I Am A Slacker, but I Am Still Thankful

Well, I haven't been doing to well with this whole "I Am Thankful" thing.  I've really tried, but blogging every day can be tough!  Anyway, I'll pick up where I left off...

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Today I am thankful for friends.  I have to say, I have some pretty awesome friends.  Some I've been friends with for a very long time, while others I've picked up in the past few years.  Either way, old and new, they are the best I could possibly ask for!

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I Am Thankful: Day 9

Today I am thankful for cell phone cameras.  For without them I would not be able to take such random pictures as these:

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These are just a few of my favorite moments I've captured when I didn't have my big camera around.  Glad I have my cell phone to capture these moments!

I Am Thankful: Day 8

Today I am thankful that the beach is close enough for a weekend trip.  There isn't much else as beautiful as white sand and blue ocean.  It's always so calming and relaxing.  My mom and I spent the weekend in Destin and I loved every bit of it!

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I Am Thankful: Day 7

Today I am thankful for three day weekends, or in this case "fake Fridays."  Tomorrow is Veteran's Day which means no work for me!  We are going out to celebrate fake Friday tonight with friends and I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow.  Then, my mom and I are headed to Destin for a little rest and relaxation.  Since three day weekends rarely occur, I plan on enjoying every minute of mine!

I Am Thankful: Day 6

Today I am thankful for forgiveness.  In all forms forgiveness is wonderful.  Most importantly the forgiveness that I am given for my sins.  But today's story is about forgiveness from a child.  Yep, you heard it right, forgiveness from a child.  This afternoon as my students were packing up, many of them began to crowd around me to ask me questions about some of the papers I had just handed out.  One student had just finished arguing with me about a grade that another teacher had given her, while I tried to justify the grade.  At that moment one of the sweetest students came up to ask me a question and I snapped at her.  In 2 years of teaching this child, I have never had to get onto her, so it came as quite a shock to her.  I immediately felt guilty as she quietly walked back to her seat.  After dealing with some other students and getting them settled, I looked over to her.  She immediately busted out crying when we made eye contact.  Hello horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I went over to her and explained why I had snapped at her, appologized for my actions, and hugged her neck.  I seriously felt disgusted with myself.  She was so sweet, and through tears she said she forgave me.  Of course, the guilt I had didn't immediately subside.  I still felt bad.  But hearing her say that she forgave me let me know that in the end we'd be ok.  Thank goodness for forgiveness.  We'd all be in a bad place without it!

I Am Thankful: Day 5

I am super thankful for bye weeks today!  For without them, I might never have a fall getaway with my husband.  Seriously, he does not like to leave town during football season (really he doesn't leave the TV).  So this weekend we were able to getaway and go visit my favorite cousin, Allison, in Nashville.  It was wonderful to escape this town we call home and hang out with family.  So, yay for bye weeks!  Next weekend I'll be headed to Destin sans hubby (thanks again, football season).

I Am Thankful: Day 4

Today I am thankful that my husband raided the Dolly Madison store last week.  This morning I was looking for something to eat for breakfast and couldn't find a thing.  You see, we are headed out of town this weekend and have decided the grocery store can wait until our return.  We're really only out of orange juice, milk, cereal, and bananas, but those things are my breakfast of choice when I'm on the go.  I was down to my last resort, the snack cabinet, and when I opened it I discovered Dunkin' Sticks (basically a long, skinny donut with no hole).  Definitely the breakfast of champions!

I Am Thankful: Day 3

Today I am thankful for Maddie and Maisy.  Since we don't have children, we treat them as if they are our kids.  There is nothing like coming home from a long days work to two sweet puppies who want nothing more than to love on you and snuggle.  And I might be biased, but they are pretty cute too.

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I Am Thankful: Day 2

Today I am thankful for my sweet, silly husband.  He is always here for me no matter how crabby I may act, to make me laugh or show me that he loves me.  Here's just a few of the sweet things he's done in the past week:

1. My mom showed up unannounced one night while he was cooking dinner. He had only made enough for me and him to eat, but offered her dinner anyway.  Basically, he gave her his meal.  After she left he made himself a sandwich and said "I didn't want her to have to eat alone tonight."

2. Sunday I wasn't feeling well so he cleaned up the house, changed the sheets on the bed, and folded laundry, all after making me breakfast in bed.

3. After taking the day off to go shopping yesterday, I came home and told hime that some friends were headed out for drinks.  I told him I wasn't going to go because I had been gone all day.  He told me that he could tell I wanted to go and ushered me out of the door and told me to go have fun.

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And here's some silly outtakes of a maternity shoot I did for a friend.  As always, he was there to entertain!

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I Am Thankful

This month I have decided to blog about one thing that I am thankful for each day in hopes that I will see more of the positives in my life. So here goes...

Today I am thankful for my job. Teaching is truly one of the best jobs. Summers and holidays off, getting home from work by 4:00, and paid sick and personal days- you just can't beat that. Sometimes I complain, but for the most part I am happy with what I do. And with so many people being jobless, I am grateful to have one!

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Right Now

I am...

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Watching: the computer

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Eating: Nerds

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Drinking: Water

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Wearing: a tutu. It's rockstar day for Red Ribbon Week.

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Avoiding: work

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Feeling: exhausted

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Missing: my pups. Who wouldn't miss this?

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Thankful: for my health

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Weather: sunny and 78 degrees

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Praying: for a childhood friend of Gavin's whos wife passed away this morning

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Needing: rest

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Thinking: of my to do list- there's a lot on it.

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Loving: my sweet husband. Tuesday he cooked dinner and when my mom showed up unannounced, he gave her his food.  Then he stayed at the hospital all night with his granddaddy.  And yesterday I found out he did something really sweet for me a few weeks ago.  I wonder what he wants?

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What are you doing right now?

Fall Goals

My friend Beth over at Feels Like Home to Me recently posted her fall goals for this year and challenged me to post mine as well. It took me a while to come up with these, but here goes:

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1. Enjoy the fall weather.  I'm such a summer person that I get a little sad when fall comes around because that means winter is on it's tail.  I really do like fall.  I love when the leaves start changing and it is a nice change from the summer heat.  So I really want to enjoy the outdoors and the cooler (but not cold) weather while it's here.

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2. Cook more.  If you know me well at all, you know that I am not much of a cook.  Mostly because it's not something I love to do.  Occasionally I'll whip something up, but that usually happens about once a month (yikes, that sounds worse when I actually type that out!).  I've found a lot of yummy recipes on Pinterest and I really do want to try them out this fall.

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3. Relax.  Easier said than done.  I'm not too good at this one.  Why is it that fall is such a busy season?  We have something going on almost every weekend, so relaxing is going to be a tough one.

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4. Do some fun fall crafts with my class.  I love doing fun activities with my class, but now that they switch classes it's hard to find the time.  Last week we did carve a pumpkin and next week we're going to try to make slime.  I'll let you know how that goes!

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5. Take more pictures with my camera.  I had to be specific on that one.  I've been taking pictures, but they've been with my phone.  This one might be tough too, because my new iPhone comes in Friday and it's camera is supposed to be awesome!  But I need to get back into the mode of taking my big, bulky camera with me because there's so much going on in the next few months.

What My iPhone Saw: The Start of Summer

I'm a slacker. Seriously. Where have I been? I said I was going to do a better job of blogging and then I disappeared. Will the excuse of my summer beginning suffice? Either way, I'm using it.

So as I just mentioned, my summer has begun and it has been fantabulous! By far the best one yet. So here's a few pictures from my phone from the start of my summer:

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Gavin's super-sexy beach hair. Seriously- his hair is fabulous!
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The "gaw-juss" sunset in Orange Beach. I love sitting on the porch and watching them everyday!
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Our sweet puppies watching the boats on Old River. We had just come in from a boat ride ourselves.
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Deacon giving Gavin love. This was after he whacked Gavin with a dust pan. Boys!

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So that's the start of my summer! Lots of time at the beach and time with friends. Layer I'll be back for a post on my latest trip. Until then, here's a teaser:

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What My iPhone Saw: This Weekend

Here's this weekend's edition of What My iPhone Saw.  Enjoy!

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Gavin's newest toy.  A nice, big riding lawn mower- bag, bumper, and all.  His one beef with it?  No cruise control.  Seriously?!

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The Beatles tribute at the Amphiteatre.  We took my mom to see it Saturday night and she loved it!

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Maddie claiming my new body pillow.  She thinks she owns it, as well as the whole place.

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Gavin and Maisy watching the Survivor Finale.  We've never been Survivor watchers, but since our good friend Krista was on it this season, it was a must!  Maisy loves Krista almost as much as we do! (Please excuse the wiring all around the TV.  We're looking for something new to hold our TV, but are having no luck.  If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them!)

We Have This Joke

Well, it's not really a joke.  Here's the story...

In case you didn't know, we are very close to our friend's Beth and Brett's family.  We consider them our family as well.  Every Sunday after church, we all gather at one of our houses for lunch.  Most of the time, it's Beth's parent's house.  Well, Sabra (Beth's mom) has these pants that her sister, Suze, gave her as a gag gift for Christmas.  They are... indescribable.  Anyway, one day Gavin insisted on modeling these pants for us after lunch.  Now keep in mind- these are women's pants.  So Gavin put the pants on and we all laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes.  Since that Sunday, Gavin has put the pants on everytime we go to Beth's parents.  Mainly to model them for a family member who has not seen them yet.  Well, this past Sunday (Easter) the whole family was together and there were many questions about the pants and their whereabouts.  While we were out hiding eggs for the kids, Gavin was inside getting into trouble.  Before we knew it...

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Oh yeah! There's the pants!
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 They're so big, he has to poke his belly out to hold them up!
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He was quick to join in on the hunting fun!
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And model the pants!  So that's our joke.  Hope you enjoyed.  Maybe you'll get another peek at the pants in a few more weeks!

What My iPhone Saw: Spring Break Edition

Last week was my spring break.  I enjoyed doing a whole lot of nothing!  Seriously, I can count on my hand the constructive things I did during my break- sad, I know.  But, I enjoyed it.  Every break I have had this year has been spent traveling and staying busy.  So, for a change it was nice to do nothing but relax!  Anyway, here's a few pictures from the week...

Sweet Deacon sitting on my lap while watching Gavin dance.

Maddie's new haircut.  She looks so tiny now that all of that hair is gone!

Gavin and I kayaking on the Coosa River.  We had fun and got fried!

Gavin hard at work (not really), checking some measurements on mom's new house.

What My iPhone Saw II

So here's my second installment of what my iPhone saw for the past week. Enjoy!








Sweet baby feet. My friend Kim had her baby & I got to take pictures. More of those later!

A Stop at The Varsity. On the way home from Athens, Gavin & I stopped for some chillidogs & F.O.s!

Sleeps Head. When we got home from Athens, the puppies were so happy to see us. Apparently they had a wild night out!

Few and Far Between

That's what has happened to my posts.  They have become few and far between.  So I'm trying to get back in the swing of things and start updating this little blog o' mine more often.  Bear with me.

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Today I decided to post on my latest obsession, Pinterest.  I discovered Pinterest through my friend Courtnie.  She was talking about how obsessed she was with it, so I decided I had to check it out.  An invite later and I was pinning everything I liked on the site + more.  You can check it out here and if you want an invite comment me your email address and I'll send you one!  I have many boards for pinning, but I thought that today I'd share some of my favorite pins from the site...
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Board: Room Ideas
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I love these colors and really want to do something similar to one of our guest rooms.
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Board: For the Home
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Aren't these adorable?  I think I need them!
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Board: Photography
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Isn't this precious?  I plan on trying something similar with my friend Shea's daughter.

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Board: My Fashion Pinboard

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I love this look!  I'm not normally a tankini kind of person, but this all put together is too cute!

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Board: Yummy to the Tummy

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These make the fruit bars you buy at the store look boring!
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Seriously, if you haven't checked Pinterest out yet, you should!

What my iPhone Saw

My friend Carly recently started something new on her blog. She posts various pictures taken with her iPhone weekly and calls it "What My iPhone Saw." What a great idea! I take so many pictures on my iPhone and this is a great way to share the random things I see. So this is my first installment of What my iPhone Saw. Enjoy!

Snacks my sweet Hubby brought home for movie night. I thought I was in Heaven!

The horrible sunburn on my arm after a day at the airshow.

Berkley celebrating a Talent Show win and preparing to make popcorn baggies for her classmates.