Hair = Cut

Today I took the plunge and got my hair chopped off.  I was able to donate over ten inches, which feels awesome!!  Here is the process

Before:

 During:

After:

Blessed

I have been babysitting for what seems like forever, and it's something that I really enjoy doing.  I started over ten years ago, so the families that I've been babysitting for have changed some.  It makes me sad when a family outgrows me, but I understand that their children get older, and they don't need me anymore... that's life!  It happens to every family at some point!

I have recently found some AWESOME families that I have been able to work with, and I really enjoy going to spend time with them.  I love my regulars that I watch on a consistent basis, but the new families have added some joy and new connections that are a blessing!

I will continue babysitting until I absolutely cannot anymore, which in my eyes will be never, because I enjoy it so much :-)

Hustle and Bustle

Celebrating Christmas yesterday was great, and it began some new traditions for us!  We were able to see lots and lots of family members and enjoy lots of time together!  Yesterday was not only a great Christmas, but it was our six month anniversary as well!  Lots to celebrate!!

Today includes lots or organizing and cleaning, and quality time before Christmas with my grandpa tonight.  LOVE the holidays!!

Teamies

I just wanted to take a minute to say that I'm very, very thankful for my teamies!!  I love the people I work with, but especially the people on my team!  This year has reaffirmed my choice to teach, and I have them to thank!  Of course I have great students, but my fellow teachers have made my job much easier and I enjoy going to work each morning!  So thank you to my teammates!!

Proud

I am not one to brag, but I'm a little bit proud of myself for this semester's grades.  Take a peek!  I am now over halfway finished with my Masters Degree!!!

New York City

So I'm a few days behind... or should I say a ton of days behind!  Last weekend, Mom and I took a trip with Stacey and Tayler to New York City, and we had a great time!  Just wanted to post a few pictures!

I Spy With My Little Eyes......

Came home tonight to find Daisy here, under the tree, with all the presents... Can you find her??

 And later in the night, I found Chase in the same spot!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

On Saturday, Jason and I picked out our very first Christmas tree!!  As of now, it's only set up and has lights on it, but there are presents now beneath it, and it will have ornaments soon, which I'll post pictures of too!

Here is the process

Chase and Daisy are loving it!! :-)

New Toy!!

On Monday, my wonderful husband gave me permission to buy the new toy that I've been eyeing up!  I made a deal with Jason that I could save all my babysitting money to buy a new camera, and I was able to put a little down and make payments on it for the next 93498720 years.  Even though, I have enjoyed playing around with my new camera and learning all the cool features that it has!  This weekend, I plan on taking lots more pictures!!

Here are a few of the first pictures I took

Here is the camera-- A Canon Rebel T3i

Thanksgiving

We had some new Thanksgiving traditions this year.  We spent the holiday down in Virginia Beach, where it was 70 degrees!  We were able to spend a few days there which was great, and we enjoyed it very much!  Here is my favorite picture from the weekend!

I loved spending time with my new family members-- my in laws, my two brother in laws, my sister in law, and my niece.  I love having new family members to call mine!!  One of the things I enjoyed most was spending time with our niece, and my absolute favorite was writing Christmas Lists with her of the things she wanted to buy people for Christmas.  So I leave you with an example of those lists that I helped her write :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

After school tomorrow, Jason and I will be headed to VA Beach for Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to new traditions, but I will not be on the computer much, so I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  We'll be back in time to  head to the Eagles game on Sunday, so I'll post then!

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Friends

Friends have been coming and going all my life, and it is interesting how you meet each one of them.  I was really lucky to be able to hang out with my dear friend Ashlee last night, and we just spent hours talking, while our husbands talked and talked and talked about sports.  I am very lucky to have Ashlee in my life, and I very much appreciate her.   So I thought I'd add our first picture together as a throwback :-)

 Something that is really neat is that we both got married this summer, and we were in each other's weddings.  Here is our first wedding.... I got married, and she was my bridesmaid

 And here was our second!  This time, our roles were reversed.  She was the bride, and I was the bridesmaid

We all get wrapped up in our everyday lives, so today, I say that I am extremely fortunate for my friends, and Ashlee, you're one of the greatest!  You're an amazing friend, wife, daughter, and teacher, and I'm lucky to have you in my life!!

Couponing

If I cut and put coupons away at school, my students always ask "Are you an EXTREME COUPONER!?!?"  My answer is always no, of course not, but don't I wish!  I only get the Sunday paper and cut and sort my coupons, but I've enjoyed saving the money that comes along with the coupons!  I consider any trip where I've saved as much or more than I've spent a successful trip.  Many have asked how I organize mine, so here you go!

Here is my coupon binder

 And this is how all the coupons get into that binder

And of course I get some help every once in awhile :-)

Halfway

We're halfway through the week already, and only two days away from the weekend.  After that, only two days of school separate us from Thanksgiving Break!  While the traditions will be different this year, and I'll miss my family, I'm looking forward to the holiday, and to making new traditions!  After Thanksgiving, it's officially time to decorate for Christmas!!  Wooo hooo!!

Comfort

I had one of the longest days that I've had in awhile, so I was really excited to come home tonight.  I just got home around 8:30 from my day, and I left around 6:30.  I'm not here to complain, because I was doing things for my job, which I'm grateful for, but I was even more excited when I pulled up.  Over the weekend, my husband put in our candles for the windows for Christmas, and I forgot they were up when I got home!  I LOVED coming home to this sight!!

Music = Love

Today involved a lot of stress at work, and I find it amazing how much certain songs or types of music can relax me.  My head felt like it was going to explode, so I broke into the Christmas Music playlist on my Itunes, and I immediately felt my tension release a little.  I got the new Justin Bieber Christmas CD from my good friend Ashlee this past weekend, and yes, I said Justin Bieber... for my kids, of course (maybe not, haha!)  It was much better than expected, and that CD mixed with my N'Sync Christmas, and my Glee and Lady Antebellum Christmas CD's, it was the perfect variety!!  While I'm a firm believer in no Christmas music or decorations until after Thanksgiving, it was much needed today!!  I'm excited for the holidays and to be with family!

Thankful

I was excited all day knowing that tonight I got to watch my 3 little men, and boy was it worth it.  I've always pictured myself having little girls, but these boys make it okay for me to end up with boys (which I most likely will!)

While hearing about one's day at school, and one's day at daycare, and cuddling with the last, I had an amazing few hours.  Driving home, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have them in my life.  I've never had a family that I felt so close with that wasn't my own.  I consider them family, and I genuinely love spending time with all of them!  They include me in their major events, and I include them in mine, and it feels great to be included!!

So today, I'm thankful for my three little men, and their parents! :-)

Rayner

Once Jason and I got back from our honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, we decided we were going to sponsor a child from there.  We had talked about sponsoring a child through Compassion International for a long time, but never knew how to pick.  When we got home from the honeymoon, we narrowed our search down to children from the Dominican Republic, and then read their biographies.  When we came across Rayner's, his sweet 5 year old self, who loves baseball, won our hearts.  We started sponsoring him in July, but we just got our first letter.


Meet Rayner:

How couldn't you love that face??  Better yet, here is our first letter from him, complete with an adorable picture colored by him, which is now hanging on our fridge.

 

It was really important to us to be able to help someone else, especially a child in need.  We're looking forward to our contact with Rayner, and to hear how our sponsorship is affecting his life!!  His letter and picture absolutely made our day!!

Neti Pot?

It's official... I sound like a man.  I made it through the day, my voice giving out more and more as the day progressed.  I could also breathe less and less as the day progressed, so I decided to try something new that a lot of people have recommended to me, called the Neti Pot.

For those of you who don't know what it looks like, it looks like this:

I bought it at Target this afternoon, and I just used it about an hour ago.  While all my congestion isn't gone, it surely has helped, so I will be very grateful if I can actually breathe tonight.

For those of you struggling with colds this fall/winter like me, I would definitely recommend this.  It feels really weird, but seems to be very useful!

Chicken Rice Soup

There's something about a Mama that makes you feel better when you're sick.  I have a brutal cold, and I've been fluctuating with how I feel over the past few days.  Today, I was fine when I went to church, and then to check out pictures of the lovely "little men" in my life with their Mommy, but I decided I could take on shopping with my Mom.

We got some great deals, and I was able to keep myself busy while my husband had some guys over to play poker, but by the end of the day shopping, I was absolutely exhausted!!  My wonderful Mama made me some Chicken Rice Soup, minus chicken, but she made enough for me to have for dinner, and also for a few days of lunch this week.  I know I said thank you multiple times, but she'll never really know how much I appreciate her.

One day, I hope to be half the Mom that she is!! <3

Run, Turk, Run!!

Today we were given the opportunity to watch one of my favorite little boys play flag football.  The weather cooperated this week, so we bundled up and headed outside.  He was absolutely adorable, and we loved watching him!!

Check out that excitement!!  Oh to be young again, when the biggest problem you have is that you're thirsty :-)  He's a great little football player, and we enjoyed watching him play, and also watching him grow up!!

So we're proud of you, Turk!!  And we're enjoying being a part of you, and your family's life!!  We <3 your family!!

Family is Forever

I am positive that I talk to my Mom everyday.  I talk to my Dad when I know it's convenient for me to call him, if he's not busy, but I'd say about every other day.  To me, it seems regular.  Jas talks to one of his parents on a daily basis, which I feel is pretty good for being male! (Yes, I did just say that).

To us, family is extremely important, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  As I sit in our living room with Jas and his brother who is visiting, it's so fun to watch them interact with each other!  They're reminiscing about their past and sharing stories, all while still being focused on what's on the TV... impressive!  While I wasn't there for their childhood, I find myself being able to picture exactly what they're talking about!  I love hearing their stories and imagining I was there experiencing it with them!

I treasure Sunday mornings when we go out to breakfast with my Dad, and some of my aunts, my uncle, and my Grandma.  We are lucky!  We really are!  Our family is always supportive and we love spending time with them!  The second Sunday of every month we get together with my Mom's side of the family.  I love having routines where I'm guaranteed to see my family because after all, family is forever!!

Count Your Blessings

It's so easy to get caught up in your daily routine.  This week, I feel like I haven't sat down at all at night, and I just see my husband when I go to bed.  Tonight when I got home from grad class, I can't even explain how relaxing it is to just sit with him while I catch up on stuff on the computer, and he flips through channels on the TV.  I am SO looking forward to the weekend and actually having some free time!

By the end of the school day, small rewarding things get overlooked, but today I remembered to count my blessings.  Not only am I blessed by a loving husband, an amazing family, and awesome friends, but I have a wonderful job.  I have made some great friends, and I honestly look forward to going to school each day.  The kids are the reason I'm there, and there is usually at least one point in the day where they make me laugh with what they say.  Sure, there are plenty of frustrating things about my job, but today I am thankful not only for having that job, but also for my kids!

Start of Something New

I've enjoyed reading my friends' blogs for awhile now, and I've been contemplating the idea of starting one for our family.  While I have no set plan, I figured that I'd start tonight, since I actually have something to write about! 

We got a Couples Massage gift certificate for Christmas last year from my Brother-In-Law & Sister-In-Law and we kept saying we were going to use it for the wedding.  Well that has come and gone, so we finally scheduled it tonight, and it was FANTASTIC to say the least!!  It was exactly what I needed and it gave me something to look forward to for the first few days of the week.  I would definitely recommend Changes Salon & Day Spa in Mechanicsburg if you're looking.  The ladies were wonderful, and if ended with complementary champagne and chocolates-- how amazing!

It was a great pick-me-up and it makes the rest of the week easier when we're both relaxed!