A First Time For Everything

Here are a couple of my recent firsts:

First time making bread from scratch.


My mother-in-law gave me a Kitchen Aid for Christmas and the first thing I did was make some yummy bread.


First time scraping snow off the roof of a house.


You could say I'm a good daughter-in-law for doing this...or you could say I'm paying my dues for free rent, utilities, cable, internet, etc...either one :)


First time recieving a Valentine from a 10 year old.


And I got two! I'm sure all you teachers out there have a huge collection of them every year, but that doesn't happen in the special ed department. Our special education kids spend the morning with us and the afternoon in their regular classes. We had a party for them in our class and then in the afternoon they had the "real" party in their regular class. Their home room teachers get their Valentine's. Anyway, this morning we made them do a writing assignment by making a Valentine for someone. To cut out any drama we said they could only be given to adults, (parents, teachers, etc.) I was pleasantly surprised to get a couple. Such sweet kids. Here's a close up on one.


Maybe I need to work on my teaching skills...

Update?

I had a post all made up in my head a couple weeks ago, but was too lazy to post. Sorry. I no longer remember what it was about...

Really, nothing exciting is happening in our lives right now. Christmas was a blast. I don't think I ever posted about that. We went up to my parents place for most of the break. We did a lot of shopping, went snowboarding, mastered Wii Fit, played board/card games, and ate a lot of food. I loved it.

It was rough getting back into school. I wanted to strangle a few kids several times, but resisted. I finished my Rolfing sessions last week! I will post before and after pictures when I get them. What else, what else...? My little sister got engaged and is getting married in April. That will be fun. I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods. Apparently they are bad for you. I'm trying to talk Tyler into adopting a little dog. He still needs a little more convincing. I was given a whole new snoboard get-up for Christmas. It's amazing what new stuff can do for you skills and confort level! I think that's about all the updating I can think of.







Maybe I will think of a more exciting post late. Until then....adios!

One Year Older...

And wiser, too!



Yes, this adorable man just had a birthday yesterday. We were actually on the road for most of the day, because he let me stay in Spokane with my family for one last day. He pretty much sacrificed half of his birthday for me. That is one of many reasons why he is such a great man. He always puts others first, especially if it makes his wife happy :)

Here is one of many favorite memories I've had with Tyler:

Right after our honeymoon we moved to Chicago. One Sunday we went downtown and walked around the city. We loved it. The architecture was beautiful. Then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free by the way. This is embarrassing to admit, but I had never been to a zoo before and Tyler promised to take me to one. I was like a kid in a candy store. We stopped at the polar bear tank, Tyler's favorite. As we watched through the glass below the waters surface a teenage polar bear was playing under the water. The polar bear would come right up to the glass to look at his audience. It was amazing to see a polar bear so close up. But, the best part was when he would hide to the left of the glass so no one could see him. When an unsuspecting kid would put his face up to the glass the polar bear would "pop out" with his mouth open and scare the kid half to death. We couldn't help but watch and laugh as he proceeded to do this for a good half hour, to several kids. We stayed and watched for that long! I forgot the camera, but Tyler has some sweet pictures on his phone...which is with him at work right now. Wish I could show you!

I'd like to invite all you readers out there who know Tyler to please share a favorite memory of him or what you like best about him as a comment on this post. (You can even comment if you don't have a blog and have never commented on my blog before... sarah, caitlin...etc. :) Love you all and hope you had a fantastic Christmas!

School Skipper!

It's true. I skipped the last day of school before winter break. Instead of baby sitting 10 year olds for 7 hours I did something much more entertaining...First snowboarding trip of the season! Unfortunately, Tyler had a final that morning so I went without him. I felt bad, but he assured me it was OK. I went with one of my best friends and her BF. We had a good time.

(My cheeks are abnormally chubby for a reason...long story.)



The fog rolled in, but once we got to the top we were above the clouds. The view was amazing.





I know I complain about Idaho, but I have to admit it is beautiful.

Sick, Boo

This is only my second time being sick this winter. I think that's pretty good for my first time being in a middle school in 12 years. There are germs everywhere, as you know or can imagine. It's Friday night and I'm home alone while my man is working for minimum wage at a movie theater so we can get super cheap movies.

Being sick and home alone I have no desire to clean our disastrous room so I'm in front of the computer watching brociety.com (hoping for a good deal on a new snowboard), listening to E! True Hollywood story on the TV in the next room, and blog stalking...kind of. I'm mostly looking at blogs from people I know/knew from high school. All are under 30 and most are married. I see all their craft projects, coupon clippings, fancy food projects, ultrasound pics, and decorated houses and keep thinking, "Wow, what's wrong with me?"

Ever since I can remember I was bored with crafty things. About a year ago I decided it was time to try it again. I went to the local craft store and bought too many things and spent too much money. I got a short start to a handbag (haven't finished it), made about six head pieces, a necklace, and became bored.

How does one even go about clipping coupons? The closest I get to coupon clipping is taking the Dairy Queen coupons we get in the mail and buying a Blizzard and getting one free :)

I don't like cooking. Poor Tyler. He loves to eat.

Some day I will have a real ultrasound pic to show all of you. That will be a good day.

Our small apartment just recently stopped looking like a bachelor pad, but only because we ditched the ratted old love seat for a set of my parents old couches and finally put real pictures in our frames to replace the mystery family photos. A few months ago 'Usher' was with me at a married friends apartment. It was cutely decorated with Easter decor. Usher said to me, "When are you going to start decorating your apartment for the holiday's? *pause* When you stop wearing skinny jeans?" She pretty much summed it up. Such a witty girl.

Instead I spend my time reading under a blanket on the couch, playing all sorts of different sports, watching movies with my man (I don't know why I keep saying that), and shopping online. Maybe I should find a new hobby. Any ideas?

Cute Idea

The wedding we just went to last month in Arizona was so fun! (I don't know if I already said that in the bachlorette party story.) I was one of ten bridesmaids. I know, TEN! Ha ha it made for a lot of good times though. So, they had their reception in the backyard of her parents house. It was absolutely beautiful and the weather was prefect. Along the side of the house was the entry into the reception. Right after the sign in book was a "photo booth". It was such a cute idea. I wish I would have had one! Here are a couple of the fun photos we had taken.

The bride and groom.



Which couple is faking it?


Old roomies and best friends...with some guys :)


LOVE her.


Bridemaids, bridesmaids, bridesmaids...


Lots of bridesmaids.


Ahhh, precious.

OUCH!

Every Tuesday for the past four weeks I have had a Rolfer come over and work on me. What's a Rolfer? Well, it's someone who goes to Rolfing school to become a Rolfer so people can get Rolfed by them. Sorry, I like the word "Rolf". It's actually the last name of the Doctor who invented the technique, Dr. Ida Rolf. In short, Rolfing works with your connective tissue, (fascia) to realign and balance the whole body. Some call it structural integration.


"This is the gospel of Rolfing:
When the body gets working appropriately,
the force of gravity can flow through.
Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself."
~ Ida P. Rolf

There are ten sessions, which cover the entire body. Each session lasts about two hours. Our Rolfer takes before and after pictures. I wish I could find Tyler's to show you all. The differences are astounding. I will try and remember to post mine when I'm finished. When it comes to healing your body Rolfing is pretty much amazing.

I was convinced to have this done because my husband and almost his entire family has had it done. They all spoke of how all their discomforts were cured after these ten sessions. Tyler was told by his chiropractor that he would need to continue seeing him throughout his entire life. Not anymore. After less than half the sessions my body already feels like it's working and moving how it was supposed to all along. My movements are fluid and nearly effortless. I love it. You don't realize how bad your movements are until you start functioning properly.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it's not, BUT there is a draw back. This process is painful! The first two sessions were a walk in the park. The third wasn't bad, but left me with some bruising. The fourth almost made me quit! OK maybe not quit, but it was definitely one of the more painful things I've gone through. But, I'm learning very quickly to strengthen my mind and breath through the pain. It kind of makes me feel tough :) Though, sometimes I want to cry like a baby.