first day of school

Update! About a month ago I interviewed for a teaching position and found out about thirty minutes later that I got the position.

Last Monday I began this brand new adventure. I am taking over for a teacher that is on maternity leave. The original plan was to come in last Wednesday and spend three days with the teacher, getting to know the students, procedures, and everything before I started on my own. Well apparently her baby decided to come early (didn't think about that happening). Therefore, I started last Monday on my own. It is a second grade classroom so I am excited to teach to the end of the year in a grade I love. However, there are quite a few challenging students in this classroom and I am praying that God will use me and that I can make connections with these kids that will make for a great rest of the year. It is a low-income area with a lot of rough students. They need a lot of attention and love. I know that God has called me to be a teacher and called me to this job so I know he has plans for me. That is what keeps me going.

So please please pray for me. I am relying on God's strength. Being a teacher is NO joke! The students need more consistency and structure in order to make for a successful learning environment. I put together a lot of procedures last weekend on much shorter notice that I would have liked. The first day with the students was rough but as the week went on it kept getting better. I know this semester will be great! And I have this whole spring break to get things together for next week. Good thing is that I have such a wonderful second grade team at the school that has already helped me immensely. I am very thankful for them taking their time to show me where things are and tell me about the kiddos.

I am teaching in Norman and still living in OKC. So that 5:45 am wake up time was prettttyyy fun this week. ;) I am very excited about this opportunity. In the fall when I start off in my own classroom from the beginning this experience will most likely make that feel like a piece of cake!

Good thing...for you..I'm sure that I will have a lot of funny stories to tell you!

Kiddos from my internship. Love them. 

love package

My hubs is currently finishing up his last semester of undergrad (praise Jesus!) This week he applied for graduation and he is getting so close to the end! 73 days or so away from graduation weekend, but who's counting? In order to congratulate him on being so close to the end and make sure he knows I'm a proud wifey I put together a little "love package" for him on Monday. 

This was a simple gift with some of his favorites. His favorite cider, candy (sour patch kids), a refresher for his baby (aka car), and one of his favorite kinds of shirts (v-neck and soft).

Sometimes it's just nice to give gifts and let people know that you love them. And come on, look how handsome he is?!?! Hopefully it will help him get through the week. His classes are 100x harder than my classes were. Science and I don't go well together.

It's kind of gloomy and rainy today so I just wanted to share this picture to remember how nice and sunny this weekend was. I had some time to read in our sun room and it was the best. Ignore my ice cream cone socks. What can I say...I love ice cream. And apparently these are called "teacher socks" so I'm allowed to wear them. :)

Have a happy Tuesday lovers!

birthday weekend, according to my photos

I realize that my birthday was 2 weeks ago but it is still February. Don't you know that the whole month is devoted to celebrating my birth? Along with the millions of others born in February. I figured the best way to share the fabulous weekend was by sharing photos. I didn't get a picture with everyone (i hate it when that happens). 

Thursday evening after a long day of subbing and then an interview I came home to gifts from Austin. He's precious and wrapped one with leftover Christmas paper. Half-way wrapped by the way. Gotta love him. We went to Zio's for dinner and sangrias. I had a gift card so it was perfect!

My mom, dad, and katie came to town on Friday (my actual birthday) and took me out to lunch at Cheever's. It's right down the street from my house and was delcious! Afterwards we stopped by a fun cupcake shop in OKC called Sara Sara's cupcakes. I don't really enjoy cake but I always love their chocolate cupcake with whipped peanut butter icing...yummm. I loved that my family visited and got to see our place. And Katie stayed for the weekend!

  

 

Friday evening we went for sushi at In The Raw. Austin's sisters joined us and we scored some free cheesecake. The thunder roll is the best...if you are going to in the raw anytime soon.:)

Saturday my best best friend came into town to surprise me for my birthday. We wasted time shopping that afternoon at the new anthropologie, the mall, and we got some fun bath balls at lush. 

 

Saturday evening we went to dinner at Republic and met up with some other friends. They have the BEST burgers ever. They are on a pretzel bun and are so delicious. We had a lot of fun and then came back to our place to hang out with said friends since we quickly found out we couldn't shove 8 people into the tiny booth we were sitting at. 

 

Sunday, Lauren and my little sister left to head back home. We went to church then after church we finally enjoyed my cupcake that I never got around to eating all weekend. And also played yahtzee and scrabble. It's the little things. It was a really great birthday. Year 23 is going to be fabulous.

a giant spool

It was a wonderful, restful, and fun weekend with the hubs. This included chocolate milkshakes and watching the vow at home. A great church service at a new church we started going to that's super close to home. Friends of ours go and invited us to come check it out. We went to Iguana Grill after church with said friends. THEN on our way back home we drove by a warehouse/factory place that had three cable spools sitting right by their dumpster. Up for grabs! I have been waiting for this day ever since I saw this idea for my classroom on pinterest. Austin was extremely excited that lazy Sunday had somehow turned into craft day. :)

I let out a shriek and Austin reversed in the street to pull into where the lovely spools awaited us. Austin hauled one into my tiny car and we headed home. I want to eventually do something like the above picture for a reading corner or whatever in my classroom but for now we had a different idea. We have been using this old coffee table from wal-mart that my older sister had passed down to me. It worked just fine and I've even had it for a long time so that thing has lasted a while. But, it didn't really match our living room too well since it was black.  

      

We Austin sanded the spool down with the electric sander to make sure and get all splinter causing wood off. Then I cleaned it off and Ta-Dah it was ready! 

A completely free project (my favorite kind) but we really like the way it fits into our living room. I've always liked round tables and coffee tables. We thought about staining it, which we may eventually do since we already have the supplies but for now I like the original wood color. Best thing is that now I know where to check for these spools that are all over pinterest and blogs. My mother-in-law was asking for us to pick her up a few as well. 

The hubs loves it.

Sydney even likes the new coffee table :) 

Please share what free DIY projects you've done for your home!

Have a fabulous week!

office chair redesign

The cold weather is finally here. But that definitely didn't stop be from having a fab birthday. More on that tomorrow but it was the best birthday in a long time!

Anyways, we have been without an office chair since...we got married. :) I am always dragging the chair from our dining table into the office or just sitting at the dining table to get work done. We thought it would be nice to have a chair for the office and also it will be nice to have an extra chair handy for company at dinner and whatnot.                                                                                                 

I found, of course, a craigslist find from a sweet old man. Austin and I drove over to pick it up from him for a whole 10 bucks. Of course, if you know me, this chair wasn't going to simply stay like this..I had plans. We had leftover white paint from our credenza and bought some cheap fabric for a little redo. The local JoAnns is relocating so I scored some fabric on the cheap.

First mistake was using the left over paint in the can. I should have just used our white spray paint to begin with but it's all good. I did several coats with a brush then two coats of spray paint over that. Austin stapled the new fabric on the cushion. The chair is done-ish. I say that because it really still needs another coat of spray paint in some places but for now I love it. Austin is better with spray paint and will help me out. The back of the chair with holes is really hard to get completely covered. Any tips are accepted! But, I also love that I can change out the fabric so easily when I'm feeling like going with a different color. Oh, and it fits perfectly at our current desk. But don't worry I have plans for a desk swap in the future.

You can see some of the places that need an extra coat or two.

I really wanted something with pink for the cushion..and luckily Austin approved of this. We like it and it's pretty comfy too. Now, we can get some work done! And just for fun...a before & after.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend and are rested up for the upcoming week. Apparently we may be expecting snow tonight or tomorrow. Fingers crossed because this would make the hubs super happy and we have hot chocolate ready to go! :)

extreme trip

I just got back last night from almost a week trip to Aspen, Colorado. WHEW! I was glad to be back home..but it was also probably a once in a lifetime trip. I am wrapping up my time at Red Bull so this was probably my last big event to work at. I couldn't have asked for a more exciting opportunity. The XGames are extreme and super fun to watch.

I made sure to document as much as I could and below are some photos from my trip. I figured pictures are better than a lot of explanation!

On the drive to Aspen.

Aspen Mountain

Red Bull Firetruck

Welcome to the Winter XGames

Where all the action was happening!

Red Bull Energy Station (this is where we worked at the games)

This is inside of the energy station where we held a lot of athlete signings. It was a suh-weet hang out place with a 3D TV, video games, bar complete with Red Bull to get some wiiings before skiing, and Levi LaValle's world record breaking snowmobile to take a picture on. It was a good time. 

Sean Pettit with some of the girls.

Scenic Cruiser with some of the girls!

I had an awesome time but I was so so happy to get back home to the huzzy and our pup. They both picked me up at the airport. I have to say though that this has been the most fun job ever. I'm super blessed.
Hope your Tuesday is off to a GREAT start!

a weekend in dallas

We visited Dallas for a college friends wedding and while I was there I got to go with Lauren to try on wedding dresses. This was her first time since she just got engaged. It was a good start to her dress hunt..and every single dress looked good on her. I swear. I can't wait to see what she ends up wearing on their big day!


On Saturday evening we went to the wedding at a beautiful church in downtown Dallas. The reception was then at a very modern venue close to the church downtown. It was fun and so beautiful. I especially enjoyed the wedding sermon. Marriage is a big freakin' deal and I loved that their wedding really focused on their relationship with each other and God. Every time I go to a wedding now, I always wish I could go back in time to my wedding day. It is the most perfect and beautiful day. 

I loved this picture frame at the reception. I am glad that we had the chance to be there to support our friends as they begin married life.

Sunday, after church, Austin and I wanted to stop by ikea before heading out of town. I love that place. But I lost Austin like 2,325 times and of course he never answered his phone. Lauren and I often found Sean and Austin like this. I swear they tested out every couch, chair, and bed in the whole store. 

Lauren and I both love the farmhouse sinks. And you can buy them at ikea!! Here she is saying, "welcome to my home." haha

And here is Austin trying to make me lay on another ikea bed with him. I can't blame him, a lot of those bedrooms in ikea were just calling me to lay on them after all the walking we did that day. 

It was such a fun weekend in Dallas. Although, I don't think we will be moving there anytime soon (I think I would spend too much money with all of the good shopping there) I sure do love being with my best friends. 


Have a great week!