Weekend Update

So I completely forgot to mention the absolute CRAZINESS that was our school on Thursday!  The first sign that it would be a crazy day, was the snow - it was snowing allll day, and therefore the kids were really wild.  Nobody wanted to be stuck inside doing school work on a day like that, not even us teachers!  It was a fun kind of wildness though... something about snow that makes everyone giddy - it was great!  Just before lunchtime though, the craziness reached an all-time high.  The fire alarm went off (we knew it wasn't a drill, because they always give us a heads up when we're having one)!  Everyone was freaking out, we didn't know whether to stay inside (was it a fluke?  a joke?) or go ahead and do what we've practiced doing all year - which is to go outside, get a head count, hold up our little green "we're all here" signs... IN THE SNOW.  And yep, folks - that's exactly what we did!  And THEN the actual firetrucks showed up and we were instructed to walk our darling, hyper little kiddos over to the elementary school next door... IN THE SNOW.  No coats, no gloves, hyper kids... all this while attempting to keep our classes in single file lines (yeah RIGHT).  We did all that, sat them down in little rows in the gym... then the excitement was over (as soon as we sat down) and we got up and walked back to our building and back to class.  Pure insanity!!  Still not exactly sure what happened... it seems a little hush-hush.  But no damage, no harm done... pretty funny actually.

Moving on to the actual weekend update (seeing as Thursday is definitely not the weekend, but I had to tell that story!)

So Tim and I had our Valentine's Day last night, and it was great!  I had a horrible headache all day, but luckily it went away by the time we went out.  I had been on the couch when Tim got home (trying to sleep off my headache), and when I finally got up and went into the kitchen, there was a beautiful bouquet of red gerber daisies and a nice bottle of wine!  Two of my favorite things.  :)  We went to Siena for dinner - our special little place from when we first started dating.  It's small, quaint, and hardly anyone was there - and it was perfect.  Oh, and I can't forget to mention the guy they had hired for the night to serenade the restaurant... he was quite, um, interesting.  His voice reminded me of a song director at a Baptist church - middle-aged, loud, proud, a bit Southern... yet singing "Sweeeeet Caroliiiine" (bum bum bummmm).  He even walked around with his mic singing to various parts of the restaurant.  It was quite entertaining.  But he seemed like a nice guy and was having a great time - and I must admit that he did create a fun mood.  We had a great time, just chatting and dreaming about what our condo will look like.  We got some tiramisu to-go and had dessert and wine at home.  Low key, but absolutely perfect.  :)

Hope everyone had (or is having) a wonderful Valentine's Day with their loved ones or their friends!  I'm going to go scrapbook a little and mentally prepare myself for Evening Vespers and the Forgiveness Sunday service... it's going to be pretty intense.  Everyone kneels down and asks everyone (yes, everyone) for forgiveness for any wrong they may have done to them over the past year.  It's the Church's way to prepare for Great Lent... which begins, ummm tomorrow (or is it today?).  I actually don't plan on participating, just being there.  I just don't think I can handle it (I agree with the idea of it, but the practice of it still seems too out of my comfort zone).

I realize this post was not very exciting... but I think it was more for me and my bad memory than anything else.  :)  Have a wonderful week!

Snow Day!

I'm enjoying our snow day - sipping coffee at the local coffee shop around the corner, Java Me Up (our favorite place ever!).  Tim and I both got up at 7am this morning... whhaaatt?!  And when we got up, realized that the power was out!  Luckily the roads aren't bad at ALL, so we came here to hang out - guess it didn't get as cold as they thought last night - oooops!  :)

annnnd that's all I've got.  I'll try to put up some pictures soon from our record-breaking snowfall from yesterday and last night! 

ps - I've started reading Jane Eyre, so I can check one thing off my To Do list from the other day... hardly the most important thing I could check off, but you gotta start somewhere I suppose. 

Some Thoughts.

So I'm feeling rather blah tonight.  It's 8:43 and I'm thinking I'll just go to bed after this (sure to be very interesting and exciting) post.  I'm not really feeling blah as in "depressed"... just feeling like I want to do something and not being able to figure out what that might be.

Read a classic novel?  You know, one of those that everyone should read (or perhaps re-read) at some point in their lives?  To Kill a Mockingbird... The Catcher in the Rye... The Fountainhead... anything by Jane Austen... 1984... Hunger Games... Okay, so that last one is clearly far from the realm of classic, but seeing as I teach 7th graders, it is apparently a "must read," so it's allowed to be added to the list.

Do something artsy?  I bought these awesome watercolor pencils about a month ago and have yet to get them out and do anything with them.  In case you are unaware that these exist (which I wasn't until a random art project night at church about a year ago) - they are seemingly just like regular colored pencils, but when you wet your paintbrush and color over it, in blends beautifully - just like watercolor, but with the precision and control of a colored pencil (for those who are paintbrush impaired, such as myself).

Be productive?  Okay, I'm not even going to expound upon this one - I am so not in the mood for productivity tonight.  :)

Ummm... change the world?  stop eating meat - or at least eat much less, and demand only organic, non-antibiotic fed meat (I watched a pretty interesting segment about this on the CBS Evening News last night - you should check it out)?  live simply and stop worrying about all the stuff I want or "need" to buy?  pledge to buy local, fresh, and in-season whenever I can?  Avoid Facebook for awhile (because I think it is turning my brain to mush)?  read the newspaper? stop living an over-stimulated, under-compassionate, wasteful American life?  ugh. 

So I probably won't be doing anything from that last paragraph tonight, but just something that's been on my mind.  And something I'm not sure I know how to do.  Especially that last part. 

And in all that rambling (and obnoxious pontificating towards the end?), I've decided that it's 9:00 and I'm going to bed.  I've decided I really, I mean REALLY love my sleep.  I just don't seem to ever get enough of it.  Maybe tomorrow will be a surprise snow day (I really don't think this will happen... though Friday is a definite possibility) and I will get to sleep more, read a good book, do some watercolor drawings, and think a little more about how I can live an authentic life that mirrors my convictions - because right now, it's not even close.

Or, maybe I will just get up and go to work like I do everyday - to a "job" that I love.  Teach some sweet 7th graders about their lovely digestive system - and be grateful that I am at such an incredible school with such incredible people.

Condo Update!

Okay, so probably everyone that reads this has already seen the condo pics on Facebook, but I can't help it... I've got to post them on here!  This blog serves as my memory of life events (since my memory is pretty pathetic and always has been), and this is QUITE the life event... so I must blog it!

Living Room (view from the entry)

Dining Room

Back Patio

Kitchen (not the greatest view, but still!)

My cute husband.  :)  How I love him!

So yesterday Tim and I spent a good part of the day perusing the aisles of Home Depot... it seems so suburban and cliche to spend the Saturday at Home Depot but... I don't care!  We loved it and had a great time!  We picked out the paint for our walls and even nailed down the whole color scheme for the living room!  If I can find the colors online, I'll post them so you can check it out... but basically we've got a soft gray-green for the walls, white trim, medium-dark wood floors, accented with a pretty slate gray-blue and an orange-y red.  It might sound a little weird when it's just described like that... but it's amazing - trust me!!  We are soooo excited!! 

As for the Super Bowl today - Tim and I could not care less!  We were going to go to my friend Megan's for some commercial watching, snack-food eating, Apples to Apples playing fun - but I've decided to stay home.  :(  I really wanted to go, but I've had this head cold / allergies thing going since last week and it just won't go away!  I really can't decide if it's just allergies or if I'm actually sick (felt good yesterday, but today not so much), so I decided it'd be better to take it easy today.  LAME!  So instead, we're going to make some queso and pigs-in-a-blanket (and Katie is making wings!) and stay here.  It will still be fun.  :)

Okay, that's really all I've got.  I've just been ridiculously excited about the condo - picking out paint colors and looking at wood floor samples... just had to share! 

Alright, time to go lay around the house some more.  Happy Sunday!