Precious Moments

Day 2--30 Day Challenge

2011-08-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Day 2--What I wore today

Lens: 10-22mm

Settings: F/10, 1/3s, ISO 800

Obviously I was wearing other items too but I am in love with these new shoes and LOVE that when you buy a pair, they donate a pair! I am not going to lie...I thought they were ugly when I first saw them but then I put them on my feet and decided otherwise.

30 Day Photography Challenge

2011-08-02T22:01:00.001-07:00

I am following in a dear friend's footsteps to try out this 30 Day Challenge!!

Day 1--Self Portrait

(not fun---I do not like taking pics of myself---this was the end of the day hair/makeup--wait, do I have any make-up on---ay yi yi!!)

Lens: 10-22mm Settings: F/10, 1/3s, ISO 800

I am working with a wide angle lens here too so the edges are a bit skewed but I am trying to figure this lens out and want to use it as much as I can. I think I will stick with it throughout the 30 Day Challenge, so be prepared for some interesting effects! I should add that it is a bit fuzzy, kind of like it but I was having trouble with lighting so my settings were a little off and the joyful camera shake. I took it from a high angle so I was having issues!!

Heavy and Light

2011-07-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

I know it has been some time (darn--almost a month) since I have written. Life has definitely been interesting this past month. Some of these changes are hard to handle and are not appropriate to talk about now. So I will chat about surface material until things (my mind) settle.

It is interesting how when life throws you curves, you can really start to find clarity in other places. It is funny how things that once were so stressful and frustrating now seem comical and irrelevant. Dave will be out of Afghanistan very soon and will be making his trek back to the states in the next couple of weeks. We are all so excited to get him back home and in one piece (mostly)! Fears of the unknown linger and will for some time until we know that we really have him back.

On a lighter note, I have been a bit busy doing the following: reading (The Help and Down Range), running (not far but actually running), biking, photographing (www.nemkinsphotography.com), editing, driving, "working" (on getting a job---that actually probably shouldn't be in quotations), hanging out (with Hazel, the fam, friends), Angels Camp extravaganza, road trip to Yosemite, hiking, Big Trees, wine tasting, random Sac Fair trip, vacuuming dog hair (we have a shedder!), picking fruit off the trees before the birds get it (discovered that the tree that I first thought was a nut tree, then thought was a plum tree, now is actually a nectarine tree---LORD, help me!), gardening (attempting to grow tomatoes, carrots, beans, green peppers), couponing (CVS mostly), estate sale-ing, getting excited for...Dave's return, three weddings to photograph, and seeing my sweet baby sister and niece in 5 days!!!

I will be posting some pictures shortly of some of our latest escapades. Thanks for reading :-)

Afghanistan (picture/video) Update!

2011-07-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Group shot...Dave is in the back center (sort of)! There is a mixture of AF, Army, and Afghans (yes, that is PC, that is what they like to be called)!

Ok, so I have been asking Dave to send me a picture of these HUGE ants since he got there. He said they are too fast and the other 200 pictures he took were blurry---booo!! They remind me of the bullet ants in Costa Rica that carried green leaves to build their homes. Also known as "hormiga veinticuatro" because it had a bite that would literally sting like heck for 24 hours (they are not lying--it was a throbbing hurt). Not sure what they are dragging here? Looks like a sponge but I think it is actually some form of food. Dave did say that he once saw a single ant carry a whole M&M!! It was the plain chocolate kind (yes, I asked)...can you imagine if they could carry a peanut M&M!!! I asked him to try it so I'll post pics if they can make it happen :-)

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for....Happy 4th of July from Afghanistan!!

I hope this makes you smile...

2011-07-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Some things that have made me smile lately---I hope I can pass it along...

He looks so small---no, I did not shrink him!! My AWESOME wide-angle lens gives such a neat effect to photos. Notice the rounded/stretched edges. This is a SOOC (straight out of the camera) file meaning NO EDITING in photoshop! So fun :-)

Saw these beautiful flowers in the side of the highway between Davis and Dixon. Had to stop!

Isn't he the cutest...he is trying so hard to love his backyard. He had a rough transition. Going from having over an acre of land with no neighbors to less than a quarter of an acre and a shared fence line has not been easy. Poor guy has such anxiety when anyone gets too close. To top it off, we are a block away from the park and we are a corner house so we get lots of traffic.

I wanted to also give a shout out to all of you who have supported the creation of Nemkins Photography. We are having such a great time learning about the photography business and our cameras. It is definitely not an easy hobby to pick up! So far we have completed/booked six mini-session family/kid/maternity shoots and we have two weddings on the horizon!! We would love to count you in but as you can see we are getting busy :-) We are still shooting at a hugely discounted price because we are trying to fill our portfolio! Please let us know if we can be of service to you!

First photo shoot...

2011-06-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

Julie and I will be shooting our first mini-session this evening in Davis, California!! We are very excited to be taking photos of two, brother and sister, cutie-pies and I am asking for your advice....can you give us a little last minute encouragement and technical advice?!?!

We will be posting post some pics on www.nemkinsphotography.com tomorrow. We would LOVE constructive criticism, seriously! We would also love your insight on our web design. Please be truthful. We are struggling finding that perfect feel for the main page!!

No words...

2011-06-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

Awesome giveaway!!

2011-06-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

Wow---how fun is this!! I hope you (I) win ;-)

Running! Lemonade! 16 and pregnant

2011-06-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

OK---I know these three things have nothing in common but stick with me...

Running...This is not my favorite topic of conversation but I am learning to like it. I am NOT a runner and those of you who know me know that this is completely true. I wanted to post that I hit a milestone today. I am proud of myself....I ran my route (about 1.5 miles--I know it is not much but let me remind you, I'M NOT A RUNNER!!) without stopping!!!!!!!!

Now, I will say that some people might walk faster than I run BUT that is not the point. I was desperate to stop and walk so many times but I didn't listen to that devil on my shoulder, instead I thought of what I wanted to look like in a new bathing suit. I am really liking the vintage inspired suits and can't make up my mind!!

Interesting fact: I never thought I would be able to run because I have knee problems from many years of dance and jump splits BUT Peter introduced me to the Reebok Realflex and my knees don't hurt. It is a miracle!

Lemonade...I made homemade lemonade thanks to a dear friend who shared some of her lemons. These lemons were the size of grapefruits, I kid you not---yes, welcome to California!!

16 and Pregnant...Is it just me or area ALL the guys this season worthless OR am I the only one who watches this crap?! And by the way....its FRustrated NOT fustrated....ay yi yi!!!

Photography!!

2011-06-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Julie and I have been working overtime to get a photography business together!! We are very excited to work together and spend time capturing precious moments!! Julie has some formal training and is outstanding at getting Hazel to laugh so we can take cute photos. We have both been doing online tutorials to learn how to use our equipment and technology to the best of our ability. We will also be taking a class this summer to perfect our skills!! Although, I am working on a learning curve, I am truly loving discovering something new and can't wait to really get started.

Please check out our Facebook page Nemkins Photography and our website www.nemkinsphotography.com when you have a chance!

We are really excited and would love to practice on you ;-)

Bittersweet

2011-06-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Our last day of kids was June 2nd....as you can see, I am still recovering or I would have posted this much sooner! This was a very different year for me and I have learned more than I thought was possible from 24 - 5th and 6th graders (and one 8th grader)! I will not be returning to my current school for many reasons. I hope to make it back into school for my masters?! I am absolutely positive that I will miss teaching so I am going to hurry back as soon as I can get back.

What I learned this year:

I've learned when I ask, “Would you please pick up the paper or pencil from the floor?” They don’t belong to anyone. (I can guarantee you that it is not mine!)...

I've learned when there is anything hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the hall, students will jump up and try to hit it...

I've learned planning lessons and staying in my classroom until it is dark outside AND coming in on the weekends occurred far too frequently this year...

I've learned that in education, change happen often. New techniques, new ideas, the rewriting of curriculum, new technology and the growing size of classrooms are only a few. Therefore, I have learned to be open-minded...

I’ve learned to manage mountains of paperwork (one word for my friends at DMCS, CUMES)--every school is different and it is a bit ridiculous at times, but we all still do it AND manage to teach kids simultaneously...

I've learned that my job is both satisfying and challenging (emphasis on the challenging)...

I've learned that I am able to draw out the good qualities of my troubled students...

I've learned that elementary school kids are VERY different from my comfort zone of middle school students...

I've learned that I dearly miss and LOVE school sports and the camaraderie it brings to a school and its students...

I've learned that I don’t have much free personal time. Taking a "sick" day is more work than just sucking it up and being there...

I've learned that there are always papers to grade, lessons to plan, parent contacts to make, meetings to attend, emails to answer, and mounds and mounds of paperwork to sort through...don't let it get to you...

I've learned that while I may know about the subject matter, I am continuously learning about how students learn. I did A LOT of learning this year (5th/6th grade--6 new curriculums EACH--makes me tired just typing that)...

I've learned that kind words and looking for the positive in students produces improvement of work and encourages students to do their very best to please me as well as themselves...

I've learned that even though I tell the students, “your grades are your business. If you did your best, that is what matters.” No sooner are those words out of my mouth, than students are whispering and comparing grades (DRIVES ME CRAZY)...

MOST OF ALL, I have learned that educating children is where I belong...

I feel that every moment of educating, and every day as a teacher, I learn more ways to make my classroom a better place for my students. I intentionally seek ways to build a sense of joy into my lessons. You must be flexible. Quality of educating is more important than the number of pages covered in a textbook.

The most important thing that I learned this year is that even when you feel like you can't go any more, there are people who will pick you back up and carry you along your way. I have been blessed, my God have I been blessed this year! I am honored to have worked and stood next to some of the greatest people I have ever met. I cannot explain the connection we all have made this year, it is indescribable. I know that I will be friends with these people for the rest of my life. I am humbled.

This is not everyone....I MUST get a group picture ASAP!!

More pictures from Afghanistan...

2011-05-26T19:38:00.001-07:00

What junior high taught me...

2011-05-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

I was sent this beautiful post by one of my dearest friends who is now a middle school administrator. This was written by one of her colleagues and is well said. I identify with her in so many ways and feel these feelings (except with a math mind) and love that I can share this with you!

http://jennifermathieu.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/junior-high-taught-me-what-love-is/

My Canon!!

2011-05-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

I will tell you more about my new toy when I figure it out BUT I did want to share a couple of my newest photos. I do not have Photoshop yet so these are naked!!

Kind of fun :-)

May Fair Week

2011-05-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I did say week...my dear Texas friends, you know how serious we take our Texas State Fair and I will say that these Dixon folks do the same!! Everything is bigger in Texas...this still holds true. They May Fair is only a fraction of Texas' but the excitement is much the same. I have children who are out the whole week to take care of their animals, clean their cages, show, and sell their cows, pigs, rabbits, etc.!!!

The May Fair is full of excitement. We actually have a pretty nice list of entertainment! Some friends and I talked about going to see Trace Adkins but believe this...they are sold out!

If you are near by, let me know when you want to go. You can park at my house and we can walk!! I am excited to go see all of my kids and to witness the hard work they have put into caring for their animals.

P.S. I will get a funnel cake (Danielle, I know you are with me)!!

Aggie Muster

2011-04-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am going to give you a link to the background of this beautiful and sacred ceremony, one that I was so blessed to be a part of in Sacramento this year!

Having served on the Muster Committee for three years in college, it made me appreciate the amount of heart and soul that is put into this amazing ceremony. I cannot express in words the feeling I get when I hear Silver Taps after the Roll Call. **chills**

I had the honor of reading the Muster Tradition to our group and it was hard not to tear up at the memories and the wishes for family, friends, and Dave to be closer. I love my school and am excited to meet all these new Aggies!!

Julie took the photos of our group of around 50 Aggies that came to Muster! It was also Hazel's first Muster! (I will post them when she sends them my way!)

Land of the free, home of the brave?

2011-04-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

It looks like we may be safe for another day with this crap government ridiculousness!! I received two calls yesterday that told me to expect to only get half of Dave's paycheck on the 15th and that if things didn't change that I should expect no paycheck until the mess was resolved. I was in shock to say the least.

How could the "land of the free, the home of the brave", be so unwilling to support those who named it? I do not fear for our survival because we have support and I have a job but I fear for my friends and the other military families who live paycheck to paycheck. These guys have a job that they will not walk away from even if they are not getting paid. They are not ABLE to walk away even if they wanted to.

On a happier note....here are some pictures....enjoy :-)

Great post from the heart of a military wife...

2011-03-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Candace for writing from the heart.

Please read her post,

The Return From Iraq: When Coming Home Is Not Homecoming

Love this...

2011-03-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, guys...I needed a mental break....so I am shopping (in my head)!! JOIN ME :-)

Dutch Wax Collage Cuff--Anthropologie

(not sure that this actually goes with the dress below but I LOVE it!)

Butter Stone Earrings--Anthropologie

Along for the Ride Bag--ModCloth

Blooming Goldenrod Dress--anthropologie

NOW I need SHOES!!!! Help ME :-)

Anxiety...

2011-03-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

WOW---we have a cram-packed week ahead of us....

We are nearing Spring Break (thank YOU!) but before we can breathe, we have a million items on the "to do" list that we must check off. I am working on two weeks of Work Plans (which I should finish today), Tuesday we will meet with chaperons for our Science Camp, after that meeting we have a school board meeting, Wednesday we always have teacher meetings after school, Thursday we have a staff meeting, after that meeting we will host "Sharing Night" for parents and students at school. My MIL and Ken will be here this week, which I am thankful for because my personal "to do" list is getting long too and they typically help me with this! Next week, we have one normal school day (yeah right--it's the day before their trip), and then we are off to Science Camp at the Alliance Redwoods for the rest of the week. But then.....GREATNESS.....yes, I AM GOING TO AUSTYN (yes, Austyn not Austin)!!!!

I NEED this break in a bad way....Sully will be hanging with his cousins: Hazel, Jasper, and Emmett!! He is excited too :-P

More pictures from Afghanistan...

2011-03-08T19:42:00.001-08:00

Talking to the Commanding Officer...

Taking the oath...

Reenlistment...

What are you thinking with that mustache....scary!!

This is the grape hut that is about 100 feet from their FOB.

What do you think they had to do with that??

Maybe....blow it up?!

So they sold "Billy" to the locals and bought this cute baby goat!!

29th Birthday :-)

2011-03-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

I got my bracelet from Dave---I am SO excited :-)

GOSH, that is a horrible picture!!!

It is SO hard to see but I got a cupcake charm, a "love" charm, and a giraffe!!! It is official now...Dave always gets me something with a giraffe when he is deployed.

Kind of funny and random.

I also had a fun dinner at Ludy's, a "Texas" BBQ place in Woodland, with good friends from work. Thank you all for coming!!

Smiles

2011-03-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I had a birthday surprise today (even though my birthday is tomorrow)!

Thank you to Peter and Julie for organizing---I TOTALLY thought I was the party planner since today is actually JULIE'S birthday!!

They got me good---I will post pics when Peter sends them my way :-)

Tomorrow I get to eat "Texas" BBQ with my girls at work--I smile at the fact that they know me so well and we have only just met. I am thankful for great friends in my life :-)

Picts from Afghanistan

2011-02-26T11:00:00.001-08:00

Report Cards and Poop!

2011-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

The joys of report card time are upon us. This is such a different time for teachers who teach elementary school than it is for middle and high school. I would never have imagined the stress it carries...until NOW!! Ahhhhhh!! I am on my way to school (on our day off) to begin the joyful process.

On an more smelly note, I cleaned up as much dog poo in the backyard as I could before I invite some landscapers over to see if they can save my yard. This is a typical Dave job and one that I seriously hate to the depths of all that is disgusting. One of the main reasons I plan to hire the landscaper is so that I do not have to pick up poo ever again! In Georgia it was so different because our yard was HUGE and the dogs instinctly did their business along the fence line. I guess they knew how much I despised the job of seeing/cleaning up the crap. Poor Sully does not have the option any more. Poor guy came in with some on his foot the other day and it was then that I felt that if I did not clean it up, ASPCA might have some concerns. I am not kidding when I say that the bag that I collected yesterday weighed as much as a small child--NOT kidding! Soooo, stinking gross!! Wish I could teach Sully to do this...

Wish List

2011-02-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a wish list from Dave and his buddies...

1) Old DVDs, "guy" movies, tv show series--they are not picky!

2) Dried fruit (Dave likes the-no sugar added-Mango from Trader Joe's)

3) Beef jerky

4) Snacky foods (Munchies snack mix, chips, trail mix, etc.)

5) Baby wipes (they only get to shower once a week---grossss!)

6) Hot sauce (they are eating MREs)

7) Powdered Gatorade/drink mixes

8) Anything else that you would like to send---they love surprises!!

FYI: He does have internet access (very spotty) and it is dial up. Feel free to email him but try not to expect a response. At this point, we are not sure how quickly he will get the packages. You can try to send anything (homemade goods are always exciting, but know that they might not make it in time to eat--it is worth a try though!).

If you do not have time to make your own, here are a few sites I found that will send them for you. I have also linked some "how to send a package" sites. It is really easy, the post office will know how to help you!

TroopCarePack.com

http://www.anysoldier.com/

HOW TO SEND

Care Packages for Soliders

Great list of other items to send!

Military Gift Packages

Please mail all goodies to:

SSGT David Adkins

466 AEG/EOD/OL-B

APP AE 09355

Thank you for your support :-)

Outside of Kandahar

2011-02-12T22:12:00.001-08:00

So...it has been raining....umm, pouring!!!

The base is about as big as two football fields---VERY tiny. It is a new base and they do not have much more than the tents that you see in the background above (they are the half-dome, looking things). They are made of canvas and their floors are also canvas. Some tents are set up on plywood to keep the water out. Dave's tent is not set up on the wood :-/

Yes, that is the door to his tent and that is a man with a bucket!! They had to literally scoop out the water so they could stay dry!!

Inside the tent...watching tv on a flat screen...go figure!! They are waiting on a PS3 to play with. It should be joining them in a week or so!

The picture below is not where he is staying...this was the Canadian base they passed through before getting to their FOB (the one with real eggs). Dave said this place was awesome, the base they are at...not so much!

Egg logs and JERVs

2011-02-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

Dave made it to their first FOB (not the one he will stay at). He said that it took them about two hours to get their from the main base. This FOB is run by the Canadians, so their services are not needed there. They have their own EOD convoy! He was really impressed with the base itself. It is built in the side of a mountain and he said the country is more beautiful than where he was in Iraq. He is excited to share pictures when he gets back. He was hoping they could stay longer. The first thing he said was, "They have real eggs here!" That made me laugh because a staple item on most military bases (and colleges) are egg logs made from the delicious egg-based (maybe?) powder!!

Dave will be leaving in the next couple of hours to get to their final FOB (Forward Operating Base). He said it is about the same distance away from their current spot but will take twice as long to get there, due to rough terrain issues. They are traveling in the JERV and will take over the JERV that is at the FOB. He said they will use the one that is there because it is all decked out with the latest technology! Excitement is in his voice when he talks about getting to actually work. Days need to pass quicker but I am glad that he is getting to do what he has been so meticulously trained to do!

HGCN & S

2011-02-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

Sweet Angel

Sweet Boy

Skype!

2011-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Tammi, who is a colleague of mine from GA, asked if I would skype with her class!! We talked today for about half an hour and decided that our classes would skype next week. Logistically, our time difference threw us some curve balls, but we figured it out with both of our schedules---I am SO excited :-D

Tammi is one of those teachers who you strive to emulate. She has taught elementary and middle school, she currently teaches 7th grade science at Lowndes Middle. She has taught for 20ish years and is just amazing. She is a mother of two, beautiful, well-rounded, intelligent girls who are successful in so many ways already! Her classroom runs like clockwork and her students are 100% engaged (is this possible?)! In other words, I want to be like her when I grow up :-)

I love her so much and I actually teared up when we hung up today. I am truly gracious to her for: guiding me when I had teaching questions, sending her husband to fix my broken pipes when Dave was in Iraq, going shoe shopping with me on my bad days (and good), laughing with me when I needed a smile, running the concession stands with me when everyone else was too busy! Oh gosh, there are so many more reasons...I will stop! Thank you, Tammi for your love and support. I miss you DEARLY and will always have you in my heart.

Cute!

2011-02-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

I am loving this newly discovered site...thanks @shelikespurple! I have not bought anything from this place but I am about to! Do you have a favorite clothing/accessory site you LOVE?! Please share!! I am on the lookout for a cute dancing dress for Lupita's party!!

I am an antique freak, so seeing this made me get a little excited!!

Cute casual necklace to wear with jeans and a comfy cotton tee!

This is really cute and REALLY reasonably priced!

Don't want him to go...

2011-02-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

I often see posts about spouses who are missing their significant others because they are on business trips, are stuck in another city due to bad weather, or just haven't made it home from work yet. I fight my brain as it delves into jealous mode: "well mine is a world away and I can't talk to him, I don't know if he is OK, I don't know when he is coming back, AND he is NOT coming back tomorrow or a week from now---try 6 months". AHHH--stop the madess!! I fight the jealousy, I fight feeling sorry for myself, I fight it. Then I think again...I think, "my GOD I do not wish this on anyone!"

What I have learned in the soon-to-be two years of us being apart is this (6 months in Iraq, 10 months in FL, 4 month in CA, 6 months in Afghanistan...we have been together 9 years this summer-WOW!)...I have learned that distance TRULY does make the heart grow fonder. I LOVE him and cannot wait to see him when he comes back. I have learned that I am so much stronger than I thought I was. I have learned that soon (yes, there is a light) we will be able to put the deployments behind us and we WILL get to live under the same roof until we drive each other crazy!!

Dave leaves tomorrow morning and will be on his way to Afghanistan for the next 6 months. We do not know when he will make it to Kandahar. The military leaves us wondering, as usual. The only good about him leaving tomorrow is that he is THAT much closer to making it home. I will continue to live my life (now to include retail therapy--thank you separation pay!), the way I live it when it is just me and my dog and by next month I will be in full swing of independent mode.

Prayers please!

Just a few things...

2011-01-30T19:04:00.001-08:00

Dave Update: He is in VA now, awaiting their departure. Everything is still up in the air. They don't have any confirmed times and they still don't know where they will land first. It will definitely NOT be a direct flight. He does not know what he will need or want until he gets there! I will be posting a "wish list" periodically for him and his buddies. Dave is always well taken care of (thanks to family and friends) but sometimes his buddies get nothing. If you feel the desire to send items, you can send them to the address below and Dave will gladly disperse the goods!

He really likes sharing with the guys who never get anything. They always appreciate home baked goods and hot sauce!! I will let you know more details as I get them!!

SSgt David Adkins

466 AEG/EOD/OL-B

APP AE 09355

HORRIBLE picture (took it with the phone and the lighting was not working for me)---BUT, I got my ring back!! We dropped it off with a family jeweler in Bend this summer and I am finally getting to wear it again!! We had the band on the bottom added and sautered to the 1918, Great Gramma Phillips' original. We also had them rebuild the band on the side to strengthen the original ring. You can't see it but I am SURE it was quite a task!! He did a good job!!

Baby Nhem is HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the world, Hazel Grace Chi Nhem!!!!!!!

Born Friday, January 28th @ 2:38pm...

7 pounds, 15 ounces...

18.5 inches long!!

Proud Grandma!!

10 fingers, 10 toes :-)

These pics were taken at the hospital--first day!! She is now home. I KNOW mom and dad are happy to not be driven crazy by a wonderful nursing staff. Julie is doing GREAT!!! Jasper is loving his new baby sister too...he is so curious, it is funny to see him discover her :-)

AUNT ALERT!!

2011-01-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

I will be an aunt (again!), to beautiful baby girl (again!!), tomorrow by about 2pm!!! Julie is scheduled to have her c-section around 1:30 (say some prayers). Therefore, baby Hazel Grace Chi Nhem will FINALLY grace us with her presence :-)

P.S. Get ready for some serious baby pictures!!!

Bananas!!!

2011-01-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

Ready....Set......GO!!!

I LOVE this little girl. My sweet niece, Austyn Raine, discovering real bananas for the first time. I know some of you can relate to these "firsts" with your own sweet angel. I do not have one of my own yet so I will live through my sister. Expect to see a lot of pictures of this cutie pie!! I am biased but she IS the cutest baby alive :-)

Trying to figure the new taste/texture out.....hmmmmmm, not so sure???!!

AHHHH....no more in my mouth, I am ready for more!!!

LOVE HER :-)

Dave Update

2011-01-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Dave will be in training in FL until this Friday when they will then be bussed (yes, I said BUSSED!) to Virginia! RIDICULOUS!! By the way, I did the research and the plane tickets right now would only cost $149!! Gurantee they are paying more for their bus tickets than that. Thanks USAF!

Once they get to VA they will wait around until their plane is ready to depart, which they are anticipating will be Wednesday?! I am not sure where he will fly to first, they usually take them to Germany, but he should be on his base in Kandahar around the first week of February. From there, we are not sure. We will find out soon enough. Here begins the need for prayers.

Also...Julie is ready to deliver the goods...we are READY for Hazel Grace...I am working on getting all my school plans ready so I can be in the right place and the right time!!!

CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU SWEET GIRL!!!!!

Oranges and a potential crazy lady...

2011-01-19T17:23:00.001-08:00

The number of oranges that these trees produce are ridiculous! I am amazed every time I drive by, so on my way home from work today I stopped. This one is my favorite! There are SO many more.

This measly guy is mine...it will be big one day. I haven't been able to taste the oranges yet and I cannot wait. There are only five...

You can't see the oranges on this one but there are a ton!

This house is so cute...the color of the house is the same color as the oranges on their tree. Again, this iPhone picture does not do the amount of oranges justice. The tree is covered!

I wonder what happens to all the excess oranges? They are starting to fall off and I want to be the crazy lady to go pick them up....is that stealing? Probably so, darn!

Recent Pictures...

2011-01-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

The 3/50 Project...pass it on!

2011-01-14T21:16:00.000-08:00

Wanted to point you all in the direction of this blog post!! Join in the 3/50 Project!!

http://www.stylelushblog.com/2011/01/the-350-project.html

Hair!

2011-01-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

You probably can't tell very well but I did get a cut and color. I am thinking this will have to do for the #1 on my list. I am not very brave when it comes to hair. As I was spilling my guts to my hairdresser (why do we do this?) I calculated that I have not had highlights since 2001---wow, 10 years!! I am not sure that I will be able to financially keep up with this color so that is why I went subtle. I think I like it though so I may use some of this "separation pay" that the military gives us to spoil myself for a little while?!

Sully Dog

2011-01-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

The Shakerweight in ACTION!!

2011-01-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

This is my AWESOME brother-in-law working the Shakerweight!!

Thanks, Julie for sending this ;-)

Thank You's...

2011-01-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

I just completed writing 12 "Thank You" notes for the gifts I received before the Christmas break. I do not open my gifts in class, in front of other students, I wait and open them at home where I can really relish in the loving hearts of these kids. Some of these gifts were given by those who have so much, some were scraped together or handmade, some have even given me something of their own. As a teacher we all get lots of random gifts. Every year, it never fails, I get at least two coffee mugs. I have a huge collection of coffee mugs!! I was blessed with lots of Starbucks this year, which I LOVE!! I also got two pairs of fuzzy socks, three coffee mugs, hand soap, coffee, body scrub, sticky notes, a shawl, Christmas candles, a journal, books to add to my school library, note pads, bubble bath and a beautiful fish ornament! It was a good year ;-)

My favorite gift I got this year was, believe it or not, another coffee mug!! It was a little beat up but it did have a Christmas theme! I loved this particular mug because it was given to me by a student who has excelled this year but has a lot on their plate at home. I know this was a gift from the heart and I know that the family probably did not take the child to go get this. I think that it may have been a hand-me-down, which I love! This particular child has been through some stuff that I am not sure I am fully aware of. As teachers, you have a sixth sense about these kiddos. You can just tell that there is something more to some of them. This child has a HUGE heart and I love her for it. I hope that the other kids can realize this and can learn from it....I know, I have :-)

I'm a dummy!!

2011-01-10T18:16:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I just realized that I had to give "permission" for your comments to appear!! So, with tears in my eyes, I just published them and thank you for all of your kind words :-) I appreciate some of you sticking with me for so long and I hope to keep you entertained with our lives!!

Secondly, I just biked 6.5 miles for 126 calories. So I burned off a couple (ahem...a handful) of

Recees...maybe?! I am thinking that I need to get some arm workout during this biking action. Have any of you purchased the Shakerweight? I am debating. I am biking for about 30 minutes each time and I think that I could work in a little shakerweight while I am doing that.

Dave update: He has been working late each day to train with his team. His daily schedule starts around 4:30 with PT, then classes and training until 7ish, they eat dinner at the base and then typically go on a run after, shower, and bed---then start all over again. They have also been working on Saturday! I say, the more the better!! Dave was not too excited about it but he knows that the better they can understand their robots (see below) and the more he can learn about his teammates the better off everyone will be if/when they have to face the scary stuff. Prayers!

Back to school....

2011-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of you have already gone back but tomorrow is our first day back from Christmas/New Year Vacation--yes we were spoiled!! So spoiled that I am a bit nervous to get back...yikes!! I actually think it is more of the excite nervous. I have re-arranged my room, made new class schedules, created a different work plan for the grade levels, and have a fool-proof (ya right) seating chart!!!

We recently finished reading Number the Stars, which was an eye-opener to some of my kiddos. We learned a lot about differences and how to be accepting of other even if they are really different. One of the teacher at my school is Jewish and she came and spoke to the kids which really made them realize that even if we look the same we also have a lot of differences and that is o.k. and kind of neat. We can learn from each other! When we go back, I am going to show them the movie Paperclips. If you have not seen it, it is really touching. Basically, it is about a group of students who decided to collect 6 million paperclips to represent the approximate number of Jews who lost their lives during WWII. At their last count, they were at 30 million paperclips!

I am also on a search for great, FREE character building programs. If you know of a fantastic one, please share. My most favorite was from the Tiger Woods Foundation...not so great for character building now :-/ Please leave a comment on any programs that you loved or hated. I would appreciate a program that has writing activities and/or a book that supports it. I would also be really interested to see if any of you know of a program that is based around a sports team or sports "hero". THANKS!!

Black Bean Dip (EASY!)

2011-01-07T12:56:00.002-08:00

I made a homemade dip for a party tonight. Normally, I would just go out and buy something because I really need to be doing about a million other things. However, we are low on the dough so I am attempting to take something that we already have here. I found some sourdough bread that was going to have to be tossed next week if not eaten and I got, from my stockpile....a can of black beans! I did a quick google search for "easy black bean dip" and found this!

I put a little extra cayenne, we didn't have onion powder for some reason, and I added about a 1/4 c. of sour cream (which made it MUCH better). I have it bagged up and ready for Melanie's Going Away Party tonight. It will be displayed in the beautiful dish below. Do you think they'll know who's it is ;-)

6.3 miles, 127 calories

2011-01-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Again...better than nothing, right?!

I am not loving the bike but maybe it will grow on me. We'll see....

I talked to Dave tonight and they have been working with their new team member who is from a different base. They get to practice with their robots and he said they have been doing really well as a new team. There are three guys on each team and they will get their FOB tomorrow. FYI: a FOB is a Forward Operating Base--to visualize this, think of the Kandahar base as the capital of the bases and the FOBs are like the little cities. They live/work/etc in the FOBs and return to the main base when they are on their "off" time. Hope that made some sense?!

Hopefully, he will get a developed FOB so they have decent beds, food, etc. Some of the FOBs are literally tents with cots. However, if he gets one of those he will likely be able to return to the main base more often. So, we will see?!! They still do not have a set date for arrival in Afghanistan. I will keep you all posted.

Rats....

2011-01-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right...we've got rats!! Not in the house (thank God)....just in my car!!! I dropped off my lovely Armada this morning for a simple check-up and when I picked it up found out that not only was the cost of the 90,000 mile check up a pretty penny BUT that apparently my car has been a home to a rat family. Now, just so you know we LOVE his car and we have had no major issues or problems for the 5ish years that we have owned it. We will buy another one when mine dies. I guess some momma rat loved it SO much too that she brought her family in---GROOOSSSSSSS!!

(Ok, so this guy is kind of cute....)

Now, the crappy part about this (besides the fact that there are rats in my car) is that I have to leave it for another couple of days so that Nissan can totally excavate the thing and repair all of the damage that they caused. We know for a fact that it will be no less than a $700 repair--damn rats! I could have bought the rats a very nice home for MUCH less!! We are hoping that there is not more damage that we cannot see at this point. To top it off, we will have to invest a little more into the after market alarm system that the rats found so delicious. Nissan will not touch these wires but they are clearly destroyed.

I guess I am glad to have kept a rat family warm and cozy for some time----

HECK no, what am I saying. I am seriously NOT o.k. with this....

find another home...

I paid for mine...

AND NO ONE LIKES A SQUATTER!!!!!!

5.8 miles, 109 calories

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

Sure felt like I should have burned a whole lot more than that!! So, before Dave left he set up this bike in our living room. Yes, I think it is tacky but it was in the garage and there is not a t.v. in the garage to help me pass the time away while riding....so we moved it. This is the first time I have tried it out. I only biked for 30 minutes and I am not really sweaty so I don't think it was really worth it. BUT it was more than I would have done if it was in the garage!

I also went back to school today to get things organized. My kids come back on Monday! My friends, Guadalupe and Melissa, helped me rearrange my entire room and I am really liking it. I have more floor space now and I got a projector that I am excited to hook up in the middle of the room!! For those of you who do not know, I have an interesting mix of kiddos this year. I am teaching in a public, Montessori, charter school. YES--that is a mouthful!! I teach 11-5th graders, 12-6th graders, and 1-8th grader. Yes, please say it....HOLY CRAP!!! I LOVE teaching but I am having to retrain this year. I am a middle school math teacher (that is what I claim) but I am teaching elementary ALL subjects!!! I have SO much respect for elementary school teachers.

Ants Suck!

2011-01-03T19:47:00.003-08:00

Ok, so we have ants galore...not sure how and where they are all coming from. I have heard from multiple people that Dixon was built on an ant hill which does not excite me one bit. I am disgusted by these tiny crawling creatures because they come by the thousands. I find them in the bathrooms, the closets, the floors, the kitchen counters, and MY BED!! Not cool guys....SO not cool!

The bug guy comes tomorrow and I cleaned up for him so he didn't have to walk through the extra dog that appears daily from Sully's shedding. I sucked up tons of dead ants--glad they are dead but come on!! The sad thing is that I know for a fact there are more taking there place as we speak. GROSS!!

Half my heart...

2011-01-02T03:11:00.003-08:00

I will start with letting you all know that I was able to cross off one item on my list already (fist pump...yesssss)!! We had a wonderful New Year's Eve with Julie (Hazel) and Peter. We went to Old Sac, watched some fireworks, and ate some decent Cajun food. We have all been to New Orleans and know what the real thing is so we were disappointed a tad bit and the service was indeed slow (reviews did not lie). I will have to say that the highlight of the night was when we returned home to watch the "dog video". Before we left Peter thought it would be interesting to see what the dogs did when no humans were around soooooo we taped them!! Yes, we actually recorded their every move. Now seriously, you would be lying if you said that you have never wanted to tape your furry friends. We were anticipating all sorts of cool things and exciting adventures they might have had while we were gone. He was able to record over two hours of footage!! Guess what we saw..........NOTHING COOL :-/ Needless to say, we were slightly disappointed. However, this was the first time Jasper stayed at home alone without going into his kennel and he did great. We have deemed Sully a great dog sitter!! I will loan him out for a small fee.

On a more serious note, I just dropped Dave off at the base so he could begin another adventure. This is our second deployment and just one of many times I have had to say bye to him as he left to go to work. These are some of my hardest moments and I do my best to be OK because I know it makes him sad to see me cry. I also have to realize that where he is going is far worse than what I have to endure while he is gone. Sully doesn't get it but he will realize soon that his daddy will not sleep in the big bed (which actually means that he gets to take his place). I haven't let Sully in on the secret yet but in due time he will be snuggling with me. I will actually have to change the comforter to allow this to happen because we just got a new bed set and I am not about to let it get Sull-i-fied!!

For those of you who know me, you know that I am fairly independent and enjoy working/teaching and keeping busy. I am not one of those military wives who depressingly counts the days down until she can be reunited to her one and only true love. I am a wife who continues to live her life, supports her husbands choices, and knows how hard he has worked to get to this place in his life. I also desperately try to understand his need to fulfill something in his heart to serve his country. I understand what it feels like to have found your passion and I understand that to be truly happy in life you must follow this passion. Mine is teaching, his is serving his country.

I am so very proud to be married to someone who has such drive and so proud to be the wife waiting at home patiently for his safe return. I am supportive of his journey but I am scared shitless. I know a lot of you are with me on this so let us all pray for him and his team and ask God to keep them safe and protected at all times, to give them steady hands, please ask that our countries leaders are supportive and informed and that they are returned quickly to their families. Thankfully, he will be state-side for another month and will hopefully get to see pictures and maybe some video of his new niece, as soon as she blesses us with her presence. But I am serious when I ask for prayers and if you do not pray to God but have other means of communication please express our concerns. Please tell your church families and friends to do the same. His job is not a walk in the park and we are very concerned for his safety this time around. I will keep you all posted to the best of my ability! Thank you always for your love and support!

New Years Eve Plans?!

2010-12-30T11:27:00.003-08:00

Anyone doing anything extravagant for New Years?

I did say I wanted to do something fun so here are the rough plans...

First, we will get Dave packed up and ready for FL/Afghanistan. Most of his gear has already been shipped to his destination but he will have to take the last of his camo-gear that he was recently issued. He also got issued some hiking boots that he is spraying with something to keep them from getting ruined in the weather, I think?

Next, we will put some frames up on the wall (Dave will) so I don't have to do it by myself. Although I am a math teacher my wall hanging skills are not so mathematically perfect!

We will head to Sacramento to hang out with the Nhem family for a bit, secretly hoping Julie will have baby Hazel while we are visiting. We will then all head to Old Sac for a night of excitement!! I made reservations at Cafe New Orleans!! It didn't get great reviews but I was interested in the Jerk Chicken and the fried appetizers AND the fact that I have eaten at too many Mexican restaurants lately.

After our lovely dinner, we will hang around to see the fireworks (now looking more closely at the site, we may actually miss these because they start at 9:00 and I am pretty sure, according to the reviews, that we won't be out of the restaurant in time to actually view these)! Old Sac has been doing this for the past 11 years so we are excited to join in the festivities. Hopefully, we can make it to midnight?!

THE LIST

2010-12-29T22:30:00.008-08:00

Here we go guys....I need your help!!

30 Things to do Before I am 30 List

1. New hair cut/style/highlights

2. Go with Danielle to Yoga

3. Read (finish) 12 new books

4. Learn how to manage my anxiety better without meds

5. Organize all of our paper files

6. Take a vacation with Dave (maybe a honeymoon—never had one). This one will be hard since he will be gone most of the time, but maybe we can actually make this one happen...

7. Exercise more (this shouldn’t be too hard since I haven’t been very good at it thus far)

8. Go the dermatologist (inspired by Amber)

9. Get our t-shirt quilts made (wish I could make them but I think that might be pushing it for 2011)

10. Learn how to make the cutsie, foofoo, headband, bows that all the precious little girls wear so I can give them to all of my nieces

11. Learn how to sew (I would really like to take a class—not sure how to get this ball rolling)

12. Work on our budget and stick to it (I would like to use an ING-type account so we can SEE how much we are using/allocating—suggestions?)

13. Eat at 5 new restaurants (1. Cafe New Orleans)

14. Eat a salad at least one time per week

15. Get a new digital SLR so I can rediscover my love for photography

16. Knit more (working on one now!)

17. Get a massage (professional)

18. Learn how to crochet

19. Cook a meal a month from my Family Cookbook that was so beautifully put together by my Nana

20. Go to the Redwood Forest!

21. Visit Austyn (and family and friends) in Dallas (OR she can be mailed here at any time!!)

22. Take vitamins regularly

23. Go somewhere fun for New Years (2010/2011)

24. Send a RAOK gift to someone who needs it

25. Hire a house cleaner (I know, this is terrible but absolutely necessary with how much our lovely dog sheds)

26. Buy a cute black pair of heels that I can wear with jeans

27. Ride my new cruiser bike to the Farmer’s Market downtown

28. Go wine tasting in the area (there are SO many vineyards!!)

29. Tell people that I love them more (specially family)

30. Work on www.the-adkins-family.blogspot.com MORE!!

I am really bad at this...

2010-12-29T21:37:00.003-08:00

Ok, so I am REALLY bad at keeping up with the blog BUT I am going to try (yet again) to be better. I am going to attempt to link with Facebook so I can post updates that way too. I did get into this new page design/layout. I am still playing with colors...suggestions welcome!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Stay tuned...I am working on my "29 things to do before I am 30" list!!

2009-12-26T10:14:00.001-08:00

On our way to Savannah...

Where to begin...

2009-12-06T18:50:00.003-08:00

I am learning how to grieve....learning how to let life move on its way remembering that there are far worse issues that I could/will deal with one day. My god, there are people who have lost people! I have lost people...why is this so different?

I am learning that change is hard always but that some change is harder. We go through great change as a military family and will continue to know that change rules our lives in most cases, but this change is so different, why?

Kate told me today that Cooper told Sully to take care of me when he left and I think this is true because Sully now follows me around, is glued to my side as Cooper was. He is learning to do what Cooper did for 7 years, he is trying to fill the paws of a great dog that lived long enough to touch so many people's lives.

We thank you all for teaching him, growing him and loving him. I am sure that no one loved him as much as Dave or I did but any love is great love. Please know that he loved you too!

Rest in God's Peace and Know that You are SO Missed and will always be SO Loved!

November 10, 2002-December 1, 2009

Cooper Punk Adkins

Fragile Circle

2009-12-06T18:44:00.002-08:00

Fragile Circle
We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own,

live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality,

never fully understanding the necessary plan.
--Irving Townsend

2009-10-28T09:55:00.001-07:00

Running a test!

Oh my!!!

2009-06-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

Check this out...unbelievable talent in these kids!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu0UoouAyeU

Got music?!

2009-06-30T21:17:00.001-07:00

Check out the cute Hello Kitty :-) I may change that up, but I FINALLY figured out how to add the stinking music!!!! YAY ME!!!!!!!!!!!

NO ORDERS!!!

2009-06-30T19:24:00.003-07:00

Dang the military....we are still patiently waiting (well I am not acting very patient) for the military to decide when to let us know where we will be living next.

Dave is still doing very well in school and is supposed to graduate in December. This is not set in stone however, as usual, but we are hoping he will not be washed back for any reason.

We will be in Destin this weekend for the 4th!!! Our friends from Thomasville (Chris, Amber and baby Jensen) are coming too!!!!! We are so excited for a fun beach trip to this beautiful beach. I will do my best to post pictures when we get back, but I will be quickly thrown into cheer camp and then off to TX/CO for a couple of weeks!! So, no promises!!!

I hope you are all enjoying the twitter updates to the left hand of the screen. I am working on putting some other additions on the blog, so keep checking it out. I did do something weird yesterday that caused me to not have access to the blog for a bit and I kind of freaked out. All is well now, thanks to my awesome tech skills (riiiiiiight!).

Cool!!

2009-06-19T21:13:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I added our (my, Dave is not a Twitt-er yet) Twitter updates on the left hand column!! SOOO, if you are not so cool that you have your own Twitter account, no biggie! You can see what I am twitting by checking out the application to the left of the posts!!

SOOOO COOOOOL!

Awaiting Dave's arrival at the moment...he is coming in town for a baby shower, some golf and good times with good friends!!

For those of you that need an update on his school, here it is:

He has about 5 more months and we are counting down. We still have NO clue where the military will send us next (ANNOYING)!! We are still hoping for CA or WA?! At this point, anything will be closer to family than where we are now.

Dave has approximately a 98% average, so clearly he is doing very well!! He is really liking the program much better than his previous job. The classes he is taking are not only with Air Force but also Army, Marines, etc.

Ok, more later...Dave just got home!! Dogs are FREAKING out!!!

2009-06-18T21:11:00.001-07:00

Ok friends...if you are not on Twitter, jump on board and make sure you turn ON your mobile alerts IF you have an unlimited text package!!

I am still working on loading some pictures...coming soon!

Sweetness

2009-06-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

I have a new App!! This one allows me to post on the blog from the phone and on the go. My next job is to figure out how to post pictures!

2009-06-18T11:55:00.001-07:00

Trying out my new app!! Posting to the blog from my cell!!

February

2009-03-01T11:08:00.002-08:00

OK, so I am typing on my little Dell Mini that Dave got me for Christmas and I am still getting used to the keys. Please excuse typos :-)

Katy inspired me to type again since it has been so long. I have been using Twitter pretty consistently so if you are interested you can follow me on there and get my little random blogs for the day. Go to www.twitter.com and search me and click Follow. If you have unlimited texts you can also sign up and put your phone number in there and it will text you my blogs. They are usually 1 sentence long...nothing huge. No pictures, etc. Also, if you have an iphone you can get the free app that will allow you to read the twits as they are posted---really cool!!

OK, so no garage sales lately. I mapped about 10 if them out yesterday but could not peel myself out of bed to get there, plus we had to go do our taxes--joy!

We just got our back porch re-screened and it looks AWESOME!! The next thing on the to do list is carpet which we are using our tax return to do this. WE CANNOT WAIT!!! We are going for a light tan, speckled, "frizay" style. Everything has been measured and calculated we are just waiting for the return to be processed!!

I have been a bit crazy lately at school...I just got another student teacher, which is great but also time consuming! She is a bit shy but we are working on that. We are also about 4 weeks away from CRCTs (our state test)!! Which really freaks me out!! We are all working really hard to get these kids prepared for what seems to be life or death!!

Cheerleading should not be in my vocabulary but it is unfortunately. We met at the Central Office to make sure that all middle schools in the county were doing the EXACT same thing. A bit ridiculous!! I hope this helps the parents realize that rules are rules and they will survive if it is not exactly how they want it. If we are here next year I will work with sideline and the competition team will be completely separate and I will have nothing to do with it. I hope his weeds out the parents/girls who do not care to support their school teams. Gosh, I get stressed just thinking about it!

Moving on...Dave IS RETRAINING!!! We are both really excited that he will be off the Flight Line and into a job that he feels is more fit for him. He is leaving in a couple of weeks for San Antonio for 10 days and then back to FL for the rest of his school (about 7 months). This means that we will also be PCSing (Permanent Change of Station) soon!!!! We have put CA on our wish list so we can be closer to family. We will not get our real orders until Dave has passed a certain point in his training since it is a weed-out program. I am hoping for REALLY soon so I can get a job for next year in CALIFORNIA. However, as you all know finding jobs is really hard right now. Believe it or not education is taking a hit too. Places in CA are considering firing 10% of their current teachers and consolidating schools. This is in the area we hope to be in, which is really scary. I have a secure job here so even if we get orders I may have to stay in GA until I can get a job in CA. If anyone has connections in the Sacramento area, let me know!!!!

Off to grade papers--my life!! Keep us posted on your life!!!!!

G-sales!

2009-01-31T19:11:00.004-08:00

So I did not go last weekend---for some reason there were only 2 posted in the newspaper in town and for nothing interesting so I decided that sleep was much more valuable!

Today, however, I hit up 11 families who had a lot of crap!!

Discoveries today:

--More baby clothes...met the cutest couple shopping for their first baby (girl, they found out Monday)!! We were shopping from the same pile on the table! Interesting what you learn from having random conversations at freezing temperatures at 7am!! Approximately 10 pieces, $2.50

--Antique wire star (it is a wall decoration), $1

--Cordless phone (with no wall cords included), our phone in the bedroom just took a crap, so I got this one to hopefully replace it until we can buy a full new set for the house, $1

--Wii game, Wii Play (used but in good condition, no controllers or anything), $5

--BCBG animal print dress (I know, crazy....grrrr!!), $1

I also went to an Estate Sale in a very nice part of town where I was really interested in buying the house. The lady said that the property was apparently staying in the family. There was a nice $200 antique chair and my dear friend (the lady, who is now following me through the house) was pushing hard to get me to buy the $425 early 1900's china. I must say I did act VERY interested in it because it was BEAUTIFUL. However, I did have to walk away because $425...umm know!! Did not have that cash on hand today!

I would like you all to know that we did join the world of the iPhones this afternoon....Dave and I have been saving our allowance (yes, we do give each other a set amount of spending per month and this has greatly decreased his constant whining about me spending every last dime on any SALE item that I see---even if it is truly a GREAT deal)!! We are proud to say that so far it was well worth the save and the decrease in our monthly allowance (we have to deduct the cost of the media package service from our allowance so as to not disrupt the budgeting that we are trying our hardest to stick to). Dave got a hard case so that he will not scratch it up on the flight line and I got this cute pink case below :-)

We hope you are all doing well---keep us posted on life---miss you all!!!!

Let's Talk

2009-01-21T18:18:00.004-08:00

Don't know if I have posted this picture before, but this is from a year ago when we were in Dallas for Christmas and eating at the GREATEST steak resturant EVER, Bob's Steak and Chophouse

Ok, so before we talk....let's NOT talk about how long it has been since I last posted.

No excuses, just didn't do it.

I have, on the other hand, been garage-saling on the weekends and have found some awesome finds, here are some of the treasures I have discovered:

-lots of baby clothes and gadgets for stinking cheap (NO WE ARE NOT PREGNANT BUT JUST ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE IS), and YES I plan to dress our future kid in hand-me-downs and garage sale discoveries---do not worry, he/she will be dressed to the T, but man have I found some of the greatest things oh so VERY early on Saturday mornings around here

-cool flour sifter for 50 cents--I have been needing one and just couldn't justify the $5+ dollars for a real one, so I just "fluff" the flour if it asks for sifting, I know, not how it is supposed to work

-Depression glass---I have continued the collection of the clear depression glass that was handed down to me from my great-grandmother, Grandma Peggy...but I will say that this stuff is HARD TO FIND!!!

-NEW, fancy wine bottle opener---yes, we have WAY too many of these so we are giving it to the newlyweds, Heather and Ben, that are now our wine drinking buddies, this was 50 cents too!!

-some clothes for ME---WITH FREAKING TAGS!! Amazing :-)

-cute Polo shirt for Dave, however he is having issues with wearing other people's clothes, we are working on this (I know that some of you may agree with him) but it was NICE and I washed it, TWICE

-books, I am always picking these up and there is never enough time to read all of them (got a Janet Evanovich, The Last Tsar for Dave and a bunch of middle school books for my classroom library)

-LOTS OF OTHER STUFF--I will post my new list this weekend after my escapade!!

I keep trying to get Dave up to go with me and he has yet to come along, even when I offer to buy him donuts from the new Daylight Donuts!!

Oh by the way, I am secretly obsessed with CVS and the ECB (Extra Care Buck--gosh, get on this bandwagon) program. Check it out here http://www.iheartcvs.com/ I am not the only one...it is borderline cultish, but no worries, I am just learning how to save some serious bucks!!

Ok, more later---gotta get this school mess graded!!

LOVE THIS!!

2008-12-29T10:44:00.002-08:00

http://www.pier1.com/TopMenu/Products/tabid/260/Default.aspx?task=viewproduct&id=1625&urlname=prosper-tray-table

Dear, Ben & Heather

It would not hurt our feelings a tad bit if you said that you did not like this piece. We KNOW it wasn't on your registry. So please do not hesitate to ask for the receipt for return or exchange. We will be in the store waiting for it to be re-shelved so we can buy it for ourselves!!!

Sincerely, Dave & Courtney

P.S. I know, I am slightly obsessing over this!!

I love this site...

2008-12-26T18:27:00.002-08:00

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/what-are-we-doing-on-this-site

I have followed this blog for close to a year now and I really enjoy Ramit's real-life scenarios and information on how to become a financially successful individual. This is my favorite post that he has written...it was one of his firsts.

We all do not want to be rich to be personally successful but to be successful so that we may help others.

As I reflect over the past few days I think about how important it is to give all that you can, whether it is things that people sincerely need (clothing, food, hair straightener), things that we may not need but that make us feel good (gift cards, massages, money, smell good lotions), or absolutely nothing at all just the presence of another person. We did get so many amazing gifts so thank you to all!!! (Pictures of our present-opening moments are coming soon!!) BUT--what we give and who we share it with is the most important part of this season. We are SO blessed. We were lucky to have spent Christmas with our "adoptive family" and we always feel like we are a part of their family when were are there. HOWEVER--we cannot wait to spend Christmas with our REAL family again. We miss you all and hope everyone had the Merriest of Christmases!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T14:03:00.002-08:00

Pandora

2008-12-23T16:36:00.002-08:00

Hey, THANKS KATE!!!

I took a suggestion from her blog and got into www.Pandora.com

This is a site that you type in the name of a song or artist that you like and it searches radio stations to find THE song of the moment.

SO COOL!!! Pat is playing right now....Take Me Out to the Dance Hall!!! Jason Mraz is next....

Fun times...peace be with you all :-)

Baby Sully Photos

2008-12-22T17:57:00.001-08:00

It is hilarious that he used to be this size!!

Snapfish:Photo:Owned

Can you believe this?! He used to be so tiny!!!

The Huddleston's Wedding in La Grange, GA

2008-12-22T17:26:00.007-08:00

What a precious sight....as Heather came down the isle Ben did have a goofy, cheesy grin on his face that quickly turned into tears of joy (it overcame him even knowing he would have to take crap from the guys in the squadron for years to come) as he saw his bride coming towards him.

AND STUPID ME DID NOT CATCH THIS ON THE STUPID FILM---ahhhhh!!!! Left the stupid camera at the STUPID house!!! I am still mad at myself, can you tell!!

It was extremely frustrating watching this with a cold---as I snorted away with my stuffed up nose and hacking cough. I really did try to keep all eyes on THEM as it was THEIR day. And for some reason I could not help myself but cry at this wedding (thanks Momma, Nana, genes, whoever started this...). It really was beautiful...

Now we will finally get to hang out with people that don't act like they are twelve!!! Oh wait---Ben and Dave act like they are twelve when they get in the near vicinity of each other. BUT...no fears, Heather and I have learned to ignore them REALLY well and know when it is a good time to walk away from the area, we will have fun :-)

When they return from Jamaica (man), 7 day, all inclusive, Ben will remind you....they will be living close to us and we will get to hang out :-) YAY!!!

Ok and YES---I promise to put up some pictures of us!! I know I am slacking on that. I will take some as we open presents at Christmas and post, post, POST!!!! I know you are excited!!!

Here is a tiny one of us before we rode the 4-wheelers in Colorado!!!

Cookies and Shaving Cream!

2008-12-22T17:12:00.003-08:00

Yes, I am crazy enough to decorate cookies and "clean" the school desks with shaving cream days before the kids were let free from the school walls.

I made cut-out cookies and icing for my homeroom class and we decorated them with sprinkles and red hots!! They were so cute!!! The kids enjoyed it, even though some of them didn't think the cookies were sugary enough and the icing tasted like toothpaste (?)!!

AND yes, I did let the honors class do some algebra problems in shaving cream on their desks!! They were sooo excited---you would not believe how much fun they had!!!

The crazy things we teachers do to entertain....

BIANCA!!!

2008-11-25T09:23:00.003-08:00

She has finally jumped on the bandwagon---WHOOP!!!

Miss you B!!

VACUUM?!

2008-11-24T18:09:00.003-08:00

ATTENTION ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO OWN A VACUUM....

AS YOU ALL KNOW WE HAVE TWO LARGE DOGS THAT CONSTANTLY SHED NEW DOGS EVERY DAY---YOU MAY THINK I AM KIDDING BUT BY NOW HAD WE KEPT ALL OF THEIR SHEDDED HAIR WE WOULD PROBABLY BE ABLE TO MAKE A NEW MOVIE THAT WOULD RIVAL THE 101 DALMATIANS!!

WE NEED A NEW VACUUM CLEANER THAT ACTUALLY CLEANS/SUCKS UP DOG HAIR/DOES NOT REDISTRIBUTE DIRT......HELP!!!

ANY SUGGESTIONS?!

WE ARE WILLING TO SPEND SOME MONEY BUT DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO TAKE OUT A LOAN OR SECOND MORTGAGE!!!

I AM INTERESTED IN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES...NO INFOMERCIALS PLEASE!!!

THANKS AND GIG'EM!! :-)

So far I have the following results:

Dyson---3 votes

Roomba--1 vote

Oh, by the way, does anyone need any Mary Kay for themselves or for Christmas gifts?! Placing an order THIS WEEK!!!

Obsessed 2

2008-11-24T17:50:00.003-08:00

Forgot---READ TWILIGHT!!!

Yes, I know a lot of people are obsessed...but my 7th grade kiddos are into this so I started reading them and the series is GREAT!! The vampire thing was not really what I was looking excitedly for but there is a great moral value to this read.

I feel like I should be at an AA meeting, "Hi, I am Courtney and I like the book, Twilight...ok, AND Edward Cullen."

I did jump on the bandwagon--but truly, you should check it out.

I have NOT seen the movie....I would hate to ruin the book experience, but I have heard promising reviews from friends and family. My kids were all going to see it and they highly encouraged me to buy the soundtrack.

Obsessed!

2008-11-24T17:38:00.003-08:00

Ok, so yes it has been a while!!!!!

Just had to quickly add that I am slightly obsessed with this great site Good Reads!!! http://www.goodreads.com/

If you have not signed up---DO IT!!! Yes, I said this in a slightly threatening voice...not to scare you but to encourage you to go check it out. I LOVE it because I can keep track of all the books that I have read/am reading/want to read. You can ask me to "become your friend" and we can then talk about all the books we read! I know, nerdy, but cool in my world.

I just want to give a shout out to Jennie---and the baby boy growing inside of her!!! Here is a bit of her blog which made me laugh out loud...thanks Jen for the smiles:

"One thing I hate about being pregnant is that bad moods are almost always blamed on hormones, and when someone cuts you off in traffic and you bitch about it, your hormones must be all out of whack. Sure, the hormones may help the rage along, I'll give you that, but it's also a very real possibility that the fucktard in the BMW should have waited until he could merge at a time when it wouldn't be my sole responsibility to keep us both alive. And, yes, crying over my never-ending work load may seem like a very pregnant reaction, but I can remember plenty of times when my work load brought me to tears before. Sometimes I'd love to sport a (very large) shirt that reads: Not Because I'm Pregnant but Because You're Stupid. "

LOVE IT!

Halloweeeeeen!!!

2008-10-18T12:34:00.005-07:00

This is Dave's FAVORITE holiday. Those of you who are familiar with his C-2 time at A&M will understand this a bit better than the rest. It is hard to explain this fetish with people around here, remember we are in the deep south where some people still believe that Halloween is a celebration of the devil or what ever they believe?! We noticed last weekend when we were taking down all of the decorations that we do actually have more Halloween decorations than Christmas decorations. Crazy!

Here is a picture of the front view of our house during the daylight. I will have to take another one when it gets darker because we do have a strobe light that flashes on all of the decorations. The light actually screams and thunders, the skeleton on the left also screams and moves up and down and we have a gravestone that yells at you too. Scary!! The kids are actually scared to come up to the door when it is dark---heck I am a little scared too. So far the dogs are good, but we will see.

Inside we have all of the cutsie stuff, my stuff. We usually have a Halloween Party at the house and no worries, I found the floating eyeballs and spiders that we put in the punch!!!

As for work, my life has slowed down a bit. We had one full week of NO CHEER PRACTICE!!!! We are on our Fall Break so we were out on Friday and will be out Monday. The kids don't come back until Wednesday and we have in service on Tuesday. Very nice!! I get to go to the eye doctor on Monday and the orthodontist!!! I know, you thought I was done with braces!! My permanent retainer is causing problems now. Apparently it is pushing my gums down and will either need to be replaced or removed. I am thankful for my parents paying for my braces though. Those suckers were EXPENSIVE!!! A teacher friend of mine has them now and not only is she in pain but she is also paying big bucks for it!

On cheerleading...we have one more competition this next weekend!!! After that we go into basketball season which will be much less stress since we will not be competing at the same time. This will equate to one practice a week and 2 home games a week which we will split. After basketball we will have our banquet and then tryouts for next year. Never ending!

Dave is still working on his cross-training. Frustrations!! Rules change quarterly and so the same requirements he was working on when he started the process have now changed so he is getting agitated.

A couple more pictures so you can see how cute our puppies are in their pumpkin scarfs. Cooper wouldn't stand still so Sully took the spotlight. What a cute face :-)

AWWWW...both of these pictures were taken in our screened in patio. They love to be outside now that WE HAVE A FENCE. When they get tired they just come in the patio through the bottom flaps of the screen door (homemade doggie door--not intentional thanks to Sully) and lay on the cold concrete and drink out of their HUGE silver wash pan/bowl. GOOD DOGS!!

On our way to the Pumpkin Patch soon so I will peace out!!! Adios :-)

Opt OUT

2008-10-05T12:14:00.001-07:00

Catalog Choice....

Catalog Choice is an easy, free service that allows you to decline unwanted catalogs, reducing the number of catalogs in your mailbox and the number of trees that get sent to the paper mill.

Join me by clicking the link below:

http://www.catalogchoice.org/signup

We did this today---we get so much junk, kind of a cool site!

Cheer Competition!!

2008-10-05T09:01:00.002-07:00

Forgot to tell you all that we competed again this weekend and despite a huge issue with our music the girls still got 5th place out of 10 teams. We missed 4th by 4 points and we beat Valdosta (our rival) by two places!!!!! I am very proud of them!! They hit all of their stunts and when the music started skipping they kept going and finished their routine and held their ending position until the music stopped!

We are learning the hard way about parent problems and are trying to make it through the year without having a nervous breakdown. The sad part is that the girls are feeling the repercussions of some of the parent drama despite us trying so hard to keep it from them. But as you all know the girls go HOME and at HOME that is where the PARENTS are and they TALK at home.

So sad...

Life at the Moment

2008-10-05T08:39:00.005-07:00

We are SOO busy lately!!! It is a good thing but also does not give us much time to relax and enjoy the changing season!! We are LOVING the cooler weather. We can open our windows and not use the A/C for a while :-) This is my favorite type of weather and the reason why I enjoyed the Colorado and Oregon summer so much.

WE GOT OUR FENCE!!!! Can you believe it!! The dogs are so happy and are constantly outside. Most of the time Sully refuses to come in even to eat! Cooper was so sore yesterday that he was limping badly. Sarah is still living here and therefore we still have 4 dogs which makes having the fence a necessity.

Dave is playing football for the squadron again this year and he is their main receiver. He caught 8 passes at the last game but no touchdowns. He keeps getting beat up and it is only FLAG football. Some of the guys conveniently forget this.

Middle school football season has ended, sadly we did not make it to the playoffs this year. This is the first year since we have been here that they did not make it. The boys and coaches were sad. However, our High School football program is undefeated, we are number 2 in the nation!!! We have season passes and go to all the home games. Friday we beat #30 in the nation, North Side Warner Robbins. It is a HUGE deal in this town. The stands are always packed (8, 000 +) and we usually sell out at least half of the visitors side too. We will play our big rival next week, Valdosta HS. They are the city school in the area and it is usually impossible to get tickets to this game if it is at Valdosta, which it is this year. People will be camping out for these tickets---YES THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL IN SOUTH GEORGIA!!

All of the middle school kids go to these games and their parents too so I easily see 20-30 of my students at the games. I would bet that the majority of the middle school students go...you are not cool unless you go to the high school games. Like I said before...it is a BIG deal...tailgaters and all.
Random pciture--this was our cabin in Colorado.

I am off to do some laundry and school work---Peace Out!

AHHHH!!!

2008-09-14T10:00:00.005-07:00

I just did a big post and I hit a button and now it is GONE!!!!!!

Here is what I wrote, I think...

GAS PRICES and dumb people:

Enough said...this is in VALDOSTA!!! Cops had to actually come to direct people to the pumps. Stupid people.

Dave is in TX (Randoph, AFB). The C-130s are refueling the helicopters that are doing search and rescue. If you are there, please let us know if you are okay--Amber and Stephen??

More pictures from our summer trip

I have great memories here---fishing at Frenchy's. This is the only place to eat in Tin Cup!! Graig, Jacci, myself, Ashley, Kellie and maybe Gary...we used to sit and catch fish until we hit our limit of 3 while our parents ran around rebaiting our hooks and killing the fish we caught!!! I am sure it was a comical sight :-) This is directly across the street from the "gas station" in Tin Cup that you can see on my last post.

Here we are at Mt.Bachelor on the ski lift. Dave spent his life here skiing/snow boarding.

A little too close...

PEACE!

Weekend stuff...

2008-09-07T11:18:00.006-07:00

HELLOOOO!!

This is Mirror Lake in Tin Cup, Colorado. This was one of the places we fished while at Taylor Park. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! We also met some fellow Aggies there. What a small world!!! Tin Cup is population 30ish (on its good days). In the winter Tin Cup is under snow. There are probably 3 that stay during that time. Their mode of transportation--snow mobiles. However, there is no need to leave during this time because everything within 100+ miles radius is also snowed in. There is one country store with one OLD (working?) gas pump, one restaurant (home cooking served), one church that also is used for their town hall, community center and dance hall. One OLD cemetery. We recorded our visit there on the video camera. Probably around 15 homes total. All dirt roads!!! Words cannot describe...

TODAY:

I have been burning all the debris that we had blown in from Fay. I actually have blisters on my hands and YES I was wearing gloves Dave. I have been burning since Saturday early morning and we still have piles of branches, trees (yes, trees), pine needles and pine cones galore!!

FYI:

Dave did not end up going to Jackson,MS for Gustav---there were too many tornadoes and after that was over there wasn't enough damage to justify sending them there. However, he is working this weekend--yuck! He did not get home last night until 7ish and he is still working as we speak. The nice thing about weekend duty is that they now give them an equivalent amount of days off of their regular work week. They did not used to do this. That was ridiculous!!

DOGS:

Cooper and Sully are enjoying their new roomies. Tipsy (Sarah's dog) and Bonelli (Andy's dog) are here with Sarah while she is trying to find a rental house. Needless to say, IT IS A MAD HOUSE!!!! Cooper is IN LOVE with Bonelli and Sully is amused by the fact that Tipsy actually wants to play with him. Tipsy weighs about 5 pounds so you can imagine our amusement as they play!!

WHOOP:

I am off tomorrow---well not really. I have doctors appointments all day. Of course, there is never a good day to not be at school. Luckily, I have the BEST student teacher so she will be able to hold the fort while I am gone. It is nice to know that I can leave and things will actually get done!

Cheer season has started and we are heading into our 6 day a week schedule. We practice/game M-F and in two weeks we will start competing on Saturdays. I know---CrAzY!!

Funny Faces: My girls on our Beach Trip 2008!! We went to St. Simons and saw dolphins, they collected sand dollars, shells, mollusks, little fishies and we even saw a baby shark!!!!!! After that we were OUT OF THE WATER!!!!! Even though this job stresses me out more than any job I have EVER had--I DO LOVE IT :-)

Update...

2008-09-01T12:24:00.002-07:00

Dave just left for a real world mission. He does not know where he is going but he will be aiding in the hurricane clean-up/safety. Just thought some of you would be interested. Only problem is that he woke up sick?? Not sure where he got sick, but he was not feeling well. So I packed him with vitamins...gave him juice with a vegetable complex, green tea drops, vitamin C, multivitamin, and some others. Hopefully that will help?! Wish him luck!

Fay

2008-08-31T20:59:00.007-07:00

All these pictures are within walking distances from our house. In most of the pictures you can see our house. We definitly got some rain!! Luckily, we will miss Gustav. Most of this water overflow came from the pond to the north of our property. We took these pictures in case we had severe damage from the lack of drainage from this pond. There was just no place for all the water to go except our front yard....

Finally...dishes

2008-08-31T18:40:00.005-07:00

After a long drawn out process, we have finally agreed on these dishes:

I know, you are thinking---they are a slab of some random material that you eat off of. Yes, I do know this. Dave will say that he did not care one way or the other...that it was ME that was making this big deal out of nothing. But YES, you do eat off of them and everyone that comes over eats off of them and sometimes you serve off of them and sometimes you put random candles on them if you can't find anything else to put them on. I do believe it is some what of a statement of your character. No, I think we can go further and say that it may define you in a way. So YES, it took a long time for me to decide on this set. DON'T MAKE FUN!!!

QUESTION.....How do you determine how many place settings to buy?? We did debate on this too for a few days. We finally agreed on 12 of each but who really has the need for 12 of each dish. Ok, if we lived close to family 12 would be justified, but here in GA 2 would be plenty!!! Ok, maybe 4, but really do we NEED 12 place settings?!

Although Mom A does not break her dishes, even for entertainment, she still buys 12. So we came to the conclusion that since we will be moving (and we all know how responsible military movers are) there will probably be broken dishes when we unpack. We also plan to move closer to family. (What am I talking about just about any other state is closer to some family.) Anyways, so when we move we plan to entertain more and we hope to keep these dishes for a little bit.

Random picture....this was from when I went to Gatlinburg, TN.....from left to right: Ms. Bradley (band director), ME, Dr. Hundley (she is my team leader), random guy?, Mr. Cureton (S.S. teacher on my team, Ms. Peace (8th grade math teacher), and Dr. Norris!!!

DONE!!!

Too much rain...

2008-08-23T12:55:00.004-07:00

We are still experiencing Hurricane (tropical storm) Fay here. It has not stopped raining (hard rain) for 3 days now. School was actually cancelled on Friday due to the terrible weather/flooding/tornadoes. It has been crazy! Every where we go, we get soaked--it is just understood. I showered today and didn't even take the time to dry my hair because I knew I was going to get very wet.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2603963/Tropical-storm-Fay-blamed-for-six-deaths-in-Florida.html

This picture is from Brunswick, GA but this is what we are dealing with all around us. A neighbor had a huge tree fall over their drive way and before they could get in or out they had to cut it into pieces. We are scared because we have sooo many tall pine trees surrounding our house. We hope to make it through the storm with no damage so we can have someone cut down about 10 trees right around the house.

We keep hearing loud noises on the roof and outside and just keep hoping that the limbs don't come through the ceiling. It is giving the dogs a workout because every noise they hear they get up and bark. The humans are getting annoyed!

I will take some pictures in a bit to give you an idea of what our yard looks like. I can't make it outside right now, but when it dies down you will not recognize the property! We have lots of clean up work ahead of us. Our burn pile is going to be HUGE!!!

FYI: We got trash service!!! This is a joyful thing because now we won't have to take our trash to the dump any more. They will come once a week and they will bring us a huge trash can so we can toss our junky ones away!! City folks, I know this sounds silly, but us country folks do not get to experience the simple pleasures. We do have to pay $60 a quarter for this service--it is not paid for by our taxes here. Power to the trash men and women, even though they make more than I do a year.

I got tagged!!!

2008-08-16T13:19:00.002-07:00

I got tagged by the beautiful Kate Gavos, so I will of course oblige! WHOOOOOOP for being a "real" teacher now!!! It will change your life daily :-) In mostly good ways---I learn new things every day. I am proud you have found your calling. I wasn't sure that PT was it, but everything happens for a reason. Miss you!!

The rules:
1. List your top ten favorite films (and they are definitely in no particular order).
2. If you're tagged, you've got to post & tag 3-5 other people.
3. Give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. Give a hat tip (HT) to Dan. (whoever that is :)Top Ten + a great quote from the movie if I know one :)

1. My Best Friends Wedding
2. Bruce Almighty
3. Good Luck Chuck
4. The Little Mermaid
5. RENT
6. Hitch
7. Anchorman (hjsierjhsklefnasldfjalskcdnasdlkf...pee pee!!!)
8. Dumb and Dumber (Bug Gulps, huh)
9. Pursuit of Happiness
10. Mary Poppins (just a spoonful of sugar....I still believe in that)

Ok---hat tip to Dan---I think people look ridiculous when they try to be a gangsta' by turning their hat sideways!! Either wear your hat forwards or backwards...

TAG--Jules, Jenny (& your FIRST baby bud!!), Suzanne (& your second baby bud!)

ETSY...

2008-08-16T12:28:00.003-07:00

If you have a mountain of plastic bags (any type/all colors) taking up space, please mail them to me so I can help my friend expand her business!! Look how cool these bags are!!!! Some background: She is a stay at home mom and tries to do what she can to help recycle and turn things into useful products in the best way she can, HANDMADE. This is how they supplement their income, they have three kids and only one income...she does all of this FROM HOME!!!!!! Cool!!

http://www.boydhollow.etsy.com/

It takes about 70 bags to make one average sized purse, 30 for a wallet/clutch and about 150+ for a back pack. WOW!!!!

Saturday...Olympics

2008-08-16T11:53:00.006-07:00

Ok, so we have been religiously watching the Olympics and it has been entertaining. We were just watching the trampoline....yes, I did say the trampoline. Dave has decided that he idolizes Dong Dong from China and his techniques. You may hear soon that Dave no longer is in the Air Force but a professional trampolinist!! He was impressed.

We have been working on the house lately. We have cleaned up outside (last weekend) and today we are going to work on the garage. We will have to get the carpet done soon since Sarah's dog (Tipsy) ate a good chunk out of the carpet in the spare bedroom, not cool. Carpet is EXPENSIVE in case anyone did not know. Ay yi yi!!!!

Hopefully by next month we will finally have a fence!!!!!!!!!! The dogs will be SOOOO happy as well as the humans in the house. It will be so nice to not have to worry about any exciting dog escapades. Yes, Sully did BREAK through his metal chain to go play with a walking dog. Good dog fun but not so much for us. Now this picture is not him, but this is how Sully looks when he is running. Slightly scary to people who do not know him...

I have started school, we are now entering our 3rd week!!! Crazy for those of you who have not even started yet, I know. We have started molding our kids. It is always so hard at the beginning of the year. And it is the MOST important part of our teaching, making sure we are consistent and sincere.

This past week I introduced a new student to the classes. He doesn't have a name yet and he is only 3 weeks old. The kids have fallen in love already. This is just another way to teach them life skills and responsibility. Here he is....I will let you know when the kids vote/decide on him name.

In case you are wondering we are working on Data Analysis at school, this is Unit 1. If any of you find some good graphs/charts/etc. in the newspaper or in an advertisement I would love for you to send them to me. I have been able to get the ones out of the Valdosta Times, but those of you who live in the big cities may have some better options. Please send to: 2379 Copeland Road, Valdosta, GA 31601 as soon as you can!!! THANKS :-)

Craziness

2008-07-30T16:51:00.003-07:00

Ok, so we got back from our crazy trip (GA-FL-CO-CA-FL-GA)...phew!! We had the greatest times. We discovered as we were traveling that this was in fact the first airplane trip that Dave and I have taken together since we have been together (6 years)!!! Insane.

I know you are desperately awaiting the million pictures that we have taken, but you will have to wait longer. I am in the inservice stages of my 4th year of teaching...can you believe that! I have a student teacher this year (yay!) and she is outstanding, so I will have a little bit of time out of the classroom while she is teaching. In the VSU program, as the teacher, you have to sign over your rights to your classroom for a full two weeks!!! Crazy!!

BTW: Valdosta, GA won Titletown, USA!!!! Can you freaking believe that. This is an ESPN title that was narrowed down from 200 cities to 20 and then to US!!!!! I don't think anyone was expecting this, but now across town all of the billboards say, "Welcome to TITLETOWN, USA". It is pretty funny that we are such a small town with a big title, but we do have over 450 sports titles that have been won in the Valdosta area!!! Read the article and see my cheerleaders on the clip!!!! http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/titletown/index

School starts on Monday so I will have to peace out!!!

Read the WHOLE THING

2008-07-05T22:16:00.002-07:00

This was written by a columnist who lives not too far from us! Jekyll Island is about two hours from here. We have been a few times and love it. It is kind of a touristy area on the east coast...a place that you can put your feet into the Atlantic Ocean and eat some great seafood!!

Here is the full article and another that he wrote after the first one came out. It puts into perspective the Aggie Spirit in action http://dmc-news.tamu.edu/templates/?a=6338&z=15

So there I was, with my wife and two of my three children - the ones who are 22 and 16 - enjoying a nice day at the beach. Actually, it was day on the island, but give me a little leeway here, please.

It was a Saturday morning - a warm Saturday morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I really and truly shouldn't have had a care in the world, but I have a tendency to create cares where none exist. I'm an old curmudgeon, in other words. A mulligruber. I don't recall what my worries were on this glorious Saturday morning, but I'm sure there was something that didn't suit me.

Perhaps my coffee had not been hot enough at breakfast. Perhaps our entourage had taken too long to get ready for our bike ride - which happened to be the only thing on our agenda for that day. Perhaps I wasn't satisfied with the way the golf tournament was going in Augusta. The point is, I am sure I wasn't enjoying the day as much as I should have, because that's just the way I am lately.

I had stopped at the Sweet Shoppe in the Jekyll Island village. Not the one the millionaires built. The one regular folks can shop in, if they have enough money. I wanted a praline, and my oldest child wanted a turtle. The two of us walked out of the store with our treats and were greeted by the sight of a young family who seemed to be enjoying their day more than I was enjoying mine.I couldn't help but smile as I watched the young man in the Texas A&M baseball cap wipe melted chocolate ice cream off the face of his own daughter. The fresh-faced young father looked like he couldn't possibly have been a day older than my daughter, the one standing beside me enjoying her turtle. The child with the ice cream on her face might have been 3 1/2.

I took the beautiful brunette - the one with the 18-month-old in her arms - to be the young man's wife and I felt like a voyeur as I stood for a minute or two and just watched them interact with one another and with their children. I could tell by the way they looked at one another that they were very much in love - with one another and with life itself.I could no more have resisted speaking to them than I could have resisted eating the last bit of my fresh confectionery. "Are you an Aggie?" I asked the young man, in reference to the baseball cap that covered his closely cropped blonde hair.

"I am," he said proudly. Class of 2003."Really?" I asked, surprised that he was so long out of college.

"What are y'all doing so far from College Station? Are you out here on vacation?"

"I'm stationed at Ft. Stewart," he told me, "and we just drove over to enjoy the day.

"And then he added, "I just got back and we needed to spend some time together."

"I just got back," the Aggie told me. I didn't have to ask from where, so I asked, "How was it over there?"

"About the same as the first time I was there," he answered.

The first time. A young man who looked to be no older than my daughter had already served two tours of duty in Iraq.

"Really?" I asked. "There is no change?"

And then he amended his response. "Oh, no. there is. Things are lots better from the Iraqi stand point. They are beginning to take over and things are a lot calmer and everything will be OK soon, if we stay the course.

"If we stay the course. His words. Not mine. Not George Bush's. Not John McCain's.And then he said, "It just wasn't any easier to be away from them," nodding at his young family. "That's what I meant when I said things were about the same."

"Are you home for good?" I asked.He smiled and said, "Yeah. Or until next time.

"I didn't learn the name of the young hero in the Texas A&M baseball cap and I didn't want to steal any more of his time. I simply said, "Well God bless you all. Thank you for your service," and started on my way. His young wife, however, reached out and touched my arm.

"We knew what we signed on for," she told me, "and as hard as it is, it's worth it. It has to be done.

"I smiled and turned away because I hate for beautiful young brunettes to see tears forming in my eyes.

On April 19, 1775, the first American soldiers answered their country's call to arms and for 233 years now brave men - and more lately, women - have been leaving their families to serve on our behalf. I don't know what kind of mood you are in today or what you have on your plate, but I know that each and every one of us can breathe free because there are about a million-and-a-half men and women in uniform scattered across our country and around the globe, making sure that we are as safe as we can be in a world gone crazy.

God bless them one and all.

Darrell Huckaby is a local author and educator. He can be reached at dHuck08@bellsouth.net.

It has been a while...

2008-07-05T18:29:00.002-07:00

I am determined to keep this up. Dave is not good about posting as you can tell!!! Here is a quiz my family recently sent, thought I would pass it along...

I NEVER DO THESE....

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the Fun! Copy this entire email and paste into a new email that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times (that means you have lots of friends).

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? 10:30---I am on Dave's schedule of staying up way too late--I am usually in bed by 10ish and up by 8ish

2. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? Diamonds and Pearls---why must we choose only one!!

3. WHAT WAS THE LAST FILM YOU SAW AT THE Cinema? Went to the Dollar ($1.99) theatres this past week with great friends Heather and Ben (recently engaged!)--the first time we have been since in Valdosta---saw What Happens in Vegas, pretty funny!

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Law and Order, Seinfeld, King of Queens, Grey's Anatomy...

5. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? Something quick (or nothing) during school and something different every day during the summer

6. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Michele with ONE "L"

7. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? Hmm, maybe squid?!

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD? Pat Green---his first one

9. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Maroon Nissan ARMADA, decked out with Aggie stickers and an AGGIE license plate (can only get that in GA)!!!

11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? Ignorance and lack of respect for those older than themselves

12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? soft, strapless, cotton pool dress, comfort first!! YIKES on the biker shorts!!!

13. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Italy, The Seychelles, Destin, FL, NYC, Costa Rica and any where with family...really I LOVE to travel, so any where but Valdosta, GA is GREAT!

14. LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED OUT LOUD? ?? about 5 minutes ago---some commercial, I think...or Dave, can't remember?!

15. FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? Ann Taylor LOFT

16. WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO? Somewhere surrounded by family and friends

17. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? Probably my ?th birthday at Calico Kids. We had a "lock in". I remember getting a New Kids on the Block t-shirt!!!! They are back in concert for those of you who remember them!

18. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? AGGIE FOOTBALL

19. FURTHEST PLACE YOU ARE SENDING THIS? Seattle!

20. PERSON YOU EXPECT TO SEND IT BACK FIRST? I don't like this question...pass.

21. FAVORITE SAYING? Freedom doesn't come free

22. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? March 7, 1982

23. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? night if I got to sleep in

24. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE? 7 1/2 BUT if the shoe is cute or on sale I can adjust!!!

25. PETS? Cooper Punk Adkins and Sullivan "Sully" Ross Adkins

26. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? I am done with cheer camps for this summer!!!!!!

27. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE very LITTLE? A teacher like Ms. Brewer

28. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? GREAT!!! I had a yummy Red Lobster dinner last night after watching fireworks and Dave is back from Iraq!!!!

Aggies and ALL

2008-06-18T19:05:00.002-07:00

Info from the Texas A&M Foundation...this is how we donate to our school as alumni to make sure that other students get to experience a piece of what we had when we were there.

"We asked about 100 Aggies—current and former students, faculty, staff and one mascot—what it means to be a Texas Aggie...watch this clip giving.tamu.edu "

Yes, it made me tear up...thanks a lot Momma and Nana for all these girly emotions that you injected into me before birth.

You know you live in Hahira if....

2008-06-09T17:08:00.003-07:00

Ok, Hahira is a smaller town 20 miles northwest of Valdosta. A lot of military families live there since it is close to the base. They also have the only other middle school in the County School System (they are our rivals). There are also a lot of golf carts!!! Yes, it is street legal to drive the golf cart around town!!! I am pretty sure that everyone who lives there owns at least one!!

Crazy :-)

Also, check this site out!!! http://jenisicecreams.com/index.html

I am thinking of trying the “Queen City Cayenne” (Condensed milk chocolate “Cincinnati style” with cayenne and cinnamon).

INTERESTING?!!!

Gone Fishing...

2008-06-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

To A Child, LOVE is Spelled T-I-M-E

http://www.tacmovie.com/

BORBA

2008-06-01T10:48:00.005-07:00

Well life is back to normal...well whatever normal is?! Dave brought home two full bags of laundry. Oh the joys of laundry and my secret hopes for full bags of dirty clothes upon his return.

(I HATE LAUNDRY!!!!)

It is amazing how much more crap I have to clean when there is another man body in the house.

I have been enjoying line drying the clothes though. I know this sounds a little crazy but it makes me feel like I am saving money so I can justify my secret coffee runs....shhhhh!!! We have also been working out. Dave lost 40 pounds in Iraq and I have been working out for about a month now and have lost a whopping 1 pound!!!! I know what you are thinking---cut the coffee runs. The problem is, I JUST CAN'T.

Yesterday we finally bought a wireless router, Wireless N to be exact. What this means is that I should have the power to use my laptop in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom, the garage or even outside!!! Pretty sweet!! The only problem----IT DOESN'T work!! Our Ethernet port on the back of the CPU does not work for some strange reason. So if you live in the area or have any expert advice, please send it my way so we can get this router in working order and so I can use the laptop while I am sunbathing on my cool, new, blue, $10, plastic pool chair---HA!!

Our next excursion will be to buy bikes. Yes, and I mean mountain bikes. Dave has his fancy bike picked out (well it is between two) either the

Specialized Hardrock Comp Disk or the Haro Escape.I am going for the WalMart special. Dave will actually be riding his bike to and from work so I guess that justifies the fact that we must buy this thing at an actual specialty bike store. I, on the other hand, am just riding along for fun on the weekends and therefore cannot justify the sparkly pink one that cost well over $1000. Dangit!

Last new obsession is BORBA!!! I bought some of these Aqualess Crystalline Packettes that you put in your water or even better in juice!!!! My mouth is watering now...depending on what you want them for you buy different ones.

Here is the sample pack:

Clarifying Aqua-less Crystalline (4 packettes)
Age Defying Aqua-less Crystalline (4 packettes)
Firming Aqua-less Crystalline (4 packettes)
Replenishing Aqua-less Crystalline (4 packettes)

The best one is the Guanaba Fruit (blue one) and here is the info on it:

What it is and What it does
BORBA FIRMING AQUA-LESS CRYSTALLINE contains a revolutionary cultivated bio-vitamin complex along with a scientifically designed blend of nutrients intended to promote the skin’s natural support system, helping to nourish and tone the skin.
BORBA FIRMING AQUA-LESS CRYSTALLINE is formulated to work with your body’s chemistry to promote healthy skin. This on-the-go, skin care-infused beverage combines simplicity and nutrition with the goodness of water. It’s water with benefits.
Infused with green tea and grape seed extract.

Also contains 4 essential B vitamins.

So, blah, blah, blah.....IT TASTES GOOD :-) I am now on the search for discount Borba...if anyone knows of the secret site, please let me know. My mouth will appreciate it.

OKIE DOKIE, now off to go do more laundry---yes, it is the root of my existence and wind beneath my wings-HA!!

OH YEAH!!!!!

2008-05-24T06:10:00.002-07:00

DAVE IS IN AMERICA!!!!!!!! HE IS IN BALTIMORE RIGHT NOW AND IS SOOOO HAPPY TO BE BACK. I ASSUME HE WILL TRY TO CALL A FEW OF YOU, BUT HIS PHONE DOES WORK NOW!!!! HE JUST LANDED SO GIVE HIM A FEW MOMENTS AND THEN CALL HIM IF YOU WOULD LIKE.

I asked him if he was glad to be in America and his response was, "Yeah, the air is nice." Interesting response...but he said that here the air is clean (ha) and that it doesn't smell like dirt and burning oil. I thought that was interesting too. He is going to shower in a real shower and get settled in his hotel and call me later.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS AND PACKAGES. WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR EACH ONE OF YOU. GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS.

THANKS AND GIG'EM!!