In the ZONE

In the afternoons when Chapstick and I go running, I always plan on using that time to mull over something that I haven't had a lot of time to think about. I always have these big plans for figuring out a solution to whatever problem I am currently facing, but once I start running, I somehow forget everything that is around me, and zone out. When I am coming up the street at the end of our run, I think to myself, "Dangit, I meant to think about _____." I then try to remember what I was thinking about during our run, but I can never remember. I love that my body and God knows that for that 45 minutes, I need to shut down my thinking and just run. I think that's why I love doing it so much-I love that it is complete "me" time. I love that I can space out with my headphones on, and the whole world just melts away; I don't have anything to worry about except for taking my next step. It is a beautiful thing, and I mean that with total honesty.

I was noticing today while we were running, that spring has sprung. The buds on the trees are swelling just a little bit more and there are tulips starting to come up with the daffodils. Mommie and I have always talked about how much we love the beginning of spring, right when everything turns green. We both love how bight and vivid the colors are and how refreshing it is in comparison to the dreary winter scenes we have been used to for the last 3 months.

Speaking of which-the spring break countdown is at 4 days. I am looking forward to having a handful of days to chill out and do what I want. I am really hoping that Chapstick and I can do some serious gardening, which is interesting because I have always hated the idea of plants and flowers, mainly because Matt and I don't like taking care of them. We had kind of decided we didn't want kids because we would have to take care of them (pitiful, I know). But since having Chapstick, I have discovered that I enjoy taking care of something else; I like knowing that I am needed and I am responsible for another little life. I have gotten such joy from taking care of our little baby, so I feel like maybe the outside of our house can use some sprucing up, and I will be successful at keeping all the plants alive, too. I have these images in my head of summer afternoons spent in the front yard with a slight breeze, Chapstick snoozing in the yard (yeah right, that dog would be darting all over the place and running away) as I tend to our flower beds. Nice thought, huh?

PS

Can I tell you how much I LOVE this bag!

I'm singin' in the rain, oh what glorious feeling

I hate to say that I hate Sundays, but I do. I often find myself unable to enjoy the day because I am thinking about everything I have to do during the upcoming week. Matt hates when I remind him that we have to go back to work. That's something I should work on, enjoying each day for what it is, not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes.

Friday was a beautiful start to our weekend. It was 70 degrees out, the start of my weekend, and almost the first day of spring. How did I celebrate? Shopping. After spending several weeks now stuck in a blah because of the perpetually rainy and cloudy weather, at the first hint of spring, I was ready to ditch my winter duds and find some brightly colored tops. Did I? Oh you bet I did. Let me just thank J.Crew for all their goodness; I can honestly say that their is rarely a time when I don't want to buy the store out. I came home a little poorer, but a lot cuter, and ready to don my snazzy spring outfits!

After feeling guilty for not getting home earlier, thinking poor Chapstick is probably about to go nuts without a run AND supper (my baby is used to the nice little routine that we have) Matt and I made it home and grilled out to celebrate springtime! I put on my shorts and played with the pup in the backyard until dark-thirty. While we were outside I felt a little crafty, so I decided to cut some of our Daffodils and put them in the house. Fresh flowers, inside, make a house feel a little bit fancier. Matt and I have really loved bringing a little bit of springtime inside.

We also watched What About the Morgan's? Friday night. NOT a good movie. I love SJP, but this wasn't one of her best movies.

Saturday we were supposed to be making window boxes, but Matt told me Friday afternoon that he didn't have time to figure the materials out in time to get them, so that project has been put off to next weekend. Which is fine, because I have also decided that I want to start getting a yard into shape and with a week of freedom (luxury of being a teacher: spring break), I should have plenty of time to play.

So instead I cleaned, and then Matt treated our Adirondack chairs outside and Chapstick and I watched. It was so beautiful that we just enjoyed kind of hanging out and not doing anything for a while. I ran errands that afternoon and then Chapstick and I went for a nice long run. Matt's sister invited us to dinner at her house, so we headed over there. We had a lot of fun hanging out and getting to spend some time outside, grilling out, and enjoying the company of family.

This morning we got up and went to church (we are in the process of finding a new church home-something bigger that has more to offer us) and we to the nearly/newly married class. It. was. incredible. There was a good sized group there and we both loved the series that they have started. It is called Marriage on the Rock, and it is all about starting your marriage off on the right path with God, and how to give each other what is needed as husband and wife.

This afternoon I have snoozed with my baby (Chapstick, not Matt-he was out) and enjoyed the rainy afternoon, just the two of us. Matt and I constantly talk about how lucky we are to have such a great dog-even though she does have her moments, and we have holes in our clothes, broken shoelaces, ripped screen doors and windows to prove it-because she loves us and loves to cuddle. When she's inside with us, she is our shadow, and when we are watching TV or on the computer, as I am now, she wants to be laying on you or right next to you. She has recently discovered that she can lay in my lap while I am at the computer; she's obviously confused as to how big she is and that she is not a lap dog. Proof...

Well, that about sums out our weekend. Have a great Sunday evening-we're out to burn some energy with Chapstick-she's stir crazy.

WEEEEEEEKEND

Yes it is the weekend. Well, almost. Friday's make me long for my college days; no Friday classes were a Godsend. Oh well, those days are long gone.

Since Wednesday, the week has been pretty normal. Matt and I headed downtown for St. Patty's with a group of our friends. It was a surprise visit by the group, but it turned out to be a nice mid-week escape. We ate pizza and had some festive green drinks and caught up on our married lives. It is fun for Matt and I to hear how other married couples our age are dealing with different situations. I'm a nosey girl, so I love hearing about the ups and downs of everyone's lives. After dinner, everyone came over to our house and we played Truth or Dare (and Dirty Truth or Dare) on a friend's new phone, a Driod. I'm a big tech-y and love new gadgets. I am a lover of all things Apple, and I would have an iPhone if we didn't use Verizon, but I have to admit that Droid was pretty impressive. It had some weird apps (different guns you could shoot? a Family Guy app-which Matt loved) and one was the Truth or Dare game. This particular group enjoys playing the dirty version of games (which aren't all that dirty), so we had a good time.

This weekend Matt and I are going to enjoy some outside time ,with the 70-something degree weather, with Chapstick. I am hoping that there will be some window-box building going on as well. I saw in Southern Living this month some amazing window-boxes in Charleston, and I decided that that was exactly what we needed for our front windows. Maybe I will have pictures to post next week...

Joining the blogging world take 2

I wish I could say this was my first time blogging, but that would be a lie. All of my friends and I were avid bloggers in college. For some reason or another, we quit, but now I'm ready to jump back in.

Blogging has been sitting heavy on me for a while now. I am a blog reading addict-as in most of my conversations begin with, "This blog I was reading..." My googlereader brings me joy when it updates and I have something new to read. I subscribe to maybe 40 or 50 blogs about all sorts of things: design, homes, lives, babies, photography, gossip...the list goes on.

I don't live a particularly glamorous or exciting life. If you had caught me two years ago, it would have been a different story. I was recently engaged, planning a wedding, buying a house, remodeling a house, and graduating from college. All at the same time. Intense. Since then, well, life has settled down. I'm an old married lady now (joking, today we've been married for 5 months) with an incredible husband, our perfect little house, and adorable lab puppy, Chapstick. Life is good. I've been blessed to know my husband for the last 10-ish years and to grow up together. We now look forward to growing old together.

This blog will be about nothing in particular. I'll talk about life, our house, Chapstick (a lot, she's my baby!), my job (which I hope I will get to keep...getting worried though), our travels, my crazy students, and whatever else comes to mind...

On the topic of jobs. I was so blessed last year to get a job right out of school. With the economy being as it is and educational funding taking a nosedive, I was worried I would be unemployed. But, the good Lord blessed me with an incredible opportunity at the school where I wanted to be. I interviewed a year ago today (how corny for me to remember). I spent an agonizing summer waiting to find out if the funding for my position would come through and at the end of July, I happily signed my contract. Since then, I have dove headfirst into the lovely land of sophomore high school English. Sometimes I love what I do; some days I'm not so crazy about it. I work in a Title 1 school with students from challenging home lives and backgrounds; I felt a huge calling to be at my school for this reason. I wanted to have the opportunity to change lives and impact students in a way that they might not get elsewhere. I wanted to give them stability and something to look forward to (Ha! What kid looks forward to school? Nerds like me, that's who). I have learned more in the last 7 months than I did spending 4 years in college. My eyes and heart have been opened to a world that I knew existed, but had no true understanding of. I stand to believe that these kids have taught me more about the world and myself, than I will ever be able to teach them. I have struggled with issues that arise in my classroom everyday, but then I remember why I am here. I remember what I was put here to do. I am here to give them my heart, my love, my ear, my attention, and my spirit foremost, and secondly, I am here to give them the greatest education I can. I forget that a lot. I have to remind myself when I start complaining that I am not here for me, I am here for all 60-something of my babies.

All that to say, I may not have a job next year. The funding for my school district has been cut gradually over the last several years and it looks like this coming year, we are going to be hit hard. I worry for myself, of course, because I have bills to pay! A lot of bills to pay. I have complained a lot about my job. It is hard; harder than I ever realized it would be. I am great at finding fault in things, and I fall prey of that almost nightly on the phone with Mommie, but honestly, I love what I do. Sure there are a million glamorous and fancy things I would rather do, but I really enjoy working with these kids everyday. I feel blessed to hang out with 60 of my friends, on a daily basis; I'm a lucky girl! So pray from me, for my school, my students, and for our school district as we begin to pare down the unnecessaries (hoping I am not one of them).

On the upside, Matt, Chapstick, and I are doing fabulous. I think to myself every night as I cook supper, "How lucky we are to have such a sweet little family." Matt and I have been lucky to start our lives together with such incredible blessings from both of our families. We have a cute little house (Thanks Pottery Barn and Uncle Sam-we love the new homeowner tax credit), a new kitchen (thank you Daddy), no student loans to be paid back (thank you Mommie, Daddy, Barry, and Patti), one car payment, and one absolutely-precious-adorable-too-cute-for-words-I-just-want-to-love-all-over-her puppy, Chapstick. She joined us a month ago today (for some reason the 17 of the month in general, is big for us. We were engaged on the 17, married on the 17, got puppy on the 17...must be our "lucky" number).

So that's our life right now in a nut shell. I am excited to be blogging again, and I look forward to sharing our little life with you in the time to come...