Year 2: Homemade Christmas

It's the last weekend before I head back to work on Monday. I know you're thinking "wah wah I've been working this whole time" but you didn't choose to be a teacher. I cherish my breaks because being a teacher is exhausting and the breaks are necessary to breathe and prepare for another semester. And I'm not saying that your job isn't exhausting..because it probably is! I love my class this year so much that I dread only having one more semester with them. 

This winter break also allows me time with family and time to plan and throw a NYE party which we did for the second year in a row. It's our little NYE tradition since we moved into our little home. But I will get to those details in another post. Here is a review of my families second year of homemade Christmas gifts. I was in the middle of our big move last year and had next to no time to really prepare so I planned ahead and worked hard this year and I think it went well.

Our little family. 

Sisters

So let's start with my uber creative sister, Brit, she drew my Dads name this year. I am always curious to see what she comes up with because let's face it..she is talented. She took a quote she had seen and stained a piece of wood and painted the letters on it. She also made a desk calendar for my dad that she bought a stand for. Very nice!

My dad drew my brother-in-law Kyle's name and he made him a cut out book to hide things in? haha My dad cracks me up.

Kyle, and by Kyle I mean Brit, drew Katie's name and she made her this super cute covered bulletin board for her room. Love the pins around the outside.

Katie drew my name and she made me a pretty burlap wreath.

I drew Brit's name and I made her three different kinds of clutches. Brit does not do a lot or really any shopping for herself so I figured she could use an assortment of clutches and they're fun!

My hubs drew my mothers name and he made her two bath bombs and a really yummy lavender candle. She loves a good bath and takes one almost every night so it was a perfect gift!

 And lastly, my mother drew the husbands name. She made him shaving cream. It smells minty and he says it works really well.

 The homemade Christmas takes a lot of work but it's fun to focus on one person and make something you think they would enjoy. I really enjoyed working on my sewing skills this year. Next year we are going to do baskets for each other. We already drew names so I have all year to compile something awesome! As we get older it's fun to kind of change things up and put the focus on spending time with each other.

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful first Easter at our house. Austin's siblings all came over on Saturday night and stayed the weekend. We enjoyed the gorgeous weather and played blongo ball in our yard. Austin beat us all but one time.

Sunday we all went to our church downtown together and enjoyed the wonderful worship and sermon.

We made burgers, fruit salad, and veggies for lunch and it was so fun to have company for the weekend. We were blessed with such beautiful weather we even got to enjoy our desserts (raspberry sherbet in lemons) out in the yard. They were pretty and delicious! 

Lemon Dessert Bowls Source

And now we are back to colder and rainy weather. But I'm keeping my eyes on the weekend which is supposed to be warm! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter remembering how Jesus paid the penalty for our sin so that we could have eternal life. 

the day we bought a house

This year I have decided that I really would like to TRY to blog more often. (I feel like I decide that every year. oops!) My life is busy but I feel like I can make a better attempt to at least write a blog post while I watch Greys Anatomy:) I especially want to document and share with family some of the biggest moments of our lives so far. The first one being the day we bought a house. December 18th we closed on our first house. Some of you may have seen the photos when we got our keys (since I'm obsessed with Instagram). 

Carrying me into our first home.

Like I've said and will say a million times again..I love our home. There is a lot of furniture to buy and decorating to do but I'm going to try to take it slow and really enjoy the process. I loved having my sister here during Christmas break. Brit has a real eye for design so we worked together to come up with a plan for the main area, our living room. She also helped me move it around to make it work with the furniture we have now. Hopefully I will make time to write about the changes that go on over here at our new home. 

L.C.

ending the year on a good note

Happy New Year!

We ended 2012 on a good note by purchasing our first house. It was a somewhat stressful and nerve-wracking experience (because I stress) but we love love it so much. The thing I love most is wanting to go home because I feel relaxed and at ease here. We didn't love our previous rentals but we made it work and we made them home because that's where our little family was. But we definitely never felt at ease because we always were anticipating another move. Now we are not....not for a while hopefully.

We also ended the year on a good note by hosting our first party. We had some friends and my sister and brother in law over for New Years. My big sis and her hubs and my best friend Lauren and her hubs stayed the night and helped me put everything together. It was a simple night with drinks, appetizers, dinner, and desserts. It was perfect. I laughed a lot and it felt good to have people over and start the year off celebrating the friendships we have here. Here are a few pics from the evening.

 Had the best time with you and couldn't have pulled of the furniture rearrangement without you.

Champagne Flutes Brit & I painted.

The pre-dinner spread. 

You will always be my best friend!

the husbands

Hubs

I hope someone got a good version of this picture. haha

Love my girls.

It was a super great time. And now I've been back at work for two days and tomorrow is Friday! I'd say it's been a pretty dang good start to 2013.

L.C.

23rd street

Austin and I have fallen in love with the area we moved to. When we decided to move to OKC we searched a long time to find the right place. We had an awesome landlord in Norman that let us keep living in our current apartment until we found something. We ended up finding a great little place in an awesome neighborhood. And now the street by us is starting to build up even more. I drove back into town this afternoon happy to see that the orange leaf had opened. 

I should add that we can walk to this orange leaf. Watch out thunder thighs I see a lot of peanut butter yogurt in your future. Right next to orange leaf a new pizza +  beer restaurant is opening soon. If you know the hubs and I you know we could stuff our little faces with pizza all day everyday. We are super healthy around here. 

We had the chance to sit out on the patio, enjoy our frozen yogurt, and catch up on each other's weekends. I do love simple nights like this. And I'm ready for the exciting week ahead. This week in 2nd grade we are studying about the election process and having a mock election. Sometimes it's just awesome to be a teacher. :)

Have a great week!

L.C.

enjoying the weekend

This weekend I'm in Tulsa. I made the trip with my little sister while the husband is away on a mens retreat. Today we got outside and walked around downtown Tulsa to see all the new parks and restaurants. It's starting to really build up. If I could just convince the hubs to move. ;) We stopped by the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation park and then went by the Guthrie Green park. That would be such a neat picnic date night if there was a concert going. The husband and I love a good picnic.

Dia De Los Muertos art.

It's been a while since husband and I have spent a weekend apart and it's really kind of strange. Makes me realize how much I love that man even more. Any-who fist pumps for an extra hour of sleep tonight and one more day of rest before it's back to the grind on Monday. 

L.C.

First Day of School

Not sure why I have such a hard time hitting the "publish" button after I write a post. But here is the update I wrote after my first day of school in August. :)

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Last night I was in bed before 8:00. After several weeks of meetings and getting my room together with no air conditioning I felt like last night was the first time I could lay down and relax. I made it through my first day of school as a 2nd grade teacher and loved it. Yes, I've done student teaching and a long term subbing position but this is my first class.

I just know that after all the interviews and deciding between positions that this school is where God had planned for me to be. And as I was telling my sister last night on the phone (as she laughed at me for being in bed already..) I need to remember that fact all year after some of my students "true colors" shine or we have a difficult day. 

I feel so blessed to be able to teach these second graders and hope to be a light in their lives.

<3 Liz