Is that Fall I see???

Fall is Nathan and I's FAVORITE FAVORITE time of year! This weekend we were very excited because we saw a glimpse of beautiful Fall weather that we love so much. YIPEEE!! It seems pretty early but since we had a short summer, I am hoping for a long Fall!
-65ish degrees
-the small of burning wood/leaves
-jeans
-harvesting of the fields
-Purdue football
-open windows
-sweatshirts
-homemade Apple Cider
-bonfires
-a cool evening breeze
-mums
-leaves turning colors... Oh my gosh I am getting soooo excited!!!

beautiful Fall!

my husband!

HE REALLY IS AMAZING!!!

I know I have said this before but I just can not say it enough...he is so good to me and I love him so stinkin' much.
After school today I went and had my hair highlighted and when I got home he surprised me and had the entire house clean!! He had put away the laundry AND all of the dishes, he had picked up the living room and put away all of the stuff on the counter. How awesome was that! He had a crazy busy day at work and still came home and cleaned the house! He is the best.

one smiling wife :)

dinner guest

Nathan and I had a dinner guest tonight... my baby brother Gavin! Gav had a day off from his DM training so he drove over and joined us for dinner. He has an amazing flank steak that he makes and offered to treat us to his cookin'. I agreed to make mashed potatoes and dirt pudding. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine, an awesome dinner AND learned all about Google Voice(how Gavin knows so much about all that crap Nathan & I will never understand!)

Gavin cookin us a yummy meal.


Gavin showing off his mad cookin skills...Nathan supporting him all the way!



brotherly love! Gavin showing Nathan the new Google Voice...you can tell Nathan is catching on quickly.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my moms birthday so I thought I would make a special post just for her.

She came to visit us this weekend and we sooo enjoyed having her here(we really wished she lived closer!) On Saturday, Gavin, Mom, Nathan and I played a fun round of golf and then met my moms brother Kevin and his wife out for dinner.

Today was a birthday first for mom...we took her to a pig show!!! Daddy would be so proud of her. After she calmed down and realized that the pigs were not going to eat her, I think she enjoyed it(a little bit).

Mom- thank you so much for being such a wonderful mother. You are the best mom and friend that any girl could ever ask for. I hope that someday I am half that mother that you have been to Gavin & I(Nathan too). You are the best. Sending Hugs and lots of love...happy birthday!

thoughts

Yesterday Nathan and I took a trip up to Chicago with Mike, Bridgette and Vicky. We went to listen to Rob Bell. Our group has done a study of his and got alot out of it so when Bridgette heard he was coming to Chicago and suggested that we all go. He was doing his Drops of Stars tour. We were not sure what to expect heading up there but left with LOTS to think about.

The night was full of of 'wow- I had never thought of it like that' moments but one in particular stuck out to me.

thought:

There are events in life that happen to us that we have no control over.When these things happen (sufferings, hard-ships, loss, hurt ect) we turn to God and ask Why? We then turn our focus to the Why? instead of the What now? We often dwell on the Why instead of asking the What now? The What Now? is hard but can be most beneficial.
We can either become better or bitter.. How crazy true is that? I had never thought of it this way, but there are so many times that we continue to ask Why? and instead of becoming a better person and learning from what has happened we become bitter. Even crazier idea: we might not have consciously chosen to let it make us bitter but by not choosing to let it make us better us become that way. interesting huh?
The last part of the convo hit me the hardest. I really don't know why and I won't tell you too much about it in case you have the opportunity to go see him. I will just ask this...have you even noticed that when rain drops hit the pavement they make stars?
guess it really is all about how you look at things.

just before the show started

the group...minus Joe(he was at a meeting with Oprah), Hilary, Jonas and Hadleigh(she doesn't like Rob Bell yet!)

we are so thankful for such great friends!!

fried

That's how Nathan and I feel today! Nathan had an inventory and left this morning at 4:30. His eyes look like they have been taken out and turned around and upside down a few times. Its not good. I had my first teacher day- full of meetings and to-do lists. I feel like my brain has been taken out and turned around. I got all 709 names entered into the grade book today and finished putting the final touches on everything for tomorrows first day. After I left school I needed to make a QUICK stop at Wal-mart to pick up note cards and markers.
I remember why my dad hated going into that place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I stood in line for 25 minutes because some crazy lady in front of me had 10,512 coupons and price comparisons. Ok, so I am not a coupon clipper but I know many people are and I don't have a problem with it EXCEPT when the cashier hits the Total button and the lady pulls out about 10,203 more all of which must be scanned WITH the product! When they started going through her bags and pulling things back out I thought I would scream. I was so frustrated that I took all of my purchases that were on the belt, put them back into my cart and moved to another line. I JUST WANTED TO GET MY NOTE CARDS AND GO HOME!!!

We are both finally home now, ate left-overs from last night and are just vegging out on the couch watching PTI(one of my favorites). I have a few things to get done before bed one of which is highlighting 450 papers informing parents when their child has PE. fun stuff. The other is a load of laundry(not one of my favorites). The school gets us new shirts each year and I think they are either hinting that they want me to get pregnant and get out of there or trying to tell me that I am just fat! My shirt is about 4 sizes to big so hopefully I will be able to shrink it before morning.

one exciting part of the day is that my new running shoes came in today... I love Zappos- they are so fast.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday everyone.

Last night Nathan and I snuck in a quick round of golf before we went out to dinner with Mike and Bridgette. They invited us to a new restaurant called Bartletts, it's at the Dunes(Lake Michigan) and is was really cool. I had beef brisket(Mike said that was a ballsy move) and Nathan had grits and shrimp- to top it off they had sweet potato fries- my new favorite food! It was a really cool atmosphere and enjoyed the nice dinner with great friends.

Here was my plan for our day...sleep in, make pancakes, cuddle and watch ESPN, go for a run(because the next mini is approaching in 9 weeks), watch golf- aka Tiger, take a nap, enjoy a glass of wine and grill out, watch the sun go down from our little porch and save the dishes for tomorrow. Now doesn't that sound like a perfect day!!!

Well, this is what today is going to be more like... Nathan goes to work(he is already there),I head into school, grocery shop,put away laundry, run, enter 700 names into a grade book, start on lesson plans, Nathan does more work at home when he gets home from work, get gas for the grill,hopefully finish the day with a glass of wine while we grill out, do the dishes tonight because we have guests coming tomorrow. I really like option A better!!! Ol' well, nothing I can do about it, just get to it and be thankful for this beautiful day. As a very wise coach reminded me often...This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it.