Sorry...

I've been a terribly bad blogger. Since school started, it seems like I have had a hundred things to do at night. I guess I've gotta adjust:) This is the hardest time of the year. Just trying to get the kids into a good routine, learn all the rules, know what I expect of them, etc.... It is rather exhausting. But it will make the rest of the year run smoothly, and allow me to have an easier time in the long run. I have a student teacher too. So that is another thing to do on top of everything else. I am sooooooooooo happy for the long weekend:) Who doesn't love Labor Day??? I can't wait to go to the lake and just CHILL!!! That extra day there will be awesome, and to make it better......It's football season!!! My Sooners play Saturday evening at six o'clock. I already have the stuff for queso and all my football snacks. I can't wait! I LOVE football season! So, if I don't post, everyone have a great long weekend, and BOOMER SOONER:)

Well...

it's official! I'm back to work. The kids came today, and it was a pretty good day overall. But let me tell you, I am one exhausted girl! My feet are hurting so bad, my back is sore, my eyes are tired, and well, I guess I'm just worn out! It is funny how that happens every year. I think it has to do with those concrete floors we walk on all day. I don't think I sat down for more than a total of 50 minutes today. I tried to keep track. The longest I sat at a time was 19 minutes. Maybe that's why I am tired. I think I have a really good group of kids this year. There are always a couple that test the waters, but my group overall seems awesome! Let me tell you, that makes teaching a lot more fun. I must say that I am really glad we only have kids two days this week. That will make next week a little easier to adjust to. It kind of feels good to be back. I may change my mind about that in a few months, but for now, it's a good thing. I do wish I could sleep in every now and then though:) That's about all I have to talk about right now seeing as school has consumed my time, thoughts, and energy during this entire week. I hope all my teacher buddies are off to a good start! If I don't blog before the weekend, everyone have a good one. Betcha can't guess where I'm off to tomorrow afternoon...........

Fly Fishing...

was a really neat experience. My dad and I had a great time. We had an awesome fishing guide/teacher. Neither of us had ever done this before, so this poor guy had his hands full! He was tons of fun though, and extremely good at his job. It was so pretty when we went out there. The fog was coming off the water, and it was just beautiful!

On another note, today was my first day back at work. It wasn't too bad. But I must say, it is always sad when summer ends. However, at the same time, I always look forward to getting to know the kids in my class, and looking forward to a great year with them. I must say it feels good to be sitting in my chair at home though. The first couple of weeks are always the most tiring. Tomorrow night is open house. We have another workday on Wednesday, and my student teacher will be coming that day too. I look forward to meeting her, and you can always use an extra set of hands at the beginning of the year:)

Last weekend of the summer...

is here. I just can't believe it! I had a great time with my dad this week! I have some cool pics to post, but I seem to have misplaced my cord that transfers pics from my camera to my computer. I am hoping I left it at the lake yesterday. We went on a fly fishing trip on Wednesday. Neither of us knew how to do it, so it was fun to learn. We were wading in 42 degree water on Lake Taneycomo from about 8 until about 3. Long day, but lots of fun! It was just nice to be with my dad because we never get to do that. He is always with my hubby and brothers, and I am always with my mom. So needless to say, we had a good time together. I'll post pics as soon as I find that cord. Right now, I am back to the rent house to finish painting the bathroom, and polish the wood floors. I pooped out around 1:00 this morning and called it quits. I know you all are jealous of that:) If I don't get back on here today, everyone have a good weekend! We have a surprise b-day party for a great friend this weekend! So we are looking forward to that. I posted a picture just b/c I don't like posting without one:) This is a cactus we have at the lake that blooms during the summer.

Just checking in for a moment....

I just got back home from the lake. My dad decided to come see me. So I drove to Springfield to meet him at our house. Now we are getting ready to go run a couple of errands, then head back to the lake for a few days. I am going to enjoy my final week off work. Last night, I took off in a kayak and watched the sun set. It was beautiful. I hope everyone has a good week. To all my teacher buddies...enjoy your last week of freedom. It's coming to an end pretty quick.

New Layouts

Last night I stayed up until 2am scrapbooking downstairs, enjoying some good tunes on my ipod. I don't know what I'd do without that little device:) Anyways...the first three are things I did last night. The others are recent, I just haven't posted them.



The first layout is of the flowers Ryan sent me on my b-day. He always sends me unique flowers, and I love taking pictures of them. This layout is kind of unlike me. I'm not sure how much I like it, but it's done, so that's alright.







This second one is of pictures from last year at the lake that I have had sitting out since then. I can never find anything to compliment the pics because they are so nice to look at, and I don't want to take away from them. So, I kept it really basic, and again, this is one I'm just glad to have completed:)











This one is of another old picture. I sometimes look through albums, and if I see a picture that I really love, even if I have scrapped it before, I just pull it out and add it to my pile. This picture has been sitting in the pile for about six months, and it is a picture that I scrapped originally after our trip. I need to pull that album out and look at it. That is always funny to do. We were in the Dominican Republic with two of our very best friends, Justin and Jessie. Remember this, guys??? It was a pretty unique trip, to say the least. I just can't believe it's been so long ago.
This layout is from Father's Day weekend in Oklahoma. I started it at my mom and dad's house when I was there for her surgery, and just finally adhered the last pieces the other day. Each picture and green paper has good and a word that describes the day. I think it turned out kind of cool. These pictures were taken while I was with my mom too. I did this last Monday after I came home from the lake. If you notice I used white on white. I had seen that somewhere, and the results are more striking in real life.

This layout is pretty old. I think I made it during the winter sometime. It has been hanging in my page protectors in my scrap room, so it hasn't been photographed. I'm switching them out, so I decided to post it.

Well, Ryan is trying to finish work early so we can get an early start to our lake weekend:) So I need to run, shower, go to the grocery store, and head out. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I can't believe...

that summer is winding down so quickly. This week has been busy for me. On Tuesday, I went out to my school to work in my room. I stayed until after midnight. But....I don't have to go back until the 20th when we start having meetings and all the beginning of the year stuff. So I am glad of that. I was starting to stress about it, and decided to just put in one long day so that I don't have to worry about it anymore. Yesterday I had to go paint one of our rent houses. YUCK!!! Can I just say that I don't understand how some people can be so gross!!! This place was nasty. We bought this house two years ago, and it was in great condition. But these people ruined the carpet, the walls are just nasty, and the sinks and bathtub, I won't go there. It is always so alarming when you go in after someone moves out and see how nasty some people can be! Now, not all renters are like that. Some of them leave the houses in perfect condition. Thank goodness for them. But those people are few and far between. Anyways...I wish I had taken my camera over there with me just so you could see this mess, but I didn't. So now we are ripping out the carpet, and getting ready to refinish the old wood floors that are underneath. I still have to go do trimwork, but I am saving that for next week. I am going to get my hair done today:) Hope everyone is having a terrific Thursday, and to all my teacher friends, savor each moment, because we don't have much time left until we are at our district breakfast bright and early!!! I have some new pages to post, but I will have to do it later. I am hoping to scrap some tonight too:)

Pictures from the Lake:)

We had a great time at the lake this weekend! Both of Ryan's brothers came down on Saturday, then his mom and stepdad came down for dinner. My friend Angie came down yesterday too. We really had a good time, and just enjoyed the beautiful lake, and all my wonderful neighbors down there. I wish I had more to say, but it's just the lake, not a lot of action, but for some reason, it's just perfect. At least it's perfect for us anyways....hope everyone had a great weekend! I

am going to school tomorrow, I think, to try and get some stuff done. I am hoping to knock most of it out so that I don't have to worry about it anymore until I go back to work again, which by the way, is totally sneaking up on me.

Have a great weekend!!!

I just finished all of my errands. The car is packed, and now I just have to grab the dogs, and we are off to the lake for another fun weekend. It's gonna be a hot one though! That's okay, I guess that is what water is for:) I hope everyone has a great weekend. I have quite a few new pages to post next week when I get back home.

Fresh Veggies, YUM!!!

Ryan's Granny and Grandpa always have an amazing garden! They let me know they had lots of yummies for me, so I went out in the John Deere Gator with Ryan's Grandpa, and picked me some of the best tomatoes I have ever had off the vine! Ryan's Granny keeps the seeds of these tomatoes to replant each year. You can't get tomatoes like this anywhere!!! They are heirloom tomatoes. She also has German tomatoes. Oh my, I can't even tell you how good they are! I came home with garlic, which is also yummy, cucumbers, zucchini, and tons of tomatoes. I usually make a ton of homemade salsa with all this stuff. However, I have a couple of cuts on my fingers, and I don't think I can handle chopping everything up. I have actually ended up burning my fingers with jalapenos before. I know, it sounds weird, but the juices can go through your skin, and itburns from the inside. The burning lasted almost a week last time, so I don't think I can handle that. I am looking for recipes of things you can do with tomatoes. If anyone has any ideas, I would be so very grateful! I don't want all these tomatoes to go to waste! I can't eat them all, that's for sure. I would have a stomach ache forever!