It's Almost Christmas...

Can you believe it? We've only got 20 more days of 2009 left! It's hard to believe all that has changed and happened in this year! I'm hoping and PRAYING that 2010 brings more joy, happiness, success, and good things to everyone.

While the end of the year means the holidays, celebrating Jesus' birth, spending time with friends and family, it also means the end of the year and the beginning of a new one.

So, without further adeau, I'm going to present to you, my 2010 New Year's Resolutions/Goals.

#1. Get a library card. Seriously. And quit spending so much darn money on books! And... instead of spending $200 on books next year in the first month, I'm going to donate that much money to the public library. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

#2. Register for two races (and maybe more). Train for those races.

#3. PURGE! PURGE! PURGE! I'm so over all the CRAP I have in my house. Books, clothes, shoes, craft stuff that I'll never use... it's getting sold, donated, WHATEVER.

#4. Take a trip.

#5. And the age old one that EVERYONE says... make healthy lifestyle choices. Be more diligent about going to the doctor, eat healthier, exercise.

Happy Thanksgiving.

So it's been awhile since I've posted a blog update... I'm just not feeling the "blogging" world lately, and really, I don't have much exciting to say. Work, school, sleep, repeat. That's pretty much my life! I'll try to be better. But with my whole 5 blog readers - what's the point of updating more often? You guys already know what's going on... :-)

I'll leave you with this...

I truly hope that you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Remember all your many blessings.

Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party = SUCCESS!

When Meridith asked me to be her matron of honor, I was elated... but nervous at the same time, because I knew that I wanted to host the bridal shower and bachelorette party. I also know me well enough to know that I always put undue stress on myself because I want everything I do to be perfect. We started talking and put the date on the calendar about the time, the wedding planning began. :-) It's over, and I feel like it was a total success! We all had a blast.

Saturday, during the day, I had another meeting with Texas Teachers. It's another class to work on my teaching certification. This time, we talked about lesson planning and development. We even went so far as to take one of the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and develop a lesson plan around it. I think my group was very successful in achieving a positive and engaging lesson plan. It's also one that we can put into our portfolio when we start looking for teaching jobs. And well, I came home and added to it, elaborated, found worksheets, etc. :-)

When I left Garland, I had a couple of stops to make. I went to Society Bakery to pick up the best freaking cupcakes I've ever eaten in my life! Then I went to Crate & Barrel to pick up her gift. I headed home to grab a couple of things, check on Marcus (who is sick with the flu, btw) and head out to meet the girls. Meridith, Heather (another bridesmaid), and I went to the Liar's Den for a drink, then to Starbucks, then back to Hotel ZaZa to get ready.

We met the rest of the crew at Iron Cactus for dinner, drinks, cupcakes, conversation, and gifts. It was truly an amazing experience to get to know girls from all different backgrounds, interests, etc. I can definitely see myself hanging out with these girls again. Meridith received some wonderful gifts.

We left Iron Cactus and headed back to Hotel ZaZa. Everyone met in our room and then headed downstairs to Dragonfly for the evening. We had talked about leaving Dragonfly and heading somewhere else around 11:15, but when we missed the trolley at 11:39, we decided to stay at Dragonfly. There were ten of us, and cab fair, even a mile would have been expensive! We had more fun people watching. You should have seen the guy that crash landed STRAIGHT FROM 1980! He had on a fur, three quarter length jacket, rhinestone boots, and a serious hair cut. We were cracking up! Then there was the man that put his leg on a chair, and literally started dancing for us. Um, weirdo! And then the man that stared at us for probably a good 15 minutes. Um, PSYCHO! We all laughed out little behinds off! And apparently, Dragonfly is the place to go if you are a bachelorette and want free drinks. We got rounds of them from the bar. I hope that people will post pictures. In all the choas of getting ready - I flat out forgot my camera.

Everyone left and Meridith, Heather, and I headed back up to our room about 1:30. We proceeded to lay in bed until 3 am talking and cracking up!

I would have to say it was a successful evening.

Meridith and I were both awake by 8 am this morning, neither of us being able to sleep for whatever variety of reasons. We left Heather to sleep and headed out to The Original Pancake House for breakfast. Then I came home and crashed!

It was a busy weekend, but one that was loads of fun. Countdown to the wedding: 12 days tomorrow! :-)

Another Weekend Wrap-Up

Hey all! :-) It's another Monday morning here in Dallas, Texas. Luckily, after a HOT weekend, we should be seeing some amazing days in the near future. We even have a "cold front" heading our way as we speak! ::dances:: I just love fall. And I can't wait to bust out my fall decor and get ready for the next couple of months!

This weekend was a whirlwind... but I feel productive. And I guess that's all that matters.

Friday night when I walked in the door, I basically walked right back out. Marcus and I headed to Garland to go to Bass Pro Shop (though I'm still not sure why), then we went to Wal-Mart to grab a couple of items. We had dinner at Texas Land and Cattle, which was very good by the way. I took Marcus home, then went to let out Courtney's puppy dogs. I walked in the door, and crashed since I knew I was going to have an early morning on Saturday.

Saturday was my first certification class for my teaching certificate. I woke up at 6 am, got dressed, took Chloe on a walk, then took Courtney's puppys on a walk, grabbed breakfast, and headed to Garland to the Hyatt where the training was to take place. To say that I was nervous would be a serious understatement. I was freaking terrified. And I'm still not sure why. In my mind, I kept questioning my decisions, my motives, whether I was doing the right thing, etc. Training started at 9, but we were instructed to get there by 8:30 for some "house keeping" type stuff. I got there at 7:45. I'm an early bird, what can I say?

The trainer we had on Saturday is a man by the name of Mark Benthall. He is a 5th grade teacher at Lake Travis ISD near Austin. He was amazing. Seriously. He told us stories of his classroom that had me rolling in laughter, and he told stories that had me crying big tears. But at the end of the day, I realized that I am doing the right thing. Teaching is where I feel like I can make a difference and where I "should" be in this life. It's an amazing feeling to finally know what it is I'm destined to be when I grow up. :-)

Last week, I had ordered a kitchen table from Overstock and it arrived Saturday while I was in class. So when I got home, Marcus and I put the table together. It's pretty... and I sat at it to eat dinner for the first time Sunday night! I'll take pictures of everything when my fall decor is all put up! Saturday night, we met Lindsey and some friends out at Manny's Uptown in Addison for some yummy mexican food before heading out to Chaucer's for some drinks and dancing.

Here are some pictures:

Me, Lindsey, Jaime, and Brian at Manny's eating dinner!

A cute picture of me and Lindsey at Manny's!

And seriously - like the ONLY cute picture of Marcus and I in um, 7 years!

Then Sunday, my mom and Meridith met me at my apartment, and we headed to the Dallas Arboretum to check out the Autumn Festival. I can finally check one more thing off my 101 things to do in 1001 days. :-) I got some amazing pictures with my new camera... and learned some fun new tricks from my mom! We had lunch at Cafe Express in Uptown, then my mom and I head to Fountain Place to take more pictures! I'm just loving my new camera. After my mom left, I attempted to do some homework, even though I certainly didn't get very far. I worked on a couple of projects I've been doing, and then headed to bed!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun and exciting?

Weekend Wrap-up

Mondays always make me sad. Not only does it mean that another weekend has come and gone, it means that time is flying by - and well, I'm kind of ready for time to stand still. :-)

This weekend, we ventured out to Tuscola (home of UT quarterback Colt McCoy) to watch the Jim Ned Indians take on the Anson Tigers for their homecoming game. I always enjoy watching Indian football, because I love the small town feel of their games. It's amazing to me how many people turn out to watch high school football. It was their Homecoming game, and there wasn't a single available seat in the entire stadium. I love that. Looking at the stadium, all you see is a crowd of red. By the way, they won. :-)

Saturday, I read much of the day and went to Abilene to do some shopping with Marcus. We went to the Harley Davidson dealership and were checking out some 4-wheelers, Academy, then we ran to Harbor Freight where I couldn't for the life of me find sand paper, then Wal-Mart and back home where we watched the University of Texas/Texas Tech game. Let me just say that I've been a UT fan since I was about 13. I donned my UT shirt, and sat in front of the tv, cheering on my team! Hook'em HORNS!

Sunday - we left Tuscola around noon to head back to Dallas. I went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, did a little baking that was a total disaster, did some homework, and headed to bed. So let me tell you about my baking disaster! My oven is jacked! I know that I'm not the world's best cook, but baking is really just about falling directions. When the recipe says 350 degrees for 20 minutes - you'd expect whatever you are baking to be finished baking in that time frame. So... we're having a big lunch at work today, and I volunteered *stupid, stupid me* to bring dessert. I go to the store, buy all of my ingredients, come home, put them all together, put the mixture in my pie shells and put them in the oven. 375* for 50 - 60 minutes. Piece of pie! So, at the end of 50 minutes, I check it, just to be on the safe side, and the middle of my pie was RUNNY! So I put foil around the edges so they didn't get any darker, and waited another 15 minutes... then 30... then 45... and after my pies had been in the oven for TWO HOURS and were still not done in the middle, I pretty much gave up.

So after all of that - trying for two more pies... chocolate chip cookie bars that didn't bake right... I finally just gave up and went to Central Market. I probably should have gone there first.

20 Little Happy Things ...

While surfing blog land today, I stumbled across this post, where a blogger made a list of 20 little happy things to celebrate in her life. Her list made my smile, and made me want to create my own little list.

So here it is...

1. Cool fall days

2. Starbucks Christmas cups

3. The prospect of being a teacher

4. My husband, family, and friends

5. My dog Chloe

6. Sewing projects, even when they are piling up

7. A good book

8. A fresh manicure/pedicure

9. A home cooked meal

10. CHOCOLATE!

11. Bloggers that inspire me to do lots of different things

12. Finding a great bargain

13. Buying stuff for my future classroom

14. Dancing

15. When good things happen to good people

16. Antique shopping

17. Hearing one of my favorite songs

18. Dinner with friends

19. Homemade ice cream

20. Laughing

I love September.

I am amazed at the changes in the weather. I probably say this every single year, but I looooooooooove when the weather starts to change, the mornings are cool, the evenings are crisp. I can take Chloe for a walk without breaking a sweat, and I can sit on the patio with my feet up, a candle burning, reading a book. :-) It is days like this that I realize how much I love the Fall.

I am hoping in the next couple of weeks to go buy some mums to plant in my flower pots, and to bust out all of the Fall decorations. I'm um, excited!

What are some things *you* look forward to in the Fall?

I'm already making plans for the State Fair of Texas, Autumn Festival at the Dallas Arboretum, Halloween...

Ahhhh!! :-)