Dominoes night (the game, not the pizza)

We had such a great time last night playing dominoes with Forrest and Ashley -- a night that included potato soup and a batch of carrot cupcakes that didn't make it through the night. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Randomocity

• Lola has been super cuddly lately.
• Banana Nut Larabars are so good!
• I can't wait for couple's retreat next month.
• Saturday is dominoes (the game, not the pizza) night.
• The closet has a door.
• My husband is just so cute when he's sleepy.
• So is my cat. 
• I'm glad I like Parks and Recreations this season, because I was kinda disappointed in it last season.
• As I write this, we may get some snow Friday night.  I'm kinda hoping we do, but it probably won't be much.
• Oh Mrs. Smith, why can't I find your Strawberry Cobbler anymore?  It was so good and so different.
• I should plan a trip to Target soon to buy plates.  I've found my perfect plates.  They're rectangular.  And they're actually serving trays.  But small. 
• My sister wants me to go to Zumba with her next time I'm home.  Have anyof you tried Zumba?  Do you like it?  I'm curious.
• I need to find new awesomely mellow songs.  Any suggestions?

And another batch of random photos from my iPhone.

Me and the little brother.

Cute packaging tape from Michael's.

Putting together food bags after Sunday School.

A cute gift from the District Technology Coordinator that I forgot to share with you.

The Mindstorms robot one of my students put together in Engineering class (or, what Steve Jobs should have introduced on Wednesday).

Me, with my suddenly super-cuddly kitty.

Long kitty is long.

We played this one day in Engineering class.  Yes, one of my students supplemented the regular game pieces with his Pokemon.  :)

Lunch with my Jenny.

Me and Miss Lola again.

One of my fave sweaters.  I'll have to tell you about my love-hate relationship with Old Navy sometime.

I think frost is pretty.  Except when I have to scrape it off my windshield at 6:30 in the morning.


Have a great Saturday, everyone! 

Friday Fill-Ins. And still no soda (and I'm still holding it together!)

I'm feeling the need for something consistent here on the blog, so I think I'm going to start doing Friday Fill-Ins every week.

1. Wouldn't it be easy if soda didn’t exist? That about sums up my week.  
2. Bathroom duty is better than ever! Seriously, I really like talking to students in a not so class-roomy way. 
3. I love the taste of pumpkin cupcakes. I think I’ll make some this weekend. 
4. Some cleaning needs to go on in the living room. Because we have company coming over Saturday night! 
5. The first thing we're going to do is wake up and start the coffee Friday morning. I switched to Italian Roast yesterday morning…good stuff! 
6. Icicles go drip, drip, drip; yes, that’s pretty much what they do. Ha ha!  By far the most challenging fill-in on this list. 
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a possible inch of snow, tomorrow my plans include dominoes night and Sunday, I want to go to the new Dollar Tree!  It’s the little things, right?

And of course, here's your no-soda update: 

 

Day three without soda (otherwise known as Wednesday) was surprisingly easy. Probably because I was ridiculously busy that day. Day four went well, too. I didn't think it would, because I was super tired when I woke up...I usually want a soda on days like that. But it was a very good day. I've been drinking mostly water, and a little pineapple juice, grape juice, and Life Water (cherry pomegranate) here and there.  I like flavor. Oh, and of course, coffee. Today, I forgot to add creamer before I left. And, much to my surprise, I didn't mind. (Just so you know, I’m giving up soda, but not caffeine. I’m just interested in getting rid of those 200+ ridiculously empty calories I had been taking in every day.)

 

I hope you all get to take it easy this weekend!  Happy Friday!

She gets me.

There aren't many people who know me and truly get me.  I can confidently say that my friend Ashley does. 

On our Bourbon Chase road trip back in October, I introduced the girls to what might possibly be the cutest video on YouTube. Hands down one of my absolute favorites!

The other night, I went over to try out Ashley's treadmill (we're thinking of getting one of our own, but I wanted to make sure I could actually run on one first -- haha), and while I was over there, she gave me this:

Oh yes, she gave each month it's own special caption.  Can you tell that I am ridiculously happy about this?!  :)

Collections. And a few other things.

Lately, I've noticed several bloggers sharing their collections, so I decided to join in on the fun! 

I am so excited about Toy Story 3!  Mainly because of these little guys -- they might be my favorite part of the first two movies!  Oooo-ooooo-ooooh.  :)

I'm rediscoving my affection for nail polish.  I had a nice collection when I was in high school, but since then I've only occasionally cared about my nails.  But I just think the new colors I purchased recently are the bee's knees.  (Nevermind.  That expression is best left in the past.)

I'm starting an old camera collection.  My parents gave me the Kodak Brownie Bullet on the left last Christmas, and I found the Polaroid on the right earlier this month.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more.

Buttons!  I don't need to say much more, except that my purple button jar needs some serious filling.

And of course, I have a jar of my Ma's (my grandma's) buttons.  They will forever stay separated from the lesser (albeit larger) button collection.  I'm starting my own collection of nifty buttons that I've come across.  I'll share that with you sometime in the future.

My powder boxes...I collected these during the late college-first year of teaching phase of my life.  But I still keep my eyes open for any pretty ones I might come across.

And someday I'll have to share with you my Melmac dish collection.  I have a couple of very cute sets that are currently at my parents' house...I should to bring them home soon.  (I'm sure my Mom is in agreement -- haha!)

Oh, before I forget -- you still have a few days left to participate in the current challenge over at TAAFOMFT -- favorite scent/aroma.  We'd love to see your layout/project!

And, my friend Sarah is hosting a fun giveaway over at her blog!  Go check it out!

And finally, I wanted to update you on my no-soda progress for Tuesday.  The day started out with a headache -- probably a combo of quitting soda and the front that moved through last night and started messing with my sinuses.  Oh, and I wanted a Dr. Pepper.  Badly.  It was helpful that I was home for a snow day, because there was no soda in the house.  (Well, unless you count that open can of Dr. Pepper that been in the fridge for over a week.  Even I'm not that desperate.  Still, I should probably empty it anyway, if for no other reason than to give you the impression that I do occasionally clean out the fridge.)  Thanks for the supportive comments yesterday -- you're a great accountability partner!  I do not want to have to report to you guys that I broke down and had a soda, so you're definitely keeping me in line.  :)

PS -- I fixed the post from Sunday!  Now it actually makes sense. 

My vision has come a long way!

Over Thanksgiving break, my mom sent me home with a bag of things from my old room.  The first item I noticed was my first pair of glasses from 9th grade.  Seriously, I can't believe I ever wore these things.

PS - Oh yeah, try to imagine the "then" picture with braces.  :)

Focusing on a goal this week.

One of my goals this year is to give up soda.  Like, for good.  I'm starting with a small goal of getting through this week.  Today (Monday) was day one.  And I did very well!  Yay!

But I wouldn't mind a little encouragement, if you don't mind.  Because I like the Dr. Pepper.  And the Cherry Coke.  Okay, I'm gonna stop here and think about water. 

Hey Amy...

I'm getting pretty good at this! :)

 

Edited:  Okay, this was supposed to be a picture of some granny squares.  Apparently, posting pictures was not the thing I was good at that I was referring to.  :P

Edited again:  Fixed. 

Adventures in Christmas - Bob Evans and Christmas with the in-laws

Note:  I'm not finished blogging about Christmas.  At this rate, expect to see these posts through July.  :)

I wanted to share some photos from Christmas with Mike's family.  Every year, we have dinner at Bob Evans (correction: the orignal Bob Evans). 

It snowed that day, and it made for a pretty picture.

This year we switched up tradition a little, and waited until the next day to open gifts. 

We also caught a play at the local theater, The Rednecks Undo Christmas.  (I went, as much as I dispise words like redneck.)  As it turns out, I have a cousin who was in the production.  He's the one in the pink dress, and one of the bright spots in the production.  His wife also works at the theater (that's the two of them in the last photo).  It was interesting to see my family members while visiting Mike's family.