One year ago today I started this website. I have to honest that I don’t post nearly as much as I had hoped to, but I plan and hope that will change this year. I have so many stories to share with you. I look back at the huge twists and turns that my life has taken in the past year, and I can hardly contain my excitement for the upcoming year.

Scrapbooking is something I love because I think it is so important to preserve the past. Unfortunately,  I end up spending most of my time on projects for other people. This blog will be something to serve in its place in case I never have time to put my memories down in my scrapbook. Thank you for those of you who follow along and encourage me.

None of this would be possible is it wasn’t for my hubby and his vast web knowledge. Happy Birthday Ryan! I hope you enjoy this little token of my gratitude! You’re my best friend!

Last week, I was blessed to have a day to do pretty much whatever I wanted to do.  I started it off by sleeping way too late! After putting a super easy dinner in the crock pot, I headed out to do some shopping.

First stop was JoAnn’s to pick up some scrapbook paper to make invitations to Gracie’s Sip and See.

I ended up returning the paper the next day for something else, but it was fun to start planning such an exciting party. Next I drove across the street to the closest teacher store. Jen, Mark, and Garrett were so sweet to get me a gift card to celebrate my new position in McKinney ISD.

I got a construction paper organizer. I know you are all filled with jealousy and envy (NOT!), but to me, organization products give me a thrill and make me happy. Half of what I enjoy about scrapbooking is organizing all my products! Next I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up my latest obsession…

the Twilight series. I know it’s silly, but her books are well written.  It reminds me of high school romance with some suspense, and I have a hard time putting the books down once I start them. I’m on the final book now, and I’m a little sad about my obsession being over.  Last year I read through all the Harry Potter books. I wonder what I should read next..and suggestions?

By this time I was pretty hungry, so I stopped for my favorite meal under ten bucks.

I think I could eat this a couple times a week and never get tired of it. After lunch I headed to Home Depot to pick up a sample paint color for the office. I never was quite happy with the color we put in there, and I made the mistake of getting a flat finish. I’ll feel really good when I get the color right. I have thing about paint, but that’s a story for another day. I had one more stop on my way home.

A day just isn’t right without a route 44 Sonic happy hour diet mango limeade. I caught up on some blogging while watching Roseanne episodes. Then I finished these cute burp clothes for Gracie Kate.

My crock pot dinner turned out awesome! Ryan and  I chilled and watched some of our new favorite show How I Met Your Mother. The last thing I did was go over the curriculum for church in September. They asked me to pick the activities for the kindergarten/1st graders. I feel so honored, and I hope Ryan will not complain this year about any of the activities we do with our class being lame!

It was a great day! How would you spend a day for yourself?

Grace Katherine was born on July 1st at 10:40am. She weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long. Jen was able to send us emails all throughout the day with the status. I was so thankful for technology.

I love this picture of Garrett. He was so happy to have a little sister. I have never seen him smile this big.

The family all took turns holding sweet Gracie Kate. Here’s my Aunt Debbie, cousin Rachel, and cousin Ian.

Rachel gladly surrendered her throne to Gracie. Rachel was the last girl to enter our family almost 18 years ago. Papa got to hold his newest granddaughter, and he kept trying to talk Mark into naming her Mary after his mom.

This is my favorite picture from the day.

It may seem silly, but that bracelet caused me to break down and cry in the hospital room. Gracie was a gift to our family from God. Mark and Jennifer are unable to conceive children. They adopted Garrett over six years ago when he was three weeks old. I got so emotional that God had blessed us in such an awesome way.

Not only did a new baby join our family, but Mark and Jen got to have the experience of being in the hospital when the baby was born. They had their own room that she slept in with them on her first night in this world. Our family got to visit her in the hospital the day she was born. And Jennifer got to wear her badge of honor, a hospital bracelet that told everyone she was Gracie’s mommy. It was such a moving experience for me.

Mark and Jen got to take Gracie home the very next day!

Ryan was not able to go with me the first night, so we hurried to visit last Friday.

She is such a peaceful, beautiful baby. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her, and I feel so blessed to be able to watch her grow up and be a part of her life.

Us cousins have to stick together!

Yesterday we had a picnic at the local splash park. Ryan and I picked Garrett up, and he made a list of what we should have at our picnic. His sandwich of choice was cucumber. He had never had one before, but that is what he wanted (he ended up eating Cajun roast beef like Ryan).

After everyone had eaten, we let them hit the water. It’s so hard to believe that last year the girls would not even get in the water.

I told her to strike a pose, and this is what she did.

Garrett enjoyed all of the splash area, but the buckets that dump on your head was his favorite. He even “tricked” Ryan into getting under a bucket.

Jonathan jumped in front of the camera, but check out G in the background.

And then there’s this:

I’m not sure what was going on here. The Heimlich, showing some man love, or saving a small child from Jonathan spraying water in their eyes???

Then there was this thing to climb on. We called it the Death Trap.

They were even a little scared by it. Who builds something that tall without serious padding underneath? I guess the thrill is why they liked it so much.

We had made Garrett sit still long enough to put a fresh coat of sunscreen on when he said this, “This is fun. Can we come back here on our next play outing?” How sweet is that.

He ran around in the water for at least two hours straight. That didn’t stop him from being silly in the car on the way home. He kept saying, “Look! I’m Ryan!” Silly boy.

Unfortunately the only photo I got of Caitlyn was when she was throwing a fit. She did calm down and have fun after this. We all had a good time.

Bossman is going to place an ad for our business in a trade magazine. He’s done this before, and we worked with a great gal at an creative agency. He work has always been really good with a modern edge. When tasked with a new ad for our company, this is what she sent to us today.

I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Leave  me a comment if you don’t get it because your mind doesn’t easily wander to the gutter, and I’ll explain it to you.

Hope this makes your Wednesday a little funnier!

Since I have Fridays off this summer, I thought it would be a great opportunity to spend some time with my cousin Garrett. He is about to be a big brother. Our first day out together was last Friday. We went to the zoo with the Websters. It was really neat to see what a sweet boy he is. At the middle of the day he looked up at me and said, “I’m having a lot of fun today.” He totally melted my heart.

I forgot that in the children’s section they have a stream that the kiddos can run through and cool off. It was fun to get a little wet and forget that it was rising towards 100 degrees outside.

Jonathan wasn’t feeling very good, so he rested wherever he could find a spot.

Garrett is growing up into such a little man. He was jumping down off the curb and fell. He quickly said, “I meant to do that!” Then at lunch I had him carry our tray to our table while I made the drinks. By the time I got there, he had eaten half of my hamburger. His reply was, “I was just checking to make sure it is good. It is. You can eat it now.”

No trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the monorail. Actually, we were too exhausted by that time to walk around the Africa part of the zoo, so we road around it instead.

Garrett has a real passion for taking pictures. He photographed the whole monorail ride. I have one question. Is this a boy thing or what? I have several pictures like this taken by Ryan.

We all had a great time. I can’t wait to see what other adventures this summer will hold. I also am so excited to get to know this awesome boy better.

Remember our favorite way to keep the girls busy while we have dinner? I handed over the camera again a week ago, and their skills have gotten much better!

Photographer Caitlyn

A true photographer will always catch the subject in their natural environment and frame of mind.

A cute little sister model never hurts either.

Photographer Faith

Bringing out the best in her subjects

Getting a rare shot of me in glasses

Here’s a few that I took.

I don’t know why I have ketchup all over my face?

She was extra smiley that night!

Man they love each other, and they are getting too big too fast!

I started the summer off right! Friday night Jenn and I went to visit an old (as in not anymore, not age) team member she taught with last year. I had only met Amber a few times in the past, but I loved every minute we spent chatting and visiting with this little guy.

I pray my children have red hair like this. We girls chatted it up past midnight and made future plans for a Canton trip. Jonathan and the girls stayed at our house with Ryan. By the time we got home, we decided it was time for a Jack in the Box trip. When all was said and done, it was after 2am, “and nothing good happens after 2am” -name that quote.  Since Jenn and I were heading to a scrapbook convention the next day, the whole crew spent the night.

The next day, Jenn and I spent 7 hours in scrapbook shopping bliss. All the paper and supplies were a feast for our eyes with over 100 exhibitors and the convention. We even met Cricut Dan and had some good laughs.

The boys did manly things like go to the barber and download Super Mario 3 for the Wii. On our way home, Jenn and I started talking about the upcoming Harry Potter movie. When you have read the books all of the details start to run together. We hatched a plan to have the fun continue with fajitas at their house while we watched the Order of the Phoenix.

We were enjoying the movie until it happened. Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and said, “You have a problem in your bathroom.” Now I immediately thought he had stopped up the toilet and needed a plunger, but the problem was a wasp. Ryan is deathly afraid of wasps, and I found out that so is Jenn. That left me and Jonathan to take care of it.

Ironically, Amber saw a wasp on her curtain the night before while we were over there. She had the great idea to suck it up with the vacuum. So, Dyson to the rescue again. I took Ryan’s man card and headed for the bathroom. This is my “you want a piece of me” face.

Jennifer started laughing hysterically when she looked at the picture on her camera, but the mission had to continue. Jonathan manned the button on the vacuum. I stepped in, sucked the wasp up, and Jonathan threw the vacuum in the garage. We all laughed so hard. Who knew that part of our crew was such wussies. LOL! This will definitely be a night that lives in infamy and the source of many internal jokes!

I started back working for Bossman on Monday, and it actually is going well. I forgot how much easier this is than teaching. The great part is that I get to work from home two days a week, and I’m taking Fridays off. I’m going to use my Fridays relaxing and spending time with my cousin G! Oh, the fun things I have planned!

Yesterday I had a second interview with McKinney ISD to meet the team. I was open to teaching in either Plano, McKinney, or Dallas next year until I went to the interview a week ago. This team is great, and McKinney is a wonderful district to work for. My heart starting setting its sights on McKinney.

The interview went really well. At one point the team lead stopped and said, “your beliefs and methods align completely with ours.” Woohoo! I felt like the position was mine, and then I got a call last night. I am their candidate of choice! That’s right Internets, no more Dallas ISD for me!

I’ve taken to heart dooce‘s experience about blogging about your work. After my contract with McKinney is signed, I’ll start telling you a bit about my experiences there. But for now, I’m enjoying the moment! I look back at what my life was like in January, and I’m in complete awe of how quickly things can change. At one point I told Ryan that a huge blessing must be on the way because of the attack we were under. Boy was I right! God’s blessings abound!

And only three more days of school left. Boot camp is almost over! The even better news is that I have two interviews next week to teach kindergarten in both Plano and McKinney. I’m very excited to see what the future holds!

I feel like I can blog some now that my Project 365 is up to date. Things are hectic with the end of the school year. In Dallas, the kindergartners take a test that is the equivalent of the TAKS test. We are taking it everyday next week, so we have been practicing.

I kind of feel like I’m past the point of teaching them anything new. Right now it is just review, testing, then the last week of school. I wonder if it always winds down like this three weeks before the end. I’m not expecting to hear anything about where I will be teaching next year until this summer. Dallas is having a job fair for teachers that are forced to transfer on June 13th. I hope to have a position in McKinney or Plano by then though. We’ll see. Where ever God has planned for me to go.

I miss blogging and I hope to pick it up more this summer. I’m going to be working for Bossman with Drama Queen. I’m sure I’ll have stories to tell. I also want to discuss my experience of teaching in South Dallas. It has been brutal. They say if you don’t laugh, then you’ll cry. That is so true, and I’ll tell you about it after I have had some time to decompress and digest.

In the meantime, I have started twittering/tweeting. Once Ryan opened an account, I knew that I had to have one to. You can see my most up to date status on the right. Till we meet again….or something.