Getting Ready

This will be my last week that's somewhat "low key" before everything gets super crazy with coaching classes, conferences, and getting ready for Florida. Next week I'm at the school/class every night - the earliest I'll get home next week is 7p.m. (and that's only on Monday!) I'll be in Des Moines taking classes until 10p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, and THANKFULLY I have Friday off work/class. Then back to work/class again the following Monday-Wednesday and then I should be done. At that point in time it's only two weeks until we head to Florida and I've started to get prepared. I ordered a new swimsuit that I really like, even though I have so many swimsuits from the years of boating. BUT, I found this dress on Pinterest and was ABSOLUTELY in love. I mean...I HAD to have it. And from the picture, you can see why:

It's beautiful. But it's from a designer over in Europe, so I couldn't find it anywhere. And everywhere that did have it didn't have it in my size. And the sizes are so weird between here and there so I wasn't even sure what size to get. At the last minute, my friend Nicole found it on an Irish website, and they actually had it in my size - I COULDN'T believe it! I was also a little leery though...I mean, there are tons of sites out there with the same dress and don't have my right size. But...I was willing to give it a try. So I ordered it from Ireland (ahh!) and it arrived safely here on Monday! I hurried to put it on and it fit perfectly! I'm so excited and happy I found the perfect dress for Florida.

On Tuesday it was Valentine's Day - six years of bliss celebrated! Haha. We actually didn't do anything - no presents/roses/chocolates, etc. I was just a little bit bummed because I love getting flowers and things, but we just refinanced the house and Josh had to pay the closing costs out of pocket so he was a little bummed about spending so much money. Plus, we're blessed with awesome parents and grandparents who get us bags of goodies and cards. So it was a love-filled day anyway. :)

This will be my *hopefully* last busy weekend before we take off on vacation. My girlfriends and I are going to see Jason Aldean in Cedar Falls Saturday night. We saw him at the State Fair and had so much fun! So I think it should be a good time.

And thank you for all of your prayers. My grandma went home the other day, played in her card club, and won! So she's doing a lot better - the power of prayer is amazing! I hope everyone has a good weekend! xoxo

What's New

Well, we haven't really done much lately, but it seems like life just won't slow down! We leave for Florida in roughly a month, and I feel like I'm pretty well prepared for that, besides maybe getting a few new sundresses for the beaches and things. I should start packing soon, because I know I don't want to be rushing to pack the night before we leave. We got some luggage from my parents for Christmas, so I'm excited to try that out.

School has been FLYING by. We started reading The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins to the 7th graders and they have been loving it! If you haven't ever ready the series, I would highly suggest it. Definitely my top 10 books to read. We're really getting into the political aspect and analyze the characters and things and they like it. They also go to be in groups according to their "districts" and just the other day we had our own reaping where the kids had to figure out the tesserae for their household to see how many times their name would be in the bowl. It was a lot of fun and they absolutely loved it. I've been having to take some 5-10 p.m. coaching classes this month which SUCKS. I have about 6 left to do, and I'm not looking forward to it at all. They're so boring and it's just hard to sit for 25 hours when I would rather be at home on the couch with Josh and the dogs. It's a drag to say the least.

Next week is Valentine's Day. We don't really have much planned - no gifts or anything. We're going to get a Papa John's heart shaped pizza on Sunday to celebrate, and maybe get a movie or something to watch. We'll probably just order some food on Valentine's Day and then hang out at home, which is totally fine by me. I like those nights the best. :)

If you're sending up prayers, send another for my grandma. She was admitted back to the hospital yesterday and is being monitored. No word yet on what's going on, but my mom says she's doing o.k., but is confused. So praying for her a lot and I would appreciate any you could send up too. xoxo

Seriously?!

Is it SERIOUSLY January 31st and it's almost 60 degrees outside! I am LOVING the weather here at the moment! I think it's kind of bittersweet because I feel like I should be winding down the school year and getting ready for summer, but alas, it's still only January. So I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the weather. I love it obviously because the dogs and I have been getting in some nice walks, my room is warm, and it makes for a good drive home. I am NOT loving it because I feel like school should be almost over, it's still only January, and the dogs have muddy paws. Give and take!

This past weekend I went to the Lady Antebellum concert with some of my girl friends. It was a lot of fun - they were really good and do was Darius Rucker. It was nice to just get out and do something with just the girls for a change; I feel like I haven't done much with anyone besides Josh (which is alright too). Alex just found out last week that she got a job offer in Omaha and is thrilled to move there. I am super excited for her and I know this is a great opportunity for her, and I'll get to see her a lot visiting my family over there as well as seeing her, but it does suck she won't just be a block away to go out for dinner and drinks. I will miss her at aerobics and Zumba as well, and just picking up and going shopping on the weekends. SO, we made the most of it this weekend before she moves. We had a blast, some good heart-to-hearts, and most of all we laughed all night long. I happen to think we were the funniest people in the whole bar. It was an excellent night had by all. I will post some pictures once I get them uploaded to my computer.

That's it for now. My February is BUSY. I have to take a coaching class for 6 days from 5-10p.m. towards the end of February, right during conferences. So I'm going to be packed teaching, conferences, and then class for about 6 straight days. Ugh, not looking forward to it. The only sunrise on the horizon is knowing that Florida is a little over a month away now! It'll be here quicker than I know it...and I can't wait! :)

Happenings Lately

I can't believe it's already getting closer to the end of January...and by that it's getting closer to Florida trip, my birthday, nice weather, and summer! I feel that January-March always take so long to get through. The kids are always crazy, the weather is crazy, and it drives me crazy. We had a 2 hour delay today because it was icy/snowy last night. I like 2 hour delays; you don't have to make them up at the end of the school year. Although a day at home with the puppies and hot chocolate is pretty nice too. :)

Well, we haven't done much lately. Last weekend I went to Omaha with Alex to visit our friend Zach who came home to visit from China where he's staying for a year. It was nice to go out on the town and dance all night long. I got to visit with my grandparents the next day and that was awesome. Any time I get to spend with them is a blessing - I can't describe the way I feel at their house. It's just...peaceful. I love it.

This weekend Josh and I just stayed home. Friday night we watched a movie and ordered some food from the diner in town. Saturday I went shopping to get some stuff to clean the house since the appraiser is coming this week to see if we can drop our PMI insurance on the house. So I cleaned all afternoon Saturday and then Saturday night we had some gift cards to use so we went out to eat at On The Border. Pretty good...I'm more of an authentic Mexican food person, but the sopapillas were DELICIOUS!

Fingers crossed the appraiser tells us our house passes the $108,000 mark so we can drop our PMI insurance. He comes on Tuesday so maybe we'll know this week. This upcoming weekend I'm going to the Lady Antebellum concert with my girl friends - I'm pretty excited! I love them and it should be pretty good! THEN next week is already the start of February! I have a day off at the end of February so I'm excited for that. Then it's MARCH and time for FLORIDA! :) So much to look forward to in the next few months. I'm so blessed! <3

Vacation #2

Josh and I booked our trip to FLORIDA this week! I was super excited, because we've been talking about going to Florida to visit some of his family, and it just worked out that we'd be able to. A giant THANK YOU for everyone who "donated" to the cause so we could go out and visit! I am SO excited! I've been to Florida once, when I was younger, to visit Disney World, but haven't been back since. We're going to stay in Naples with some of his family for a few days, and then heading down to Key West with some of our friends for a few days and experience that. It's a good thing I asked for luggage this year for Christmas - I am more than ready to use it! Last year we went to Vegas and had a blast, so I'm sure this will be just as much fun. I am excited to drive across the bridges to Key West and to see the Florida Everglades. Not excited about seeing alligators since I hate them, but I will be anxious to see what it's like. Only 2 months until we leave so it seems like there's so much to do and get ready for, but I am more than excited! Weeee!!

It was also Josh and I's 6 year anniversary yesterday (1/11). We didn't do anything, but tonight we're going to go out to eat at Chips, which is where we had our first date. I am extremely happy with where we are in our relationship. If you would have asked me the same question 3 years ago it would be a completely different story. I am glad we were able to grow up and make it through some of our growing pains as crazy early 20-somethings. Everything just seems to "fit" and I feel content. I am getting very anxious for a wedding...but I have a good feeling this year is "the year". I know it won't be before Florida since we're both saving for that..but maybe later this year.

That's about it...we had the FIRST snow of the year last night. Only about 1 inch and some crazy wind. By now we had at least 2 snow days last year. I don't mind the warmer weather, but I know by mid-March/April the kids will be super ancy (perfect time for Florida! :)). So maybe just a little more snow or ONE snow day would be nice this year. Fingers crossed!

End of the Year Book

I love to scrapbook. But what I don't love is taking the time to actually do them. That and I'm not really that creative. SO...a couple of years ago I stumbled across this website called Mixbook and I was in love. It was easy to navigate, easy to create things with, and, best of all, it was fairly cheap. So I made a "book" for Josh and I to remember the year and from then on I've been doing one every year. This year I think I out-did myself since I had all summer off and could work on it and it turned out SO great. I love just having the nice binders displayed under the coffee table or on the bookshelf. It's something I know I can show my kids down the road, and every once in a while I love to just sit and thumb through them. If anyone has kids or pictures they'd like to display, I highly recommend the site (and they just added a bunch of new elements to their scrapbook making section!). I made a book for my grandma and grandpa for Christmas and everyone LOVED it. Here is the book I made for Josh & I's 2011 year posted below. You should just be able to click to go through the pages. I'm already started on 2012. :)

*Note: The width for my template isn't wide enough to see the ENTIRE pages on the book, it cuts them off a bit. So you can go click on the link right here to see the whole book!: http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/interests/josh-rachel-2011-5426641

| Learn About Mixbook Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Game night

Taytum got a slider dog puzzle for Christmas...and wasn't into it.  It said it was suppose to stimulate dogs who are bored to think and decide how to get the treats out.  The little circles slide up or down and they have to figure out whether to push it with their nose or pull it with their paw. While Taytum wasn't thrilled with it, Tyson LOVES it! I put little treats in there and we play twice a night (since he doesn't need too many treats!). It's so funny to watch him try to figure it out. He likes to scratch it more than anything. Pretty nice toy though for those of you out there with dogs! :)