Your Treasure Awaits

One man’s treasure is another man’s junk

 

I am having a big garage sale October 17th. I’ve got two really cute, girly bedding sets, lots of men and women’s clothing, plenty of pairs of shoes, lots of teacher paraphernalia, scrapbooking supplies, picture frames and other decor, a dishwasher, and some furniture!

I love garage sales. I know many people do not. But I do. I take joy in making money by selling my crap that I no longer use! Casey and I often use the money to put in an ‘entertainment fund.’ It usually lasts us several months (because I usually make a good amount of money selling my gently-used clothing and decor). We’ve had two garage sales together – the first time making almost $500 and the second time making a little over $300.

Do you have any junk to donate to my treasure sale?

 

Our Little Family

A few days ago a teacher-friend of mine, Christie Harty (look at ChristieHartyPhotography.com), took our “family portraits!” We took the pictures at an old, abandoned house in Forney by my school. It was a mini-session, so it was short and sweet-which, I’m sure, is Casey’s favorite. You know how guys don’t like this sort of stuff as much as we girls do, but he was a good sport – actually made me think he enjoyed it…maybe he did! :)

We were hoping to get some cute pictures of the 4 of us (and a couple for a potential Christmas card picture), so we brought both of our sweet animals, Lucy & Ella. That part was pretty interesting….and funny. We have a couple of pictures of Ella almost scratching Lucy’s eyes out – those are the best :)

Anyway, here are some of my favorites! Tell me which ones you think would make the best Christmas card :)

I love the different editing effects she did – the first one is a ‘harder’ look, and the second one has a soft focus

 

The last one is my pick for a Christmas card this year :)

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We both like this one a lot – I think the ‘white out’ in the background is really cool!

A few of the shots when the animals were being uncooperative – which turned out to be some funny pictures!

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Our little family :)

Different colors/lighting

    

Well, that’s all for now! Hope everyone is having a great Monday! I’m at home sick…and hopefully not with the flu!!!

Europe Favorites…

My trip to Europe in 2007 – sometimes I miss it badly – during these times, I look at my pictures! Here are some of the highlights! Enjoy!

 

England: London & Oxford

Big Ben, Oxford University (where Harry Potter was filmed), and the Subway – home to a million tiny mice

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Switzerland: Bern & Luzern

Here we have the Swiss Alps, the longest covered bridge in the world, Luzern’s clock tower, some really cute Swiss homes, and the blue door is the school where we taught at – the International School of Luzern

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 Italy: Venice, Capri, Florence, Castiglione Fiorentino

My friends and I on a gondola ride in a Venetian canal, the valleys, flowers, and trees of Castiglione, the beauty of Capri, and the river in Firenze (Florence)

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Italy:  Rome, Florence, Assisi, Cinque Terra, and Pisa

The Coliseum, The statue of David, ancient ruins in Assisi, one of the 5 villages that we hiked through in Cinque Terra, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

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France: Paris

The courtyard looking down from the Eiffel Tower, the glass pyramid outside the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triumph

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There's a Spirit can ne'er be told

It's the Spirit of Aggieland

This past Thursday night, Casey and I were sitting down to dinner when he told me he had a couple of different options in mind for the weekend. He told me we could do what I had suggested earlier and see a movie Friday night and go on the boat on Saturday, or we could drive to College Station on Friday after work and go to the game on Saturday! I was so ecstatic to hear that, I got on the phone right away to one of our old youth kids who is now a freshman at A&M. She found us two sports passes and pulled us tickets the next morning. We only had to pay $25 for Casey's guest sticker and mine was free! Yippee!

We headed out Friday after I got home from work and we took Lucy (our dog) to my mom's house. We ended up leaving Rockwall at 5pm and made it to College Station by 8.

This was my first time back to College Station since my graduation in May, 2008. I was overcome with all sorts of emotion and started crying as we exited Hwy 6 onto University. Casey thought I was a nut case, although he said he understands. He felt the same way his first few times back to Austin after he graduated. We've been back at least a dozen times since then, though. For me it was a little different waiting almost a year and a half to return. I was sad that things had changed (i.e. new Target, new Chickfila, etc), but I was also just so surprised at how much I missed it. College is the good life for sure!!!

Anyway, that night we ate at Layne's - a famous chicken joint on Texas Avenue. I love their toast! Yum! After that, we made our way around the campus, looking at my old dorm, and some of the places where I had class. Then we went to Scott and Erin's house in Bryan where we stayed the night. They are the ones from the previous post - they stayed with us over Labor Day Weekend.

The next morning we slept in, got ready, and went to pick up Janie at 11:30am to get lunch and saw her super cute room at Traditions as well. We took her to her first experience at Gumby’s. Casey and I LOVE Gumby’s pepperoni rolls. They are amazing. When I went to A&M, and Casey would visit, we always went to Gumby’s. Anyway, Janie liked it, too! Success! :)

After lunch, Janie took us to Nick Garcia’s house. He’s a good friend of Casey’s now, but was a senior in the youth group Casey’s first summer at c|Life. He’s a junior now, and he lives the typical guy-in-college life. Too dirty for my liking, but we did get to sign their living room wall- lol.

After that, Casey and I dropped Janie off and then went to a movie! $3.50 is the best you will ever find for a movie ticket. My goodness, I was so excited…I had just forgotten how cheap they are there! The reason is because they sell alcohol at the theaters in College Station and are able to make up money that way. Funny thing is that I’ve never seen anyone with any in the movie! Anyway, we saw the new Jennifer Aniston movie, Love Happens. It was really good actually. I recommend it for sure. Casey like it, too.

After the movie we headed to a couple tent sales where I got Lucy a super cute doggie bandana! It says “Aggie Dog” with a big paw in the middle :) I also got a pink shirt that I had a while back, but it blew off of the boat one day last summer and sank into the lake. It was a sad day. I was glad to buy another of that same shirt – it was one of my favorites back in the day!

After a couple of tent sales we parked and started our trek to Kyle Field – where the magic happens :) We got to the game probably 30 minutes early and enjoyed the fly over during the national anthem. Casey LOVES the fly overs. I will admit…they are pretty cool. We played the Utah State Aggies. I thought that was weird. There are actually a bunch of different Aggies in different states. I feel that we are the ‘true’ Aggies though :) In any case, we did end beating the Utah Aggies 38-30. It was a little scary there at the end, but good nevertheless.

After the game we made our way back to the car and then ate our last College Station meal at Freebirds. Good stuff. Only 3 more burritos until my 10th free one! :)

Here are some pictures from our eventful weekend! :)

I love this picture because they just revealed this 12 foot replica this weekend for ring day! Whoop!

 

4 jets for the fly over – 1 of them split off to represent lost or fallen soldiers

Famous Aggie Tailgating…

    

Meanwhile, Lucy is back home rooting for her Aggies :)

Labor Day Weekend

Casey and I had an awesome Labor Day Weekend. We filled it with fun, friends, the lake, and shopping! It was much needed for me after the first couple of weeks of school (those are always pretty stressful/hectic), so I was super glad to have it!

Friday night of Labor Day weekend Casey and I went to Twisted Root in downtown Dallas. We saw it on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. They make all sorts of crazy, specialty burgers as well as other neat stuff. It was really good!

Here's a picture of the front...it's actually a pretty cool atmosphere!

Casey waiting for his food!
Enjoying a night out with my cute husband! :)

Hope no one is offended by this, but it has a really funny story. I was looking at the sign trying to figure out if the sofa king was some sort of TV show or award, and finally I said "Casey, what is sofa king?" and he just laughed and laughed at me until I got what I had just said. The trick is obvious once you say it aloud, but I was oblivious.

Our awesome fried basket in the middle, and both of our burgers on each side. The fried basket included fried pickles (my fav!), french fries, onion rings, and fried sweet potato (SOO GOOD)! Yum!

On Labor Day Weekend we had our good friends Scott & Erin stay with us! Scott is Casey's friend from middle school and high school. They were also each other's 'best man' at one another's weddings. Scott met Erin at A&M and got married in January at South Padre. It was a pretty beach wedding, and my first one to attend! We took them out on the boat Saturday and had a great time! It was Scott's first time to ski and he did great! It was our first outing where everyone that went got up on the skis (besides when we go with my mom)! A funny thing happened while we were on the lake...we ran out of gas! So, Casey tied himself to the boat and swam us halfway to a marina before a man on a jet ski helped us out! Scott even got at the back of the boat and pushed while Casey pulled. It was too funny! There is a picture below.

I forgot to mention that Lucy went with us! This was her 2nd time on the boat and she liked it more this time than the first. The first time she seemed cold and scared after she swam. Poor thing!

Lucy & I in our life vests! :)

Scott and Erin on the tube!

Casey letting Lucy stand on him. She doesn't quite comprehend that she floats in the life vest and so she feels like she needs to keep swimming.

Our cute little family, minus Ella (our cat). Lucy looks so funny in her life vest! haha.

Casey pulling the boat to the marina that you see in the background. It was a long way, but he actually got us really close!!
Notice Scott on the tube behind me!

Casey playing with Lucy - he loves her more than I ever thought he would!

SOOO CUTE

Making himself a hot dog. I love eating on the boat! :)

I already know this is borderline obsessed :)

Scott & Erin!

Scott wants a dog SO bad, and Erin was having trouble getting use to the idea, or Lucy, but when this picture was taken she said "I don't want to move my foot because she is laying on it." She warmed up to her :)

Although there are no pictures, I must tell you that Monday was greatness. Casey had the day off (rare), and we spent the day shopping and getting things for our house, washing our cars, and we started watching The Lord of the Rings. It was our 2nd time to see them, but it had been years. They are so good. I'll try to post some pictures of the new fall things that we got for our house as well as the new picture for the bathroom and massive mirror for the dining room! It was a great find!

Anyway, that's our Labor Day Weekend in a nutshell!

Hope everyone has a great week! :)

Teaching is Life (I guess)

This is my 2nd year of teaching. When I go to work Casey says I am really grumpy compared to the summers I have off. This makes me laugh.

This year I have been working a lot harder, even though they say that the 2nd year is easier than the first. I guess I've been working harder because I know what I'm doing this year. Ha ha.

Anyway, all that to say is that I've been so busy I haven't even had time to read other people's blog, much less write my own. So here I am, back in blogging world, but it's a short one and also shows what's been running my life lately.

Year 2 - This was after "Meet the Teacher" in August

1 year under my belt and the 2nd one underway
Our school theme is "Team Smith - where everyone is a winner" -- basically sports, so here is my outside bulletin board for the first day with the kids names on it. I do want to say that I LOVE my students. They are great and it has been fun having 3 classes instead of 2. At times it makes the day go faster. We'll see if that continues :)

Class Rules along with the student's 'station'

empty bulletin board ready for student's work and buckets for their 'table supplies' - also, a funny story behind the lamp...I wanted a lamp like this and happened to see one in my neighbor's trash (before you judge, hear me out)...I went and ASKED them (I didn't just steal it:) and they said it worked just fine, so there ya go!

More colorful word wall than last year.....last year I had the ugly green and yellow one that they gave me (I have to do this thing called Word Junction), but this year I made a fun, pretty one ;)

Mrs. Coats coat made by Rachel - shout out! :) - also, our strategies board for classwork we do together - it already has stuff up there!

There are trophy cases out in the main hall and we had to decorate them as a team - sports theme, like I said - so my A&M stuff was perfect :) My students already say that I'd do anything for A&M - they are close to right :)

So, there ya go! That's my life in a nutshell for the past month. I hope to post some Labor Day stuff soon. Casey and I had a blast when his best friend, Scott and his wife, Erin came to stay with us!

Stay tuned! :)