End Of Year

April 30, 2012

Last year I made a compliment book for my kiddos. My fifth grade teachers made one for our graduating class way back when and it's stuck with me all these years. Each child writes a compliment about each of their classmates. I then compile all of these so each child has their own page of compliments. Of course compliments remain anonymous. It's a fun way to end the year and celebrate our community. I'm hard at work with this project right now.

Fit

April 29, 2012

I have to toot my own horn a bit. I've been doing a pretty super job making it to the gym these days. Knowing that I need to have my butt in a bikini in Vegas in just 30 days is a motivator. Yay for Club Fitness. Yay for my Kindle for helping me be productive while I'm there.

New

April 28, 2012

Had some old and some new friends over tonight for games. Wits and Wagers, Trivial Persuit, Apples to Apples brownies, rice krispie treats, Bread Co. pastries...yep. We do play games a lot.

Rice Remixed

April 27, 2012

This is the in-home substitute for what I was really craving tonight. In a perfect calorieless world we would have gone to our favorite Mongolian dinner spot tonight and I would have loaded up on noodles, rice and the like. I know that's a bad choice though. Instead we enjoyed a shrimp fried rice deal from Trader Joe's. I gotta give them credit - way less fat and quite delicious! 

Irresistible

April 26, 2012

I have quite a bit of shopping self control these days. I could not resist this new wreath though! I was browsing Home Goods this evening as Brian got his hair cut and this wreath practically jumped off the shelf into my arms. It's the perfect spring/summer addition. I love the different fabric patterns.

Vegas Brain

April 25, 2012

OMG. We truly did it! We purchased out airfare for our Vegas trip!!!!!! We arrive at 7AM and don't get back to KC til 11! That's five full days and nights in our favorite city. The countdown is on. 33 days. 

FRIES

April 24, 2012

I love fries. Love them. I could and would eat them daily if it wasn't so awful for me. Especially with the new healthy food regiment I'm currently partaking in, fries just don't fit in. I made these sweet potato fries tonight though and they are not so bad. They look, smell and taste delicious! Little bit of olive oil, sea salt and cinnamon. 

Comfort

April 23, 2012

There are few things in life more comforting than a sweet cat curled up on you. I love when Huxley cuddles. It's the best.

Cambria

April 22, 20120

I learned something today. This here is cambria. It's a form of quartz which looks a whole lot like granite. The advantage is that it isn't as high maintenance as granite. Today I went open-housing with several of the in-laws. It's one of my favorite hobbies. While Brian and I are a few years off from purchasing our first home, it is nice to look and get an idea of what is out there. It is also a good opportunity to decide what we like, dislike and what is a must. My favorite today was a 1.5 story. 

3

April 21, 2012

Meet Haylee. She's a cousin's little girl. She turned 3 and we celebrated her today. Cute as a bug.

Laid Back

April 20, 2012

 This evening we went to dinner with Brian's folks and then watched the Cards game and played some games of our own. Rumikube, foosball and cards. 

54th

April 19, 2012

This mess of items attached to a ceiling means we went to good old 54th Street Grill for dinner. Of course the original location is my old stomping grounds at N. Oak and Englewood in Gladstone. It always makes me feel close to home to go to our location here in STL. 

A Door Opens

April 18, 2012

We had a dilemma at our place. Huxley tore out the screen door awhiles back and so we were unable to have our back door open - open to the beautiful fresh air that's been about. Tonight Brian fixed it up so nicely. I am going to enjoy having an open door again.

A Plane In Our Future

April 17, 2012

We will be solidifying our airfare soon for our Vegas Vacation. We plan to take off a few days after school lets out and return a few days before summer school begins. It is a MUCH needed get away and I truly cannot wait!

Flower Power

April 16, 2012

It was so nice to have the day OFF. I am so grateful for personal days! Today was my dad's last day in STL. We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden and then to the famous Hill neighborhood for an authentic Italian lunch. 

Our Cards

April 15, 2012

Check out these nifty limited edition Bud cans. How neat! We tailgated and then went to the game today. Cardinals won 10-2 against the Cubs. Great game, great company. 

Blues

April 14, 2012

After a long day of adventures around town we finished up the evening at a cute little Blues joint. My dad loves live music so we had to find some around here to listen to. It's not something Brian and I normally do but it was fun to do something out of the ordinary.

Visitor

April 13, 2012

This evening my dad came in. He will be here for the weekend. We have a lot of fun STL activities planned.

Coffee

April 12, 2012

There's one thing I love about getting up in the morning. That is my coffee which Brian prepares to brew about 630 AM. It's the best thing to wake up to! Thanks, babe! Don't look at the clock on the coffee pot - I was running late!

Trip Field

April 11, 2012

Took 80 first graders on a field trip today. One part of the deal was a mock court room and a mock trial. It was really a trip! The kids had a great time. I'm just happy I got them all back to school in one piece. 

The Skinny

April 10, 2012

This week I started a "healthy food eating regiment". I will not use the "d" word because surely I don't have enough self control for that. So far I am doing amazingly well. I've been doing a great job eating only healthy stuff and I've made it to the gym to burn some major calories. It feels exhausting and good at the same time. Hopefully in a post a month or so from now I can show you I've lost 10-20 lbs. That's be pretty neat. 

New Unit

April 9, 2012

Ew - BUGS! I brought this home to prepare myself for our next Science unit. I'll thumb through.

Easter 2.0

April 8, 2012

I can honestly say I have no idea what is going on in this picture but I am glad I had my camera ready to capture it! HA! Not only was today Easter 2.0 but it was also a birthday celebration (yes, another) for Angela, Uncle Art and Aunt Susie. Gideon just wanted to get in there and blow out the candles.

Easter

April 7, 2012

Tonight we had our first Easter celebration. Brian's father's side. This here is my Easter decoration for our (ugly) apartment door. Pretty cute. Thanks Hobby Lobby. This is only our second year in this place so my decorations are few.

Brunching

April 6, 2012

I love finding new places to breakfast/brunch/lunch. We tried City coffeehouse and Creperie this morning in Clayton. It was lovely! I had a crepe with grilled chicken, spinach, marinated tomatoes, green onions, havarti cheese, and honey-dijon dressing. YUM! Brian had apple cinnamon. 

Le Duck

April 5, 2012

We celebrated our anniversary tonight! We started with a romantic dinner. Pictured is the sauteed duck breast I ordered. Funny thing is, we had the whole restaurant to ourselves until the end of our meal. Really neat, retro place. From there we went to a hookah bar. That ended up being a little odd as we were the oldest people in the place! Ha! We finished the night with a rooftop cocktail with a pretty neat view of the city. It was a lovely evening. Even the games, champagne and cable at the hotel was pretty amazing :) 

In Preperation

April 4, 2012

Does this look like a romantic time or what?! While our true anniversary was Tuesday, Brian and I plan to take the evening to CELEBRATE tomorrow night. I have no school Friday so we are going to celebrate big. We are trying a new restaurant: http://www.eclipsestlouis.com/ and got reservations at a nearby Sheraton for the night. It's not very often (not since our honeymoon, in fact) that we let loose like this. It will be so nice to take some time to stop and smell the flowers. Friday we plan on breakfast (or brunch depending on when we get up) and a movie. Love, love, love, love it!

Think Impressionism

April 3, 2012

This hazy image represents my awakening at 3AM to find the moon right in view! I don't know why, but it makes me so happy and peaceful when I see the moon like this. I just had to snap a picture, even if it is a blurry mess. It sort of reminds me of an impressionist painting. 

Cheers to US

April 2, 2012

I honestly never thought I would be where I am. Happily married to an amazing man, teaching darling children and surrounded by so much love and support. Today Brian and I have been married one year! 365 days of bliss and that's not sugar-coating it! Our true celebration will happen this coming Thursday. We plan to make a night of it! 

Whiny Cat

April 1, 2012

Huxley the kitten does not like being left alone. He sometimes can't even handle us being away at church for a morning. He always whines when we put our shoes on to leave. When we got home from KC this evening he did nothing but tell us all about his weekend and how lonely he was. Refreshingly, the apartment wasn't wrecked as he's done in the past. Bathroom trash knocked over and I can deal with that. 

HST

March 31, 2012

We had a lovely visit to old Independence today. We visited the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. The exhibits were quite nice. We had lovely weather to be out and about. We ate dinner at a cute place on the square called Courthouse Exchange. It certainly had character. And good steak. 

Some Sort Of Hat

March 30, 2012

We rolled into KC this evening around 9. It was great to see the fam. You never know quite what you're in for on one of these visits. Daniel seems to have obtained a Russian-style hat.