Happy 21st Zach!

I love my little brother and that's a fact. No matter what.

So I got with one of his good friends to organize a surprise party. The problem is, Zach is so stubborn that he wouldn't "drop by" when I texted him, so it ended up being not so much of a surprise. But that doesn't matter, he still got here and it was fun to hang out with everyone. I love hosting too, so it was a treat for me too. We kept it simple: hot dogs and smoked sausage on the grill, baked beans, homemade mac n cheese, chips, pop, and cake. But oh, the cake!!

Zach likes red velvet cake, so that is what I made. I wanted to keep it simple, so I used a devil's food cake mix, and added a packet of pudding to make it moist, along with buttermilk substituted for the water. To make it red, I added one ounce of red food coloring. Perhaps I could get away with a little less than one ounce, but it does cook out some, and it needs enough to take over the chocolate color. I made two batches because I wanted to have enough for cupcakes and a cake.

The icing is simple too: 1/2 cup butter, 8 oz cream cheese, and 3 tsp of vanilla creamed, then add about 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar. I made a triple batch, and had to whip it for a while to get all the powdered sugar in. But it turned out great! It is just the right sweetness to complement the chocolate (and red dye). It also set up nice and wasn't too sticky.

I used my new icing set, a Christmas present from my mother-in-law, to frost the cupcakes. For the cake, I didn't ice the edges so that I could show off the red velvet cake. I finished all of them off with chocolate gratings. So delicious!

Curl Appeal Project Spring 2013

Time to work on the curb appeal.

Last fall, when we moved in, we just barely made the outside of the house presentable. We cleared out the overgrown umbrella tree, put down some mulch, and planted some fall mums. But that was it.

It needed a lot more. And since I am on spring break, it seemed like the perfect time to start. If fact, I have been itching to get out there, but it's been too cold or rainy or snowy. So yesterday and today we worked. Hard. Ugh, I'm actually sore from it.

We started by moving both front flower beds back about three feet. Essentially, this eliminated the left flower bed, because a cement slab for a front patio (I guess you would call it) is on the left. So we just stacked the retaining wall blocks in front of the concrete. This was a major improvement, because the concrete in is bad repair and was an eyesore. At least moving the stones back covered the front of the crumbling concrete. We do need to actually do something with that side, but that remains for a later date (and a higher tax return). Moving all those paving stones is a decent amount of work, though it sounds small in writing!

On the right side, moving the stones back three feet made the flower bed smaller, and in line with the patio. Now there is less to landscape, which is a good thing to me! We planted three Winter Gem Boxwood plants in front of the window for some color and height. Of course, they still need to grow, but they are easy to take care of. I still have some room in front of them to plant small flowers as the seasons change. Then Justin planted grass seed where the flower beds used to be, and we just have to wait for it to grow!

Along the side of the house, by the driveway, the flower beds were a mess... lots of trash, uneven ground, untrimmed bushes, uneven spacing all hurt the appearance. We straightened up the AC unit, raked up all the junk, and evened out the ground. Trying to get all the blue stones from what I guess was a fish tank wasn't Justin's favorite part of the afternoon. I had a fun time digging up weeds and perennials that were growing up from previous years too. Trying to get all the way down to the bulb was quite trying at times. Some I replanted, but a few I had to just toss. Finally, we put down red mulch and two more bushes to even out the foliage. At least now, I'm not embarrassed about the side of the house. We still want to put in edging stones (we have some leftover from the front) to hold the dirt back off the driveway. That will entail a decent amount of digging, so it's for another day.

I also worked on the small 4x4 flowerbed by the back stairs, and Justin ripped out a heck of a lot of ivy from under the deck. He planted grass seed in the sparse areas in the back too. Now hopefully it grows in soon!

Overall, I felt like we got a lot accomplished. Here's some pictures:

Last fall: BEFORE

Spring 2013: AFTER

 

 Side of the house:

 Stones moved back to cover the crumbling front. It's not perfect, but it helps.

 Last fall: BEFORE

March 2013: AFTER

 

Dani's 2nd Birthday!

This weekend we went to visit for my niece's 2 year birthday party. I was so fun to see Dani growing up! (My nephew Jackson is getting big too!) It was an Elmo-themed party, and we had fun with it. We decorated Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes, plus treat bags.

I don't think that Dani knew quite what to do with all the presents, but I'm sure she will enjoy them as she gets to play with each one. I loved a little tea set that she got.... when you "pour" it, it sounds like water coming out. She also got a sandbox. We all thought it would be a great idea to have all the cousins get in for a picture, but that's harder than it sounds. I think I might have gotten ONE picture where there were semi-happy, but the others are varying stages of chaos! LOL... I got Dani an AquaMap. Whoever came up with that idea was brilliant!! It's a white "canvas" that when the water-filled pen colors on it, makes marks! Then it dries in a few minutes and you can color all over again. Pretty sweet. (Oh, to be a kid again!)

We drove back yesterday, then [glory hallelujah] it snowed and I got a snow day to catch up on all the things I would normally do on the weekend. Yippee! I put a venison stew in the crockpot, made venison meatballs, and shredded chicken to use for a casserole later. Then I got all caught up on grading. While I'm feeling so accomplished, I might go work out... might...

Ask me about that one later! :)

Here's Jackson getting some tummy time!

Spring Surprise! (Flowers!)

Guess what I saw when I got home?

Aren't they pretty? Just a small patch, but more to come!

Starting Zinnia Seeds

Last Wednesday I started some Zinnia seeds, and they are already shooting up! It's so fun to watch something new grow after just a week. I'm definitely ready for spring. I used potting soil in plastic trays with a dome for the first few days, but then some of the very small sprouts looked like they were getting plant mold, so I took the dome off. They are inside the house anyways, so figured that it was warm enough. Another little problem was that they started leaning towards to sun, even though they were right by the window. I shut the blinds, and today they look like they are growing straighter. I think I was warned about putting them in sun too soon, because the stalks won't be strong enough, and that might be happening. (It's so fun to watch them grow though- I couldn't help it!) Still, this is just the first round, and I can always plant more. It's pretty early in the season, being mid-March and all.

I also started some sage, chive, and oregano seeds. They seem to be growing slower, which is probably just part of their maturation time. It will be so awesome to have fresh herbs though!!

Teriyaki Venison Loin Sandwiches

Here comes dinner! I had some venison loin that I needed to use, as well as ciabatta bread, so combined the two! I marinated the venison loin (butterfly cut) for 8 hours, then broiled for 4 minutes on each side. If you make these, you can adjust the broil time to your desired doneness. While they were broiling, I buttered the ciabatta bread and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. When the venison was done, I broiled the bread until slightly brown, and layered it all up with a slice of provolone cheese! The cheese helped tone the flavor, and the crispy bread from the broiler gave textures. I'll have to do this one again. My only change would be to dilute the teriyaki sauce a little bit; it was a little strong.

 

I looked over to see my husband smiling. "Do you like it?" I asked.

 

"Yup. Next time you could do it with barbecue," he quipped.

 

I rolled my eyes. That man likes barbecue sauce with just about anything. Still, teriyaki would be my choice here, and he liked it too!

Living Room... Before and After

The living room has been done for while, I just haven't posted about it yet... sorry! Since we have an "ice day" off of school today, I have some extra time, so I'll try to remember the whole process from before and after. Though in many ways, I like forgetting about it all!

First, the carpet had fleas. The walls, trim, and fireplace was a worn-out off-white color. The fireplace tiles were gross, which I replaced in this DIY project. An bookshelf took up space on one wall. We ripped it out. After the carpet was removed (as per the contract when we bought the house) we sanded and painted the floor with Cocoon from Sherwin William's Rustic Refined collection. Our family came down over a weekend in the fall, and helped paint the walls with Bittersweet Stem. I replaced the tiles, with Justin's help to tear them out, in December.

I picked up the rug and pillows from Gabriel Brothers, a discount store. The blue chair I got from Goodwill for $5. The coffee table was a DIY project that I got at a garage sale this summer for another $5. I'll have to post more on that later- it was purple to start with) Mom graciously made the curtains, which have a light blue pattern, this fall. And finally, finally, we had the revelation that my hope chest would fit just perfectly in the space between the fireplace and the wall! Dad and mom had a talented wood-working neighbor make these for Bethany, Ratona and I when we were young. They actually all fit together in the window seat of our dormer window at our house in Springfield, but look great separately too. I never took it to Cali when I moved out there... I guess I always knew I would be back here somehow.

I think that pretty much covers all the improvements. Waddaya think?

Dani's almost two...

So  my baby niece is almost two... March 25. I'm working on her scrapbook for my sis, and it's really coming along. My favorite page so far is the "all the single babies" page of her with her cousins. Someone's probably already come up with it, but I just thought it would be really funny to do. I'm only halfway done, but I love it!

We'll be going up for Dani's birthday party too, and Beth mentioned an Elmo cake. Now wouldn't that be fun to make?? I think so!! I found a few pictures- some very simple, so multiple layers. Maybe Bethany will let me make it!!

Twice!

I actually went running twice this week. Monday, and today. Even if it was only about a mile, at least I went! Last summer and early fall, I was running 2-4 miles, about three times a week. I was feeling good too. Then we bought the house, and my evenings were spent painting, cleaning, sanding, drywalling, decorating, unpacking, and generally adjusting to a new place. So I barely ran at all. Since dad signed me up for the Air Force Half-marathon this fall, I figured that I should get started. While I have plenty of time to train, I just needed to get back into it anyways.

The thing is, I'm really not competitive when it comes to running. I just like running.... just because. I know that most people think I'm crazy, but running is my downtime, plus I just feel healthier too! It helps me think. But dad says we should do some training races, so I guess I'm going to do the 5K here in town in March. It's only 3 miles, but that sounds like a lot to me right now. But I have a month to get up to that, so I think I can do it. I'm going to try anyways. Still, I won't really have any time goals for the race except to finish. Finishing is good in my book!

A memoir in the works...

If you've been around me much, you know I have talked for awhile about writing a memoir about my first five years of teaching. The statistic is that about half of new teachers quit within the first five years. So I figured it might be interesting to write about my first five years. I made it through but not without a layoff and other issues along the way. (Only those closest to me know the worst of it!) I'm happy that I am in my 6th year and still enjoy it, although if I do stop, it will be to stay home when I have kids.

About writing the book: I started by going through my old journals, and anything I wrote about school, I would type that up. Therefore, the memoir is diary-style, with dates and entries on each date. Then I went through and added in notes from my lesson plan book about certain lessons or techniques, so there was a balance of emotional (in the journal) and actual teaching (from the lesson plans). Then there's the students. The pack rat that I am, I saved pretty much every note I ever confiscated, and typed them up to put in the book. Hehe... I did warn the students about this! (Of course all names will have to be changed). Beyond that, I looked through pictures, memorabilia, emails I'd saved, and my personal calendar to add other events. I'm still not done though, even with 55,000 words, which is over 200 pages. But the document is so big to scroll through, I am going to get it printed so that I can read through and add things that I forgot about. For example, I just finished with the 5th year of high school, but realized I didn't have anything about the EL tutoring where I worked with some very special students, or our C2G program. So I need to put that in.

One of the hardest things for me will be changing the names. Names of students are so personal. How do I replace that with another name? But of course I will have to. I also need some non-teacher people to read it to see if it makes sense to them, because I want to appeal to a wide audience.

Speaking of audience, my best friend asked my what my target audience was, and I'm not sure. Certainly other teachers might enjoy it. But I hope that it is broader than that. Maybe I want to show what public schools are really like- the very positive and also some of the negative. So what is that audience? Parents? Policymakers? I don't know. Maybe it's just anyone who likes a true story about someone who persevered. I hope that is the ultimate message.

Of course, it won't even be ready to send to a publisher to try to get them to publish it for at least a few months. But I am hoping that I can be happy with a draft before summer. We'll just see what God works out!