He has a NAME & we are HALFWAY THERE!!!!

Well folks, Jeremy and I have survived half of the pregnancy.  I am still so amazed that I had a wonderful first trimester with just a little nausea, and now my second trimester has been going so fabulously that I sometimes forget I'm preggo.  No, I don't forget to the point that I'm at the bar taking shots or chugging beers...lol. I can only hope and pray that the third trimester goes just as well and that of course the birth has no complications either.

In, other fun news, we have picked a name for our little man.  His name is Jacob Andrew Case.  Jeremy and I have always loved the name Jacob, and we love that it is a Biblical name as well.  Jeremy came up with the idea of Andrew, which was a name I honestly hadn't considered, but when he mentioned it I said "hmmmm Andrew... I really like it." We "slept on it" for a week or so, and then finally decided we kept coming back to Jacob and we really liked Andrew with it.  So we bit the bullet and said "yep, we LOVE it, that's his name." And so we are anxiously awaiting meeting our little Jacob Andrew.

So at 20 weeks, he is the length of a banana! Love it...haha! So we've gone from measuring general size of baby, to just comparing the length to fruit and veg. It was either the banana or a cantaloupe this week depending on the website you look at. Still cracks me up that they compare him to fruit...LOL.

I will upload the 17 week ultrasound pics sometime this week, and then get them posted.  We go to the doc again in 9 days....it just seems like time is FLYING! Dear time, Once he gets here feel free to sloooooow waaaaaay down please. Thanks, Jessie

Christmas Memories

The purpose of this post is to answer my friend Maria and her blog..."foods that hold special meaning for you, especially those related to Christmas. Write about your memories!"
So here I am writing about a very special Christmas memory...or rather memories as it happens every year.
While I have many things I love about Christmas and about Christmas with my ever growing family...My most favorite thing about Christmas with my family deals solely with peanut brittle.  You see the peanut brittle I so loving make for friends, co-workers, in-laws, etc... each year comes from a recipe passed down (NOT written down) from my great grandmother, Nanny. Even her measurements were from her specific teacup, the one with flowers or saucer....so it's all a big game of guesstimation.

She and several, and by several I mean 20 or more ladies from her church would spend hours in the church kitchen making brittle for a fundraiser at the church.  I know this story because my Mama (grandmother) and Mom have told it several times in my life in such amazing detail that I even know where the ladies went to buy the peanuts in bulk...Mama asked just this year "Wonder if they still sell those peanuts by the sackfull...?"  And so this tradition and loving memory gets carried on every year.  For us now it is always the day after Thanksgiving...known as Brittle Day...I'm working on making it an official holiday. ;-) When I say us, we have certainly kept up with that large amount of women in the kitchen...not quite 20 but close.  On Brittle Day, my Mama, my Mom, my Aunt, my Sister, my Cousin, my 4 cousin's Wives (we let them in only by marriage and "swearing in over their wooden spoon"), all converge on my mom's kitchen...soon enough we will have 5 children of cousins to join in when they are old enough to deal with hot syrup.  We come loaded down with our supplies, wooden spoon in hand, and proceed to fight over who gets to use Nanny's pot and spoon...they are worn in the best after all.  I love this day because we all laugh, talk, and generally just act silly as we sing Christmas songs for the first time that season.  All the men and children gather around the tv to watch movies, play Wii, read books, and eventually they sneak away for some sports and beer....but trust me they love being there too, they get the crumbly bits that get chipped away and of course they beg for us to "accidentally" break one.  My Mama and my cousin Sarah sit at the table and score, cool, and wrap pound after pound of brittle for hours while the rest of us slave away at the stove.  Sarah's only cost for wrapping and sorting everyone's brittle? You have to give her some of what you made. LOL

I can remember the smell of peanut brittle instantly when someone says the words.  I can hear my family laughing and complaining to open the back door b/c it's too hot in the kitchen.  I look forward to Brittle Day every year, so much so that I hate not getting all my brittle made with them...it's boring to do it by yourself.
I adore my family and I adore this tradition.  And even though I realized this year as I'm brittling away, that I wouldn't have a daughter (as of yet) to pass it down too (my son will still know how it's made...all the boys do, it's just the girl thing to make), I will someday have a wonderful woman my son will love as much as his daddy loves me.  And I will "swear her in with her wooden spoon" and teach her how to make brittle. I can't imagine anything better.

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday

Random thought #1: I love Charlie Brown.  Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown Voyage on the Mayflower, Charlie Brown Christmas (most fav), etc....

Random thought #2: I can't stop eating sugar.  Well not exactly sugar like out of the bag, but candy. Hard candy, soft candy, chocolate snacks, marshmallows (mmmmmmm....).  I keep thinking I'm eating pretty well and heathly and then I look down, & I'm holding three marshmallows. LOL

Random thought #3: Jeremy was just switching out the light switches in the garage with some you can program and time. Pretty awesome, and glad we knows what he's doing.  But I had to chuckle when I was out helping because a. he's in pj pants and a tshirt for all the neighbors to see and b. he was so tedious about getting the switches juuuuuust right with the face plate, he screwed in the first screw of said face plate only to push too hard and crack the entire top of the face plate. He now has to go to Lowe's and get a new one at a later time TBD.

Random thought #4: God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy. This about sums it up.

Random thought #5: I am so ready for some turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and sparkling apple cider! This baby can eat I'm telling ya!

Random thought #6: No obsessing, no stating...I've gained 5 lbs so far, and I'm ok with that.  Just want to keep exercising so I only gain 15-20 more. Obviously I won't starve myself or baby case, so don't flip out on me and tell me I should eat whatever I feel like. LOL ;-)

Random thought #7: Guinness is the most adorable dog....EVER! He's going to be a great big brother!

And drum roll please.......

We are having a lemon...oh no wait, that's how big HE is! It's a BOY!!!!!

We are so totally overjoyed and excited to be having a boy.  Our family is just sooooo sooooo happy, and now of course the buying begins.  I can just invision this influx of blue and boy everything.  I love blue but let's shoot for some variety in the color palette people! ;-)  I can't wait to get started on the mural for the baby's wall.  My awesome friend Meredith is going to help me tackle that project, and hopefully with two of us painting it will go quite quickly. 

Names? you ask... well as for names we have a couple we have always thought were nice, but as Jeremy pointed out he will have his name for his whole life and of course we don't want him to hate it.  So, we are going to think on it awhile.  I always thought whatever name I/we loved would just automatically be the kid's name, but neither of us can commit to that yet.  I think for two people who are always decision makers, this could be a toughy. LOL

All if well too with his heartbeat and the size.  Good steady beat...once she could get him to stay still long enough to get it...lol. And he is 7.55cm long from head to butt.  She got him to move about and put the ultrasound right on his bottom and then there are the legs and yep the boy business between them.  People are like "what?!?! you already know????" And I just keep picturing that shot, and say "yep it's totally all boy." I do think it was shocking to us that it would be so clear and easy to tell, but man are we glad to know!

Here's a link the baby's photo album. There are the unltrasound pics from 10 weeks and yesterday's 14 week visit. Enjoy!  http://picasaweb.google.com/jeremydcase/BabyCase?feat=email#
Well until next time.

Something great but a little sour!

Baby Case is now 13 weeks and one day (I say 14 weeks...it's easier that way!) I have had an amazing pregnancy so far. I of course have been tired and nauseous for the first month or so but now I'm feeling great! I'm trying to not jinx myself but I'm already loving being a mommy. I can't even really believe that a true statement...I'm a mommy...wow.......
This week the baby is the size of a lemon...hence the something a little sour. (I'm a dork I know.) Over the last three weeks it has been a lime, medium shrimp, & a lemon...in that order...my thought is a lime is not smaller than a medium shrimp. Also who measures a shrimp and claims it's medium sized? Which then brings us to a lemon...which I consider a smallish/medium fruit...so the lime must have been a key lime, but no specifics were given about the lime unlike the shrimp....go figure! Jeremy and I have had a good chuckle over the baby to fruit/veggie comparisons.
I will post pics of the belly and I promise I'll be more on the ball about posting!!!!

Let the adventure begin:

Well my family is starting off on a new adventure.  We are having a baby! I am in my 11th week this week, and the baby is apparently the size of a fig or a prune depending on which website you look at. Not really sure why we compare baby's to fruit and veggies, but Jeremy and I think it's great fun!  I've been feeling great and we can't wait for the new adventures!

Shameless plugging for my jobs:

As I'm sure you know I sell Creative Memories (what was scrapbook products) photo solutions, and you can now find my facebook updates for my business to the right hand side of the blog. We have an awesome digital sale starting tomorrow through the 21st.  30% off digital artwork for your Storybook software...still need the software? I can hook you up with that too! And...just because you may not be interested doesn't mean you don't have people in your life that would...please pass on my info!

And of course my teaching job...I have a current project on donorschoose.org and you can go to www.limeadesforlearning.com and vote for my project under 'find a project' keyword 'high tech reading'.  I'm Mrs. C obviously. =) I would LOVE for you to vote everyday!  And even better if you'd like to give to my project you can find it at www.donorschoose.org/mrscase

Thanks, love to you all!

Crazy Day, ending with fun News

Totally crazy day of my blind student having major meltdowns throughout the day. The "best" one coming as we were leaving, why I don't know.... I'm talking yelling, crying, screaming, hitting and pounding on my classroom door...it was my breaking point and apparently hers....  Sent the aide to retrieve her adult and buzzed for the "tall one" (principal).  I am working so hard to have her be a typical student and my braille is coming along.  I just don't like days like today where we don't have any progress, or so it feels like. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. And hopefully a better one.
On my fun news note, I just found out a wonderful Kappa sister is preggo with TWINS! I'm honestly in shock, especially considering I just saw her last week and it wasn't even on the radar.  So excited for her, and it will be an amazing adventure for her, her hubby, and their little girl. Made me smile at the end of my veeeeeerrrrrry LONG day!

First Week Back at School!

I had a wonderful first week back at school.  I'm glad to be back doing what I love to do...teach children! By the time May rolls around, believe me I'm ready for a break, but now I'm ready to get to it! (remind me of this in a couple of months....) I have a class of 16, yes shockingly small, I was expecting at least 22.  But I'm am 110% thankful for a wonderful boss that knows how important it is to have small class sizes for the little people of the world to learn to read. Also, because of my class, or rather one student, I am now teaching myself/learning braille. Yep you heard right, I said braille.  I have a student that is blind in my class this year, and man let me tell you it's one big a$$ adventure already.  I currently know the braille letters a-m and the braille for a number sign. I will let you know how I am progressing in what I consider a whole 'nother language...and by far the hardest language I've ever learned. Who would have ever thought my Spanish and Italian wouldn't be handy as a teacher, no....I have to learn braille. LOL! Oh well, I'm excited for the adventure and as you know I NEVER turn down a challenge.
On a more weekendy note, my cousin Tyler, wife Jennifer, and two little cousins are coming tomorrow for a short weekend trip.  I love them so much, and Jeremy and I are so happy they are coming to spend time with us.  Guinness is happy too. He just won't know it till they arrive.  Little cousins, Cale (7) and Natalie (3), are going to be whisked away on a fabulous excursion to the aquarium, which they are soooooo looking forward to! Followed by an evening of one of three options...case tacos at home, dinner on the riverwalk, or box seats at the Dillers...whichever the kiddos choose! And of course Sunday mng breakfast with chocolate chip pancakes....delicious! I love planning stuff for kids...their faces just light up...guess that's another reason I love being a teacher.
Well I better get some sleep if I'm going to keep up tomorrow. Goodnite!

Momma's Boy

Momma's boy...yes I'm speaking of my lovely dog. He has been basically attached to me for about four days. Four. There are no storms or pressure systems. There's no extreme need to do his business outside. There is no dying of thirst or hunger. He simply wants my attention constantly.

His thoughts (in my opinion): Just pet me. Wait pet me again. I'll sit on the couch so you can pet me. Now I think I'll stand and bark in your face. Ohhh pet me.

Repeat. For four days. This is ridiculous people. He must have some sort of special radar that I'm leaving him next week. Not going somewhere fabulous or far away this time. It's time to go back to school. He must just want some extra Momma love and attention. I should appreciate the boy dog love and cuddles. At least that's what I'm telling myself as he is currently grumbling in my face. Again.

Fabulous Friday....

Today is a fabulous Friday because I don't have to (get to...?) leave town this weekend! I am sooooo looking forward to a normal weekend at home with the hubby.  This weekend is also my mom's bday so we have fam coming up on Sat. nite.
Our plans for the weekend include:
1. Fri. nite- watch a movie
2. Sat. mng- farmers market w/ friends and Guinness, BassPro (Guinness needs a backpack.)
3. Sat. afternoon- clean house
4. Sat. nite- fam comes into town
5. Sun. mng- church (I feel like we haven't been in FOREVER!)
6. Sun. afternoon- lunch for mom's bday
7. Sun. nite- dinner with jeremy's fam

And yes this is a fairly normal weekend for us....this is my weekend of doing nothing LOL. And I LOVE it!!!!
Might even post pics of me cleaning.......hmmmm....doubt it.

Now for Wordless Wednesday

Getting Excited.

So as you can see above there is the link to the Kohl's Cares Contest.  I (along with some other staff and parents) am very excited about the possiblity of winning this contest.  $500,000 would give up pretty much endless ideas to improve our school.  Kohl's is giving 20 school that money, and I so would love to be one of them.  I can totally picture the reading loft in my classroom, my projector being hung from the ceiling, covered walkways outside, and a school garden/outdoor classroom.  It's pretty much teacher heaven to be given $500,000.  SOOOOOOOO, I would love you forever if you would click above and vote for Grissom Es and then post the link on your blog, or your fb, or email your friends.  Each person is given 20 votes, and you can give only 5 per school, so you can go there and vote for other schools you may have friends at, or kids at, or just your neighborhood school.  Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lily's New Puppy

For the last 27 minutes I have been listening to a puppy whine, and this is why......

Alright, you know how much I love the girls I keep during the summer, right? Well Lily wanted a puppy for her bday, so it's happened.  Problem is she's 10, and doesn't want to listen to any advice from me...and her parents haven't really given any guidelines to how to take care of the dog to what I have seen.  And then there's Maddie...she just says, "It's not my puppy...." She helps out and of course loves him, plays with him, takes him out...but again she didn't want the puppy, Lily did. 

Well, Lily my love decided to (and was ALLOWED) to spend the night at a friends house last nite.  There are so many things wrong with this the way I see it.  So, she is currently not here. 

Maddie has a friend spending the night, which I typically have no issue with- all her friends are great.

But this mng I am irritated by it.

There are alot of things that I love about this family, there are some things I don't understand, and there are some things I don't agree with, but it's not my family so whose to argue.  However, this whole situation has me totally shocked. 

Who buys a puppy, when only one child is dying for one? (They have a rabbit here- never played with.) (And another dog at their dad's- the dog is older and doesn't do or require much.) Who then gets the puppy on a Sunday, doesn't tell the nanny, and leaves for work on Monday as if it's no big deal?  So, I arrive to "Mrs. Case I got a puppy!" at 8 am Monday mng. yeaaa.......................
The girls don't have a useful way or the tools to keep/tell the puppy from biting and pawing.  There's no crate insight.  We've got toys, treats, and food.....great. (Found an old crate in the garage, girls cleaned it, and found a towel to lay inside it.)

(Puppy finally stopped whining by the way, after 35 mins.)

The way I see it I have four choices:
1. Ignore the dog and let the girls do as they will with it.
2. Actually begin to crate train and otherwise train the dog then ask for more money for also being an at home dog trainer/therapist. (Which you can see I may have already chosen to do.)
3. Help out some with the dog doing what the girls usually do.
4. Find a new summer job.

I just can't get over that a parent would buy a puppy and then not make sure they were at home for a week or so to get it acclimated to it's new house and routine.  Or just leave a routine to follow, or try to establish a routine during the evenings...that would work too..... Because from what I can tell, there is no routine, and this may kill me.

Packing & Still Anxious

I should totally be packing...instead here I am sitting at the computer (or in this case my tv...).  Waiting on the trusty 'ol iPhone to sync movies and whatnot, and then it will update it's new confangled software.  Here's hoping that goes well, otherwise I'll be annoyed.  Speaking of the trusty 'ol iPhone, Jeremy got me the international data plan, so I can pull up maps and whatnot in Russia...ok I MIGHT update my FB status once or twice too.  I'm getting excited to go, but it's just so overwhelming to think I'm going so far away without my husband.  He's said he's a little anxious about it and that of course he'll miss me, but I really think he is totally freaking out that I'm going well across the pond without him......those thoughts aren't helping me be less anxious. Oh well, I know I'm a smart, strong, well traveled girl, so I'll survive and have a great time while I'm there.  Well next time my little blog readers I'll post from Russia....they have WiFi there right....???? HAHAHA!

Anxious...

I am getting excited about going to Russia, but I am also really anxious.  Not only about traveling to a place where I have little to no grasp on the language, but I'm traveling without Jeremy.  That's really scary...I mean I don't mind doing stuff on my own, but traveling about Russia...??? I'm trying to be of the mindset that I am excited and I'll be experiencing amazing things....I'll let you know how that works...lol. In the meantime I have to get some serious landry done and pack most of my stuff.  The weather is looking rather nice, in the 60's-high 70's, chance of rain a couple of days, but otherwise looking forward to a temp 10 degrees cooler.

Home Alone

This weekend I'm home alone.  It's kinda weird because I haven't been home alone with Jeremy at of town in a long while.  (He's in Denver with the guys for Tim's bachelor party...they're fishing, staying in a cabin, and going to mass Sunday, I'm not worried about any hanky panky...LOL!)
Not sure what G-man and I'll do tonite...prolly just eat a sandwich and raw chicken (sandwich is mine) and watch some shows I've been saving for "girl time" on the good 'ol DVR.
Tomorrow I won't have to wonder about what I'm doing...I've got BIG plans! I'm gonna meet up with a friend that just moved to OK from San Fran area, haven't seen her in a year or so! And we are going to hit up the Farmer's Market.  After that I have a few more errands and then I'll be at home hosting my fabulous, Make-A-Wish Creative Memories open house.  Excited for my mom to come into town to scrapbook with me and a few friends!  Equally excited my Creative Memories business is doing well...here's hoping I get a few get togethers scheduled, so I can expand my customer base and maybe sign a new consultant or two! I'll update on Sunday prolly about how the wkend was. =)

I LOVE MY LIFE!

that is all, thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

(yep this is what I'm going with today...it's my life, what can i say?)

Today

Today = AHHHHHHHH!
Today = Too much to accomplish in 24 hours!
Today = No, we don't need a consistant schedule!
Today = LOTS OF MARTINIS TONITE!

Crazy Busy

So I am feeling rather overwhelmed today.  There is so much to appcomlish in the next two weeks, and for some reason I feel like I should have to do it all today.  Or at least prep for it all today, which is pretty much impossible.  Here's the list of problems...errr, I mean....fun things I have to do.

• Pick up bridesmaid's dress today.
• Give a presentation tomorrow for a Creative Memories event.
• Get kids and stuff ready for field trip to the Aquarium on Wed.
• Prep room for substitute, or lack there of, for my absence on Friday.
• Pack for Bub's wedding by Thurs. morning.
• Leave for Bub's wedding Thurs. after work.
• Attend Bridesmaid's dinner Thurs. evening in OKC.
• Dr. Appt. Friday morning in OKC.
• Friday run around like a crazy person prepping for Bub's wedding.
• Attend Rehearsal and dinner Fri. evening. Casual dress, swimsuit...not sure how I feel about that being the tradtional girl I am.
• Sat. is the big day, starting at 8am I'm busy.  That would be a whole 'nother list.

Then comes next week. At this point just the idea of having to squeeze in faculty mtg. and my allergy shot today after school is giving me a nervous tick.  That's all, thanks for listening to my rant. Pity party over....

Much Appreciated!

This week is teacher appreciation at school!  I love this week!  I comes at just the right time (which is when I want to rip my children's heads off!) and our PTA is amazing! I can't believe it's only Wednesday; I already feel so spoiled...but not spoiled enough to say it's enough LOL! Monday they set up a "coffee bar" for us in the lounge and made us lattes and whatnot with little pastries- so cute!  Yesterday my boss bought/made lunch for the entire staff with these delicious sandwich spirals (is that what they are called!?!?!), fruit & cheese trays, and one of the best pasta salads I've ever eaten.  What can I say she is AMAZING! Today we have lunch provided by Charleston's in the library where the PTA ladies always make it look so nice (and not like a school library) in there.  Also, today the bathroom have been redone!  You're probably like, so..... But our bathroom are so sterile and "school" like, so some parents painted the walls this wonderful yellow and hung sweet pictures, and apparently tomorrow the cabinet that's usually in there has being refinished/painted and will be returned along with some GOOD soap, yummy smell good stuff, and CHARMIN! That's right no more standard issue school sandpaper. =)
Anyways, I just wanted to spread the love about what I love about Teacher Appreciation Week.  I will update further about tomorrow and Friday and any cute gifts I have received!

Perplexed

I am honestly perplexed by the information I just found out (or lack of information).  I have a good friend that is preggo and her baby shower is soon, so I was going to be on the ball and get her shower gift asap.  Well the invitation didn't say where they were registered, and I don't want to be annoying to the mom-to-be by calling and asking so what does one do....well I logged onto the good 'ol computer and went to all the baby place websites I could think of in town, and none of them have her or him registered.  So here is the perplexing parts, how are they NOT registered?  what do we get them? I am totally thrown off by this because they don't seem like the kind of people to NOT be excited to pick stuff out, get new stuff, etc... I think something must have physically kept them from going to a store to pick stuff out LOL! I mean if I were preggo, you can bet your bippy that I will be in PotteryBarn Kids as soon as physically possible!!! Like a kid in a candy store...I don't care that they haven't registered- that's not it- I just am not sure what to get them now without it appearing random, and I just want to get them something they will love, the baby will love, they wiill find useful, etc...I don't want our gift to sit in a closet and never be used LOL!  So what can a girl do but to call and bother the mom-to-be by leaving a lovely voicemail saying, "Hello friend, I was wondering if you were registered anywhere for that sweet baby of yours, or if not was there something specific you guys were wanting, or a color scheme-theme for the room that we've got goin' on...if you could help me out with any of that, it would be great! Thanks, love ya, talk to ya later." Hopefully she calls me back with some info or it may be a very random yet entertaining baby shower gift! (But I mean really...registering is a great part of multiple things in life...get scanning!)

Guinness & Spinach

Guinness was given fresh spinach tonite because he's been eating grass this evening...figured he'd like a green grasslike veggie that wouldn't make him puke lol.  He took the huge leaf and ran away from his bowl and started to shred it on the carpet like he does with fluff, dryer sheets, etc...You can just envision our huge dog so carefully using his paws and teeth to shred the spinach...once he finally figured out he could eat it and that it tasted good he was all about it!  Anyways, he makes for a good chuckle and watching Jeremy chase him while he has a huge spinach leaf in his mouth is pretty funny too.  Oh and apparently Jeremy just told him he was like Popeye & "Go tell Mom you want to be like Popeye." Think we need a child? LOL!

Catch up time!

A couple of Friday's ago I hosted a Scrap for Students fundraiser at my school, and I am so proud of how well it went! We raised $520 for our student activity fund! Now we have a few extra dollars to buy whatever is neccessary to start off the next school year...like construction paper, paint, index cards for words, etc... I hope to make it a bi-annual event, once in the spring and once in the fall. Can't wait for it to be a huge fundraising event for Grissom! Here are a few pics from that nite!

Everyone scrapbooking away...having a great time!!!!

So this past Saturday was my cousin Sarah's (who I will refer to as Bubba) shower, and we had a great time. There was lots of family there as well as friends. Although we did miss our family that live far away and couldn't make it for obvious reasons. We, my sister and I were hostesses, had the shower at Inspirations Tea Room in Edmond.  It is such a great place, the staff is wonderful, the food is fantastic, and the owners have created a great Christian atmosphere down to the scripture note that comes on your plate.  The little girls got to wear their "high heels" (barbie dressup shoes) and fancy dresses...of course they were absolutely adorable!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful family, and I am so excited for my Bubba to get married-to one of my friends from college no less, so I approve... =) Here are some pics. 

                                                             

Lots of Fam!

More Russia

So Kathy and I decided to create a blog for our trip to Russia, and that way we can document everything we are doing in real time to later use in our classrooms and keep our coworkers up to date. In addition, we are adding the blog to our media release through Fund for Teachers so they can keep up with what we did with our trip and how effective our research was and whether it was a good donation of their monies. I would love it if you all followed that blog as well...although I will of course blog my own unedited thoughts on here...but all the pics and whatnot will be posted to the russia blog. My friend Kathy and I will both be posting...super excited about it!

F-R-I-D-A-Y!

It's finally Friday! Can I get an AMEN!? It has been the longest week for some reason...not really sure why as I have had a million things to complete and not enough time to complete them, yet days drag on....
We are going to Edmond this weekend for my cousin Sarah's wedding shower, so excited because the hostesses are fabulous! (It's me and my sister lol) Going to head home, pack the bags, load up the ENORMOUS dog crate, load the bags, load the ENORMOUS dog, and be on our way. I really hopes it doesn't rain while we drive or tomorrow during the shower...I really just hope it doesn't rain at all actually. Maybe I should send an email to God, think he receives those? (Dear God, Please don't send rain. I have a wedding shower planned in a sunroom & outdoor patio. It would really suck to get wet, plus my dress wouldn't look so good. Let me know what you can do. Thanks, yours always- Jessie) What it might work? Or maybe he reads my blog...I dunno. Anyways, here's hoping it's a fantastic weekend no matter what!!!

From Russia with Love...

Ok so I am just now getting time to sit down and type that I am GOING TO RUSSIA THIS SUMMER! It's been crazy busy since I found out...it's a trip through a Fund for Teachers Grant that a couple of co-workers applied for, sadly (for them) one of them can't go, so I get to go instead (happy for me!) It is a whirl wind to get the paperwork in for the grant people and to pick what kind of tours or cities we want to visit and for how long. Right now it is looking like 7 days in Mosow and St. Petersburg with my wonderful co-worker Kathy D!!! We are going to study Russian composers and the influence that the culture and oppression has had on the music and dance of Russia. (So it kinda goes with my previous trip to San Fran for Keeping Score with the San Fransico Symphony.) Anyways, I AM SUPER EXCITED AND CAN'T WAIT! (Sad that I'm going without Jeremy though....) I will post more details later...

Latest Creative Memories News

So I am super excited about the party I had on the 6th. I sold well over $300 in products! (self praise time) Way to go me! I am also so excited that because my party's sales were over $250 and being the host, I then received 15% of the party's sales in free products. I now have $59 to spend, and I so can't decide...there are so many options, but I most definitely will wait for the new products on March 1st. I got a preview of the catalog at Becky's and there is some cute stuff!
I was totally going to get going on making the invites for Jeremy and Tim's bday bash today, but alas Jeremy didn't put a cd-rom in when he got us a new computer case. Now I'll have to wait till he gets home to load my new digital software. Also, on my list of scrapbook to-dos is create an invite for Sarah's bridal shower, but I guess that will wait for a few more days as it's not till April. I'm just so excited to get going on my new software...anyways I am really just procrastinating working on my scrapbook pages from Italy. I have reached the point where I don't want to look at them any longer...might have to move on with the digital stuff before I can be motivated about Italy again.
I also put together the super cute Valentine's themed paper book I got a few weeks ago, just put random pics of Jeremy and I and Guinness from the last year or so. Not really a present for Jeremy, just something we can both enjoy around the house. Showed Jeremy and he LOVED it, so that made me super happy, and it is now on our bar for all to enjoy! =) All in all I am really enjoying being a Creative Memories consultant, you know how much I love to be creative and make things from scratch! Just wishing more people would realize they need to, and not in an over the top super creative way, just in a take care of your pictures so your kids can tell its you in the pictures kind of way. Also, I think often about what it would be like for a family to have no story to go along with the pictures, like if I sadly had Alzheimer's like my great grandpa, I wouldn't know when or where our pictures were taken. But since I basically write about entire life story alongside our pictures (I'm over the top i know)then I don't worry that my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will totally know who we both are. Sorry, just my two cents for today on the topic of scrapbooking. Off to Italy!

The Office & Pantry

Jeremy and I tackled the office this past wkend. It had gotten a bit out of control. Random crap stacking up in front of the bookcase, unused/broken dog toys on top of the dvd shelf, National Board stuff everywhere. So we decided to pull it ALL out and start again...Thought it was going to be a huge undertaking, but it wasn't so bad. We went and had pieces of wood cut as "braces" for our bookcase shelves b/c we have sooo many books the shelves bow. So we emptied the bookcase and stained the "braces" to match. This went really well, but they didn't dry as quickly as we'd have liked. So after a wkend of having an empty office and piles (and I mean piles) of books in my living room the "braces" dried and we put the office back into working order Tuesday nite. It looks awesome!
So in the mood of cleaning/redoing things, we also discussed tackling the pantry. With it being under the stairs it had kind of become the catch-all for, you guessed it, more crap at the back of the pantry. And as I had a "snow" day today, I decided to do the tackling myself. I pulled everything off the floor of the pantry, and the back shelves, IE. the crap. I then proceeded to vacuum the floor on the pantry and wipe down all shelves. If you've seen my pantry, you are realizing the massive undertaking of today. I went through every little thing, and it went in either the trash, salvation army pile, or back on the shelf of that category. (yes they are categorized, are you surprised?) Needless to say, after about 4 hours, I emerged from a clean, crap free, more categorized pantry. And I am sooo happy about it. I really feel like today was a wonderfully productive day, and that my house is in better condition than before the Christmas fairy came and left. Go me!!!!
The pics aren't great b/c they were taken with the ever trusty super-cute white iPhone.