Midweek Confessions

Today is The Mister and my's (I's, me...???) first official dating anniversary. Our first date was on leap day 4 years ago, so this is the first time we can officially celebrate it. I know that now that we are married it is kind of silly to celebrate the our first date, but it's kind of a fun day. We are headed to dinner at the same place we went four years ago. He even called a few days ago to reserve the same table. He's so cute!

Enough of that :) Its time for some confessin'!

lounge by casey-amber featuring bootie boots

Why yes, I did polyvore my lazy clothes. However, somehow I picked out $90 sweatpants. Feel free to pin it. Ha!

This is pretty much what my husband sees my wearing 85% of the time. After work I go to the gym and then after that I shower and put on a pair of sweats or jammie pants and an oversized t-shirt. Then the Mister comes home from work. I feel bad. BUT not bad enough to put on "real" clothes after my shower to lounge around the house in.

I knew I was going to have the Mister take this picture, so I put on my "nice" sweats. They're nice because they're black, and don't have spaghetti sauce stains on them.

I can't help but pop zits on my face. I know every reason why I shouldn't, but I can't help myself.

Sometimes I day dream about what I would do if I wasn't a teacher. I settle on waitress or working in a library. I know that those jobs seem some what lackluster for day dreams, but I waitressed for a summer and it was some of the most fun that I have had at a job. And I like books. And the smell of libraries.

Have you ever seen the "trending now" sections on websites like yahoo or msn? Sometimes I don't believe them. I mean, how can Jaleel White be the most searched for term?

I just went back to yahoo and clicked on it and apparently he is going to be on Dancing With the Stars.

What are you confessing this week friends? Head on over to me,myself and I and link up!

High Freaking Five

Time to look back (and link up) at the things that made this week great!
one

I decided to take today off work as a personal day.

BEST DECISION EVER!

So far I have worked out, taken the dog to play and treated myself to a breakfast Subway.

Just look at the gorgeous blue sky!

The weather guy says it is supposed to get icky later so I am glad that I took the time this morning to enjoy it.

two

Natural Bliss Coffee Creamer

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I love me some coffee creamer, but I was feeling really weird about the amount of ingredients I couldn't pronounce on my usual creamer. This stuff is made with milk, cream, sugar and one or two other natural ingredients. AND it is super tasty!

three

Yesterday I had the best class with my leadership kids.

We played a game outside then we just chatted.

And laughed.

I love my job.

four

Girl Scout Cookies

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I finally found me some Girl Scouts. And I bought my usual order:
2 boxes of Thin Mints and a box of Samoas.
I did find out that the troop only gets like 50 cents from each box. That doesn't sound like it's sending too many girls to camp. #Girl Scout Fail
(Did I do the hash tag thing right? I just always wanted to hash tag)

five
new babies
I met my friends new baby this week! So much hair!!!

What made your week great!

Cake. Yum.

The Mister and I were married June 26, 2010. I love to share things about our wedding, but since it was over a year and a half ago, I feel weird writing about it now. But Brittany over at The Magnolia Pair is doing a fun wedding cake link up today. So I thought it would be a good excuse to share a few details. First off, we only had one cake. I hadn't really heard about grooms cakes except for in the blog world, and the Mister isn't a huge fan of cake, so he didn't care about the idea of a second cake.

Our cake was a simple 3 tier cake. When I was looking at cakes the only thing I knew was that I didn't want and fondant, and I liked ribbon on it. I actually had really wanted a fun cake topper but I never found anything that I was in love with when I was looking. The day before the wedding the girls at the cake shop called me and asked if I found a topper. I hadn't so they said, don't worry about it, we will use flowers.

The cake was displayed in a metal gazebo that was hand made by my father-in-laws best friend. He also made several of the plant stands that held potted plants around the reception. (For each of his daughters weddings he had made different items and I just got to use them all!) He also drove us in his 1950ish Cadillac limo that day.

The most important part to me was the taste. The bottom layer was a white cake with chocolate cream center (the mister's choice). The middle layer was red velvet with cream cheese (my choice) and the top was white with a Marion berry filling. The farm has a crop of Marion berries so it was in honor of that. That, and the Marion berry is the most superior of all the berries.

Do you see the fan? It was unseasonably warm
 and they worried about the cake melting.

I really wish the fan wasn't in these pictures.

You are seeing my only bite of red velvet cake. I actually didn't get another piece until the next day and only the white/chocolate cream was left. I was told the Marion berry was amazing.

We didn't save the top layer for a couple reasons: 1) The Mister doesn't really like cake 2) The Mister (and I) are weirded out by year-old cake and 3) We wouldn't have had enough cake for our guests if we had saved the top layer.

I know that this isn't a picture of cake, but I wanted to show a pic of the super cool limo :)
Did you eat year old wedding cake? How did it turn out?

Mid Week Confessions: Take 7

Wednesday! Who has some confessin' to do??? Head on over to e,myself and I and check it out!

The Mister totally beat me at Valentine's this year: tulips, a milk chocolate lady bug, a card and a super cute bird necklace from this etsy shop. I got him some Hershey Kisses and some chore coupons. I didn't even get him a card.

I bought this settee last weekend for $5 at a garage sale with the intent of recovering it. I am realizing now this will be harder than I had originally thought.
Actually, I wasn't thinking. I saw it was $5 and thought "ooh! I like projects."

I am terrible at keeping secrets. So much so that I won't hang out with people until I don't have to keep the secret any more.

I teared up during Jennifer Hudson's Grammy performance of I Will Always Love You.

I really want to know if Jennifer Aniston is pregnant or not. My secret pal at work got me a Star magazine and the cover story was about Jennifer's twins that she is expecting. But hasn't she been pregnant for the last 2 or 3 years?

School was closed the last two Mondays (furlough day and Presidents Day). I decided to take a personal day on Friday just because I can. The Mister asked if I ever work. I do, I just don't want to this week.

It's raining men... I mean baby boys!

Two of my very dear friends are (very!) pregnant with or just had little boys. I made each of these little guys a couple presents to welcome them into the world. I already blogged about my tie/bow tie bibs. I made those in time for M's baby shower last month. However, my friend K was also having a boy and she was also getting some tie bibs. K reads this little blog pretty frequently, and told me she saw them. Drat.

Today was K's shower, so I thought I would share the second half of my handmade baby gift. These were another pinterest inspired craft (as if  there are any other kind??). The original post has really detailed instructions, but basically take a prefold cloth diaper, measure the thick part, cut cute fabric to size, and sew it on. The hardest funnest part was picking out the fabric! This is a perfect project for a beginning seamstress like myself because a) all straight seams and b) it is made to be puked on, so if there is a mistake or two on it, it's okay :)

I washed and dried everything on hot before I cut. Then I did all the cutting and then all the pinning. Then I got out the sewing machine. I chose to use flannel fabric because it just seems like it would be more absorbent.

Mom & Dad modeling their new gifts

High Five!

I love you Friday.

one
The Mister out did himself this Valentine's Day. Flowers, chocolate, a sweet card, and this super cute necklace from this super cute etsy shop.


two
I am so loving that his is a three day weekend, AND so was last weekend. (Gotta love budget cuts. And Presidents.)
 
three
One of my good girlfriends had her baby yesterday! He's a big one- 8lbs 12 oz. Mom and baby and doing well and I will meet him this weekend!
 
four
We have been doing secret pals at work, and I am loving checking my box to find little treats each day.
 
five
Right after work I am headed to the hair dresser to get my hair did. And my brows :)

I'm linking up with Lauren from My Grey Desk!

I'm excited ya'll.
Today I got the email I have been waiting for.
I am now officially a Birchbox subscriber.

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I heard about Birchbox through blogs, and I immediately wanted one. I was devastated when I was put on a wait list for a subscription. And now I can't wait for next month to open my very own Birchbox.

Are you a Birchbox member?

Recipe Thursday: Crab Chowder

Part of my goals for 2012 was to try out at least one new recipe a month. This was probably my favorite part of my 30 before 30 list, and I am excited to continue. This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light, and of course I found it on Pinterest. This was the dinner I made for Valentines for The Mister and I.

The Ingredients

2 T Butter
1/2 onion- chopped
3/4 cup celery- chopped
1 garlic clove- minced
1 lb red potato- cubed
2 1/2 c milk
2 t fresh thyme
1/4 t nutmeg
1 can cream corn
1 can chicken broth
8 oz fresh mushrooms- chopped
8 ounces lump crab meat
3 tablespoons fresh parsley- chopped
Salt, pepper, & red pepper flake to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, red pepper flake and garlic. Cook until onion is soft. Add potato and cook for about a minute. Sprinkle with flour cook for another minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in milk, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, corn, mushrooms and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for at least 30 more minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in crab, parsley, and salt; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the soup is stirring, open a can of fridge biscuits and cut them with a cookie cutter into a heart shape and bake them according to directions. (I guess this part is optional)

So, how was it?
We both liked the flavor, but we also both wanted it creamier. I used skim milk because its all we had, but using milk with some fat in it, or even half and half probably would have helped that. I loved the heart biscuits too, so even though I said it was optional, you totally should do it.

The Ghost of Valentine's Past

I've never been anti- or pro Valentine's Day, but it happens to be a day when not so good things happen. In high school and in college, I usually had a sweetie to spend Valentine's with so it wasn't a big deal to me. But after college, I had a string of Valentines that for the most part, sucked.

Please, travel back with me to February 13, 2007

I am sitting in my bathroom (in my first floor apartment). Yes, "sitting," and I feel a drip on my head from above. I look up and around and see that the floor is covered with water and there is more dripping from the ceiling. I call my landlords and maintenance comes right over and they "fix it." The next day (Valentine's Day) I am sitting on my couch and I hear the bathroom faucet turn on. Allison Kitten just learned how to turn on the sink, so I am not concerned. A couple minutes later, I get up to save the environment (by turning off the water) and see water streaming out of my ceiling. I run upstairs tell my neighbors to stop doing whatever they are doing in the bathroom, and call the landlords again.


While I am waiting, I decide to investigate. I go into my bathroom and look up. The ceiling has developed a bubble, and I have one overwhelming feeling: POKE IT!!! So I climb up on my toilet and extend my index finger. As I touch the bubble, my finger goes through the ceiling and water comes pouring out. I scream, grab a towel and press it to the ceiling. CRAP! My hand goes through the ceiling! Over the next few weeks that hole grows in size as it is in various stages of "fixing."

February 14th, 2008. I am on my way home from work, and I am running late to cheer practice so I don't stop to fill my cars tank with gas. Big freaking mistake. I turn left onto High Street and my car just stops going. Are you kidding me? I freaking ran out of gas! Who does that? Fortunately, it is a nice afternoon, and I am only 3 blocks from a gas station. I put the hazards on and go for a walk. After the boys at the Arco got a good laugh at my expense, they let me borrow their gas can and walk back. On a side note, the entire time I am walking to my car, I can't help but think, "If I get hit by a car, will I explode?" I wasn't hit by a car, I went back to the station, filled my tank and survived. However, one of my students did see me walking with a gas can down Mission Street and brought it up in class the next day.

***On a side note, The Mister and I had been emailing back and forth for about 2 weeks at this time.***


Since the Mister and I have been together, here is a run down of what our Valentine's has had in store for us:

2009: Cheerleading competition: He went with me because he felt like he had to.

2010: Moving into our house (I believe we had pizza on the floor of our house for dinner)

2011: I was recovering from wrist surgery. My recovery was a bit more involved than I thought it would be, so I was pretty much in pain and had to bring a pillow to sit my hand on during dinner.

Who knows what this year will bring. We already had our date, so I am expecting a laid back evening at home.

How has Valentine's treated you in the past?

Weekend Wrap Up!

Friday was an after school dance, so from last period on, I was running around like a crazy person to get everything ready. The dance ends at 4:15, so it's not like I at work until super late, but I was still exhausted afterwards.

Saturday afternoon was a quick trip to Costco for the staples, and a churro. Then the Mister and I went out on our Valentine-y date.

This was probably the best of the self taken pictures of the night.

We have a problem with pictures in our house. Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Chandler and Monica take engagement pictures? Yeah we have that problem too.
We headed into town and had yummy Mexican food and then saw Safe House.

Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington? Yes please!

We had talked about seeing The Vow, but I knew he would hate it. And from the rumblings around blog-land, I think I wouldn't like it either.

This picture pretty much sums up Sunday:

Some serious resting. Broken up with reading and playing on the Internet. Perfect.

How was your weekend?

Best of the 2012 Grammys

I've never really wanted to be famous. The lack of privacy and the threat of pictures of me going to the grocery store in sweats and my Uggs without a shower is enough it make it so I never try to pursue acting or singing or modeling or whatever the Kardashians and the Hiltons did to become famous. (That and a lack of talent in any of the above areas.) But this time of year, I wish I could be famous. This time of year being awards season. I would love an excuse to wear a fancy gown and get my hair and make up done. Since I am out of high school and won't be going to another prom and I already got married, I don't see any reasons to get dolled up in my future. But if I was famous...


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 How good does Carrie Underwood look? When I first saw it I wasn't sure about the sleeves, but with that back I think it is just lovely.




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How classy is Adele? She has gotten a lot of attention for her size as well as her voice. I freaking love her 21 album as well as this dress on her.

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Who would have ever thought Kelly Osborne would clean up this well? I'm not a fan of the hair color, but the style is classic. The dress also looks really good on her.

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I don't know why Dr. Quinn is at the Grammys, but day-uhm. I hope and pray I look that good when I'm 60+. Hell, I wish I looked that good now!
What were your favorite Grammy looks?

Our Love Story

It's that time of year! While I haven't had the best Valentine's Days in the past, I still think it is important to celebrate love. A few of the blogs I read have linked up to Mrs. to Mama's Valentine's Day Link up, and I thought I would join and share our love story.

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Our first date was on the last Leap Day, so almost 4 years now.
2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
One word: Myspace. I blogged about it here.
3. If married, how long have you been married?
We have got married June 26, 2010.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?
We got married on his grandparent's farm, where his dad grew up at. He has a HUGE family, so it was larger than anything I would have imagined but perfect!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another?
Sweet Baby or Bear
6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
He is level headed and practical, but still can be goofy and silly.
He is so supportive of me, even traipsing around down town Portland in the rain for 6 hours while I ran a marathon.
He is protective. He will call me while I am driving to work if he hears sirens to make sure I am safe. 7. Tell us how he proposed? We were staying on the Oregon Coast for the week. We decided to go out to dinner and then have a campfire/smores on the beach. He got down on one knee in front of the fire. We had talked about marriage but hadn't looked at rings or anything like that. He used a pink plastic heart ring to propose with so that I could pick out my own later and it would still be a big surprise.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
We have never had the most traditional of Valentine's Days. Our 3 Valentine's Days together have consisted of a cheerleading competition, moving into our house, and me recovering from surgery. He did get me flowers last year after surgery.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
Clearly, we love the beach, BUT I'm also kind of a hermit. Both are great.
10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Oh gosh, do I have a list. Where do I begin? I'd love to travel with him.
11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
V-Day is a Tuesday, so we both are working. We will probably go out this weekend, and I think I have him convinced to go see The Vow with me.
12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?
He is actually really good at gift giving, so I will be excited with anything he decides to give me :)
13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Be willing to learn from and about your partner. I continue to learn things about the Mister and I have learned to embrace his qualities that are so different from mine.
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

What's your love story?

Take 6... Mid Week Confessions

I can't believe I have been doing this for 6 weeks now! The time is flying by! As always, please click the button and read everyone else's confessions!

1. I have been loving the first two episodes of The Voice. I watched it last season and found it was just different enough from Idol that it kept my attention. BUT, can Christina Aguilera PLEASE find a shirt to contain her boobs. It is distracting when your ta-tas are falling out while you are talking.

2. Speaking of The Voice, don't Blake Shelton and Adam Levine make a yummy man sandwich?

3. Since I am all caught up on the Alex Cross novels and the Sookie Stackhouse series, I started a new one: The Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evonavich. I know that I am about 18 years late to jump on this bandwagon, but they are a really fun read. Funny, has some action, and easy to get through. These are a perfect spring/summer read.

4. I get really embarrassed when someone replies to an email I sent and I notice a ton of typos in my original message.

5. The Mister read through some of my old blog posts and my confessions.  I can no longer get away with sleeping through my cat puking in the middle of the night.

6. I like watching college Jeopardy. I know some of the answers. I REALLY like it when it is high school Jeopardy. I feel like a genius then.

7. Somedays I wish my prep period was in the middle of the school day so I could take a power nap at my desk.

What do you have to confess this week?

Monday... and a weekend or two recap

I have had ZERO motivation to blog lately. I don't know what it is. I have a couple posts started, plus another couple floating around in my head, but I just can NOT type is out. I have been kind of emotional lately for no apparent reason. (And NO I am NOT pregnant.) Like today I gave up my spot in Zumba for someone else and then I almost started crying in the car on the way home. Ridiculous.

Any who, speaking of Zumba, Friday night my gym had a Zumba Valentine's Day party- basically it is a 2 hour Zumba class with some snacks at the end. I had so much fun at it. (Maybe that's why I was sad about not Zumba-ing today?) However, Friday night was the Mister's birthday so I kind of left him home alone while I was shaking my tail feathers. I did wait to sign up for it until he said it was okay to go.

We have been having fantastic weather so Saturday afternoon we took a walk at the dog park in the "city." I always feel weird about going there with out our dog, but he isn't very social, and I still like to look at the cute puppies playing :) Then we celebrated the Mister's birthday by going to Thai food and then a fro-yo shop. (All the Mister's choosing.) We decided to end the evening with a visit to the Blockbuster Kiosk and he got to pick the movie. He chose True Grit. Honestly I didn't pay that much attention to it but it seemed pretty good. Sunday we had a low key Super Bowl at my in-laws with delicious food. Which, is the second best reason to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday (the first of course is the commercials!)

I know in Blogland it is too late to talk about last weekend, but oh well I'm doing it anyway. Last Saturday was another weekend filled with sunshine and we headed out to the coast.  After lunch, taking a walk on the beach, relaxing and reading and getting some freshly made salt water taffy, we left the coast and headed home. On the way back, we stopped by an Indian Casino and I won $300 playing craps! Woo Hoo! I'll just share some pictures of the beauty that is the Oregon Coast!

Not us on horse back, but still fun to see

I love to sit out and read on the beach. Yes it is sunny, but it was January. It's still cold!

So many seagulls! Love the ocean!

Yumm! Salt water taffy. A must do at the coast!

Mid Week Confessions

PLEASE go over to e, myself, and I and read all of the confessions. You will feel better about all your quirky little things!



1. I love trashy novels. I just finished up the 11th book in the Southren Vampire Mystery Series. Those are the books True Blood is based off of. The only problem is I feel like I have to lie on my "What Am I Reading" poster up in my classroom.

2. Our meal plan this week looks like one of my middle school students wrote it: pancakes, grilled cheese and tomato soup, beans and fritos, and baked potatoes. I feel a little bad, but its all pretty yummy and easy to make, so I'm okay with it.

3. The Mister's birthday is Friday and I think I totally failed at his presents. I think both will be returned.

4. My classroom has an ant infestation. That in itself is gross, but some got into my microwave. Super gross. My confession is that I turned on the microwave to kill them AND they were still alive after a minute.

5. My cell phone is 4 years old. The Mister's phone is 6 or 7 years old. We are pretty cool.

6. I really want a Kindle or an iPad just so I can get a cute case from etsy then I could whip out the cuteness at Starbucks.

7. I am kind of turning into a hermit. Most times I would rather hang out at home then go out. Does that mean I am getting old? Or am I just boring?