An opportunity to see D.C.

My husband is an awesome teacher. 

I know everyone says that about their spouses so I guess that my not be saying much. 

But he is passionate in ways that you hope your kid's teachers are. He works late, goes the extra mile, cares about the future of kids that may not believe they even have one. He is dedicated to social justice and never points fingers.

He is intelligent and innovative in the in classroom. 

He was asked to participate in a fellowship in Washington D.C last summer. The timing didn't seem right so he turned it down. Well, he was asked again this year and this time, the timing is perfect!

He will spend 5 weeks working with the iCivics program with Sandra Day O'Connor and I get to go with him! I don't know what I will be doing, but I'm sure it will be fun :)

Looks like this is going to be a fun summer!

My new J-O-B.

Since all the most important and necessary people in my life know, I am glad to finally make public that I have accepted a new position as a full time lecturer at Baylor University! As you might know, I love Baylor, so this is like a dream come true.

 I will be teaching various health classes. The first semester is Stress Management and Death and Dying, both of which I am so excited to be teaching! I am looking forward to being on campus again. The department I will be in is the same one that I spent doing by Masters Degree in. I now get to work with the same professors that mentored me as a student.

The interview was long (2 full days) and interesting but it gives me confidence that the University is grounded in its mission and provides full support to its faculty. I start in August but will stop my current job in the middle of June (more on that later). 

Birthday Boys.

We got to spend the weekend celebrating birthdays! That means, lots of fun, food, and family.

We went to dinner Friday night and started Saturday by going to the Farmer's Market.

With lots of food vendors to choose from, we chose tamales! They were good and much healthier than traditional tamales.

The weather was beautiful so we went for a walk down the river. 

We walked to a small Art Fair and enjoyed the scenic route. We saw ducks, paddleboarders, and some of Waco's landmarks.

 We went shopping until it was time for the Baseball game. We got to see Isaiah Austin throw out the first pitch.

We had Dad's birthday dinner at Heitmiller Steakhouse.

Sunday we went to church and then Neil's choice of birthday lunch...Domino's Pizza followed by ice cream cake.

Another Birthday boy opened gifts.

It was a great weekend celebrating great men in my life!

Easter.

I know its a little late but I just wanted to share our Easter. We met at my Grandma's house and filled her backyard with food, family, and fun! 

It's always nice to see cousins and aunts and especially the littlest, newest members. They always seem to have grown leaps and bounds every time we see them. Like little Evan.

The food was AMAZING!! Not traditional mexican food but prepared by my uncles, so I guess its still Mexican food....? Anyways, here is some of the spread.

The fajitas, vegetables, and fish were seasoned with Julio's seasoning and grilled to perfection. And of course the rice made by grandma was the best! I gotta get that recipe!

As usual, we take casarones pretty seriously around here.

It's fun to explain to the little ones "yes, you can smash it on his/her head". "No, you don't have to ask". "You can even get the adults and they won't even get mad". 

We do have some rules: 1. break it in your hand, not on the head. 2. stay away from food.

When my little cousin got cracked on, he was upset because "i have easter in my hair" :)

Beautiful Day. Beautiful weather. Beautiful family.

Lewie's snack.

Silence is golden.....or a sign of trouble!

Lewie was too quiet and when we found him, this is what we saw!

He loves his raisins!

Master Makeover.

Our “roommate” moved back in and that means we are back in the downstairs bedroom. Which I have decided I like better, anyways. I took this chance to spruce it up a little. For $100 I redecorated the room. 

We used the same comforter, bed and paint. The only thing different was that I used these teal pillows to add a little color. We already had them and were being unused in the library so it was free.

 The photos are of a few landmarks in Waco. I took them via Instagram and had them printed at OfficeMax. The black frames are album frames from Michael's and were 3 for $9.99. I added them to painted 2X2 plywood squares.  I already had 2 of them so I bought one for $5.99 from Home Depot.

  The lamp was the biggest splurge but I love it! I got it at Marshall’s for $50.00.

Put it all together and bam!

 Call it Spring Cleaning but It makes me happy! I love change and a little color never hurt anyone, right?

No sew curtains.

I have been searching for curtain fabric for the kitchen window for a really long time. I put up some temporary ones until I found something else. I came across this website called SPOONFLOWER and they sell awesome fabric!! Anything and everything you could think of...bacon? Got it.

 ....pickles? got it.

....scrabble??? Got it!

I've got to figure out how to use that fabric!!

After searching "yellow and brown" to match the paint colors in the kitchen I narrowed it down to a few fabrics and Neil got to choose...and he did great!

The fabric showed up at our door about 5 days later and i got to work. I was busy lazy so I tried a no- sew- method. I ironed out about a 1 inch hem all the way around the fabric and layed down a piece of adhesive tape between the fold.

 

I put an iron to it for 30 seconds and about 3 minutes later....the whole thing was done. The hems looked great! Probably better than if I sewed it.

I created a little pocket on the top for the curtain and put it up. It matches well and was so easy!

I have since used the tape for the hem of some dress pants, the lining of a purse, and trim on another curtain!

The Glorification of Busy.

Busy-ness. Its an excuse. Its an addiction. Its a way of life. 

I hate it! I don't believe anyone wants to live a busy life. A full life? Yes. A busy one? Probably not. 

Busyiness makes you miss out on life. That's where I am now. In the middle of battling busyness.

- working 7 of the next 8 weekends.

- responding to store emails everyday.

- product research to make sure that prices and image of the store is up to par with similar items.

- rewriting a new edition of the Dining Guide at work.

- doing Rosetta Stone 3 hours a week.

- journaling daily.

- keeping in touch with family.

- planning a trip around the world.

- filling 32 etsy orders in three days! And they are still coming in! (guess all that research paid off)

- preparing/presenting to Baylor faculty and staff.

- on that note, lots of hoping ;)

- keeping a house clean.

- cooking healthy meals at least 5 days a week.

One of my professors used to say this all the time: 

I know I am stretching myself thin and not doing any of these things well.  I want to make sure that I am spending QUALITY time with my best friend.  QUALITY time with my Bible. Providing QUALITY work.

So I have been taking inventory and cutting back where needed.  

Giving mom some etsy orders. Catching up on emails AFTER the BFF is asleep. Abusing my crockpot. blogging less. taking flex time to workout and do Rosetta Stone. Avoiding Facebook.

All this to say, sorry for the blogging inactivity!

I will catch you up soon!

A Candy Gram.

Every year for Valentine's Day, we make or do something for each other. It keeps the simple and fun. 

This year I tried my hand at a Candy Gram. If you are reading it and there are some KISSES missin, thats because they were taken by a puppy.

 

This is a close up of the bottom. I had to get a little creative with this one.

 It was fun to find interesting candies like KRANKY?? and to come up with the right words. The possibilites are endless. Its a good idea for birthdays, bosses days, etc. If you are wondering what I got, here you go....

Its roots. Its a long, mushy story so I'll spare you the details but I'm a lucky girl!

27.

I know I'm late but that's ok.

I turned 27. 27. That sounds old to me….I know its not, but 26 didn’t feel this way.

I spent my birthday in a nice hotel in Austin for a conference. It is the first birthday I have spent away from Neil in 6 years! Luckily, I made it and still managed to have some fun. My coworkers/friends took me out. We went to Pappadeux for appetizers, Thai House for dinner, and dessert at the hotel! I managed to avoid the embarrassing songs, too! 

Neil has this tradition of sending me clues all day about what my present is. See here for Last year’s clues for my iRobot.

This year there were a lot of clues:

1) James Bond

2) 21

3) -}carbon-{

4) dang dis nag is more

5) mrs. Ricardo is high

6) we’ll need it in 2069

Any guesses?? 
.
.
.
.
.
 

Its diamond earrings of course! 

 

Two things: 1) yes this is a very lavish gift for us and I didn’t believe it 2) I did guess correctly

Logic:

1) James Bond – Diamonds are forever

2) 21 – forever 21

3) -}carbon-{ - carbon with pressure = diamonds

4) dang dis nag is more = unscrabble the words and its diamond earrings

5) mrs. Ricardo is high = never got this one but apparently Mrs. Ricardo is Lucy. High like in the sky. Lucy in the sky with diamonds = beatles song.

6) we’ll need it in 2069 = it will be our 60 year anniversary and the traditional gift is diamonds.

I came home and meet my sister and her fiance who drove up for the day to see me/Brittany Griner. I looked all over for my gift but he took it with him...womp womp.

We had great conversation with meg and mark and dinner at Heitmiller then witnessed a slaughter at the game. Sooo glad to see them!!! It was another great birthday with lots of love!

I won.

Everyday on the way home from work I listen to 1660 ESPN sports talk radio.
They have a trivia contest everyday but I never know the answer. Well the other day, they made an announcement that the first person that came through the door could get two tickets to the Baylor women's basketball game. Well, whaddya know. I happened to be literally down the street for a meeting when I got in my car and heard the announcement so I hurried over there. I barged through the door and over excitedly asked if they were still available. They were. I won the tickets!

Well this week they had a segment where you could call in and talk about the boy's basketball game that night. If you made it on the air, you were entered into a drawing to win 2 tickets to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. I called and after being put on hold for about 15 minutes, I was on the air. That was exciting! Then as we were on our way to the game I got the message that I won the tickets!

Waco has the Texas Sports Hall of Fame museum and they induct new hall of famers every year. The tickets run $200 each and include a reception and a banquet!

 This year some of the inductees are.....

DREW BREES!

SHAQ

and

RICKY WILLIAMS

So, we will spend our Monday evening with those guys! 

Pictures to come soon.

The Day I Met My Valentine.

Being a Pre-Med student and studying for the MCAT sucks up a lot of your time. Between going to class, working 30 hours a week, and studying, a trip to the library with gummy bears and a friend was a treat! Friend and I had “our” cubbies. It wasn’t official but let’s just say that people sitting there got up when they saw us coming….ya, we were that serious! Anyways, Friend and I did not live together and her friends were not mine. As we were studying for a genetics test, we were distracted by two of her neighbors. On their way out, they exchanged hellos and goodbyes and “I haven’t seen you in a while”s. Then the tall, handsome friend in a black SUBLIME shirt, twirling a pen between his fingers said, “stop by soon and bring your friend”.  I’m sure I blushed and I know I hid behind my cubby. But as they walked away I peeked out in time to see him turn back my way and give a little wink. **sigh**

He swears he doesn’t remember winking and surely he doesn’t remember what he was wearing, but I’ll never forget! 

If you know him, this does not sound like him AT ALLL!!! He is never that courageous or cheesy but it worked and the rest was history! 7 Valentine’s Days later and he still melts my heart! 

Happy Valentine’s Day, Bug.