Happy New Year!

I have been pretty lax on my attempts to keep this blog updated lately but the real reason is that there isn't a whole lot going on in our lives. 2011 started out as another eventful year for us but since September life has finally calmed down.

We started off in February purchasing our first home. Moving in, settling in, and painting took up the next few months.
In April we took a vacation with my parents in Topsail Island. We (and the dogs) definitely enjoyed this.
May brought graduation for me with my Master's in Middle Grades Education.
June was a rough month saying goodbye to my first teaching job in Beaufort County for the shorter commute close to home.
July we hosted a Northern Irish Counselor for the Ulster Project and we truly loved getting to know Barry.
August was spent getting my classroom setup and organized at my new school along with getting to know my new co-workers. Hurricane Irene also gave us the time to finish painting our home since we had nothing else to do.
September brought ECU Football and finally some peace.
October through December were relatively quiet. Somehow in this "quiet" we are constantly busy.

2011 was our first full year married. I made the major move to teach closer to home, leaving the comfort and ease of my first job. To say there have not been major breakdowns in this house would be a lie because the transition was truly difficult. I also figured out that for the past 3 years we've been living on this "high" of graduation #1, engagement, wedding, house, then graduation #2. When I felt myself coming down off this "high" in life I felt kind of lost. But as soon as I got used to the routine of my new school and actually having free time(!) I have grown to truly enjoy it.

I will do my best to keep the blog updated regularly. We look forward to 2012 and have a few things planned. Most importantly we look forward to enjoying our new found "free" time and hanging out with Paisley and Lilly.

Happy Halloween!

From Miss Lilly...

Fall Home Tour

I realized a few weeks ago that I never did a "home tour" since we moved in back in February. We have officially settled in but it's always a work in progress. In August I was getting really antsy to finish decorating the house and since then we have finished up a lot. So here's our house... all decorated for Fall.

Welcome to our home!

Jim, our scarecrow, will greet you on the way up... 

Walk up the porch and enjoy our mums and pumpkins... 

We have chairs on the porch (only because my mom bought them super cheap) but no one really sits there... they are "space fillers"

As you enter the front you'll find the staircase to the left, dining on your right, and living room straight ahead. 

We'll go ahead into the living room, since that's where the guests like to gather.

We love Blake's recliner and the sofas are pretty comfy too. Blake's TV is prominently hung above the fireplace (better than the deer...) and we like the "homey" feel. At the condo we were kind of contemporary but that's really not us. We wanted carpet and we want our living room to be like a home. We want it to be comfortable for all those who visit.

We love our fireplace ... you flip the switch and the fire starts up! Notice my craftiness with the initial pumpkin on the hearth.

 From the living room we'll take a peek into the dining room. Some would say it's a waste of space (because we've only eaten in there once) but I do look forward to hosting dinners (especially when kids arrive) during the holidays. 

Yes -- I do have candy corn as a centerpiece!

We will then go into the kitchen. I LOVE my kitchen. And especially the island. It is pretty much the most amazing thing.

Don't mind the dog crates... they just haven't been moved back into the garage since it's cooled off outside.  And then there's the most fantastic part of the kitchen... the pantry. I heart it. It looks a little unorganized  (yea... just a little) but it really is organized. 

Off the kitchen leading to the backyard we have our screened in porch. It's pretty awesome too. And then a look at our yard where we finally have mostly grass. (When we moved in it was dirt with grass seed.)

Back inside and off the kitchen heading towards the garage we have our laundry room and half bath. Nothing exciting but the location of these two are wonderful.

 On the other side of the living room is our bedroom. Please excuse the fact that we don't have a real comforter ... it's simply too hot to sweat to death while sleeping. 

The master bath is just off the bed room ... there's a tub behind the door and the "man's library" is behind the second door.

Going upstairs we can look down on the living room (awesome!) and then there's the hall leading to the "kids'" rooms.

At the top of the stairs is the attic on your left... we will probably finish it one day for another bedroom. This is one of the room's on my list for Fall organization. Give me a free weekend and we're tackling this.

Going down the hall you'll find my craft room on the right... 

And then go to the end of the hall and the Man Cave/Future Playroom is on your right above the garage. This is the room where you'll almost always find us.

Notice where the deer ended up...

Across the hall you'll find the "Kids'" Bathroom.

And all the way across the hall you'll find the guest bedrooms. We've named the blue room "Paisley's Room" and the multicolored room "Lilly's Room." They haven't figured out how to sleep in there yet...

With that we conclude our tour. Hope you enjoyed it. We welcome all to come hang with us and our puppies! They will love you to death! (Except Lilly -- she takes awhile to warm up to you.)

One Year Anniversary "Gift"

Our anniversary day was pretty low-key. We watched our Pirates get trampled by UNC on Saturday then Sunday was spent at church then football watching in the Man Cave. We thawed out and ate our top cake layer then had (early) dinner at Outback. We chose Outback for 2 reasons: 1. We had a coupon and 2. Hawaii is considered to be on the Australian continent so we were "returning" to our honeymoon location.

For our anniversary "gift" to each other we decided to spend the weekend in New York City. I absolutely LOVE NYC. I could not live there but I do love to visit and live the fast-paced life for a little while. We booked flights, hotels, a show, and excursions and were ready. We left right after work on Thursday for a flight from Raleigh to NYC. We arrived kind of late but the city lights were beautiful. We slept in and got up for a 2 hour Circle Line cruise around the tip of Manhattan. I've never done this before and it was awesome!

When we finished the cruise we went to Central Park, had a hot dog, and watched a random game of softball. These are the kinds of things that are so much cooler in big cities! We walked down Fifth Avenue to see all the fancy stores (and the Apple Store with a dedication to Steve Jobs -- touching), acted like kids in FAO Schwartz, felt real out of place next to Tiffany's, and rode the metro for kicks. We then went up to Top of the Rock which was awesome. (I've also never done this one, we always went up the Empire State Bldg.)

That evening we saw Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall. Radio City is amazing anyways but Cirque was so cool. (Blake LOVED it. Wants to go see another. That's the real achievement.) We hiked it back to the hotel then decided we were too tired to get up and try to be on the Today show... we slept in. Saturday we had breakfast in Times Square, subwayed down to the Financial District and saw Ground Zero. The 9/11 Memorial tickets are sold out until November so we couldn't see much but it was important to visit what we could. It was a very different experience this time than it was 2 years ago -- not as moving because you couldn't actually see the footprints of the buildings. We also saw the protesters by Wall Street (I'm sorry... I don't have the patience for that.) And then we headed to Chinatown. We walked through Chinatown and ended up having lunch in Little Italy (awesome!). And then spent about 2 hours roaming Chinatown shops and making drug "Coach" bag deals. Blake got into the haggling with those Chinese ladies -- fun stuff! We came back uptown, rested, and headed to Times Square for dinner. 

There's nothing like Times Square at night (pic is from the daytime). We had dinner at TGI Friday's overlooking the craziness below and I got a Junior's carrot cake cheese cake for dessert/breakfast.) We came home Sunday morning so we could get the puppies and get settled before Monday was upon us. We thoroughly enjoyed our little vacation and look forward to getting away again soon.

Year Old Cake

Yummm! It was actually still really good!

One Year Ago...

All week I've been saying, "This time last year I was ...." and remembering how calm yet incredibly hectic the days before our wedding was. In some ways it's hard to believe it's already been a year yet in other ways it feels like we've been married for at least three.

In the past year we've fallen in LOVE with Hawaii. We survived our first married holidays. We spent one month looking for a house then bought our first house on Valentine's Day. We vacationed with my parents for a week at the beach. We moved into our new house.I graduated with my Master's Degree. I quit my very first teaching job, packed everything up, moved it and started at a new school closer to home. We took a road trip across the state. We hosted an Irish counselor for the entire month of July. We've painted and decorated our new home. You think we've been busy? Life is finally starting to slow down for us. We really are enjoying just working and coming home to hang with the dogs. We are doing whatever we want to do for the first time in our lives and it's so nice. It's nice to have "us" time and we aren't planning on introducing any other variables into our equation of life for a few more years. [How's that for the math teacher in me?!]

Is it bad that I already look back at our wedding pictures and think "Gosh we looked so young!"? I feel like in the past year we both have really grown up. We've always been way more mature than others our age but this whole marriage thing has really helped us "grow up." The first year of marriage hasn't been all cupcakes and unicorns... marriage is hard work and that's something we're still learning. Having a mom who gets couples divorced for a living I have learned quite a bit about marriage from her. Marriage requires great and total commitment from both parties. It is very different from dating or even living together... A friend of ours posted on Facebook recently that people who lived together before marriage were more likely to split up than people who didn't live together. One thing I've learned this year: I don't think it matters either way. It's about the couple's commitment to each other, communication, and trust. If you don't carve out time just to be with each other the relationship (like any relationship) will deteriorate. I'm not saying you spend every waking moment together (because I would seriously go crazy) and it is incredibly important to still have your "girl time" but dates are a good thing. That's what I've learned this year. I'm excited to see what I learn in the next.

C25k Update

Sooooo I haven't written any updates lately about Couch to 5k which probably means that we've given up. But we haven't. We got to Week 4 around the time Hurricane Irene hit us so we took a "break." Well that turned into an extended break since we were busy all the next week cleaning up, school has been ridiculous (more on that later) and we have had a lot going on. So we started back this week on Week 2 and will begin again.

Honestly it's really amazing how much I miss running. (GaSp! Never thought I would say that!) I have been going to zumba at school which is awesome (even though I don't really get a work out because I'm not coordinated enough...) so hopefully it won't be too hard to get back into running. So look for updates... I'm determined not to give up this time!

Bride/Groom Shoot -- And why I recommend the "Sneak Peak"

Right after our wedding we just couldn't wait to see all the pictures from our big day. We saw a ton of perspectives of our day thanks to wonderful friends who posted us all over the world Facebook. And a few weeks later we saw our "official" pictures from our fabulous beyond fantastic photographer, Ginny. We LOVED our pictures. She was able to capture some amazing shots that day and we will forever be grateful to her for them.

Immediately I began trying to figure out which pictures I wanted printed and just what sizes we needed to fill all those frames/albums we were given as wedding gifts. Of course, being the true Southerner I am, I wanted a big ole wedding picture printed and mounted to hang on our wall for everyone to see for years and years. There were some really sweet and great shots of the two of us but nothing really stood out to me as truly capturing the excitement and love felt between the two of us on the most important of days. A few months after receiving our pictures I figured out why... we were so rushed on the day of our wedding that we didn't take the time to take pictures of just the two of us.

Our wedding was wonderful. Amazing. And exactly how we wanted it. We wanted to be "traditional" by not seeing each other at all before the wedding and until I walked down the aisle so we didn't. We were at the church 4 hours before the ceremony getting ready and taking pictures with the bridal party but didn't see each other. Then 5:00 rolled around, the sanctuary was beyond full, music was playing, we were surrounded by the most amazing family, friends, and God. Our wedding was wonderful. By the time the church was empty and the family and bridal party pictures were taken we were receiving texts and Facebook comments to come enjoy the reception that all our guests were enjoying. So pictures of us were cut short. (And I promise I was one of those bridezillas who had EVERYTHING planned out... so it's not like we didn't go ahead and get going on pictures ASAP.)

Our wedding was wonderful. There are only 2 things I would change about our wedding: bridesmaids dresses and taking pictures before. (The BM dresses were fine, just didn't flatter all the girls... oh well.) I really wanted to be one of those brides that remembers so fondly the view of her groom at the alter on her wedding day. And that it was just us in that sanctuary. But that was so not the case. Let me tell you... walking down that aisle I had soo much more going through my mind than seeing my future husband. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who were there, I didn't want to trip, I wanted to smile and not cry, I wanted to see my future husband, I wanted to say, "hey" to my high school buds who I hadn't seen in forever, I wanted to hug my momma, I wanted to make sure my daddy didn't run down the aisle, and I just wanted to remember all of it. So that whole "moment" of "seeing" my future husband..... yea.... it flew out the window.

The feelings from a wedding can be imitated but not truly repeated. The one thing I regret was that Blake & I didn't get just 30 minutes together on our wedding day to really capture those feelings. While many people disagree (and I used to be one of them) and believe that you shouldn't see your fiance before the wedding, I feel that the "Sneak Peek" is awesome. It is such a special moment for the 2 of you to get to be with each other and enjoy a few minutes of peace in an incredibly hectic day. If I could change just one thing about our wedding it would be this... Blake & I would have met up beforehand to take pictures.

I'm glad that I figured this out before we were married for too long... and before our appearances changed too much. So we got back with our awesome Ginny, got dressed up, and took some more pictures. We're totally happy now. We have our picture to hang on the wall for years and years. And even a few for the Man Cave. Thanks, Ginny! You are amazing! :D

Couch to 5k: Week 2

We completed C25k Week #2 Saturday morning. We were scheduled to run MWF but Blake wanted to sleep in on Friday (meaning getting up at 9 was "too late" because it was already "too hot"...) so being the nice wife I am we got up at 5:15 to run Saturday. He was not happy but I had a hot date with my mom to shop in Raleigh.

So Week 2 wasn't all that bad. We switched things up this week by running for 90 seconds and walking for 2 minutes. The first day my stomach wasn't agreeing with me so I chickened out for the first part of a run but felt bad about that so I totally finished up running it out. I found myself feeling like I could run for more than 90 seconds (wow!) and it didn't take me so long to recover (and no sore legs!) I have figured out how to play with my mind -- when Laura comes on and tells us that it's time to run I pick an object that I think is about 90 seconds away. Usually it's a mailbox or next street. It's one of the habits of "highly effective" teens that we teach in school: Begin with the end in mind. So that's how I begin each run--it's going to "end" at that mailbox so I can totally do this. Blake always leaves me in his dust -- he's a super fast runner -- but I am catching up!

Several people (yea, you know who you are R & A... B is smart enough to join us!) have asked why we are doing C25k. There are several reasons... #1 being the newlywed 9 (or 20) that we have put on and #2 is that we are lazy farts and we need to be in shape. It also is an awesome time for the 2 of us to be together at the end of the day. I have also found that running is helping out with the effects following a collapsed lung. 3 years ago my right lung collapsed for no apparent reason (although I still claim it was the Chick-fil-a sandwich...) and I really haven't been physically active since. There are days when my lung really, really hurts... like I have to sit really still for several minutes to get it to go away. And deep breaths can be hard. BUTTT this has really enhanced my breathing--exercising my lung and helping it go stronger again.

Blogging about this is helping to keep us on track... Week 3 starts tomorrow. I hope I can run for 2 minutes!

Officially

I have officially "become" Mrs. Smith...

Just sayin'.

Decorating the Classroom Part 1

Here's another midnight madness "craft"...

I took a plain ole plastic crate... 

And ran a ribbon through the slots then tied a bow.

Now you can't say these aren't waaaay cuter than the plain crates above! 

C25k

The title probably sounds like some crazy abbreviation for some crazy text language but it's not... It's just Couch to 5k. I've heard of the program for several years always thinking it would be "good" for me to do but yea... I'm not motivated. And then one of the moms from the Ulster Project was talking about it and gave me this website  where you can download the podcast free. And free I like! I asked Blake if he wanted to join and surprisingly he did (well not so surprisingly because we have both gained the newlywed 9... or 20.) So I used a $50 egift card from Target to buy Blake an ipod shuffle, dusted off my old nano, bought myself some killer hot exercise clothes from TJ Maxx (because obviously I have to dress the part), found a hat to hide my do, and bought the fancy arm straps for the ipods. (Shew! So much for the "free" podcast.)

Finally today we went off on our first run. We loaded up the kids and headed over to my parents' hood because they have more than 3 streets and quite a few streets in the shade. I have to say I am really surprised that I enjoyed it. You warm up for 5 minutes then for the next 25 minutes you alternate running 60 seconds then walking for 90. I am really proud to say that I ran all but one of the 8 times she wants you to run. (You have to understand just how out of shape I am. I get out of breath going up our stairs...) And that one time I totally walked super fast. ANDDD I actually enjoyed the exercise! Afterwards I felt so energetic that I actually washed the dishes after dinner. (wow!)

Right now my legs feel very weak and I'm starting to get tired but hopefully we can keep motivated (which is easy to do with the girl on the podcast, Laura) and get to running a 5k in 9 weeks!

Midnight Craft Madness

It's not quite midnight but it pretty much is for me (who normally goes to sleep at 8:30!)... I've been feeling very crafty lately and in a total mood to make things pretty (probably because everything in this house is some shade of BROWN!) so after putting the kids to bed tonight I got busy and made this...

I figure it's pretty and purple so it will go well in the classroom. It started off looking like this ...

(no... the time is not correct at this point.) I then cut out some pretty pretty paper by tracing the circumference of the clock. I punched a hole in the middle so it would go over the hands of the clock and we had this ...

If you look closely to the left of the red hand I made a biiiig boo boo. But I wasn't scared and I magically fixed it with extra paper then added the numbers (and a battery). I think it turned out pretty neat. It's amazing what a little paper and hot glue will do to an ordinary clock.

Total Cost: Clock from Ikea $1.99 + Paper from Michaels $0.59 + Numbers $2.99 = $5.60ish -- not bad! Next time I'm thinking a personalized clock or of course an ECU clock.