Thursday, December 20, 2012

Why do I only post when I'm sick?

Hello Thursday...another sick day from work. I have now blown through my 5 paid days that I'm allotted to take off for the year. 3.5 of them have been sick days. 3.5 sick days in 4 months of school. I thought I was supposed to get sick in my FIRST year of teaching, not my THIRD!!!   

Anyway, I digress. The main point of this post was to participate in It's OK Thursday!

It's OK...
...to feel guilty about taking so much time off right before Christmas break
...to watch Gossip Girl ALL DAY on your two sick days off 
...to not get off the couch at all on either one of your sick days
...to be excited about being able to STOP feeling guilty about being sick after school lets out at 4pm today.
...to have an "End of the World" dinner tonight with your fiance that includes filet mignon, asparagus, twice baked potatoes, and champagne.
(no we do not really believe the world is going to end tomorrow. It's a joke.)
...to be a little nervous/worried about your appointment tomorrow.

Christmas Eve is 4 days away, ya'll! 
We will be leaving to go to Z's mom's house on the 23rd--so that gives me only 3 days. I still have lots of presents to wrap, cookies to bake, and a house to clean. 
Oh boy.

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Letters

Happy Friday, ya'll. I'm still stuffed from Turkey Day! It's nice to have the day off to relax and to have no real plans. We're going to head back to our house in just about an hour and will probably lounge for the rest of thr weekend!

Friday's letters!

Dear Ipad, thanks for being so convenient! I didn't want to pull my laptop to start this post anyway. Dear dog, I'm sorry you have to wear that silly cone. I hope the fleas leave you soon! Dear Blogger, thanks for having a handy-dandy 'save' button so that when 3G goes out on the ride home, I can finish my post later. Dear family, I thoroughly enjoyed our time yesterday. Thanks for being so awesome. Dear food, you tasted SO delicious last night...however, my stomach was not happy that I decided to consume so much of you yesterday.  Dear lesson plans, thank you for being so easy to make this week! I like testing weeks. Dear Sissy, I can't wait for our birthday shenanigans on Tuesday...you'll be so excited once you find out what we're doing. teeheehee. Dear fiancĂ©, thank you for being so incredible. I am still in awe of how I got so lucky. Dear ridiculous Black Friday shoppers, I'm currently sitting at home in my sweatpants, relaxing with my fiance instead of standing in line for hours to save just a few dollars. Priorities, folks.

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their long weekend...now that all of my papers have been graded and lesson plans have been written, I can spend the rest of my time relaxing with this guy! :)

xoxo



Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Engagement Pictures

I never shared all of our awesome engagement pictures with you guys...we took them one early freezing Saturday morning early this month. I wanted to do pictures during the fall because we're getting married in the fall next year, and when we send out Save the Dates, I want them to have the same feel as when we get married next year. I don't know if that makes any sense in anyone else's brain except mine.

We met my cousin downtown in my hometown, and took advantage of the beautiful scenery. We stopped by restaurants that weren't quite open yet, ducked into doors that were beautiful, and even ventured onto the train tracks--where a train swept by just about 5 minutes after we left!

Lauren did a wonderful job taking our pictures and Z and I had an absolute blast...he even mentioned that he would like to do it again sometime. :)

Check out her website if you're in central/eastern NC and need someone to take your pictures!








That's just a few of them...I'll share the rest in a later post.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Break! We're off to visit my family in Kernersville tomorrow for lunch, and we'll spend the night at Z's mom's house tomorrow night. Friday-Sunday it's nothing but rest and relaxation before putting in the final 3.5 weeks before Christmas break arrives!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

It's Okay...

It's Thursday, and we all know what that means!

Time for me to link up with Neely for it's OK Thursday!
It's OK
  • to want this week to be over already...next week is a one day week!
  • to not tutor this afternoon just so I can go home and unwind--having a meeting every day after school for two weeks can exhaust a girl
  • To really be really excited that I hit my goal weight...
    • ...and to now be looking forward to the buffet of "bad food" that was promised to me once I did
  • to sit in front of the TV and refuse to get up and cook dinner because I was in a bad mood (I may have done this last night)
  • to be really sad that I have to wait 6 more months for the next book in the Crossfire series.
  • to want all of this wedding planning stuff to be OVER so we can just be married already...sheesh.


That's all that my little brain can produce right now. Kiddos will be here soon. Enjoy your Thursday, loves!
I'll leave you with one of my FAVORITE pictures from our engagement session from a few weeks ago.



Friday, November 2, 2012

Sweet, Wonderful, Dear Friday.

Dear Friday, thank you for finally showing your face. I've missed you since the last time we saw each other. Dear children, thank you for the cold.....or not. Dear weather, thanks for FINALLY holding up so we can have our engagement pictures tomorrow! So excited. Dear David's Bridal, I'm only coming to my appointment tomorrow because I feel obligated. You've already pissed me off once, don't do it again. Two strikes and you're out. You're welcome--for giving you a second chance. Dear fiance, thank you for putting up with all of my crazy moods lately. You're a saint. Dear wine, thank you for always being so tasty...you're especially tasty after a hard day at work. Dear nail ladies, thank you for entertaining me while I was the only one in your establishment this evening. You were very friendly and kind!

Enjoy your weekend, friends! We'll be doing lots of wedding things tomorrow and lots of lazy things on Sunday. :)

Thursday, October 18, 2012

It's Okay

Hayyyyy it's Thursday. And that means that tomorrow is Friday! 
Today it's ok...
to drink a glass of wine as soon as I  get home, before dinner is even ready.

to want to go to bed at 6:30pm.

to give the pets treats for no good reason at all (they might be spoiled...)

that I'm really hoping tomorrow goes by quickly so I can get on the road out of town!

to be depressed about the fact that I left my wallet AND your coffee cup at work...
(...tomorrow is Starbucks day, people. I'm screwed).

to think that my fiance really is some sort of a saint because he offered to pay for my weekly Starbucks day tomorrow.

to want to tutor the same 10 kids all day every day, not just on Thursdays. Like for real. I want that to be my job.

and finally...
it's ok to be absolutely exhausted and feel like a zombie.
In the past 3 days I've worked 34 hours and only slept 15. 
Home girl is about to go to bed around 7pm tonight.
No lies.

Happy Friday Eve!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

WILW

Happy Wednesday! It's rare for me to be able to link up during the morning--but I'm under strict instructions from my doctor not to go back to work today or to talk/whisper for the next 24 hours. Should be fun. I've had this crud for 6 days now and  I'm pretty glad to finally have some medicine!


I'm loving that the fall weather is finally here! I've been able to wrap up in a sweater and put my boots on the last few days.

I'm loving that finally, after 8 weeks of school, my kiddos and I are finally getting into our groove. I've squashed [hopefully] most of my behavior issues and gotten my schedule under control!

I'm loving that our wedding is only 11.5 months away...I'm sure they'll fly by!

I'm loving that although I don't feel great, I was able to enjoy drinking my coffee and talking to Z this morning without having to rush out the door.

I'm loving that I can finally see things clearly with my new glasses...it's been interesting having to adjust to wearing them all the time but I can certainly see better.

And of course I'm loving my wonderful husband to be!

 I'm going to go lounge now and take full advantage of my doctor-forced day off of work. :)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

I'm alive.

I promise. I'm still alive. Work and planning this wedding have taken OVER my life! I barely have any time to breathe, let alone to blog!

As of tomorrow, we will have been engaged for 3 months. We've made some good progress in those 90 days. Here's what we've already done:

  • Chosen a date (September 28, 2013) and a venue (River Landing)
  • I  went dress shopping and said YES to the dress!
  • A dear friend of ours has offered to be our wedding planner.
  • We have chosen our cupcakes (Gigi's)...I'm not a fan of cake, so I wanted cupcakes!
  • We have our engagement pictures this weekend. So excited that this lady will be taking them!
Our Next Steps:
  • Find bridesmaids dresses
  • Find and book a photographer and a  DJ
  • Honeymoon plans!
I think we're doing pretty well for still being 11.5 months away from "I Do"! I will be working full time until June, when I take some time off next school year to put finishing touches on the big day. We also have plans to move to California some time in the next few years, so our newlywed lives will be up in the air!

Work is going well--we're finally in the swing of things and into our routine. The first quarter is almost over--we start conferences next week! I love all of my kiddos, even though they drive me crazy some days.

That's about it for us right now...like I said, work and wedding.
I'm hoping to start updating more...now that we've tackled most of the big wedding things! :)

Toodles!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Goodbye, Summer...

Farwell, sweet, sweet summertime. Tomorrow, school starts. Tomorrow, lots of things that I have gotten used to in the last 6 weeks will go away...
No more getting up with Z at 7.
No more fixing my coffee and then drinking it on the couch while cuddled up with Z...
...while we watch Dr. Phil for hours on end.
No more Law and Order marathons on Netflix

No more working out mid-morning while the house is quiet and no one is there.
No more lunch dates.
No more weekday shopping trips with Sissy.
No more pool days with Megan.

But what I DO have to look forward tomorrow, as a new school year starts:
Bonding with my THIRD class.
seeing those smiling faces walking in the door every morning
Stories as told by 8 and 9 year olds.
Getting to hear all about Z's day when I get home.
Getting a few days off here and there.
Loving from my kitty when I get home
Working out after a hard day at work
Laying in bed at night exchanging work stories.
....Christmas break! ;-)

I've been working hard for the last week and a half to get my room perfect--I had to move across the hallway, I'm going from teaching all subjects to only teaching reading, AND they completely renovated our building. This year will be a year of growth and change and I couldn't be more excited!!! This is what my room looks like as of right now:
my desk area
Behind my desk.
We want our kids to be college ready so I added some UNCG spirit!
The reading corner
All books are lexiled and labeled

my pom-poms, genre posters, and vocab wall
Reading strategies and skills posters

read around the world wall

Data wall and inquiry board

Student work board

Looking into the room from the door to the left

Looking into the room from the door to the right

The kids are going to be here in about an hour and 15 minutes so I'm going to scarf down some dinner and do some last minute things...good luck to everyone who starts school this week!! :)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

On Planning This Wedding...

Please let me start by saying I am over the MOON excited to be getting married.
I can't wait to start our lives together and live happily ever after.

Now, with that being said....the whole shebang isn't going to plan itself.
We went to the Bridal Show expo at the fairgrounds yesterday...and if I thought I was overwhelmed with the thought of planning this wedding yesterday, then I'm not sure what word I can use to describe how I'm feeling today.

Where do I start? Who do I need to call? Who can we realistically afford? For someone with bad anxiety, planning a wedding and keeping a calm head is going to be very difficult.

 I've been told by multiple people that I shouldn't necessarily hire a wedding planner, that I can do it all myself because I'm such an organized person. Many people in my family are willing to help out, and one of my bridesmaids is married--so she has experience planning a wedding.

 HOWEVER....this bride [and her groom] will be working full time while planning their wedding. Do we hire one for our sanity? To keep us on track? Is it worth the money? Will I regret my decision not to hire one when I'm three weeks away from getting married, in a corner crying in the fetal position because I'm so overwhelmed?

We've got a budget set, a ballpark estimate of a date, and I'm working on a guest list. We've got the wedding party set and know who our officiant will be. But other than that, I'm clueless. I've contacted a few venues and scheduled a few appointments. Am I going in the right direction? 


So many thought running through my head. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll leave you with a picture from the Wedding Show yesterday!

"One cannot live on cake and mimosas alone"

Friday, August 10, 2012

Friday's Letters

Linking up with Ashley today for Friday's letters! :)

Dear Friday, I'm unsure of how I feel about you today...this means school is thismuch closer. Dear bloggy readers, I'm so sorry for slacking this week...it's crunch time at school! Dear school, please be finished with construction by the time school starts Tuesday. I'm begging you. Dear classroom, thanks for coming together so quickly! You're a dear. Dear holes where my wisdom teeth used to reside, please stop hurting. I have no more time to agonize over you. Dear rogue food, please stop getting stuck in said holes! Dear fiance, I can't wait for date night tonight! Yummy food, a movie, and lots of cuddles. Can't wait. Dear wedding show, you better be worth the $8 I paid for tickets tomorrow. If not, we're gonna fight. Dear self, stop staying at work so late. You have a home to tend to! Dear guests coming tomorrow, please don't judge my dirty house. I've been working overtime this week.

It's teacher workday week...that means school starts NEXT WEEK. Holy moly it crept up on me fast! We're going on a date tonight, and to the bridal show at the fairgrounds Saturday, and then my last workday is Monday. School starts Tuesday!!! eeeek!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, loves!
<3

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Two days worth of proof that airports hate me.

My apologies for being gone for so long!

I spent an absurd amount of hours in an airport about a week and a half ago...I went on a 48 hour business trip and I'm almost positive I spent more time in the airport/on a plane than I did at my conference. ugh. 

Be prepared--this is much longer and detailed than I had originally intended...but in order to get my frustrations across, you have to know the entire story.

***

The first day of travel, my flight was scheduled to depart at 12:55, with a 40 minute layover in New Jersey. So, like a good passenger, I got to the airport around 11:30 after having an early lunch with Z. By the time I got finished checking in and through security, my flight was already delayed. Fast forward 2.5 hours, and we finally get on the plane at 2pm. We then proceeded to sit on the plane for another...oh...2 hours before we finally took off. Sheesh.

I landed in New Jersey around the time I was supposed to be landing in my final destination. Luckily I didn't have class until the next morning, so I wasn't in a hurry. Just frustrated. My kindle wouldn't work, my phone was dying, and I was both hungry and tired. At this point I've spent 6 hours in an airport. 

Turns out, my connecting flight to Michigan had also been delayed a ridiculous amount of time. Something was up with the airport that day, and almost all of the flights were running multiple hours behind. Lucky for me, I got to catch my original connecting flight. I finally landed in Michigan around 10:00 that night...4.5 hours after I was supposed to.

I had class all day Wednesday and Thursday. I gathered lots of new information into my little brain and then skedaddled right back to the airport after being in class all day on Thursday--in fact, I even had to leave class early to make my flight. At this point, it was 4pm, I had been up for almost 12 hours, and I was running on about 4 hours of sleep.

We all know how this story goes, don't we?

My flight is at 6pm, so I get to the airport at 4:00 to find out that yet again, my flight into Newark is already delayed. I proceed to throw a fit ask the guy very nicely if there is a different flight that I can take. He tells me that the flight is only delayed by 15 minutes, so I should be fine. 

Pause. 

I had been talking to Z by text message all afternoon, and he had been keeping up with my flight. He knew that Newark was already posting 90 minute delays, and there was a possibility that my flight could be delayed even further. But did I push the issue? Nah, I figured I'd be fine. If the guy at the ticket counter says i'll be fine, then I'll be fine.

So, I decided to grab Starbucks, take advantage of the free-yet slower than my Grandma-WiFi that the airport offered to blog about my hatred of airports and burn off some time. At this point, it was around 5:00. I figured I would go ahead and go through security.

I get through security, make it to my gate, and see a departure time of not 6:15, the 15 minute delay that I had been told, but 7:00. Already a 60 minute delay. At this point, I've got my cranky pants on. I was tired. I decided that my best option would be to find a secluded seat in the corner of this very tiny airport and take a nap until boarding. 

MAYBE 15 minutes passes. I was drifting off to sleep, and I hear the dreaded words: 
Your flight has been cancelled.
So here I am, crankypants in full force. After going through what I had been through on Tuesday, I was not a happy camper. I was very tired, stuck in a state I knew nothing about, and getting very frustrated. I made my way to the ticket counter and asked the nice person to find me another flight home. 

Lucky me--there was a flight to Chicago that was supposed to leave at 5:00, but that had been delayed until 6. They rerouted my luggage, gave me a boarding pass, and I headed across the airport  the aisle to my new flight. It put me home at exactly the same time I had originally planned to be home. Relief.

I get to Chicago and have lots of time to kill. I lost an hour of time AND my flight didn't leave until 9pm. I wandered through the airport--well, not really wandered...I was switching carriers, so I had to switch terminals. Allllllll the way across one of the largest airports in the country. I get to terminal 1 where United is, go to the help counter to get a boarding pass, and the people CAN'T PRINT IT. They talk gibberish to people on the phone for about 15 minutes while I stand there, all while my crankypants get increasingly tighter and my stomach begins to make baby dinosaur noises. 

They send me back to terminal 2, where my flight apparently will be departing from. I go to the ticket counter there, and the people STILL CANNOT PRINT MY BOARDING PASS.   The lady takes my license and tells me to wait a little while, that she'll fix it. I wait. and wait. and wait. I start a new book. I try to take a nap. The baby dinosaur noises in my stomach are getting louder. Eventually they start sounding like a full grown dinosaur, so I go back up to the ticket counter. A different person is there, and I explain to her that not once, but twice, people have attempted to print my boarding pass but it's locked up in some magical system where no one can get their hands on it. At this point I'm thinking I'm being Punk'ed. Thank goodness this lady was able to finally fight the magical dragons of boarding pass hoarders, and I finally got it.

By this time, the dinosaur in my stomach was desperate to get out. I abandoned my diet and headed straight for McDonald's. This girl does not make very good food choices when stressed. As boarding time approached closer, I got anxious. I was excited to get home.

About 15 minutes before boarding, my coworker, who ended up being on the same flight as me, informs me that our flight has been delayed. I'm sure that he thought I was going to come out of my chair and grow 15 heads, the way that I looked at him. There was nothing we could do about it--our flight was the last scheduled flight of the night back to Raleigh. So we wait.

We wait. And wait. And wait. Damn if our flight wasn't delayed 2 stinkin hours. Now remember, the flight wasn't even originally supposed to take off until 9pm. That now puts us at 11pm takeoff in a different time zone, a two hour flight, and a 2am arrival at home. I don't normally sleep on planes, but I'm pretty sure I conked out for almost the entire flight back to Raleigh. 

I landed in Raleigh right around 2am--2 hours after scheduled. I had just spent another 10 hour day in an airport. 20 hours total over the course of two days, all for 8 hours worth of class and knowledge.

I go to baggage claim to find my luggage and what do you know--not there. Somehow, it had gotten on the earlier flight back to Raleigh and was stored in an office. I grabbed my luggage, thanked the man, and proceeded outside to find Z. I will be more than happy to not see the inside of any kind of airport for a very, very long time.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

It's Official.

I hate airports. 
Rather, I hate airports when there are delays. 
5 hour delays to be more specific.
Or two hour ones. Either way. 
I hate sitting in airports. 
I hate airports with no free WiFi OR charger ports for my phone. 
One or the other would be fine. 
I hate when the airport tricks you by putting a Starbucks BEFORE security and make you forget that you can't take drinks past security so you have to throw your full coffee away.
I hate sitting in an airport and realizing that all the books on your Kindle are archived and won't let you access them--and then the NO FREE WIFI comes into play and you become stranded without reading material.
I hate having to pay $7 for a stinkin' case of veggies.
I hate having a headache and then having to sit in a packed airport.


Can you guess where I am right now?

Saturday, July 21, 2012

The 411: me

I've seen this link up floating around and figured it would be the best way to put myself out there. I've started being more dedicated to this little bloggy, and I'm recently acquired a few new followers. I'm hoping to get my software-savvy fiance to help me make a "me" tab for my blog, and then I'll move this there...but until then, this is what you get :)
1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?
  I started this blog probably about three years ago. I was in college and in a bad relationship. It was an outlet. I wasn't very dedicated. I blogged maybe once a month. After I moved home and began a new relationship with my now husband-to-be, I deleted everything from the past and started over. I've been blogging consistently for about two years now. I blog about my relationship, our very recent adventures in wedding planning, and my adventures in the classroom.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
 Goooo Spartans! I went to UNCG, in good ole' Greensboro, NC. While there, I got my BS in Elementary Education. They have one of the best education programs in the nation.

3. Where have you traveled?
  I was never much of a travel bug until I met Z. I had traveled to Florida once, but other than that I pretty much stayed in NC, SC, or VA. That summer I also had the opportunity to go to Vegas to babysit for a family friend. While I was there, I realized that there was more out there than little North Carolina. In the last year I've been to New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Missouri, Michigan (soon to be twice), and Illinois.


4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
 I would want to pay off all of my mom's debt and then buy a beautiful new house if the money allowed. :)

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?
  1. dirty dishes in a sink (but I'm getting better)
  2. people who are late
  3. wrinkled sheets.
--I will even go as far as to make Z get out of the bed so I can straighten the bottom sheet. Our hotel bed in NYC was SO comfortable but the bottom sheet wasn't fitted so it wrinkled extra fast...I swear I spent three straight nights trying to get that thing to stay tight. Fail.

6. What is your favorite movie?
Movies that I can (and have) watched over and over again includeC razy, Stupid Love, any of the Harry Potter Movies, Rent, Coyote Ugly, Remember the Titans, the Blind Side.

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?
  I'm a wine-o. I love Moscato and white zinfandel. However, I'm trying to lose a ridiculous amount of weight currently on a diet, so I've tried to stop drinking pretty much anything but water. I may have had two glasses of wine last night. Oops. Otherwise I LOVE  sweet tea. I'm from the south, where Bojangles sweet tea is a staple.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?
  As a teacher, I've had lots of "me" time this summer while Z has been working and we aren't traveling. My favorite thing to do in the afternoon is to curl up on the couch with my kitty and watch Law and Order: SVU. I'm sort of addicted. I also love to read. I've finished two, soon to be three, books this summer alone.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
  Easy. Target or Banana Republic.

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.
  The most recent embarassing moment that really sticks out in my head is a few years back, when I was a nanny. I called out sick one day because I was having some problems...down there...and I needed to go to the doctor. When I went back to work, the dad sat me down and asked me "well, are you or aren't you?". He was asking me if I was pregnant! I had been wearing skirts, baggy pants and flowy dresses because I didn't want anything to touch me, not because I was trying to hide a baby bump! I had to reveal to him that I was not, in fact, pregnant--but that I had an...infection...that needed to be taken care of.

11. What day would you love to relive again?
  The day that we got engaged. I loved blogging about it and being able to relive the feelings and emotions. It was a perfect day and I was surrounded by some of my favorite people.

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?
  I don't really know...although I'm pretty much in love with Reese Witherspoon and Emma Stone.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
  When I was a kid I worked with my dad at Domino's (he was a supervisor for the stores that my aunt and uncle owns). When I got legally old enough to work, my first job was at Chick-Fil-A. When I got old enough to drive, I landed a job as a camp counselor at the YMCA. I waited tables for the first few years of college, and then I was a nanny for two years. I had a few random jobs here and there in between. I wasn't very good at holding down  a job during college, except for my nannying position. Oops.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.
That's me with my best friends from college...i'm in the middle.
Funny how things change.
15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?
  Fiji, Hawaii, the Carribean, somewhere tropical!! Honeymoon, anyone? ;-)

16. Show us the most current picture of you or you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you. 
our two year anniversary
July 6
picture credit to Lauren
my beautiful family
17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?
  Our hope is that we will be married and living in California. I'm not sure if I want to keep teaching or not. Z has always had a dream to live there, and even though I will miss my family, I will do anything to give that boy his dream.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Letters

Dear Friday, please be good to me. This is my last "free" Friday before school starts back. Dear Wisdom Teeth, enjoy your time left in my mouth. Next Friday you'll be history! Dear Netflix, thanks for fueling my addiction to Law and Order. Dear New York City, I miss you already. I'll be back soon, I promise!! Dear pets, please stop fighting. I would hate to have to put you in your separate kennels. Dear computer, please stop being silly. We all know you aren't ready to die. Come on...pink polka dotted computers NEVER die! Dear sugar cravings, please, please, please go away. I'm trying really hard to change my body and you aren't helping. Dear fiance, thanks for being so wonderful, even when I'm moody. I love you to the moon and back! Dear glasses, I know I'm supposed to wear you, but it's just so hard to remember to keep putting you on and taking you off. Can you just put yourself on my face when it's time? Thanks. Dear classroom and wedding, I have lots of brilliant ideas for you--but i'm not so sure I can make them work. I am not creative nor do I have tons of extra time to do these things. Dear Pinterest, you are the cause of those brilliant ideas. Damn you! Stop being so awesome. Dear summertime, please don't leave me. We haven't spent nearly enough time together.

With all my love (or not so much),
-Katie

This weekend will be the first time in four weeks that we will be home all weekend with no plans...it's an understatement to say that I'm really freaking excited about it. Summer is swiftly coming to an end...I'll be in MI for work on Tues-Thurs this week, have my wisdom teeth out on Friday, and the next week (my last free week of summer) I desperately need to get into my classroom to work. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS swimming in my head right now. I can't even deal.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

It's Okay

Thursday!!! That means it's almost Friday! :)
It's Ok...

...to be really excited about burning just a few more calories during your run today.
...to spend hours and hours on Pinterest--planning a wedding and being a teacher will do that to you!
...to be really, really, REALLY nervous about getting your wisdom teeth out next week.
...to be ready for the school year to start back up.
...and to also not be ready at the same time. It's complicated. I have a love/hate relationship with my job.
...to fight sugar craving with all your might (and lots of water).
...to not shower for an hour after your workout because you're home alone.
...to really want to go shopping even though you know you shouldn't.
...to want to move to NYC after your fabulous trip there last week.

That's about it for today...I'll be back tomorrow for Friday's letters! ;)

A Love Story: The Proposal Part 2

If you missed part 1 of the proposal, click here.

I was in utter disbelief. Was I seeing things? Was my boyfriend really down on one knee asking me to marry him? Didn't I just convince myself that it WASN'T going to happen this week?

Through the tears that were in my eyes, I sank down to my knees in the sand to meet him. "Of course I'll marry you", I said. As if it were planned, fireworks started to go off behind us at that exact moment. We spent another few moments taking it all in--there was a lot of kissing and many "I love you's". Unfortunately, I had left my phone back at the house--I wanted to see the ring! Z took out his phone and lit it up so that I could see it. I still couldn't see it very well, but I immediately knew it was perfect for me. I was ready to go back and break the good news to everyone!

As we walked back, he revealed just how sneaky he had been. He managed to do everything--from picking the ring out, designing it, picking it up, and asking for BOTH of my parent's blessings (which was very important to me) without me EVER having a single thought about it. 

Meanwhile, back at the beach house, (or so I'm told) everyone was getting anxious. Apparently, they all knew what was going on. The word had spread like wildfire after Z told my dad and a few others that he was going to do it that day. As I walked ran back to the yard, I was greeted by a flurry of people--and the first person that made it to me was my dad. We hugged, and I cried lots of big tears. I told everyone that wasn't quite paying attention the big news, and there were lots of congratulations and of course, the showing of the ring.


Once I could find some time away, I immediately found my phone and called my mom. She knew it was coming, but wasn't sure when. She sounded as happy as we  were. We also called Z's family, as well as my best friend. I felt so special. I had always told him that when he proposed, I wanted it to be just us. I didn't want a huge crowd around, and I didn't want him to make a big deal out of it while it was happening. However, he knew that I would want my closest friends and family there right after it happened, and that's exactly what happened. I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. He proposed at my favorite place in the world while I was surrounded by (most of) my favorite people in the world. And now I'm blubbering while trying to write this.

As the night went on, I pressed him to tell me everything--I was still so confused! How did he manage to do this without my knowledge? Without me even having a CLUE? Well-- He picked the ring out one weekend afternoon while I was out of town with my family. Remember that time I walked to raise money for Spina Bifida? Yeah. That day--amidst a very busy weekend. Ironically enough his family, who had planned to come into town the next day, decided to move their trip up a day and ended up coming in that afternoon. That evening, we saw Wicked at the DPAC, and we celebrated Mother's Day with my family the next night. He picked the ring up one day on his lunch break. He had lunch with my mom one afternoon and asked for her blessing, and he asked my dad while we were at the beach. The ring was hidden in our house for almost a MONTH, and in his satchel for the few days that we were at the beach before he proposed--it was even in his pocket the day of the proposal!! How I never picked up on any of this or stumbled upon the ring, I have no clue. He even pushed our New York trip back because his original plan was to propose there and he was afraid it wouldn't be ready in time!

The next night at dinner, we had dinner at Mike and Mary Beth's house. After dinner, Mary Beth brought out a carrot cake that she made just for us! I spent the majority of the rest of the week in my own world, dreaming of dresses, wedding cakes, and receptions. We went home for a few days to unpack, do laundry, repack, and head to the Big City for what we now refer to as our Engagementmoon! :)


I've gone as far as to buy a few books and magazines--and I am constantly daydreaming in my head. We haven't set an official date yet, but we're hoping that it will be sometime next fall...September, most likely. The weather is perfect here in NC during the fall. Our next few steps are to find a venue and nail down an exact date! I've been working on the guest list as I can think of names. I can't wait to dive head first into planning. Soon, I will be known as Mrs. Kuhn to my students. And let me tell you, I can't wait. I'm over the moon. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

A Love Story: The Proposal: Part 1

As I sit here trying to kill some nerves before my consultation with the oral surgeon, I figured it would be a great time to write about our proposal. I'm going to break it down into two parts--the story leading up to the proposal, and the aftershock and reactions.
*****

Z and I had been talking about marriage for a while. Heck, we had been having the marriage talk since before our first anniversary. We always talked about "oh, well when we get married I want this...." or "when we get married I want to do it this way"...we've talked about how our lives will change, what we expect out of each other, how we planned to take steps to prevent divorce, and how we want our marriage to work. I knew from a few months in that this was the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, no doubt.

This spring, I was starting to get anxious. The joking had started a while back--whenever we were at the mall, one of us would say "Oh, there's a jewelry store!" or "oh, Diamonds Direct. Let's go there." But we never did. Looking back, I think both of us had some butterflies about going to look at rings for the first time. I knew he was saving up for it, but I didn't want to feel like I was pushing him into anything. I knew that I loved him--and it didn't matter if we were dating, engaged, or married.

One night in April, we finally decided it was time. I needed to pick up some pants at the dry cleaners at the mall, so I asked Z to tag along. One of us made mention of going to look at rings. We headed to the mall and before we drove past the jewelry store, I remember Z saying "I kind of want to go look"....so of course, I said "Let's go!" We spent about an hour perusing the store and looking at things that we liked and didn't like. I noticed that he had a lot of knowledge about diamonds that I didn't expect him to have. That was my first sign that he had actually taken the initiative to research things himself. We left the store with smiles on our faces, and I figured he would be popping the question soon. I should have known better. You see, Z is the kind of person who does his research before he buys ANYTHING. He makes sure that what he buys is the best for his money--even if that means paying more.

Then I started waiting--and waiting--and waiting. I was looking for any bit of a sign that he was nervous, or staying out late, being coy about things, or just acting different. I never saw any of that. He was being his normal self. I started to doubt that it was ever going to come! April passed, then May and June, and then July came.  I had convinced myself that a proposal was coming no time in our near future. Our two year anniversary was fastly approaching, and I thought that it would pass with no sign of a proposal. I started to get really discouraged. Each time I would see someone get engaged, I got increasingly jealous. I really, really wanted Z to propose. I loved this man and I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with him as soon as possible. So WHY didn't he feel the same? Again, I put the thoughts back in my head that maybe he wasn't ready. I had to remember that we were in love and happier than pigs in mud. I didn't need a ring to be confident in that. 

July first came, and we headed to the beach for our annual vacation with my family. For the first few days, I was in heaven, without a care in the world. The weather was hot, I got sunburnt, and I ate too much food. One night a few days into our vacation, I happened to be browsing facebook, and saw yet ANOTHER engagement. My mood turned sour immediately, and I couldn't kick it. I (selfishly) pouted for about 12 hours. Finally, Z caught on to the reason for my bad mood. We separated ourselves from everyone else and had a heart to heart. I left that conversation with the feelling that it wasn't going to happen while we were on vacation.

Once my mind was clear, I was able to get my mind off of things and jump right back into vacation. We helped bake cupcakes and make a cake (I mostly watched), we helped set up my aunt and uncle's backyard for the party, and we spent some time talking about our pending trip to New York. Everything was back to normal, or so it seemed.

July 4th came, and the day was perfect. We had the parade, rested for a while, finished setting up, and got ready for the party. The party was wonderful as usual--games, drinks, too much food, a magician, and good friends. Everyone started to disperse when it got dark. A small group of our closest friends stuck around and hung out underneath Lauren and Michael's house or in my aunt and uncle's backyard. My sister, Lauren and I even started having a mini dance party for 3. Once, when the songs were changing and I sat down to take a break, Z made mention that he saw fireworks. He said the he wished he could see them better, so I suggested we go walk on the beach. I thought nothing of it.

We walked hand in hand down to the beach access, having a conversation that I cannot recall. Once we got to the beach, we watched the fireworks go off on either side of us. It was dark, and there was hardly anyone out on the beach at that time of night. We watched for what seemed like a few minutes.

At one point, I turned around to see the fireworks on the opposite side of him, and when I turned back around, there he was, down on one knee with a ring box open. He said those 4 words that I had been waiting to hear--
"will you marry me?"



Stay tuned for the aftershock and the reactions tomorrow! :)

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sometimes and Always

Linking up with Megan today!

Sometimes I want to be a professional traveler.
Always I get homesick after a week or so and I'm more than glad to come home to my own bed when a trip is over.
Sometimes I just want to eat the Cheez-its and/or cookies in the pantry.
Always SOMEONE (cough cough Z) stops me and tells me no. And then I pout on the couch for an hour.

Sometimes I think this yeast free diet is for the birds
Always I realize that I need to get healthy ,and who am I kidding? It's really not that bad at all. I love veggies!

Sometimes I just want to run away and get married NOW. 
Always I have to remind myself that all this stress and planing will be more than worth it!

Sometimes I hate how much weight I've gained since I graduated high school.
Always I have to remind myself that if I want to get back there (and fit in a wedding dress), I have to work out.
hooray for new running shoes!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Playing Catch Up and some BIG news!

Holy vacation, batman!
We've got lots of catching up to do.
I suppose I should just do a photo dump.
Although, you might miss the BIG news amidst the other pictures...
WE'RE ENGAGED!
Boyfriend Fiance popped the question on July 4th while we were walking on the beach. It was perfect. I'll blog about that later. I'm pretty overwhelmed with this entire wedding planning process and I'm going to need help!

Now that that's out of the way...
We spent an amazing week with my family at Topsail, the place I love the most.
sweet Riley Q's baptism
(not my picture)
...perfect.
(not my picture, either. Lauren's.)




my sweet (then) boyfriend

a storm rolling in

Riley Q!

lots of Law and Order on Netflix
sissies

our cupcakes!
(and by our I mean I watched them make them this year)

July 4 Parade



Lauren's cake

before the party

magician.
Hold on--let me pause here. This magician was AWESOME. He took Summer's phone without her even noticing. He dropped rings into Lauren's fist. He created Marilyn Monroe. It was pretty amazing.

a beautiful day by the sound

yummmmmm!

They made us a cake!

I love that Island<3
daddy and his girls
(this dress is going in the trash....eew) 
still can't believe we're getting married!

sissies

baby in a bar!

can't stop staring at it...

engageaversary

2 year anniversary<3

my father is a horrible photographer.

love<3

babysitting!
"hey...get this thing off my head and let me drink my water"

babies!
We couldn't have asked for a better week. The weather was h-o-t (I may have gotten burnt multiple times), the company was perfect, and who doesn't love a good love story? :)

We headed home on Sunday morning and were at home for a few days before heading to New York City for a few days to celebrate our engagement! We were actually supposed to go earlier this summer...but little did I know, Z had to move our trip because he was afraid my ring wouldn't be ready before we left for our trip. His original plan was to propose in New York. I thought he moved it because of work/family plans. Funny how things work out. 

Anyway...we decided that it was the best option to drive to New York since I had never been to most states in between here (NC) and there, and it was also cheaper than flying. Z decided that we were going to try the "signature" food from each state that we stopped in. We had planned to do some on the way up and some on the way home....oops. We ended up eating everything on the way up! We started our journey at 7am on a Wednesday morning.

Starting our journey with Starbucks, of course.
reading material.

VIRGINIA Ham Biscuits

MARYLAND Crab Cakes
going into the Baltimore tunnel...
my first toll!


Signs for New York!!!
PHILLY Cheese Steak
(blegh. Gross.)

 We stayed the night in Neptune, New Jersey and decided to make the last part of our journey in the morning. We stopped for breakfast and headed to the train station, where we parked my car and hopped the train to New York City!! :)
Waffles in New Jersey



FINALLY in New York!!!
the view from our hotel



Times Square!

Look who we found!

9/11 Memorial Pool
  
The "Survivors Tree" at the memorial.

I spy the Statue of Liberty!

Wall Street
Brooklyn Bridge


Red Velvet Pancakes!

Baked French Toast


Bethesda Fountain (Central Park)

Sushi Date with my two favorite men<3

Look closely...you will see a man with a CAT on his forehead.

There was a storm a'brewing!

NC welcomed us back with a beautiful sunset
We got back last night around bedtime. It was a WONDERFUL first trip to New York City...I couldn't have asked for anything better. There were many things that I didn't get to take pictures of, but we saw A LOT. We also wanted to make sure that we had time to relax during our trip; we didn't want to be going at all times. In fact, we spent most of one day in our hotel. We walked around all morning in lower Manhattan and by 1:00, we were spent (and I had a a headache). We managed to go out for lunch, but the rest of our night was spent in our room. We had a fancy dinner of McDonald's and watched Law and Order all evening before calling it an early night. :)
****
Ya'll, summer is halfway over. I can't believe it. Still on my list to do:
-get wisdom teeth out (and recover)
-go to Michigan for leadership training
-get my classroom ready
-teacher workdays
and school starts in 29 days!!!!!!!
You'll have to excuse me while I go cry in the corner...