Where we love is home...

I haven't posted because...

2011-03-14T18:47:00.003-04:00

...my kids are just so dang awesome!

Plus, who has time for blogging when we have dance practice, birthday parties (I had NO IDEA how many my 4 year old would be invited to this year!), baby showers, consignment sale shopping, bike riding, park playing, movie watching, biscuit/cake/cookie baking :-) and boring things like cleaning house, grocery shopping, doing loads and loads of laundry etc. etc. etc. My life is too busy for blogging, honestly. So, I'll get to it when I get to it...

For now... enjoy reading/learning/finding awesome recipes/checking out some serious eye candy on these blogs I like.

Oh... and make these biscuits... for real! Your life depends on it!

Top Ten Tuesday - Vacations!

2011-03-01T13:39:00.007-05:00

So, I need a vacation... DESPERATELY. I'm sure the majority of my mommy friends feel this way. I know I'm not the only one. I just crave a little kid free time. I go to work and there's kids. I come home and there's kids. I go to the grocery store and there are more kids... They've got us surrounded. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE my kids! I adore them. I LIVE for them. But sometimes... I just want a little grown-up time. Is that so wrong?

I think not...

So, come along on this dream journey with me, will you?

Here are the top ten KID-FREE vacations I'd like to take...

1. Hawaii : Look at this... does it not just oooze paradise. sigh. People actually live here. That's the crazy thing to me. What must it be like to live in paradise? I will probably never know.

Or maybe something a little more... foreign... more historical...

2. Greece: I am in love with these colors. I think I need a Greek inspired room in my next house. vibrant blue and fresh white. So pretty.

But I'm thinking I'd really like something tropical...

3. Aruba! That's it! I love palm trees and sand and sailboats and blue skies and perfect weather. Let's go there. Shall we? I'm packing my bag right now. As I type. I'm multi-talented that way.

Once I tire of the tropics; however, I go back to some place a little... older? A little more night-life kinda feel...

4. Amsterdam anyone? I hear it's the place to be. And it looks quite lovely.

But I'm so dang predictable... I can't get away from my tropic dreams...

5. Which is why my number five is definitely the Dominican Republic. Oh perfection! I want to be on that beach right now. Toes in the sand, drinking some kind of fruity drink out of a coconut that my private waiter/bartender/masseuse Juan just brought me. Isn't he sweet? I promise Andrew doesn't mind. hehe

So, after I get bored of Juan in the DR, I've decided to go to the other side of the world for a little Asian culture...

6. Tokyo is JUST the place! Look at this! Tell me this does not look like a thrilling place to be?!

Then it's back to the States for a little bit of outdoor adventure in this gorgeous state!

7. Alaska... how can people get anything done if they have this to look at all day. SO beautiful!

Then I think my Andrew and I need a little romance...

8. PARIS! It's just the place! I desperately need to go there. I want to see some art and eat some delicious food! mmm

And once we're back in the US... I think we'll go for a little drive!

9. How about along the Pacific Coastal Highway? We'll stay in some quaint hotels on the beach. Enjoy a bit of the California way of life. I think I could get used to that.

Then after all that travel... I need rest. But not just ANY rest. I need some luxurious rest.

10. So, I'm getting a SUPER expensive room at The Plaza Hotel in NYC. I could stay in that bed for a WEEK! Superb!

I just need to make sure I get this bathroom! ahhhh....

A woman can dream... just dreaming about it made me feel more relaxed. Now it's time to put the kids to bed and take a long hot shower! :-) That's how we relax around these parts.

Hi, my name is Erin and I love cake!

2011-02-12T17:52:00.003-05:00

So, I made this awesome (if I do say so myself) cake for my hubby today! - Last weekend we were too busy rearranging furniture and cleaning out closets, etc. So, I ran out of time. I could have been a little more perfectionist about this cake, but for how little time it actually took me to make, I shouldn't complain too much about the final result. I kinda love it. I don't care anything about comic book characters, but I think it's neat. The Flash symbol is made out of chocolate (maybe one day I'll show ya how I do that, but I never think about taking pictures of the process) and the frosting is buttercream. The yummy cake inside is actually a doctored up boxed yellow cake. Trust me, it's good. mmm

Yep, I'm cool. Aren't you glad you know me, dear readers? ;-)

Counting down...

2011-02-04T09:54:00.004-05:00

Well, we're a few days into February and I'm sure all five of my readers are dying to know how my weight loss resolution is going. Sitting on the edge of your seat, I'm sure. So far I've had three weigh-ins and I've lost 6.5 pounds. Could be better (in my opinion) could be worse. I really do like the new Weight Watchers Pointsplus program. It's much better, in the terms of I don't feel like I want to eat everything in sight all the time. I feel much less deprived and much more satisfied. So, there's that. But it is sloooow going. sigh. I'm trying to just keep myself motivated. Recognize that 6.5 pounds in three weeks is something to be proud of. Right?!?

So, here's my before picture... sigh

The exercise thing... well, that's a different story. How does one exercise in the winter when I have no desire to do a workout video in my living room, I refuse to spend the money (like I even have the financial flexibility to do that!) to join a gym and it's TOO cold and icy/snowing outside even think about going for a walk (what? I'm a wuss). So, I'm just hoping that the exercise I get when I start back to work on Monday will suffice for the time being. At least until March when Spring is in sight!

Speaking of Monday... I go back to work... WAHHHHH!!!! I don't want to talk about it. Let's talk about it next week, okay? Maybe I'll be better by then. I just had to tell you that if I go off the deep end... there's a good cause.

For now... I'll give you one more tid-bit about my life... one that's a bit more positive and lighter... I'm making a FLASH birthday cake for my hubby this weekend! I CAN'T WAIT!

Caroline Virginia

2011-01-09T20:43:00.006-05:00

Four years ago I was preparing myself (as much as one can prepare) to be a Mommy! I laid awake in my bed the night of January 9th, 2007, knowing that the next day would change my life forever. And how overjoyed I was when my little angel came into my life!

Caroline Virginia has become my heart and soul over these last four years! I can't imagine my life without her. She is an amazing, quirky, smart, hilarious, vibrant, creative, spectacular little girl and I am so blessed to be her mother!

She fills my heart with joy every single day. She is endearing and so loving toward others and she is already such an amazing big sister! I can't wait to see her grow in this area and I hope and pray that she and Audrey will be the best of friends!

I love you with all my heart, my sweet BIG girl! Happy 4th birthday! xoxo

I'm BaaaaaAAAck! :-)

2010-12-31T20:57:00.003-05:00

Just in time for 2011!

I come here in such a different place than I was almost a year ago in my last post. I now have another amazing little girl (born December 8, 2010) and I have a new job. Oh, what a difference those two things can make in a woman's life! :-) I feel good.

So, I've come back just in time for a little resolution action! Perrrrrrfect!

I normally don't make these things, but I just feel like doing it this year...

Here goes!

1. Lose weight! I know we all talk about losing weight, but for real! I just had a baby three weeks ago. We all know losing weight HAS to be on this list. I will resolve to lose at least 20lbs, but I will not resolve how I will lose said weight. Maybe I'll go back on WW or maybe I'll get way into working out (HA!) or maybe I'll become a vegan (HA!HA!) or maybe I'll just eat better and cut out the soda. Or maybe I'll just sit on my butt and eat cookies and cupcakes (if only that would work! ) and just pray the weight would fall off!

2. Be the best mom and wife I can be! This is self explanatory... :-)

3. Watch less TV and READ MORE! I love to read, but I waste so much stinkin' time watching mindless TV when I could be reading. Andrew and I got a Nook for Christmas, so maybe that'll help!

And I'll leave you with this...

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

So, that's it for now... hopefully I'll be back. We'll see.

Happy New Year!

discouragement and random questions...

2010-02-16T17:33:00.002-05:00

Today I have been discouraged. I try not to regret things in life. I know there is a reason for everything and I know that God has a plan. There are just times when I have to stop and wonder if I had tried a little harder or pushed a little further ... how would that have changed things? When I sit back and look at the big picture, I realize these things I'm striving for are not really worth all of my stress. Jobs and titles are definitely not everything. I know that. Money and status doesn't bring a person happiness. So true. I realize that I still have time to do the things I want to do and if I don't accomplish all I set out in my mind, it's not the end of the world. It's just that the fast approaching big 3-0 is upon me, and it scares the hell out of me! No kidding!

Thirty just seems like this place where I was supposed to have accomplished so much. I was supposed to have that 2.5 kids and a master's degree and a great house and really feel like I have things together. But who says?!? Where on earth did I get this idea that things were supposed to turn out that way? I really have no idea. It's just something I've always told myself. Something I started telling myself at 22, when 30 seemed like it would never arrive and my biggest stresser was if the boy I liked would call me that night.

There are so many things in my life that I am thankful for and I can not regret one single thing I have done, because it has brought me so many blessings, mainly my husband and my daughter. I just can't help but wonder sometimes, when I see people moving on all around me and I feel like I am just stagnant, what else I am supposed to do? Am I supposed to just be a mom and a wife? (Not that I take those titles lightly.) Am I supposed to be a teacher? Am I supposed to be a nurse or a social worker or a chef or a cake decorator? Am I supposed to be a nanny or a maid? Who the heck am I? And how many other people are feeling this way? How many other people approach 30 having no idea which direction their life is headed?

All I know is that I'm ready to move on... I've outgrown my job. We've outgrown our house. I have serious baby fever! It's just time to get the ball rolling in a new direction. We are trying... but sometimes... on this journey into the great unknown... life can be discouraging. Today was just one of those days.

On a lighter note... Candace from twiggie makes has posted some questions as a little "get to know each other" session and I thought I'd take a crack at them... :-)

Here we go...

1. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?

I really like my own name. I know that's boring, but I can't think of one I like better.

2. What was your worst date (as in going out on a date, not an actual calendar date...unless you have a really bad one to share)?

I went out with this guy when I lived in NYC. He was so awkward. Uncomfortable conversation, kept answering his phone during dinner. After dinner we went for a walk (we happened to be in Chinatown) and we passed an open air fish market and he said he was feeling nauseous because of the smell... poor guy ended up throwing up all over the sidewalk. It was just sad. That was pretty much the end of the evening.

3. If you had to teach one subject in high school or college, what would it be?

I think it would be fun to teach home-ec. Do they still have that in school?

4. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?

Probably sometime at work. My students do ridiculous things sometimes and there are some coworkers that just tell stories in such a way that will make me pee my pants! :-)

5. What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

It's really difficult to think of something that was the absolute kindest thing... but I do have a story... When I was still dating my husband and we had been together for only a few months, a friend of his/ours had a birthday party. Well, I ended up getting really sick at the party and both my husband (then boyfriend) and his friend (the one who was having the party!) took care of me. Rhyan gave me new clothes to wear. Andrew held back my hair as I threw up. Oh... it was terrible... but people who can love you through that kind of thing... that's true love!

6. If money or skill-set was no issue, what would you love to do for a living?

I'd love to be a pastry chef or a cake decorator.

7. What is one thing as an adult/parent/spouse you do that you swore you never would do?

I swore I'd never let my kid watch TV more than 30 minutes a day or something crazy. I am bad and I let Caroline watch WAY more TV than she should. ooops!

8. If you could go back to one particular time in your life (not to live, not to change anything, just to visit) when would it be?

I'd go back to my senior year of high school. I remember that being a fun time. I'd just like to see who I was then.

9. If your walls could talk, what would they say about you (good & bad)?

They would say, "you need to stop wearing those maternity yoga pants, Erin! Your kid is 3 for cryin' out loud!"

10. If you could fix or put an end to one problem in the world what would it be?

To find a cure/cause for Autism.

Things I love...

2010-02-13T15:58:00.002-05:00

In honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow... here are some things I love... in no particular order. :-)

my fabulous husband

my amazing kid

baking

belting out songs like I'm trying out for American Idol

my parents

red wine

White Christmas (the movie and when we have one)

New York City

My Fair Lady

chocolate

movie theater popcorn

hearing my little girl sing

laughing

reading really good books

sleeping

my girlfriends

North Carolina

the ocean

my cousin Erika

being a mommy

a clean bathroom

organizing

my kitties

babies

crock pot meals

summer

flip flops

pretty snow that doesn't stick

Christmas tree farms

Friday nights

relaxing on the couch and watching mindless tv

funny movies

all of my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)

Letters to Erin

my grandparents

old pictures

trees

tomato soup with a ton of saltines

sugary cereal

warm cookies

beautiful architecture

museums

creating art

vacation

coffee

alone time

music from RENT - the original cast recording

finding new recipes

cheese

Gilmore Girls

bubble baths

Broadway

happy hour

cherry blossoms

the smell of fall

painting

taking pictures

thunder storms

the song "Someone to Watch Over Me"

New York style pizza

sleep overs

foot massages

my childhood teddy bear

Ugly Betty

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

ferris wheels

holding hands

I'm sure there's more... something I'm leaving out... but this is just a reminder that Valentine's day isn't just about being "in" love... it's also about what you love. So, what do you love?

I'm baaaaaack...

2010-02-08T10:10:00.006-05:00

Well, this has been a long hiatus I've taken from blogging, huh? I have no good excuses. Just life, I guess. I'll try to catch you up, in case you don't know. But who am I kidding, anyway? Everyone who reads this knows me, but I'll still write a synopsis of the past three months for my own enjoyment. Come with me on this journey down memory lane. Will you?

K... Since I've been gone, we have had a fabulous Thanksgiving and Christmas. My little girl turned 3! We had a crazy Chuck E Cheese birthday party and I even made a Buzz Lightyear cake! My sweet Rachel came home for a visit, but she's now returned to the mission field and will be in Manila for the next year. My precious Aunt Angala had her life ended too quickly by cancer and she went home to be with Jesus.

I have made a lot of new food and tried some new cake techniques (like my miserable attempt at making marshmallow fondant). But what has happened that's been hard to believe... what we've gotten the most of... what has surprised us the more than anything... is the SNOW!

It snowed twice in December. The first was little, nothing to write home about, really. Then before Christmas we had over a foot, around 18 inches or so! That never happens! Then just last week we had two more snows... one that got us a delay and one that closed schools. But then... the mega storm came! SNOWpocalyps! ... SNOWmaggedon! It's been insane! It started Friday and snowed all day Friday, through the night and all day Saturday. We got around 30 inches at our house. School closed Friday and again today... Frankly, who knows when we'll get back to school because, believe it or not, it's supposed to SNOW AGAIN tomorrow night! "significant accumulation" is what The Weather Channel and Washington Post are telling us. I've grown accustomed to the fact that we may never go back to school this winter and that I will just have to kiss June goodbye and start planning on celebrating Independence Day with my students.

So... here are some pictures (just for you Erika!) of SNOWmageddon! I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to blog here in February, seeing as it'll probably be March before I make it back to work. :)

Caroline had fun in the snow!

She attempted a snow angel! Standing up!

We are very lucky to live in a condo association who shovels snow like crazy and makes us awesome paths all the way to our front door! I may complain about the fee, but it's times like these that I appreciate not "owning" a sidewalk.

She played in the path. hehe She couldn't even climb in the snow. It was just too deep! It only took about 13 minutes and 32 seconds for her to decide that hot chocolate looked a lot better than a snow path.

Callie cat marveled at the crazy amount of snow out of our back door! She was thanking ceiling cat all day that she is an indoor kitty! :) (That was for you Andrew!)

wedding + sickness + halloween = tired.

2009-11-01T09:21:00.010-05:00

Well, it has been quite a week! Too much has happened for me to actually go into detail about, but a photo overview of events is absolutely necessary. :-)

I traveled to Atlanta Thursday before last to celebrate in the wedding festivities of my two dear friends Karla and James!

It was a spectacular time! With some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten... like my Southern Burger from Flip Burger. - Deep fried beef burger with pimento cheese, bread and butter pickles and green tomato ketchup! And they had glass bottle, real sugar Cheerwine! My favorite soda ever created! So delicious!

I also can't forget my favorite meal EVER from Highland Bakery!

Shrimp and Grits with a jalapeno cheese bread! Insane!

Anywho enough about food, we'll talk more about that later...

The wedding was amazing and so THEM!

Karla looked stunning!

The details of this wedding were so unique!

They made their center pieces that were branches spray painted orange with tiny owls and

votive candles glued to them. They were awesome!

They also had Mad Libs speeches for everyone to fill out! Creative and fun!

The Krispy Kreme grooms cake was too much for me to handle! I think I died and went to heaven!

They also had red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (YUM!) and they all had teeny cake toppers on them that looked shockingly similar to James and Karla!

The food, following with the trend of the weekend, was incredible! Breakfast for dinner (MY FAVORITE) from The Flying Biscuit. YUM!

On top of all the details, there was just so much love and friendship in the place that my heart was just overflowing!

My beautiful mom was my date, since Andrew and Caroline stayed back in VA.

Friends were abundant with all of my girls (minus our beautiful Rachel... :-( who will one day join us again in the US... but thank goodness her parents were there to represent!)

I don't know what happened with the lighting in this picture. Oh well... I still love it because I love all of these girls SO MUCH!

And of course, because I'm a sap, I cried my eyes out hugging my newly married friend! Aww!

Overall, it was a spectacular weekend! Exhausting, but wonderful!

Congratulations to Karla and James! Love you both!!!

I got home Sunday and napped for a good three hours that afternoon. I was still tired on Monday, but trugged through the day. I was feeling okay until Wednesday night when I started feeling super dizzy and went to bed early to sleep it off. I woke up Thursday and couldn't shake the feeling like I was going to faint. I went to the doctor and they tested for a lot, but couldn't give me an explanation other than my body was most likely just trying to fight off something I had been exposed to, which would be just about everything that's out there right now. I attempted to go to school after the doctor, but was sent home. I ended the day still feeling dizzy and with a massive headache to boot. lovely. Friday, I woke up still feeling lightheaded and nauseous. Somehow I decided it would be a good idea to go to school because I didn't want to use any more leave so early on in the year, but that idea was put to rest when I had to run out of our morning meeting to vomit. gross and embarrassing. Luckily I made it to the bathroom before it all came out. Obviously, I went home again and stayed in bed all day long. I was on the mend Friday night and was determined to have a good day for Halloween and Praise Jesus I did!

I woke up Saturday feeling much better. Still not 100%, but at least a good 75%. :-) I was good enough to make rice krispy treats, carve pumpkins and dress up as a witch! I guess that's about 100% to most people, but to a McElveen to make it 100% I could have added clean the entire house and do four loads of laundry to the list, which did not happen. hehe

My girl was PRECIOUS as Raggedy Ann this year! Do you love her or what?!?

Overall, it's been a busy time! I'm so thankful for two work days without kids Monday and Tuesday. Not much better than that... well, other than snow days. When are they coming? I'm ready! :-) More to come... probably at Thanksgiving. haha I'm not a very good blogger.

Baby cakes!

2009-10-21T21:11:00.003-04:00

Hello all! Are you still there? *crickets* hmmm *taps mike* HELLO! Are you still there?

Okay... here it is... I know I've really been awful at blogging lately, but I have to show this off!

I made these adorable "baby cakes" Sunday night. I got it into my mind that I wanted to make something mini and these tiny cakes were what came to my mind.

I love the way they turned out. Only six of the eight I made are pictured. I made two eight inch round cakes and used a wine glass to cut smaller circles out of each cake. I got four circles out of each cake and I used the scraps for cake balls! YUM! The rounds ended up about 3 inches in diameter. I then sliced the rounds in half to make the mini cakes two layers. I iced half in chocolate butter cream frosting and the others in white butter cream! And as you can see, I decorated them all differently. I love cake! And tiny things. And just putting them together makes me happy. Though, I will admit that as cute as these cakes turned out, they took FOREVER to make! I will definitely not do this again unless it is for a special occasion or I am getting paid. :-) Can you blame me?

Also, because I've been a blogging slacker, I thought I'd show off the pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting and the chocolate covered cheesecake balls I made for my dear Karla's bridal shower the other weekend. They turned out AH-mazing, if I do say so myself. Don't you like how I'm always patting myself on the back? hehe

Tomorrow I'm leaving on a jet plane for the ATL to spend four glorious days with my best girlfriends in the whole wide world (sans Rachel who is somewhere in Asia right about now... sad!) to celebrate the union of Karla and James!!! woo hoo! Can't wait to see all of these beautiful faces again! LOVE THESE GIRLS!

Peace out y'all and have a great rest of the week!

Kitty!

2009-10-07T20:19:00.005-04:00

We got a new kitten! She is quite possibly the sweetest thing ever!

Just look at that face! How could you not love her?

Andrew loves her.

I love her.

Caroline loves her.

Scout tolerates her. :-)

(Please excuse the quality of this photo. It was taken with Andrew's blackberry.)

We are all very happy with our new addition!

This weekend we're off to Roanoke/Lynchburg to see my parents, have a wedding shower for my girl Karla, and to attend my 10 year high school reunion! I'm an old woman! :-) We leave tomorrow evening! It should be fun times! I hope our kitties survive three days alone! :-)

Cake. It's the best I can do.

2009-09-27T18:52:00.003-04:00

Hello faithful blog readers. (All 3 of you!) I'm sorry it's been so long!

I have been trying to post for like a million years. Wanting to catch everyone up with the million things that seem to have happened since I last posted. Well, that blog may come along eventually... maybe even this week... but for now... this will have to do.

Cake has been an important part of my life as of late.

As some of you may remember from my last couple of posts, I started taking a cake decorating class two weeks ago! It has been an amazing experience! And I don't say that lightly. I have loved every single minute of it! From baking the cake, to making the icing, to icing the cake, to learning professional decorating techniques, to putting the techniques into action, to taking it to work and letting my coworkers rave about my creation and then devour it in five minutes! Ah-mazing! I think I may have a knack for this. I've never felt this confident about anything. I seriously think this is a career move that may happen somewhere down the road (hopefully sooner rather than later)! I have never loved doing and creating anything as much as this!

And now... for my very first professionally decorated cake. The thing I love the most about this cake is that I free-handed my design. Everyone else in the class used stencils, but she showed us how to draw our own and I decided to try that out. So, instead of going the easy "traditional" way I drew my own design and then transfered it to my cake. I must say that I think it turned out great! It exceeded my expectations!

Cake decorating Part 2 is definitely going to happen! I'll keep you all updated and post pictures of my next cakes!

success!

2009-08-25T20:21:00.005-04:00

Well, the cupcakes were a success!

Though only partially. I LOVED the banana cupcakes and I LOVED the peanut butter frosting! What I didn't LOVE was the two of them together. Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't a situation where I tasted it and hated it so much that I couldn't eat it. It was good. Just not... it. The banana cupcakes were perfectly moist, fluffy and delicious! The peanut butter frosting was thick, rich and also quite delicious! My problem was that the peanut butter frosting was overpowering the greatness of the banana cupcake. It was just too much together. Separately they were perfect, but together, not so much. However, I do think the peanut butter frosting would be perfect with a chocolate cake! YUM! And I'll just have to keep trying with the banana cupcake. Bakerella used a cream cheese frosting, so maybe I'll try that next time. These recipes were amazing though and they will stay in my recipe book for many years to come!

My always faithful taste-tester was partial to the peanut butter frosting!

That was her favorite. She ate off the whole top of the cupcake and wanted to scrap the rest. Kids. They know what they like, right?

Well, tomorrow is my final full day at home with my girl for the summer. Sad. Andrew and I will be off to our end-of-the-summer get away and my mom will stay with Caroline until Sunday. Then Monday... school begins. sigh. Oh how I will miss seeing her adorable face all day long! How can you not love her?!?! I think she's incredible! Though I guess I am a bit partial!

Look at that style! She's a movie star in the making!

Cupcakes: a confession

2009-08-23T07:30:00.004-04:00

Well, I have a confession to make. I want to start my own business. A cupcake business. I've been thinking about it all summer. Last year when I made cakepops and cupcakes for my coworkers, I got so many compliments and people told me that I should start my own business. They said people would buy these things! I'm sure that is true, but all I could think of was that I'm not a baker. I made everything out of a mix. All I did was make them look cute. If I really want to start a business, no matter how much I love the decorating and creative aspect of it, I must learn the baking side as well as the decorating.

So, before I actually consider a business, I have some things to take care of, right?

1. Learn more professional decorating techniques. So, to take care of that, I am taking a cake decorating class starting September 15! There are two parts, but I'm just taking part one to see how I like it. I expect to I love it and learn a lot! Updates to come.

2. I must become a more serious baker. No more box mixes. I must make cupcake recipes and then tweek them to become my own creations. I don't really need a class for this. I know how to bake, I've just been too lazy to do it from scratch. haha So, today starts my first baking without a mix experiment. However, one thing is going to be lacking in my kitchen. I have no stand mixer, like every cupcake recipe I look at expects you to have. I want one, but have you looked at them? I don't have $300 just lying around. *donations are welcome* :-) I've tried to win one about a million times on Pioneer Woman, but so have thousands of other people, so needless to say I have yet to win. But really... this is the one I want... I love red! :-) Maybe I'll save my money and buy one one of these days or maybe some generous soul will give me one or have one laying around that they don't use and donate it to a good cause. But for now, I'll just stick with my hand mixer and move on with my life.

Today I am making banana cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting. The banana cupcakes come from Bakerella and the peanut butter frosting comes from Ina Garten. I'm eager to see how they turn out. I also considered doing these the opposite, with peanut butter cupcakes and a banana frosting. But we'll see how these work first... I hope these will turn out as good as I am thinking they will be! I love cupcakes and I love using different combinations of flavor! I'm eager to get started!

In other news, the hubby and I celebrated 3 years on Wednesday! woo hoo!!! I have no idea why I didn't blog about it... I guess I just wasn't in a blogging mood that day... but I must tell you that it was a fantastic day! Not only did I get a surprise flower delivery (my favorite!) but we also went to eat at my favorite restaurant Mike's. SO GOOD! Then we came home and cuddled up ... drank a little wine ... watched a movie ... etc. :-) It was a perfect day with the best man I know!

Next week Andrew and I are going on our 3rd annual anniversary trip. (Thanks Mom for all the babysitting you've done to allow these trips!) The first year, we just went on a super date and drove around just the two of us... went to Leesburg and Harper's Ferry and then came back for dinner and a movie. It was a great day! C was so little then though and I just wasn't ready for an over night trip without her. Last year, however, I got a little more brave and we went to Philadelphia for a couple of days. Still only one night away though. But this time is even more exciting! My mom is coming on Wednesday and Andrew and I will be heading out for FOUR nights by ourselves! WOW I'm sure I will miss my girl like crazy, but I'm still SO excited for all this adult time! The first three nights will be spent on the Canada side of Niagara Falls! I have never been and I'm super excited to see it! Then early Saturday morning we will be leaving to go to Cleveland, Ohio (also a first for me!) to celebrate the marriage of two of my friends and former coworkers Mallory and Miguel! I'm excited to see them tie the knot! They are one perfect couple, if you ask me! :-)

So... we have a busy week ahead... and it is also my last week of summer vacation. It has been a good one!

I'll end this novel now and get on with my day. :-) Here's to cupcakes and love!

I had a love affair ...

2009-08-17T19:14:00.003-04:00

...with a dog.

Yes... it happened, I'm not too embarrassed to admit it! While we were in Texas last week, I fell in love with a dog named Honey! She is the sweetest, most adorable dog on the planet! I know... you can all tell me how wonderful your dogs are... but Honey is the best! Just look at that face... that nose... those eyes! What has come over me?

She was just visiting Stephen and Sharay while we were down in Texas and boy am I glad that she was. She actually belongs to Sharay's sister. I'm telling you, when I saw this dog I immediately thought of our old dog Adam and I fell in love!

For those of you who knew Adam, you know he was just about the best dog ever! If I didn't know better, I would swear that Honey is Adam's long lost sister. I wanted to pack her up in my suitcase and take her home with me! I couldn't get enough of her and neither could Caroline!

Sadly, as she rode with us to the airport on Saturday morning, we had to go our separate ways. Us back to Virginia and Honey back to her home with her mommy in Fort Worth. But I'm glad we at least had the week together.

Honey made me remember how much I truly miss having a dog. I can not wait until the day we can go pick out a dog that I will fall in love with and bring home! That will be a happy day! But for now, I just have to love on the dogs of other people and enjoy my kitty. :-)

In case you missed it on Facebook...

2009-08-04T21:12:00.005-04:00

Caroline got her first real haircut! She's such a big girl!!!

(Before... So excited!)

She thought she was the coolest thing ever going to a real salon! It was adorable to watch! And she loved being able to watch herself transform in the mirror.

She was so darn good! My kid is pretty much the most amazing thing ever! (If I do say so myself.)

(After!!!)

Other than that, nothing major has been happening around these parts... hence the lack of blogging. Though, last week an exciting event did take place in my life. Something I've waited for for so long. Something I've complained about and whined about, much to my husband's dismay. I have window shopped and browsed the web for many a year... three to be exact... and finally... in the glorious land of Costco... I found it. The perfect one. The entertainment center that would not only house all of my husbands many electronics, but also at least a third of his 400 or so dvds. But not only is it functional, it's pretty too! Let me just say... I'm having a love affair with this entertainment center. Okay... Okay... I know I'm being melodramatic here, but you do not know the trouble I've held over searching for the perfect one. And this one, ladies and gentlemen, is perfect. It only took 3 years.

(Truly, I do not think this picture does it justice. But here it is... and it makes me happy. Though, I think I may have to do something about looking at all those dvds. Baskets could be in the works.)

Friday we leave for our great Texas adventure! Caroline's first plane trip and my first visit to Texas! I am so excited!

The Help

2009-08-01T10:41:00.002-04:00

I just read this book and it was nothing short of amazing! The Help is Kathryn Stockett's first novel, which in itself is a great achievement! It is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's during the heart of the civil rights movement. Things were changing in the south and people were choosing sides. The chapters alternate perspectives from Skeeter (a southern white woman in her early 20's, fresh out of college with hopes and dreams of being a writer and changing the world) and two black maids, Aibileen (a sweet and gentle woman who has raised 17 white children, but lost her own) and Minny (an outspoken woman who has worked for so many families in the Jackson area that she can't get a job with anyone but a white trash woman married into a wealthy southern family). Skeeter gets the opportunity to write a novel and is encouraged to write about something that really disturbs her. With thoughts of her former maid, Constentine, whom she adored, Skeeter sets out to recruit the maids of white families to tell their stories of what it's like being "the help". As this novel progresses, more people realize just how much change needs to happen and Skeeter comes to understand that this novel is more than a book, it's her part in changing the world!

I found this novel warm, controversial, enlightening, beautiful and raw. I can not describe all of the emotions that I went through reading this book. I laughed and cried. I felt angry with all of the brainwashed men and women who saw nothing wrong with their actions but rejoiced with these strong women determined to see change!

Seriously incredible and a MUST read! I rarely give a book five stars, but this one deserves ten!

Nothing in life comes for free!

2009-07-20T08:10:00.003-04:00

I was going to wait until Wednesday to post about my diet, because that's my weigh in day. However, I was just feeling motivated to write about it today. As of yesterday (at 4 and 1/2 weeks of dieting) I have lost 9 pounds! I'm SO proud of myself! Not only that, but Saturday my new workout video came in the mail and I have done it the last two days in a row. I have started Jillian Michael's (aka - mean girl from The Biggest Loser) 30 day shred! Let me tell you, it has kicked my butt!!! No doubt, I've never been in good shape, but I didn't realize I was this much out of shape. My body is aching all over. So many muscles have been used in that 20 minute work out... my arms, legs, stomach, chest and abs all hurt. I love it! The thing I like the most about it is that Jillian talks to you... she says things like, "If you want a modified version of a jumping jack, you're not going to get it! I have 400 pound people doing jumping jacks and you can do them too!" or "If you want abs like these [pointing to one of the girls working out with her] you have to work at it! It does not come for free!" She is so right! I need someone to tell me how it is. I KNOW I'm fat. I know I've always been fat. And I know that it's my responsibility to do something about it. I need to stop blaming it on genes and kick my butt into gear to push through and lose this weight! I'm feeling it. I'm in the right mind set. It took me a while to get here, but I truly feel (I may eat my words later) that I am in it for the long haul! And I am excited! The food I'm eating is good and I'm allowing myself to indulge every now and then. Though I resisted the leftover pizza last night and worked out while my husband and daughter stuffed their faces, I did allow myself to eat pizza for lunch the day before. The difference between eating pizza now and eating pizza before is that I didn't over indulge. I ate enough to satisfy, but I didn't stuff myself. It feels good to make these decisions. And working out... it feels right. Like I knew all along that this was what I was supposed to do.

Anyway, all of this to say that if I want to get the body I've always dreamed of, I have to work for it! "Nothing in life comes for free!"

Family fun!

2009-07-13T11:55:00.004-04:00

After such a great two weekends in a row, it has made me reflect on how amazing my family and friends are!

There are some people in our lives who know us so well that no matter what the circumstance, they understand exactly how we feel. We may not see each other every single day, but they are people who will be around for a lifetime. They can laugh with us and cry with us, they can tell us when we're being incredibly stupid and tell us when the choices we have made are exactly the ones they would have made for us. These people are constants in our lives. You may have one or two or ten... but either way, we all have one... a person who has been with us through

everything. Someone who has seen us grow up and that we know will be there until the day one of us goes to meet Jesus.

I am lucky to have many people like that in my life... family and friends, alike. Friends I see as family and family I see as friends... they are amazing people, all different in their own rights. They are people who will hold my hand and dry my tears, people who listen to my thoughts and journey with me to let those thoughts become reality. These people are THE MOST FUN to be around and I love them with all of my heart!

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to have a few of those people visit our neck of the woods... my mom, Aunt Donna, and cousin Erika came to see us! Friday night we went out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in the Northern VA area, Mike's ... simply fantastic! If you ever come to this area you have to go there... or one of the many other Great American Restaurants in the area! You will not be disappointed!

After dinner we ventured into DC to see The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center and it was incredible!

Fantasia and Latoya London from American Idol season 3 were both in it! They were awesome! Especially Fantasia! We all agreed that it exceeded our expectations! It was definitely a night to remember... not just because of the show... but because of our two cab drivers that Donna tried to befriend and one who was scrambling to give her his card because she assured him that she wanted him to be the first Cash Cab in DC! haha We were dying laughing! And because I saw the principal/director of the school I have worked at for 2 YEARS and I swear he did not know who I was ... but luckily he didn't ask my name or call me the wrong one and he was very nice in introducing himself to my family. It still made me laugh so

hard though!

Saturday we went to Mount Vernon, which was so neat, as always! It's always one of my favorite places to visit in the DC/Northern VA area. It's just beautiful and so rich in history! I think it would have been better with less people, but such is life and tourist season in DC.

Saturday night we played Cranium Turbo Edition! If you have not played this game, you must go out and get it immediately, gather a group of your closest family and friends and play it tonight! It is SO MUCH FUN! We were laughing so hard!

Erika and I were on a team and of course, we won! :-)

This is Donna being the puppeteer, while Andrew was the puppet... Mom was on their team and had to guess what he was doing! Hilarious!

They left on Sunday, and we are so missing them all! I love these women! Every moment we get to spend together just makes my heart overflow with joy! Thanks for coming ladies! It was a fantastic weekend!!! Love you all!!!

Harry Potter

2009-07-07T08:38:00.005-04:00

Okay... so, Harry Potter is keeping me from posting...

and from editing my 4th of July weekend pictures... and from unpacking... and from cleaning my house or doing anything productive. I just finished The Half-Blood Prince this morning and thank God my devoted husband went back to the library (I'll explain in a minute why I said "back") for me last night to get The Deathly Hallows! I am obsessed and I can't stop... okay... I did just stop to write this... but you know what I mean.

Anyway... yesterday was the day from H-E-double hockey sticks! Caroline and I went out in the morning to run a few errands... we went to Target and all was well... we bought her more "big girl" panties because yesterday was her first day wearing them! She did awesome, by the way! I was so thrilled! :-) After Target we went to our favorite library. She got some books and I looked for the last HP, but had no luck. However, I was happy to see that the library closet to our house did seem to have one copy on hand. So, the plan was that we would stop there quickly and get their last copy of The Deathly Hallows and then we would be on our way home for lunch and Caroline's nap. Well... that did not happen. First of all, I could not find the book... I didn't ask, which was my stupid fault, but the place was packed and it seemed that everyone who worked there was busy, so I just told myself that I'd go back later, since I wasn't quite done with The Half-Blood Prince.

Anyway, when we went out to my car, the stupid thing wouldn't start. I was SO mad! (To say the least!) I called Andrew and told him what was happening... I had a few options... call a cab, wait on the bus (which would have been almost an hour wait) or attempt to walk... well, I decided that I would just walk home. After all, it was only a few miles away. I could do that, right?

So, still irritated, but determined to get home, I packed all of our stuff into Caroline's stroller and put her in there as well and we set off for home. After about a half mile or so, I ran out of sidewalk. I was hot and sweaty and my skirt and flip-flops were just not proper walking attire. Finally, I begrudgingly decided a cab would be best. So, Caroline and I plopped down on the side of the road and called a cab. I realized, after making this decision, that I had no money. Lovely. So, when the cab arrived, I had to tell him to take me to the bank to get some cash. yep. He didn't seem to mind.

Caroline thought this was a sweet adventure! She rode in the cab without a car seat (as her seat was in our car that was still at the library - don't judge me!) and she thought she was so cool! haha It made me a nervous wreck though! Well, we made it home in one piece, a little sweaty and $13 poorer!

Later on my father-in-law came over and was able to go out and get my car started. We drove it to get it fixed and turns out it needed a new battery. sigh. lovely. They also tried to tell us it needed a ton of other things, but I don't have $600 just laying around to fork over to fix my car. Ah well... it should be fixed today, but at least without a car I have an excuse to stay here and read Harry Potter.

haha By the way, I can't wait for July 15! The Half-Blood Prince will be out in theaters! yay! Well... that's a Wednesday, and we'll probably not be able to go until Saturday, but still... I can't wait!

So, I will do my best to put up some pictures from last weekend soon, but I can not promise it will be this week... not only do I have HP to read, and to do all of the things it's keeping me from doing right now, I also have my lovely mother, aunt and cousin coming on Friday! hooray! And we're going to go see The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center on Friday and do lots of other fun things while they're here... so, it all may have to wait until next week. In fact, I'm just going to say that it WILL have to wait until next week... and now, back to reading... maybe I'll put in a load of laundry too. :-)

Top 10 Tuesday: My favorite products.

2009-06-30T17:19:00.004-04:00

1. St. Ives Apricot Scrub - I heart this facewash! I have used it for many many years and it is my absolute favorite thing! I've tried others, but I always end up coming back to this old faithful. It's the best exfoliating scrub (in my opinion), it's super cheap and you can find it anywhere!

2. Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer -

If you thought any other chapstick/lipgloss was it... well, you're wrong. Sorry to tell it how it is, but this is the clear winner and oh so wonderful! Not only does it make my lips feel amazing, but the shimmer looks cute too! It's perfect!

3. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser -

Love! Love! Love! I'll never forget my first experience with this amazing product! It came out right around when I was moving out of my Lynchburg apartment and moving on to the great city of New York. I bought it because I had to clean and try to get as much of my deposit back as possible and that magic eraser did things that a sponge and soap never could have done! And still it never ever disappoints! If you have never tried to use it to clean the bathtub/shower door or tile in the bathroom or kitchen, you must do it immediately! Stop what you are doing. Put down the ice cream and GO CLEAN YOUR BATHTUB! I'm telling you... nothing else works the way the magic eraser works on that funky scum! It's incredible!

4. Oil of Olay Complete -

I have also used some form of this product for years... it takes me back to watching my MawMaw dabbing it on her face in the bathroom in the morning. She would call it her "oil of old lady". It always made me laugh. It still does, especially since I'm the old lady using it now. :-) But I love this moisturizer. It works just like it's supposed to and it makes me happy.

5. (One more Olay product too) Olay Quench Body Lotion -

I'm partial to Olay products, but this one just does it for me. It makes my skin feel so good and it shimmers just a hint! I love that!

6. Olde Cape Cod Parmesan and Peppercorn dressing -

This is a new one on my list. My friend Kim came up a while back and we were making a salad for dinner and she picked it out. It was just dumb luck. Neither of us had bought this brand or had this dressing, but it is SO stinkin' good! I've already gone through two bottles of this stuff since her visit just over a month ago. It makes me crave salads. wow! How many dressings make you say that? It's just THAT good!

7. Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Squares -

YUM! This is my treat just about every day! I'm a chocolate lover and really good chocolate makes my belly happy!

8. Pamper's Splashers -

Caroline is just about potty trained completely, but I still am not ready to take the chance in the pool. We have used these since she was a baby whenever we have gone to the pool and they just work. My aunt gave us our first pack and we have been fans ever since. They are wonderful! I'm sure Huggies brand is good too, but we have just been a Pamper's family from the beginning and they have always worked for us. We love these swimmy diapers!

9. L'Oreal Bare Naturals Foundation -

I had been a Revlon girl for years! Never even bought a L'Oreal product. Then my mom introduced me to this just a mere few months ago! I love it! It covers better than any kind of mineral foundation I've ever used, even the expensive ones and it stays on for much longer than most foundations. It is light and natural looking. This product is just plain great!

10. Mack's Soft Foam Earplugs -

Laugh. It's okay. :-) I give you full permission to make fun of me for this one. I know this is totally weird, but there's a story behind it. When I met Andrew way back when, I realized early on that I was going to either have to become a more sound sleeper or we would be destined to a life of sleeping in separate bedrooms. So, our first trip together to the beach, I couldn't handle it. I couldn't sleep AT ALL. I was a mess and so was he. I thought this was for sure the end for us. How could I spend the rest of my life with someone that I couldn't even sleep in the same bed with because of his snoring. (Sorry for calling you out Love, but you know it's true.) Anyway, I found these earplugs and they have been my lifesaver! They work wonders! It is difficult for me to sleep without them now! I love them and if you live with a snorer and toss and turn all night because of the noise, I'm telling you, you MUST get these! They are amazing!

I'm sure I could list so many more than this, but this list makes me happy. I love all of these things and use them almost every single day.

Tomorrow we're off to the parent's house! Yay!

A Very Merry Un-Bloggy-versary to Me

2009-06-28T08:30:00.007-04:00

I just realized that my last post was my 100th post. I should have had a party like they do with TV shows! Called Ace of Cakes or something... Dang it! ... 101 just doesn't have the same ring to it, so I guess I'm too late. Maybe on 200? You know what else I realized? My one year bloggy-versary was on June 18th and I didn't even know... sad. Not that anyone cares... who even reads this thing anyway? And clearly I didn't care enough to celebrate... So... let's move on, shall we?

I basically just want to show off cute pictures of my girl and her cousins at the pool yesterday!

Can I tell you how much I am loving our pools this summer?

Yes, I said pools (plural) ... we have two! (It's okay for you to be jealous.) ;-) We mainly go to the one by our house, but one day a week it's closed while the other one is open and we did venture over there one day this week.

We went to the pool every day except one this past week. It was awesome!

The greatest thing was that Thursday and Friday and even Saturday (the day these pictures were taken) it was almost empty! AHHH-MAZING! Caroline and I are so tan! It's fantastic!

Next week (Wednesday) we're off to the 'noke to see my parents and friends! I can't wait!!! The three "F"s will be involved... Fairs, Food, and Fireworks! It does not get much better than that! Oh... I thought of another F ... funnel cake! mmmm or Fried Oreos.... oh my gosh! My diet is down the toilet! sheesh

Having too much fun to blog!

2009-06-23T16:57:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about blogging and wanting to do it, but there has just been too much to do and too much fun to be had! We've been going to the pool, watching movies, going to the library, singing songs, having school time, making yummy food, having cookouts, and so much more... It's been great! I'm loving summer so far! I'm trying my best not to stress about things (i.e. - wanting to move to NC). I'm just taking it all in stride and enjoy every moment!

I do have a secret though, I'm on a diet AGAIN. yep. My weight had gotten out of control! I'm trying something new this time. I'm doing the Weight Watchers Core plan and so far I'm loving it! I have not been hungry and I have not felt cheated! It's basically just a list of foods that I can eat, plus I have 30 flex points for the week. I'm doing really well and in only a week (almost - I started last Wednesday) I've lost 4.3 pounds. AMAZING! Next week we go to my parent's house for the 4th! That will be the true test of if I'm really all in on this diet! I can't wait, but I really want to keep it up! I can do it!

For now, it's time to hang out more with my kid... we're watching Mary Poppins and drinking strawberry and banana smoothies! This is the life! :-)

Summer! - And look what I made!

2009-06-16T18:04:00.005-04:00

Holy cow! I'm done! The day has finally arrived! Praise THE LORD!!! Today was my last day and I couldn't be happier! (If you can't tell!) I have plenty on my agenda for the summer and I can't wait to get started!

We enjoyed having my amazing Mom here with us since Saturday! We went to the pool and she helped me make these beautiful creations...

Cupcake Hamburgers and Sugar Cookie Fries...

I made them for our end-of-the-year potluck at school and they were so much fun! I LOVE the way they turned out! Much better than I expected!

For now, I'm relaxing and waiting on my celebratory pizza to be delivered, before I start my diet tomorrow. Sad. Good thing I have all the good things that go with summer to make me happy about dieting...

My Top Ten Favorite Things About Summer

1. Vacation!

2. Going to the pool!

3. Watermelon!

4. Cooking out on the grill!

5. Laying out and reading a good book!

6. Wedding Season!

7. Going to the beach! (Though I don't know if we'll make it this year.)

8. Celebrating Independence Day with the family!

9. Fresh fruit and veggies!

10. And last, but definitely not least, hanging out with my awesome kid!!!

So close...

2009-06-07T07:47:00.010-04:00

Hello all! I've been slacking in my bloggy updates lately! But have no fear, I'm still here! :-)

I am so close to the end of the school year, I can taste it!

Three full days a three half days! I can handle that! The great thing is that I'm just letting go! I feel so calm and relaxed already. It's amazing! I've been thinking about all that I want to do this summer. Here is a list in no particular order.

(I think I should make two lists...)

Here are the things I WILL be doing this summer.

1. Going to visit my parents over the 4th of July! And this year I'm going to keep my girl up to watch fireworks! I think she'll love it!

2. Spend as much time at the pool as possible!

3. DIET! woo hoo! I'm thinking of going green. (Well, at least part time anyway.) Check out this book that my sweet Colorado friend Hannah recommended. Green For Life

4. Have school time with Caroline. I've already bought an awesome workbook that we're going to give a try! I'm excited!

5. Have my Aunt Donna, cousin Erika and Mom visit to go see The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center! YAY!!!! I CAN NOT WAIT!

6. read! read! read! Finally finish HP! Maybe finish Twilight. And read a ton of other books I have my eye on... The Help and Three Cups of Tea... probably more. :-)

7. Look for NC jobs!

8. Go to Texas to see my awesome brother-in-law and his family!!! - This trip also marks Caroline's very first trip on an airplane! Any advice of traveling with little ones would be greatly appreciated!

(This is brother-in-law Steve and his son Stoney (who is a recent high school grad, by the way! woo hoo)

9. Maybe a wedding or two.

10. And some kind of awesome anniversary excurision that Andrew and I always seem to take! Like last year's Philly Trip!

I have plenty of other things I want to do...

...like crafting, decorating (or re-decorating), trying to sell our house, exercising more, take lots of naps, making different kinds of cake pops (oops... forgot about my diet for a minute), making a trip or two to see my Lynchburg girls, going into DC for lunch dates with the hubby... the list could go on and on... either way, I'm PUMPED UP about this summer! I can't wait!!! I have very high expectations!

Special Ed

2009-05-30T07:02:00.002-04:00

I have been wanting to post for the last two weeks or so... craving a post, really... my writers block has been too strong. Nothing has seemed important enough to share. (Another reason I don't tweet...twitter... whatever... who really cares about my boring life that much that I need to update you every five minutes about its goings on?) So, anyway...

My weeks have not been painfully dull, as I am trying to make them out to be. I've had plenty of interesting things happen. There is never a dull day working in special ed. I'll give you a run down...

Lots of "he said/she said"

plenty of breakdowns because "You are so mean, Mrs. Heyerdahl!" or "I thought you were nice, but you're a total b**ch!" Niiice.

A little bit of head banging/body banging/laying on the floor/crawling under desks.

A few meltdowns over SOL tests. (Not nearly as many as I thought we'd have, to tell you the truth.)

But if you really want to know... here's my favorite moment of the week...

At our school we have this rule that in order for a student to participate in PE they have to be on level 1 day 4. (It's a whole point system that that we use and that I really don't want to get into... so, just go with it. Pretend like you know what I'm talking about. Smile and nod.) Anyway... 1 day 4... so, there are lots of students who unfortunately are perpetual level 1 day 1 kids and they will inevitably have to stay back from PE to do health most days. And likely, I am the one who stays back with them, trying to calm them and get them to actually do their health assignment, or really just to keep them from exploding and ruining their day once again. So, as I was staying back from PE earlier this week with the health kids, one of the students was reading a section on STDs, because it's what every 8th grader needs to know. Right? Suddenly, his hand flies in the air (an unusual occurrence for this one) and he has a panicked look on his face. "Mrs. Heyerdahl, I have to ask you a question!" he exclaimed frantically. "Yes?" I say calmly. "Well, I'm reading here about AIDS and I'm really worried. See, this girl I'm going out with (another special ed girl who he met on the bus and who goes to a school like ours one parking lot over) has kissed a lot of boys and her immune system, it's not that good. I'm really worried that she has AIDS and that I might have it too because we've kissed a lot." wow! It took all that I had not to laugh or smile. He was serious! So, I tried to be serious. I explained to him what AIDS is and how you get it and that most likely he and his girlfriend were in the clear. Now, I know 8th graders are not innocent. I know that some of them have sex. I also realize that this is a question coming from a student who may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but seriously... I'm still saying wow! Hilarious!

Luckily, we only have 11 more days of this nonsense. And yes, for those of you figuring the days out in your head, that means our last day of school is on a Monday. ridiculous! Four hours of baby sitting is more like it. :-) Ah well... I can't complain too much because then I will be getting paid for hanging out around my house, watching movies, going to the pool, reading, shopping, vacationing... and the list goes on... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Girls just wanna have fun!

2009-05-12T19:53:00.002-04:00

Caroline was channeling her inner Cindy Lauper! The first thing I thought when I looked back at this picture was 80's pop star! And look at that tough look on her face! Hilarious and OH SO CUTE!

My girl was feeling much better on Sunday! Thank goodness! We had a lovely Mother's Day picnic at the park with the cousins and Aunt Lisa. So fun!

We had a great day and it reminded me again that being a Mommy is the greatest job in the world! Thank God for amazing little girls that make life so precious!

Caroline the Brave!

2009-05-09T20:00:00.005-04:00

Friday 12:00. My students were finishing up lunch, and I am told there is an emergency phone call from my babysitter and I should take the call in another room.

Panic.

This is what I remember...

"Erin... we were at the mall... Caroline started acting weird... She wouldn't respond... I had to call 911... She's in an ambulance on the way to the hospital... I took the other kids home, but I'll meet you there..."

"She's by herself?!?! I have to go!"

click.

Nightmare. My two-year-old is in an ambulance on the way to the hospital BY HERSELF! I ran into the classroom and yelled "I have to go" to whoever would listen. And I couldn't breath. I started crying. They took the kids out of the room. I ran out. My coworker took me to the ER.

"May I help you?"

"My kid... my baby... my little girl... she's here... by herself!!!"

Thank God they didn't make me wait. Or show ID. They took me right back.

My tiny child was laying in this huge bed, surrounded by five doctors, nurses, EMT's... etc.

She looked at me, but didn't respond. The doctor started asking me questions. Who was with her? Why did she come alone? Name? Birthday? Social? Medical History? I couldn't breath. again. Then they explain... Why is my baby not talking to me? Looking at me? She just laid there... chewing on a tiny hot pink stuffed fish.

"We think she had a seizure brought on by a high fever. The EMT's took her temperature and it was 103 in the ear, but most likely higher than that. We're running tests to see what has caused her fever."

I laid down with my little girl.

Finally... her huge blue eyes looked into mine... "I love you, Mommy."

I could breath again.

The tests were not fun, but bearable.

After three hours we were discharged. They found nothing. But still tonight, she has a fever again. Not of 103. Lower, thankfully. 100.7. She's sleeping now. I hope it's nothing. She says her mouth hurts and she hasn't eaten much. Maybe it's just a tooth. I pray it's just a tooth. And that no more seizures are to follow. Andrew had seizures when he was a little boy. It could be hereditary. No one really knows. I hate when there are no answers. I like answers. Especially when it comes to my little girl.

(Here she is the other weekend when it was sweltering hot! She took a dip in her kiddy pool!)

Today, we tried to still get out and have some fun. We went to "National Train Day" at Union Station.

We got to see Randy "dawg" Jackson from American Idol and some really cool trains as well.

Caroline was a trooper. She really liked getting on the train, but she was quite disappointed that we didn't get to go anywhere.

Andrew had been wanting to go to this for a while, and she hung in there to let her daddy have some fun.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I find myself with my heart overflowing with love and thankfulness for my amazing child!

Reflecting on motherhood...

2009-05-02T20:12:00.005-04:00

When I was younger, high school age, I started feeling incredibly lonely. Out of place. Even with the friends I had had since I was a child. Even with my family. I felt I fit in no where. It was a sad state. I would contemplate and journal for hours on this isolated reality (or false reality) I had made for myself, but nothing came to be. I never felt settled. I would hate myself for feeling this way. Try my hardest to fit into the world that had been made for me, but long desperately to be a part of another world all together. I couldn't figure it out. It never made sense. The grass was perpetually greener elsewhere. It was never that I had a bad life. I had the best life. I especially know that looking back. But what's that they say about hindsight? It's most definitely true.

Anyway, I wanted to move on... see another side of things... be my own person... stop being so "good" and draw some negative attention for once. Or something like that. My grades failed. My friendships became rocky. My depression deepened. And my self absorption soared. My grades got a bit better. My friendships got stronger once again. I graduated high school. Went away to college. Came home. Ran away to NYC. Got lost. Ran away again to DC. And finally, here, I found someone to ground me.

I will not say that this narcissistic trait decreased as I got older, but my world view has broadened into more than my tiny world. I have seen more and become wiser, though I am more acutely aware now of how little I know and how much more I have to learn.

This reflection has come from the idea that soon I will celebrate my third Mother's Day. I remember a conversation I had with my mom while I was still pregnant with Caroline. I told her I was scared, but excited. I told her I had never anticipated something that I knew would be so life changing and permanent. I was always in a state of motion and love to be in a state of slight discomfort, if only to challenge myself on a higher level than that of which I had been on previously. Motherhood, however, seemed so stagnant. It seemed as though that would bring me back down and drown me in comfortable monotony. Yet, now I see how I could not have been more wrong. In fact, motherhood is the complete opposite of what I thought. It challenges me every single day.

This egotistical view I had for myself, even when I thought I was "doing good" or trying to rebel, changed almost immediately when I took the reigns of motherhood. It has brought me to a place I never thought I'd be and most definitely never expected to love. For so many years, I was searching for who I was supposed to be. But finally, I have realized, that life is about so much more than myself. Yes, I still believe it is important to keep my identity as something other than "mom", but Mommy is not a title that I will ever push aside or try to stifle with my own self-love. I adore my daughter more than life itself, and I feel that my new place in life these last two and a half years has brought me to a greater understanding of my own mother. I feel that it has given me insight and brought me closer to her, and that couldn't make me happier.

So, I guess, the point of this rambling, is to say that the loneliness I once experienced, the isolation I created for myself, has been diminished and wiped away. My daughter is a gift beyond measure. She fills my heart with so much indescribable joy and I praise my God for her every single day. I have finally found it. Who I was meant to be. What I have been searching for. And I truly couldn't be happier. This is not to say that I don't still have dreams for myself or goals for my future, but right now, at this moment and in this place in my life, I am content. And for that, I am grateful.

Top Ten Tuesday

2009-04-28T19:44:00.002-04:00

Top ten reasons I'm ready for summer vacation!

1. My students are making me insane! With 90 degree weather, they think it's June and it's SO not!

2. I miss my kid. She rocks my socks off and she's just getting more awesome by the day. I can't stand how much I'm missing and I want to savor every single moment I get with her!

3. I need a vacation. We have nothing really planned, other than our trip to see family in Texas in August, which I'm super excited about! Also, there is still a possible Wyoming trip at the end of June for just me and Andrew, but nothing is set in stone yet! Oh how we need that time away just the two of us. It would definitely do us some good.

4. I desperately want to go to the pool. I love our neighborhood pools, especially on weekdays in the summer, because they are usually empty, except for the lifeguard. Bliss!

5. I can't wait to sleep in! I'm used to getting up at 6am every day, but it will be so nice to put Caroline to bed later and sleep in until at least 8:00! (You know you're old when sleeping in is 8:00!)

6. More trips to see the parents! I need a few good long weekends in Roanoke. We haven't been there since Christmas! That's TOO long!

7. My mom, Aunt Donna, and Erika's trip up here in July to see The Color Purple! YAY!

8. Plenty of time to read. I have SO many books I want to read and I can hardly stand how little time I have to devote to them.

9. Going to DC to have lunch with the hubby. Caroline is bigger now, so it will be even more fun! She loves going to see Daddy at work!

10. Getting a paycheck for doing whatever I want! That's definitely the best part about my job! haha Okay okay... I shouldn't say that... I love my students, but summer vacation is nothing to complain about!

Caroline sings ABC

2009-04-26T08:20:00.004-04:00

For people who read my blog and don't have facebook, here's the video of Caroline singing her ABC's. SO CUTE! (and so smart!) :-) Enjoy!

Caroline's First Pony Ride!

2009-04-25T15:25:00.004-04:00

We went to Leesburg Animal Park this morning and Caroline had her very first pony ride! She wasn't too thrilled about the idea, until she saw two other little girls have a turn before her. After she saw that they could do it, she was very excited! I thought I was going to have to walk with her, but she held on like a big girl! She was very serious during the ride, but when she got off the horse, she was so proud! Just adorable!

A great weekend and a decent Monday

2009-04-20T17:06:00.006-04:00

There's something about Spring that makes me feel so rejuvenated. I know I already talked about this in a previous post, but the warm weather (even the rain) just makes me feel like anything is possible. It reminds me of how God gives us different seasons of our lives and even when we feel tired or run down, He will pick us up and move us forward into new opportunities and challenges. Awesome!

This weekend I was able to clean up our patio and plant some new Azalia bushes and I also planted some herbs for the first time... basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro and mint. I'm so excited about those herbs, because we all know how much I love to cook and using fresh herbs is my absolute favorite! Now I don't have to spend money to buy them at the store and I can just go out my back door and pick my own! yay! I considered growing some vegetables, but I really don't have too much room and I need to start slowly. Maybe one day when I have a real yard, I'll grow some yummy veggies for summer! Oh the possibilities! :-)

This weekend we also spent time celebrating our dear friend Rhyan's 30th birthday on Saturday night! Here's Rhyan modeling his awesome Snuggie gift from his brother Brandon and sister-in-law Meghan. HOT!

We went to Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant in DC and it was a great time! We even decided to take Caroline and she was AWESOME!

Mainly because her boyfriend Evan was there. She loves Evan and it cracks us up! Here's proof of how much they love each other. haha Adorable!

I was proud to get lots of compliments about how cool and laid back she was. She definitely impressed everyone, even me! We didn't end up getting home until after 10, which is SO past her bedtime. She loved all of the attention and especially the food. (Please excuse how sweaty we are in this picture! It was SO hot in that party room!)

Sunday we spent plenty of time just hanging out. We also got to enjoy another good weather day at the park with the cousins just playing and running around. Caroline had her first crack at the wiffle ball and Andrew was so proud! haha I took pictures on my sister-in-law's camera, but I have not yet gotten those pics from her. I'll be sure to post them when I do. They were all super cute playing!

P.S. - I have finally started the summer countdown... 39 school days left! woo hoo

Top Ten Tuesday... Favorite places to pig out!

2009-04-14T17:55:00.007-04:00

1. Richard's - (No website available.) Favorite BBQ place in Salisbury, NC. If you're ever driving down 85, you should stop into Salisbury and give it a try! I love it so so much! Not only is the food amazing, but the staff there loved my Poppy, who went there every day for many many years. When he died, they closed the restaurant so that they could all come to his funeral. The place just makes me me happy! Favorite bbq sandwich, favorite slaw, favorite hushpuppies, favorite cheeseburgers! YUM!

2. Yamazato's - (No website available.) Fast food Japanese restaurant in Lynchburg, Va. It's amazing! I ate it at least twice a week during college and maybe more while I was student teaching. It's comfort food to the max!

3. Chipotle - Gigantic made-to-order burritos that make my belly oh so happy! Having one close to my house is definitely a requirement for our next abode. HA! I have such high standards.

4. Dixie Bones - Woodbridge, VA BBQ... the only decent bbq restaurant I've found in Northern VA. They have a Sunday buffet that will make your heart skip a beat! oh man! BBQ (all different kinds... pork, beef, chicken...) and mac-n-cheese, and collard greens, and cornbread! YUM!

5. Five Guys - Burgers. Fries. Heaven.

6. Biscuitville - Mostly southern, fast food breakfast chain... my favorite! Especially the country ham biscuit and sausage gravy biscuit! drool.

7. The Melting Pot - Fondu! mmmm It's not only fun, but it's delicious! Especially the desert fondu!

8. Geno's - Cheesesteak! Trips to Philly have taken place just for these sandwiches. We have found a place here that have good cheesesteaks too... Philly Connection. Very close and definitely fulfills the fix when a two hour drive is not doable.

9. Krispy Kream - HOT NOW! As my Andrew says, "It's like the bat signal!" That glowing red sign is hard to pass up!

10. Ledo Pizza - Thin crust rectangle pizza cut into cute little squares... the bacon is my absolute favorite! SO good!

For more Top Ten Tuesday check out ohamanda.com.

What Is Easter?

2009-04-12T15:51:00.005-04:00

I was looking for a book to explain the true meaning of Easter to Caroline and I found this book by the same author of our favorite Christmas book, What is Christmas? both written by Michelle Medlock Adams. What is Easter? just spoke to my heart, and though it is much easier for a preschooler/toddler to understand the meaning of Christmas than it is to understand the meaning of Easter, I love that this one doesn't skirt around the truth. It lets children know that it's fun to buy new clothes, have candy and hunt eggs, but that the true meaning of Easter is Jesus. Exactly what I want my little girl to have instilled in her heart... the earlier the better!

"The little bunny hops, hops, hops.

Is this what Easter means?

Is it about the Easter eggs

All filled with jellybeans?

Is Easter about hunting eggs?

I do that every year.

Does it mean eating chocolate stuff?

I ate my bunny's ear.

Is it about the baby chicks?

They're fuzzy, and they're fun!

I saw some Easter chicks for sale.

I really wanted one.

Is it about the Easter toys?

They're really fun, I think.

One time a bunny came to me.

His little nose was pink.

Is it about my brand-new dress?

And my new Easter hat?

Does it mean wearing shiny shoes?

I really do love that!

Is it about a big parade

With lots of pretty floats?

Is it about the Easter choir?

They sing the highest notes!

No! That's not what Easter means.

Easter means much more than that.

It's all about God's son.

See, God sent Jesus down to earth

To die for everyone.

He had to die upon a tree

To save us from our sin.

But he was only dead three days,

And then he rose again.

Now, that's what Easter really means!

It's quite a special day.

Jesus our Savior rose again.

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

Today, he sits right next to God

In Heaven up above.

He wants to live inside you too

And fill you up with love!

Okay, now I get it.

The Easter Bunny is okay,

And Easter eggs are fun.

But Easter's not about that stuff...

It's all about God's son."

Isn't that just great? If you like that one, you must check out What is Christmas? as well.

Here is me and my beautiful family on our Easter day 2009! :-)

Praise be to God! He is RISEN!!! Hope everyone had a blessed day!

North Carolina Love

2009-04-10T09:14:00.006-04:00

Can I share how much I love North Carolina?! Please? Pretty please? What they hey, it's my blog, I can do what I want. :-) We went to Salisbury last Saturday and came home Wednesday, which was entirely too short of a trip, but it was such a joy to my heart to be there and surrounded by people I love so much!

Caroline made herself right at home. :-)

My beautiful mother and darling daughter!

My parents just built their retirement house in Salisbury, only two doors down from my mom's BFF, Crystal.

Here she is loving on C!

The parent's new house. Beautiful!

It makes me so excited! The house is beautiful! They won't be living there for another few years, but the timing was just right for them and it couldn't make me happier.

Caroline with her Poppy!

Saturday, when we got there, two of my BFF's, Kim and Sara, came into Salisbury to see us!

It was so wonderful to see them and have them there! We all hung out for a while and then went to dinner. It was a big ol' party! Sadly, they had to leave Saturday evening, but it was still a blast to see them! Love you girls!!!

Also, my beautiful cousin Erika was there and we spent as many moments as possible together. She's the sister I've never had and I love her with all my heart! (And so does Caroline!)

Sunday was a day with the family. We went down to see my Granny in her new assisted living home and she was doing great! Looking as beautiful as ever! :-)

We took her out to my Aunt DeDe's house and hung out with them and the kids for a while.

We ate fried chicken and drank sweet tea and just played outside until it was time to go back to Salisbury for C's nap. It was a beautiful day!

Back at my parent's house we had more family over for dinner.

And my sweet Erika painted both my toes and Caroline's toes. :-)

Monday and Tuesday we went around to Concord and Charlotte to look around at possible living/working areas of interest, but it wasn't all about us... we also went to the park on Tuesday to let Caroline run around for a while.

It was so cold, considering we'd been loving the 70's, but we still had fun and so did C!

On our way back Andrew and I got to talking about me going back to school... I still have UNC Chapel Hill in my mind as a huge possibility for Grad School and I can't let it go... their school counseling program is just over a year long and you must go full time. I just feel like that would be the best thing for me, especially if I could do it right away and then just be done. We all know I'd like to be a SAHM, but if that possibility is not in the future for me, I feel like I really need to find something to do that I truly love and care about and school counseling is without a doubt where I should be. I wouldn't even be able to go until next Fall, but I think it's just something to really consider. We'll see what happens and what God has in store. As of right now, I'm just thinking and dreaming. Nothing is really reality quite yet.

All I can say though, is that I love North Carolina so much! I can't wait to move there and be closer to the people I love! It just feels so right. :-) Soon I hope.

One more taste of North Caroline beauty with this gorgeous tree down the street from my parent's new house.

Freedom!

2009-04-03T16:19:00.002-04:00

I have been wanting to post all week, but who really has the time? Definitely not me! But today.... oh, this glorious day... I AM FREE for an entire beautiful week of Spring Break and I could not be more elated! YES!!! I feel like a kid! :-)

To update on my cakepops that I made last weekend for the baby shower at work on Wednesday... they were a huge hit! I got so many complements, it definitely made the hours of work worth it! I got suggestions from coworkers to sell my pops at craft shows and even a possible interest for my pops to be made for a special event! How cool! So, I think I may check around and see if there are any local craft shows coming up at schools or churches in the area and get to selling. Yay! :-)

Tomorrow we leave for a trip down to North Carolina! So many friends and family to see! My heart is overflowing with excitement and anticipation!

And... Spring is alive here in Virginia. Finally. The cherry blossoms are all in bloom along with tons of other beautiful flowers! I love it! Pictures to come!

National Aquarium

2009-03-29T10:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we went to the Baltimore National Aquarium. It was fun for the most part, but it was a little too crowded for my taste and it took away from the experience, especially with my two-year-old on a leash who kept yelling "it's my turn" whenever anyone was in her way. haha Overall it was a good day, but we were all exhausted on our way home. We went to have lunch with our friend Evan, who Caroline has a huge crush on, before heading back to VA. Today I am beat and feeling kinda poopy... but I'm pushing through to make my first ever cupcake pops!

Check out our only half-way decent picture from the Aquarium yesterday...

Middle of the week Pork Tenderloin

2009-03-26T18:38:00.004-04:00

This is probably one of my favorite go-to recipes to make during the week or on the weekend. Not only is it SUPER easy and delicious, but it's also a ton of food to last for lunch and dinner the next day. Leftovers are perfect to make sandwiches or add to a veggie soup! This recipe is also so great to make for dinner guests, because it takes little effort, yet it seems fancy. Just perfect. It's so delicious and I urge everyone to try it!

I have tried a combination of different herbs and spices, and though this recipe is great, I do like to add a little bit of dry mustard and seasoning salt to my combination. Take it or leave it, it's up to you!

Also, just a tip... I typically buy my pork tenderloins from Costco, because you get two for the price of one at the regular grocery store. Nothing like a bargain to make a girl happy! :-) I'll make one that week and put the other in the freezer to use later.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried thyme

Salt (I substitute seasoning salt here.)

1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Stir mixture until all the ingredients are well combined and they form a seasoning. This will be used as a rub to ensure the pork is well seasoned. Sprinkle the rub over the tenderloin, then rub the pork with the seasoning over both sides of the meat, pressing gently so the seasoning adheres to the tenderloin.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and heat. Add the minced garlic and saute, stirring for 1 minute. Put tenderloin in the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, searing each side of the meat. Transfer meat to a roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes. Slice and serve.

Thanks to Ellie Krieger from Food Network for the recipe! Enjoy!

My Favorite Musicals

2009-03-21T08:46:00.004-04:00

In honor of seeing A Chorus Line tonight with my darling husband, here is a list of my all time favorite musicals... in no particular order. (This list includes both musicals I've seen on stage and just the movie.)

1. My Fair Lady

2. Fiddler On the Roof

3. Annie

4. Showboat

5. Big River

6. A Chorus Line (though until tonight, I've only seen the movie)

7. The Music Man

8. The Sound of Music

9. Mary Poppins (I've never seen the stage version.)

10. Beauty and the Beast (same goes with this one...)

11. Rent (Truthfully, the original cast in '96 is the only one I have been truly mesmerized by.)

12. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (I was in this one in HS!)

13. Hairspray (because it's so dang fun!)

14. Miss Saigon

15. Jesus Christ Superstar

That was fun... I think I'll make a list of my favorite plays too...

1. A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

2. Having Our Say - The Delany Sisters and Amy Hearth

3. A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams

4. MacBeth - duh Shakespeare

5. The Crucible - Arthur Miller

6. Wit - Margaret Edson

7. Desire Under the Elms - Eugene O'Neill

8. Jake's Women - Neil Simon

9. A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen

10. The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare

This was fun! I should do my list of favorites more often... :-) Have a great Saturday!

Black and White weekend

2009-03-15T14:13:00.005-04:00

We've had a very lazy weekend and it's been lovely.

We've mostly just laid around and done a bunch of nothing. Thrilling, I know. :-)

The clouds and rain have given us an excuse, though.

That's one thing I love about rain... I don't have to come up with reasons for not going out.

We can just stay in, keep to ourselves and enjoy each other without questions.

Next weekend, however, I am hoping for perfect weather (or at least no rain), because the hubby and I will be going on my big birthday date! horray! Saturday night we're actually going out just the two of us! Courtney, Caroline's regular babysitter's teenage daughter, is going to come over to keep C while Andrew and I have a night on the town! We're going to dinner at The Dubliner ... SO GOOD! ... and then to see A Chorus Line! I can't wait!!!

Until then...

Did it really snow a week ago?

2009-03-08T19:44:00.006-04:00

This is what we did this weekend...

Went to the playground...

Played with sidewalk chalk...

Played "catch"...

Took naps with the windows open...

Enjoyed time together...

And loved every minute of it...

I LOVE SPRING! Winter is not allowed to be here anymore (at least not until next year), now that we've had this taste of Spring! I feel so rejuvenated. I can't even describe it! Just being outside with my beautiful family all weekend long, basking in all of God's beauty! Listening to the birds. Taking in the few flower buds that are peeking their way out. Waving hello to our neighbors coming out of their winter hibernation. It ALL just makes me happy. I didn't even know how much I needed it, but that's the beauty of our Lord! He gives us just what we need at just the right time! Thank goodness!

Also, Andrew and I watched Fireproof this weekend. If you haven't seen it and you're a married or engaged couple, I'd recommend it. The acting wasn't great, but the message was definitely something everyone needs to hear. It prompted a lot of discussion between Andrew and I, which is always a good thing. Check it out! :-)

Oh... one more thing! Andrew got me an early birthday present! YAY!!! We're going to see A Chorus Line at the National Theater on March 21st! WOO HOO!!! I'm THRILLED! Do I have the best husband or what?!?! I'd say a big resounding "YES!!!"

Scout the good sport!

2009-03-06T17:09:00.004-05:00

Caroline loves playing dress-up! She loves to dress and undress herself, but she also finds it amusing to put clothes and accessories on her dolls or me or Daddy... or even better, our kitty Scout.

Scout loves Caroline and she is such a good sport! It cracks me up to see how much Scout will let Caroline do to her. Don't you just love her pink necklace and that teal scarf! It's just perfect with your fur tone, Scouty! Work it girl! :-)

This weekend will bring TONS of outside time! woo hoo!!!! 70's is the kind of March I'm talking about!

I needed to wake up to see this...

2009-03-02T15:40:00.004-05:00

After the longest week ever, that was last week, a snow day on a Monday was a much needed relief!

Caroline was excited for about 10 minutes... until she fell... then she was done.

But she's so darn cute!

Even my handsome hubby got in on the snow day action! woo hoo!

I fear that tomorrow we will have school, but it's been nice while it lasted! I definitely did not expect a three day weekend, leaving school on Friday. So, this was very welcome!

Tonight, I'm making Pioneer Woman's Best Lasagna. Ever. Drool! Let's hope it turns out as good as all the reviewers claim! I am replacing the hot sausage with regular sausage for Caroline's sake. Yeah... yeah... I know what you're thinking... well, diet, schmiet. I'll talk to you again about that when winter's over. :-) For now, I will eat cheese and pasta and meat and I will be happy and content. So, there!

80's Theme Baby Shower

2009-02-22T11:52:00.002-05:00

I read Cake Wrecks every day and I found this amazing blog that not only featured one of the coolest cakes I've ever seen, but this amazingly awesome 80's prom theme party! You MUST check it out! I am trying to think up reasons to throw an 80's prom party myself. Any ideas? My birthday? Maybe. wow! Check it out!!!! And give me ideas for Why I should throw an 80's Prom theme party. Only thing is... I want Rachel to be able to come. Maybe a welcome home party for Rachel when she gets back. That's SO long to wait... hmm...

In light of the recession...

2009-02-22T08:56:00.003-05:00

I was thinking the other day about people who lived during the Great Depression and are still alive today. Most of them were probably young, most likely children who had no idea what was taking place in their world. I wonder what they think of what is going on today. I get annoyed when I hear people compare our recession today to the recession people experienced when the market crashed in 1929. To me, from what I know, it is not even a comparison. Despite that though, I was thinking about these people as children and what kind of dreams they imagined, while the adults dealt with the harsh reality of the Great Depression. As I was watching Caroline playing with her dollhouse the other day, being witness to her imagination, vividly creating stories about her family of dolls, my heart warmed at her innocence. Watching her made me think about Letters To Erin again. The letters my MawMaw wrote to me when I was a baby. So, I pulled them out and started reading. The first one perfectly portrayed a little girl living in a time where people had next to nothing. It really made me stop and think about her life and how her imagination made up a world of wonder and beauty in a time where things were not so perfect...

Here's the first letter...

"Dear Erin,

Although you're just fifteen months old now, before I know it you'll be grown, and there are so many things I want you to know about. You have a fine Mommy and Daddy, and they will teach you many things, but a grandmother can give you a legacy of the past that will enrich the present and guide you in the future.

When I was a little girl like you I lived on Main Street with my Mama and Papa in an old one-story white house with a porch and a swing and ten steps leading down to the sidewalk. The street was a main highway then and trucks and cars rumbled through the night - not so many as today though, for although I didn't really know it, the stock market had crashed when I was a few weeks old and our world had plunged into the Great Depression.

Although there were grownups living in the house that sagged under its own weight and was wearily held off the ground by tired brick pillars, there were no other children and I amused myself by retreating into a fantasy land of my own making. Others have said that I was a stubborn child, and I guess I was, sulking in the pantry when I was angry.

That pantry, though, was a magic place. On one side there were rows and rows of fruit jars filled with peaches, and jellies, and sometimes pale, sweet wine. That was the side I mustn't touch but could only smell the sweetness of it and marvel at the jewel-like colors enriched by the sunlight shining in the solitary window.

The other side I claimed as my province. There was a big box, a rag bag Mama called it, filled with discarded clothing, and on the rack above were old coats and hats. Papa had been the director and chief cornetist of a village band when, years before, he and Mama and the four children, Myrtle, Ralph, Virginia, and Harold, had lived in Bessemer City. His uniform coat and hat were in the pantry, and I used to finger the roughness of the gold braid on the sleeves.

One day I managed to climb up and dislodge the coat and cap from their resting place. They fell with a whoosh on my head and covered me with their blackness. When I had extricated myself from the wool and braid I put them on - the coat and cap - and felt another wonder in the pocket. It was a magic wand of long smooth wood, a baton I later learned. When I waved it in the air, music filled the pantry and even reached my ears which had been covered over with the gold braided cap. Although I couldn't see very well - the cap hanging over my eyes had a bill made of black stuff that I could stick my fingernails into - I could visualize a whole room full of musicians and I was their leader. When I waved the wand the music began and when I waved it faster the music became frenzied, and when I waved it more slowly the music washed over me like tired waves on a lonely beach. I was renewed and forgot what had made me angry enough to retreat to the pantry.

There were other treasures in the rag bag: old lace curtains to be used for bridal veils or long regal trains and my own little white shirts with short button-on sky blue pants. I had asked Mama why I couldn't have clothes like the other children in the neighborhood and she had made them for me - the older children were all boys at the time.

Outside the pantry window was a large maple tree underneath which no grass grew. Its shelter made a roof for my playhouse carefully drawn with a stick in the dirt. It was always in a state of remodeling; I could draw the walls and doors differently every day. I would have to be careful, however, and not walk right through the walls; one should only go in and out the doors, which were marked with two short lines perpendicular to those of the walls. I made a stove out of a stack of bricks I had found in the sterile earth under the house and played at cooking grass and weeds. I gathered dandelions and placed them in milk bottles around in my house just as Mama did with the vases of roses from her garden. Sometimes I would take my two favorite dolls, an old baby doll with a floppy cloth body and sewn-in arms and legs and a little girl doll whose red wig I had long ago pulled off, and seat them on other bricks I had fashioned into chairs.

Later when I had achieved a little more manual dexterity, I found that pawpaw leaves fastened together with twigs could be fashioned into wonderful things, like crowns and floppy hats, and capes to hide the everyday world and fly away to Never-never Land.

Imagination is a wonderful gift, Erin, and should be encouraged to grow and flourish. It takes us places we never can go and gives us experiences we never can have otherwise. It gives color to a drab world and delight in the commonplace."

52 things I love about you...

2009-02-11T18:24:00.006-05:00

This is the gift I made Andrew for Valentine's Day. I'm usually not one for this sentimental Hallmark holiday, but I saw this idea and I had to do it this year! My sweet husband had already gotten me the M&M's a couple of weeks ago, but he still got me beautiful flowers and some cozy pink pj's. So sweet!

1. You accept me no matter what.

2. You are an amazing father.

3. You make me laugh.

4. You are a great game partner!

5. You are so fun to hang out with!

6. You are the best at ... uh hm... you know. :-)

7. You secretly like Gilmore Girls.

8. You love kids and want more.

9. You love my family.

10. You eat all of my food creations, even if it's different or weird.

11. You love my friends.

12. I love your friends.

13. You are always considerate of my feelings.

14. You are never jealous.

15. You never put down my ambitions.

16. You trust me.

17. I trust you.

18. You love an adventure!

19. Your metro voices still crack me up.

20. You are hot!

21. You think I am hot, even when I'm SO not!

22. You take out the trash.

23. You always try your best to make me happy.

24. You rub my feet even when you don't want to.

25. You love your family.

26. You will always try to convert me to be a Star Wars Lover.

27. You are a little boy at heart.

28. I think it's totally sexy that you used to play baseball.

29. You never pressure me to do things.

30. You do the dishes.

31. You are a hard worker.

32. I can always count on you to fix my electronic/computer problems.

33. You like to rock out to 80's love ballads.

34. You are so patient with me.

35. You get along well with most everyone.

36. You accept my past.

37. You were honest with me about your past.

38. You push me to do what I love.

39. You give awesome hugs!

40. You are so cozy and cuddly!

41. You make me comfortable, even in awkward situations.

42. You love Jeopardy, and you are so good at it!

43. You bring out the best nerd in me!

44. You are a nerd and proud of it!

45. I miss you when you're not around.

46. You are the only person I could hang out with 24/7 without getting annoyed.

47. You get so excited over little things!

48. You have a great relationship with your parents!

49. You always tell me you love me, even when I'm so crappy!

50. You have definitely made me a better person!

51. I can tell you anything.

52. You are everything and more that I ever wanted in a husband!

Feeling good...

2009-02-11T18:11:00.007-05:00

I'm feeling better. Thanks for the sweet comments and prayers! :-)

Last weekend was so good... For everyone!

Friday night I went to sleep super early and got to sleep a full 11 hours that night. I felt like a new woman the next day!

Then on Saturday our friends Kate and Rhyan came over for dinner. We had a great time with them and even talked them into playing Sing Star with us! :-) So fun!

Sunday, Andrew's parents came over and we went to Arlington Cemetery. I had never been and they have a driving pass because both of Andrew's grandparents (his mom's parents) are buried there. It was a beautiful place and so moving. Andrew's grandparents are buried right across the street from the recently deceased Iraq War soldiers. We walked over there and and I got so choked up! It definitely put the war into more perspective when I started looking at all of the engravings. So many of these soldiers were younger than me. We saw a family there with balloons, signs and flowers... there were young girls and parents... I also saw a man alone, standing in front of a stone with a birth date of 1983. My heart aches for them.

It's difficult for me to comprehend the sacrifice these men and women have made for our country, but also the sacrifice that their wives, husbands, parents and children have to make as well. I do not think I could be a military wife and I admire all of those women who are. Even if you are a lucky one who has your husband/son/brother/etc. come home from war, they could be so changed that you hardly recognize them. I have no idea how I would react if my child told me that she/he wanted to go into the military. It would be difficult to accept, but definitely a proud moment to know that my child is willing to make that ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Anyway, while there we also got to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Again, I got choked up! How can you not? The silence and the precision of the ceremony was beautiful.

After we left, we had a yummy dinner for Andrew's birthday! Monday my darling husband turned the big 3-0! We didn't do too much to celebrate, but I made him his favorite dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli. And to top it all off a funfetti cake with chocolate frosting! YUM!

(Needless to say, with no Famished Friday last week, dieting went down the tubes once again. I'll get back on the wagon soon enough.)

So... that's what's been going on in our lives. I'm working on a Valentine's Day gift for my Andrew. Once I give it to him, I'll post about it. :-) Don't want to give away the surprise.

mental health day... sometimes it's just necessary

2009-02-05T18:25:00.003-05:00

Everyone needs a mental health day every now and then. Today was my day.

Everything just kind of hit me this morning and I got so overwhelmed... talking in circles about our house and our mortgage and wanting to move. That's mostly what it's about.

I can't even handle it anymore. This is the most frustrating time in history to be a home owner. It's just not fair how honest, hard-working people like Andrew and I are in this position. We pay our bills on time. We are never late. We have great credit. And our salaries should be more than enough to get by comfortably. Yet, our stupid mortgage is so high, it's all we think about. We bought our house as low as we could possibly find at the time. We thought for sure the market would remain stable and continue to thrive. We never thought, two and a half years ago, that we would be in this position right now. We never thought that we would be stuck. But that's exactly where we are. Stuck.

In the big picture, the big grand scheme of things, I know that this is only temporary. The housing market will change. It will move. People will eventually start spending money again and start buying houses, but how much money do we have to lose in our high interest rates that no one wants to help us change? It's just not fair. When will be able to sell and even break even? There is no answer. No one knows. Because everyone is scared. So, no one is doing anything...

I'm usually not one who thinks the government owes me something. I work for what I get and I think it's important to do so. But this time, I think otherwise. I feel cheated. Cheated by those stupid lenders who gave huge loans to people who couldn't afford it. Those idiots who crapped out on their mortgages because they make as much as us and tried to buy a $450,000 house. Those are the people I'm mad at. And now, because of them, the honest people like us are the ones who suffer. We're the ones who can't sell our house and have to fight to refinance. It's just wrong. It makes me want to scream!

So, this morning all of these thoughts are running through my mind... my kids have been off the wall terrible this week. Walking into school to face another day was more than I could handle today. I broke down and cried. It started at Caroline's babysitter's house when she asked me what was wrong and the tears just continued like a flood throughout the morning. I tried to dry it up and stay at school, but the kids pushed my buttons first thing and I had to jet out of there as quickly as possible before I flew off the handle. I'm glad I left. I usually feel guilty for taking leave when I'm not sick or Caroline's not sick. I feel like I let people down. But today, it was necessary. I got to have lunch in DC with Andrew and lay on the couch for a few hours and watch TV. It felt good.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Today I reminded myself that I am blessed. I have a lovely home that keeps us warm. I have an amazing, supportive, loving husband who would do anything for me. I have an incredible little girl who is my world. I have a job that is stable and helps me pay the bills. I work with nice people who really care about others. I have wonderful parents and in-laws who are always there to lend an ear or give advice. I have friends and family who listen and support me in ways most people can't even imagine. And most importantly of all, I have a loving God who has a plan for my life and is always waiting with open arms when I need Him. When I think of all of those things, I realize how lucky I am.

This too shall pass. Thank God.

Famished Fridays... I need to get my butt into gear!

2009-01-30T19:48:00.003-05:00

Erin: 1

Andrew: 2

So, in total, I've lost 6 pounds. That's not so bad, I guess. Especially considering how sucky I've been doing. Seriously. Weight Watchers... yeah right. Counting points... hardly. It's amazing I lost a pound this week, because I had two snow days where I sat around on my butt all day and snacked till my little heart's content. Then, you want to hear about today? Of course you do! Today at school I helped with deli. (Kids on a certain level at our school are allowed to order deli food on Friday and the person who usually helps with it was not there today. So, the torch was passed to me.) Anyway, helping with deli wasn't the problem. The problem was that as a token of thanks I was given free fries from deli. The fries aren't even that good. It's not like I even wanted them. But still, I ate them... plus my ham sandwich and 100 cal pack of Doritos. sigh. I suck. Then tonight we had steak... but I also had a salad, peas, and brown rice. So, that could have been worse. Right? RIGHT?

Then... my sweet Andrew gave me an early Valentine's Day present tonight...

Personalized M&M's.

yum!

I know, right? I have the best husband! And I've been munching on them since after dinner.

sigh.

Dieting will happen one day... but on January 30, 2009, it definitely did not.

The praying for snow paid off!

2009-01-27T10:15:00.004-05:00

Northern Virginia Finally gets a snow day! Horray! I'm sitting here with my beautiful little girl watching Annie, my favorite kids movie of all time! The snow is falling away and looking oh so beautiful! I love snow days!

Caroline and I went out for a bit this morning to play in the snow! Her very first time! There was snow last year, but only once and she wasn't big enough to play in it. So, this year she LOVED it! She kept saying, "Mommy, I love snow!" Adorable! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! Happy snow day! (To those who have snow!)

Trying to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

Hi, Mom! I love the snow!

This white stuff is messy and fun!

Checking out her snow-covered mittens.

Also, because I was proud and I had to share, I french braided Caroline's hair for the first time over the weekend and I thought it turned out pretty good! Take a lookie! :-)

A long day...

2009-01-26T15:43:00.003-05:00

...makes me think of foood! ugh. I'm making this when I'm no longer on a diet. onion rolls, eggs, real BUTTER, cream cheese! YUM

Now, I'm going home... with evening plans of snow-dancing and wearing my pj's backwards and inside out! :-)

I keep forgetting Famished Friday's... Week 3... random.

2009-01-24T10:03:00.004-05:00

This week:

Andrew: 0

Erin: 0

Yep, that's right... we lost 0 pounds this week. But no gain either, which is good. We ate out a lot last weekend and I think that contributed to the stand-still. Though, I must admit that I did well ordering lower fat options, rather than eating burgers and fries. I have little motivation right now to write down points, but hopefully that will change this week. I've been craving junk food, but I must say that I've done pretty well not giving in to temptation.

In other news, Caroline has adjusted so well to her big girl bed and that makes me SO happy! She gets excited to go to bed and for any mom, that's a treat! :-)

Also, remember last summer when I posted on some books I had read? Well, one of those books She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, was simply amazing! So, recently I was talking to one of my coworkers about that book and she said that if I loved that one, I should get I know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. Well, I bought it last weekend and I've been reading it this week and I must say that it is incredible! He is by far one of the best authors I've ever read. His subjects aren't always so pretty, but the characters are so real. I'll post more when I finish reading the book, but so far it is amazing!

Now for a lazy weekend!

Big girl bed!

2009-01-19T20:53:00.002-05:00

Andrew and I ordered a new bedspread for Caroline's transition to her toddler bed for her birthday. It was a special order because the material on the comforter and pillowcase are the same material as her "nappy". Well, the package came on Thursday and Caroline was SO excited to open another birthday present! It was love at first sight. Caroline wanted to go to bed immediately, and I knew I wouldn't be able to wait another day to convert her crib to a toddler bed. So, I got out my tools, converted her bed and put on her new comforter that same night! She was thrilled! She didn't even want to put on her pj's or read a story. (Though we did anyway.) All she wanted to do was go to bed!

I was worried about her getting out of her bed, and it did happen. Thursday and Friday night got out of her bed and cried at the door, but when I came in and put her back in her bed, she stopped crying and went back to sleep. The same thing happened with her nap on Saturday, though no crying. Instead, she got up and came out of her room and stood at the gate at the top of the stairs yelling "Mommy". Again, I came up and took her back to bed and told her, "Big girls stay in their bed." Since then, she has not gotten out again.

She loves her bed and I'm SO glad! I had this fear that Thursday night I would be in her room at 2am putting her crib back together. whew! I'm glad that fear did not come true.

Here's a picture of my big girl in her big bed! :-) So cute!

Famished Friday's... on Saturday...

2009-01-17T08:07:00.003-05:00

Progress this week:

Me: 2 lbs

Hubby: 4 lbs

So, the total two week weight loss for me is 5 lbs and Andrew 13 lbs. MEN! Okay, I'm not going on about that again.

This week was really terrible and frankly, it's a miracle that we lost any weight at all. Neither of us wrote our points down and last weekend the parent's were in town. So, we ate a lot of junk on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I had ANOTHER cupcake and ice cream and chips, plus that same day while we were at the mall I ate a chick-fil-a sandwich and fries. sigh. Then Sunday we just ate a lot of junk. I can't even recall what I ate. Monday we got back into the swing of things, but my dinners were not consistent. Last night was a prime example of that inconsistency, as I ate baked tostitos scoops dipped in sour cream and a diet pepsi for dinner. What is that all about? Me not in the mood to cook, that's what it's all about. heh So sad. Andrew ate Subway 4 nights during the week. That's his only go-to healthy meal. But that doesn't mean I don't feel bad.

I have a ton of asparagus and spinach in my fridge and I need to figure out something to do with them today. I'll let you know what I come up with.

So, this struggle continues and I will try to remain headstrong and devoted. I know it's a long road to get to the weight I want to be at, but I'm determined to see this through as long as possible.

So, hopefully this week will prove more successful in the writing of points and the balance of diet, but we'll see. I'll do my best.

More to come on Caroline's first nights in her big-girl bed. :-)

The Big TWO!

2009-01-11T19:27:00.007-05:00

I know it seems so cliche for me to say "it seems like only yesterday", but how else can I describe how quickly this time has gone by?

(Mommy and Caroline - Caroline was one day old)

Two years! WOW! I can't believe it! My tiny baby that I carried home from the hospital has grown into a little girl! She is so smart and I am constantly amazed by all the things she knows.

She learns something new every single day!

(Caroline's Abby Cadabby Birthday party - January 10, 2009)

I love all of her little quirks! The way she brushes her teeth, her obsession with lotion, how whenever I ask her what she wants to eat her answer is always "cereal", the way she loves to be a little "mommy" when she's playing with her dolls, and how she'd rather watch "Little Bear" than any other show on TV.

This girl makes me laugh all the time!

She has the best sense of humor! She loves to sing, especially her "ABC's". She loves animals and especially her own kitty, Scout.

(Caroline opening gifts.)

While I was pregnant, there were so many prayers I prayed for this child and my prayers have been answered and then some!

(She got a new bike from Grammy and Poppy!)

She is loving, sweet, smart, gentle, and joyful. She lights up a room and her smile melts my heart! I could not have asked for a more wonderful daughter!

(And she loves it!)

I pray every day that she will learn to love the Lord and grow in her relationship with him. Every night we say our prayers and read her Bible and she is learning the importance of building that relationship with Jesus. I pray that she will learn how important it is to share her gifts with others and give to the world with a servant's heart. I know that this beautiful little girl is going to have so much to share and I pray that she will trust the Lord to guide her.

(Caroline's new Build-A-Bear Kitty!)

Caroline's 2nd Birthday was a joyful event and we are all so blessed to have this incredible child in our lives! I love you, my darling daughter, and I look forward to celebrating many more birthday's with you!

Famished Friday: Week 2

2009-01-09T17:13:00.002-05:00

As of this morning I have lost 3 pounds. go me! But Andrew... he's lost 9! stinking men! Seriously.

The transition into Weight Watchers wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, which for me means that I was definitely in the right mindset. It helped a lot that Andrew wasn't trying to tempt me with McDonald's, but was calculating his points right along with me.

Although, I must admit that last night I was making cupcakes for Caroline's birthday on Saturday and I HAD to eat one. It was delicious! And I don't feel guilty. I should be allowed a little treat every now and then. As long as my fat butt isn't on the couch every single night eating french fries and cupcakes. :-)

Right now I'm feeling gross and I haven't eaten much today. I've been a little sicky today, but maybe that'll help me shed a few more pounds. (I'll take what I can get!)

My parents will be here in a short 45 minutes, so I should go and finish cleaning a few things before they get here!

Happy eating! And have a great weekend!

My beautiful Caroline turns 2 tomorrow! I can't believe it! More to come...

I'm not ready...

2009-01-04T18:48:00.004-05:00

To go back to school, that is. sigh. I know I will be fine, but I just have such a desire to be a stay-at-home mom and ONE day... I pray... it will happen. Hopefully before Caroline is 16. That's not too much to ask for. Right?

Tomorrow I'm desperately going to miss spending all day with this man (and kitty)...

Aren't they adorable?

And this hilarious girl! Don't forget to check out her high heels over her footie pj's. So Awesome!

I think she's going to miss me a little bit too. Today I kept reminding her that she was going back to Becky's tomorrow and in response she told me "I don't like Becky" and "I don't like Finn" and "I don't like Tucker" and "I don't like Buster"(the dog). But I reminded her that she loves all of them and that she's going to have a fun time with her friends tomorrow! In her almost 2-year-old mind, however, she was convinced it would not be okay without Mommy. Ah... how great is this time? :-)

I LOVE HER!!!

And I know I promised Christmas pictures, but just check out the flickr instead, so I don't have to post a million pictures here.

Love to all! Pray for my week back to work! I'll need it!

Famished Friday's...

2009-01-02T09:27:00.004-05:00

And here we are once again, ladies and gentleman. It's diet time. ugh. sigh. boo. hiss. (If you're wondering I have my serious pout face on right now.) I HATE DIETING. This is not news. I dream and pray for a metabolism where I can eat all of the brownies, chips and pizza I want without gaining a single ounce. I, however, am one of the unlucky ones who gains weight just by being in the same room with said snacks. It doesn't help that I love eating, though.

So, while down in the 'noke over the holidays, my parents decided we ALL needed to diet (Mom, Dad, Andrew and me) and that we would make it a little interesting. Whoever loses the most weight (though we're going with percentage of weight like they do on the Biggest Loser) will get a $125 gift card to the store of their choice. My parents are putting in the $100 and Andrew and I are putting in the $25. We're cheap. hehe

So, yesterday we had the official weigh in and let me tell you folks, it was NOT pretty! We all were shocked and appalled at what a month of holiday eating can do to a person! ugh! I was way too close to the 200 mark for comfort. ACK! I will not reveal anyone's weight, but we were all in desperate need to lose a lot.

I think my ultimate goal will be 40lbs (though I could absolutely stand to lose more than that), but we'll see if I last that long. A good 25 would be sufficient, but not ideal.

So, the contest ends April 1st (but hopefully the weight loss will continue into the summer), and to keep me accountable, I will be posting here every Friday letting you know how much closer I am to reaching my goal.

Famished Friday's seems like an appropriate name for these posts... especially since it's only 9:30 in the morning and I am already starving just at the thought of being on Weight Watchers again. WW is our household diet of choice, by the way. I do love Weight Watchers and I feel confident in the following this program to lose weight. It's the only one I've ever found that really works.

So... here I am... fat and hungry... but soon it will change and these hunger pangs will go away and I will be thinner and happier and healthier! So, here's to losing weight!

And now it's time to break out the Wii Fit that we got months ago and have only used... mmm... 3 times. yeah.

(P.S. - I will post pictures from Christmas soon... but I still have not put them on my computer. Plus I got Photoshop for Christmas and I want to play with it before posting pictures anyway.)

Happy New Year!

John Adams

2008-12-21T12:20:00.005-05:00

Sometimes I wish I had HBO for series like these. But luckily, I have Netfix to fill the HBO void. Thank you, Netflix, for allowing us to watch this incredible and beautiful tribute to the life of our second president of the United States!

Andrew and I have been watching The John Adams series for the last few weeks and we just finished it last night, and I must say that it was amazing! If you love history you should watch it! Even if you don't love history, I think it sheds a lot of light on the difficult reality that it took to build our nation.

The story begins with the Boston Massacre, leading to the creation of the Continental Congress and the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence. It shows the country's battle for a Revolution and the British surrender. It leads us through the election of the first president and vice president and the toils of these men to help our nation survive. It gives us a clear vision of the Adams family and all that they had to endure through the years. Finally, it ends with the death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You couldn't write it any better than that, folks! It is a story of determination, conviction and patriotism that will just make you thankful for the existence of John Adams and others who fought so furiously to build our country from nothing.

If you haven't seen it, you must! There are seven episodes in the series and three dvd's total.

Christmas is coming!

2008-12-18T17:31:00.004-05:00

It's almost Christmas and I'm so pumped! I wish I could tell you all that my last day of school is tomorrow, but the sad fact is that we still have to go Monday and Tuesday next week! Can you believe it? I have a hard time believing it myself.

Anyway, we still have not made it to see Santa, hopefully this weekend. But we have all of our Christmas shopping done and our presents have been wrapped for two weeks now. I was impressed with how quickly we got things done. We were totally on the ball! Go us!

I can't wait until next week! There's so much to look forward to! YAY

And now, because I don't have the mental capacity to write anymore, I will leave you with these beautiful pictures of my girl with the Christmas tree!

Burnout...

2008-12-05T16:44:00.005-05:00

Lately, I have been... what is the word? ... tired. Yeah, that's it. I think it was about the same time last year that I was feeling the burnout of my job. So, maybe it's just an annual trend, but maybe not. I just don't know how much longer I can do it. Ideally I will go to the end of the year and then we can move, but who knows if the moving part will even be possible at this point. And if it's not, then what? Do I continue on with this job that I don't really like and never expected to be in for three years? Or do I find another job temporally until we do move? I don't know.

I have been in a dilemma trying to figure out what I want to do next. It's this waiting game, really. Waiting on the economy, mostly. Trying to see when exactly it will turn upwards and allow us to sell our house and move to NC as planned. Since Andrew and I got married and bought this house, we were determined to move to NC by Summer/Fall of 2009. Well, that time is quickly approaching and house sales in our neighborhood are at a standstill. Not only that, but we are increasingly disappointed with the idea of taking a loss on our home in the sale. It just doesn't seem right. It's not fair. It makes me want to cry and scream and kick my legs in a tantrum on the floor! This is the first time in something like 50 years that the housing market has gone down and not up. That's just our luck. We're at the point though that we would really just like to make something. Ya know? We just don't want to have to PAY

anything. That would be the worst!

Ultimately, we both are just ready for a change... in career, in location, in lifestyle. And we hope and pray that that time comes sooner than later.

I said in my last post that I was thankful for my house, and I am. It's just a tough pill to swallow when you make such an investment only to possibly lose money. Especially because we don't have anything else to help us buy our second house. That's the ultimate frustration. If we make nothing on this house, the question remains of how much longer we would have to rent and save money for the next down payment. Who knows.

So, now... all we do is wait and pray. And wonder what we will do next. What steps will we take? What jobs will we get? Will we have another child? Will one of us go back to school? We really don't know.

For now, we are just taking it one day at a time and trying to keep positive attitudes. I'm excited for Christmas! Caroline will get it a lot more this year than last and for me that is thrilling! We still have some decorating to do and she loves all the lights and stockings! It's fun! I put up the tree almost two weeks ago, but I have yet to decorate it. So, I'm going to let C help with it in the morning! It should be fun! She loves having a job and helping mommy! I'll take that while I can! :-)

Thanksgiving was lovely and it really gave me a good time to reflect on how blessed we really are! God has provided us with so much and I am so grateful! It was great to spend time with family and some very old and dear friends!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from last weekend!

C loved playing the piano! Good thing she's getting her very own keyboard for Christmas!

C and her great-Granny! So sweet!

C was THRILLED to be around a little baby. This is her with Valerie my cousin Bo's 2 month old angel!

This is the gang at dinner before going to see Karla's show! woo hoo!

And finally, my lovely girls Karla, Darcy and Kim came to see us in the 'noke on Saturday! Too bad I was feeling feverish and funky thanks to strep throat! boo!

I have the best friends and family! And my little girl, she is seriously the most awesome child I've ever met! :-) So Thankful!

Thanksgiving and the things kids learn...

2008-11-23T19:01:00.005-05:00

Well, it's almost Thanksgiving and I can't believe it! In just a few short days Andrew, Caroline and I will make our way down to Roanoke for a good ol' family Thanksgiving with tons of fattening food and an amazing time of fellowship with family and friends! I can't wait!

So, in honor of Thanksgiving here are a few of the things I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful for my amazing family! My husband, daughter, parents, in-laws, and all extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins and best friends are just incredible! I have been so blessed!

Here is Caroline last Thanksgiving! She was so little!

2. I am thankful for our home! In this time of financial crisis for many, I am so thankful for the ability to pay for our home. Though I complain about it regularly, I know that we are blessed to have a place to live and to be able to pay our mortgage every month.

3. I am thankful for our country! Though there is a lot that could be better right now, I am thankful to live in a country that is free!

4. I am thankful for books! I love to read and I am so glad people write new books every day.

5. I am thankful for a loving and merciful God! He loves me no matter how much I mess up and He is always there when I call His name!

Those are just a few... what are you thankful for?

*****

Today my mouth taught me a lesson...

I decided to put up our Christmas tree today, because I wanted to have it up, so that we could easily decorate it when we come back from my parent's house next weekend.

So, last year, for those who don't remember, our cat Scout was obsessed with getting in our tree.

I was hoping that this year she would grow out of it. It was funny the first time and then it just got old.

So, as I set up the tree today and I had it all in place, Scout climbed in like it was her own personal climbing post. I pulled her out, only for her to get back in again and again. On our fifth round or so of my battle with the cat, I yelled at her "I hate you" and Caroline's little listening ears heard those harsh words and immediately repeated them. "I hate you!" she exclaimed at the cat. My heart sank. I told her "no, Caroline please don't say those words." But she repeated them again, "I hate you." My stomach churned. I caused this. I told her, "Caroline, Mommy was wrong. Those words are ugly and not nice. Please don't say them again."

She didn't say them again this evening, but now she knows them. They are in her mind and on her tongue. I pray that she doesn't say those words tomorrow to her friends at daycare or to her babysitter. The thought makes me want to cry, but it definitely taught me something. I tell my students every day, "you should not say anything at school that a teacher would not say to the class." I need to heed my own advice. I should do the same thing at home. I know that I can't protect Caroline forever from "ugly" words, but I will do my best while I can. Nothing bothers me more than children learning negative language long before they should know what it means. I don't want to be that parent who feeds her daughter those kinds of words. Hopefully next time I will think before I speak and ask myself if my words are something I would want my daughter to repeat.

Don't worry Scout... Mommy and Caroline both still love you!

Potty training and other random things

2008-11-21T19:14:00.003-05:00

There has really been nothing going on this week of consequence. It's been fairly dull. Though, I am pretty excited to inform you all that Caroline is really getting close to being ready for full-blown potty training. wah hoo! She has been peeing and pooping on the potty and telling her babysitter when she needs to do so. wow! I think we're going to work on a sticker chart for going potty this weekend and go to the store to pick out some candy treats for rewards! so fun! She's such a big girl! :-) Maybe she'll be potty trained by 2 and she can get some big girl undies for her birthday! haha

Other things on our weekend list include: Christmas shopping and possibly (if I can talk Andrew into it) putting up our Christmas tree! YAY!

I am so thrilled it's Thanksgiving next week! I am in DESPERATE need of a break! Can't wait to see all of my Lynchburg gals!

"Be Good, Not Godly" - DC's latest message

2008-11-13T16:58:00.004-05:00

I've been wanting to post on this all week, but I have yet to find the time until now.

First, read this... "Be Good, Not Godly".

"Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake."

Can you believe this? 1st amendment rights... blah blah blah. I know... but it's my blog, so I'll say what I think and practice my right to freedom of speech too!

Here's my two cents. (Because I know all five of my readers want to know.)

I listen to a Christian radio station pretty regularly, but especially in the morning on my way to school, as I need some kind of inspiration to remind me that what I'm doing is for the greater good, lessening the chance that I will run out of school screaming half-way through my day. :-) Anyway, this morning the radio hosts were talking about the above article that I had read earlier in the week and they had a question for parents. "How would you respond if your child read this ad on the bus and then asked why do you believe in God and not just being good?" Or something to that effect.

There were a lot of good answers, but one of those answers struck a cord with me and I believe it's true as well. A dad called in and said "there is no basis for good without God." The basic idea is that if we as humans are to determine only what is "good" for us personally, everyone would have a different answer. The world would be chaotic! (More so than it is already.) I could ask my students, for example, and they would give a completely different answer than myself or even my mom or my dad or even other students their age in public school.

To me, this ad begs the question of "why be good?" If you are not breaking the law, but you are an awful, hateful, selfish person, what difference does it make? Why would you care? If you have no reason to believe that helping others and being grateful for life is exemplified first by Jesus, what is the point?

Now, this is not to say that people who do not believe in God can not be good. They can. I've seen it. I know these people. Maybe I need to ask them their opinion on this ad. But, honestly, my main point is that when 92 percent of the American population claim to hold a belief in God, why must we have ads that cater to the other 8 percent on a holiday that's soul purpose is to celebrate the birth of Jesus? Why? What is the point?

So, what would I tell my daughter? Why believe in God and not just being good?

We believe in God because he gave us the ultimate gift of eternal life through the death, burial and resurrection of His one and only son Jesus Christ!

We try our best to be good, not to show others our list of accomplishments or to feel that we may boast of our success, but because of the example that was given to us through Jesus that we should have a servant's heart.

Can I get an Amen?

or at least your two cents?

Ugly Betty...

2008-11-06T21:07:00.002-05:00

...is by far my favorite show on TV! If you don't watch it, you should rent all of the DVD's immediately and start watching the season NOW! Thursday's and Ugly Betty just make me happy!

I root for Betty and all that she stands for! You go girl!

Rock Omama

2008-11-05T19:12:00.002-05:00

I did not stay up last night to watch the elections unfold. I watched until maybe 9:30, by which time Obama had taken Pennsylvania and Ohio. I knew, as most of the news reporters told us, that those results predicted Obama to be the next President of the United States.

I stayed up long enough to make sure that my husband still had a job (and he does, Go Enzi!) and to see that Dole's campaign did not get her very far. But ultimately, sleep came and for that rest and comfort, I am grateful. (Trust me, I needed it today!)

I went to sleep last night mainly because I was sleepy. It wasn't that I didn't want to watch this historical election process take place before my eyes, but because I knew deep down that I trust the Lord and with that assurance, my mind was at ease.

Today, after a crazy day at school (i.e. - a runner, a conversation with a police officer, an attempted fight, supposed blackmail and the regular sleepy, whiney, name-calling junk I deal with on a regular basis) I came home to what was truly important...my daughter, the light of my life. She has no concept of this historical time she is living in, but I made sure to tell her about it. I found Obama's victory speech on youtube and today, instead of watching Barney or Little Bear, Caroline sat and watched Obama's speech with me the entire time. She asked "Who's that?" pointing to the screen of my computer and I told her "Caroline, that's your new president. His name is Barack Obama. Can you say that?" And my sweet girl said "Rock Omama." As I listened to his speech with my daughter, I felt truly inspired. Inspired that our country will be okay. Inspired that our country has evolved in such a way to accept this kind of change. Inspired that I was able to see this part of history, where, for the the first time in the United States a black man will be president.

Now, I know there are plenty of family and friends who will read this and be angry, but let me just say this... Regardless of who you voted for yesterday, regardless of whether your beliefs are the same or completely different than Obama's, just remember that our country is strong. We've been through so much and we have always come out on the other side stronger and more united. Let this be a time to inspire change in us all. To hold fast to our beliefs and trust the Lord with all our hearts. And above all to put our differences aside and pray for our new president... that he will lead our country in the right direction.

Let us trust in the Lord... "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7

Be confident, my friends! :-)

Did you vote?

2008-11-04T18:55:00.003-05:00

Caroline did...

Twice, actually...

Hope you had a happy day at the polls and didn't have to wait too long.

If you haven't seen this yet... you must!

Ron Clark Academy kids: "You Can Vote However You Like".

And now... we wait.

Day after photo shoot!

2008-11-01T09:58:00.004-04:00

So, I realized when I was going through our Halloween pictures from last night that I didn't have a single one of just Caroline that was good. (Side note... I just typed Carl when I was trying to type Caroline and it made me laugh out loud because that was Andrew's long standing joke that if we had a boy instead of a girl we could still use the letters for the nursery wall and call the baby "Carl". hehe) ANYWAY... as I was saying, we needed a photo shoot with my girl in her costume, so that those who were unable to be with us on that frightfulisous (umm..what?) candy-eating night, could really get the full effect of Caroline's buzzy bumble-bee cuteness! :-)

So... here you go! Enjoy! She's definitely the cutest bee I've ever seen.

Oh... one more thing... Speaking of bees... Have you seen "The Secret Life of Bees"?

No? Oh my gosh! YOU HAVE TO SEE IT! I went last weekend. (a two hour movie by myself, first of all... Heaven!) But seriously when it's a good movie, it makes it even better! I laughed, I cried and I felt completely satisfied at the end of the movie. It was awesome! I highly recommend it! But just so you know, it's a total chick flick. Go with your mom or your sister or your girlfriends. I have a feeling seeing it with a guy might ruin it. :-) Just a heads up!

Today... I think we're going to start our Christmas shopping! Have a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:40:00.004-04:00

Our jack-o-lantern!

Our little bumble bee!

The whole gang!

Caroline trick-or-treating with her big cousins, Sophie and Evelyn!

Overall, a great night! Caroline was sad the candy eating had to end. :-)

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

random list...

2008-10-24T19:56:00.004-04:00

1. This weekend I am so excited about STAYING HOME! No. Seriously. I am in desperate need of some at-home R & R. The rain tomorrow will give me a good excuse to stay in and watch TV without feeling guilty about being lazy.

2. Halloween is quickly approaching and unfortunately, I was too late in ordering the dragonfly costume and I could not find it at the Target store! But do not fret, my friends. A good mommy will never let her girl have no costume! No, instead, Caroline will now dress up as a bumble bee! TONS of pictures to come. I'm sure. She already tried on the costume this week and pranced around the house in it until it was time for bed. :-)

3. School is exhausting lately. I'm trying not to let it consume me.

4. I'm ready for Christmas break already. hehe

5. Our house is a major disaster area and I have zero desire to clean it up. This is what happens when we're out of town two weekends in a row and we have to work full time in between. The only thing motivating me to clean is how unsettled I feel when I lay around looking at a mess. Luckily my living room (where I sit right now) is the one half-way decent room and I don't feel quite as bad blogging when I should really be cleaning. There's always tomorrow.

And now... because I can never leave without a few pictures... Here are some that our awesome babysitter, Becky, took of the kids at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago!

First we have my girl in the moon bounce! FUN!

Next, I would like to introduce her boyfriend, Fin. Isn't he the cutest?!

And finally, we have the whole gang. In the front row we have Fin, Tucker and Matthew. In the back is Hannah and my Caroline.

And that's all she wrote. Have a great weekend!

The weekend in pictures.

2008-10-20T20:48:00.006-04:00

Andrew and I had a get-away this past weekend to Connecticut.

We picked up Evan and Mike along the way.

Believe it or not, Connecticut has it's redeeming qualities.

But the real reason for the visit was to attend the wedding of our lovely friends Brandon and Megan!

The wedding was beautiful!

The locations were breathtaking!

The food was spectacular!

The company was a blast!

Overall, a super-fun weekend!

Congratulations, Brandon and Meghan!!! Welcome to the club! WOO HOO!

P.S. - Thanks "Gammy" for staying with C! Clearly they love each other! :-)

Back in time...

2008-10-13T20:53:00.006-04:00

This weekend Andrew, Caroline and I went to Williamsburg with Andrew's family. (Well, they're my family too!) Andrew's brother, Steve and his family came in all the way from Texas! I have only spent time with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law at our wedding and I had never met their teenage sons. I was excited, but admittedly a little anxious about the trip, not only because I would be spending lots of time with family I'd never met before, but also because we were stuffing 13 people into a three bedroom condo and Caroline is not always the heaviest sleeper. But to my pleasant surprise, it turned out to be a great time!

We left Friday and stayed until today. The timeshare my brother-in-law rented was beautiful! We visited Colonial Williamsburg, went on a ghost tour, took tons of pictures, went shopping and ate lots of food! I got tons of rest and relaxation too, which was much needed! Overall, it was a really fun trip!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

(These are mostly of the kids, but that's just because they're more fun to take pictures of! If you want to see everyone else... check out the flickr later when I have time to put them all up. ) Enjoy!

This is definitely my favorite picture! Lily carrying Caroline!

Caroline and her big cousin, Lily.

My beautiful girl! Look at those eyes! WOW

Lily feeding the ducks!

Evelyn on the slide.

This was before she fell on the way back and scraped up her face! :-(

Caroline playing on the bed with the "big kids"!

We took a ton of group pictures of all the cousins and these two were the best!

(Caroline was not in a picture taking mood.)

Caroline and Sophie picking flowers with their pigtails!

Colonial Williamsburg soldiers!

I love them!

Aren't we cute?

Trail at Colonial Williamsburg.

All in all it was a lovely long weekend. I'm back to work tomorrow! boo! But the good news is that I only have to work three days! My mom comes Thursday afternoon to keep Caroline for the weekend, while Andrew and I make our way up to Connecticut for our friend's Brandon and Meghan's wedding. Yay! I can't wait! :-)

Pumpkinville Festival

2008-10-04T20:47:00.006-04:00

Today was such a blast! We took Caroline out to Leesburg Animal Park for their pumpkinville festival. She got to feed and pet the animals, go on a hayride and go down a huge slide with Daddy! We had an awesome time! She was obsessed with the potbelly pigs, especially the big fat one! She was chasing it around trying her best to feed it. I love how much she loves animals. She also thought it was pretty great that a tractor was pulling the hayride. She has a tractor book at home that is one of her favorites. She is truly a country girl at heart. She will fit in well once we move to North Carolina. :-)

Enjoy some pictures of our day!

She's so excited to run wild!

Feeding the animals!

She LOVED this pig! :-)

Waiting for the hayride to begin!

Daddy enjoying the hayride!

I love this picture!

This one cracks me up!

The huge slide! So fun!

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Caroline with the pumpkins. Boo! What in the world? It was the pumpkinville festival and no pumpkin pictures? sheesh! Oh well. I'm sure pumpkin pictures will happen sometime this month. :-) Who knows. Maybe we'll go buy some pumpkins tomorrow. We'll see.

Thank God it's the weekend!

2008-10-03T19:17:00.003-04:00

Today I am tired. This week has worn me out. I can hardly remember Monday. I question if it really happened. I was looking back in my point book at school this afternoon and I read some things that happened that day, and it seemed like it had been weeks. But alas, it's Friday and I survived yet another week of school. Though... this afternoon was kind of annoying.

I had to join in on a conference call with this dad of a student who isn't even in my class. All because I took five points for him FARTING out loud in the classroom and then looking around and laughing. GROSS! *Just so you know this kid is in 10th grade.* So, the kid says that it's because of me that he didn't make his day and was all crying to his dad. blah blah blah (BTW - we have a point system with our kids... it's too much to explain right now... but basically he had to get a certain number of points to "make his day" and he didn't.) So, I had to explain to his dad that it wasn't the five points I took that lost him his day... even though the dad was trying to make every excuse in the book to justify his kid's behavior. Whatever. He's in the 10th grade and he needs to grow up and accept the consequences that come with his negative behavior. ugh. Parents. :-) The things I deal with.

ANYWAY... now it's the weekend! Thank God!

Tomorrow we're heading out to Leesburg Animal Park for some petting-zoo fun and their fall pumpkinville festival! I'm looking forward to another Fall activity. Having a kid gives me excuses to enjoy these things again without feeling like a total dork. It's fun! I'll be sure to post pictures this weekend. I am planning to relax as much as possible. I need the rest!

Butternut Squash Soup and The Redskins...

2008-09-28T19:26:00.007-04:00

It doesn't get much better than this!

Okay... first... my husband has made me a Redskins fan. Last year I was feeling them, but this year I'm in love. And today... they beat the Cowboys! AH-MAZING!!! Did you see this game? It was perfection. Beautiful. I was biting my nails 'til the end. It made me think of my old band days and how fun it was to watch high school football games. haha I'm a dork. What can I say?

Here's my girl watching her team play...

Now... secondly, Butternut Squash Soup... Have you tried this? If not... go out immediately and buy all the ingredients to make this tonight! It is SO GOOD!!!

I desperately wanted to make some soup this weekend. So, I made beef stew yesterday, which is Andrew's favorite, and today I made a new recipe that was incredible ... and I highly recommend it! I loved it and so did Caroline!

The recipe comes from the lovely Paula Deen, whom I love! Check it out!

I was a little intimidated by the butternut squash themselves, but they weren't too bad. It took me a good 30 minutes just to peel them and cut them up and my hands hurt. It wasn't that it was hard, just time-consuming. Also, if you read the recipe, I did add a couple of things at the end. To me it needed more spice, so I added a bit of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg, also I added a tad more salt just to taste. I can't tell you how much of this I added, because I never measure anything. :-) But I will say if you're looking for some yummy fall/winter comfort food, this is IT! You HAVE to make it! Go... do it... NOW!

So... that's about it for this weekend. Have a great week!

Prayer works...

2008-09-26T18:49:00.004-04:00

There is no doubt about it.

I have prayed for my students every single day of this school year, often multiple times a day. I will not say that they have not had their challenges, or even that I have not had mine, but I have noticed a real change. Even in their moments of weakness, my patience has been through the roof. It's incredible and I am so proud of myself. This week, my entire class had such a phenomenal week, it made me want to cry! This is the class that some others told me they would never want, but they have turned out to be one of the most well behaved in the school. I do not even attempt to take any credit for their success, but I do believe that prayer has something to do with it. Every morning and every night I pray for them... that they are safe and productive, that they come in with positive attitudes and if they don't that I have the patience and ability to help them with whatever challenge they may be having on that particular day. Students who have never done well before are thriving and encouraging others! It's amazing! It's just a joy to my heart to see such success this month and I pray that it continues throughout the year.

I don't claim that they are perfect or that every month will be this good, but I truly believe that God is helping us through this year. He is listening and definitely answering prayers!

*** Edit: Speaking of answered prayer! My life long friend Rachel has now raised 100% of the money needed to go into full time missions with Wycliffe Bible Translators! Praise God for His guidance and perfect timing! Love you SO much Rachel! Our prayers have been answered and I can't wait to see what God is going to do through you overseas! She will be leaving in January to begin her two years in the mission field. Please join us in prayer for my dear Rachel! Check out her blog with the link above if you are interested in learning more about what Wycliffe is all about! ***

Fall is fun!

2008-09-20T13:21:00.005-04:00

Thanks everyone for your votes, by comment and by email, from the last post! :-) I think the winners are the dragonfly and the sailor girl! I'm thinking the dragonfly is the one we're going to go with! It's so cute!

As I talked about in my last post, Fall is by far my favorite season! And with cooler weather comes the ability for us to spend more time outside enjoying the great things DC has to offer!

Today was no exception, as we left the house this morning with crisp 60 degree weather! It was the perfect morning for the zoo!

We took Caroline to the National Zoo in April, but we knew she would be able to enjoy it so much more this time around!

Here are a few pictures from our morning...

The Pandas... always a must-see!

Caroline's favorite animals are the "Big Kitties"... She was waving and saying "meow! meow!" Trying her best to communicate with the Cheetah.

Such a beautiful animal. They might be my favorite too.

Me and C walking around in the zoo! Aren't we cute?

Looking at the elephant!

Looking for the lions! Rawwrrr!

And then she was ready for her nappy!

oh my sweet girl!

Also, football season is in full swing and "Hail to the Redskins" as they won last week! Caroline is now part of Andrew's good luck jersey wearing tradition! She loves watching football with her Daddy!

Wearing her Clinton Portis jersey! She now knows how to say what players are from "The U". It makes her Daddy proud! haha

This picture cracks me up... wearing her bunny ears from Easter and her Redskins jersey, while sitting in her baby doll stroller. She's hilarious! Such a nut!

So, I hope you all have a good weekend!

I'm ready for a good nap while my girl is taking hers!

My favorite holiday's...

2008-09-12T21:17:00.004-04:00

...are coming up! Yay! Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! I LOVE them! My favorite time of year is starting again and I'm stoked! Having a kid around these holiday's just makes it even better and since school started up again, Caroline's Halloween costume has been on my mind. This may be the last year that I'm able to pick out her costume, because frankly, she's a very independent child and as soon as she understands that she can make this decision on her own, I am certain she will.

So, here are some pictures of what I've been considering... all of these are from Target, my favorite store. :-) (I realize I still have over a month, but they start putting Halloween stuff out in July for crying out loud! I can't help but get excited!)

First...the angel costume, for my little angel. :-) This one is adorable, and probably my favorite!

Then the little dragonfly. Also super sweet!

Then the sailor girl! oh my gosh! Caroline would love that hat!

And then...keeping her young...with the little strawberry fairy costume. ooh!

Finally, we have Abby Cadabby, which is one of her favorite Sesame Street characters... and of course, she loves her "Dabby" baby doll.

Which one do you like best???

Leave me a comment and let me know. Let's have a vote!

And for a walk down memory lane... my girl last Halloween in her pink kitty costume! oh so cute!

School and babies...

2008-09-05T20:47:00.003-04:00

This week has been tough on many levels.

Tuesday was the start of school with my new junior class. They have been fantastic. I know it's probably just a honeymoon period, but I can at least enjoy it while it lasts. I love these kids. It's the only reason I do what I do. If I didn't love it, we all know I would have walked out long ago. I just get so proud of their little accomplishments... when they help each other out, or they remember to follow a direction that I gave them the day before, or when they can process with me about something they were so angry about previously, or when they do their homework when homework wasn't even close to being on their mind last year. It just makes me proud. I love to see success!

I miss my 7th graders (now 8th graders) though. Seeing them in the hall makes my day. They always have something to tell me and it's adorable. I popped by their room on the first day of school and one of my former students gave me a little present (a folder with kitties on it and a note written inside that said "happy first day of school") and then all the kids had to tell me something... "look at the picture of my new puppy", "look how long my hair is, Mrs. Heyerdahl", "how do you like your new class?", "I love your hair!", "when I graduate I'm going into the marines"... etc. I just love them! Starting school is never fun, because I want summer to last forever, but I'm always glad when I get there. The days fly by and there is never a dull moment, that's for sure.

Other than school, there has been a more personal matter that has been weighing on my mind... babies. gasp! :-) Andrew and I have been going over and over whether or not we should have another. We've been talking about it all week. We actually just finished talking about it once again this evening. Yesterday, if you would have asked me, I would have told you that I was ready. Today, I have changed my mind.

When I go with purely emotional decisions, I undoubtedly say "YES!" but when I think about it logically, I always go back to a resounding "NO!" I've gone over it in my mind for hours on end this week. Andrew and I have discussed it for hours every evening. And finally tonight, I think we have decided that we need to go with logic on this one. For one, neither of us want to struggle. Our budget is already tight enough as it is. I want to be able to live comfortably. Childcare for two, plus our enormous house payment would run us dry.

It's hard though, to make this decision. I want another baby. Desperately. I have baby fever. I have loved being a mommy to Caroline and I would adore having two children so close in age. But I know for a fact that siblings can be just as close with years apart. My cousins Erika and James are a perfect example, and I don't expect that my children would even be as far apart as they are (6 years.)

So... basically... what I'm trying to say... is I think... for now... we will wait. Even though I want to be pregnant again. Even though I want to go back to school one day and I know this will delay it. Even though I want Caroline to have a playmate. Even though I'm ready for two kids. But... I know that if we wait, our children (and Andrew and I, for that matter) will have a better quality of life.

I don't want to wait forever... and frankly, if we think about it too much we'll never be "ready" for a child on paper. It's just a huge leap of faith. God provided so much for our family when Caroline came along and for that I am eternally grateful! I just don't know if I'm ready to take that leap again right now. I am comfortable with the way things are and even though I am a risk taking junkie most of the time, I know that a little comfort every now and then can be a very good thing.

So, for now, that's where we stand. Just pray with us that our move to NC can happen sooner rather than later. I hope with the elections, no matter which way they go, will help boost the economy and the housing market will take a turn for the better. That's what we need! We'll see... it's all in God's hands for now.

Caroline Rooney Day!

2008-09-01T08:36:00.004-04:00

When I was a kid my parents started this tradition called "Erin Rooney Day." It was the most magical day! There were even songs to go with it!

Here's the first one... that was sung by my dad (or my parents in perfect harmony) just about every day of my childhood...

"Oh my Erin is a Rooney!

She is a looney tooney!

She's the prettiest little girl

you've ever seen!

(Ever seen!)

She is prettier than her mommy!

She's prettier than her daddy! (Though my daddy always said "PawPaw and I would yell it

him!)

She's the prettiest little girl

in Salisbury! Salisbury!"

The official Erin Rooney Day song just repeated "It's Erin Rooney Day" over and over again!

So, Erin Rooney Day went something like this...

My parents would burst into my bedroom first thing in the morning singing "It's Erin Rooney Day" and "My Erin Is a Rooney" as loud and excitedly as possible! Then I would get to pick out of a hat for where we would go and what we would eat and all that fun stuff. Usually it ended up with putt-putt, pizza and maybe a toy. But it was a day, all about me, and as a kid, that was pretty darn special!

So, I wanted to make sure I was able to do that kind of thing for my kid, because it meant so much to me growing up.

Well, yesterday was Caroline's very first "Caroline Rooney Day". We even sang the songs! She's not quite old enough to pick out of a hat, but she is old enough to have some fun!

So, we first got up and went to the park. We rode the train.

What's with this picture? This is the best we got.

We attempted to ride the carousel, but she was too impatient for it to start, so we had to get off. But of course, we had a photo-op.

Then she played on the playground for a while.

After that we went to have a picnic of some of her favorite foods... PBJ sandwiches, chips and brownies for dessert! YUM!

After lunch she ran around, kicking her ball and she even got to pet a little black puppy named Bella!

She was in heaven! :-)

We took a pitstop at home for her nap, before heading out for an ice cream at DQ!

We ended the day with Toys R Us, where she got her own baby stroller and a new puzzle! woo hoo!!!

This day was so special, not only for Caroline, but for me too. We sometimes get so stuck in our every day routine, that it's nice to have a whole day based around your kid! I love her!

Even when such a busy day makes her this cranky! hehe :-)

The kids come to school tomorrow! Prayers are needed and appreciated. Stories from school to come... I'm sure. :-)

Essay

2008-08-28T20:52:00.003-04:00

I sent some of you my essay for the Real Simple contest, but I thought I'd post what I think is going to be my final product. I am satisfied with it. I believe writing this was a long time coming, even if nothing comes from it. This contest inspired me to write about a woman who meant so much to me and so many others. This is just a small tribute to such a huge life!

So... here it is... let me know what you think. :-) Enjoy! (Also, I'm not totally set on this title. I'm open to suggestions.) Thanks for reading!

“Following Her Lead”

“It took me years to sort things out in my own mind, to get over the feeling of being an alien in a strange land… Finally after much soul-searching I realized that… I am worth a great deal. I am convinced that He has a purpose for my life and that many things have happened to enable me to achieve that purpose.” - “Letters to Erin” by Anne Tarlton (a.k.a. MawMaw) - 1981

There was a knock on my door. I looked at the neon-yellow numbers of the digital clock on my stove and realized it was before 9am on a Friday. Who would be knocking at this hour? This morning I was not alone. I had a little one, no more than four, sitting at my table munching on Cheerios. I was babysitting overnight for a friend from work. As the little girl stared up at me wide-eyed in curiosity, I could have never known at that moment that her innocence would be such a symbol of what I would lose that day. I smiled at her and went to answer the door.

There he was, standing in the doorway. A man I had known my entire life, but who looked so strange and distant now. I could hardly recognize him, the lines around his eyes seemed more pronounced and his clothes, unusually disheveled.
“Erin, I need to tell you something,” my father spoke with a somber, shaky voice. “You may want to sit down.”
“Okay,” I said hesitantly, backing away and inviting him in. We both looked over to see the little girl standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
“You’re still babysitting. She hasn’t left yet?” he asked cautiously.
“No.”
“Well, can you take her home? You’ll need to come over to the house. We need to leave for Salisbury as soon as possible today.” I stared at him, confused, still trying to read his cryptic language, as he hesitated in telling me what was to be the end of this life, as I knew it. “It’s your MawMaw. Your Uncle Tim called us last night. A police officer came to the house to tell him that she…well, she died in a car accident last night. Erin, she was killed by a drunk driver.”

My heart sank into my stomach. I could hardly breathe. It felt as though I had just been held under water and I was struggling to come up for air. I sobbed uncontrollably as he continued on. “She’s been at a conference with Jean. They were driving back to their hotel. You know those mountain roads? It was raining and there was another car coming in the opposite direction. It hit them head on. Her car went over the embankment, but they believe she died on impact. Jean miraculously survived. She’s in the hospital now with severe injuries.” I sobbed, now on the floor, screaming, utterly inconsolable. I yelled at him. “Why did you wait? Why didn’t you tell me immediately when you found out? How could this be? I just talked to her two days ago! I was supposed to go pick her up this weekend to go to the beach. We’re going to the beach. She was so excited! I didn’t even get to say good-bye! How could this happen? It can’t be true!” He picked me up off the floor and held me in his arms, though I remained limp. I hadn’t the energy to hug him back. I needed to be held. I needed to be reminded that this life was still worth living, as fleeting as it may be.

After a few minutes, my sobbing had turned into steady tears. The little girl, clearly confused by the situation before her, came over to hug me and my brain snapped back into present reality. I needed to figure out where she would go. I called her mom and told her a brief synopsis of what had happened, and she hurried over to pick up her little one.

After everyone had left, I showered and cried more than I knew I could. I stood against the shower wall, screaming at God, questioning everything I ever believed was true and real. I packed my things in a daze, thinking that this was not the trip I should be packing for.

When I reached my parent’s house, my mother was in worse condition than I. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy from the tears that I knew had been continuous since the night before when she found out that her mother had died. I hugged her long and hard. She was my best friend, but she had lost hers. How could she bear to keep on living? How could I?

Our trip to my hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina was strange. There was a stillness in the June air that made me daydream of a life with her still in our presence. My grandmother, the most amazing woman I have ever known, was gone. I was strong, as I knew she would have been. I saw everyone in a raw state of being that only sudden death could bring. We talked and remembered. We cried and laughed. We hugged and gave each other space.

The funeral was full of many whose lives she had touched throughout her incredible life as a daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, writer, educator, churchgoer, and minister. Her life was lived in love and truth. She never claimed to be perfect, but to many she stood on a pedestal that was higher than most could ever reach. She loved to teach and inspire others. She was the woman many people only dreamed that they could be. She was the woman I dreamed to be. She taught me many things: the love of reading, the importance of family, and the thrill of stepping out independently into an unknown world of miraculous discoveries. She taught me the joy of succeeding and the acceptance of failure. She taught me purpose and respect for life. She taught me how to enjoy the simple things that make life so special. She taught me the overwhelmingly selfless act of unconditional love. She taught me what it means to be a family. She, even in her death, taught me to stand for what you believe in through your final day on this earth.

A few weeks after her death, I was delivered boxes of books that had crowded her closets and bookshelves in her tiny mountain trailer, but a manila folder lay on top that caught my attention immediately. My mother told me, “These were to you. She wrote you letters when you were a baby. She wanted to publish them, but the time was never right, I guess.”

I sat in the blue oversized chair in my living room and read for hours. She wrote to me of the woman I knew so well. I cried over stories of her search for identity and her acceptance found truly in Jesus Christ. I laughed over the letter of her smoking addiction and her inability to “kick” the habit once and for all. Her writing was so vivid that I could almost hear her voice telling me the stories of her incredible life. These letters brought her back to me. They made her real once again, even if for only a moment. I felt honored that she wrote to me when I had spent only minutes on this earth, and she had spent a lifetime. Here I was, with her lifetime over and mine just beginning.

It has been 6 years since her death, but I feel her presence in my life every day. I think of her each morning when I see my daughter’s sparkling blue eyes that remind me so much of the great-grandmother she will never meet. With every new book I read, I think of her and how she would enjoy just one more good story. I think of her in Autumn when the leaves change to beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow, but most of all, I think of her each day when I speak to my mother. She gave me many gifts in my life, but this particular gift of the amazing woman I am honored to call “mom” could not have been more perfect.

Though we live four hours away, I talk to my mother every day. As our relationship grows, I am reminded that this life is fleeting. We are never promised tomorrow and my grandmother’s sudden death was a harsh reminder of that reality. Every day my heart overflows with profound thankfulness that I have been blessed with such amazing women in my life. I pray every day that my own daughter will understand the priceless effect of having a mother who is also a best friend and that I will be able live up to the footprints that have lined my path to this place called "motherhood".

Ending the summer with cheese steak and romance!

2008-08-25T19:04:00.003-04:00

The first day back to school was today. 6am HURTS! I woke up every hour on the hour from about 1am to 6am. BOO! It totally sucks. But such is life. I will get used to it once again. My baby was so groggy when I woke her this morning at 6:45. Poor dear. She was a good girl though. She was thrilled to see Becky, and according to her she had a decent day for the first day back. She had a couple of moments, but who didn't? I know I did.

So, I made it through... the rest of this week shouldn't be too bad, but we'll see what tune I'm singing next week when the kids return. Agh!

Now without further delay, I know everyone is dying to see pictures of our Philadelphia trip. ;-) I'll show you a few because I'm not in the mood to upload a gazillion pictures tonight. We did have a fantastic time! It was perfect! (Except for Andrew stressing about our GPS messing up for a bit... and the parking. What is it with men and driving that stresses them so much?) Anyway... other than that it was perfect! I love him! :-) Like you didn't know.

We started with a cheese steak from Pat's. Such a fun experience! We were going to do Geno's in the same day, but it didn't happen. We were stuffed!

We saw lots and lots of sites after our lunch and I have pictures, but you would just be bored... so, I'll continue on with our food...

On South Street we stopped in for a refreshing treat from this AWESOME yogurt place! Georgia Peach was what I had and Andrew had Snickerdoodle. AMAZING! See the row of choices behind me!? There were like 30 different soft serve yogurts to choose from! And they were all fat free! yay

Saturday we hit a few more places... but on the top of Andrew's list was running up the Rocky stairs! It made me laugh. I was amused at just how many people were there to do the same exact thing. hilarious. That poor art museum is probably totally pissed that people just come there because of Rocky.

And now... the ONLY picture of us together from our trip. Aren't we cute?! :-)

And of course we ended the trip with a cheese steak from Geno's. Andrew and I both agreed this was our favorite. We liked the bread, the meat and the service better! But if you haven't been you should still eat at both! :-)

So, that's our trip in a nutshell. It was a fun time but now it's back to reality.

When oh when will I be a SAHM like all the other mommy bloggers I read?! What are your secrets? Those of you who are WAHM, how did you get your gig? I need some suggestions and maybe one day I can stay home too. A girl can dream! :-)

Don't expect much in the way of blogging for a while. I'll do my best, but I can't make promises of frequent updates with school and such coming upon me.

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!

2008-08-19T08:51:00.006-04:00

August 19, 2006, I married the love of my life!

Excuse me, while I gush a little bit.

My dear Andrew is the most amazing man I have ever met. From the moment we first met, I knew he was something special. Just one night after our first date, we had one of those all night conversations that made me know that he was most likely going to be "it" for me. He won me over and I fell hard and fast in love with him. And what a blessing he has been in my life!

Then, at my cousin's wedding a couple of months later, he really showed me how perfect he is for me. While I was performing my maid-of-honor duties, he went off with my dad to run errands. (i.e.-picking up food (hot wings) for the reception) On the way into the reception hall hot wing juice leaked all over his shirt/suit/tie. My dad flipped, but Andrew kept his cool the entire time. He laughed it off and his natural calming ability, helped my dad feel at ease about the whole situation. They ran over to Marshall's to pick up a new shirt and tie, while Andrew cracked up at the ridiculousness of the entire situation. I knew none of this until a few minutes before the wedding when everyone was being fishy and not telling me where Andrew had gone off to. I finally found out the news and flipped out. (Exactly why they didn't tell me.) I thought for sure he was going to break up with me after this fiasco of meeting my ENTIRE family in one weekend, plus spilling wing juice on his suit, plus I figured my dad had been a crazy person in front of him... I assumed he would be running for the door as quickly as possible. But I couldn't have been more wrong! When I found him he was cool as a cucumber. If he was upset, he did not show it one bit. I was amazed! And frankly, so was everyone else. I knew, if he had the patience to deal with all of this, that he could deal with me and my often irrational behavior for the rest of my life. That was it... I knew he was the one I wanted to spend my life with. And I could not have been more right!

Through everything he has been incredible! We have had our ups and downs these last two years. We have had moments at the bottom and moments at the top, but no matter what, his love for me and mine for him is consistently strong and continuing to grow every single day.

The birth of Caroline only brought us closer! Seeing him as a father is wonderful!

He is such a great daddy!

He has taught me so much in this time together. He has taught me what true love really means. He has taught me how to exhibit patience, when I have none. He has taught me confidence, when I have little. He has showed me that I am beautiful in so many ways, and even when I feel so disgusting, he assures me that I am the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on. Bless him and thank you God for giving him to me!

Happy two years, my dear Andrew! I love you with all my heart! You rock!!!! I can't wait for our romantic get-away this weekend! wah hoo!!!

Beach baby!

2008-08-18T08:46:00.007-04:00

Hi all! We've been back from the beach since Saturday afternoon and I still have not gotten settled yet. Unpacking is the worst! Oh well, it's the price we pay for a great vacation!

So, the beach was fantastic and SO relaxing! It was just what we needed. We stayed in a great condo on the 11th floor, which made for some amazing views! Caroline enjoyed the beach for the most part, until she wanted to suck her thumb. Poor thing. She learned the consequences of sucking a sandy thumb later in the week and easily tired of the sandy beach. By Friday she was all beached out and we spent most of the day indoors hanging out and relaxing. :-)

Now, because I'm a crazy mom who loves her kid and needed to capture every single moment of Caroline's first beach trip, I took about 200 plus pictures. These pictures can be found on my flickr. :-) (This link has been edited for those who can't seem to figure out how to navigate flickr. The link will now take you to the actual page where you can view a slideshow of ALL the pictures.) :-)

I thought I'd just share a few of my favorite on here! Enjoy! :-)

Early morning view from the balcony!

Sea Terrace. Our home away from home for the week.

My cutie!

Caroline's favorite beach activity was chasing the seagulls!

Caroline having fun at the beach!

Superstar!

Beautiful!

Taking a break from the beach to run in the park!

Family picture at the park!

Caroline loves the ocean!

Our family at the beach!

Snapshots of the Bay Bridge on the way home! Caroline kept saying "Bye beach!" So cute!

Bye beach, indeed! It was nice to go, but nice to come home. Tomorrow is my 2 year anniversary! AMAZING! Stay tuned for more on that subject! The parents come on Thursday to take care of C while Andrew and I have a romantic getaway in Philly! Cheesesteaks are so romantic, don't ya think? :-) Yay!

Don't forget to check out the flickr, if you didn't get enough Caroline pictures here. :-)

Day at the park!

2008-08-08T08:45:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Caroline and I braved the heat for a while to make a trip to one of our playgrounds in the neighborhood. She was loving it, but we were both sweating like crazy!

Take a look at the fun time C had!

Swings are her obsession!

Can you tell?

I LOVE the look on her face in this next one!

Hi beautiful! Having fun?

That's what I thought! :-)

Look at that perfect curl! I want to eat it up!

Loving the slide!

Hey, Mom! It's bright out here!

And then it was time to go!

Tomorrow is the beach!!! Sorry to disappoint, but there is no internet at our condo. So... you'll have to live without Caroline pictures for a whole week! Can you make it?! (Mom?) Hopefully this post will tide you over! Alrighty... see you in a week!!! Wah hoo!

Let's Read!

2008-08-07T08:35:00.003-04:00

So, I've been in reading mode this summer, which has been so wonderful! I've been able to read without interruption (well, during Caroline's nap and when Andrew comes home and wants to play video games). So, I've been able to read some good books this summer and I thought I'd share what I've read...

1. A Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - I enjoyed this one, but not as much as Nineteen Minutes, which is a book of hers that I read previously. I highly recommend that one, but be prepared to cry your eyes out! A Change of Heart is a novel about loss and redemption, about making mistakes in life, even the biggest ones of all, and somehow coming out on the other side. Picoult is one of those author's that writes page-turners. You literally can't put the book down. All of her books (or so I hear and from what I know of the two I've read) focus on legal and social issues. I enjoy that she's great at keeping you yearning for what will happen next, and though A Change of Heart still upheld the page-turner description, I just felt it strayed a little too far from reality. I enjoyed some of the religious aspects of the book, but I couldn't get past the idea of this man on death row being compared to Jesus. It just struck a cord in me that was a little off. It was good, but not the best. I definitely think I need to read other books of hers to stay the fan I became after reading Nineteen Minutes.

2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer - I feel like I shouldn't even get started on this book, because there may be some die hard fans who are reading this post. Put away your wooden stakes and listen up. Seriously, I picked up this book because of the hype. I picked it up because I had heard Meyer being compared to Rowling. I swear, that could not be further from the truth! Just because she writes a story that's a little different, in NO WAY compares her to the genius that is J.K. Rowling. Seriously. What are people thinking?

Okay... I'll step down off my soap-box now. What I want to say about this book is that it's just not all it's cracked up to be. It's about a girl falling in love with a boy, and guess what? That boy is a vampire. oooh. It's decent. It's not the worst thing I've ever read, and I might (if I have a lot of time on my hands sometime in the future) finish reading the series. (If you're clueless about this series, there are three more books after Twilight. The most recent and final book was just released last week.) But it's just, well, boring. I was highly frustrated with Bella, who just went on and on and lingered over her feelings for Edward. I just wanted to yell at her to get on with the story already. I mean, I guess in that sense, she captured how teenage girls really feel. I remember lingering over boys and going over and over how I felt about them. So, maybe I'm just past that and that's why it annoyed me. Who knows. Either way, I think if you're above the age of about 18 or 19, this book is just kinda blah, which is unfortunate and SO unlike Rowling's novels which appeal to audiences of ALL ages (and genders, for that matter). Thank you. :-)

3. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb - OH MY GOSH! I have had this book sitting on my shelf for at least three years now. I remember picking it up years ago thinking that it sounded amazing and hearing all of the incredible reviews it had gotten. I had good intentions of reading it, but you know some books just don't get read. I have a few more that are like that... The Kite Runner is a perfect example. Anyway, I picked up this book a few weeks ago and I could not put it down. There are three main elements that make this book astounding to me: 1. It focuses on the life of a woman, Delores, from age 4 to age 40, but the author is a man. How on earth he wrote so truthfully from the female perspective, I will never understand. You have to stop and question sometimes if it's actually fiction. It feels like reading a memoir. 2. Even through all of the main character's struggles with life, there is still this underlying hilarious element. I found myself cracking up at things that I knew I probably shouldn't find amusing. 3. There were so many things that the main character struggled with that I think many women can relate to, but the author never skirted around the issues. They were real and sometimes ugly and right out devastating, but that was the kicker. It was over-the-top at moments and you want to yell and scream at Delores and tell her what an idiot she's being, but I know we have all been there before. I think most people have moments in their life when they look back and say "what an idiot I was", but we realize, as does Delores, that it's those moments that make us who we are today. This book was honest, heart-breaking, hilarious and brilliant! I highly recommend it if you are looking for that kind of raw emotion. and finally...

4. Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos - This book came to me fairly quickly, without a lot of thought put into my purchase. I was perusing the isles of Costco with the toddler in tow knowing that I needed something new to read and this one just sort of stuck out. So, I picked it up without a second thought and brought it home and boy am I glad I did.

This is a story of love. Unconventional, unexpected love. It's not so much a romance novel as it is a novel about self-discovery and finding purpose in life. The chapters in the story alternate between Cornelia and Clare. I normally don't mind this duel perspective in novels, but this one in particular bugged me for one main reason. Cornelia's chapters were all written in first person, which I prefer but Clare's chapters were written in third person, which I don't like at all. It just felt disjointed at times and I think it would have been better suited with them both written in first person or all from Cornelia's point-of-view. The other thing I wasn't too keen on was the first half of the novel. Frankly, it was a little boring, but I pushed through and I'm

SO glad I did. The second half of the novel totally redeemed itself and I read it all in a matter of hours! The love that Cornelia and Clare find in their lives and with each other is beautiful. It makes me think of myself and how much love has walked into my life. How I wouldn't be the same without meeting some of the people I've met along the way. How certain people just walk in and shake up your world, turn it upside down, but leave you on the other side a better person. It was beautiful, really. And this one, I whole heartedly recommend, despite its flaws.

Next on the must read list...

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2. Love as a Way of Life by Gary Chapman

And anything else you recommend. I hope to get those two finished before school starts up again, but we'll see how it goes. Our beach trip next week will hopefully provide many hours of uninterrupted reading. :-)

So, what have you read lately?

And because I know my mom will be mad if I don't post at least one picture of Caroline... I'll leave you with Caroline's latest favorite activity... puzzles! :-) She's so good at this new one we got! She's even learned how to say circle, oval and diamond. Brilliant, I tell ya!