Friday, June 29, 2012

NYC

In just under two weeks, boyfriend and I will be headed to the Big Apple!! I'm so excited I could pee my pants. I've never been before, and I want to soak it all in! He has been before, so he will have a little bit of insight on what to do. However, I'm in charge of deciding what we see while we're there. 

Since I've never been before, I need some recommendations. We are driving, not flying, and we have three full days to see the city. Our three  full days will be a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

So...I need your help! 
What do we do? Where do we go? What do we see? Where should we eat? What should we avoid? Any help would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks!!

Friday's Letters

It's that time again...time for Friday's Letters!

Dear Friday, can you move swiftly please? We leave for vacation tomorrow and I'd prefer for it to get here quickly. Dear Vacation, I'm so glad you're almost here!! I've waited what seems like forever for you to finally arrive. Dear suitcase, pack yourself. I get so overwhelmed trying to pack for two people for an entire week! Dear Target, please have what I need today. I know, I know...I waited until the last minute, so it serves me right if you don't have it. Just be aware that if you don't have it, I will be one unhappy customer. Dear 106 degree heat, Go bother someone else. I live in NC, not the tropics. We've never hit 106 here before, and now you want to grace us with your presence TWO DAYS IN A ROW? I don't think so, slim. Dear New York City, I'm so excited to meet you in just under two weeks!! Squee!!! Please be good to me. Dear Netflix, why must you make my life so difficult? I just want to finish watching Law and Order...and now their lips are not moving with their words. Annoying. Dear boyfriend, I know I'm frustrating. Thanks for putting up with me and my love affair with SVU.

Love, Katie

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

What I'm Loving

Oh Wednesday, how I love you!

I'm linking up with Jamie today for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that in three days we'll be here, enjoying a week of vacation with my family:
[paradise: Topsail Island, NC]

I'm loving that the temperature has been amazing for the last two days
(it's going to be 105 by the weekend...shew)

I'm loving that our anniversary is next week...I can't believe it's been two years already!
last year on our first anniversary
I'm loving that I got to spend some time with my sissy yesterday. We ate Bojangles, got pedicures, went to Target (and claimed shared custody of an adorable tanktop that I am currently wearing), and had ice cream. Yay for girl's day! :)

I'm loving that I found a recipe for red, white and blue jello shots! Perfect for my aunt and uncle's party.

I'm loving that boyfriend and I are having a mini date night tonight at the mall.

of course I'm loving my summer vacation. I've been able to keep up with laundry, cleaning, and I've already read two books!

and forever and always...

I'm loving my sweet, sweet boyfriend.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Weekend Recap

This weekend has been pretty wonderful, if I do say so myself.
*warning: picture overload*

I started out Friday by making sure the house was clean, laundry was done, and everything was in it's place, because I knew that I wouldn't have time/motivation to do it during the rest of the weekend. I wanted to enjoy the time I had! :)

Boyfriend took half a day at work, and came home early so we could head west to our first obligation for the weekend--the wedding of a dear friend of mine from college! The weather was turning nasty as we got ready to leave...it rained, and rained, and thundered, and rained some more as we made the two hour drive to the wedding. It was still drizzling as we made our way to boyfriend's mom's house to change clothes/drop our things off. By the time we rushed out the door left for the wedding, THANKFULLY it had stopped. I was worried that it would storm again!

 I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for right now--
the groom waiting for his bride..it ended up being PERFECT outside!

that sign says "uncle Brad, here comes your bride!"
my accessories to go with my outfit 
my beautiful friend walking down the aisle
saying their vows
beautiful centerpieces!
Mr. and Mrs. Craven!
first dance
the bride and her dad ...they broke out into the Evolution of Dance after starting their first dance to "I Loved Her First"
cake cutting
sharing the cake
beautiful bride<3
this was their venue all lit up at night
the other side of the venue
It was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple. They're now off for their honeymoon for two weeks and I can't wait to see more pictures when they get back!!

After the wedding, we headed back to boyfriend's mom's house to stay the night. We crashed around 10:30 and got to sleep in on Saturday morning. 

The rest of Saturday was spent hanging out and talking/reading/being lazy with boyfriend and his mom. We were very lucky that the venue was so close to her house, so we were able to attend the wedding AND spend some time with her (and we didn't have to pay for a hotel...winning)! We headed home around 4:00 Saturday afternoon. Since boyfriend's brother is staying with us for a few weeks, they played video games for the rest of the evening while I spent time catching up on blogs, pinning things on Pinterest, and reading the book that I so desperately wanted to finish.
go read "The Fault in Our Stars". You can thank me later.
This morning, I woke up and still hadn't finish that dang book. So I laid around under the covers and finished my book while boyfriend brought me coffee. It's unusual for us to sleep past 7 or 7:30 on any day, but I decided that I wasn't getting up until I finished the book. I didn't get out of the bed until about 10:30 and it felt AMAZING! I even managed to start a second book before I finally drug myself out of the bed to help boyfriend make breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes...our Sunday tradition). The rest of the day will hopefully be spent relaxing, reading, and just being lazy. Our hope is to squeeze in a grocery trip at some point today...but who knows, perhaps I won't even get out of my pj's or take a shower. Shhhhh.

The upcoming week looks to be pretty busy--kitty has a vet appointment on Monday morning at 8am (WHYYYYY did I decided to put myself through that torture?!!!), I'm heading to Asheboro to have a pool date with my bff on another day during the week, sissy wants to get pedicures on another day, and I have to make sure the house is clean/we are packed before we leave bright and early on Saturday morning for this place:

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

...Letters

Linking up with Ashley for Friday's Letters today!

Dear Friday, thanks so much for getting here. You're pretty awesome. Dear Marie and Brad, congratulations! I can't wait to see you guys get married today. You two were meant for each other. Dear house, clean yourself. I'm over you. Dear muscles, please stop hurting so I can work out again. Homegirl needs to lose about 10 pounds. Dear Verizon, please stop showing that stupid commercial when they drive across country and play music. The two people in the car look extremely uncomfortable, and it makes me uncomfortable too. Dear dog, I love you and everything, but please stop putting your toy beside me on the couch. I am not a fan of slobber. Dear boyfriend, thanks for being understanding when I refused to take the dog out this morning. I know I'm crazy. Dear life, thank you for being so wonderful! 
:)

Happy Friday, ya'll! We're headed west to go to a wedding for one of my college bff's this afternoon. I'm so excited to see them tie the knot! We'll get to hang out with boyfriend's mom and hopefully have a relaxing rest of the weekend. 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sometimes and Always

Sometimes I wish I could snap my fingers and be showered/dressed.
Always I enjoy the time relaxing under the water anyway.

Sometimes I just wish we could go ahead and get to the last episode of the Bachelorette...I wanna know who she picks!!!
Always I still love watching the man tears, bad tanktops, and l-o-v-e.

Sometimes I eat two ice cream cones in one night.
Always I feel guilty the morning after...oh the calories.

Sometimes I try to convince boyfriend to take a sick day at work so we can hide under the covers all day.
Always...it doesn't work. He's dedicated, that's for sure. And I'm thankful.

Happy Tuesday, ya'll!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Friday's Letters

Oh, Friday...

Dear Friday, I still appreciate you, even during the summer months.Dear boyfriend, happy birthday! I'm thankful for you. Dear Yankee Candles, thank you for making my house smell so good. I love actually being able to light you during the day now that it's summer time! Dear Target, Your REDcard policies are stupid. Send me what I need NOW or I'm going back to Harris Teeter for my groceries. Dear voice, please come back. I don't know what I did to drive you away. Could be that cough that has taken residence. Dear cough, GO AWAY. I would like my voice back, please. I'm tired of getting funny looks from people when I talk to them. Dear Mucinex DM, WOAH. Put a warning of side effects on your box. Holy dizziness and insomnia. Dear Pinterest, why must you be so addicting? I spend way too much time browsing your site when I should be doing productive things! Dear legs, it's time to get with the program and get some sun. You look like you belong on a different person when I compare you to the upper half of my body.

That's it for today. Hop on over to Ashley's blog and link up with us! :)

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It's Okay and Thankful Thursday

Thursdays don't seem so bad when school is out, it's not even 10am, and you're drinking your second cup of coffee. Today I'm linking up with Neely, Amber AND Tracy for their It's OK/Thankful Thursday mashup! :)

It's okay...
...to drink way too much coffee during the day now that school is out.
...to watch trashy TV (i'm currently watching Cheaters).
...to have plans to do absolutely nothing today.
...to be reallyreallyreally excited about all the busy-ness coming up this summer.
...to not want to wait until tomorrow to give boyfriend his birthday present.
...to be sick and tired of having no voice (going on three days now) from a nasty cough.
...to avoid going to the doctor because you know they'll tell you there's nothing you can do.

AND 


It's okay to be thankful for...

-a boyfriend who still loves me despite the fact that I sound like a dying cow.
-a job that allows me to have a summer break.
-a roof over my head, clothes in my closet, and food on the table.
-health insurance, so I CAN go to the doctor if I decide to.
-the opportunities that I've been given in life to learn and grow.
-life, in general.

Head over to Neely or Tracy's blogs to join in the fun! :)

Saturday, June 9, 2012

It's Over...

I'm done with my first FULL year of teaching....wow. It's so hard to believe. Looking back, this entire year flew by. Last year, four months lasted forever. This year, it seems that an entire school year flew by in the blink of an eye.

I couldn't have asked for a better class to teach my first year. All of them Most of them were smart, loving, wonderful, and just overall amazing. There were a few many times that I wanted to pull my hair out, but overall it was a wonderful year--and I welcome summertime with open arms.

We'll be (well, at least I know I will be) pretty busy bees! I have to manage to find sometime to call all 70 parents of the new 3rd graders, as well as Lexile my entire library, since I will only be teaching reading next year. They're re-branding the school (aka repainting, putting new carpet in and all sorts of other things), so it's gonna be difficult to find time to go up to school between that and everything else we have planned.

Boyfriend's brother is planning to stay with us for a few weeks while he works here in our town and tries to find another apartment in the town where he's going to school. It should be interesting...all three of us lived under one roof for a while when boyfriend and I first started living together, but we've been living by ourselves for quite a while now. Thankfully he'll be able to stay with the furry children while we're on vacation for a few weeks.

The boyfriend and his brothers' birthday (they're twins) is next Friday...I'm planning to take boyfriend to lunch, and then I believe they're heading west to see their mom. I'm going to see a show with my mom and sissy that night. The next night we'll probably celebrate boyfriend's birthday with my family. Sunday is Father's Day. Who knows what we'll do then...there's no telling with my family.

The following weekend, we have a wedding to attend for one of my college friends. They're getting married right by boyfriend's mom's house, so it will be a nice convenient time to stop by for a visit!

Three weeks from today we'll be heading east to celebrate July 4th with my family at the beach. While we're there, we'll probably also celebrate our two year anniversary. I'm looking forward to lots of time with my family, lots of food, and lots of sun and sand.

Then the next week, we're planning to [hopefully] head to New York freaking City! I've never ever been before and I couldn't be more excited!!! I have big plans to eat lots of bad food, destroy my bank account by shopping, see lots of exciting sights, and spend lots of time with boyfriend. We haven't gone on vacation by ourselves in a good long while. We are also planning to visit my cousin while we're there.

The week after we come back from New York, I have to hop on a plane and go to Michigan for two days/nights so that I can attend more training for work. Apparently my company things that I'm decently good at what I do, so they're sending me to NHA-U so that I can come back and hopefully teach them about what I learned! I'm really excited for this opportunity and so glad that I've had a chance to learn and grow this year. I can really see myself going a long way in this company.

Then week after I come back from Michigan, teacher workdays start back up. As I sit here, I came to the realization that we have something planned every.single.week. now that school is out for the summer. Holy busy-ness. If I make it through this summer in one piece, it will be a miracle!

I'll hopefully be posting about our adventures as the summer continues. Stay tuned! :)