A quarter of a century! ;)

This weekend has been sooo much fun! I love that my hubs makes me feel so special all the time, but especially on my birthday. While at work on Friday, Russell called me to tell me we had a surprise date. Um, yes!! I love surprises, and I love dates :) We ended up at this cute little place called "Painting with a Twist". You can bring your own wine and you paint a painting with a bunch of other people in a class- it is sooo much fun, and I felt like an artist!

It was so much fun, and now our masterpieces are hanging in our room. What a great memory! I love it :)

On Saturday we went to the Magnolia Pancake Haus, and it was soooo yummy. I wish I had a picture of my yummy "Authentic Munchener Apfel Pfannekuchen".  It was the wonder of a pancake x 100! It was basically like tasting heaven!

That night we went to a comedy club. It was a first-time experience for both of us. We did get a few laughs in, but I can't say we'll do it again. Sometimes it was a little much, but overall we had a fantastic time! I am so lucky to have such a sweet husband. 

Here's to a good 25th year! :-)

So much to be thankful for

So many good things are happening and I am blessed. The Lord has provided so many good things these past couple months and Russell and I are so thankful. I was recently informed that I will definitely be doing speech therapy come August for a job with an income and this is a huge answer to prayer. For a while, everything was up in the air and we didn't know how we were going to get me through grad school without a job. The Lord is faithful! Russell also got his contract renewed with his school, which is a big answer to prayer because of the budget crisis in Texas right now. I am so thankful for all that we have and couldn't be more happy. We in no way deserve all of this.

A couple weeks ago, I attended "Kick-Off" week in Denton for my graduate program. My friend Mariana and I were roommates and we got to relive the college experience! For me, I felt like I was immersed in an amazing program with wonderful professors. I learned so much in one week. We had class M-TH from 8-5:30-ish and on Friday we had all of our exams. It was definitely an experience to remember, but I made it out, and passed all of my exams! I am now back at home taking classes through our ESC and studying, studying, studying. I'm  also doing my summer practicum at an ESY program for a couple weeks and working with some amazing kiddos! I was a little nervous before going into this because I have never worked with children who had sever disorders or disabilities. These children have already touched my life so much and I get to help them communicate better. I know that speech pathology is the career for me and am so excited to be a part of this outstanding profession. I can't wait to learn more and work with more people.

Other than that, we are definitely soaking up summer vacation. Even though I have school, it is nice to have my husband home all day and do whatever we want. We're knocking out a lot of our summer projects for the house and hope to get it cleaned up. Today Russell textured a lot of walls and ceilings. We are trying to get rid of all the popcorn ceilings and we're making a lot of progress. One step at a time :) I am so thankful my husband is so handy.

Now I am blogging and sipping on a strawberry shake. It doesn't get much better.

A Season of Revelations

I'm sitting in mine and Russell's office and we are both writing. Such English majors, right?? :-) The only difference is, my husband is working on his novel, while I work on the blog. We're both cool in our own way ;-) I've got him listening to Imogen Heap and Regina Spektor, which makes for a lovely night. Oh, and two pugs are currently lying down on my back.

Since my last post, things have calmed down a little bit. I finally tackled the big pile of laundry/constant growing garden in our laundry room. Our closet looks more like a place to get clothes than to leave them. It's nice. I'm working on this whole wife thing :-)

I know that if I post what I want to say it will seem like I'm going through a roller coaster of emotions right now. Maybe I am. Since writing everything out in my last post, I've stepped back and realized just how good I have it. Russell and I have discussed that we are pretty lucky to be where we are, and I don't want to ever sound like I'm not thankful for our life. I'm VERY thankful and blessed that God has brought us where we are. We live in our dream house. Not because it's the BEST house ever (it still needs a lot of work), but because it's our house and we are making such happy memories.

I am thankful :-)

Nostalgia

Tonight I looked through my college photos on facebook and began thinking back to the lifestyle and friendships that I had at that time. This is in no way to sound like a depressing post, but I thought I would share. I absolutely love my life with Russell and we are so blessed with everything God has given us. I'm thinking about Beall hall, and living with some of the most amazing girls I know. We were all still so young and driven by what we did not know- our studies, what our jobs would be, who we would marry. I look back and smile. I think of the church family that I had at Canyon Creek. My adopted family, Shanon and Jason, for investing so much in me throughout my college years. The opportunity to be a children's intern one summer. I think of my roommate Lauren, and living in the little white house on the corner with all of its animal sounds, unfinished wood floors, and beautiful sage paint on the walls. We had so much fun living there! I think of the random runs I'd take in the mornings before class. Why do I feel so much older now?? It's only been 2 years. I feel like my energy is gone, and I want it back!

I think what has sparked my nostalgia is the fact that Russell and I are settling into a new church that we both feel God is calling us to. It is about 30 minutes from our house, and we currently meet in an elementary school. This church is very similar to the one Russell and I began going to when we started dating. It's called North Rock. We began attending North Rock right after we got married (about 2 weeks afterwards) for about a month, and then left for a month. After feeling God consistently drawing us back to North Rock, we decided to keep going back. So we've begun getting involved, and this week is the beginning of our first "journey group," which is basically a small group that meets every week. I'm REALLY excited about going and getting to know other people our age that we can become real friends with. One thing Russell and I feel like we've never had is another couple we could relate to, be true friends with, go out to dinner with, pray with, etc. I desperately want that. I want someone we can turn to to discuss our lives, our interests, jokes, God, school, work, etc. (not in that order). I think when I look back at UMHB, I feel like there's so much to live up to! I don't mean to put it in those terms, but I had some pretty amazing friends there. I think right now, I miss them all so much, that I'm scared we'll never have friends like that. I know this is silly, and I'm probably being emotional, but the biggest thing I don't want is superficial relationships with the people we meet; I don't want mere acquaintances. I want us to get to know people, about their lives, what they're going through, someone I can call and pray for.

I know this is not a typical post of mine and I'm usually never this candid.Please pray for us as we attend this Journey Group and get to know more people. We really want to make some friends. :-) Please pray for us as we continue to draw nearer to God. I want to experience Him in a really big way!!!

This week has been long. I never thought I could be as tired as I am, but with 26 students, it's easy to get exhausted by 4 o'clock. Even though it has been draining, this week has been really good. My kids are so enthusiastic about my class, something I love seeing. It is so refreshing to see their zest for life. I have also already been blessed by their generous hearts. I have a "Book Wish List" on the class website, and one of my students had her grandma order 3 of the best books on the list. How awesome is this?! I've never felt so adored before, and I've only known this sweet girl for 3 days.

Russell starts teaching this upcoming Tuesday, and I am so excited for him. He is nervous, but I know he will do a great job and that the boys will especially look up to him as a role-model. He has a whole lot to offer!

Not much else is going on. I'm beginning my second semester of speech pathology classes on Monday, so please keep us in your prayers as we go through a lot of changes next week. I'm excited about the classes, but a little concerned about all that is on my plate right now. Right now I'm struggling to stay awake. Until next time...

Cleaning woes

So my husband is currently sleeping. He caved and the pugs are now in my spot in the bed. Good grief, they are spoiled! :-)

Today I was thinking about my 2 final exams, how much I have to do, the fact that school begins very soon, and how I feel behind! I feel behind mainly in the fact that I want my house to be a little more organized. This probably sounds like something ridiculous to blog about, and mom, if you're reading this, I am merely confessing this to gain some form of help ;-)

I need a system! I tried setting up a "daily chore" list to keep the house consistently clean, but that didn't work. It still seemed like the bulk of my free time went to cleaning. I want to be able to do minor cleaning gradually to keep a consistently clean home. Now, I know, am I in my own world? :-) I understand that this is perfect world I am picturing, but any tips from my dear blogging friends would be of great benefit. Now, I don't live in mess, but I would like to develop a schedule that I can balance with being a grad student and a teacher. Any suggestions? What type of system do you use in your home? :-)

It's almost time!!

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings." - Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter

I wish it were time to talk of those things! But, alas, it is time (almost) for school to start again! Today is August 1st. The Back to School month. Part of me cringes at this, while another part of me gets excited about decorating my classroom, planning lessons, and allowing my students to feel like family. Oh, and being called Mrs. Dot :) I have this weird thing about wanting the kids to call me Mrs. Dot, but I think DotSON is easy enough to not have to shorten it. So, in honor of this soon-to-be crazy month, I am writing out a list of things I am thankful for from this amazing summer, and things I have to do really soon!

Things I am Thankful For:

• Of course this is #1 on my list- GETTING MARRIED! I got to marry my favorite person in the world and get to spend the rest of my life with him. Our wedding was perfect and beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better day. I love Russell :)
• Spending precious time with my husband. We are very lucky in that we didn't have jobs to rush back to after our honeymoon, and instead got a 2 1/2 month honeymoon. I've loved getting to know him better and enjoying everyday with him.
• Our home. We have done so much to our home it's incredible. I'm excited to be making it ours and adding special touches to it. I know it'll be really nice coming home to it everyday after work!
• Our family. Our family has been so supportive of us this summer as we have gone through the process of getting more on our feet as a couple. Plus, they are just all around cool people. Thank you!
• Friends :-) I have a lot of friends that don't live near SA, but it has been fun to keep in touch with them and have dinner with the friends we have here.

Things I Need to Do....

• Finish final exams for Audiology and A&P by the 10th
• Get supplies neat and orderly for school (I kind of "dumped" hem in the garage on the last day of school since it was, well, 2 days before the wedding.
• Buy some cute outfits for teaching and finding Russell some dress pants and shirts for school... we're working on a budget, so this will be a task.
• Keep a food & exercise diary starting tomorrow... I've committed to a race in October and need to get my rear in gear! I've started eating Greek yogurt for breakfast and need to work on making lunch and dinner healthy, yet tolerable, meals. I also need to make use of my gym membership... starting tomorrow morning!
• Organize various areas of the house... not.as.fun.
• Revamp my school website to fit the 2010-2011 school year: livelaughlearn dot us
• Buy textbooks for next semester

This is a lot to do! But not overwhelming. Maybe just whelming. ;-) If you've read this far, thank you! If not, I understand :-) Here's to the new month!!

Fun Wall Art

So I love home decor websites, but one thing I love MORE than those are home decor sites that emphasize being thrifty and saving some money! So of course I enjoy Thrifty Decor Chick. Something I read about and have been wanting to do for a LONG time was the wall art project she did with a sheet of MDF and some scrapbook paper. You can find tutorials on her blog post.

Russell's office was looking kind of plain, so this is what we did together today:

I LOVE it! I absolutely love it. Total cost of this art: $18!!!

We were going to buy MDF, but a sheet of MDF at our Lowe's is $30! So we decided to browse through the aisles and found 4 ft. sheets of particle board for about $2 each, so we bought 3. $6 for the "wood"!! So happy about that. I spent quite a long time at Hobby Lobby picking the exact sheets of scrapbook paper that I wanted, but it was worth it.

I think I may just be becoming a tad bit addicted to fun art projects like this! Be prepared to see more :-)

Something profound

So I usually always come to my blog with the desire of writing something profound, and when I get here, I always tell myself that it shouldn't have to be thought of, but should just come naturally. So here I am, not knowing if what I'm going to type will be profound at all.

Summer vacation is almost over; God has granted us many blessings and I am most definitely thankful. Russell got a teaching job with a sister school to mine, so we will have the exact same schedule all year long. How cool is that? I have been making A's in my first two speech pathology classes. We have loved this whole married life thing- it really is nice to be with the person you love everyday. Our house is coming along quite nicely, even though there is usually something being remodeled, it looks 1oo times better than when I first bought it. I really have no complaints. Sometimes I almost dig for something to complain about, because I think that's part of being human. But I am truly thankful and can't believe where God has brought me sometimes. Another huge blessing is that we have a plan for our finances. We started reading Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" and feel like because we have a plan now, it is possible to get completely out of debt. I'm excited about that!

School starts for us on August 11th (orientation) and I am excited about the new year. I think it will be a great one! I think the best way to get used to a new last name is to teach right afterwards. That should be fun! :-)

Kitchen Remodel... almost done!

So when we first bought our house, the kitchen was definitely the worst room of them all. I'm talking 70's style vinyl on the wall, ugly stick-on tile, cabinets that didn't close all the way, laminate counter tops, and a sliding door that will randomly not open when it's told. We recently decided it needed a makeover! Not to mention it's a galley style kitchen, which can be a blessing and a curse. So we thought of what would be the most budget-friendly, design-friendly materials. We chose to buy granite tile. Everyone loves granite, right?! Well, duh. But not for $49.99 a square foot! If you ever want to redo your kitchen, I say look in the tile section! You get a very similar look for less than half the cost. All of the granite tile we looked at ranged from $3.00 a square foot to $10.00 a square foot. MUCH better. Plus, you can more than likely cut it yourself to fit your counter tops and not spend anything on installation if you have the right tools.

I don't want to post any pictures yet because we are soooo close to being done, but it looks amazing! In addition to the granite, we also bought a cast-iron sink and added a bar. Russell and his dad custom built our cabinet doors to reface the cabinets and stained them all a new, modern espresso brown color. LOVE. IT. So, just imagine it now. I think tomorrow will bring us a more finished product that I'm willing to take a picture of. Right now we are waiting for the tile to dry overnight so we can place the 75 pound sink in its hole, buy a faucet, trim out the countertops, and put our bead-board backsplash on. *Whew* Okay, so maybe we have another week until we're done. But my goodness I am excited!

Ode to Married Days

So, we've been married for 17 days. I must say, that sounds like a long time! I know it's just over two weeks, but I'm amazed! It feels like our wedding was just yesterday :)

Right now, my love is sitting next to me reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Something I will always love about Russell is his passion for reading, and life in general. I thought I liked to read, but my babe LOVES to read. It's just so much more peaceful than video games, television, etc. and he's growing his mind. The pugs are asleep at our feet, and I (of course) am blogging.

I started classes last week for Speech Language Pathology. I only missed one question on my first A&P test, and have been [trying] to study a lot. It's hard when there's so much more to do! But, I will remain diligent, because the taste of an A+ is just too good.

Russell and his dad have been working on our kitchen. We are re-staining the cabinets an espresso brown color, adding granite counter tops, and adding a bar! There's been a lot of progress so far and I'm excited about it all. I will have to post pics as the end result gets nearer.

We are still trying to find a church in SA. Please be in prayer for us with that because it's becoming a lot harder than we thought it would be.

Tomorrow my SISTER is coming to visit us! I love that I have a sister now. My beautiful niece and nephew are coming too. I think we will have lunch at a Greek restaurant and just enjoy each other! I'm excited :)

Lovely Sunday

Today was a great day. Even though I had to start my day off with a few hours of work at the nursery, I got to come home and see Russell, go on a picnic, take care of my new landscaping, and have dinner with my family. I would describe it all to you in great detail, but I will leave you with one simple word: blissful.

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'!

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.