5 months!!

The countdown is shrinking!! On December 30th, we will only be 5 months away from our big day. I am so excited!! These upcoming 5 months are going to be a little difficult, but I know we can get through them. Russell will be finishing his degree back at UMHB this Spring, so we won't be able to see eachother that often. I will be finishing my last semester of teaching until vacation and finalizing plans for our wedding. I'm really excited :-)

Save the dates are going out this upcoming month!! We should have our engagement pics soon, too... will post those next!

Life is good!

Yesterday Russell and I took some engagement pictures with my friend, Nicole. We went to the Botanical Gardens in Austin and also to some downtown spots. I'm really anxious to see the pics and post some up here :-) We had a great time.

I only have 4 days left until I'm on my 2 week vacation. I am soooo pumped. The kids are ready... I can tell! They're all talking about Christmas. I think I'm going to spend the time getting back into my gym routine and finishing my book. I'm currently reading "We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates... it's been hard to find time to read this week because of the business of school... so I want to finish it this month.

Russell is going to finish his degree in May! I'm so happy for him. He'll be all graduated and then it will be time for us to get married!! Wow. Time is flying by! There are 166 days until the wedding and I'm sooo happy. I know it will be here before I know it.

Not much else is going on... just workin'!

House Remodeling Progress :)

So Russell and I recently bought flooring for our home! The house should be completely remodeled by the time we are married, making it perfect for settling in and making it "our home". I'm so excited!!

Here is a picture of the living room. Russell installed the flooring all by himself! I just decorated :-)



I loooove the living room! I can't wait until the rest of the house is finished :)

Chapel Dulcinea

I'm soooo excited about where we are getting married!! Not only is it beautiful, but it is free!!! Russell and I fell in love with it. It's called Chapel Dulcinea and it is located in Austin, TX. (it's basically my favorite city because we got engaged there).



We recently decided that we wanted our weddding to include only our closest family and friends. We didn't want to go through the mess of paying for food for people we're not especially close to, and so we chose to hold our reception at Chapel Dulcinea's free (I repeat, free!) reception pavilion. They have an awesome cake, snacks, and punch reception that includes all set-up and clean-up fees for only $450. A wedding for under $500.00?! Yes, this is what we are doing. I. love. it.



So basically, I want to get married this weekend.... but I also know I need to enjoy our engagement and just wait. Come on, May 30th!!

Empanadas...

So ever since Russell and I tried the food at Habana (where we are having our reception!!) in Austin, we have LOVED empanadas. So I've been trying to find the perfect empanada recipe so we could have them whenever we want. Tonight... it was oh.so.good.



I got the recipe from Paula Deen, of course. If you are interested in making your tastebuds think they are in heaven, try it out!

Centerpiece idea!!

So I LOVE this cute idea for a centerpiece I found on 100 Layer Cake. What do you think?



I think I may ask my mom to make the cakes for the centerpieces at my wedding... she makes amazing cakes and I think they would look great!! Hopefully she says yes :-)

Birthday Yay

Today is my birthday!!! I've had a great day so far :-) I've been blessed with many hugs from my students, and they've been telling eachother to be quiet because it's Ms. Quinn's birthday :-) So sweet.

Wedding changes...

So I thinking I'm learning a LOT more about myself as I plan the wedding... I'm realizing that I'm not the type who wants a big fancy wedding. At first, we had 60 people on our guest list. Now.... We have 25-30. There are times when we even consider just walking to the court house and getting married. As each day goes by, I just want to get married! I don't really care too much for the actual event. But there are only 7 months until wedding and we've minimized the list to our closest family and a few girlfriends of mine from college. I don't know what will change and what will stay the same.

I do know that our wedding is about us. That is all that matters.

Sunday

So this morning I was soooo excited to go to Journey Fellowship!! We went to the church and saw an empty parking lot... we asked each other if it was already daylight savings time, but concluded that it wasn't. We pulled up to the front of the church and there was a police officer and a friendly man who told us that it was their day of the quarter to go into the community and distribute food and water, but to please come back next Sunday. How cool is that?? We are definitely going to be going this upcoming Sunday!! I can't wait for this week to go by. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't go and see what it was like, but we ended up going to I-Hop and eating yummy breakfast. 7 days!!

Russell has been sick all week and I feel so bad for him. I think he is getting the flu... :( Unless he already has it. :-/ I thought he was getting better, but later today he got nauseous and had a horrible headache. I hope a good night of sleep helps him tonight!! That's also why we haven't met our nephew!! Rhys Edward Conklin :) I can't wait to meet the little guy. Hopefully we will see him next Sunday.

Today we did a lot to the house. Russell painted our dining room and now our house is beginning to feel more like a home!! And there's nothing like the fresh smell of paint on the walls... I know it's weird, but to me, it makes a house smell more clean. I tidied up the dining room after it dried, and then I rearranged the furniture in the master bedroom. I've been trying to decide which desk I want for my "office" (which will be located in the master bedroom) and Russell said he could probably make me one. This is what I've decided on:

Is that not the coolest thing ever? It's a "floating" desk. I think I'm going to ask him to make some "floating" shelves also. But this will be perfect for lesson planning and storing teacher manuals and binders.... and also for the future when I'm studying for big SLP exams... eeeek! I can't wait to have my own space.

Well, I'd better get to bed. Long week ahead of me!! Oh, and I'm turning 23!!! crazy.

Weekend Happenings -Random!

Today I went to an 8-hour workshop for ELA teachers. There were only about 8 of us there, which made it a really personable group. I feel like I learned a lot about what I need to do to better understand how my students learn, and what I can do to help them achieve mastering vocabulary and comprehension. I have 2 more of these workshops for the next 2 Saturdays, but I'm excited!!


Tomorrow we are going to try a new church - Journey Fellowship. We've been looking for a church for both of us for a long time now, and after listening to a few podcasts tonight and reading about their beliefs and ministries, I feel very enthusiastic about this visit!! Plus, they have coffee in the mornings- which is always a plus! ;) I will update more about this tomorrow!! Right now, I should really go to bed because I am tiiiiiired. This is the latest I've stayed up in a long time!

What is up

So even though Russell and I already have our own wedding website, I thought it would be nice to have our own blog that we could use now and after the wedding. A lot has happened in our lives, and I suppose I will give a quick update for my first post.

• We got a house! Russell and I got a cute house in Converse, TX. It was built in 1979 and needs a few updates, but it is absolutely perfect for us so we can make it our own. Russell has already done some pretty major updates to the kitchen, and is now adding his own custom waines cotting to the dining room. I love it!! I will have to post pictures of the finished product. It is wonderful to have our living situation figured out before the wedding because of all the stress that will come with the wedding in itself! We eventually want to add things like wood floors and crown molding, but it will all come with time.
• I'm a teacher! I finally got a teaching job and am now teaching 4th and 8th grade English at a San Antonio charter school. I love teaching and truly feel like my job has a purpose!
• Grad school Russell and I will both be starting grad school in 2010. I begin my SLP classes on June 7th (one day after we get back from our honeymoon!!) and Russell will begin his rhetoric classes in August. Am I nerd for looking forward to this? It will be like old times when we study together these upcoming years. I can't wait!

These are the major updates I can think of. All I can say is that I am so thankful for the blessings God has poured out on me. I am blessed to be in love with my best friend and that I get to spend the rest of my life with him! I will write more soon.... :)