Time Flies

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. It always amazes me how quickly the time flies between my posts, and yet sometimes I don't feel like much has changed!

My daily life is pretty routine, I wake up early in the morning and get ready for school. I teach all day long and then I return home to eat dinner and relax. I don't do anything during my evenings that is "blog-worthy" most of the time, which means that I don't feel the need to blog.

I have had a couple of hard months emotionally this year and I finally feel like I'm getting back on track. This week was finally a good week. I had a nice relaxing weekend spent at home in Saratoga and shopping with a couple friends in Fort Collins.

This week I got an email about a master's program through UW and UNC (Greeley) that I have decided to apply for. I have spent much of my free time this weekend and earlier in the week preparing my application and writing essays. I'm getting excited to go back to school and to make that oh-so-important jump up the pay scale (ha ha)! However, I think going back to school this summer may impact my plans to work on my kitchen, or I will be very busy on the weekends!!

This week will be a busy one with an assembly for Veteran's Day and an inservice on Friday. My friend Megan (the one I lived with during my student teaching) is thinking about coming over to visit me this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing her and spending time catching up like old times!

The Month of September

I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by! It has been a busy and very stressful month. I think I'm willing to leave it there. Although, I have also been able to have some good times this month, but I am glad to see October is within reach!

On to other things... Have you watched the show Glee? Well, if you haven't, you definitely should. My brothers introduced me to the show and I have to say that I look forward to every Tuesday now. The show is hilarious with its extreme exaggerations of stereotypes and musical-esque qualities. The music is great and there isn't ever a dull moment! Oh the high school drama!!
Here's a sample of some of the music



Enjoy and give Glee a chance! :)

First full week of school and Homecoming

We are about to finish out our first full week of school tomorrow as well as homecoming. We just like to get it all out of the way at the beginning here in Saratoga! Ha ha, I can't believe how crazy this week has been, but I am definitely starting to get back into my groove. I am loving all of my classes, I have quite a few new sophomores this year and for the most part I love them to pieces. They are a different group though and never lack energy or conversation topics! They will keep you on your toes but they crack me up! I think it is going to be a great year and I am SO thankful to not have to worry nearly as much about the curriculum.

Here's to a great 1st full week and GO PANTHERS!!! :)

P.S.  Check out my brother's blog! His link is on the left hand side under family (Brandon)

Back to School

I can't believe that summer is officially over! I reported back to school this past Wednesday (Aug 18th) and it was a bittersweet day. I am getting more and more excited to start back with kids the closer each day gets, but I'm still not ready to give up my free time! Here's a list of all the fun I got to have this summer:

Road Trip 2010:

Austin, TX -- toured the city and saw the night life as well as enjoyed Steph's gig

San Antonio, TX -- saw the Alamo and walked the river walk

Beaumont, TX -- boogied the night away at the Dixie Dance Hall

New Orleans, LA -- saw Bourbon St and the French Quarter

Gulf of Mexico -- played in the water (which was oil free at that point)

Montgomery, AL -- visited Hank Williams' grave

Birmingham, AL -- remembered the Civil Rights Movement

Nashville, TN -- enjoyed the CMA Festival, CMT Music Awards, Studio B, Country Music Hall of Fame, The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home), and a few other tourist activities

Re-modeling My Home:

New kitchen floor

New guest room floor -- and removed the cat smell

New back patio 

4th of July at the cabin:

Visited family

 Read, relaxed, and napped in a hammock 

Summer School 2010:

Got paid to completely plan my 2010-2011 school year

Jubilee Days 2010:

Spent a couple evenings with friends, old and new :)

Tricked people coming out of a bar that I needed to see their IDs... I even got a few! 

Went to the Jubilee Days Rodeo 

Frontier Days 2010:

Attended the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

 Enjoyed 3 concerts: Brooks & Dunn; Clay Walker; Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley

Steamboat, CO:

Went boating/tubing with Megan and her family (as well as a few friends)

Toll Wedding 2010:

Spent a weekend meeting new friends

Dancing the night away :)

As you can probably see by now, my summer was jammed pack with fun! I also got in a few hiking trips up in the Snowies with friends. Hopefully the summer treated you as kindly as it treated me, and here's to another great school year! :)

Concerts Galore!

Well, I have been pretty busy for the last month or so! I went up to the cabin for the 4th of July festivities and spent a few wonderful days relaxing and catching up with family. The 6th of July I started teaching summer school every morning from 8 until 12. It was a pretty easy gig and still gave me my afternoons off, which were mainly used for tutoring a couple of people in town.

The last couple weeks I have spent a lot of time in Laramie and Cheyenne. I had purchased tickets to the Brooks & Dunn concert at Cheyenne Frontier Days for the 24th of July with a few friends. We had a great time at the concert, and because we purchased Party Zone (standing room only) tickets we got a free ticket to Clay Walker (also in the Party Zone) for the following Wednesday night. We had such a great time at these concerts that we decided we needed to purchase a ticket to the Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert concert the following night. All of the concerts ended up being a blast and I could definitely get used to going to a lot of concerts!

Here's a couple pictures from the Clay Walker concert:

George and me

Megan and Frank

This coming week is going to be busy as well! I am planning on hiking Medicine Bow Peak again with Deb on Wednesday morning, and then Thursday I am off to Boulder, CO for a wedding. The following week is my last full week of summer before I report back to work on the 18th! I can't believe how quickly summer has flown by! It's definitely been a wonderful one!

Working All Day Brings On Some Beautiful Rewards!

Well, Dad came for the entire week and we worked very hard and got ALL of my big projects done! I am very excited about all of the changes that have been made! They have all had such a huge impact on the look and feel of my house! I can't believe we got it all done in 5 days... WOW! Here are some before and after pictures for your enjoyment! :)

The kitchen, before:

And After:

The "Cat room" (which USED to smell like cats, hence it's name) before painting:

The painting actually took place awhile ago, but I don't think I put up pictures, so here's the next photo in the sequence...

And finally the after (w/out baseboards, but they are up now):

And the final project was building a patio in my back yard.

(Sorry, I guess I never took a before picture... but just imagine a yard that is OVERGROWN with an extensive amount of dandelions and rocks spread out sporadically)

Here is the final outcome:

My entire house has transformed and I am finally able to use all three of the bedrooms in my house! I'm very excited about all of it and love how it has all turned out! I hope you enjoyed the peak into my house as well!

Happy Father's Day

I know it's a day late, but I just wanted to wish my Papa a happy father's day. He is such a role model for me every day. I can't believe how blessed I am to have such an amazing man to call my daddy :)

I am lucky enough to get to spend the entire week with him as he helps me work on my house! I'll try to remember to take pictures and post an update on my house when we're done! Now it's time for me to enjoy a week with my papa! I love you Daddy!!

Austin, TX

We got to Austin late Wednesday night and made it to our hotel by midnight, then it was definitely time for bed! We got up and toured Austin as well as the Texas State Capital. We then went to Steph's gig at Patsy's Cowgirl Cafe where I met up with an old friend, Martha. It was wonderful to see her again! After the gig we walked up and down 6th Street and saw some live music.

Now we're off to San Antonio for a little sight seeing and then we'll continue on the road and hopefully get somewhere closer to New Orleans!

Summer Time

School got out on the 28th of May and I have been enjoying my summer so far! I went shopping with Megan on Saturday and Sunday and then again with my family on Monday! It was a successful weekend and I really enjoyed spending time with people I love.

Tomorrow, I head out on a new adventure with Deb and Steph. We begin our journey by flying to Austin, TX where Steph has a gig then we will rent a car and drive to San Antonio followed by New Orleans, Birmingham, Montgomery, and our final destination of Nashville. In Nashville we will be attending the CMT Music Awards and the CMT Music Festival. It will be a fun filled 10 days (approximately). I'll be sure to return with a tan, and loads of stories!

I hope your summer vacations can be kicked off to as great of a start as what I have been blessed with!

Can't Go Back Now

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

Yesterday, when you were young, everything you needed done was done for you
Now you do it on your own, but you find you're all alone, what can you do?

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

This last year has been such an amazing year. I can't even explain how much I have grown up. I love my independence :)

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

You and me walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

And I wouldn't want to go back. I am so proud of where I have been and who I have become.

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

You know there will be days when you're so tired that you can't take another step

The night will have no stars and you'll think you've gone as far as you will ever get

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

Now, don't get me wrong, it has been a tough road and there have been times where I didn't think I could take another step. I was ready to give up, but because I didn't, because I kept on going, I have become who I am.

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

And you and me walk on

'Cause you can't go back now

Go where you want to go

Be what you want to be

If you ever turn around, you'll see me

I can't really say why everybody wishes they were somewhere else

But in the end the only steps that matter are the ones you take all by yourself

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

This last part has really hit home for me, and has made me stronger knowing that these steps I've been taking on my own are big steps and they matter. These steps are what makes me, me.

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

And you and me walk on

Yeah you and me walk on

'Cause you can't go back now

Walk on, walk on, walk on

You can't go back now

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..

So, just remember... to keep walking on. You can't go back now, and you should embrace where you've been, it's what makes you, you! Be proud of yourself, and if you aren't, strive to be someone you are proud of :)

...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~..
Song Lyrics by The Weepies "Can't Go Back Now"

Happy Mother's Day

I love my Mama so much and for the unconditional love she has given me and my brothers, as well as any one else that has needed it. She truly is the most incredible woman I know!


I love you Mommy!!! :)

Woofta! Crunch Time Begins!

It's been awhile since I last posted, so I thought I would catch you up on everything I've been doing as of late!

Spring Break:
     Break was great this year! I started off by driving up to Buffalo to see family (you know, the only ones that read this thing) and I had a wonderful time! I enjoyed seeing everyone again and getting to meet Lena for the first time. I wish I lived closer to everyone so I could see you all more often! After spending Easter in Buffalo with family I drove back down to Laramie and spent some time with my parents and some old friends. I was originally only going to stay until Tuesday (at the latest) but I ended up sticking around until Thursday. I got back to my messy house on Thursday afternoon and started cleaning because Megan (the grad student, not the one I lived with) was going to be visiting as well as Jordan (rabbit hunting friend) and his fiancee.  Friday night Megan arrived in town about 5:30 and Jordan and Brooke came over about an hour later to play some board games. It was definitely fun and I really enjoyed meeting Brooke. :) Saturday Megan and I got up early and began our painting adventures! (I will post pictures later) We painted our little patooties off and Megan left about 6:30 Saturday night so she could get home to study for a test.

Play Practice:

After spring break play practice was held every night until the performance, and with this came drama. (There is so much drama in drama... I seriously don't know how to handle it, I really enjoy my drama-free lifestyle.) One of our lead actors decided to back out of the play (with 3 weeks until the performance) because of some other plans he was making. I'm not going to go into all of the details, but everyone in the play was disappointed in his lack of commitment to the play and cast-mates. We were very fortunate to have 2 other students volunteer to take his role and we cast the part this last Monday. Practice has been going well and I think the performance will be wonderful, although we still have a LOT of work ahead of us.

Well, I suppose that is about all that has been going on with me lately. I am crazy busy these days with practice from 5:30 - 8:30 every night and being at school at 6:45 every morning. The days all run together and there are only a few (okay about a month) until the school year is over! Talk about Crunch time!!!

Adam

I love to watch movies, especially good ones, but who doesn't? Last night, I watched a heart warming movie called Adam. It's about a man with Asperger's syndrome who meets a nice woman and they fall in love. I know my synopsis won't do the movie justice (plus I don't want to give too much away), so here is the trailer. 

I hope you enjoy it!

Thank You Pioneer Woman!

I decided a long time ago that I was going to make this recipe from Pioneer Woman (if you haven't noticed yet... that is becoming one of my favorite blogs). Anyway, I went to the grocery store tonight to pick up a few items and ended up buying more pork chops just on the mere impression that this recipe would rock my socks off and 2 wouldn't be enough. Boy, was I right! These turned out to be so delicious I had to call my parents (for the 2nd time in one night) just to tell them how good they tasted! The best part is that I now have 5 more chops to eat throughout the week!!! Hooray for leftovers! :)

Here's the recipe if you're curious C : 

Ingredients

• 7 pieces Or 8 Pieces Breakfast Chops (very Thin Bone-in Pork Chops)
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper To Taste
• ½ cups Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Extra Salt And Pepper, To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Rinse pork chops. (Yes, I rinse my pork chops. Please don’t be hatin’.) Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops.

Combine all dry ingredients. Dredge each side of the pork chops in the flour mixture, then set aside on a plate.

Heat canola oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter. When butter is melted and butter/oil mixture is hot, cook 3 pork chops at a time, 2 to 3 minutes on the first side; 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. (Make sure no pink juices remain.) Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining pork chops.

This is a delicious and easy dinner, I would definitely recommend it! :)

The Home Invasion

I've been trying to come up with an exciting post to write and it's taken me a long time to find something I thought would perhaps capture attention. This is a story from my adolescent years and usually gets a few laughs!

It was the summer and I had just finished 7th grade (I think) so I was in complete junior high girl mode. I talked constantly on the phone, cared entirely too much about how I looked and was just a girl with raging hormones (just ask my family!) and mood swings to boot!

We had finished dinner one night as Mom was walking around the table and stepped on something. That's when we first spotted the creature that invaded our home...

(He may look friendly and cute now, in his natural habitat, but during a home invasion you would probably think otherwise.)


He made a small squeak and scurried across the dining room floor into the living room and then under a couch. We weren't quite sure what it was exactly, so we assumed it was a mouse. We all got up from dinner and grabbed something to try to corral the creature in the living room so we could catch him and release him into the field behind the house. So there we were, standing with everything we could find to use as "walls" to encircle our new roommate. Mom and I were standing next to the entry way with a sleeping bag spread between us as a wall the boys had stacked couch cushions into the doorway to the kitchen and were standing guard by the dining room as Dad flipped the couches over. We were trying to take out all hiding options so then someone could snag him up in a bucket. Needless to say all of our efforts failed. It finally became pretty late and we hadn't found our new friend yet so we headed to bed. We all closed our doors and slept pretty soundly.

The next day Mom and Dad had to go to work and left the boys and I in charge of capturing the roommate. I had also decided that I would clean out my closet. I don't know how all of you cleaned your room in your younger years... but for me that meant stuffing everything I possibly could into my closet. So, needless to say, my room had turned into a disaster area.

I don't remember all of the details now, but what happened next was rather traumatizing. We discovered that the creature that invaded our house was a chipmunk (picture above) and had closed all of the bedroom and bathroom doors thinking that this would keep him out. We had the sucker cornered when he slid under one of the doors. The boys opened the door to discover the disaster area that was my bedroom, took one look and then looked back at me and told me that I was on my own. I was furious! It wasn't my fault the chipmunk had escaped to my room, and I would have helped them find the blasted thing if it had gone into one of their rooms! Life just was so unfair!! (Remember, I was a teenager with wild mood swings) Knowing that it was now up to me to find the demon that now invaded my bedroom I jumped up onto my bed and began called my friend, Anna. I complained for awhile to her sympathetic ear and finally decided that I could rant and rave at the same time as I searched for the creature in my room. So, standing on the edge of my bed I began throwing one object at a time on top of it, clearing out floor space little by little. Suddenly I began screaming and jumping up and down! (Poor Anna was still on the other line)... I had just thrown a pillow up onto my bed when he scurried out of my room.

My brothers heard my screaming and came running to my rescue (probably thinking I had been bitten by the thing) I quickly hung up on Anna as we went on, what we thought would be, the final search for our furry little friend. We spread out amongst the house and met up again a little while later. Brandon came back with the best story yet... He had the chipmunk cornered in Mom and Dad's bathtub. There was no way the little sucker was going to get out of there on his own. He re-enacted the entire thing for Brady and I as he explained what happened. He grabbed the glass mug that Mom and Dad stored their toothbrushes in and scooped the chipmunk up. He quickly realized that the chipmunk could just hop out of the mug and so he almost put his hand over the top to keep him in when he also realized that the chipmunk would bite him and he didn't want to get rabies or anything like that... At that point in time the chipmunk also realized he could jump out of the mug and scampered across the room and out the door into the unknown.

We were frustrated that this small, pea-brained thing could outsmart all of us, and so we gave up looking for it (it was a very emotionally exhausting experience).

The next day I woke up to some hooping and hollering. My dad had, somehow, captured the chipmunk and put him in a five gallon bucket. He spray painted the end of his tail (in case he were to ever return), spun the bucket around (so he'd lose his bearings) and released him into the field behind our house. I was relieved that I could go back to cleaning out my closet (ha ha ha) without the fear of being bitten by a sharp-toothed-human-killing-chipmunk (as I saw the creature when he was in my room). I should also note that once we got him out of the house I was much calmer about the whole thing and thought he was pretty cute... now that he wasn't terrorizing me!

International Princess Project

I first heard about this project from the pioneer woman's blog and decided to check it out. The punjammies are beautiful and if more sizes were available I would buy myself a pair... I guess I'll just have to keep checking back here.

Admitting You Have A Problem is the First Step, Right?

I have an addiction. It's started to become a problem... But only on the weekends.

I am busy busy busy all week long and then Friday comes and I have time to relax. This is when my addiction seems to come out. Sometimes it gets so bad that I will waste an entire weekend... What is my addiction? Well, I am addicted to reading blogs. That's right, I love to read about people's lives, food excursions, and personal thoughts. I can't seem to get away from it. I will waste HOURS on end finding new blogs to read... taking a peek at people's lives. I love it! I guess you could call me nosey, I won't deny it. This is one of my (many) guilty pleasures...

Taking Chances

From time to time I look back and reflect on my life and who I am becoming. I try to make sure that I am living up to who I want to be. Here's a list of qualities I would like to be able to say that I am, although I know that I still have to work on most of them!
Active
Adventurous
Brave
Confident
Curious
Determined
Educated
Fun
Gracious
Happy
Independent
Intelligent
Jokester (when appropriate)
Kind
Loving
Motherly
Neat (tidy)
On time
Open-minded
Productive
Professional
Quaint
Respectful
Strong (emotionally and physically)
Talented (in many things)
Understanding
Vivacious
Wacky
(e)Xciting
Young at heart
Zealous

You Don't Wanna Miss...

My world premiere! The last month or so I have been helping out with the school musical/play. This is the first one SMHS has put on for 3 years and has been a lot of work. I've never done anything with drama...ever. I always enjoyed watching the performances and was always involved with the school choir. However, this is a very new experience for me in many different ways! I was recruited to help with the music sometime in November by the student director. I agreed and helped out with auditions and casting. Once we came back to school from Christmas break, rehearsals started. Now, we've only had about 4 or 5 rehearsals but within those rehearsals I have discovered why it is called drama! We've had issues with "who" our director was and who wasn't the director...(long story!) The latest bit of drama came last night. (For some background info, we are doing the play Anastasia) Tatiana (or Empress Marie as some of you may know her) is Anastasia's grandmother and has a rather important role in the play. It isn't too large, but it is definitely one of the roles that stands out. We had cast a girl from Encampment as this part and things were going very well, that is, until last night! She came to rehearsal and asked when we had scheduled our performances and then got a bit of a sad look on her face. This is when she proceeded to inform us that she would be in New Mexico for an art contest (?) that entire week... So, we no longer had our Tatiana. We continued the rehearsal with her in the part the rest of the night and at the end had a meeting (without the cast) to figure out our next steps. We discussed several of our options when someone asked me (you know, the one without any drama experience) if I would be willing to play the part as Tatiana. I thought about it a little bit, and agreed to take the role. So, here's to my new adventure! Oh, and for all of you who are wondering, the performances will be May 7th (7:00 pm) and May 8th (2:00 pm) at the community center here in town.

Well, I am off to finish cleaning my house and practice my lines! HA! :)

Hello House!

Well, I have moved into my house, and I have internet and cable too! Wahoo!!

It's been a crazy week, and I'm still not done unpacking and getting settled, although I have enough put away that the house is live-able! My bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room are pretty much all done. I still need to paint the guest bedroom and then unpack that and the office.

If you are looking for pictures I put up an album on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook you can still see the album here.

Please excuse the mess, Brandon was getting a bit annoying with all of his nagging...so the rooms aren't as clean or put away as what I would like, but I figured he wasn't the only one that was curious!

Enjoy!