Well, siiiince Halloween, we've had our first married Thanksgiving and our first Married Christmas. Lots of stuff has happened at school, I finished my semester (with a 4.0 for the semester!!), I'm on winter break until Jan. 10, and it's almost Jay's birthday.
Where should I start with this update? School? I suppose....
I've felt ready to graduate for a long long time now; I am just so sick and tired of school. I suppose that 18.5 straight years of school will do that to a person, though. And I know--I'm going to be in school the rest of my life as a teacher. But as a teacher, I'll assign the homework and projects and essays, not complete that junk. I had two finals and two final projects to turn in at the end of the semester, and those projects took a chunk of my life, I'm fairly certain. I think I learned from them though, so that's a plus, and they're over and graded with a big A on them, so that's a definite plus.
After Halloween, we had to throw away our jack-o-lanterns pretty quickly (you may recall the previous post with the gross pictures), but we were able to keep the hay and the un-carved ones until Thanksgiving. The little area outside our door was super cute.
I think we put up our Christmas stuff the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving, so we've been looking at a lighted and ornamented tree and a lighted patio for a pretty long time. Except that the tree makes our office/dining room way too small, it's been really nice having the tree up. It looks pretty and festive and I like it. When we took down our Halloween/Thanksgiving wreath, we put up a Christmas/New Year sparkly silver star. I really like that. :)
Our Christmases were wonderful and we both had tons of fun playing games with our families and making pot stickers with mine (well, eating them was fun, at least; they're not very fun to make), and Nutella Honey Rice Crispies, and all that other holiday food. Mmmm mm.
And now, it's two days until Jay's birthday, so everything with that, of course, is still undecided. Very typical, very expected. I guess that all has to be figured out today, though. Hmm... looks like it's time to shop!
Later
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween... MUCH later than I intended
So, a week ago, today. Jay and I carved one of our pumpkins. We spent a long time looking for just the right tools and pattern, and finally we nailed it. I've wanted to post this all week, but crazy things have happened to prevent such a publication... like driving to College Station for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. (Not that I'm irritated that I lost my entire Saturday, or anything....)
Anyway, here's a story about a married couple carving their first pumpkin together:
First, Tina cut the top out using the appropriate tool. It was kind of difficult, but she prevailed.
Once the top was off, Jay and Tina took a peek inside. Gross. The opening at the top was barely big enough for Tina's hand to fit inside...
But it did! So, Tina put her hand as far into the pumpkin as she could. She had to make sure she got out as many of the seeds and as much of the goop as she could. The process was not quick, and it was not clean.
There was a great deal of goop and a great many seeds to extract. And yes, Tina's arm was stained orange and smelled of pumpkin for the rest of the day.
But where did the seeds and goop go? In a bowl, of course! The bowl is big, so it doesn't look like much, but trust us: there was sooo much stuff inside the pumpkin.
After the pumpkin was thoroughly cleaned out, Jay and Tina attached the pattern to the pumpkin with masking tape. Jay then began to puncture the pumpkin, carefully tracing the pattern. (Tina helped, too, but there is no photographic evidence of this.)
Once the pattern had been completely traced on the pumpkin, it was time to take the pattern off, and begin the carving!
Jay made the first incision, working to cut the delicate parts out first.
After some pretty good progress working together, Tina took over for part of the carving. It's amazing she can see with all that hair in her face! Fortunately, no one's fingers were cut and no accidental slice damaged the pumpkin.
Finally, the carving of the pumpkin was complete! Tina and Jay had carved a spectacularly spooky spider and web into their pumpkin.
The only thing left to do was put a light in it (Tina and Jay opted against the traditional candle, and instead selected an LED light source--much safer, and no one had to reach a hand in to light or extinguish a flame, or remember to do so.)
Jay and Tina, and their neighbors, got to enjoy the pumpkin in its full glory for approximately three days. After that, it quickly began to turn black from the inside out. Super gross. Fortunately, the pumpkin is outside, so the mold and smell are also outside.
Kind of gross looking, right?
Really gross, right?
Yeah, they're glad this is outside.
Tomorrow--or maybe tonight--the pumpkin will go in the trash... if Tina or Jay is brave enough to carry it.
Anyway, here's a story about a married couple carving their first pumpkin together:
But it did! So, Tina put her hand as far into the pumpkin as she could. She had to make sure she got out as many of the seeds and as much of the goop as she could. The process was not quick, and it was not clean.
There was a great deal of goop and a great many seeds to extract. And yes, Tina's arm was stained orange and smelled of pumpkin for the rest of the day.
But where did the seeds and goop go? In a bowl, of course! The bowl is big, so it doesn't look like much, but trust us: there was sooo much stuff inside the pumpkin.
After the pumpkin was thoroughly cleaned out, Jay and Tina attached the pattern to the pumpkin with masking tape. Jay then began to puncture the pumpkin, carefully tracing the pattern. (Tina helped, too, but there is no photographic evidence of this.)
Jay made the first incision, working to cut the delicate parts out first.
After some pretty good progress working together, Tina took over for part of the carving. It's amazing she can see with all that hair in her face! Fortunately, no one's fingers were cut and no accidental slice damaged the pumpkin.
Jay and Tina, and their neighbors, got to enjoy the pumpkin in its full glory for approximately three days. After that, it quickly began to turn black from the inside out. Super gross. Fortunately, the pumpkin is outside, so the mold and smell are also outside.
Really gross, right?
Tomorrow--or maybe tonight--the pumpkin will go in the trash... if Tina or Jay is brave enough to carry it.
Monday, October 25, 2010
New Post Coming Soon
I've been super busy, but I do have things to update you on--and photos to go with the updates.
I'll try to post about our jack-o-lantern soon. I promise.
I'll try to post about our jack-o-lantern soon. I promise.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Happy Fall!
While we were at the pumpkin patch, we put all our pumpkins in a wagon, then wagoned them to my trunk. On the way to return the wagon, Jay pulled the wagon with me in it. It. Was. Awesome. Remember how you used to do that as a little kid and laugh and shriek in delighted terror when the puller went too fast? Still true today. I highly recommend it. :D
Since our bikes have been moved out, we've moved our printer cart (and thusly, our printer), giving us a bunch more room in there. SUPER glad to have the space, because now I can tackle all my homework from the kitchen table. Woo!I'm sure you don't know this, so I'll tell you: UNT had its homecoming yesterday. For the first time ever, I went to a UNT football game... for the last time ever. I went with Jay and two girls from my classes and one of the girls' fiance (and then his brother joined us). We got to the game late (because we were at Fuzzy's Taco Shop watching the Rangers win!! WOO!) and it was already 3-10 to FIU (Florida International University). By the time we left in the fourth quarter, it was 3-34. As we left, UNT scored a touchdown, but that's as far as the score progressed. UNT lost its fifth game of the season, or something like that. I even brought my pompom and rowdy towel, but there was just no helping that team. When we got home from the "game," Jay and I watched 30 Rock, drank slushes from Sonic, and then went to bed.
Something else happened yesterday: I went to two stores and came out with more money than when I entered--both times. Yeah. I returned some things we didn't need, and then didn't buy anything, even though we looked around. Awesome, right? Today... that wasn't the case. But who cares? I had a great day yesterday. :)
In the upcoming week I'll be a bridesmaid in a wedding, and I'm very excited about that!! Maya and Derek will finally get married, and I'm super thrilled to be there! Yesterday, I was asked by a different friend to be a bridesmaid in June! It's so awesome and exciting!! Hooray for married people!
Speaking of married people, this married couple is about to go to a dance lesson (even though we know the dance already). Hope y'all have a good one.
-The Shives
Monday, October 11, 2010
An Update!
Hello. Before you really even begin, I'd like to say thanks for reading. So, thanks. :)
Softball game tonight was a loss, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, so we'll take that positive aspect. And Jay had a fabulous hit in the first inning. Fabulous.
Today I didn't have school or middle school, so I stayed home and did homework. All day. All. Day. It was super boring, but I'm glad it's done. I'm waiting to hear back from my teacher about whether I've done it right; hopefully, I've done it better than just right. We'll see at tomorrow's PDS (Professional Development School, i.e. Student Teaching) meeting.
Oh, on Friday I took two practice certification tests. UNT offers the tests for free, so I thought it would be irresponsible to not take em. I had six hours to get my two tests done, and I finished in almost exactly two hours. The woman who I turned my exams in to looked surprised. So, I'm either a genius or I failed miserably. Won't know until about Friday, so I won't worry about it; what's done is done.
We finally got our bikes out of our dining room (thanks Mom and Dad!), so it feels MUCH bigger in there, which helps make the living room feel much bigger. We need to put something on the wall now, but we've got plenty of options available to us. Just a matter of picking the right pictures now.
Which reminds me, I've FINALLY gotten around to uploading wedding pictures to facebook. I figure it's officially been three months (yesterday) (YAY!!), so I guess I can post pictures. :)
Well, I should probably be heading to bed, since I have to get up before the sun.
Have a fabulous night!
Softball game tonight was a loss, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, so we'll take that positive aspect. And Jay had a fabulous hit in the first inning. Fabulous.
Today I didn't have school or middle school, so I stayed home and did homework. All day. All. Day. It was super boring, but I'm glad it's done. I'm waiting to hear back from my teacher about whether I've done it right; hopefully, I've done it better than just right. We'll see at tomorrow's PDS (Professional Development School, i.e. Student Teaching) meeting.
Oh, on Friday I took two practice certification tests. UNT offers the tests for free, so I thought it would be irresponsible to not take em. I had six hours to get my two tests done, and I finished in almost exactly two hours. The woman who I turned my exams in to looked surprised. So, I'm either a genius or I failed miserably. Won't know until about Friday, so I won't worry about it; what's done is done.
We finally got our bikes out of our dining room (thanks Mom and Dad!), so it feels MUCH bigger in there, which helps make the living room feel much bigger. We need to put something on the wall now, but we've got plenty of options available to us. Just a matter of picking the right pictures now.
Which reminds me, I've FINALLY gotten around to uploading wedding pictures to facebook. I figure it's officially been three months (yesterday) (YAY!!), so I guess I can post pictures. :)
Well, I should probably be heading to bed, since I have to get up before the sun.
Have a fabulous night!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Things I've Learned
I hate poetry. I think it's boring, and tedious, and illusive, and pompous.
In one of my classes right now, we're studying poetry, and I've presented a lesson plan on this subject in another class within a week of writing this post. Right now, I should be reading a chapter about poetry--and I have been reading. But I've come across some things I've learned about poetry that I want to share with you--things I've learned that I think contribute to my distaste for poetry. (As a future Language Arts teacher, I think it is very important that I "get over" my disdain for artistically presenting words, and I'm working on it, and this is helping me work on it.)
Basically, I've learned not to force poetry upon students as my teachers did me, and to use it frequently, not just cram it into one "unit" or brief period of time. Interesting how this isn't common sense or common practice.
In one of my classes right now, we're studying poetry, and I've presented a lesson plan on this subject in another class within a week of writing this post. Right now, I should be reading a chapter about poetry--and I have been reading. But I've come across some things I've learned about poetry that I want to share with you--things I've learned that I think contribute to my distaste for poetry. (As a future Language Arts teacher, I think it is very important that I "get over" my disdain for artistically presenting words, and I'm working on it, and this is helping me work on it.)
- "Children should be made aware of the elements of poetry, but not be required to analyze them. These language elements are shared to heighten adult awareness of the wonders of this genre and to assist them in selecting the best to share with children" (Hancock 128).
- "It is not so important for children to distinguish between [similes and metaphors]. Their importance lies in teacher recognition of figurative language so children may be drawn to and respond to these types of comparisons" (131).
- "Enjoyment of poetry, in any form, should be our outcome in sharing this genre with children" (133).
- "Children who listen to free verse read aloud will be released from the rhymed poem stereotype" (134).
- "Teachers should share all types of poetry with their students, exposing them to the breadth and depth of this genre" (136).
- "...nature poems restore our sense of wonder" (139).
- "One of the best ways of evaluating poetry is to read it aloud. If the words flow and create excitement within you, if the poem appeals to your senses, if the poem makes you stop and reflect long after it is over, if a phrase or word keeps recurring in your mind, then perhaps you have found a special poem" (139).
- "Studies of... students' preferences confirmed the findings of Terry's (1972) original study.... Students disliked poems that contained visual imagery or figurative language" (140).
- "Poetry should be fun and provide pure enjoyment" (142).
- "The written response to a poem through personal interpretation, literary analysis, or self-created poetry is not encouraged until children have learned to love poetry" (143).
- All quotes have been taken from this book:
- Hancock, Marjorie R. "Poetry: The Power and Pleasure of Language." A Celebration of Literature and Response: Children, Books, and Teachers in K-8 Classrooms. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2008. 127-48. Print.
Basically, I've learned not to force poetry upon students as my teachers did me, and to use it frequently, not just cram it into one "unit" or brief period of time. Interesting how this isn't common sense or common practice.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Baseball & Bridal Showers
This week, Jay and I were lucky enough to go to not one, but TWO Rangers games. We went on Monday and on Friday: an excellent way to surround the work week.
While we were there on Monday, we sat next two two men with barbecue sandwiches that they'd bought inside the ballpark. I'm not really much of a barbecue lover, but those sandwiches smelled good. They'd had the sandwiches for a while when I leaned over and asked if they taste as good as they smell. I told the man that I was having to restrain myself. He chuckled and said they were very good. He then turned to talk to the man he came to the game with. After conferencing with said friend, the man next to me handed me a sandwich and said, "Here. Try it--he's not going to eat it. We get 'em like everyday, so go ahead." I said no, but they insisted, so I took it. It was a very strange interaction. It was, however, a very delicious interaction.
At Friday's game, we got to see fireworks, and that's always awesome. The Rangers have the best fireworks shows. Ever. In the whole world. Even Disney doesn't compete with this level of magic and awesome--and I would know.
Yesterday, Saturday, Jay's parents finally got the keys to their new house (yay!!), so we went there to help paint the kitchen and living room. By the time we left, the walls were pretty much done! It's always nice to get the painting over with quickly, right? Jay went back today to help them move in their furniture and get everything out of the "old" house.
While he helped them move, I--with the help of my mom--shopped for and prepared for a bridal shower this afternoon. We made sandwiches and punch, picked up cake and balloons and napkins, set up decorations, re-arranged the room--we were running around like a bunch of crazy people (out of the ordinary, right?) to get it all done. In the end, it was a super lovely afternoon. We had delicious tea and food, excellent company, and I think everyone had fun. All our crazy running was put to good use. :)
Oh, and I have my laptop back. Yay!! All the keys appear to function properly, and I am installing Microsoft Office right now. Feels good to be off a Mac.
While we were there on Monday, we sat next two two men with barbecue sandwiches that they'd bought inside the ballpark. I'm not really much of a barbecue lover, but those sandwiches smelled good. They'd had the sandwiches for a while when I leaned over and asked if they taste as good as they smell. I told the man that I was having to restrain myself. He chuckled and said they were very good. He then turned to talk to the man he came to the game with. After conferencing with said friend, the man next to me handed me a sandwich and said, "Here. Try it--he's not going to eat it. We get 'em like everyday, so go ahead." I said no, but they insisted, so I took it. It was a very strange interaction. It was, however, a very delicious interaction.
At Friday's game, we got to see fireworks, and that's always awesome. The Rangers have the best fireworks shows. Ever. In the whole world. Even Disney doesn't compete with this level of magic and awesome--and I would know.
Yesterday, Saturday, Jay's parents finally got the keys to their new house (yay!!), so we went there to help paint the kitchen and living room. By the time we left, the walls were pretty much done! It's always nice to get the painting over with quickly, right? Jay went back today to help them move in their furniture and get everything out of the "old" house.
While he helped them move, I--with the help of my mom--shopped for and prepared for a bridal shower this afternoon. We made sandwiches and punch, picked up cake and balloons and napkins, set up decorations, re-arranged the room--we were running around like a bunch of crazy people (out of the ordinary, right?) to get it all done. In the end, it was a super lovely afternoon. We had delicious tea and food, excellent company, and I think everyone had fun. All our crazy running was put to good use. :)
Oh, and I have my laptop back. Yay!! All the keys appear to function properly, and I am installing Microsoft Office right now. Feels good to be off a Mac.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Shoes & Movies
I'm updating within a week! Woo!!
I have spent the week doing all kinds of things, and I really can't remember what. Nothing terribly exciting has happened, I guess.
My feet have been hurting lately, and it's not because I've been wearing heels--I've only been wearing flats. My first week at observing I tried to wear heels twice, and I've not tried since. I have, however, been paying for those two days since. How do women wear heels on a regular basis? How is it possible to not want to chop your own feet off after a day of super-cute-but-super-uncomfortable shoes?? I watched a news segment on them today, and about the damage they can cause, but the "expert" only talked the length of the song "These Boots Were Made for Walking," and he primarily talked about how good women's butts look because of heels. Very useless news-watching experience.
As I write this, Jay and I are watching The Graduate, and it's pretty darn boring. I think we're going to stick through the whole thing, but I'm not enjoying it much. We'll see.
I have spent the week doing all kinds of things, and I really can't remember what. Nothing terribly exciting has happened, I guess.
My feet have been hurting lately, and it's not because I've been wearing heels--I've only been wearing flats. My first week at observing I tried to wear heels twice, and I've not tried since. I have, however, been paying for those two days since. How do women wear heels on a regular basis? How is it possible to not want to chop your own feet off after a day of super-cute-but-super-uncomfortable shoes?? I watched a news segment on them today, and about the damage they can cause, but the "expert" only talked the length of the song "These Boots Were Made for Walking," and he primarily talked about how good women's butts look because of heels. Very useless news-watching experience.
As I write this, Jay and I are watching The Graduate, and it's pretty darn boring. I think we're going to stick through the whole thing, but I'm not enjoying it much. We'll see.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
??
For me, coming up with the title of the entry is always the hardest part. I usually have plenty to say--both online and in-person, as I'm sure you know--just not plenty of clever ideas with which to title what I'm saying. Perhaps that's because I think a title should be all-encompassing and I talk too much about about too many things? Maybe I should follow what I'm learning how to teach students: use the writing process (pre-write, draft, revise, edit, publish). Maybe?
Outline of What I Want to Talk About
Outline of What I Want to Talk About
- School This Week
- UNT--Tuesday
- BMS
- Monday
- Friday
- Softball This Week
- Trivia
- Mom-in-law's Birthday
- NOT on Wednesday (OOPS!)
- Cookies
- Lunch
- Gangs
- Game Night
- Today (really quick)
There, I think that should suffice as the pre-write.
This week at school has been pretty busy. Tuesday was my long day, as usual, and it was lo-oo-oo-oo-ng (imagine that pathetically being said in several exaggerated syllables). I went to pick up my carpool buddy as usual, but I had to leave earlier because I was staying at my parents' house for the week. I got up extra early and left on time to get to her apartment by seven. When I was a little over half-way there, she texted me to say that she wasn't feeling well and would be staying home for the day. Darn. I'd gotten up super early and driven over there for nothing. But wait! I had checks to deposit--the last paychecks from my summer job--and the bank was right there! Perfect! So what I thought was going to be a crummy thing turned out to be great.
After the bank, I went to school and arrived there at around 7:15--my class doesn't start until 8:00. Fortunately, though, I was able to use this time productively; I worked on a group assignment I had completely forgotten about and got pretty darn far on it. We were able to finish it up in class, and that was awesome. We'll present our cross-curricular lesson plan Tuesday. Sweet.
Went to all the classes Tuesday, and they were just... boring. The best part about Tuesday was going to IHOP. Did you know that they serve eggs Benedict? And that they're awesome? Also, did you know that eggs Benedict are named--according to my Betty Crocker Cookbook I was reading today--after a couple who frequented a restaurant and complained that there was nothing new on the menu? Yeah. They whined about it, so the restaurant created the dish just for them, and then named it after them. I think I'll try this out. ;)
This week at BMS I did some teacher-y stuff, too. On Monday I created a rubric for the character cubes the students made. Then, on Friday, I spent pretty much the whole day grading them according to said rubric--and I didn't even get them all graded! It took forever! (They took a test on Friday, so I didn't have much help or assistance to offer the students, so I helped Mr. C.) I didn't say anything regrettable or embarrassing this week, so that's a plus. Definitely more conscious of what I say before I say it these days, or at least I'm trying to be.
Softball this week was nothing special. The team didn't get run ruled, and we're all thankful for that. The weather was nice, and we're all thankful for that, too. What we're not especially thankful for are the mosquitos. I'd be okay without them. But did you know that only the female mosquito bites? She needs the blood to help produce eggs. I learn all kinds of things.
Wednesday is softball, then Thursday is trivia. We did that and I knew some answers, but not a great many. We (well, the people on the team who actually answer the questions) went into the final round tied for second, but didn't place after the final question. This keeps happening! It's kind of frustrating, but it's also kind of alright--I like the socializing.
Yesterday morning I had a conference. At eight. Gross. It lasted from eight to noon, and it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fun, either. It was required for one class and extra credit for two others, so it was worth going, but I would have rather slept in.
As soon as the conference was over and I got back, Jay and I went to visit his mom in celebration of her birthday... which was not on Wednesday, as I thought it was. I somehow got it in my head that it was Wednesday and was all set to call her, and then I found out that I'd missed it! Talk about embarrassing. But I still called on Wednesday, so hopefully I sort of made up for it? Anyway, we went to Duncanville on Saturday and had lunch and brought cookies. The cookies were SUPER delicious--Jay made them from our Martha Stewart cookie book--and I probably could have eaten about a dozen of them on my own... maybe more. After lunch we hung out. During said hanging out, we watched Gangland. Wow. Kind of makes you want to stay in your house and never leave. But I learned about some gangs, so that's good.
Finally, last night was also game night. After we picked up my parents from the airport--which took FOREVER, by the way--we went to play games with my carpool buddy, her fiance, some other classmates, and James. We played Trivial Pursuit: Team, Taboo, some Zombie game (which we didn't really play--the boys were much more interested in it than the girls were, so we ended up not getting very far in it--Sorry boys!), and Cranium: Wow You're Good edition. The girls won Trivial Pursuit and Taboo, but the boys beat us in Cranium. :/ We'll get 'em next time.
Saturday was a really long day (we stayed out until past 1), but we had lots of fun. I slept in today, so that was lovely. What isn't lovely is the homework I have to do, but that's ever--present. I am SO ready to be done with school. SO ready.
So, there's the week, organized per the outline. Has it made coming up with a title any easier? No. I'll try again next time. (Maybe updating more than once a week would make the content more related, making the title easier to create. Hmm.)
Happy weekend!
p.s. We have our wedding pictures online from our photographer, so if you're interested in seeing them, I'll send you the link. :)
p.s. We have our wedding pictures online from our photographer, so if you're interested in seeing them, I'll send you the link. :)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Oh, Dee Dee.
Something quick: Jay and I are at my parents' tonight, and Dee Dee does not like if/when Jay and I kiss one another. She barks, jumps and runs and grabs her toy (something she does when anyone in the house fights, as a way to get the attention off the violence?). It's pretty darn funny. :)
D'Oh!
I've dragged my feet on this long enough. It's time to update--it's been over a week!
Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about the week. I have some funny stories from the middle school, though. :) Here's a good one: We're in the library so the students can check out and/or read a fiction chapter book. A student comes up to me (keep in mind he's an eighth-grade boy) and says, "Miss, will this work?" I look down, and he's holding a comic book, so it won't work. And this is what I tell him: "No, that is not long enough or hard enough; it will not work."
As soon as I said that, I wished the words could come back in the mouth! I couldn't--still can't--believe I said that to a middle schooler!! He, however, got upset that the book wouldn't work and just said, "Aww man!" and walked away. So. Relieved.
What did I learn from this? I really need to think about what I'm going to say before I say it. Yeah. A work in progress, to say the least.
Other stories from the past week involve my speaking without thinking, but you'll have to ask me about that--I don't think I'm ready, for professional reasons, to write that out so openly yet.
Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about the week. I have some funny stories from the middle school, though. :) Here's a good one: We're in the library so the students can check out and/or read a fiction chapter book. A student comes up to me (keep in mind he's an eighth-grade boy) and says, "Miss, will this work?" I look down, and he's holding a comic book, so it won't work. And this is what I tell him: "No, that is not long enough or hard enough; it will not work."
As soon as I said that, I wished the words could come back in the mouth! I couldn't--still can't--believe I said that to a middle schooler!! He, however, got upset that the book wouldn't work and just said, "Aww man!" and walked away. So. Relieved.
What did I learn from this? I really need to think about what I'm going to say before I say it. Yeah. A work in progress, to say the least.
Other stories from the past week involve my speaking without thinking, but you'll have to ask me about that--I don't think I'm ready, for professional reasons, to write that out so openly yet.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Reverse Recap
It's Sunday, and I'm feeling quite lazy; I certainly don't want to do any homework.
Jay and I have been staying at my parents' house and taking care of their dogs for the weekend while they're out of town--my parents are out of town, of course, not the dogs. Today we came back from church to find that one of the dogs (I suspect Dee Dee) had gotten into the bathroom trash. Saturday we came home to discover that they ate bread that was on the counter. The bread they got into was from dinner last night: lemon & garlic chicken, parmesan pasta, green beans, and a fresh loaf of bread. We thought all of dinner was delicious, and the dogs apparently liked the bread.
Before that happened, however, I woke up at 5:30 to take my parents to the airport. Do you know what outside looks like at 5:30am? It's DARK. I'm pretty sure even the moon is sleeping at that hour. Once I got them to the airport, though, I came back to their house and went back to sleep. So that was nice. Then we met Brittany for lunch and the three of us saw Vampires Suck. That movie follows the Twilight movies almost exactly, except there are jokes and mockeries you won't find in Twilight. Jay was not thrilled to see it, saying that he prefers the Scary Movie series because they draw from several movies; watching Vampires Suck was like watching an even worse version of Twilight. Meh.
On Friday, I went to my second day of student teaching/observing/interning/PDS I (Professional Development School I) at Bowie Middle School (different people call it by a different name, but they all mean the same thing). I was much more interactive and active on Friday than I was on Wednesday. On Friday, Mr. C had the majority of the students work on a context clues assignment while four or five students went to the back of the classroom for test remediation. While he was re-teaching the test material to the students, I circulated the room and helped the students who were stuck (they were given a copy of Diary of Wimpy Kid, and some of the words had been whited out and replaced with German words; the students were to use context clues to figure out what the German words mean) or not on task. In this time, I told way too many students to stay in their seats and keep their hands to themselves, but they (mostly) got their work done in the end.
After about the third class period, I went over to Mr. C and asked him if it was alright that I was circulating the room--he hadn't told me I could, hadn't asked me if I would, and hadn't thanked me because I did. When I asked him about it, he was more than happy that I'd started to do that; at lunch, when we went to the teacher's lounge/workroom to get his lunch (mine was already in the classroom), he told another teacher what I had done: "Mrs. So-and-so"--I can't remember her name!--"do you know what Christine did today?" Immediately, I thought, Oh crap, I stepped on his toes with this. "She took it upon herself to walk around the room and help my kids. It was fantastic! I might ask to permanently have a second teacher in the room!" It was really nice to hear that.
During sixth period, I went and observed a science teacher's sixth grade classroom. They did a very cool lab that was all about volume and measuring liquids. I've never seen students more interested in science: not a single one was off task, goofing around, or bored. It was amazing. On my way back up to Mr. C's class for seventh period, I happened upon four boys in the hallway roughhousing. One kid had another in a headlock, but everyone was laughing--including the kid in the headlock. In my most authoritative voice, I loudly called, "Excuse me. Is this where you're supposed to be right now? I do not believe so." The boys broke up really quickly and told me they were going to the bathroom; I made them go in one at a time. When they came out of the bathroom, they practically ran to their classrooms. It was awesome.
Later Friday night we went to Dave & Buster's to celebrate Katie's birthday (not my sister, for anyone thinking, Hey, her birthday is in December!). We had lots of fun and won lots of tickets, but we gave them all to the birthday girl. :D
In other news, it looks like Thursday is our new trivia night. We went and played at II Charlies, just Jay, James, and me. I knew one answer this week that the other two didn't, but most of the right answers (or any answers) came from James and Jay. Going into the final question, we were in first place!! Coming out the final question, though, we were in fourth. :( We didn't bet any points on our answer because we didn't know the answer, but it seems that three other teams did. Oh well, there's always next week.
And there you have it: a reverse recap of Thursday through Sunday. :) Time to rest up before we go to dance class tonight.
Have a great one, y'all!
Jay and I have been staying at my parents' house and taking care of their dogs for the weekend while they're out of town--my parents are out of town, of course, not the dogs. Today we came back from church to find that one of the dogs (I suspect Dee Dee) had gotten into the bathroom trash. Saturday we came home to discover that they ate bread that was on the counter. The bread they got into was from dinner last night: lemon & garlic chicken, parmesan pasta, green beans, and a fresh loaf of bread. We thought all of dinner was delicious, and the dogs apparently liked the bread.
Before that happened, however, I woke up at 5:30 to take my parents to the airport. Do you know what outside looks like at 5:30am? It's DARK. I'm pretty sure even the moon is sleeping at that hour. Once I got them to the airport, though, I came back to their house and went back to sleep. So that was nice. Then we met Brittany for lunch and the three of us saw Vampires Suck. That movie follows the Twilight movies almost exactly, except there are jokes and mockeries you won't find in Twilight. Jay was not thrilled to see it, saying that he prefers the Scary Movie series because they draw from several movies; watching Vampires Suck was like watching an even worse version of Twilight. Meh.
On Friday, I went to my second day of student teaching/observing/interning/PDS I (Professional Development School I) at Bowie Middle School (different people call it by a different name, but they all mean the same thing). I was much more interactive and active on Friday than I was on Wednesday. On Friday, Mr. C had the majority of the students work on a context clues assignment while four or five students went to the back of the classroom for test remediation. While he was re-teaching the test material to the students, I circulated the room and helped the students who were stuck (they were given a copy of Diary of Wimpy Kid, and some of the words had been whited out and replaced with German words; the students were to use context clues to figure out what the German words mean) or not on task. In this time, I told way too many students to stay in their seats and keep their hands to themselves, but they (mostly) got their work done in the end.
After about the third class period, I went over to Mr. C and asked him if it was alright that I was circulating the room--he hadn't told me I could, hadn't asked me if I would, and hadn't thanked me because I did. When I asked him about it, he was more than happy that I'd started to do that; at lunch, when we went to the teacher's lounge/workroom to get his lunch (mine was already in the classroom), he told another teacher what I had done: "Mrs. So-and-so"--I can't remember her name!--"do you know what Christine did today?" Immediately, I thought, Oh crap, I stepped on his toes with this. "She took it upon herself to walk around the room and help my kids. It was fantastic! I might ask to permanently have a second teacher in the room!" It was really nice to hear that.
During sixth period, I went and observed a science teacher's sixth grade classroom. They did a very cool lab that was all about volume and measuring liquids. I've never seen students more interested in science: not a single one was off task, goofing around, or bored. It was amazing. On my way back up to Mr. C's class for seventh period, I happened upon four boys in the hallway roughhousing. One kid had another in a headlock, but everyone was laughing--including the kid in the headlock. In my most authoritative voice, I loudly called, "Excuse me. Is this where you're supposed to be right now? I do not believe so." The boys broke up really quickly and told me they were going to the bathroom; I made them go in one at a time. When they came out of the bathroom, they practically ran to their classrooms. It was awesome.
Later Friday night we went to Dave & Buster's to celebrate Katie's birthday (not my sister, for anyone thinking, Hey, her birthday is in December!). We had lots of fun and won lots of tickets, but we gave them all to the birthday girl. :D
In other news, it looks like Thursday is our new trivia night. We went and played at II Charlies, just Jay, James, and me. I knew one answer this week that the other two didn't, but most of the right answers (or any answers) came from James and Jay. Going into the final question, we were in first place!! Coming out the final question, though, we were in fourth. :( We didn't bet any points on our answer because we didn't know the answer, but it seems that three other teams did. Oh well, there's always next week.
And there you have it: a reverse recap of Thursday through Sunday. :) Time to rest up before we go to dance class tonight.
Have a great one, y'all!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A Mixed Up Week
Since the last update, a delightful mix of nothing and awesome has happened. Let's break it down.
Awesome: Jay and I were off work/school Friday-Monday.
Nothing: What we did on those days (for the most part). On Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which day at this point), we slept in until 9:30 (me) and 10:30 (Jay). It. Was. Glorious.
Awesome: The pot roast my mom made Monday night.
Nothing: Tuesday night's trivia was canceled/postponed because the people Jay and I play with ("The Team") have scheduling conflicts with Tuesday night.
Awesome: We're rescheduling to tomorrow night. :)
Nothing: The softball game last night was canceled...again. In the fourth week of the season, this week was the third consecutive game to be canceled because of the weather. Sweet?
Awesome: I did my first day of observation today. I met my mentor teacher and stayed in all of his classes and even went to the departmental meeting. It was a great day, very smooth, very easy. I don't know if I did it right or not, if I took the right notes, if I was watching for the right thing, etc., but I do know that I didn't get in his way, so that's a plus. :) Also, he's really nice and is well-liked by the faculty, staff and students. I'm excited to stay in his class for the year!
Awesome, right?
Awesome: Jay and I were off work/school Friday-Monday.
Nothing: What we did on those days (for the most part). On Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which day at this point), we slept in until 9:30 (me) and 10:30 (Jay). It. Was. Glorious.
Awesome: The pot roast my mom made Monday night.
Nothing: Tuesday night's trivia was canceled/postponed because the people Jay and I play with ("The Team") have scheduling conflicts with Tuesday night.
Awesome: We're rescheduling to tomorrow night. :)
Nothing: The softball game last night was canceled...again. In the fourth week of the season, this week was the third consecutive game to be canceled because of the weather. Sweet?
Awesome: I did my first day of observation today. I met my mentor teacher and stayed in all of his classes and even went to the departmental meeting. It was a great day, very smooth, very easy. I don't know if I did it right or not, if I took the right notes, if I was watching for the right thing, etc., but I do know that I didn't get in his way, so that's a plus. :) Also, he's really nice and is well-liked by the faculty, staff and students. I'm excited to stay in his class for the year!
Awesome, right?
Friday, September 3, 2010
Cool Weather, Nice Dinner
Well, the softball game on Wednesday was rained out, so that was sort of a bummer for Jay and the team; that's two games in a row that have been called off due to rain. Good news? They didn't lose! (Haha.)
Jay and I both have four-day-weekends! We're getting to spend lots of time together, like a mini-staycation. :D Thusly, today, Jay and I went to the Galleria because I had a Groupon to spend. (Oh, if you don't know what that is, I'll tell you what I know: I bought $50 to Gap for only $25 out of pocket--I got $25 free!! They have different deals all the time; check them out.) At the Galleria, we went to Gap so I could get shirts to wear with my new dress pants: super cute. Jay replaced his flip flops, too. We had a very successful morning.
Then we went to sign insurance papers (hold the cheers, please) at my mom's office, and then off to the grocery store.
We made tostadas... well, we heated up beans and put beans, cheese, lettuce and sour cream on tostada shells. Wonderful. Then Jay made what he calls "Poor Man's Sopapillas" by frying pieces of flour tortillas, topping them with cinnamon and sugar, and serving with a scoop of ice cream, all drizzled with a little bit of caramel. AMAZING.
And now, we're enjoying the awesomeness that is Netflix.
...man, I sound like I'm being paid to endorse these companies. Maybe I should look into that?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Quick Update
Yesterday was my first day of 8:00am to 8:20pm classes. Yup, that'll be my Tuesday schedule for the semester. It's solid classes from 8:00am until 1:50, then a break until 5:30 and back into a classroom I go. Fortunately, I'm not the only one with this schedule. There are (at least) two other girls I know with the exact same schedule, and we all get along well. So we ate lunch together, then went to Target to kill time, where one of the girls bought the new "Apples to Apples Mod," which is pretty much the original version of "Apples to Apples" with a green dice instead of several green cards (you roll the dice, it shows a letter, you come up with a word that begins with that letter, and the other players play cards that they feel are appropriate for the word you selected). We went back to campus and played that for a little while, then we went into class.
After class, because it was Tuesday, Jay came up to Denton and we went to play trivia. We got our butts kicked. Hard. Did you know that the International Bowling Hall of Fame has moved? Yeah, it has. When the announcer asked the question, "Where is the International Bowling Hall of Fame?", I was so excited because that's an answer I know!! "It's in St. Louis!!" I told my teammates. We bet our max points on that, and smugly waited to hear that we were correct. MUCH to my dismay and surprise, the announcer told us that it has moved--this year--to Arlington. Arlington! I was wrong!! GAAAHHH. Then, we ended up not getting a single question right in one of the rounds, missing bonus questions, and generally not doing well. It was a sad night for trivia, but there's always next week.
Today, I took a picture of our china cabinet, and here it is:
Keep in mind that I'm no Ansel Adams, I'm just a girl with a digital camera--a totally sweet digital camera, though. We, Jay and I, both agree that it's not a permanent solution and that we someday want a dining set with a real china hutch/cabinet, but it's working for now and fits in the room; fitting in the room is very important. We might re-arrange the stuff inside, but right now we're both just happy to have it assembled and stocked and out of the way.
Jay has a softball game tonight, so I'm sure I'll update about that some time in afterwards.
Hope all y'all (see that Texan in me?) have a great night!
After class, because it was Tuesday, Jay came up to Denton and we went to play trivia. We got our butts kicked. Hard. Did you know that the International Bowling Hall of Fame has moved? Yeah, it has. When the announcer asked the question, "Where is the International Bowling Hall of Fame?", I was so excited because that's an answer I know!! "It's in St. Louis!!" I told my teammates. We bet our max points on that, and smugly waited to hear that we were correct. MUCH to my dismay and surprise, the announcer told us that it has moved--this year--to Arlington. Arlington! I was wrong!! GAAAHHH. Then, we ended up not getting a single question right in one of the rounds, missing bonus questions, and generally not doing well. It was a sad night for trivia, but there's always next week.
Today, I took a picture of our china cabinet, and here it is:
Jay has a softball game tonight, so I'm sure I'll update about that some time in afterwards.
Hope all y'all (see that Texan in me?) have a great night!
Monday, August 30, 2010
It's Done!!
Finally, Jay and I have completed our china cabinet. It has doors, shelves, a base, sides--everything it needs to be done!! And, all our china is inside already. I'm so happy to have it done, even though putting it together was a pain in the butt.
Before we got the cabinet together, however, we spent Saturday driving to Huntsville, unpacking furniture in an apartment in Huntsville, and then drove home. It was quite a long, hot day, but we helped a friend with her new apartment, so it's all good. It did remind me, though, that I'm not going to keep "Professional Movers" on my backup list if teaching doesn't work out.
Short post today, but that's what's up. Enjoy your day!
Before we got the cabinet together, however, we spent Saturday driving to Huntsville, unpacking furniture in an apartment in Huntsville, and then drove home. It was quite a long, hot day, but we helped a friend with her new apartment, so it's all good. It did remind me, though, that I'm not going to keep "Professional Movers" on my backup list if teaching doesn't work out.
Short post today, but that's what's up. Enjoy your day!
Friday, August 27, 2010
So far...
This week Jay and I had tickets to see three Rangers games, but we gave our tickets for tonight's game to Jay's parents. We've had fun going to the games, but tonight we're going to have dinner and hang out with some friends who are moving to New York tomorrow. It's definitely hard to see them and their kids leave.
We got the doors to our china storage cabinet thingy yesterday! They look pretty darn good!! I'd love to post pictures, but it's still empty and will remain empty until we get legs for it. The way it is right now, the bottom door scrapes the carpet when it opens, so it's hard to open and will eventually damage the door and/or carpet. I think we might head up to Ikea (again) tonight to get the legs before we go over for dinner and whatnot.
School started this week, too--yesterday, actually. I have two classes Thursday and four on Tuesday, so I've only been to the two classes for Thursday. Next week there's a meeting for all the education majors who've been placed in the Irving ISD. Supposedly, we'll find out exactly where we do PDS I and who our mentor teachers are and what all is going on with that. After that meeting, we're supposedly clear to contact our mentor teachers and set up our schedules for when we'd like to and can come in to do our observing. I keep saying "supposedly" and the likes because I don't fully trust that we'll actually find out all this information. We've been promised many things and haven't had much delivered, so I'm wary of the whole process. We'll see, won't we?
So, that's the update for now. Have a fabulous day!
We got the doors to our china storage cabinet thingy yesterday! They look pretty darn good!! I'd love to post pictures, but it's still empty and will remain empty until we get legs for it. The way it is right now, the bottom door scrapes the carpet when it opens, so it's hard to open and will eventually damage the door and/or carpet. I think we might head up to Ikea (again) tonight to get the legs before we go over for dinner and whatnot.
School started this week, too--yesterday, actually. I have two classes Thursday and four on Tuesday, so I've only been to the two classes for Thursday. Next week there's a meeting for all the education majors who've been placed in the Irving ISD. Supposedly, we'll find out exactly where we do PDS I and who our mentor teachers are and what all is going on with that. After that meeting, we're supposedly clear to contact our mentor teachers and set up our schedules for when we'd like to and can come in to do our observing. I keep saying "supposedly" and the likes because I don't fully trust that we'll actually find out all this information. We've been promised many things and haven't had much delivered, so I'm wary of the whole process. We'll see, won't we?
So, that's the update for now. Have a fabulous day!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Yikes!
It appears I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing; it's been...[counting on the calendar]... almost a week since the last update.
So what's happened in this past week? My car hit 50,000 miles after nearly four years of ownership, and I received my new registration sticker, so it's been an important week for Irma. Oh, and Irma is my car, by the way.
Also, Jay and I got our wedding pictures back!!! Our 6,000+ pictures came back on six discs, and we've been building a photo album ever since. I'm not very creative, so it's a pretty basic album, but I think it's turning out well so far. The hardest part has been sorting through so many pictures! And since there were like five cameras that the photographers used, the pictures are organized by file name, not in chronological order, so I went through and organized them chronologically rather than alphabetically; thank goodness for organization.
This week, I also got a new laptop! I'm writing this new post on my brand new Toshiba, Eugenia. (By the way, I name non-human things... in case you've not yet figured that out.) It has lots of bells and whistles that impressed the checkout guy. Awesome. Oh, and the graphics for The Sims 3 ARE FANTASTIC!!!! I love The Sims 3 and the game looks amazing on this computer... something about a dedicated graphics card. :)
Let's see, what else happened? We met Jay's parents and sister for dinner on Friday, where we also saw the Red Bull Art of Can. Dinner was great and the company was fantastic. Also, if you've never seen the Art of Can, hurry your butt up to get there because some of the things people can with metal cans is unbelievable. Of course, I can barely draw stick figures, so I think everything is really amazing. But I think even artistic people would be/are impressed by several of these works.
We went to Trivia Tuesday as usual, and this time Nick came with us! The only con I see to playing Trivia is that we play in a smokey bar, which smells up our clothing and shoes and hair and skin and purses (Jay and Nick and the other guys, of course, don't use purses, but you get the point), which is starting to smell up my car!! Poor, poor Irma. I guess some Fabreeze or something similar is in order soon. Maybe I'll get my car washed/detailed this week on my last partial week off school.
Oh yeah! I FOUND OUT WHERE I'M STUDENT TEACHING!! I finally got fed up with my contact at UNT and his constant "I don't have any information that I haven't already given you," so I went to the Irving ISD building myself and talked to people in charge there. Not only did I find out that I've been placed at Bowie Middle School in an 8th Grade Reading class, but I found out that my mentor teacher is the 2010-2011 teacher of the year. Awesome, right? I'm very excited to get it started, and we have an informational meeting at UNT on August 31. After that meeting, we can contact our teachers and then start our PDS (Professional Development School) work. VERY READY for that to happen.
So, now I'm home alone as Jay's at work, so I guess I'll do something slightly more productive than writing this blog. As in every house, there's always laundry to do, and I'm sure I can find something else that needs work around here.
Have a fantastic day, everyone, and good luck on upcoming school work if you have any! If you don't have any upcoming school work, then please know that I envy you. :)
So what's happened in this past week? My car hit 50,000 miles after nearly four years of ownership, and I received my new registration sticker, so it's been an important week for Irma. Oh, and Irma is my car, by the way.
Also, Jay and I got our wedding pictures back!!! Our 6,000+ pictures came back on six discs, and we've been building a photo album ever since. I'm not very creative, so it's a pretty basic album, but I think it's turning out well so far. The hardest part has been sorting through so many pictures! And since there were like five cameras that the photographers used, the pictures are organized by file name, not in chronological order, so I went through and organized them chronologically rather than alphabetically; thank goodness for organization.
 |
| Here's a shot of some of our wedding party |
This week, I also got a new laptop! I'm writing this new post on my brand new Toshiba, Eugenia. (By the way, I name non-human things... in case you've not yet figured that out.) It has lots of bells and whistles that impressed the checkout guy. Awesome. Oh, and the graphics for The Sims 3 ARE FANTASTIC!!!! I love The Sims 3 and the game looks amazing on this computer... something about a dedicated graphics card. :)
 |
| Wouldn't you love to wear this? |
We went to Trivia Tuesday as usual, and this time Nick came with us! The only con I see to playing Trivia is that we play in a smokey bar, which smells up our clothing and shoes and hair and skin and purses (Jay and Nick and the other guys, of course, don't use purses, but you get the point), which is starting to smell up my car!! Poor, poor Irma. I guess some Fabreeze or something similar is in order soon. Maybe I'll get my car washed/detailed this week on my last partial week off school.
Oh yeah! I FOUND OUT WHERE I'M STUDENT TEACHING!! I finally got fed up with my contact at UNT and his constant "I don't have any information that I haven't already given you," so I went to the Irving ISD building myself and talked to people in charge there. Not only did I find out that I've been placed at Bowie Middle School in an 8th Grade Reading class, but I found out that my mentor teacher is the 2010-2011 teacher of the year. Awesome, right? I'm very excited to get it started, and we have an informational meeting at UNT on August 31. After that meeting, we can contact our teachers and then start our PDS (Professional Development School) work. VERY READY for that to happen.
So, now I'm home alone as Jay's at work, so I guess I'll do something slightly more productive than writing this blog. As in every house, there's always laundry to do, and I'm sure I can find something else that needs work around here.
Have a fantastic day, everyone, and good luck on upcoming school work if you have any! If you don't have any upcoming school work, then please know that I envy you. :)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Furniture & A Recipe
It's been an exhausting search for the right china storage, but we're finished!! Sort of. We've been looking for something low (around 41") with glass doors that we could put under the pass-through; that's been difficult because most glass doors are on a hutch, which is the top portion of the china storage, which is too tall for putting under the bar. We found low-lying furniture, though... we just didn't want to pay out the nose for it, especially since we don't have a permanent dining room table and would eventually like our table to match our china storage.
Knowing all that, we moved our furniture around so that we could use something tall and narrow. Have you tried looking for a narrow china cabinet? It's not the easiest thing in the world to find. At all. We found linen-holding furniture, but that stuff isn't deep enough. We found media-organizing furniture, but that's definitely not deep enough. Finally, we found this great cabinet at Ikea. It was perfect! Glass doors, not too wide, not too tall, it even has drawers so we don't have to display everything in the cabinet.
So we trekked all the way to Ikea in Frisco, found the cabinet we were looking for, found where to find it once we got downstairs, and then we thought to measure it in real life instead of just trusting the measurements on the description. How fortunate--and frustrating--for us! The cabinet, though it's definitely deep enough according to the written specifications, they gave the outside dimensions, and the inside isn't deep enough to hold our plates. So we had to start our search over. Again.
Not wanting to have wasted a trip to Ikea, we continued to look there at their multiple storage options. We found the BESTÅ system and measured it and designed it and planned it and priced it. Perfect! We have creative say in what the front looks like, and we planned it out to hold our china and some kitchen appliances, displaying the china and hiding the appliances. :)
We had a hard time finding the bin and aisle numbers for some of the pieces, but we eventually found them! Yay! It's real! We have a solution!! Then, we went down into the warehouse part place thingy to find all our pieces. OH NO! They're out of our doors!! Curses. We asked, and the doors should arrive back in stock in 7-10 days. So, we bought the pieces we could and took them home, and we'll go back at a later (and soon??) date to pick up our doors. When the pieces are all delivered, our cabinet will look (roughly) like this picture on the right. I had to put the picture together using paint, and I'm not exceptionally skilled at that. Yeah, I could have/should have used photoshop, but I don't have that program on my computer; Jay has it on his Mac, but I'm not crazy about Macs and I've never used PhotoShop anyway. So I cut and pasted. And when we have all the pieces, I'll post a picture of what it looks like in real life with our plates and stuff inside. It's gonna be awesome!
So, that's all over with (almost) and I am very relieved. I'm ready to have my dining room look like a dining room (thanks, Mom, for agreeing to let us put our bikes at your house so we can get them out of my dining room!! You rock!!).
Oh, that reminds me, if anyone knows any affordable way to store our bikes outside that will protect them from the elements, we'd happily take your thoughts.
 |
| The solution to our storage problem! |
So we trekked all the way to Ikea in Frisco, found the cabinet we were looking for, found where to find it once we got downstairs, and then we thought to measure it in real life instead of just trusting the measurements on the description. How fortunate--and frustrating--for us! The cabinet, though it's definitely deep enough according to the written specifications, they gave the outside dimensions, and the inside isn't deep enough to hold our plates. So we had to start our search over. Again.
Not wanting to have wasted a trip to Ikea, we continued to look there at their multiple storage options. We found the BESTÅ system and measured it and designed it and planned it and priced it. Perfect! We have creative say in what the front looks like, and we planned it out to hold our china and some kitchen appliances, displaying the china and hiding the appliances. :)
 |
| What our cabinet will look like...sort of. :) |
So, that's all over with (almost) and I am very relieved. I'm ready to have my dining room look like a dining room (thanks, Mom, for agreeing to let us put our bikes at your house so we can get them out of my dining room!! You rock!!).
Oh, that reminds me, if anyone knows any affordable way to store our bikes outside that will protect them from the elements, we'd happily take your thoughts.
Friday, August 13, 2010
We're All Legal & Such
This week has been another busy week for the Shive family. (I LOVE saying that--the Shive Family!!) In fact, I don't know that I remember everything we did.
I know we did was join up our checking accounts; that's right, we now have joint checking. It's very grown up feeling, and I was probably much happier to sign a billion bank papers than anyone else ever was (unless that other person was getting money; we didn't get any money, but I was still very excited!). I got to eat lunch with some lovely ladies this week, and we had the weirdest waitressing experience in the history of the world... I'm fairly certain of that. Jay & I celebrated our month-aversary by going to Trivia Tuesday on the actual day, then going to dinner and a movie on Wednesday. Our meal was delicious (Yummy Eggroll is an appropriate name for the restaurant, as it turns out), but the movie was... something else.
We saw Dinner for Schmucks because we thought that such a great cast could only lead to great comedy. That's partly true. Parts of the movie were very funny and had me laughing out loud and rolling my eyes; if I wasn't laughing, though, I just wanted to leave the theater. The movie has an uncomfortable and awkward feeling to it, so it was kind of weird and irritating to sit through. I guess it just has/had too many situations that I would have handled much differently. Not a movie I plan to buy, but we had a good night regardless.
Jay and I have also been watching Mad Men via NetFlix, and we're still not sure what to think about it yet. There are parts that are intriguing, and parts that just confuse the crap out of us. It's been on for a while, though, so it can't be all bad, right? At the same time, however, LOST was on for a long time and I never could get in on that show.... Either way, we're only a few episodes in to the first season, so we still have lots more to go.
Tonight, something exciting happened! Jay and I bought the rest of our china--at a HUGE discount! It was already 50% off, but we're in our "Completion Stage" of registering, so we got an additional 20% off the sale price, and then another 15% off because I used my Macy's Visa Card!! SO MUCH SAVINGS!! WOO!
Additionally, I made some chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes--completely from scratch. Well, I didn't mill the flower and all that jazz, but I didn't just rip open a box and stir in eggs. They smell super good, but they're for tomorrow, so we won't find out if they're actually good until then. Patience, as I've mentioned, is sometimes hard for me. Which reminds me: we were supposed to hear about student teaching today, and we heard nothing. Guess I'll be making phone calls and appearances to and at the College of Education on Monday. Faaantastic.
:) In the meantime, Jay & I have a busy and fun-filled weekend ahead of us. So, goodnight and thanks for reading!
I know we did was join up our checking accounts; that's right, we now have joint checking. It's very grown up feeling, and I was probably much happier to sign a billion bank papers than anyone else ever was (unless that other person was getting money; we didn't get any money, but I was still very excited!). I got to eat lunch with some lovely ladies this week, and we had the weirdest waitressing experience in the history of the world... I'm fairly certain of that. Jay & I celebrated our month-aversary by going to Trivia Tuesday on the actual day, then going to dinner and a movie on Wednesday. Our meal was delicious (Yummy Eggroll is an appropriate name for the restaurant, as it turns out), but the movie was... something else.
We saw Dinner for Schmucks because we thought that such a great cast could only lead to great comedy. That's partly true. Parts of the movie were very funny and had me laughing out loud and rolling my eyes; if I wasn't laughing, though, I just wanted to leave the theater. The movie has an uncomfortable and awkward feeling to it, so it was kind of weird and irritating to sit through. I guess it just has/had too many situations that I would have handled much differently. Not a movie I plan to buy, but we had a good night regardless.
Jay and I have also been watching Mad Men via NetFlix, and we're still not sure what to think about it yet. There are parts that are intriguing, and parts that just confuse the crap out of us. It's been on for a while, though, so it can't be all bad, right? At the same time, however, LOST was on for a long time and I never could get in on that show.... Either way, we're only a few episodes in to the first season, so we still have lots more to go.
Additionally, I made some chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes--completely from scratch. Well, I didn't mill the flower and all that jazz, but I didn't just rip open a box and stir in eggs. They smell super good, but they're for tomorrow, so we won't find out if they're actually good until then. Patience, as I've mentioned, is sometimes hard for me. Which reminds me: we were supposed to hear about student teaching today, and we heard nothing. Guess I'll be making phone calls and appearances to and at the College of Education on Monday. Faaantastic.
:) In the meantime, Jay & I have a busy and fun-filled weekend ahead of us. So, goodnight and thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Month-aversary!!!
It's official--we've been married for exactly one month!! It's been fun and we've learned things about each other, and we're growing together in our relationship. Our apartment is finally looking like a home, and we (I) posted the pictures to prove it. :)
Currently, we're searching for a piece of furniture to store our china in. We're picky, and cheap, so that's making our search more difficult. So if ever you're out and you find a buffet table with glass doors and no hutch that's at or under $200, please let one of us know! We've found this one here, and we both like it, but we're kind of iffy about the green color; at the same time, however, the green color would match our living room very well. So we don't know.
We tried to go to the bank and get our accounts joined today, but we waited for like thirty minutes before we learned that we were going to have to come back another day because the client already in the only banker's office was going to take too long. So, we have an appointment for tomorrow.
And now we've got to get ready for trivia! It is Tuesday, after all. I think tomorrow that we're going to more formally celebrate our month-aversary :D Have a great night, everyone!
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| Could this be our new china storage? |
We tried to go to the bank and get our accounts joined today, but we waited for like thirty minutes before we learned that we were going to have to come back another day because the client already in the only banker's office was going to take too long. So, we have an appointment for tomorrow.
And now we've got to get ready for trivia! It is Tuesday, after all. I think tomorrow that we're going to more formally celebrate our month-aversary :D Have a great night, everyone!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Hooray for the Weekend!
This week has been pretty full, and we're both happy it's the weekend. We went to my parents' house Wednesday for some homemade Heart Attack on a Plate (the name we have affectionately given to one of my mom's chicken dishes) and I made homemade biscuits; it was a great meal. Then, we saw Despicable Me, which was awesome!
We had dinner with friends last night, and are now waiting on my parents to get here so we can take them out to dinner as a (small small small) token of thanks for everything they did for our wedding.
Earlier in the week, our wedding photographer emailed me to say that he'd send us a disc of our wedding pictures. I'VE BEEN CHECKING THE MAILBOX TWICE A DAY COMPULSIVELY AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE THE DISC!!! We got a link to see them online, but I can't print them or save them or do anything with them except scroll through. Let me tell you, waiting is not my best quality or skill or ability or... anything positive. But I'm trying.
Our apartment cleanup is coming along pretty well. We have a bunch of empty picture frames lying around, though... BECAUSE OUR PICTURE DISC ISN'T HERE YET!! *Breathe* So, the waiting game continues.
We had dinner with friends last night, and are now waiting on my parents to get here so we can take them out to dinner as a (small small small) token of thanks for everything they did for our wedding.
Earlier in the week, our wedding photographer emailed me to say that he'd send us a disc of our wedding pictures. I'VE BEEN CHECKING THE MAILBOX TWICE A DAY COMPULSIVELY AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE THE DISC!!! We got a link to see them online, but I can't print them or save them or do anything with them except scroll through. Let me tell you, waiting is not my best quality or skill or ability or... anything positive. But I'm trying.
Our apartment cleanup is coming along pretty well. We have a bunch of empty picture frames lying around, though... BECAUSE OUR PICTURE DISC ISN'T HERE YET!! *Breathe* So, the waiting game continues.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Trivia Tuesday
Last night, Jay and I joined some of our friends at Cool Beans in Denton to play trivia. We do this every week in hopes of winning some bar cash; it's free to play and it offers the potential to win free money? How could we not play? Anyway, the team we were on ended up winning first place, which also won us $50. Nothing better than drinking for free... and showing off your smarts; well, the other team members showed off their smarts. I'm usually just there for the company. :D
I didn't get to add myself to the lease yesterday because the office wasn't open by the time I had to leave the apartment, so I'll add that to the list of things I want to/need to do today.
I didn't get to add myself to the lease yesterday because the office wasn't open by the time I had to leave the apartment, so I'll add that to the list of things I want to/need to do today.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Our First Post!
Today, I went to do some of the *scoff* fun stuff that goes along with getting married: new driver's license, new social security card and new mailing address. When I got the the DMV, the line was in the waiting area, around the corner and down the hall; the person in front of me loudly talked on his cell phone and the woman behind me smelled terrible and brought three young children and their toys with her. Even though the system went down twice while I was there, it only took about an hour...but that might be because a bunch of people left the line both times they announced the system was down. Either way, I escaped without losing too much of my life and after having a two-year-old grab and hold on to my leg because he thought I was his mother (he was shocked to look up and discover his err in thinking) only once. I was afraid the social security administration building would be packed--and it was. I don't know what the SSA is doing, but they're doing it much better than the DMV is doing it because I was only there for about twenty minutes, and it didn't cost me a dime. :)
After all that, I also--and perhaps the most exciting part!!--I turned in my keys, parking pass and gate key to my Denton apartment!! Tomorrow I turn in my paperwork to be added to the lease at the apartment where Jay and I already live in Coppell and then I'll officially, and legally, be moved in with my husband. :) It's so exciting to actually get to say that!
Hopefully, this is the first of many (hopefully interesting??) posts and a great and long and happy marriage!
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