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! 

Hey y'all

Just a little photo dump from the last couple weekends. Too busy writing papers, composing portfolios, finalizing lesson plans, writing reflections, and detailing case studies to even think about a real blog post. Or even write in full sentences. Best wishes!

(Family photos and Christmas tree shopping)

(Palo Duro)

(Carlsbad Caverns)

(Hueco Tanks)

Sweet 16th

Happiest of happy birthdays to my most precious little sister! Absolutely cannot believe you're turning 16 today! You are just a little gem of a girl and I can't wait to see what a wonderful woman you are going to be. 

Also, don't kill me for that. I really just can't resist.

So proud of you for being such a strong, smart, hard-working, kind-hearted, altogether BEAUTIFUL person.

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? 

On My Netflix Queue:

This is my and Rex's newest show - absolute love. The characters are believable and real, and remind me a lot of my own family. It's a little cheesy at times, and sometimes a real tear-jerker, but it's sweet and funny without being too typical.

And this is my new show. Rex lost interest after the first season, but I'm still hooked. It's totally crazy and full of weird plot twists and I find myself cringing and gasping while watching. I'm only on season two, and I've heard it gets even more nuts as it goes on...we'll see!

We also started Sons of Anarchy, and tried Louis CK's show Louie, but it didn't really stick. Thank goodness for Netflix when you don't have cable! What are your favorites? 

Instagrammed

Officially back home in Lubbock. Work starts tomorrow and school starts in a week. Back to the real world!

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

Continuing in the tradition of a day late! I like to think that I can never make holiday posts on time because I'm too busy spending time with the people that I'm actually with in the real world. That's probably about 90% of the explanation; the other 10% is because at the end of the day, I'm too tired (or lazy) to get my computer out.

Anywho, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you had a blessed, beautiful, love-filled, relaxing, cheerful, fun, joyous, happy, altogether WONDERFUL holiday! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas....we all need a just awesome day every now and again. From my family to yours!

...praise Him, from whom all blessings flow...

A Tour of the House on 31st Street

At least, a tour of the places in the house that are really worth touring! I snapped a few photos of my favorite things about our house a couple weeks ago and am just now sitting down to show them to y'all! 

This is my favorite spot in the whole house. It's just a little corner in the living room where some Beatles coffee table books sit, along with fresh flowers (as often as we can), a Scentsy candle-thing, some old photos, and a canvas or two* that's usually in progress that gets shoved over from the dining room table.

*These canvases are mine almost 100% of the time. Oops.

Isn't this chandelier (that's what I'm going to call it for now at least) so pretty? It's my roommate Kallie's, that she spray painted gold. And then more flowers. Can you tell we like flowers around here? 

And the bookshelf in the living room is another one of my favorites, with a random assortment of books from each of the three of us, Kallie's record player and our records, and my duck oil-holder. Haha! 

This is a project of Kallie's that I love. It's an old footboard that she Mod-Podged with scrapbooking paper and added cute little hooks too. We have a little glass globe hanging from the middle hook now, that usually has a flower in it, and orchid floating in water right now.

Lastly, this is the little project we all did together not too long after we moved in. Kate painted the background and the Texas, I wrote out the letters, and Kallie painted them. Teamwork! It turned out pretty cute, I think.

No photos of my room because it is a wreck 100% of the time. Maybe by next summer when I'm ready to move out, I'll have it put together. I'm just too cluttered to do much about it now. I don't reckon I'll have a really nice looking bedroom until I'm in a house that I plan on staying in for quite a few years. But I think I'm okay with that. It's my room, right? Right.

Happy Monday! Get ready for the week, I have a feelin' it's a-gonna be a long 'un.