I can't believe how close Friday is to Monday, but how far Monday is from Friday :( It seems like the weekends go so fast - which I'm sure everyone can agree with. Friday night Josh and I went out to eat at our favorite resturant Applebees, and it was even better because we had a gift card (thanks Jane!) so we could basically eat anything we wanted without having to think about the bill. I got the usual three cheese chicken penne and Josh ordered a 12oz steak with a baked potato and veggies. Plus I got to have my all time favorite drink; the main street rita - strawberry and mango. Yummmm. Then we just came home and watched T.V. and went to bed.
Saturday morning I got up bright and early and went to aerobics, then in the afternoon went to the craft show with Jane at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Josh and I had gone to a little craft show last Spring, so I was expecting about the same, if not a little more. I was wayyyy wrong. It was packed! It was basically as full as the varied industries building is during fair time - but full of crafts! I was in heaven!! We arrived around 1:30ish and didn't leave until 4:00, it was that busy. I was very excited to find a little table runner with one side St. Patty's Day shamrocks and the other side Easter! I love decorating the house in all the different holidays.
I also got that candle, too (well, I actually bought two of them :)). I love the smell of it, it's called "Pomegranate". And they are homemade by a couple out of Newton so it's pretty convenient that now I can get them whenever my Yankee Candle candles are out. I bought Mom a Chicago Cubs hand painted pot for her flowers for her birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!<3) But what I was really excited about buying was this:
It's my first purchase for Baby Meckley! I think Josh was secretly excited when I showed it to him; he likes the idea of becoming an uncle I think. It's a little big, they didn't have anything in newborn sizes, so he/she will have to grow into it (plus it's in orange which is a neutral color so a boy or a girl can wear it). Speaking of which, Andy and Laura are finding out what they are having March 17, so after that the shopping is on!
Saturday night we went up to the bar for the last weekend of Bill and Pud owning it - it was super busy. They also had karoke and it was nice to get out and see all of our friends; it seems we don't see anyone often enough with all this snow and cold. Today was our lounge day, and then we went and got groceries and I just finished a steak and twice baked potato - yummy! Hope everyone had a good weekend; I'm looking forward to this weekend because on Friday we are taking the junior high kids to a movie and roller skating - weeeee! :)
Today is Monday...and while I'm usually dreading Mondays (like the rest of the world) today I woke up feeling pretty good. I woke up about 15 minutes before my alarm was to go off, which usually bugs the crap out of me, but this morning I layed there and thought about a lot of things. Mostly I think about what I'm going to do with my students this week (which is really all I ever think about) but I just thought about things in general. I was happy then to get to work and find another blog I read started talking about everything she's thankful for. So while I won't write down everything, I'll write down what I'm pretty happy about in life (which might make for a pretty long blog - sorry! :)).
Family
My family is great, great, great. They are one of those families that is always there for you, no matter how much you screw up or how mad they get at you - and that's what I love about them. Whenever I had troubles in my own relationships I used to think, "It's okay, because I know my family will always love me, even if this other person stops." And that's helped me through a lot of hard times. My mom is also always doing everything she can to help me out - she isn't someone who just cuts the cord once you're old enough to "know better". There are a lot of things I should have "known better" on, but didn't, and she helped me through them. My "safe spot" is always Grandma and Grandma Medder's. I love their house - whenever I get there I can just relax and enjoy myself. It's the best. And not only my own family, but also the family I've inherited - Josh's family has been more than great. His mom is someone I can always count on; and his brother and I have had hours of great conversation. I'm pretty pumped for Baby Meckley and spoiling him/her. So family is a big one.
Friends
Ahh..my friends are some of the greatest friends ever. I can always count on them, and we always have the best time ever. This past weekend was great at Firehouse - we had such a great time. I only knew 3 songs, but it didn't matter because I had my friends with me. They are truely angels from heaven. And I've found I have friends from all walks of life, and they are all involved in different parts of my life, but they are still all great. I don't know what I'd do without someone to listen to me complain (thanks Jill!) as well as all of them accompanying me in my accomplishments. They are so awesome!
Josh & Puppies
Josh and I have grown so much in these past four years. I can remember two naive, crazy kids who wanted nothing more than to get life moving as quickly as possible. And this created a lot of problems. I can remember both of us growing and maturing seperately, and then eventually, in different directions. This caused for a lot of friction and we needed some time to evaluate what we really want out of life in the long run. After some much needed growing we have literally become best friends. He's someone I can count on 24/7 whether it's something needing fixed or just a hurt heart needing mending. We've learned to enjoy each other's company and to be respectful towards one another, which makes our relationship even stronger. I can't believe how much we've grown together and how far we've come; which only makes me excited to think about how far we'll go. Also my puppies are greattt. We really lucked out with some good dogs. They are my constant companions, and they like doing anything with me, no matter what it is. They both have unique qualities about them - Taytum is so smart, I could put her through anything and she'd take to it. And Tyson is snuggly; he's one of those puppies that just melt your heart. They are great and they make my own little family complete.
That's all for now - although I'm happy and thankful for about a million things! Nothing too exciting happened this weekend - except we didn't have 6-12" of snow as predicted - yippeee!! Now if only it would start melting I could start decorating for spring :) Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Hello all! We find ourselves nearing the end of another week - really nearing the end of February. I can't believe how fast it has gone, and hopefully how fast March will go. March seems to be my least favorite month - it's usually long and muddy with snow melting (hopefully!). So I'm ready for April and green grass and spring flowers!
Tonight we have conferences until 8 P.M. which stinks, but it's nice to be able to meet some of my students' parents. Sometimes it gives you an idea of why they act the way they do!
Tomorrow night we're going to Firehouse. You know, the 80's rock band.
Should be interesting - last time we went to an 80's concert it was CRAZY! We went to Tesla back in October and it was definitely a different crowd, haha. Fun though. So hopefully this is just as fun - I need to get up on my Firehouse songs. I probably only know "Love of a Lifetime". I need to start listening up in preperation for tomorrow!
For those of you who can stomach it, someone posted this blog: Enjoying the Small Things and this particular entry is just heart-wrenching. I can't imagine what it would be like. I didn't cry, but it was definitely tugging at my heart strings.
Happy Valentines Day everyone! Josh and I basically did all the Valentines Day stuff yesterday and went out to eat last night, so today was spent cleaning house and grocery shopping. But yesterday I recieved some beautiful red roses and some delicious chocolate covered strawberries! YUM!
There are my roses - the strawberries were placed in the fridge. We also got some money and a gift card along with some cute cards from Josh's mom, his grandma, and my mom. It was very thoughtful and very nice. I got Josh a new protein shaker, a PS3 game and a king sized Reese's Heart. The puppies also got some dog friendly heart shaped cookies and a little squeaky toy that says "Puppy Love" on it. Of course Tyson demolished the toy in about .25 seconds though.
We went out to eat at Legends in Marshalltown. The wait wasn't too bad, but Josh was NOT very happy when it took them over 30 minutes to get our food, but only about 5 for them to seat us - obviously they weren't too busy on Valentine's Day if we walked in and only waited five minutes to be seated. Oh well, it was nice to go out just the two of us.
Today Josh was knocking some of the GIGANTIC icicles from our house. Several times I told him, "Don't put your eye out!" and, "Those icicles have been known to kill people!" Haha.
The one on the right side of our house was HUGE! He was having troubles holding it up, then he threw it across the yard and it completely shattered. I am just ready for this winter to be over! Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!
It's snowing here again. We are dismissing at 11:45 A.M. to get out of here. I like that we don't have to make-up the snow day, but that also means that I have to drive back home, which 9 times out of 10 is much more icky out than when I drove in to work. And as you can recall down below, I put my car in the ditch only about 2 weeks ago. Which means I'm a scared driver these days! Tomorrow is suppose to bring high winds as well - so we'll see if we even HAVE school tomorrow :(
Nothing too exciting to report. Josh and I had pizza and buffalo chicken dip yesterday for the game and just watched it at home. He was excited the Saints won - even though he's a Cowboys fan, he was rooting for the underdogs. The buffalo chicken dip I made though was SUPER easy and tasted delicious so I thought I'd post the recipe (thanks Robin!)
-2 blocks of 8oz cream cheese
-1 cup of ranch dressing
-1 cup of buffalo wing sauce (I used Frank's - it was much harder than I anticipated trying to find buffalo sauce!)
-2 cans of Tyson chicken
-Some cheese
-Put into the oven at about 350 degrees and cook until everything is melted together and it starts to get bubbly. Of course I was kind of just winging it and throwing in extra sauce and ranch to get our prefered taste - but it was so easy and super delicious!
Hope everyone out there stays safe with all the crappy weather we're having - I'm just waiting for June 1st!
Like I posted recently below, Josh and I found out around Christmas time that we are going to be a first-time Aunt and Uncle, courtesy of Andy and Laura. When we first found out I was on a scale of 1-10 excited, a 6. I've really only had baby cousins around, and I don't see them nearly as much as I'd like, and Josh felt the same. I wasn't really sure what to think. However, after seeing more pictures, and especially pictures where Baby M looks more like a baby and less like a "blob", the excitement has grown by leaps and bounds. Laura posted a video from her latest ultrasound of Baby M "jumping" around in there. Josh and I sat on the couch and watched it 4 or 5 times, it was just the greatest thing ever.
Since then I've been shopping around Baby Pottery Barn, The Children's Place, and a few other sites. It also helps that recently there was a baby shower at work for two girls, one having a boy and one having a girl. So I got to wander around Target for a while, and after being really nervous the first 15 minutes, the other 45 minutes I wandered around the baby section I got to look at all the really neat things they offer. Like a pacifier that tells you the temperature - how genious! So while I (im)patiently wait to hear whether I can start buying pink or blue clothes, it has been pretty fun looking at all the great things I can spoil Baby M with!
Baby M at 12 weeks. (I still think it's a girl :))
We're scheduled to get more snow tomorrow, and all day! I heard 3-5 inches, but that's still a good amount considering how much we still have and that the roads are still not at their finest. It has been a crazy year for snow, that's for sure.
Last time we had bad weather I ended up putting my car in the ditch. :( Nothing happened to me or the car, it just got stuck in a big snow drift, but the experience was scary! So, Josh told me I needed to sell my rear-wheel drive car and get a front-wheel drive car. I was slightly excited to get a new car, but I loved my car and hated to part with it. After much consideration my mom and I went and looked at different cars and I ended up with a white Nissan Maxima.
Looks like this one. I really like it, and so far it's been good to me in this terrible weather! But man, am I glad I got it before more bad weather comes this way. I just want it to be May and ready for warm weather, good friends, and boating!
Year of the Cubs!
Hello all! This is my first real, personal blog. I have a blog for my students (which really is just me posing a question to them and they answer it), but this is my blog all about me. How convient :)
I probably won't be able to add pictures as much as I'd like when I'm at school, but I'll try to keep everyone up on our everyday happenings and what not. It seems like I don't see anyone nearly as much as I'd like, and everyone misses out on the little, important details in life. So this is my way of keeping up with everyone and hopefully letting everyone keep up with me.
I suppose I should update everyone quickly on what's going on in our lives. Josh and I found out at Christmas time that we were going to be an aunt and uncle, thanks to Andy and Laura! Baby Meckley is due around August 2nd, and I can't wait until March to find out if I'm buying pink clothes or boy clothes, pretty excited!
Not much is happening around our household. I joined aerobics with some of the girls (kicks my butt) and Josh is still working out. I'm praying for no more snow, snow days are certainly killing my chances of being done with school before June! School/work is going well; some days it is definitely overwhelming, but the nice thing is everyday is a new day. My 7th grade basketball season just ended, and while I'm sad to see it go and will miss seeing the girls every night, it's nice to have that extra free time to get stuff done.
Well I suppose that's all for now! I'll try to update as often as possible, especially if anything exciting happens in our lifes! I've also seen little fun posts such as "wordless Wednesdays" and the like so I might start doing that as well. Hopefully I can get some fun pictures posted soon!
xoxo
