I'm So Excited....

Right now!!! It is only ten minutes until Grey's Anatomy!!! I have sooooo been waiting for this! Can't wait to see McDreamy and Meredith and McSteamy and Izzie and George and well, the whole cast! I feel like it's been so long since the season ended. I have a casserole in the oven. YUM!!! This feels like fall. Fall is certainly not my favorite season. Afterall, that means I'm back to work, and home from the lake much sooner than I want to be, or not there at all. But there are a few perks about it. These are some of my favorite things about fall:

10) A Routine
9) School-yes-I did say that. (ask me again in April/May)
8) Feeling at home in this house again. (We don't really inhabit it much during the summer)
7) Going to the lake for a nice, calm, relaxing weekend. (The pace down there really changes)
6) Days when you can wear jeans or shorts, long sleeves or tank tops, flip-flops or boots-just whatever you want because the temperature becomes so comfortable.
5) Cooler weather for nice runs and good tv shows after I get home.
4) The changing of the leaves
3) Thinking about all I have to be thankful for right now, and focusing on it.
2) Casseroles and chips and queso and frito chili pies and queso......and
1) COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOOMER SOONER!!!

Have you ever....

looked at people, and thought, "What are you thinking?" That's what I thought today when I went inside Cheddar's to place a to-go order. I looked over at a table, and here's what I saw:
A table with a single male, and a couple,
The single male was sitting across the table from the couple,
The couple was totally mugging down!!!
I mean they were MAKING OUT!!!
I felt so bad for the man across the table from them.
I would have been so uncomfortable if I were him.

Is there anyone else who totally HATES public displays of affection like this???

Here's me...

doing my thing??? http://www.kspr.com/news/local/9906502.html Click on the link, then hit play, and you'll see me in action. Too funny. I wish I had known I would be on television tonight. I certainly would have dressed nicer, worn more makeup, and had better hair:)

Crazy Day

But it was a good day. The crazy thing is that I am on the news tonight on KSPR 33. My principal asked me if I would like to be on TV. I said sure, then said, hang on, what for??? She laughed, and said an interview about safety in schools-mainly if I think teachers should carry guns in school. So, that's what I'm on the news today about. It is on at 4:30, 5:30, 10:00, and in the morning. Pretty wild!!! I didn't know they would be coming into my room, but they asked if they could, so I let them. My kids were CRAZY!!! You would think they had never seen a camera before. I hope I don't look like an idiot.....Guess we'll see in about ten minutes.

Onto other things. The picture at the top is the card class I did Monday night at Scrapbook Generation. The page below is the page about my ring. I will copy/paste the journaling so you can read it. I really like how all these stamps look. I absolutely loved this paper when I saw it, but had no idea that this is what I would use it for. I feel kind of weird posting this journaling because it's pretty personal, but that's alright. I guess life happens to all of us! So here goes:

Regroup...that’s what I keep having to do here lately. It all started with the loss of my wedding ring. I had no idea how much that symbol meant to me. I mean, I always knew how much I loved my ring. I was never the type of girl to think I would want a new one-ever. That was it. It was the one Ryan had designed-just for me. It disappeared. I sort of started to deal with it, then I realized I don’t have one picture of it. I started to convince myself it was a sign. Maybe Ryan and I weren’t meant to be. It sounds ridiculous, but this has been really hard on me. Then, I had a glimpse of hope for finding a picture. I would find the guy who designed it. I called the place where Ryan got it, and tried to get in touch with the designer, No luck. Ryan found him. However, the building where he had his portfolios stored burned down. Imagine the doubt I started to feel at this point. I had to do some serious self-talk, and I had quite a few cries too.I started having dreams about it, imagining it being hidden in a really strange place at my parent’s house, blaming myself for not keeping up with it, when in fact, I know that isn’t what happened to it. I was miserable, and I really thought my marriage was doomed. I kept thinking if I could just find my ring, everything would be fine. Then, one day, it just occured to me. That ring is not my marriage, it is a symbol of love. I am still in hopes that I will come across a picture of my wedding ring someday, but I am becoming more and more aware that a symbol is a symbol. It is sad to not have it anymore, but I still have the real thing that matters. I have Ryan, and I have our dogs, and I have our life. And that, to me is worth more than any material thing I will ever own. So, I am looking ahead, looking forward to more of our life together. I have the things that matter the most to me. It would be much worse to lose one of those. So, right now, I am still really sad and crushed about my loss, but I have found a way to regroup, change my pattern of thought, and look at all the symbols of love I have in my life.

Happy Wednesday...

to all my friends out there!!! I love Wednesdays. In fact, I think Wednesday might be my favorite day of the week. It means that the weekend is just around the corner, and that makes me smile:) I am so happy today because I have gone for good runs every day this week. I am planning another tomorrow, then rest Friday and Saturday, I think. We'll see how it goes. This is the first week that I have actually felt like I WANT to run. It's been more like a HAVE to for the past few weeks. So that's a good feeling. I also finally feel like we are into our groove at school. It's really the first week that I feel like everything is running smoothly. I taught a class at Scrapbook Generation last night. It was good. I'll have to post pics of the cards we made. They turned out so cute. Ryan and I went for a run this afternoon, yes I said both of us! I think he's gonna run with me on Mondays and Wednesdays. We came home, showered, and now we are off to Chili's to meet his dad and step-mom for Ryan's b-day. We couldn't seem to get together last week, so we are doing it tonight. I am starving after my run, and it feels good to know that I don't really have to worry about what I eat because of all the calories I am burning during those runs. I think that may be my very favorite part of running. I'll try to post pics tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great evening!!!

Another Monday down:)

I hate Mondays, as if anyone who reads this or knows me was wondering:) However, this Monday wasn't too bad. After school, Ryan and I went for a run. he wants to start tagging along. I'm still trying to build up good endurance, and since I haven't been on much of a training schedule, that seems to be harder than usual. So tonight I've been looking at running websites, trying to find a schedule that is not only good, but one that is "doable" for me. Some of them are too much. I think I have committed to a half marathon Dec. 9. I'm nervous, but I know I can do it. I actually trained for one the year before last, but my partner and I missed our run. We thought it was one day, then I got online to register us, and realized we had the date for the previous year. So, needless to say, our training came to a halt. I am looking forward to good long runs, but kind of dreading them at the same time. I guess I look forward to feeling you get after you finish. It's been so long since I've been really running that that feeling seems far away right now. I think I found an eight week schedule I can follow. I will be ready to start it by Oct. 9. That is exactly eight weeks before the run. Here we go!!!

Missing this...

right now:) Our neighbor just emailed us this picture. He was coming in on his boat, and here we all were, just hanging out, enjoying a nice, hot summer day! Ryan and I are in the back on the right side, over by the red ladder. This is our dock, and our awesome lake neighbors/friends:)

TGIF...

almost:)

Happy Birthday....

to Ryan!!! Today is his big day. I know he doesn't like me to make a big deal out of it, but I just can't help it. He doesn't usually read this, so I can talk about it on here. We are going to eat at Nakato (his choice), then I have gotten ahold of his brothers and some buddies to come and meet us at Indigo Joe's to wish him a happy b-day. It will be fun!!!

Monday...

has never been my favorite day of the week. Today is the first day of school when I have been really irritated with my class. I don't know that it's all their fault, but I swear when they returned from lunch, they were crazy!!! I am sure the fact that I don't have a break until 2:10 on Mondays doesn't help matters. But it seemed as though during lunchtime, aliens came and kidnapped my sweet class, and turned them into strange little creatures:) Today was the first time I have really had to get onto them as a group. They just wouldn't stop talking. So, hopefully, tomorrow will be better. It's gotta be, right??? Please say yes. When I taught special education, we had names for each of the days of the week. They were:

Mild Monday
Terrible Tuesday
Wacky Wednesday
Trying Thursday
Finally Friday

The strangest thing is that the name actually rarely differed from the way the day went. I guess they don't really apply these days, because today was certainly no Mild Monday. Maybe tomorrow will be better:) I hope everyone has a good week. I am bummed b/c today, I have looked forward to a good hard run all day long. Ryan was even going to join me. But, it won't stop raining! It hasn't rained all day. Not until I started to drive home anyways. I keep hoping it will stop. I won't last long on the treadmill....

A weekend at home???

What will we do with ourselves? I don't think that Ryan and I have spent a weekend at our house since May. So being at home on a Friday feels unusual....but good. I have just been chillin' in my scrap room since I got home from school. I don't think I've accomplished a thing. I've had this same layout going for about two weeks. It just feels kind of good to be in my room with no place to go, nothing that I have to do, and simply sit, relax, breathe, and BE...The page I have been working on is about my wedding ring that I no longer have. I haven't said much about it on my blog, but this has been a really difficult time. I don't even have a picture of my ring. That's right, me, no picture. It is actually unbelievable. I have a picture of everything you can imagine, but no picture of that??? Not even a wedding photo, and we purchased all the proofs when we bought our wedding pics. Unbelievable. However, a couple of weeks ago, I just decided I had to stop obsessing about it, it was time to regroup. That is the title of my page. Hopefully I will finish it tonight so I can post it. I think it is one of the first times I have scrapped something that I am terribly sad about. Maybe that's why it's taking me so long. I hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!!! TGIF

Tagged...Again...

and it's taken me forever to get this done. Sorry Allison, but I just haven't had much extra time lately. Anyway, here goes...

Here are the rules:1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. ***IF you have already done your middle name than do the State that you live in with new adjectives!*****

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts. ***Or state if you have already been tagged before!***

4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.Here is mine:

N-Nice...I think anyone who knows me would vouch for the fact that I am a nice person. (I hope they would anyway:)

I-Intense...Anyone who has ever watched an OU football game with me has seen my intense side. It doesn't come out too often, but when it does, look out! I get this way about a few things, but not everyone has seen that side of me.

C-Creative...I have a pretty creative side to me. It comes in lots of forms, ranging from scrapbooking to teaching, to decorating, and lots of other things. I don't function well when I don't have time to be creative. In fact, I tend to become pretty grumpy.

O-Outlook...I try to keep a positive one. Even when life is bad, I tend to find a way to find the good things and to go from there. Sometimes I need a little help from my friends, but I always find a way to get back to the positive, and think about all the good things life has brought to me. I just don't believe in negativity. It is a dangerous state of mind.

L-Lake...I don't think I have to explain this one. I simply love the lake:) It makes me smile just thinking about it.

E-Enthusiastic...I don't think anyone would say I lack in the area of enthusiasm. I love to get excited about stuff, and I always try to make even the most terrible tasks at least a little fun!!!

So there you have it, a few facts about me. I can't follow all the directions above b/c lots of my blogging buddies have already been tagged. So I am tagging Tiffany, Ashlee, Heather, Allissa, and Ronnie and Becky! Oh wait, I did come up with six people:)

I love short weeks!!!

I don't know what it is, but I just love having four day weeks. It feels like I just blinked and tomorrow is already Wednesday. For some reason, when Wednesday arrives, I feel like the weekend is just around the corner:)

I can't post without saying BOOMER SOONER!!! That really made my weekend, and it made my night when I went to the sight and saw that we have jumped ahead of Texas in the polls. Don't know why that makes me so happy, but it always does.

We had a great time at the lake this weekend. We really enjoyed the extra day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous the whole time we were there!!! I got home last night around 7:30 or so, put things away, ate some food, and then I think I was in bed before 10. That is amazing for me. Today after school, I had to go buy some new running shoes and headphones for my ipod. Barkley chewed Ryan's headphones earlier this summer and I gave him mine. I haven't had the heart to ask him for them back, so today, I went and got a new pair. They are really nice too. I love them!!! I had to buy new shoes because last week, I came home from work, changed clothes, went to get my shoes on, and guess what??? Yeah, Barkley has hidden one somewhere and we are yet to find it. We have no clue what he has done with it. So needless to say, Barks has had a pretty expensive day. I know my shoe will turn up somewhere at a random time. I figure I'll just have another pair when it appears. Today after I went and got all this stuff, I came home and went for a run WITH my ipod. I forgot how much that little thing helps me out. I mean, the run was so different. It has been a struggle every time, but today, I just loved hearing my tunes. I guess it takes your mind off of how tired you feel. After I ran, I came home and walked the dogs, then I started cleaning. I got a lot done. I dusted, swept, mopped, and vaccumed most of our upstairs. Our house was in serious need. I still have more to do, but I feel better having a good start on it. Tomorrow night I am hoping to scrap a little. I need to make some cards ASAP!!! Hope everyone is having a good week!!!