the musical is done!

I have been busy working for months with the 4th-8th grade students at school on a production of "The Wiz"and this weekend we pulled it off and now it is DONE! I am very thankful for the relationships I have been able to develop with these students but I am also very thankful that it is done! I don't have to stay after school for practices anymore! I hope I will have more energy to pour into my classroom and into my personal life.

Joel, my mom, friends Shawn, Chris and Michael and Emily were all there to show their support for me. It was so great! They got to meet a lot of the my students and co-workers and have a little glimpse into my work life. Thank you all for coming!

This morning we had a brunch at our house. I love breakfast and I love cooking it for friends. My fantastic husband planned and organized the event while I slept in!

We had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, waffles and monkeybread. Michael and Erin provided some comic relief as they mixed the waffles!

I love my family and friends. After breakfast we cleaned up and hung for a bit. Then I took a 6 hour nap! I am tired and trying to prep myself for one more week of teaching before spring break.

my students were great this week!

Everyday with my students this week was awesome! We were able to do really fun, out of the ordinary activities and they handled themselves well the whole time! Wednesday was probably my favorite day. We had fun St. Patrick's day themed activities including trying to catch a leprechaun! Joel came in to meet the students this morning and helped to make a leprechaun trap! He decorated a box and and we put shiny objects under it to lure the leprechauns in. Joel pretended that he has had a lot of experience trying to catch one so he came in to help. It was cute.

The kids were so excited about trying to catch the leprechaun. They were reminding each other to be quiet all day so they didn't scare him away. We did a rainbow art project and they were all seated, focused, sharing and working silently. It was so amazing I had to take a picture. They have never been so good! We also had some irish music playing. This picture might not mean very much to anyone else, but I will treasure it forever!

After lunch the kids came back to discover that I had caught a rainbow for us to taste. We went on a trip to the kitchen and they baked it for us. While we waited we went outside with our 5th grade reading buddies for an extra recess. It was gorgeous outside! When we came back inside we collected the rainbow cookies and surprised the other first grade class with one. When we got back to the classroom we realized that the leprechaun had made a mess while trying to find some gold and that the trap had been set. We gathered around the trap and quietly opened it... no leprechaun... but we did catch some of his gold candies! So much fun!

dancing in our new shoes!

It has become a tradition that I go out to Picossa for dancing with anyone that wants to go for my birthday. Saturday night I went out salsa dancing with my friend Jonell. She and I went out for a girls night...but I was yawning the whole way there! We were driving into the cities when I am usually tucking myself into bed! Once we got there I woke up and we danced for hours. I wore my new black wedges that I gifted to myself and Jonell wore this hot new pair of heels!

She danced until she could barely walk! We had such a great time on our girls night out, the boys were lined up to dance with us :-) But they were all very respectful, everyone was there to dance. Just the way I like it. I hope that when I have kids I will have a hot pair of dancing shoes out by my kids galoshes and not shoved at the back of the closet collecting dust. Jonell is an inspiration. She is a wonderful mother, wife and college professor that still finds time and energy to go out with the girls! Love you Jonell!

he's home!

here is what I was seeing on Sunday! One of my favorite views :-)

Day 6

I love breakfast, I love my sister and I love my niece! All of these things together made for a great morning. We went out to Keys Cafe in Woodbury and enjoyed pancakes, waffles, hashbrowns, an omelet and a cinnamon roll. It was great!

Now I need to go pick out an outfit for going salsa dancing with friends :-)

running out of distractions

Joel has been gone for four days and I am ready for him to come home. I am running out of things to distract myself with and his absence is beginning to wear on me; not only that but trying to keep this busy so I don't miss him has left me exhausted! He is currently on his way to the airport in California. He will fly to Denver tonight and then to Minneapolis tomorrow morning.

12 more hours and this will be what I see again. Can't wait.

day five

Day 5 of Birthday Week:

Joel sent me these beautiful flowers at work today. Yup. I love him and I LOVE birthday week!

birthday week days 2, 3, 4 and 5

It has been a stressful/crappy week at school. I am not giving up, I am hopeful it will improve and if not spring break is only ten more days of teaching away. The school musical is next weekend so after that my life will be MUCH less stressful. I am enjoying working on it but staying after school so many days a week is wearing on me.

But on a MUCH more happy note, it has been a great birthday week so far!

Day 1: continued...I forgot to mention that when we were leaving our day 1 date, Joel opened the car door for me. It has been a long time since he has done that but it was very sweet and something I want to remember!

Day 2: Monday, following a very bad day at work and a less than encouraging play practice I rushed home to get Joel to his haircut appointment. While he was getting pampered (he loves getting his hair washed...who doesn't?) I sat in the hot tub and tried to de-stress. It didn't really work, but I had a few minutes to say a few frustrated prayers before meeting up with Joel. Then we stopped at Target to get ingredients for tonight's birthday mission: baking a Funfetti cake, my favorite kind of cake.

Then Joel baked me a cake and it definitely put a smile on my face. Joel loves me so much and will pretty much do whatever it takes to make me smile and to make me happy!

Later we watched an episode of Chuck, our current favorite tv show and enjoyed a few pieces of cake!

Day 3: Tuesday, following an even worse day than yesterday (snapshot: crying in front of my students because they were SO disrespectful and completely out of control) I came home to enjoy the company of some our closest friends and small group members. We hung out, ate cake and discussed our latest sermon series on finances.

After they left I asked Joel if there was a mission for tonight and he asked if I had been checking my emails. I had Joel come tuck me into bed and we sat with my computer so I could see my gift. Joel had sent me two messages on Facebook. When we were dating we would write each other constantly on facebook. I was always running to my computer to refresh the screen and check if I had any new messages. Here is a small part of one of the messages Joel sent me tonight.

"I love you! You are precious to me and I have a smile on my face right now as I write this to you... remembering those early-obsession-filled days in our relationship. :-)"

The other message gave me my mission for the night. I was to go on a scavenger hunt for a note that Joel had hidden somewhere in the house. But since I was already in bed I decided to look for it tomorrow.

Day 4: Wednesday, I woke up extra early (4:10 AM) to take Joel to the airport. He would be flying to California to attend the Game Developers Conference that he has always dreamt of going to. He is going for work so all of the trip is paid for. When Joel first mentioned going I was a little hurt that he would be traveling over my birthday but he assured me that he had already thought of that and that he wouldn't go if I didn't want him too, or he would seriously make it up to me with my birthday week. I knew he wanted to go to this conference so I said that of course he would go but I was honest about being sad that he wouldn't be here on my birthday.

So long story short I brought him to the airport and said a groggy goodbye. He gave me a card with my next mission's details and said to open it when I get to school. I opened it at school, it included a hilarious Far Side cartoon about knitting and a gift card to the LifeSpa I used to work at. He had also scheduled me a manicure and pedicure for Thursday!

When I came home on Wednesday I was sad because I knew the house would be empty, but excited because I knew I had a note hidden somewhere. I couldn't find it until Joel gave me two clues. It had a stamp on it and it was one of nine. Then I knew where it was and ran upstairs to find that he had written on a postcard for me. When we redecorated our bedroom I framed nine vintage postcards. Six of the cards had been sent to people living in Minnesota and three of them were blank. Before framing them I wrote out one of them to Joel and asked that he do the same for me. Now he finally did and I will treasure it always!

Day 5: A much needed day off! I spent most of the day at the spa being pampered. I had a massage with Amy and my friend Kaurie came in on her day off to cut and color my hair! I didn't have time for the mani and pedi but instead I purchased some new nail polish and did my nails myself. Joel also text me a code that would get me a free movie at Redbox so I picked up the movie "Love Happens" and I am now going to go make some popcorn and lay down to enjoy it!

Have I mentioned lately that my husband is AMAZING! I am so blessed.

got ten minutes?

If you are a hopeless romantic you will enjoy this. I was smiling from ear to ear. Only thing is you need ten minutes to watch it! Warning: you must be into sappy love things to enjoy this.

birthday week day one!

The first year Joel and I were married he surprised me by planning a week of gifts for my 22nd birthday. This is probably my favorite tradition! At the end of the week I feel so blessed, cared for, special and thought of. Knowing that Joel spends time thinking of ways to make me smile makes me feel special.

I have been a little sad with my birthday approaching because Joel will be traveling for work for half of my birthday week. But knowing Joel I am sure he will find ways to make it up to me, plus I am so excited that he gets to go to the conference in San Francisco.

Day one of my birthday week has been fabulous! Joel said we had a mission to go on. We went to the Rosedale Mall and he walked me into Herbergers and said we were not leaving until we chose a perfume for me! We have talked about this before and smelled perfume until we both had headaches but had never found one we liked. Today we were successful in our mission! We narrowed it down to two scents, sprayed one on each of my wrists and decided to break for dinner. While we were waiting for our table we keep smelling the two and after about five minutes we knew which one we wanted. We went back and purchased Burberry Brit and we both love it!

Next we went on to our favorite restaurant, Big Bowl.

We had chicken lettuce wraps and ginger mint tea

panang red curry stir fry

and a delicious banana cashew egg roll dessert with dark chocolate dipping sauce.

Not that it was ever in question, but I have the BEST husband ever!

Here was my fortune. Fitting I think. Oh and we dipped our fortune cookies in the left over dark chocolate sauce. Could this get any better...seriously?

Our server was great and she was excited that we were out celebrating a birthday, hence the free delicious dessert. She said her birthday is on Tuesday. So when it came time for tipping I turned the receipt into a card and present and we left her a nice tip. I hope it made her smile and feel special!

As I am typing this I have a purring kitten on my lap.

I am about to go to bed feeling perfectly happy!

I love you Joel, thank you for loving me so well.

my beautiful weekend

My weekend started early because we had a staff development day at school on Friday. I was able to sleep in because I didn't need to be at school until 9. Then we had a great meeting about Responsive Classroom strategies. It was very inspiring and I hope to start using some of the ideas this week.

After school I met up with my friend Shawn and saw her new office. Then we stopped into a really cute yarn shop close by. We only had a little time together because my mom was on her way to my house for the weekend. My favorite thing about good friendships is that you can hang out for a little bit here and there, each time picking up right where you left off. We are just thankful to get to see each other when we can.

When I got home I found my mom cleaning our bathroom! She came to visit and to clean my house for my birthday present! We chatted for a bit and then I was out the door again.

Joel and I ran out to Steph's 27th birthday party at her new house! We had a great time visiting with all of the quality people in her life and seeing her great house. She is so grown up now! I was able to catch up with a bunch of friends that I worked with at camp. It was so fun and I am hopeful that I will see them again soon.

Saturday my mom and I got up and went to the Infusion Groove class at Lifetime. It was a great class and really fun to do with my mom. It is a combination of dance, yoga and strength training. Next we went to Savers, one of our favorite places! I found a few costumes for the school musical. When we got back to my house my sister Lacey and niece Melody were there. We hung out, ate Chipotle and played many games of Candyland! We also worked to make a fleece tie blanket for Mel. It was a beautiful day outside so we also went for a walk.

Then my mom and I finished reupholstering my grandma's rocking chair. I started that project over Thanksgiving break and had been stumped as how to finish the base. Joel helped problem solve with me and in the end he confirmed what I thought I should do. It looks great in our bedroom now and it was so nice to cross that off my list of things to do.

For dinner we had Papa Johns pizza, a personal favorite of ours. Then my mom gave me a fantastic massage and when I came downstairs I got to sit by a fire that Joel had made for me and read my book.

My step-dad Brian showed up late Saturday night. We chatted for a little bit before I went to bed.

Sunday morning I made omelets for my mom and Brian (if you know me, you know I love making breakfast for people!) We had a good conversation over breakfast. It has been a long time since I was able to just hang out, relax and talk with my mom and Brian like that.

I am very thankful for all of these things and will treasure the memory of this weekend.

It has been a very busy weekend so far and it is not over yet. Joel is starting my birthday week and we are about to head out. I will keep you posted about my week. I hope you have a great end of the weekend and a great week to follow!

trying to look on the bright side

I am exhausted today. Like "angry at the world because I have to get out of bed exhausted". I hit my snooze button too many times and was pouting like a two year old in bed refusing to get up. Thankfully Joel said he would get out of bed with me. So I set the alarm to let us sleep for 10 more minutes. The thing that finally ripped me out of bed was the sound of my cat puking. Awesome. I have high hopes for this day already!

So to help get me out of my funk I am going to try to look at the bright side:

before Lindy puked, but after my tantrum in bed, Joel rubbed my feet for me

I got to the cat before she puked on my new blanket

Joel got out of bed with me

He cleaned up the vomit

Joel turned on good music

he started the dishwasher

I have a cute outfit to wear

I love corn flakes with bananas and get to have them for breakfast

my cat snuggled me last night

I can come home right after school today

Hopefully this will help me get through the day without biting someone's head off. I will keep you posted.