It's offish.

I'm going on a blogging hiatus. Obvs this is not news, seeing as my last post was weeks ago. However, before we address that...

Finally, the semester is over, grades have been posted, and the last few days of work are winding to a close as we prepare to leave Lubbs for the holidays. But the break will be short and sweet; I have to be back in town for student teaching orientation on January 4th. After which begins the whirlwind of my LAST. SEMESTER. Here are a few thoughts and updates for now:

- My heart is continuously breaking with every new story from Newtown. My most sincere prayers and love are extended to every soul affected.

- On a lighter note, I passed my teacher certification exam with flying colors. Insert lifting of biggest weight off my shoulders here.

- I'll begin student teaching at Smith Elementary on January 7th and will finish on April 22nd. And then graduate on May 17th.

- I'll start applying for jobs in Denver, Boulder and Tyler sometime around the middle of the semester. We'll be packing up our things and heading out of Lubbock this summer to, honestly, wherever I can get a job. Fingers and toes crossed that it's in Boulder.

- Rex will start technical mountaineering guide classes this June and will finish in November.

Lastly, I'll be putting the blog world on hold for the semester while I finish my college career. It's been fun, y'all. And I'll be back once life has settled down after the move this summer. Have a beautiful, wonderful, blessed holiday, and a happy new year, and a bright and sunny spring semester, and a fun summer! 

Monday Shmunday

Happy to be home after a long weekend of hard climbing and hiking. Looking forward to a nice, long break from school and work starting tomorrow afternoon! Couldn't be happier. Have a good Monday!

Despite what some may have expected...

...the sun still rose this morning, birds are still singing, America is still America, and for the most part, our lives will continue pretty much unchanged, despite what happened in the election last night. 

And four years from now, the same will happen. And four years after that. The world will go on even though some of us don't get what we want. And until we all learn to accept that all we can do is all we can do, the President included, we're going to waste a lot of grief. 

On a brighter note, I'm looking forward to seeing what the next four years has in store. Good luck, Prez!

For your peace of mind

Our dishwasher is fixed, our kitchen is cleaned up, and our house is smelling (fairly) normal again. Just so you don't think we're living in an absolute pig sty ... just a partial pig sty. We are in college, after all.

The Stankest Stank.

Alright y'all. Right now, our kitchen is out of commish because our garbage disposal clogged up the pipes and sent dirty nasty stank water back into the dishwasher. (Yes, this has happened before.) And for some reason, even though the issue was put through to a plumber on Monday, a plumber has yet to be seen. And y'all, this kitchen is RANK. Like, nothing we can do about it - even the sink smells bad - make you wanna cry stink. So to take my mind off that, I'm reliving Colorado pictures and listening to this.

Lookin' on the bright side, right? Or is it denial? 

A Long Weekend Adventure

What a BIG weekend for us over here!! We spent the weekend climbing Mt. Massive in Colorado (elevation 14,421 feet), seeing Mumford & Sons at the Aspen Jazz Festival, and camping in the mountains. I can tell you, I've never had a more exhausting or more rewarding weekend. Don't worry, I'll have a million and one pictures for you soon!

Hope you had a great long weekend too!!

One Question:

Why would a store ever need to carry twenty different varieties of simple, black, scissors?

Can I Ask You A Weird Question?

This is for ladies. Ladies who do a lot of daydreaming.....

(you've been warned)

(via)

Do you ever wonder what it'd be like to be pregnant? I basically spend "nap time" at work daydreaming, and I have the thought train of a rabbit on speed....and this came up. Also, I'm following a grand total of six blogs that are pregnant or have a newborn, and I have five friends in the real world with new babies/babies on the way, and it just got me thinking.

I can tell you a few things for certain: A) I will be the most hormonal pregnant woman you've ever met. Bet on it. B) I will claim to have/actually have more medical issues than anyone ever should. C) I will gain weight like a whale; not one of those cute, basketball-belly ladies.

However, I also know it'll be worth it. What about you? Do you ever think about that? Or, if you're not so weird and have actually been pregnant before, what was it like for you?

Disclaimer: I also daydream about what it'd be like if I were Italian, what I'll do when the zombie apocalypse hits (yes, WHEN), and what my future students/house/kids/job/hobbies/life will be like....so pregnancy isn't so weird right? Right??

Also, a realistic baby photo....hah!

The Usual...

Watching Louis C.K. stand up and drinking Italian beer while I suffer through hour number 12 spent working on my final project for Language and Literacy Instruction....

oh, the life of a college student.

Also, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to the BEST. MOM. EVER. I really am just the luckiest daughter ever and I'm thankful for you each and every day. Thank you for blessing my life more than I could ever imagine. I hope to one day be half the mother that you have always been to me and my sister. I love you and I can't wait to spend this weekend with you!!

R.I.P.

"It looks like your hard drive is corrupted."

Have there ever been sadder, more disheartening words? Needless to say, my computer is in the shop for goodness knows how long. So you may not be hearing from me for a while! Keep my little Mac in your thoughts...poor girl is only three years old...she has so much more life to live...(sniff)...

Anyway, hope you all have a good week or two until I talk to you next! Keep your chin up!

TGI Not Monday

I woke up at 6:45 yesterday morning, got dressed in teacher attire, and went to class. 

I got out of class at 11:57 yesterday morning and went home to eat some lunch.

I went to class at 12:35 yesterday afternoon and gave a presentation on ESL strategies.

I got out of class at 3:25 yesterday afternoon and took the bus home.

I got home at 3:47 yesterday afternoon... 

...and realized that I'd had my shirt on inside out since 6:45 yesterday morning.

wah wahhh...

(via)

Life As An (almost) Teacher

This is what my life looks like:

 This is what my desktop looks like:

...and this is what I look like:

Good thing I really really really like my students. Tomorrow is my first full-class, planned-and-taught-all-by-myself LESSON. So ^that^ is what I will look like for another 20-ish hours. At which point I'll get in the classroom and everything will be fine. Because, SURPRISE, 10-year-olds don't care if you have it all together, as long as you make jokes and they get to use the SmartBoard.

One of Those

(Is anyone out there a Pinecove-r? "One of those WHATS?!")

Anywho, I'm talking about one of those days. Or weeks. You know, where it just feels like too much. Too much work, too much class, too much homework, too much whatever. 

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those semesters. Not in a negative way. Just in a "falling-into-bed-totally-zonked-every-single-night" kind of way. "Absolutely-no-social-life-because-homework-is-my-best-friend-and-they-are-really-jealous" kind of way. Which means that it'll be very rewarding to make it through this semester of 19 hours of class, and 25 hours of work a week. It'll be trying, rewarding, educating, and faith-stretching. But that's okay, because sometimes that's what you need.

Happy weekend, y'all!

Greetings from Destin!

Catch of the day: white snapper!!

Counting Down

My final final is in T-minus 6.5 hours! Now all I have to do is not sleep through my alarm...

(not as easy as you'd think)

Good luck to all of you out there with finals still to go! 

Y'all. (Pt. 2)

I know I already told y'all about the dust storm yesterday...but this is just too crazy not to watch! Skip ahead to about 1:15. That's where it gets good! Maybe it's just me, being from East Texas and all, but this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen! 

Y'all.

It is the downright Apocalypse here in LBK. Who woulda thunk God wanted to started the End of Days in the armpit of the world? I guess it makes sense though, when he rebuilds His Kingdom here on Earth, who the heck is gonna want to live in Lubbock? Seriously y'all, gusts up to 75 MPH, and with all this here plowed land surrounding Lubbock, that top soil was whisked right away into the air and into our lungs in no time flat!


(Am I doin' a good enough job of soundin' like a legit Lubbockian? I'm goin' for the West Texas thing here, folks. Darn tootin'!)

Happy Monday to everyone who's not breathin' in manure and dust! And an even happier Monday to everyone who is!

Busy Bee

My apologies for my absence as of late; it seems that school takes up a lot of my time this semester! Add in nannying and puppies and relationships....phew. Sometimes I get tired just planning everything out.

But this weekend, we made an impromptu trip to Tyler to visit Rex's second family as they welcomed a new baby! Little Dawson Knox, 7 lbs 12 oz, 21.5 inches long. Presh! However, that meant 15 hours of driving in less than 60 hours of weekend. Including driving through the night on Friday! I don't even remember the last time I stayed up all night (And the Most Boring College Student Ever Award goes to ..... me!!). So much fun.

Other than that, it's just school and school and school over here! Second round of tests are coming up here pretty quick...so don't worry if you don't here from me for a while. Just means I'm drowning in books/notes/study guides!


Happy Wednesday to all!

More Excuses

So you already know that I don't have internet at the house (should be coming very soon, fingers crossed!). But here are a few other reasons why I've been a horrible blogger lately. 

-School school school! My Summer II class is very work intensive. 

-Work work work! My nannying is very work intensive! Keeping up with Chew (Chase+Drew, heehee) is so exhausting sometimes. Chase is just a whirlwind of activity. Sometimes when I get home, I'm just ready to sleep!

-I'm still trying to get settled in the new house. With my mess, it's like moving in + deep cleaning an already moved into room. 

-Sickness. Getting better and better every day, but the intensive antibiotics I'm on sometimes makes me feel like laying around all. day. 

But, internet is coming soon, and I'm getting into the swing of things with class and work, so hopefully I'll be back to a normal schedule once more!!

Happy Tuesday!

A Week In Photos

To make up for my prolonged absence from blogging (due to moving + no internet at the new house!), I have lots of lovely photos to show off! Enjoy! 

June 28th 

June 29th

Pizza Date Night!

June 30th

At home date night! The last in the old house!

Isn't he just the cutest! 

July 2nd

The new house! 

The best movers in the world! 

The bookshelf in the living room, my favorite part of the new house! It's a work in progress still.

No Fourth photos, because of course my camera charger was buried deep in a box somewhere at the time. Hope you all had a good holiday! Forgive me if my posts are rather sparse in the next week or so...still trying to set up internet! 

Happy 6th of July!