Long time, no see

Oopsie, I did it again- almost a month without a post. Not really a whole lot to report, which explains the posting hiatus. The only thing I have really had going on lately has been my classroom. I got in last week to start working on things and decorating. So here is a little sneak peek at a few before and after pictures- however, it is still a work in progress and not 100% complete, so keep that in mind :)

BEFORE:

Still waiting on my American Flag and the cart in the middle of the room will be for my ELMO- fingers crossed that they are going to give me a projector in order for that little ELMO to actually work haha! One more thing, I have a cute banner to add in that awkward blank space in between the number line and alphabet strip.

AFTER:

BEFORE:

The table below the window is still a working project- hopefully it will hold student mailboxes at some point. The little squares under the "Welcome to 2nd Grade" will have their names and pictures!

AFTER:

BEFORE:
Hi Mom :)
Still have a few spots to fill in on my calendar wall but this is where we will have our little morning meetings! Carpet area will also be used for comfy reading times.

AFTER:
Sooo that's all for now! Starting all of the super fun in-service meetings bright and early in the morning. Real excited. Or not :) But I am excited to meet my kiddos and get the year going. Honestly, I am just ready for it to be about October- we will all be in our routine, everybody will know what to do and how to act and I will feel a teensy bit less like a neurotic worry woman... well, at least the routine part might be ok by October, not so sure about the rest! Start saying your prayers for me now, friends :)
Love you,

Soulmates

2 sweetest friends a girl could ask for.

Love you two so much :)

Update of sorts

I have been a horrible blogger. No updates in about a month, oopsie. So here's a pretty random and somewhat incomplete list of things that have been going on...

- Well, this isn't really a recent update, but it hasn't been on the bloggie yet... This past spring I was hired at Huntsville ISD as a second grade teacher. Sweet Kristin was super helpful and just for that, she gets to be my roommate again haha :)

- While we are on that note, I obviously had to move to Huntsville... Moved in the middle of June to a presh little townhouse. We love it!

- Got to enjoy a much needed little reunion with my Erin in College Station!! Trips to Target, Ross & TJ Maxx, Piano Bar, and Spoons definitely hit the spot. That girl knows the way to my heart.

- Much of my summer has been spent back in good ole' Palestine. Getting my fill of it and the fam until school starts and I am a crazy busy lady.

- Amazing July 4th celebration = Bekah's 21st Birthday festivities andddd Eclipse!! Ahhh such a good day!

- So proud of so many of my precious friends! Both Amber and Megan moved into their very own beautiful homes recently!! Got to see Amber's this past weekend and was so blessed by my time with her. Now hoping to see Meg's this week. Love my girls.

- On the topic of friends, this past weekend was simply wonderful. Friday and Saturday with The Wlazlowskis in their merry old land of Oz, i.e. Rockwall. Saturday was spent celebrating Mark & Katie Gold's Wedding!!! Still can't believe it. Such an absolutely gorgeous ceremony and reception and Katie was stunning. On top of all that, the night was made even better because it was spent with so many special friends. Lots of catching up! Perfect, perfect weekend.

- Also, since my weekend was spent in the Dallas area, I feel that my lack of getting lost was an affirmation of my needing to live there eventually. Usually, even with the trusty little Garmin, I tend to get a little off course, but not this time. It was like Dallas was meant for me :) Good sign!

So those are the highlights. Not a whole lot going on this summer, which is nice most of the time. Just love the times that I have been able to spend with my precious friends and fam. Couldn't ask for better, life is good. :)

Mumford & Sons

Life As We Know It

Yep, adding this to the wanna see list!

iPod Fun (Part Dos)

Okay so I have done this twice already, but you get different answers every time and each time it's still entertaining!

What does your music library say about you?
--------------------------
1. Put Your iTunes or I-Pod on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. (And don't keep pushing the button until you get an answer you like. See the next instruction.)
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!

So yeah I tend to get bored often, but in my defense this is actually very entertaining :)


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Waiting on the World to Change- John Mayer

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Set Me Free- Reckless Kelly, haha like that one :)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Best of You- Foo Fighters

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Such Great Heights- Postal Service

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Fearless- T. Swift :)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Washed by the Water- Needtobreathe

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
A Kiss to Build a Dream On- Louis Armstrong, sweet

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Love- Sugarland

WHAT SONG WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Who I Am- Wade Bowen

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Another Lonely Day- Ben Harper... wow, real depressing funeral song.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Closer to Love- Mat Kearney

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Shattered- OAR

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Bennie and the Jets- Elton John... Perfect piano man song for Amber and Morgan and I!! :)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Turn Off My Heart- Rich Price... interesting.

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Carry You Home- CCR... "One day Jesus is gonna' come back..." not a bad way to go!

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET
Lookin' For A Good Time- LadyA... hahaha

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
When I'm Sixty-Four- The Beatles

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Love Save The Empty- Erin McCarley

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Begin Again- Colbie Caillat

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Nobody's Girl- Reckless Kelly

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I Don't Wanna Know- New Found Glory


It is so funny how some of these work out- and I promise, no cheats! Try it if you're bored- it's a pretty good time killer.

Summer reading

I need summer reading material! If I don't find something good to read I am going to end up getting bored and spending money that I do not have. So, with that being said, any one have any suggestions? Something light, funny, maybe a little on the girly side. Thanks :)

Another one bites the dust :)

Amber and Greg's wedding weekend in Tyler, Texas

At the Villa di Felicita.
It was AMAZING.

The HAPPY couple and Amber's bow bouquet at rehearsal.

The bride and her maids at dinner.
{@Rick's on the Square, Downtown Tyler}

Bowling in rehearsal dresses and in bowling shoes with no socks...
We really love our bride!

Okay, so there are about 7 things happening in this picture.
I thought it was funny so I wanted to share.
What do you spy? Haha :)

Sweet girls and smokin' hot shoes!

Beautiful best friend. Love you!

Another beautiful best friend,
who also doubles as an amazing makeup artist.
Thank you, love you!

They did it!!
P.S. One of my favorite pictures of the weekend,
courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Perrin :)

Rockin' her sweet reception kicks :)

And the wedding would not be complete
without the Aggie War Hymn! Whoop!

Could not ask for a better weekend and a very sweet beginning for these two! Love you both :)

I'm a big kid now

Drum roll please...

I made my first major purchase as an adult yesterday- bedroom furniture!! Here's a sneak peak for those that might be curious :)


Quick details:
There is also a side table to go with.
& I got the dresser without the top two drawers.
& it's more of a dark cherry color,
not so much that walnutty brownish.
Yep, it's official...
I'm a big kid now!

Belated bachelorette documentation

Last big girls weekend with Miss Amber Storm

We are now in the final days of the

WEDDING COUNTDOWN:

7 days left!!!!

Out of the mouths of babes

5 days of school left and my kids still never cease to amaze me. The things they say, I'm telling you, it's just ridiculous. Here's the latest:

So I am finally telling my students that I am moving and will not be at the school next year. The 5th graders could not care less since they are moving up to middle school anyway, but the 3rd and 4th graders seem to be surprisingly bothered by it- which is kinda' sweet, actually. So anyway, today one group was asking me why I was leaving and it went a little something like this (and please note: in order to provide the full effect of the conversation, I try to get as close to word-for-word as I can, so these horrible sentences are not my own)...

Kid: Miss Steel, is you leaving to go get married?

Me: Nope, just going to a new job.

Kid: Well you should probably go get married.

Me: Why?

Kid: So you can have kids.

Me: Kids!? I'm too young to have kids.

Kid: Miss Steel, you not gonna' be young forever.

Wow, thanks for that insight, kiddo :) My babies are just enthralled with the details of my personal life, it's funny. However, I'm sure they wish their teacher was a little bit cooler, haha poor kids.

Light at the end of the tunnel

We could get lost

So start the music

Ten songs I'm stuck on right now.
In no particular order:

Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
Stole My Heart by Little and Ashley
Love Like Crazy by Lee Brice
Turning Home by David Nail
Top Down by Fast Ryde
Wonder by Jack Savoretti
Dance All Night by Ryan Adams
The Only Exception by Paramore
We'll Be A Dream by We The Kings & Demi Lovato
Lifeline by Mat Kearney

Wanted: Bug killer

Warning- this entire post is about killing big, nasty, crunchy bugs. If you choose to continue reading you will probably laugh at my expense, but you can't say I didn't warn ya about the content.

For those of you that know me, you are probably well aware of the fact that I am deathly afraid of roaches. And no, deathly afraid is not an exaggeration. I can handle a lot of things, but not roaches. I can kill spiders, get rid of lizards, even snakes don't quite get me the same way a gross cockroach does. And let me clarify, just in case anyone from up north reads this... I am not talking about the small, not as crunchy things you call roaches. No. I am talking about TEXAS sized, crunch when you kill 'em, could carry a small child on their back, waterbug roaches. I think it would be accurate to say that the ones that terrify me are usually about the length of my thumb. So anyway, the point is, I hate them.

Story time... yesterday I get home to an empty house, walk past the bathroom, and out of the corner of my eye I catch something moving on the bathroom counter that should not be. I take a couple of steps backward down the hall to get a second look and yep, my fears were confirmed- a big nasty one. I should have mentioned earlier that not only am I afraid of them in general, but I am also too scared to kill them. I can't handle the noisy crunch that happens when you smack them, but more than that, it scares me to death when they run towards you (usually when I actually do attempt to kill them, it takes me a few tries, so in the process they end up running toward me). I was immediately so aware and distraught by the fact that I was home alone. At this point I was left with two choices: 1. Pretend like I never saw it, let it go on it's way, and never know when it was going to show up again, or 2. Put on my big girl panties and kill it. Option 1 almost won, but instead, I started grabbing shoes. So here's how the rest of the story goes:

A total of 6 shoes were thrown, 2 of which actually made contact. 1 shoe delivered a debilitating blow so now the thing is moving a little slow and I have a chance to launch the second attack: hairspray. I sprayed the thing with some maximum hold, volume boosting hairspray. It was still on the go so I decided the hairspray wasn't as fast working as I would like, and then out comes the bleach. Yep, I sprayed the roach with bleach. Think of it as multitasking- I was killing a bug and cleaning up almost simultaneously. At this point, it's pretty lethargic and no longer coming at me and I can finally nail it with a shoe. It was down for the count. Whew.

At this point most people would clean the thing up and go on with their day... haha not this girl. I'm not sure which part is worse, the spotting, killing, or disposing of a roach. I tried to clean it up but was literally gagging so much that I thought I was gonna' lose it. I was feeling good about actually succeeding in the kill, so I decided I didn't have to be a hero and take care of all of it- I left the cleanup for dear ole' dad.

The end :)

Now, I would like to apologize to those of you still reading. I just wrote an entire post about roaches. You don't have to tell me how exciting my life is, I am all too aware. All that was basically to say that I need a personal bug killer. Hope the boy that is made for me is a manly, brave bug killer.

Crawfish boil, aka high school reunion

2010 Crawfish Boil :)

Oh the difference a year makes

I am convinced that my life would be in shambles without a day-planner. Sure, I have my hi-tech, handy dandy little phone that I'm sure I could do all kinds of cool calendar things with, but there is some strange satisfaction that I get from writing things down in a planner then marking them out or checking them off the list. Anybody else get that feeling?

Tonight I found my planner from last year; senior year of college... {enter a time to reminisce} Wow, what a difference a year makes. Out of curiosity, I flipped to this same week of 2009 just to see what Amber, Morgs, and I were up to a year ago, and I have to say- right now, I am missing that life.

We had just finished up our semester of student teaching and were basically killing time until graduation. Big events of the week included things like, Hannah Montana Movie with the girls, Piano Bar, and of course, laying out was block scheduled for the whole week. What I would not give for a day of laying out right now, as opposed to almost 9 hour work days that revolve around the all-enthralling world of TAKS testing. I really don't mean to complain because I am so glad to be working and to be back in the classroom, but I just wish those college days could have lasted a little bit longer. Why were we ever so anxious to be done?

I think a big part of missing that life has less to do with the activities and a lot more to do with the company. I just miss those girls. Every day. So, on that note, I absolutely cannot wait for May 15th to get here so that we can celebrate sweet Amber's last big play night as a single girl and so that I can finally be back together with both of my loves at the same time! Love you, sweet girls :)

For all my teacher friends

Dearest little teacher friends,
Good luck Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday (for all my 5th grade friends).
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, we are almost done!
Enjoy :)

How smart is your right foot?

I usually don't like forwarded emails and I seldom actually read them, but this one was pretty funny- try it!

How smart is your right foot?

1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and begin making clockwise circles.

2. Now, while circling with your foot, draw the number 6 in the air with your right hand.

3. Your foot changed direction!!

Before the day is over you are going to try this again, aren't you? I tried it with my 3rd graders and it drove them bananas! :)

They forgot me

This past Tuesday I had my annual doctor's appointment. Girls, you most likely know what this entails, and boys, I promise to spare you all the unnecessary details and you are welcome. I got off work early enough to make it to Tyler in time for my 3:45 appointment, with a little time to spare so that I could fill out the inevitable stack of paperwork they would have. Everything is good- I have checked in, filled out all my forms, and I'm thinking I will be out of there pretty quick because for once the waiting room was not super crowded... Wrong. Umm apparently they forgot me.

3:45 appointment and I did not leave the waiting room until 4:50. Now, you are probably wondering why I waited so long without saying something, so let me explain. I love my doctor dearly, and he has been my doctor for 10 years, but his customer service kind of sucks. A long wait is nothing out of the ordinary, which is why I didn't really make a big deal about it... until I realized that they had actually forgotten me. In a situation like this you have a choice: A. you can get mad, be irate and rude, pitch a fit and make everyone uncomfortable, and be unhappy or B. let it go. I went with option B. I mean, really, what good does it do to be all up in arms over a little mishap? Notta. It wasn't anyone's fault. Actually, they had been having trouble with their computer systems so I did not show up as "checked-in". No big deal, I just think it's a funny story.

But wait... wanna know the best part about the whole mix-up? Well, since no one knew I was there and waiting, my doctor went home. Yep, he was already at his house when the sweet little nurse called to tell him I was waiting. I was told that they were all to apologize profusely as per his instructions. I just laughed and told them it was fine. He stayed home and I was able to see his nurse practitioner, who I loved, so all's well that ends well!

Lesson learned from this incident? I should be a little more assertive. Probably should have thought to ask around 4:15 what the hold up was. Ehh, you live, you learn!

Baseball season, I have missed you

For those of you that like to argue that baseball is slow and boring, please watch this and then try to tell me it's not exciting.

Mike Buehrle, possible play of the year on opening day, nice work!

In a nutshell

Life gets in the way of my blogging, so here's a quick recap of what's been going on...

- Family wedding weekend: Cousin Robbie and sweet Tran were married at the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens in the gorgeoussss Japanese Garden. One of my favorite weddings ever.

- As a part of the wedding weekend, my Ohio family came in. Which meant 5 days of baby time with Avery Cate and Olivia Grace!

- Made a pretty big decision... details later :)

- And I got talked into going to Chilifest. How did that happen?

So, that's basically the past week or so in a nutshell. My April is going to be a little bit crazy: Easter, Chilifest, weddings and wedding showers, TAKS tests, blah, blah blah. Just counting down the days until June 4th and the official start of my summer vacay!