotel on the Lake. It was so relaxing and fun. We could have fun just about anywhere though. :) I am so thankful to have such good friends who know me well and are a constant source of encouragement.

The Lobby of our hotel- we were going to eat at the Oasis!
Mere and Mandy

Jen and Melissa

I found this in my old pictures- this was maybe 5 years ago?? Not even sure! Mere had shirts made for us and we all had them on. Notice my pink scarf/belt- that was in at the time...I promise. (glad it's not anymore- it is not flattering in the least!)

The Big Thirty

A little over a month ago I turned 30. I think it was harder turning 29 because I knew that in a year I would be 30 so when my birthday came it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Patrick, my sister and my parents all helped throw me a super fun party at our house. Of course, we had a ton of amazing food prepared by none other- my sister the chef. I felt really special. All of my family was there and alot of our friends.


It is so weird to me that as you get older you still feel the same age. I feel like I felt at 17. (minus a few back pains here and there) My best friend Meredith and I would always play the song "Dancing Queen" and yell " young and sweet only 17" really loud when we were 17. I am just not sure if that would sound as good yelling "young and sweet only.....30??!!" But, I feel like I was yelling "17" just yesterday. The 20's are gone my friends, and I might be ok with that. I like how much more ok with "who I am" at thirty. I mean- I still struggle with shallow stuff people- varicose veins (I don't like them- not one bit), hormones- I have major hot flashes now- or I am hoping our air just doesn't work? AND- my trusty metabolism is going down hill....but it is alot shorter list than it used to be. I do hope that in my thirties I will start to let even those petty things go and really appreciate myself for who God made me to be. ABBA needs to do a remake of Dancing Queen for the older more experienced woman. Maybe I will track them down and make a request. :)

Things that make me happy :)

Getting flowers for $3.99 at Tom Thumb

Yes- they were only $3.99

My Best Friends
Making peanut butter m&m chocolate chip cookies.

Using 4 sticks of butter to make peanut butter m&m chocolate chip cookies.

Letters from my husband from over the years.

Maggie

Have a great week everyone. Happy 1st day of school tomorrow. :)

We're Back!

Yes. It has been awhile. A LONG while. I have so much to post that it is a little overwhelming, but I think I am up to the task. :) In 2 short weeks we will be going back to school. Summer will be over. I feel mixed emotions. I really start to miss my students in the summer- but once it starts it is like getting on a roller coaster that doesn't really stop for 9 months. We had a training day last week and I was able to go to my room for the first time and I have to admit- I have missed it and it feels like home to me. I am also getting all new appliances and new tables and a new desk. It is like Christmas! I can't wait. Our ovens/stove tops were a little shady. Every time we turned one on it started to smoke. Plus- one of my students accidentally melted plastic all over one of the burners and it really stunk. I am excited to go work in my room this next week and unpack all of my new supplies and prepare for my new kiddos. Yay! :)

Ok. Where have we been the last few months. We haven't been home that's for sure. We have only been home a fews weeks this summer- the rest spent traveling with family and working 2 different special needs camps. Patrick and I really have a heart for teens- obviously- we work with them 9 months out of the year. I am so thankful that God lead me to marry someone who shares an equal passion for loving kids who need to be loved. That is why I think I love my job so much. I get to work with my husband and watch him work so hard with kids- some who don't want to be loved and don't want to learn. He has an amazing ability to motivate and inspire kids to be good at science - even when they think they are not. I have had so many students come tell me how much he has helped them. Kids will come and tell me that without him they wouldn't have passed the TAKS and wouldn't have passed science. It is really neat to be able to see him work SO hard at something and see results- kids who are finally understanding science that have had a hard time in the past. It is pretty incredible. All that to say- that we were able to go work at 2 camps this summer together that were life changing.

Camp Barnabas. We were able to go with our church in June to this camp in Missouri with about 50 high school students. Each student was paired up with a child who was disabled - mild to severe. Our high schoolers were responsible for their child 24 hours a day. I was a cabin mom in a very tough cabin. Our girls were mostly non verbal and couldn't do anything on their own. Watching the girls from our church care for them so unselfishly was so humbling. I learned so much about serving others. It is so much easier to serve others whole heartedly when you have no choice. When I got back to Dallas I realized that it was harder to be unselfish when surrounded by people who could do things for themselves. It hit me that I want to live my life like I did at Camp Barnabas- loving others without condition- like God has called us to do. No matter what. It is such a hard thing to do. I really want to love my students that way too- especially the hard ones. That is my vision for this next school year. I hope to write more on that later as I process it before this year starts.

Ok- finally- pictures from our trip to Camp Barnabas!

One of my favorite campers, Mia. She laughed so much- it was awesome. She was such a joy to work with.

My Cabin. This was on Oregon Trail night. We had so much fun blazing the trail. :)

Nerd Night. Yes- that is Patrick's actual lab coat from school and his actual glasses from his Science class. I am wearing his "math counts" shirt from when he was a math-alete. I am married to a math-alete- I am the luckiest woman in the world. :)

She had on his lab coat- she is so precious!

One of my campers Alyssa. She was so sweet. She smiled constantly.

I took this picture. It is one of my favorites. :)

Patrick's cabin praying over the cross.

Kaiya with the camp dog. He sat with her the whole night.

One of my 9th graders in my small group that I lead. Emily did such a good job loving the kids that week. I was so proud.

Those are a few pictures from our summer. I have much more. We also just got back from another camp and I can't wait to share about it. I really am excited to get back into blogging. My drought is over. :)

Master Gardener, AKA :mom

This weekend my mom came to stay with us and she helped us work on our yard. It was really fun and I learned alot about gardening. I let all our plants from the fall die which was a traumatic experience for me. I felt so bad. This spring/summer I am going to give it another try. Coincidentally, my mom got me plants that do very well if one forgets to water a few days in a row.

Maggie's favorite spot. Notice the blinds are all bent up a bit- Maggie loves to chew them and play with them for hours. Whatever floats your boat Maggie. :)

Our little home. We love it. I absolutely love having a front porch. (minus the bugs that are attracted to the light at night) It has been so fun to sit outside.

I just added the pillows from Garden Ridge. I also got those three citronella candles from Target. They work really well and don't smell funny like some citronella candles do.


My mom: the master gardener! She worked so hard on our yard! Thanks mom! We had such a fun weekend!

Overall, we had a great weekend! We spend yesterday afternoon visiting Patrick's parents and wishing his mom a Happy Mother's Day. I will give updates on how the plants are doing- hopefully it will be a good report. I really don't have a death wish for them- I wish them a long and happy life!