The Happenings of Lynn

4 cities tour: Part 2

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

City #2: Austin

After our trip from Houston to Dallas, we headed to San Antonio for a mini vacation, a mini baby-moon if you will, and stopped in Austin on our way down. Our stop in Austin was for one specific purpose: Franklin BBQ! In Texas Monthly, it was rated the #1 BBQ place to eat in the COUNTRY! It started out in a trailer and just recently moved to its own permanent location. We got there around 10am, waited in line until the doors opened at 11am, and then waited in line some more as people moved through until about 12pm when we got our food. We got a little sampler plate - some lean and fatty brisket, some sausage and some turkey. They had Dublin Dr. Pepper from the fountain (YUM!) and delicious sauces. It was quite the delicious treat. Afterwards (somehow) we ate ice cream at the Cool Haus traveling ice cream truck. Needless to say, dinner was quite small.

I really would have liked to take a pic of us in line but I felt a bit silly so I just took a pic of the line. With our 2 hours in line, we became friends with the people right in front of us. They took off work to come just to Franklin's.

The sign, and these two random men. I did not realize they were in my photo. It kinda looks like they are posing but I do not know them at all!

City #3: San Antonio

We finally got to San Antonio (after a brief stop at the San Marcos outlets) around 3pm. We have done all the traditional San Antonio sights many times before so this trip was more for relaxation than anything else. We stayed at the Ruckman Haus bed and breakfast in the Sun Room. We actually spent a lot of time in the gorgeous room just reading, watching tv, and relaxing. The breakfast was delicious and was so filling we really didn't need lunch and the two owners, the Ruckmans, were so nice and friendly. On Saturday, we went out to the La Cantera Resort where I spent the day being pampered at the spa and Ben golfed. We ended the day with a nice dinner on the river walk. So fun and relaxing!

Reading - I pretty much started and finished the Hunger Games this weekend. Soooo good!

Let's call this the belly shot, vacation style! 25 weeks

Walking up to the amazing sun deck on the top of the house...

The beautiful sun deck - on Friday when we got there, I spent the afternoon reading and napping up here. I was even visited by a squirrel!

More sun deck...with a view

Self portrait!

And from the top of the stairs

City #4: Houston (Katy, HOME)

We ended our tour of Texas at our home in Katy. It was nice to be home after 4 days of traveling. The cats were happy to see us and I have spent the day reading and napping with them snuggled up next to me.

4 cities tour: part 1

2012-01-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

We realized as we were heading back to Houston from San Antonio after going through Dallas and Austin that we have traveled to 4 of the major cities of Texas in 4 days!

City #1: Dallas (Allen then Richardson) for Keith's wedding (my brother)

Belly shot, wedding style - 24 weeks!

I wore this dress to my rehearsal dinner and it still fits! (ha, its stretchy)

Traditional self photo, waiting for the wedding to begin

The Happy couple - Keith and Marisela - plus the rest of the Pulliam family

The Coopers and the brand new Pulliams

My brother and I

The wedding was beautiful and sweet. It was great to see my brother so happy. Keith and Marisela make a wonderful couple!

Next up, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston

21 and 23 weeks

2012-01-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

So I've gotten a little behind on the belly shots. It seems that every time I think to take one, I've already changed into comfy clothes or PJs and who wants a picture in those?! Anyways below are the standard shots. I've added a comparison photo in the same shirt (I saw Jana do this on her blog) and it makes me realize how much I've grown and how I really wasn't that big when I thought I had grown so much. I'm sure I'll feel that way in a month about the size I am now.

16 weeks

21 weeks

23 1/2 weeks

I'm still feeling good and sleeping well. I definitely feel bigger but not huge. My sweet kiddos tie my shoes for me and pick up things off the floor. I can still do it but they love to help and its not so easy anymore. I still feel queasy after a big meal but gum helps. I don't have any consistent swelling, just now and then my hands feel fat but then they return to normal soon after. I don't know what causes it.

Sweet baby boy kicks all the time and I can feel him now throughout the day. In our 20 week sonogram it was so fun to see him kick on the monitor as well as feel it. He is growing normally and perfectly they said and we are so thankful. 4 1/2 weeks until my 3rd trimester! I can hardly believe it.

2011 in Pictures

2012-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012!!! This is the year our baby boy will be born in. This is the year our family will go from 2 to 3. This is the year that...the Hobbit comes out! Haha and so many more important and not so important events.

Without further ado, I bring you the highlights of 2011 in pictures!

February 2011, I went to San Fran to visit the now Lindsey Adkins

Spring Break - March 2011 - Coopers and Kalinkes (my sister and her family) go to Lockhart and surrounding areas and had 3 BBQ meals in one day.

April 2011 - Coopers come to visit for Easter. Lynn's hair is REALLY long.

June 2011 - Last minute trip to Jamaica with friends

July 2011 - Coopers x3 go to Gulf Shores Alabama

For some reason, Ben and I are the only ones who decided to do the prom pose.

July 2011 - Wedding #1 - Lindsey Bunker and Ben Adkins in San Fran!

July 2011 - Ben and Lynn go to San Francisco and Napa. The Napa trip ties with Seattle for #1 vacation together.

September 2011 - Labor Day weekend - Coopers and Coopers go to Vickburg to help move his grandparents to Tupelo. I was secretly about 4 weeks pregnant here but no one but Ben and I knew!

September 2011 - Happy Birthday Ben! @ Brenners Steak House in Houston

September 2011 - Foster the People Concert with the Mortons (also secretly pregnant here)

October 2011 - Wedding #2 - Jamie Bruchan and Eric Shing

November 2011 - We find out that we're having a BOY and the planning begins!!!

2012 is going to be one of those crazy transitional changing all the time years. But we are so excited for these changes (and a little nervous...) and thank God daily for his blessings and faithfulness to us daily.

And don't worry...a Christmas post is coming.

19 weeks

2011-12-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is almost here! Tomorrow, we will have Christmas #1 of about 7. But oh how I love it. And oh how I love family time. It just makes me so happy. Today I was very domestic and made THESE low fat, whole wheat cinnamon rolls. They are in the fridge ready to be baked in the morning. I hope they turn out well! On to the reason for this post...

19 weeks

I know I usually do 2 at a time, but no posting will happen next week due to Christmas fun so I thought I'd go ahead and post. Is it weird that my belly looks pointy? It sure doesn't look pointy from my view. Must just be the angle of the picture.

At 19 weeks, I'm feeling the baby kick! Ben was able to feel one strong kick and that was exciting. Energy is still up (it's 11:43 and I'm awake!). I'm feeling more of the limitations of having a tiny person inside me such as bending over not being as pleasant, as well as getting up from the floor (I sit on the floor a lot at school).

One big feat we accomplished this week was to get the carpet upstairs cleaned and the baby room cleared out! That means it is ready for baby things! So far, we have 2 outfits, a bag of random diapers I have left over from making diaper cakes, and 2 sweet blankets. We don't need much else right?!

Some of my favorites

2011-12-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share two of my new favorite things.

One is the cupcake shop Sweet. Pretty much every time we go to City Center, we go to either Yard House or Ruggles Green. I love them both. And pretty much every time we go, I get a salad...so that I can fully enjoy a cupcake from Sweet afterwards. They are delicious for one, and two, they use all organic, all recycled materials. I just love all their stuff and love their vintage style shop. And last time we went, we met the two owners - two young guys who have started their own business. So go check it out the next time you visit City Center in Houston. I recommend the red velvet cupcakes covered in sprinkles!

My second new favorite thing is this website I found called pixlr-o-matic. I love instagram on IPhone but was looking for something for the computer that I could use for pictures I wanted to actually print out. It takes your pictures and adds cool effects to them - mostly making them look vintage and old. I find it funny that the old, vintage, and used look is so in right now, but I admit, I love it too! Take a look at the three photos below.

Normal. Nice Photo. Not so exciting.

Vintage. Old. Beat-up looking :).

Or perhaps you like the more whimsical style.

I want to go and do this with all my photos now and see what they look like! Such fun. Enjoy!

16, 17, 18 weeks

2011-12-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here's the last 3 weeks of photos. Looking at the last photo, I'd definitely say I've grown, or shall we say HE has grown!

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks - In my last year's winter workout clothes. That shirt only has maybe a month left!

At 18 weeks, I'm feeling good. Nausea is almost gone completely and is easily remedied by some mint gum after meals. And as I have mentioned, I've got most of my energy back. New fun symptoms include heart burn and my feet hurt a lot sooner in the day if I haven't sat down as much. Also this week, I started feeling Baby Boy move around! It's subtle and not forceful at all but I can tell the difference now between baby and the other rumblings in my stomach. It does not cease to amaze me how amazing God is in His creation of this little guy. I can't wait to find out what he's like!

Developments - this week I started exercising more with my new found energy and it has been so nice and feels so good. We continue to talk about names but are keeping the name a secret until birth! Just a fun surprise for the end. And soon we will start clearing out the now craft room to make room for a baby room. So many fun things ahead!

The Honest Truth

2011-12-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

So kids are infamous for saying the honest truth. I've come to school without makeup ONCE ever and my students, many of them, told me in various forms I looked sick, asked if I was tired or just plain what is wrong with you today? Haha I love it though. Once I died my hair back to dark brown to cover up highlights but it turned out black! Many of my students informed me that I looked scary, ready for Halloween, and that they preferred the my old hair better. Anyways, these comments have not stopped as I've gotten pregnant. Here's some of the comments I've received from my sweet, honest students.

Boy Student to another teacher: Did you know Mrs. Cooper's having a baby?!
Teacher: Yes, that's so exciting isn't it!
Boy Student: Yeah, and its gonna come out, I don't know where, but it's comin' out.

When I announced I was pregnant at 12 weeks to my class...
Another boy student: I knew it! We noticed you were getting like a little fatter, didn't we guys?!

After I found out it was a boy...
Girl student: But Mrs. Cooper, how can they know that it's a boy?
Me: Uhhh...Well... they just look inside me and they can tell (hoping this will suffice).
Girl Student: Oh. Ok.

Girl student: Mrs. Cooper, you look weird when you're pregnant.

And everyday when we leave, some of my students say goodbye to me and then give me a little tap on the belly and say "Goodbye baby!". I'm sure Baby Boy will miss those sweet voices this summer. I'll have to get a CD of kids talking for him to fall asleep!

Christmas has Arrived

2011-12-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas arrived this week at the Cooper residence in the form of manger scenes, Christmas lights, and a very modest tree.

This year the big tree just didn't make it out. We are happy with our small little tree.

I love my manger scene. I have it on the ledge right in front of my sink and I look at it every time I wash something.

Couldn't resist a photo of Polly. She is excited for Christmas!

I inherited these block Merry Christmas letters from my mom made by a very dear family friend. They make me think of both my mom and our friend.

The glowing mantle. You can't quite see it, but on the ledge is a manger scene my mom and I painted together when I was little that she has also passed down to me. I love passed down decorations.

And this week the parties begin! I love this season. Although its very full of activity, its such a special time and such a wonderful celebration of our Savior Jesus.

And P.S., thanks to my sister for the awesome camera. I can't wait to take pictures of my sweet baby boy with it.

The results are in...

2011-12-03T16:17:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

Currently, I am sitting on my couch with my kitties and my husband enjoying some relaxing/productive (alternating the two) time at home. Holidays for us mean getting away and enjoying our families. I leave all my house work and responsibilities behind and head north. It's always such a nice break and wonderful time with the ones we love.

We got in Tuesday night to Allen and (of course) had some dessert. I can always count on some dessert being ready for us when we come in from out of town and it doesn't matter if we drive into the Coopers or the Pulliams - both are waiting with sweets.

Wednesday I pretty much hung out with my mom all day. Dad and Ben played golf while mom and I shopped, ate lunch, and then cooked many many yummy things. They picked up dinner and then we enjoyed several rounds of 42.

Lightened up Sweet Potato Casserole

The most delicious mashed potatoes ever.

Thursday was as you know, Thanksgiving Day, and Ben and I ate our annual double Thanksgiving meal. First with my family and then with his. You see, we've learned that the key is not eating too much dessert at the first meal. This plan was ruined by the ~~evil~~ delicious ice box chocolate pie that my mom and I made. It was heavenly. Thank you Tara. Despite our extremely full bellies (and mine crowded with a baby as well), we were so blessed by time and good conversation with both families.

This year since we had a smaller group with my family, we did the traditional food-on-the-table-and-pass-it-around style while Dad carved the turkey right in front of us!

My brother Keith and his newly engaged (congrats!!) fiance Marisela, Ben and I with a hand on the baby

The women at Thanksgiving this year - Aunt Betty, my sweet mom, me, and Marisela. Usually there are many more but our crowd was small this year.

Friday, my mother- and sister-in-law and I got up at 5:00am to go shopping! Honestly I can say we didn't get too many amazing deals at 5:30am that we couldnt've gotten at oh say 2:00pm but man did we have some extra time to shop! By 9am, we had gone to Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy, Ulta, the Loft, Charming Charlies, and probably some other store that I was delirious in, and were sitting in Mimi's Cafe eating breakfast. Cherish and I saw the Twilight movie (so good!!) and then kept on shopping with Pat at Half Price Books and Target. We were so amazingly exhausted by the end of our 9-hour shopping event, but it made my afternoon nap just that much sweeter.

This is me and Cherish, my sister-in-law. She is married to Ben's brother. We have the same birthday. Every year, Pat, our mother-in-law lets us pick out a new purse for Christmas. This is a tradition with a story that someday I'll tell. Anyways, here we are picking out purses. And actually, Pat bought those purses but then we both found other purses at Francesca's and she took those two back. We love you Pat!

The damage

Nail Sticks! I love these things. They are stickers for your nails but they stay on so so much better than nail polish.

And now its Sunday. We left early yesterday morning and headed South through Waco, Calvert, College Station and on to Katy. Yesterday, we went grocery shopping, did the week's laundry, ate dinner and even did a little cleaning. Wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving break. Thank you to our precious King who gave us blessings overflowing this week.

P.S. Boy or Girl? We find out Monday morning! Only 1 more day to vote!

15 weeks and some thankfulness

2011-11-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

Below is my 15 week belly shot. You may notice that I'm wearing a tank top. Oh yes, I took this picture today. It is very warm outside. Every year I forget how warm Houston falls and winters really are. Anyways, I went to the doctor this week and all is looking great! I heard our sweet baby's heartbeat and asked a few questions. Then, I scheduled my appointment TO FIND OUT THE GENDER! We find out the Monday after Thanksgiving! I can't promise an update right away but sometime that week, I'll let the blogging world know if we're going to be shooting for the PGA or LPGA (as Ben says).

15 Weeks

And in honor of Thanksgiving, some things I'm thankful for this year.

T - Tiny hands and feet growing inside of me
H - a Husband who is serving and loving me without complaining as I've been more needy lately
A - Amiable and Amazing friends at work and church

N - No school for a few days of relaxation and time with family
K - Kids, 22 of them exactly, who make my days a challenge yet bring such joy

S - our Sweet families who love and support us

G - Great food to look forward to and always having enough!

I - Immanuel, Jesus, God with us
V - Victory over sin in Christ

I - Incessantly snugly kitties

N - Nice people who let me borrow their maternity clothes

G - God who loves me and took my place

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. May you be blessed with homemade sweet potato casserole and conversations that uplift you. Oh and good Black Friday shopping deals too!

What's that I feel?

2011-11-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

What's that feeling I felt today? I can't quite place it. I hardly even remember the word for it... Oh yeah, ENERGY. I think that's it. I haven't felt it in so long that it felt almost foreign! But it felt good. Over the past 2 days I have...

Done 7 loads of laundry (Can we say behind in laundry?!)
Cooked dinner
Ate my first Thanksgiving dinner with Blueprints
Not slept past 7:30am
Made breakfast...twice!
Gone to church and took care of 1 year olds
Ate lunch with sweet friends
Grocery shopped
Shopped for shoes (but sadly bought none)
Done lots of school work
Took a nap
And put up a blog post!

And its 10:15pm and I'm still awake! I can't remember the last time I stayed up until 10:15 actually being productive. It feels good and hopefully this is no fluke. Maybe I'm going to finally start getting some of this energy back and enter the "honeymoon" stage of pregancy (as one website called it). I sure hope so cause I got lots of planning to do. And researching... and gathering... and moving things around... and so so much more...

Now this was worth the wait!

2011-11-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

(I know I know...its been a long time. But let me tell you, this post was worth the wait, I promise!)

Ben and I are proud to announce that there will be a new baby Cooper arriving in May 2012!!

I am 13 weeks along right now and I have what you've all been waiting for...belly shots!

12 weeks

13 weeks

At midway through 13 weeks, I'm feeling much less nauseous in the morning, but still feeling some of it in the afternoon/evening. I'm still feeling pretty tired but not like the extreme fatigue from the beginning. As in, I can stay up past 8pm now! No real specific cravings, just a bent toward saltier foods now instead of the sweet tooth I've always had. And I've got a little nectarine inside me according to one site I've been reading. When we first found out, baby was the size of a poppy seed!

We feel so blessed by this baby and are so thankful for everyone who has been so sweet to celebrate with us! The Lord has been so kind to us!

Stay tuned...in about 3 weeks, we find out if its a boy or a girl! Cast your vote!

On Monday...

2011-08-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

...the new 2011-2012 school year begins!! I am so excited. I have the wonderful blessing of moving up with my students this year. You see, I taught 3rd grade for four years. Then last year, I was asked to move to 2nd grade. Then at the end of last year, I was asked to move back to 3rd. Yay! I love both so much and am so excited about spending another year with my students (plus some more) from last year. I have 23 kids (and counting...) so far which is more than I have ever had. There are so many desks in my room! It will surely be an adventure.

The summer was great, but some thins are about to change, like...

1. Sorry everyone, but the traffic is about to return to normal - packed by 7am on I-10.

2. My alarm goes off in the 4am hour. I get up in the 5am hour. I'm out the door sometime in the 6am hour. Wow. Shock to the system. Although Polly and Carlos love it because they get fed earlier.

3. Surprisingly, I actually cook more. I am not naturally super organized. I need routine and consistency to keep on top of things. And cooking is not one of my favorite things to do. Therefore, during the summer, in the spirit of taking a break, not as much quality cooking happens. I look forward to getting back into that.

4. Packing lunches! This year, Ben is going to start bringing his lunch. I made it all last week for him and this week, I'll start making it every night for the two of us. I'm going to try this great technique I found on this awesome organizing blog of making bags of food at the beginning of the week and then you just have to grab the bags, put them in your lunch and go! I just need some tubs.

5. No more lunch dates. Lunch is now 25 minutes (on a good day) and spent with my team. I enjoy the time though and once you get used to it, its really plenty of time.

6. I have 23 little lives in my life again! They are precious, they crack me up, and they add so much joy to my work. I honestly don't know how you people go to work with adults all day. I spend my day with children, and I love it.

Happy new school year! What is your favorite new school supplies to buy? I think mine is new markers and pens - sharpies, crayolas, glitter gel pens (with metallic ink!). Love them.

Pillows!

2011-08-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

One of my most recent sewing projects has been pillows. Pillows add color and interest to most areas - chairs, couches, floors, and beds. I have learned a little bit of sewing knowledge on each pillow.

For the yellow (the first one) pillow, I used this tutorial for a flap pillow case. This site actually gives you 3 ways to make a pillow case. And for the second pillow, I used the Jones Design Company (one of my most favorite blogs right now!) tutorial for a ruffle pillow. I just used 3 ruffles because the pillow was a little big for so many ruffles.

And on the couch...

This next pillow is also from Jones Design Company. I followed the tutorial for the gathered flower and then made the flap pillow cover.

And here with new favorite chair (and Carlos's too!). This chair was my grandmothers who gave it to my sister, who had it recovered, who gave it to me. Love. It. This is in my kitchen. Carlos is in Heaven in this chair. Yesterday, we came home from church and both kitties were snuggled up together in it. Precious.

And finally, the ruffle pillow! Made from the previous link of course. I gave this to my mom for her birthday.

Happy pillow making!

Part 3 - San Fran: the City

2011-08-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Part 3 of our vacation takes us to the downtown area of San Francisco and some other fun sights to see.

We rode the ferry in from the Marin area and were on foot the entire day in actual San Fran. It was a little windy on the ferry.

Pier 39 - Seals basking in the sun

China town - here, we went to a fortune cookie factory that made fresh fortune cookies

This the crazy curvy street. We just looked up the hill at it, but we can say we were there!

OMG - 3 story Forever 21. So awesome. You can tell that man in the picture agrees.

Later, we went to Muir Woods in the Marin area which was a forest with the large Redwood trees.

Look how the tree dwarfs me!

And again...I feel so small!

I love these self-taken pictures. We take one at almost every location. Behind us is the Muir Woods.

That night, we drove over to Stinson Beach. To get to it, you have to drive this windy up and down road for about 20 minutes. My stomach HATED that. But it was mostly worth it in the end. The fog was crazy and makes you feel like you're in a cloud. I think that Ben is contemplating life in this picture.

Enjoying dinner at a local beach restaurant

This is how I feel about beaches in Norther California. But those little people way out there behind me are playing in the freezing water! It was this sweet dad and his kids. Anything for waves and sand castles I guess.

This is a different night in Saucelito.

This was the gorgeous view of dark clouds and the blue water that we could see from our seats at the Spinnaker restaurant. Amazing!

And that concludes San Fran. I recommend to anyone to go there and especially during the brutal hot Houston heat. It was literally a breath of cool, fresh air.

San Fran part 2 - Napa

2011-08-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of our trip takes us to Napa, California. Beautiful hills filled with vineyards and beautiful gardens.

Winery #1: Cakebread, just a tasting

Winery #2: Pride Mountain

Barrels in Caves!

Winery #3: Del Dotto - a tasting tour through the caves

Winery #4: Jordan - beautiful grounds

Winery #5: Ferrari Carano

The best part about this one was the beautiful gardens.

Driving around Napa was gorgeous - beautiful views and beautiful vineyards

It started to get warmer and so I took my sweater off. And I never saw it again. It is lost somewhere in Napa forever.

We stayed at the Calistoga Garden Inn in Calistoga during our stay in Napa. It was an amazing little Inn with breakfast and a sweet little one room cottage.

And Winery #6 (last one): Silverado - up in the hills/mountains and a gorgeous view

San Fran Part One - The Wedding

2011-08-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, we traveled to the great state of California. I look at this trip in 3 parts that will constitute a 3 part blog series. I don't know if I've ever had a series! Wow, this is big. Anyways, part one is Lindsey and Ben A's wedding. That was the original reason we went to San Francisco before we decided to make a vacation of it.

The bouquets - we put these together as well as the boutonnieres

The rehearsal dinner - beautiful location at the Old Homestead near San Fran

She used empty wine bottles with flowers and these swirly stick things as decorations on the tables. Also, she hung clear glass ornaments in the trees. They looked like bubbles.

A beautiful outside July wedding - only possible (comfortably at least!) in Northern California. I actually had goosebumps standing up there.

Mr. and Mrs. Adkins...and Random Dude

This is the bridesmaid's dress. It was from Anthropologie and the wonderful yellow shoes that you can't really see were Lindsey's gift to us.

Lindsey and {her} Ben leaving to a shower of balloons

It was a beautiful, creative, and cool outside wedding.

Part 2 - Napa

My new favorite party decoration

2011-07-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Banners. I am new to them. I have helped throw many baby and wedding showers over the years and never thought to make this wonderful decoration. It's colorful, it can be saved, and its just so easy to make! Recently, I have made two banners for showers and I love them. I look on Etsy and get ideas and think, man, I can make that! They're really pretty cheap on Etsy - most are around $25, but this way I get to completely customize it, pick my colors and words, and enjoy making a craft. And save maybe $10.

Drum roll please.....cymbal!

Welcome Baby Girl! For our sweet friend Emily who has now moved back home. We miss you already!

I used 4 different coordinating pink and white patterned papers and alternated them. The letters are cut out from book pages. Then I used the little baby clothes pins you get at the Hob Lob and pinned the letter pages to tulle. Turned out adorable. And then she got to take it home...I can't say I wasn't hoping she would forget to take it ;).

Bride to Be - For Lindsey's shower the night before the wedding. This will be traveling with me via plane to San Fran. Pray it makes it!

Again, I used coordinating papers with grey and yellow patterns. The letters are cut out from hymnal pages and backed with charcoal grey card stock. And the little pearl embellishments are just stickers. Then I hole-punched each letter and tied them together with lace and ribbon. Again, I just love it.

If I have any part in throwing you a shower in the near future, you can be pretty confident that you will receive a banner!

On this day 4 years ago...

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ben Cooper and Lynn Pulliam became The Coopers!

I love my sweet Benjamin. He is kind and loving. He is hilarious and makes me laugh. He challenges me to step outside my comfort zone and get past my insecurities. He leads me well and takes care of me. Happy 4th anniversary!

Yahoo for marriage!

Top 10 Recent Happenngs

2011-07-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a delightfully full last couple weeks. Fun with friends, relaxing, and enjoying the summer down time. I love my summer days at home. I've cleaned out drawers, done crafts, had lunch dates, and had plenty of time to exercise, read my Bible, pray, and take a nap. How wonderful. Here's the top 10 recent happenings of Lynn in pictures.

1. Kemah Writing Academy with Erica

2. Happy Father's Day!

3. Picture frame to Jewelry keeper

4. I Discovered Pinterest and its seriously addicting. Follow me!

5. Girl's Day in Allen

6. Visit to baby Mitchell

7. Day 'o' Fun with friends - ended with dessert!

8. Fourt of July on the 21st floor

9. Began and will finish soon The Forgotten Garden for my book club. I'm really enjoying it.

10. Enjoyed time with my sweet kitties.

They are best friends. And I love them.

And there are so many more happenings to come.

To my Dad

2011-06-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my amazing Dad! You have taught me so much and made me feel so loved. Thank you for your example of following the Lord and for teaching me about Jesus. Thank you for your kindness and giving heart! I love you!

Glazing Attempt #1

2011-06-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I have been reading for a long time on craft blogs about glazing painted wood furniture or decoratives and I really wanted to try it. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's not perfect (when is it ever?!), but it does add some color and some shabby-chic-ness to my house I think. I used tutorials from The Speckled Dog and All Things Thrifty and there's even a video tutorial at All Things Thrifty which I found very helpful. Here's my process and attempt at glazing some wood picture frames.

These are the products I bought at Home Depot - Aqua Spray Paint, Kilz Primer, Faux Glaze, and Black paint

1. I took all the glass and backing out of these wood picture frames that I got for $1 or less each at KCM resale. (That is my new favorite resale shop. It's cheaper than Goodwill and has so much more!!) Sorry, its just a local place though.

2. I sprayed each with Kilz Primer and let dry.

3. I sprayed each with the Aqua spray paint and let dry. (I can't get this photo to flip!)

4. Now the fun part: glazing! Go to those websites above for very detailed instructions. First I mixed the glaze (its looks white like glue, don't be alarmed at this as I was!) with the pint of black paint, although it could have used a little more black paint I think. I painted on the glaze with a foam brush and then almost immediately rubbed it off with a damp cloth. The black glaze is then just left in all the crevices and cracks of the frame (this pic is before I wiped it off)

5. And Ta-da! I took some pictures I've had up for a while and put them in my new aqua frames. You could also do some hand distressing of the frames with some sand paper if that suits your fancy.

Here's a close up. Oh my sweet bridesmaids! And now I've put these frames in various places around the house to brighten things up a little. So fun!

The book shelf in the living room

My entry-way table

Up next: Painting and glazing two wooden chairs!

Yeah Mon, No problem

2011-06-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Jamaica was delightful. Warm and Sunny. We spent the majority of the time laying on the beach, getting sun (a little too much I admit), reading, and enjoying the water. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and only ventured off the resort twice in our 5 day stay. Once to go out to dinner and watch the Mavs play (and way to go Mavs!) and another time to go to Dunn's River Falls, a huge waterfall that we climbed up. The people were so fun and friendly. Their accent was great and their favorite phrases were "Yeah mon" and "No problem mon", just like on Cool Runnings.

Day 2, we stayed in the shade because Ben and I both got sunburned the first day. But it was just as enjoyable.

The "perfect" Sunburn. Ben got so many comments about this heck of a sunburn. Some random man even gave him a real aloe plant leaf. Said he bought it for his own burn but that Ben needed it more than he did. He's slowly healing.

Out to dinner

Chillin' in the chairs in the water...mine was the far one about to float away.

The beach a little after sunrise. Our hotel had its own island!

Kelsey, JT, Me and Ben - the gang we hung out with all week - we had a blast with them

Day 3 - Our day hiding in the shade after the sunburn

Love. This. Pic.

Daily Summer Goals

2011-06-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

I find that goals make my life more purposeful and more joyful. Even though they add structure, they also add freedom. Below are some of my summer goals:

Daily goals:
Read the Bible and pray
Work on part or all of a craft project
Clean out one area/drawer/mystery stack, etc. per day that I am at home

Weekly goals:
Working out 3x a week
Home cooked meals
All Summer goals:
Learn to crochet, practice in travel time
Read through "Power of a Praying Wife" and apply daily (Anyone wanna do it with me?!)
Home organized with some better systems in place to avoid mess
Strengthen current friendships, make new ones

Should be one of the best summers yet!

First Summer Project

2011-06-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting and preparing to do this project for a while now and I love how it turned out! Last week, I went to Half Price Books and found an old hymnal for $7. This weekend, I went to Michael's and got a green styrofoam wreath for $2.48 with a half-off coupon I pulled up on my iPhone. And that's it! I followed the tutorial on Jones Design company for a book page wreath and just used hymnal pages instead. I used not even half of the hymnal pages so I have so many more left to do some other fun project with. Emily from the Jones Design Company does a wonderful job of showing pictures for each step so I'll just show you my final product.

Eeek! I just love it.

My photography skills are less than stellar (as well as my camera) but this gives you an idea. I'm not totally sold on this spot for it, but it's staying there for now.

Good things

2011-06-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

1. Today I bought two swimsuits at American Eagle for half the price of one at Dillard's. Just call me Mrs. Thrifty Shopper. And they're cuter too.

2. I'm adding back one by one in all the foods that I took out of my diet the last three months to see if they cause headaches. Today and yesterday's food to add back in was chocolate. Oh chocolate. I haven't you in almost 3 months. I had a kit kat at breakfast. A mocha frapachino at lunch. And then thin mints at dinner from the freezer that I had blocked out of my mind. It has been delightful. And the best part - I don't have a headache! (knock on wood).

3. It's summer!! And that means so so so many good things. See previous post.

4. We're going on a last minute trip to Jamaica! Soon!!! We planned it last Wednesday. Through email. I'm so pumped! Hence the need for the above mentioned swimsuit. I also need huge beach towels, sun screen (I've been using the same bottle for about 6 years now), and beachy flip flops.

5. This morning I had the opportunity to pray with several girls from my Bible Study class at Houston's First where I go to church. It was refreshing, encouraging, powerful, and uplifting. Prayer and fellowship are two wonderful gifts from the Lord. Our focus today was perseverance.

It's almost here...

2011-05-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Summer.

Hot.

No school.

More free time. More crafts.

Vacations.

Home cooked meals.

Sleeping later.

Staying up later.

Laying out.

Getting a slight tan.

Movies.

TIME.

It's so close! One week left and summer is HERE. I adore my students this year and I will surely miss them but I can't wait for the summer to recharge, plan, relax, and have fun!

Renegades of Craft

2011-05-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was a treasure hunt day. Saturday morning, my neighborhood had their yearly garage sale. I love garage sales, but apparently you have to be quite the early riser to get the big stuff. One of our neighbors told us that there were people lining the streets at 6:30am waiting for the garage sales to open! Wow. And I thought we were doing good to get out there at 8am. You would have thought it was a carnival with the number of cars lining our street. Anyways, I was a little bummed because we forgot to get cash. Ben had $8 and I had some change so we went out hopeful for low prices. So with our $8, we got: a cute bag with an "L" on it, a cat house, a chopper (the food kind, not a motorcycle), a book about the black market (Ben's only purchase), and a window pane mirror. And I got to meet some of my neighbors. Below is the mirror I got. I have aspirations to turn it into something like this from one of the craft blogs I regularly follow.

The next treasure hunting event was at the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin. I drove to Austin with my friend Holly and we braved this indie craft fair. We were a little out of place, but our love of crafts helped us fit right in. I got some fun vintage and not so vintage jewelry along with a cool journal made out of an old book. Holly got some wonderful prints for her kitchen and living room. Probably my favorite part though was all of the ideas I got for future crafts. I can't wait to have some free time to do some of them!

Top - one of the book pages prints Holly bought, bottom - the book turned notebook i bought

Oh and in between all the craftiness was a fun fun crawfish boil with lots of friends and babies. A wonderful Saturday indeed.

Tried something new...

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Ben and I found two new places! The first one is a little dangerous as it is an ice cream shop. It's on my way home from pretty much anywhere. And its about to be summer. Hot Houston summer. When all that sounds good is ice cream. Oh geez. Anyways, its called Sweet Things Ice Cream Shoppe. They make their own ice cream and cones. I had a scoop of cinnamon toast ice cream and birthday cake ice cream. You won't regret going!

The second place we found was called The Egg and I. We were headed towards Jimmy Johns after church and passed by this restaurant and decided to try it. Delicious. And we must go back for breakfast.

Love you mom!

2011-05-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day weekend, I got the wonderful treat of being visited by my parents. It was such a treat to get to see my mom on Mother's Day and get to celebrate it with her instead of 4 hours away on the phone. Saturday was our day-o-fun and by that I mean our day-o-being productive! My mom and I always have some project that we are working towards when we are together. This time, it was the cats. They needed to get their yearly shots and those vets are darn expensive. So we called around and found a low cost (a third of the price!) pet vaccinations station at Petco. We waited in line for about an hour and a half while I held Polly and while Carlos eventually calmed down and waited it out in his brand new crate. We had to buy him a new create because he did this (see below) to his previous carrier.

Yes, that is his head poking through the hole he clawed out of the side. Gotta love him. Anyways, the guys played golf and that night we took a nice little drive down to Kemah and enjoyed dinner at the Aquarium. Nice views and wonderful company. We enjoyed some wonderful conversation and and a great weekend altogether.

Me and my sweet mama

In front of our flourishing garden (it really is growing this year!)

Me and my sweet dad

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit! It was refreshing and fun, relaxing and encouraging. I love you both!

Pawsome Pet, year 3

2011-05-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, well I am entering in Polly the Polydactyl wonder cat into the Pawesome pet contest at my school one more year. Year 1, I entered Carlos and he didn't come anywhere close to winning. For some reason, cats just don't get a lot of votes and I just can't imagine why. Last year, I entered Polly and she got 2nd! That was the highest ranked cat EVER in the history of the annual contest. A cat has never won, but I think this might be the year for it! The voting goes on all this week and each vote costs 25 cents. Oh and the best part is that the winner gets to bring their animal to school for a day. I could have Polly with me all day! I'm rootin for her. Here's the picture I used to submit her entry into the contest:

Isn't she cute?! I think you can really see her special paws in this picture. Hopefully it will be enough to win over the hearts of these students! Go Polly Go!

Baby shower fun

2011-05-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, my 2nd grade team and I hosted a baby shower for one of the other wonderful 2nd grade teachers. She is having a boy and is having a western themed nursery. Hence, the western themed shower. We had quite the spread (no need for dinner that night!) and were told we put on a wonderful shower.

This is the cute invitation we got it from Urban Frontiers on Etsy. It was perfect! The lady was so quick and helpful. Even when we had to change the date on the shower last minute, she changed it for us free of charge! I would recommend her.

The 2010-2011 2nd grade team

The western themed diaper cake. I got a lot of ideas from looking at ideas on etsy and used this online tutorial.

A close up of a pacifier tied with a bow to a diaper

One of the other girls made these adorable horse cupcakes! They took a lot of work but they were precious and delicious.

Overall, I think she felt very celebrated. We can't wait to meet her sweet baby boy!

Easter with the Coopers

2011-05-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a lovely Easter with the 3 Cooper couples. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Mark and Pat - Ben's parents

Luke and Cherish

Ben and I

And of course Carlos - he hates being held like this

The girls got pedicures and manicures while the guys golfed

Waiting for Taste of Texas

Enjoying our feast at Taste of Texas (I really just go for the salad bar!)

And our 2nd feast - Easter lunch - ham, twice baked sweet potatoes, baked beans, broccoli, crescent rolls, watermelon and sweet tea

I ate this meal for the following 3 meals after Easter dinner...amazing.

Thanks Coopers and Coopers for a wonderful celebration.

Simple and Chic

2011-04-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

I've gone through a couple revisions of my blog now (as you may have noticed) and I think this one suits my fancy. I like the simplicity of it - white background, not many frills along with the vintage, shabby chic feel to it. If I had endless money and time, I would make my world look like everything in the Jones Design Company blog. I just love it.

I got this linen design and the previous bird one as well from Background fairy. She has a similar shabby chic vintagy style. I JUST LOVE IT! If you know of any other blogs like this with decorating ideas to that style, I'd be delighted to know about them.

Today, (any minute now!) the Cooper's times 2 are coming to visit for Easter weekend. This is a tradition started 2 years ago (see picture above of the first annual Houston Easter) and I absolutely love it. I love hosting, I love spending time with them, and I love not driving! It's so sweet of them to come visit and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ with us. He is risen! He is risen indeed!!

The Rose Mystery

2011-04-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I just love Knock Out Roses. They are incredibly low maintenance (which is the only kind of plant I can sustain) and gorgeous. Their first bloom of the season was fabulous. I was worried that they had died in one of our "winter storms" that wasn't, but they survived the harsh winter and began to bloom about a month ago. Last spring, I planted these two modest size, maybe 1 1/2 feet tall, Knock Out Roses in my front flower bed right under the front windows. Our garden was just sad and needed a major pick-me-up. Now, one of them is GT and has probably tripled in size. The other, well, I'm not sure what happened with it. It has maybe grown a few inches up and out. They are about 4 feet apart and I am at a loss as to the major difference in growth.

Rose Bush #1 - Closest to the door and you'll notice it has now grown taller than the window

Rose Bush #2 - 4 feet to the right and you'll notice is not even close to reaching the window

I will keep trying though. Today I fertilized the grass, pulled weeds AND I have watered my dried out lawn every night this week! Wow, who am I?! It was actually quite relaxing and satisfying. If you can solve the Knock Out Rose mystery, please do tell.

Camping, etc.

2011-04-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, so here's been my dilemma with blogging lately. Event A happened and I wanted to blog about it but put it off. Then event B, and C, and D happened and I wanted to blog about it but I didn't feel like I could until I had blogged event A and thus I just never blogged any of them. So, *sigh* some events happened that will not be recorded as I would want in blogdom. Sad, but reality. I will post a few highlight pictures of the latest happenings and be able to move on with my blogging life.

So, we had the best camping trip, a month ago, with my sister, her husband, and their three boys. We went right outside of Bastrop near Austin and rented a one room cabin. The men stayed out in the tents while my sister and I stayed inside in the one room cabin. Delightful way to "camp".

My sister Anne and I at the first BBQ restaurant in Lockhart, 1 of 3 we ate at in 1 afternoon

All of us in front of Kreuz Market BBQ

This is the man who owns the cabin we rented. He has a ranch and I got to feed the baby calf

one morning.

My nephews - Jacob, Zach, and Andrew - growing up so fast!

All of us

Me and my Benjamin in the back porch of the cabin

Part I of Spring Break 2011!!

2011-03-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Ahh Spring Break, oh how I love thee. I don't want to gloat or brag, but I just have to share with you the amazing amounts of things I've been able to do in just 3 days of Spring Break.

Cleaned the bathroom, I mean deeeeep clean. I found stuff that no one should see. See, you're not jealous now are you?

Cleaned the rest of the house thoroughly.

Finished my book club book "The Scent of Rain and Lightening" by Nancy Pickard. GREAT mystery story. I loved it and can't wait to talk it over with my book club girls!

Scrapbooked Christmas. For 2009 and 2010. My goal is do it yearly, but something happened last year, and it just never happened.

Made "just add milk" blueberry muffins just for me.

Cooked sweet potato fries from Cucina Bella to go with the awesome burgers Ben grilled. I loved them, as I enjoy the soggier fries, but they weren't crispy enough for the hub's taste. I can understand that. (those are not my fries pictured below)

Ran 2 miles TWICE! And in the cool morning sun. Lovely but surprising difficult. I'm not sure why.

Watered the yard. Ours was still brown but this morning, after watering last night, I'm seeing much more green!

Took a nap with Polly snuggled right next to me.

Had lunch with my friend Erika at Ruggles Green - YUM. I also got the Pink Velvet cake which was incredible.

Went to Target then came back home because I was tired and found myself locked out. Boo...we've got to get an extra key. So, I took a little nap in my car, and while I waited for Ben to get home, went to Katy Mills Mall where I found a wonderful plaid button-up shirt at Gap Outlet for all those times when I need to dress country and never have anything.

Blogged - twice in one week!

Tonight we are going to see Menomena in concert and then going camping tomorrow with family. I can't wait!!

A month of FUN

2011-03-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

So, its been almost a month to the day since the last time I posted and that is because I've been having so much FUN! And working and being responsible too, but mostly there's been no blogging because of 'da fun. Here's a little recap in pictures of the fun...

T-shirt quilt and a movie or two - I have the entire inside finally all sewn together, this week I will tackle the outside border and be DONE!

February 26th was finally the Rodeo Run 10K that I've been training for! I ran with these other sweet girls from my school and we all did a great job. Next run - Aide Sudan 5K.

Last weekend, I went to San Francisco to visit my friend Lindsey. She and I were roommates in the Nimitz house our sophomore year at A&M. She is getting married to her Ben in July! We had such a fun time shopping, seeing the city, doing wedding stuff and relaxing. There was also a good amount of talking and eating bad-for-us food - two essential elements of a girls' weekend!

This is us on a hill in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Gorgeous view and a gorgeous day.

God is Love

2011-02-14T03:59:00.000-08:00

On this Valentines Day, no matter what happens, don't forget Who did and always will love you the MOST! (Follow the link below!)

http://devotions.proverbs31.org/

Have a happy day!!

Recent creations...

2011-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

So I finally found the right color burlap (at Joann's) along with the time to actually make the ruffle wreath. Above are the materials I used (plus a glue gun). I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Right now, its on my front door but once its time for my glittery Easter egg wreath, I will find another place for it inside. I'm not totally sold on the little ribbon flowers that I made but they will do for now.

Also, last weekend when I had all the time due to the trecherous (or not!) weather, I rearranged some furniture and found a new home for my recently purchased armoir. I got it a at a garage sale in Arlington right before Thanksgiving. Here is the new armoir and the new view when you walk into my house. I am happy to get to display some pretty things I have that are usually just in the cabinets.

Snow!? Oh no, nevermind.

2011-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Some weekends, you just gotta be flexible. We had a marriage conference planned for Friday and Saturday night along with ya know, work on Friday. Well think again! Houston freaked out this week with the impending doom of a few flakes (that never actually showed up!). I even heard one weather man say 5 inches were possible. Maybe he thought he was talking to the Dallas area.

The school district announced around 2pm on Thursday that school would be canceled for Friday based on the forecast of snow and freezing rain. I wisely waited until 3:30 to tell my kids who were thrilled. One kid started dancing (as I was doing on the inside!). On my way home from school, I stopped by Joann's fabrics and Half Price Books to get some crafting supplies and The Help which is the book my book club is reading this week (let me know if you want to join in! We meet in Katy once a month.) so that I would have plenty to do on my day indoors. Unfortunately, my mind can become one-tracked (word?) and I got so excited and into preparing for the snow day that I COMPLETELY forgot that some friends were coming over to talk to us about their ministry. OOPS! 6pm...the doorbell rings. At this point I still don't remember and honestly I thought, maybe its UPS with the shoes I ordered online this past weekend! I open the door and with a very surprised face and wearing my fluffy socks and huge sweatshirt said, "OOOOH! Helllo!". I was horrible at hiding my surprise. Fortunately they are kind people, and also fortunately I was not supposed to make then dinner so we just whipped up some quick coffee and hot tea and had a very nice chat.

On Friday, I got so much done. I did my math lesson plans for next week, my sub plans for Thursday and Friday (going to Austin for 2nd grade conference!) and completed a test online for school. Then I made a wreath, worked on my t-shirt quilt and made some cookies. And somewhere in there during one of those activities I watched Notting Hill on Netflixs. I like the beginning of that movie better than the end. Ben was home too and had a perfect little rotation of swing the golf club, read articles on the Internet, read, and repeat interrupted only once by a peanut butter and honey sandwich. All in all, a nice, productive, and relaxing "snow" day. Thank you Houston for freaking out. Here's a little video to help you know a little more of the trauma we have gone through....

Longest Run EVER

2011-01-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Today, I ran 4 miles! This is my longest run ever and it gets me so close to my goal of a 10K. I just finished with week 6 of my training schedule and that means I've only got 4 weeks to go. The weeks are less intense from here on out (thank goodness) except for the once-a-week long run is really long. Next week its 60 minutes and the week after that 75. Anyways...I was thinking about where I was last year at this time and came across this post where I was happy to have made it to the 1.5 mile mark. Now that's progress folks.

Also today, if I can make it to Hobby Lobby at some point, I want to make this wreath inspired by my friend Holly. I still have my berry Christmas wreath up and I have decided I never want my door to be without a wreath. It just adds so much. So I need a end of winter wreath that will last me until my egg wreath I'll put up in April. And no, I haven't finished my other project, the t-shirt quilt, but I need a wreath NOW!

Rodeo Run 10K Training

2011-01-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

3 weeks ago, I started training for a the 10K Rodeo Run on February 26th. Last year, I did the Rodeo Run 5K at the end of February and ran the whole thing even though I had never run more than 1.5 miles. So this year, I decided to go for it and try to train for the 10K. The Rodeo Run is a 10K and 5K race that benefits the rodeo. And its just fun to be a part of. I remember saying at the end of it last year, "Next year, let's do the 10K!" and then we all laughed! But alas, here I am.

One thing that really helps is that Ben is training and signed up to run it with me. He is a great runner and encourager. It was a little scary actually signing up and paying and not just saying I was going to do it because then I actually have to go out there and go the 10K distance whether I'm ready or not! I looked for several different training programs and found this really good one for a 10 week training program. It started me out very slow and easy - the first day I only had to run/walk 15 minutes. Then it just pushes you a little bit each week and every Saturday you do your longest run of the week. Today was my first run that it didn't allow me to walk at all and it was tough but I did it and ran 30 minutes straight.

Now I'm sharing this with you to tell you that there is a 7-week program on the same site that you could start THIS MONDAY! If you can already run about 2 miles, and it doesn't have to be a comfortably run 2 miles - I'm still pushing myself to get to 2 miles - but if you can do it, you could start with me right now and do the last 7 weeks. Let me know if you're doing it and we can encourage each other.

These are my new running shoes I got for Christmas so that I could feel like a "Real Runner" :). Accessories and new clothes always help motivate me!

T-shirt Quilt Part 1

2011-01-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend while Ben was golfing, I finally had time to start making my t-shirt quilt. I've cut up all my old Maroon Out shirts, Grace retreat shirts, and Doulos shirts into 14" squares. It was a little hard to cut the first shirt...I'm very sentimental...but once I got going, it was no big deal. So now I've prepped everything and the next step will be the actual sewing! If you have any old Grace or Aggie shirts you were going to just throw out anyways, give me a shout! I'm just a few short. Here's what I did....

First, I cut 14" squares out of my t-shirts.

Next, I ironed on Pellon interfacing on the back of the t-shirts.

Carlos and Polly are always right there ready to help if necessary. And ready to sit on anything I'm working on. I can really count on them.

Finally, I cut out 14" squares of maroon flannel and also 13" or so squares of batting. These 3 layers (t-shirt then batting then flannel) will then be sewn together to make one of the quilt squares. And notice again Carlos' tail and Polly's little paws. Right there. All the time.

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Christmas Marathon 2010

2011-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so much more than 1 day, its more like a week of celebrating (and that's not counting all the days of prep!). We are so thankful to all the family we have to celebrate with and consider ourselves tremendously blessed by our families.

Christmas #1: Ben and Lynn Christmas, December 22nd - Ben and I enjoy having our own special Christmas apart from all the bigger family Christmases. We exchanged gifts and stockings, had a special, although healthy, Christmas dinner and topped it off with a movie.

Christmas #2: Keith Family Christmas - This is an annual Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve with my Mom's side of the family. We eat Christmas lunch together and then we do a food gift exchange with the stealing "White Elephant" type game. So fun! In other years we have acted out the Christmas story and sang Christmas carols.

Marisela and I after the exchange - notice the cream cheese ring I got in the game!

8 year-old Bliss: Dr. Pepper, Sour Gummy worms, chocolates and a huge peppermint stick (this is my nephew Zach)

Christmas #3: Pulliam Christmas #1 - This Christmas includes the guys making Pinch-me Coffee Cake, exchanging gifts with my brother Keith and his girlfriend Marisela as well as Mom and Dad.

This wins my heart - Dad and Ben cooking the coffee cake

Merty was with us the whole time under the tree

Christmas #4: Kalinke/Cooper/Pulliam Christmas: This is my entire immediate family Christmas. We eat Christmas breakfast together and exchange gifts and spend the morning just talking and playing with new Christmas toys.

The Ladies - Marisela, me, Mom, and Anne

Keith and Marisela being funny

Me and my Dad - how blessed we are by him.

Christmas #5: Cooper Christmas - There are 3 Cooper Couples - Ben's parents, us, and his brother Luke and wife Cherish. As the tradition goes, Ben's mom Pat gives the girls Christmas purses and the guys get some sort of manly gift. Also this year, they gave us a trip to Gulf Shores in the summer!

Cherish and I with our Christmas purses! (mine was a travel bag this year...close enough to a purse)

Ben and Luke

Christmas #6: Cooper Extended Family tour of Mississippi - Christmas night, we drove to Mississippi to pick up Ben's Grandparents and then drive North with them to visit Ben's aunts and cousins. On our drive though, we could only find one place open - Waffle House. I had never eaten there...it was quite the experience :). Anyways, we spent time with both Ben's grandparents and his sweet aunts and cousins. We were spoiled and enjoyed our time so much!

Pa, Amanda, Pat, Ben, Miller, and the back of Claire's head at lunch

Marin (Ben's 2nd cousin) and Pat (my sweet Mother-in-law)

Another ladies pic - Mimi, Aunt Judy, Pat, me, and cousin Claire

Oh those boys - Ben, Clayton, and Miller, such sweethearts

And that ends our tour of Christmas...and lest you think this tired us out and that it was just too much, I leave you with one last picture to convey how we feel about all of our wonderful Christmases...

Power Shopping

2010-12-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

Today, we were power shoppers. We had a plan, a mapped out route and a list that would impress you. We went to...get ready...

Mardel, Target, Macys, James Avery, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Cobblestone Cottage, Ya Ya Club, Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, Mimosa Rose, HEB, a few old town Katy antique stores, and of course Chick-fil-A. We were going to go to Old Navy and Aldo but I forgot my returns in the middle of the living room floor (don't you hate that!?).

Ben was an excellent driver. He would drop me off so I could get started shopping and then park and come in, or just stay in the car and wait. And he kept me from getting too stressed by periodically semi-tackling me, hugging me, or suggesting ridiculous gifts. Overall, we were a great Christmas shopping team.

One more week of school, then another week of rest and family fun and then Christmas!

Calling all Cookie Recipes!

2010-12-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, I am going to my very first cookie exchange. I love cookies. They are my weakness. And I'm going to a party for COOKIES! But I want to bring a really yummy, fun cookie. Any suggestions? I'm sure I can find a good one somewhere, I just am sure that one of you out there has an amazing cookie recipe that is your all-time favorite. So, if you have one, I'd love to have it. Or if you don't want to type out the recipe, you could just tell me the name of it. Thanks!

Sew Committed

2010-11-29T16:44:00.000-08:00

Today, I finally committed to a sewing machine. My sweet family gave me money to buy a sewing machine for my birthday. Exactly a month ago. So I've been searching and thinking and reading reviews and talking to people and thinking some more. I just couldn't decide! You see, I don't know a ton about sewing yet (I've taken one Intro to Sewing class and I made a pillow!) and so it made me nervous to buy one without knowing much. Anyways, after much debate that bordered on obsessive, I picked one. It's a Brother and seems like one I can grow with but also it is not too fancy for my beginnerness. My first project is going to be a t-shirt quilt of all my Aggie and Grace Bible Church shirts. I can't wait to make it! And thanks to Aunt Cheryl for giving me step by step directions on how to make one!

Top 10 ways it FEELS like Christmas

2010-11-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a Feeler, at least according to the Meyers Brings Test Thing. Ben would easily describe me as a "feelings" person. I go by my feelings a lot...to my detriment at times I'm sure and also to my joy. Anyways, sometimes things just aren't real to me unless I feel like they are. Hence the forth coming post.

Often around this time of year, everyone beings to say, "Can you believe it's November?!" and, "It just doesn't feel like it should be November yet." Well, I thought, and said, the exact same thing UNTIL today! Today, it finally feels like November and even feels a little like Christmas. Let me tell you why.

1. Today at church, the choir sang an amazing Christmas song that they're going to perform at the Celebration program.

2. I had a gingerbread latte at Starbucks recently and plan on having a Peppermint Mocha soon in a red cup.

3. The house is cold even without the air on!

4. I heard "All I want for Christmas is Yoooou, Baby" today in Old Navy.

5. I wanted to quickly flee Old Navy because it was insane and messy and insane.

6. Same goes for Gap and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I do not plan on returning on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon until February unless I have no choice (you really know I'm going to anyways, right?)

7. I wore my camel colored boots last night to a party for the first time this season.

8. I ate turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, ham, corn casserole, and many pumpkin flavored sweets last night at said party.

9. Every group I'm a part of has a Christmas celebration coming up.

10. And finally...Christmas and Thanksgiving plans are in the works and I can't wait to spend the time with my family and friends!

What makes it feel like Christmas to you?

Crayola's going green!

2010-11-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

If you have kids or if you're a teacher, or if you just like to use markers, you might have noticed that the Crayola kind are now black instead of the white they have been since forever. I have noticed this all year and several times in between the "Mrs. Cooper!!"s and the taps on my arm, I hypothesized about why. Perhaps its a marketing tool. A new look. A fresh start.

Well this past week, I accidentally stumbled upon a blog that talked about why! You see, Crayola is using an innovative technique that uses recycled bottle caps to create their markers. Having a black barrel allows them to use more recycled materials, keeping more than 1 million plastic bottle caps out of the landfills. Interesting huh?! Way to go Crayola. Way to go.

Red Cups and Sleeping in

2010-11-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. Let me tell you why.

I got to sleep in (until 6am) because I had training today at another campus and didn't need to arrive crazy early. I am learning A TON! I can't wait to use it with my students.

I got to eat out at a restaurant for lunch! And, just so happened that it was the birthday of the lady that I went to lunch with so I got to share in her birthday lunch. She is another bilingual teacher so we talked the whole time in Spanish. Very fun. AND THEN we got Starbucks. In a red cup. On a cold day. Ahh bliss.

I got home way earlier than usual. I usually stay late at school, but today I wasn't at my school so there was no reason to stay late. I got home, I researched sewing machines (more on that later), and even took a little nap.

The night has been so productive. I made a super easy dinner of waffles (leggo my eggo!), eggs, and turkey bacon. All good except for the turkey part. Yes, its healthier but oh so disappointing. Then we went to Target where I got new markers, gel pens, and highlighters. I'm a big pens/markers/color person and Ben had gotten me a pack of sharpies and gel pens that I already had so I switched them for some new ones. Again, bliss.

And finally, I worked out with GIAM on the Ball workout. We were rockin it and my legs feel like jelly now. Good feeling.

Happy Wednesday!

Birthday treats

2010-11-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was my 27th birthday - and that just sounds weird. I started the day with a gift from Ben - a purse I had been wanting filled with goodies he knows I love such as gel pens, a cat folder, new sharpie markers, and cute socks (yes, I did say I'm 27). Then he took me to Starbucks for birthday breakfast. And it makes it all sweeter to know that Friday is his day off so he voluntarily got up at 6:15am with me!

It was a hilarious and fun day at school as well. Every year, we do Book Character Dress up Day on or as close as possible to Halloween. The ladies on my team all dressed up as Cinderellas from different Cinderella versions! I was Cinder-Elly, the cool, city Cinderella. We also had Mexican Cinderella, Cowgirl Cinderella, Caribbean Cinderella and of course the traditional one. Anyways, I felt so loved at school. One of the parents of my kids brought me a vase full of beautiful roses, my sweet teammate Ashley baked a delicious Buttermilk cake using my mom's recipe, and we ordered Papa John's pizza for lunch.

That night, my parents, my sister, and my nephew Jacob who shares a birthday with me (he turned 14) came in town from Allen. They were so sweet to make the trek down to Katy. We went out to Yard House for dinner and then came home for cake, ice cream and presents. Boy I love me a good family party.

The next day we did various girly things such as shopping and eating a girly lunch at a place that sells coffee and flowers. Genius combination. And finally, after the fam returned to Allen, and to culminate the birthday specialness, Ben took me out to "the most romantic restaurant in Houston" called Peli Peli. It was a wonderful atmosphere and I even got a picture with the Chef! Thanks everyone for making me feel so loved and special on my birthday!

My friend running

2010-10-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I went back to my friend running. I have never been one to run or even work out for any consistent amount of time. Until this past January, that is, when I started running. Nothing hard core, but at least 1-3 times a week. Starting from literally 0, It took me forever to work up to running 2 miles a couple times of week and I was feeling pretty good. And then school started. All the extra energy I had to used to give myself the "umph" needed to go out and run was zapped and I hadn't run since the end of August. Well, tonight, I mustered it back up and went running. It felt great! I mean it hurt, yes, but it felt so good to run and sweat and breath hard. And my legs have that jelly, just went running feeling. I will sleep well tonight!

Whimsical Wednesday - Decorate with silverware!

2010-10-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

So, every Wednesday, I'm going to start giving you the fun things I find on Open Sky. If you want a full explanation of what Open Sky is, go HERE. In a nut shell, I am an Open Sky seller and I find suppliers. All I do is promote their items that I think are cool and if you want to buy them, you just buy through me. It's like I'm their advertiser. Some are homemade and other stuff is not but it's all unique and cute. So...here's what I've found for this week:
These items are from Cake Vintage. A lot of their products are decorated and made out of vintage silverware which I think is creative and fun. Here's some things I found...

Dishtowel with silverware design - $33

Buy Now

And...a notepad adorned with a vintage spoon on top (includes 50 sheets) - $15

Buy Now

Getting started...

2010-10-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

So last week, I started on my newest project - addressing invitations for a wedding!! I am so excited to have been referred by my sweet friend Jen and I am about halfway through. Here is what I am using...

Brand new sharp nib (that's what the tip is called that you dip into the ink)

Sumi Ink - Black

Capitals cheat sheet to make sure I do them right

And voila!

Do you need some hope?

2010-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

We can all use hope and encouragement on a daily basis. I've been reading Proverbs 31 ministries' daily devotions (not daily...more like a few in one day) during my times with the Lord. They are light, short, and encouraging but they touch on deep subjects. Today's was about having hope. The verses were from Lamentations 3:21-24 and I just couldn't help sharing.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. - Lamentations 3:21-24

Hope you are encouraged today!

Happy Birthday Benjmain!

2010-09-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweet husband's birthday. He is wonderful. He is funny. He is handsome. Tonight we are celebrating in style at Papa's Steakhouse. It shall be all kinds of delicious. I love you Ben!

He's just so cool!

A new start!

2010-09-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

The new school year has begun. Hence no blog posts in the last two weeks. The beginning of school seems to be all consuming. I take things home and I stay way later than is normal for me. Usually I pride myself in not taking anything home - ya know having a good balance and separation, but I have had to take things home the last couple weeks. Just while I find my balance. But I'm enjoying it and the kids are precious. I'm teaching 2nd grade this year and although a change is never easy, I think it was a good change for me and make me get out of any ruts I was in. Although, what's nice is while I am starting new, this time (unlike my first year teaching), I have 4 years of experience to rely on.

Today is the first free day Ben and I have had since school started and I'm loving it. We had a breakfast date which because of their rarity are very special. We went to 59 Diner which was good but not great. We just don't know of any fun breakfast places in the city where we live. We love Buffalo Grille but its just way too far. Anyone know of a place?

So, even though it seems to still be crazy hot outside, it does feel like fall is starting. College Football is on TV and even though Ben's not even watching it (he's swinging his golf club up in our game room...) it still feels like fall is beginning. Let the fall fun begin!

Elaine Lynn Design is here!

2010-08-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

So, as of today, I am a two-blog woman. I will still keep up with this one as my personal blog, writing about, ya know, the things that only people who actually know me would care about. But I've started a new craft blog. It will talk about different crafts I'm doing, crafts I find, and also I will put my open sky finds there instead of here. So, the address is below. Enjoy!

Elaine Lynn Design

Open Sky fun finds

2010-08-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Open Sky? It's a new concept that connects people who create things (suppliers) with people who want to sell their things (sellers) to buyers who like the taste of the person promoting it (YOU!). I'm going to be posting cool things that I find on Open Sky RIGHT HERE on my blog about once a week. You can buy it simply by clicking on the link below that will take you to Open Sky. So to review...

1. I like what I've put on here (and maybe even bought it!).

2. If you like it, you can buy it too. So easy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So below is one thing that I found that I like. I'm really getting into Vintage, distressed items and I love these. Use them for keys, a dish towel, an oven mitt, or just decoration. These are $25 each but you don't get to pick shape. The picture will link you to the blue-green one. Below the picture are the links for the scarlet one (shapes may vary). Click on the picture to buy.http://shopopensky.com/lynn/buy/vintage-key-plates-scarlet/now (Scarlet)

Below is a Zinc memo board that looked cool to use with magnets or for writing on. Click on the picture to buy for $28.

Coming soon...

2010-08-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

It's almost official! I've been working little by little to get my calligraphy business started. Last summer I took lessons and have done a little here and there for friends and family, but no one else in the outside world knows I offer these services. Well, that's about to change!

Tonight, I took pictures of some sample work and put it on Etsy. My Etsy name is elaine lynn design. I've got just 2 little items listed for now. It's so hard to sell on Etsy though because of the huge amount of other people selling on it, but at least its a link I can send people to that gives my prices and photos. The next thing I'm working on is a blog for just my calligraphy and craft projects. And lastly, I'm waiting to put my name on the Calligraphy Guild website when they update it again.

I will now just have to wait and see what shall come of it!

Rescued

2010-08-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I came out of my hair appointment and found this:

But then I called my knight in shining armor and he did this:

What a sweetheart. God took care of me, in that, this happened about 2 minutes from Ben's office. He was able to come fix it and I was able to be on my merry way to discount tire and then to school for a bit. Today, I get to eat lunch with Ben! We are eating at smash burger because I have heard its amazing.

Coming up next: Trip to see the Herringtons!

HELK reunion 2010!!!

2010-08-05T08:26:00.001-07:00

Ahhh the last few weeks before summer break is over. For some reason, I get this urge to just be really lazy so I'll be reallllly ready to go back. And it helps the enjoyment of these last few days to have a buddy to relax with. My mom came Tuesday and just left this morning. We thoroughly relaxed and watched movies and did a few errands and got a lot of good talking time in.

So, teachers go back to school a week before the kids come back and then school starts August 23rd. I actually do look forward to it. I miss being with kids. I find myself talking to random kids in my neighborhood about the birds in their trees and at Wal-Mart helping them find their school supplies. Kids just interact in a totally different way and I love it. Anyways...also I feel the urge to see everyone possible that a working life hinders me from doing. So last weekend was the HELK reunion, this week my mom came to visit, and tomorrow we're going to visit the Herringtons.

HELK...what a weird name you might be thinking. This phrase was coined in college using the initials of my roommates from my senior year - Holly, Erin, Lynn, and Katy. We had incredible HELK parties at our Nimitz house, and we always had a HELK of a good time :). We were darn cool. Every year we have a reunion and this year I got to host it! We watched movies, ate yummy food, went shopping, and talked and laughed a lot. So refreshing and enjoyable. Oh and we love to take pictures!

Holly, Katy, Erin, Lynn

Orange Beach, Alabama

2010-07-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

This summer, a new tradition was started that I am so excited about! We went to Orange Beach, Alabama (near Gulf Shores) for a week of relaxing, golf (for the guys), shopping (for the girls), eating yumminess, and lots of beach time. Ben and I went with his sweet parents Mark and Pat, and Ben's brother Luke and Luke's wife (my sister-in-law!) Cherish. We drove from Houston on Tuesday and then drove back on Sunday. It was such great relaxing time and hopefully we can make it back next year!

On the drive there. This is probably hour 5 or 6.

The second day there, we played putt putt. Guess who won??

The 3 Mrs. Coopers. Me, Cherish, and Pat. All proud to have the title! We were shopping while waiting to go and eat at the Oyster House.

These are the kinds of things that happen when you play Quelf. Such a fun random silly game. Cherish had to wrap herself up like a mummy until someone rolled a 4. I had the worst card! I had to say "I command you to be silent!" EVERY TIME someone laughed and if someone caught me not doing it (LUKE!) I had to move back 1 space. I started just whispering it after a while.

Men's golf picture! Ben, Luke (Ben's brother), Mark (Ben's dad)

And this is what we did while they played golf. It was glorious! Oh and the closed water thing...ummm most people just ignored it and got in anyways (we might have been some of those people...). The beaches and the water were not perfectly clean but good enough to thoroughly enjoy them.

Dinner at Lulu's in Gulf Shores.

And ice cream afterwards at Scoops! I got cookies and cream and peppermint in a waffle cone.

The cousins: plus a friend and minus Luke and Cherish (they had gone home)
Ben, me (the cousin-in-law), Sara, Anna, and friend Rachel

Nertz Tourney afterwards! Love. This. Game. Sara won though. Then we played rummicube. Ben won once and so did Anna.

And I leave you with this serene picture of the Beach. This was the 2nd to last morning we were there. I got up early to run on the beach. It sounded so perfect and peaceful. Umm, it was not. Running in wet and dry sand was a lot harder and I didn't make it as far as I usually do. The walk back was nice though, and then I sat out and read my Bible.

Thanks Cooper's for a wonderful trip!

Coming soon...The 2010 HELK reunion!

Houston Project days 1 and 2

2010-07-14T07:40:00.001-07:00

Well, we are halfway through Houston Project 2010. Days 1 and 2 have been a success - of course not without the glitches but God has worked them out and we trust Him for every detail.

Last year day 1, no one got onto the buses we sent out to pick kids up. Boy was it sad when they came rolling in empty. But this year....first day 27 people came in on the buses and yesterday, even more! What a blessing. Also, we were able to go around and knock on doors at the apartments where as last year we weren't allowed.

We have soooo many kids this year and our classes are really getting full which is a good thing. Oh how we love our teachers. They are doing an amazing job with their kids. Our Adult Bible study is going so well and tonight if I don't have a sweet baby to hold, I may sit in and listen. Youth has gone wonderfully, and the teens actually got really into it last night. The food draws them in (mmm hamburgers tonight) and they are prayed for the whole time by our faithful prayer team. The evangelism team is going out into the neighborhoods and boldly sharing Jesus with an evage-ball! A soccer ball with the 4 colors used to share the gospel! We have a nursery too and I got to hold one sweet little girl half the night. She was screaming so I walked around with her outside. She kept saying "abuela, abuela". Then when I kept saying, "she's coming soon, she's coming soon", she started saying "coming, coming". I could have taken her home!

Looking forward to 2 more great nights. We need prayer for energy for our volunteers - most of them are going to work, then straight to Houston Project for 2 days now and that is rough. And for more people to have softened hearts to hear and accept the Gospel. Tonight I've promised myself that I will take pictures!

New Recipes

2010-07-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'm loving the summer extra time to leisurely go to the grocery store and cook new recipes. This past week was Ben's first week to not go to Louisiana so I made some fun new recipes.

These Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa from Cooking Light were my favorite from the week. You have to buy Old Bay seasoning which is a little expensive for seasoning but I'll use it on future fish. It was delicious and Ben loved it.

This is Orange BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches made in the Crock Pot. We ate these Tuesday night, then again for left overs a few times. It made a ton of meat, but it was delicious and super easy. We just had cantelope with it. Oh, and its from Kraftfoods.com.

Now, this is a Lemon Cornmeal Pound Cake again from Cooking Light. I did try making this, but I did something wrong. I hate it because I really don't know what...but it turned out just ok and Ben wouldn't even try it. I ate it (it's cake!) but I think I cooked it too long. So, try it at your own risk but in this picture, it looks really yummy. Let me know if it turns out better for you and I'll try it again.

Summer Insights

2010-07-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

I think I'm settling into summer. I've discovered a few things about myself in having all this free time...

1. I hate to clean the bathroom. And even when I have oodles of time, it still doesn't happen as often as it should. Sooo that "I'm working" excuse, isn't really true I guess.

2. I am bad about starting a project and not completely finishing it. In a day, I might start and almost finish about 3 projects such as cleaning something, an artsy project, or organizing. But I just can't seem to finish that last 10%. What does that mean???

3. Carlos and Polly follow me around because they don't get enough time with me. You see, now that I'm home a lot more than normal, they are content to stay in a different room if they are napping. This has never been the case. It's a little sad I must admit.

4. Either I did something wrong, I cooked it too long, or it just wasn't good, but the Cooking Light recipe for the pound cake I made tonight was not what I was hoping for. I guess that's what you get when trying to make a "Light" pound cake.

Summer is going well and I'm enjoying the extra time to exercise (Ran 2 miles today thanks to my new running friend!) and to study the Word and pray. Also its nice to get all the little house projects done and have time to spend with other teacher friends and have a lunch longer than 25 minutes. The next month is going to be busy with vacations, some training and Houston Project so its going to fly!

High Flyer

2010-07-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

So my cat Carlos is quite talented. Besides being overly large and longer than any cat I've ever had, he can jump like no body's business. Also, he plays fetch. Yes, like a dog. My cat growing up, Little Kitty, also did this with hair twisties. Carlos plays fetch with anything - hair twisties, toys, twisty ties. But one of his faves is the little seal that you pull off of the box milk cartons. You know, the ones that are a circle and they have a little circle pull on them. Anyways, below is Carlos demonstrating 2 of his skills - fetch with the milk carton seal and high jumping. Enjoy the show.

Oh and there is no one at home with me - what you hear in the background is the show Felicity. I bought it at half-price books this week and have been watching it as I clean, scrapbook, email, etc. Its been enjoyable and takes me back to college when I watched all the seasons in like a month with the HELK roommates. I love summer!

Bursting!!!

2010-06-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

That is just about how I feel right now...except for not about bacon. I am so excited right now for two spectacular reasons. So excited, I have almost forgotten to eat dinner!

1. We found out today that this is Ben's LAST WEEK in Louisiana!! That means he will be home all week from now on. Praise the Lord!

2. We booked plane tickets tonight to visit the Herringtons in early August! Oh how I miss them. They live in Missouri and it has been about a year since we have seen them. Such sweet friends.

Oh! And we can add this one to the list - Twilight Eclipse in 3 DAYS! Wow, good night ya'll.

Finished...almost

2010-06-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

I loved doing this project! It wasn't very hard or very expensive and I love the way it turned out. I may try this again. All the painting is done, I just need the knobs. I ordered some glass vintage looking knobs from Amazon and so I'll have to wait a little bit for those to come in. But for now, its a great addition of color into my kitchen.

AFTER (See two posts below for the before)

The knobs to come...

Funky fun furniture!

2010-06-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

So, in my quest to add a little style to my house, as I mentioned below, I've been on Craig's List a lot. I found a really neat little company called Altar'd. From reading their website, I found out that it is a Christian family that restores and paints older furniture and they also do workshops to teach you how to do it yourself. They have an interesting name but I love the reason behind it. And it gave me a little inspiration. Check it out!

Summer Project #1

2010-06-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about summer (among many) is having the extra time to do some creative projects. Last year, I learned how to write in Calligraphy and have enjoyed that skill throughout the year. Well, a couple days ago, I started this year's first big summer project.

To give you some background...I've been looking for some things for my house to give it a little more style and character. We got our new furniture in, and I love it, so that has been fun, but I wanted some decorative items. I've been looking around on Craig's List for anything "Shabby Chic", "Distressed", or "Vintage" because I like the way that style looks. Now, I've realized that my house is not Shabby Chic style; although I love the look, my house does not fit that. But I do like the distressed look. I found a few pieces on Craig's List, one really cool couple in particular that own a company called Altard, but they were still in the couple hundred dollar range and I was looking for cheap.

Then I stumbled on a $35 small, solid wood dresser. And I thought...Hey, this might be crazy, but I bet I can make my own distressed dresser. So now, the dresser is in my garage waiting to be worked on. I've already sanded down all the stained surfaces and have put on the primer color and I'm just waiting for it to dry. We'll see how this turns out....

BEFORE

Seattle 2010

2010-06-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, we returned from an 8 night/9 day vacation to Seattle, Washington, Olympic National Park, and Victoria. Loved it! I would recommend the area for vacation to anyone. First of all, it was gorgeous, second of all, it was cool, and third, it was much different from anything in Texas. A blessing from the Lord. We had a lot of sweet time together with fun, relaxation, and good conversations. I have a lot of pictures here and even more on facebook if you want more.

270 foot tall tree, 500 years old, HUGE

The Hoh Rain forest. Isn't it gorgeous! And amazingly sunny. Except for the narrow little trail we followed, there wasn't an inch of ground that didn't have a plant on it. Just amazing.

Marymere Falls - it took a little bit of a hike but such a reward at the end.

This is at the B&B we went to called Collette's. Oh. My. If you ever go to Olympic National Park, you HAVE TO go to this place. It had an overwhelmingly gorgeous garden with a view of the ocean and, get this, a bald eagle's nest you could see from our window. Very cool.

One of the many ferry rides...don't we look relaxed! Ahhh vacation :).

Lynn, you went to space??? I know you must be thinking that. Actually these were the suits we wore to go whale watching in Victoria, Canada. It was COLD on the water and wet. They looked even cooler in person, I promise.

That's an Orca (killer) whale!! It of course looked a lot closer in person but it was awesome. We saw a lot more and it was so worth the trip out.

Blake and Julie if you read this, this photo is for you! That's the space needle above my head.

The Fremont troll under the bridge. The Fremont area was recommended by Holly along with a lot of other great places. We ate at this delicious, very green, place called Homegrown. Very much the culture of Seattle.

Home of Bella. Yes we drove through it and made a few stops. Or, we could have taken the $40/person tour around Forks and La Push. Somebody is banking!

Can't wait for the 3rd movie!! Who's with me???

What would a Benjamin Cooper vacation be without golf? I rode around in the cart and took pictures, played on my iphone, and watched my Ben. It was a beautiful course nestled in the woods and rolling hills.

First Starbucks!!

Probably my favorite part of Seattle - the Pikes Place Market - amazing fruit, donuts, and other yummy goodies, even Organic Wednesdays!

Hooray for a wonderful trip!

School's Out for Summer!!l

2010-06-04T17:51:00.001-07:00

Last days make me sad. I have always been this way. I get really sentimental and start to point out the last time we do each thing. Last recess, last cafeteria fake hamburger lunch with potato smiles, last pack-up to go, last hugs. I loved my class this year. Three of my kids are moving schools so I won't get to see them grow up to be 5th graders which is so fun. On the last day of school, all the graduating 5th graders walked through the school as we did a "Clap-Out". I got to see my first group of 3rd graders at my current school walk through as proud almost junior-highers. It was precious.

Anyways, today was the last day for teachers, yesterday the last day for students. And today I moved ALLLL my stuff I have accumulated over the past 3 years in room 32 and moved it to 2nd grade room 45. Next year I will be a 2nd grade teacher!!! Those sweet little former 1st graders who can't even play bingo will be mine!

But another thing about me is that once the last day is over....I'm ready for the next adventure! Bring on the summer and bring on 2nd grade!!

Giving it a try

2010-05-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm giving Etsy a try. I put my diaper cake on Etsy. Wow, there are so many things listed on that site, it's crazy. I think I'll have to list it once a week just to keep it from going into the other 75 pages of Diaper cakes. Aparently, I'm not the first to think of this. Anyways...my listing is here. My username is elainelynndesign. This is my first try at Etsy so if you have any advice, I'd love it!

Adios Ikea

2010-05-23T16:06:00.001-07:00

Little by little after we moved into our house last March, we have replaced hand-me-downs (and thank you for those by the way!) and Ikea furniture that we put together wrong with nicer furniture that ideally will last us a long time. It's our own and it is fun buying it together. One last thing that we have been wanting to replace is our bedroom furniture. It was from Ikea and it was lovely and served its purpose greatly in our little apartment but it is about to be moved to the guest room. Today, at a little seemingly hole-in-the-wall furniture place in Montrose called Color and Tailor, we bought a new bedroom set! It is adorable and fits the style of our home which I don't have a word for. We pick it up on Sunday and I can't wait!! Below is a picture of it. We are just getting the bed (not going to use the canopy part), nightstand and dresser.

So, thinking about all the free time I'm about to suddenly acquire, (it feels like a car hitting a brick wall), I am starting to plan some house projects that I want to do. One of them is curtains. We do not have one curtain in our house. Curtains are daunting to me. I just can't pick out a fabric.

Other projects include putting my name on Etsy for calligraphy and diaper cakes and other various crafts maybe. Also, finding other ways to get my name out to the world and let them know that I do calligraphy! Did you know I did that? Soon I will have a post solely dedicated to that. For now though, I'm going to enjoy my Sunday afternoon and rest up for the LAST full week of school for this year!!!!

Weekend In Review

2010-05-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

I don't usually do this, but today I will give you a rundown of our weekend. Minute-by-minute with pictures to illustrate. It was one of those crazy-no-down-time-weekends that are great fun but not restful. I like them every once in a while.

Friday night was the annual AR Lock-In for students who met their reading goals. Actually it only lasted until 7pm (just enough time to get stuck in the torrential downpour) so I'm really not quite sure why its called a Lock-In. Anyways, Ben in his sweetness came and we were supposed to be assigned to kickball. Well the rain took care of that so our station turned into Bingo. First graders are not very good at Bingo. But they are oh-so-cute trying to play it.

Saturday morning, because we missed our Friday night date, Ben and I went to IHOP for a breakfast date (the best kind in my opinion). Did you know they actually have a "healthy" menu at IHOP? It's still IHOP but health-IER none the less. Wheat bread, turkey bacon and such. Saturday lunch we went to a Blueprints Crawfish boil which was delicious and yet painful for the spicy-ness wimps such as I. I ate about 6 of the suckers and then gave up. Corn and potatoes was my meal.

Then (and yes we're still on Saturday!), I went to a baby shower for Amanda. She's the one I made the diaper cake below for to be the centerpiece of her school shower. It was fun with games galore and yummy treats.

Today, we went to church, ate lunch at 5 Guys (chosen by others over El Rey - a tragedy!), and went to see Iron Man 2. Good movie, although I did some sleeping in the middle. If you know me though, this probably doesn't surprise you. Now I sitting here blogging, about to heat up some spaghetti and go to the grocery store. And that's a wrap.

BCE 3rd grade team
Tuesday's school baby shower for Amanda. It all turned out adorable and delicious!

Me, Erica, and Amanda

Amanda's other Shower. I'm going to miss these girls next year when I move to 2nd grade!!!!

Baby Shower Fun

2010-05-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow afternoon after school, the other 3rd grade teachers and I are throwing a baby shower for our sweet Amanda, who is the other bilingual teacher with me in 3rd grade. I love throwing showers. I love making things special and preparing the food and being creative. So, I decided that it would be fun to attempt a diaper cake. A friend of mine made one recently and said it was pretty easy so I thought I could give it a try. I researched it on the Internet, read many how-to's, and even watched a how-to video on You Tube. It was fun to make and pretty easy. Here's how it turned out:

With a little monkey bottle as the cake topper!

Warrior Dash!!

2010-05-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

Warrior Dash was CRAZY! Now, I know a week has passed since Warrior Dash but I left my memory card in Arlington and this post would be just sad without pictures. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. But in case you don't know what Warrior Dash is....a little synopsis. It was an approximately 3 mile course with 14 obstacles such as wading through the river, sliding down a muddy hill, a fire pit, and a mud pit, to name a few. Along with the craziness of the course was a costume contest. We saw smurfs, men in kilts, men in dresses, men in suits (yes they ran), tutus, and various other warrior-esque costumes and yes they all ran in their costumes. Fun, crazy, and entertaining.

Before the race. Clean and Fierce!

Warrior Wives...supporting our warriors.

Go Ben!

Last obstacle, crawling under barbed wire, in the mud pit - he's the one with the red sweatband

We're all muddy and we don't care!!!

April in Review

2010-04-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

Since high school, historically, April has been my busiest month of the year weekend-wise. Somehow it seems that every April weekend fills up. In high school and college, it was retreats and dances and other celebrations, now its showers and 5K's. So, even though each of these events deserves their own post in detail, there's just not blogging time for that. So, here's April in review in pictures....

First weekend in April was Easter. The Coopers x2 came down to celebrate with us. Here, we are eating frozen yogurt, one of my favorite things with two of my favorite ladies - Cherish and Pat. We also went the Shell Houston Open that Sunday and watched Anthony Kim win.

Two weekends later, my sweet high school friends (left to right) Lauren, Katie, me, and Jamie celebrated Lauren and her upcoming June wedding. Friday night was the tasteful with just the right amount of raciness Lingerie shower and then Saturday, the 3 of us and others threw her a wedding shower. So fun to reconnect with old friends!

The next weekend (this past Saturday) was the Aid Sudan 5K. Ben and I are getting into running. This time, my goal was to run the entire 3.1 miles and I did it! Ben also ran it and under 30 minutes. My next goal will be to actually care about my time and run faster. I wish those were my shoes - I need new running shoes because mine are ugly.

And finally we are caught up. This week was the TAKS, of which the preparation over the last month has kept my tired and worn out throughout the week both physically and emotionally. Today was math, and tomorrow reading. Please pray!

And to come....WARRIOR DASH! Ben (NOT ME) will be participating in this manly event on Saturday. It involves a 3-mile obstacle course and the guys are supposed to dress up as warriors. It shall be entertaining. It's been great catching up with you. Hope to come back more often.

The break is over...

2010-03-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

It's the last night of Spring Break. Ben is still out of town and will actually spend the night at my parents house without me and fly back home tomorrow morning. The end of the week, I got to spend time with my brother, Keith, then with my sister. We had the best time just sitting in my sister's fancy living room and talking with me, my sister Anne, and my mom. Saturday night, I got out of town before the snow started and got in late back home. It was great to be away but its always good to be home. I'm thankful that home is somewhere I look forward to being back to. God has blessed us. When i walked in the door, I was met with an irritated cry from Carlos, as if to say, Where have you been??! Now all I need is for Ben to be here with me. Here's some pics I got from the weekend...

I went to a shower for Jamie's sister Jessica and we got a traditional 4-some picture. Us 4 girls did everything together in High School and Junior high. We have countless "four-some" pictures.

This is my brother Keith and I after lunch at the park with mom. Notice the amazing car in the background - yes its a Ferrari. Keith was more excited than I was.

I do look forward to seeing my kids tomorrow and getting back to normal. I like normal. It's gonna be a good week back!

Spring Break Day 2 & 3

2010-03-17T20:30:00.001-07:00

Amazingly, I really do forgot how much I love Spring Break. The sleeping in, the warmer weather, and the time. Oh the time. To do whatever. I. Want. Yesterday was spent driving to Dallas. I left in the morning and made a few stops along the way. One being a piano shop off of I-45 in the Woodlands - way far from Katy. By the way, I'm looking to buy a used piano if you know of someone who wants to sell theirs. Moving on, I got into Allen around 5 and spent the early evening talking with my mom and taking a walk with Cody the dog. That evening, I ate dinner with my parents, watched TV, and went to Target. We actually tried to watch a VHS copy of Return to Me. Oh I just heard you sigh because you love that movie. It was all staticy and so we went to Target to buy a DVD of it which they didn't have. So we shopped instead and I got a green shirt (which I didn't wear) for St. Patty's Day.

Today was the day of visiting many people. I got to see some old friends Julie and Katie and their sweet babies this morning. Then I had a lunch date with my Dad. Then I went to see my Grandmother. Then I went home and napped from all the excitement. Then tonight for dinner, I met up with my sweet friends Julie and Michelle. They made me homemade pizza and cupcakes. So yummy. And we played Banana Scrabble which is not the name but I cannot for the life of me think of the real name right now. It's like speed Scrabble. It was such a good time to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while here. Tomorrow, Day 4, holds lunch with Keith and some invitation making.

Spring Break Day 1

2010-03-16T06:49:00.001-07:00

Oh how I love Spring Break. Technically, Spring Break started on Saturday, but really I would have had that off anyways so we'll start with yesterday, Day 1. Yesterday was my only day in Houston this week. I cleaned house (a little) and got to eat lunch with Ben. We ate at one of his favorite places near his work - Burger Shack. Really good burgers I admit. After that, a leisurely trip to the Chiropracter after doing a few errands and then....SHOPPING! I went shopping with a friend who was not working yesterday to the Galleria. Amazingly, I really didn't spend much but it was still a delight. I just feel so fancy shopping at the Galleria. Last night, since we have not been to the grocery store because we'll both be gone this week, we had no food so...guess we had to go out :). We went to Fridays which Ben loves and I go to for him. The service was terrible and the food was good. Came home, Ben packed for 2 trips (work in Louisiana and Pebble beach with my Dad), cleaned the kitchen and went to bed.

Day 2 holds a drive to Allen, a trip to the piano store waaaaay far away on 45, but on my way to Dallas, and time with my friend Jamie. Can't wait!

Deep Fried and Tim McGraw

2010-03-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Monday night, Ben and I and the Ramseys went to the Houston Rodeo. I hadn't been since I went on the tour of Texas with my sweet roommates my senior year of college and Ben had never been to the rodeo in Houston. We had a lot of fun! And of course, the natorious carnival food was a must. Before I even ate my calorie-filled dinner, I had some of these:

Yep, deep fried oreos. And actually, when I was looking for a picture of them, I found a site with the top 7 bad-for-you carnival foods and guess what was #1...fried oreos. Oh man but they were good. Just like a corn dog without the dog and instead a melt in your mouth oreo. So go for it! Splurge and try one...you'll love it :).

Tim McGraw did a great job and even shook everyone's hands on the bottom rows. Took him at least 20 or more minutes to make his way around but he got them all. Impressive and a good way to make fans. His songs remind me of high school and college when I first started listening to them. So, go to the rodeo and enjoy!

We did it!!

2010-02-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

Today, I ran the Rodeo Run 5K. In my previous post, I was saying how I was really hoping to run it all. 1.5 miles was my longest run EVER before today, so it was going to be a stretch. But my sweet Ben gave me many motivational speeches and was there to support me. Every time I wanted to quit, I thought about how great it would be at the end when I could say "I ran it all!". And so I did it! Farthest run ever for me. And Ben was waiting at the finish line right when I crossed.

Famous words after the race: "I think I'm going to throw up." I wish it had been a little more glamorous. Also, Liz ran with me and that helped greatly. We ran together until the last mile and she was also so encouraging. She did so great also and finished a little before me. All in all a great day. Next: Aid Sudan 5K in April.

Both the pics above are from before the race - So many people.

Above - before the race, so excited! Below, afterwards reenactment of the race. My face was not so happy the whole race.

Weird night

2010-02-23T15:57:00.001-08:00

Yep, its snowing again. Where do we live again? I thought it was Houston, but I think I must be mistaken. Ben is gone for the night to Plaquemine, Louisiana (for work). He will be missed. On the bright side, I'm making myself veggies for dinner (my new favorite foods!) and tonight is the first night for the women's figure skating which is my favorite event. So excited!

Running!

2010-02-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Today I ran 1.5 miles straight!! My goal was 3 miles by a week from next Saturday, but I'm not sure its going to happen unless I run like everyday from now until then. We'll see. I'm running (probably walking a little too) in the Rodeo Run on February 27th. Hopefully at least I can get to 2 miles....

It has finally come to Katy!

2010-02-15T16:20:00.001-08:00

So, I don't know about you, but I love frozen yogurt. In the past, TCBY has been my go-to for frozen yogurt - white chocolate moose shiver with reeses or peanut butter chips. But, in the last year, these amazing new shops have been popping up that have tons of fun flavors, self-serve toppings, and then you pay by the ounce. I LOVE THESE PLACES! I first went to one in Austin with some school friends. Then, I found one in College Station. And then there's even one in Sugarland. But I live in Katy. Far away from all those places and definitely not on the way home from anywhere.

But TODAY, I stumbled upon Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt....IN KATY! It is right near my house, on the way home from my favorite store, the Loft. Wow, couldn't be better. Ben and I stopped there today after going to the (very windy and cold) driving range. I'm in heaven!

Staying on the food subject, the cooking revamp has been going well. Grocery shopping was so easy this week - just got lots of veggies and some meats and then a few other basics like cereal and milk. Thanks all for the great comments, recipes, and ideas! Tonight, I am actually trying Laura's tilapia marinated in lemon juice and garlic salt with some sides of sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. YUM!

Cooking Revamp

2010-02-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

Ok ya'll...Ben and I are revamping our cooking during dinner. Partly to be healthy, partly to have fresher, better meals. So, the last 2 1/2 years, I've gone the casserole, canned stuff, tacos, etc route. It's pretty simple and there are some good recipes in there (I love myself a good casserole!) but we want more veggies and lean meats. I've never cooked like this and I need your help! I just want to find veggies to cook - just fresh veggies not with tons of sauce or salt but just good how they are with some seasoning veggies. Also, I need meats and yummy but healthy ways to cook them. So here's what I've got...

Veggies I know how to cook:
Potatoes - sweet and red, but the new potatoes I made were not very flavorful
Steamed broccoli
Green beans (I loved these and I never knew they could be so good!)

Meats -
Grilled chicken with grub rub
Grilled burgers
Salmon - honey and soy sause on top

That's all I've got so far. If you have any yummy veggies, veggie combos, or meats you have enjoyed, I'd love the ideas! Thanks!!

Gofer it!

2010-02-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think about what I hear daily and I wish so much that someone else could be in the same room as me.

"Mrs. Cooper, you look funny." "Ummm ok, why?" "Your lips are blue." (Overhead marker incident!)

"I'm rooting for the Saints now!" "Really?! Because they've never won before?" "No, because if they win, the Texans go to the Superbowl!" ???? Who knows where that came from!

"8 multiplicated by 7 is 56."

My poor bilingual students. I am notorious for mumbling and as all of us do, I slur my words together. Sitting on the bus for a field trip, I said to the girl next to me, "Gottanuf room?" "What??" "Gottanuf room?" I repeated. "What??" "Do you have enough space?" "Oh yes."

Also, my kids have picked up that I say "Go for it" a lot. But it comes out "Gofer it" and now they are repeating it having no idea what they are really saying. I love my job.

Wonderfulness

2010-01-23T14:30:00.001-08:00

Can I just tell you the wonderfulness of this day. This week has been insane. I have not sat for a long period of time. I have not checked emails. I have not responded to any electronic communication (excluding phones). Today has been lovely because of the following happenings...

Girl's breakfast with friends...delish!
Stopped by Home Goods...found a HALF OFF leather chair to buy with Christmas money I have been saving, pictures to come
Stopped by Achievers...I was overcome by the prettiness of the paper there. I wish I had something to use the paper for.
Currently watching my 4th Gilmore Girls episode, season 7.
Went through my 61 new, unread messages, and responded as needed
Responded to comments on Facebook
Graded papers
Ate cereal and diet coke
Planned meals
Made a grocery list (this is actually really fun to me)
Talked to my mom
Sat with my sweet kitties
Signed up for Marriage Matters Now Conference (You should too!)

And now I'm going to look for a good place to vacation with the Coopers and yummy but healthy recipes to cook. Lovely afternoon!

Happy Birthday Carlos!

2010-01-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

This month is Carlos's birthday. We got him in in March of last year from CAP when he was 3 or 4 months old so he is now a year old!! And yes, Carlos is my cat. Give me a break...I don't have kids yet :) so I'm allowed to post about my pets.

So hmmm Carlos has gotten to be a big cat. I'm not sure how much he weighs, but he's just big. He loves to play fetch with hair twisties or little foam balls. He likes to snuggle but only when he wants to and he's very active - runs around the house all the time. Happy Birthday Carlos!!!

Historically, the first birthday of my cats has been celebrated. When I was in fourth grade and my white cat Little Kitty (I was so creative with her name) turned one, we actually gave her a birthday party. And not just any party... a swim party and I'm sure she loved it. I invited all my little friends and we swam and then sang happy birthday to the cat while she was sitting on a stool at the table with a can of food and a candle in front of her. My mom was so sweet! Oh how I wish I had the picture to post!

Baby Carlos (March 09) after he had just stepped in hot wax

Carlos Today...such a sweet face!

Need help!

2010-01-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, I need your help with something. Our couch cushions (yes our brand new one) from Bassett (sigh) are tearing at the seams and I promise we don't do anything like jump or run on it. It hurts me to look at it and know we paid for it and its less than a year old and now its coming apart. AND we bought it on clearance so there is no warranty on it.

Anyways....the tears. Some might say, just sew it back but it is a woven material and I don't think that will work. We need to find an upholstery repair place. I found two places in Katy. One had a review that said "It would be better to take it to a toddler", so that ones out and the other had no reviews which makes me a bit nervous. That brings me to my need. Do you know of a good, reliable upholstery repair place that is not too expensive and possibly on the more west side side of Houston? Or if you have any other suggestions I would love them. Thanks!!

Up

2010-01-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that I loved this movie! Ben and I went to RedBox on Friday night and rented this. I was skeptical because its computer animated but it was adorable and also deep, especially for a kids movie. I honestly think that adults would understand it and identify with it much more than kids. Anyways...its clean, insightful, and funny. I recommend it!

Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!

2010-01-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

I intended to write this post yesterday when it still was 2009 but alas, the day flew by and I never got around to it. So instead of a "What happened this year" post, it will be a "big events from last year" post. Ok...so here are some big things from the last year with pictures to accompany...

Family trip to DC in January

We bought a house and moved in February 28th!We adopted Carlos beginning of March (he's HUGE now!).

After realizing Carlos was in desperate need of a buddy, we adopted Polly, thumbs and all :).

I finished my 3rd year of teaching. (I have lots of pictures of those sweet kids but I can't post them...you'll just have to imagine that one).

I took calligraphy lessons and learned how to write in Calligraphy.

We took a mini-vacation to San Antonio (this photo is actually at the Gristmill in Gruene).

We led Houston Project. We had an awesome team and it went great!

We bought a new Toyota Tacoma Truck for Ben with a little help from Obama and Cash for Clunkers.

Started my 4th year of teaching!

It was a great year and I am so excited about what 2010 will hold!

Back Home

2009-12-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS!! We are finally back from our family tour. Let's see...9 DAYS AGO...we drove to Arlington to have Christmas with Ben's family. We spent our time finishing last minute shopping, cooking/eating, and waiting in a huge line to look at Christmas lights. Finally, we ended our time with them with a delicious Mexican meal of enchiladas and tamales (I can't wait to tell my bilingual students! They will be impressed!) for Cooper Christmas night followed by opening presents. Pat (my mother-in-law) made it such a special Christmas with lots of house things and our yearly purse. Sadly I had lost my camera for that trip (it was just under the seat of the car!) so I have no pics from that.

Second, we went to Dallas on Christmas Eve and stayed through Christmas until Sunday. It was a great Christmas day. We got to play games (I love games!) on Christmas night and Christmas afternoon, I watched the Christmas Vacation movie with Chevy Chase for the very first time. It was a great day.

Then finally on Sunday, we drove to Vicksburg for our final stop to see Ben's grandparents Mimi and Pa. We got a wonderful Mimi breakfast, shopping time, and a roaring (and tense at times) game of Phase Ten. Also, no pictures because of the lost camera. We were truly blessed to get to see just about everyone. I missed my kitties while we were gone and I really wish I could get in their heads and know what they were thinking. Like did they think we just weren't coming back or did they forget us altogether?? Such a mystery. Anyways, its so refreshing to be back now in our own bed, our own couch, our own house. I've experienced hunger today for the first time it seems in at least a week and I am slowly trying to remind myself that every meal does not need to be followed by dessert.

Brother Keith, Dad, and Ben
As tradition goes, the men make Pinch Me Coffee Cake on Christmas morning

A White Christmas!!!

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

My sweet Ben went with me yesterday to pick out a real tree in the rain. What a sweetheart he is. We let it dry out overnight in the garage, and then tonight, I decorated the tree with Pandora Country Christmas station playing. Oh glorious time! I spent most of my night decorating the house and the tree and getting things nice and pretty for...us. Sometimes it seems silly to spend so much time decorating for just Ben and I seeing as we are leaving for the holidays and not hosting any parties...but we will enjoy it and so will our cats in their own mischievous ways so therefore I will still decorate. So far (in the 2 hours we've had the tree up), the cats have not been too much trouble, although I think maybe Carlos is allergic because, poor thing, he keeps sneezing. I have lots of lights left over that I think I will take to school...even though I think they are against fire code. Does it really count during the holidays?! Below are the fruits of my labor :) and a little fun from the snow on Friday.

As I finish this post, the cats have discovered the tree and Carlos was IN it and Polly was climbing up the center. Oh what have I done?!

Madness before 5am

2009-11-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

My precious alarm went off at 4:00am today. And yes, it was to go....shopping. I don't even get up that early to go to work or to work out but for shopping, I'll do it once a year. I was out of bed by 4:30 and in the van by 4:40. A Starbucks (a must have if you are out of your house before 6am) Peppermint Mocha, which my stomach later hated me for, was in my hand by 5:00am and I was ready to shop. I went with the very-kind-to-go-with-us mother-in law Pat, my sweet sister-in-law Cherish and Ben's aunt and cousins...my cousins-in-laws? I have never been one to even attempt to leave the house on Black Fridays before last year. I mean, really, who wants to go out on day that starts with "Black" but last year Ben's female family members were going so I joined in. I have to admit, I really went more for the thrill and fun of it that for any amazing deal. I think I could have gotten the same deal at 10am that I did at 5:45am but hey, then when someone compliments my new boots (20% off for the early birds) I can't say, "Yeah, I bought those at 5:45 in the morning!". And who wants to take away that experience. I also got some other Christmas gifts but they might be for YOU so I won't spill the beans. Here is us about to buy our 5:45 in the morning boots! The first photo is Cherish, the 2nd one is Sara (Ben's cousin) and me

I hope you all enjoyed "Black" Friday whether you were shopping, eating more, or watching football. A few more days and its back to school and normalcy. We're being pampered by my family and Ben's family and will miss them dearly!