Off we go...

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!

A few days early!

Christmas gift from Waco ISD

Waco ISD gave us our Christmas gift this morning with a delayed start!!! Those teachers out there understand my JOY! Now I have 2 hrs. to get those little things done that haven't gotten done yet this month (you know laundry, wrapping, getting Christmas cards almost ready) so here's to an extra 2 hrs. in my day and a little more Christmas cheer!

Christmas Cheer

Oh the weather outside is frightful... really even in Waco the temps have dropped and it was sleeting for a little while this afternoon. It definitely puts me in the Christmas mood. Of course, I picked today to run all my errands after school. It was crazy!

We got some great Christmas cheer news today from Baylor. Steve was appointed as a Senior Lecturer. He applied a few months ago and was unanimously approved by the math department. It then moved onto the provost and president's office for final approval. He is the first in his department to apply for this so that makes it extra exciting. What a wonderful way to end the fall semester!!


In other holiday cheer news... On Sunday we celebrated my parent's 15th Christmas Open House. It was tons of fun! It is always a fun afternoon to celebrate the Christmas season.


Some have asked so here's a quick update on my eyes... all is well. I can see great now and the haziness is gone. I have been back to the doctor once already and I go back on Thursday for another check-up. I'm so, so glad that I went through the process. It was a great Christmas gift to myself :)

I can see clearly now...

I can see, almost, clearly now that I have had lasik. Things are still a bit hazy but I can see with no contacts or glasses, absolutely AMAZING! Considering I was at the office about 45 minutes I can't believe I waited so long to get it done. The doctor and nurses were so nice and did a great job at calming me down, the Valium didn't kick in as I wish it would have. I couldn't feel anything (thank goodness) although it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, it didn't really hurt. My eyes don't look so good right now thanks to a few broken blood vessels but they feel fine. Sunlight is the only thing that bugs me a bit but that should go away after awhile. Although I missed singing in our church Christmas program (thanks to the lights) we made it to the Baylor Combined Choir Concert last night which is always a favorite holiday treat. I go back in tomorrow to see how everything is going. For those who are thinking about it I say "go for it" or at least go in for a consultation.

Ladies Night Out

Last night my mom, Andrea, and Judy (Andrea's mom) had a fun Ladies Night Out. We attended the Junior League of Waco's Deck the Halls ~ Holiday Market. There was so much to see and some yummy food to eat. I really enjoyed going from booth to booth looking at what all there was to buy. We did a trip around once and then went back to our favorite spots to purchase the things that caught our eye. One thing that was fun to see was all the really cute baby stuff. I held onto my wallet and didn't buy anything but I am already looking forward to coming in the future to get things for Emily. It was a wonderful way to spend a Thursday night!

Decorations

One of our favorite things about Christmas is decorating. So here's a sampling of what we have been up to.

Here's all our stuff out of the attic.

I don't know where we would put it all if we didn't have an attic!

Here's the official tree with all our favorite ornaments. We had several new additions to the tree this year with ornaments from our travels.

One thing I love out our house is having a fireplance and mantel. It's so fun to hang our stockings by the fire.

The past few years we have started collecting Department 56 houses. Our most recent is a travel agency, perfect for us!

We have 2 other trees and every room has some decorations, I didn't want to bore you :) Now the goal is to watch all our Christmas movies and listen to our over 50 Christmas CDs. I'm not sure I will have time to go to work each day, haha. In other news... we only have 18 more days till we leave for Italy, yes!

Happy Thaksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Fanpire

Okay I'll admit it, I'm totally Twilight obsessed. I feel I'm much more mature than those screaming teen girls out there but there is a little bit of me that wanted to do a little screaming at the movie and leading up to it (okay I did some screaming but held most of it in). I tend to get wrapped up in books/movies more easily than I should. I mean I've watch Pride and Prejudice way, way too much and now can quote most of it with Cheryl. With Twilight I was able to bring others along for the journey which helped keep me a bit more grounded. Once I read all the books in the series I forced Karen to read them. I was so happy when her obsessive gene kicked in and she spread the word to others. On Friday night (yes, I waited till Friday although I really, really wanted to go to the midnight showing on Thursday) 8 other Twifans and Steve (he supports my obsession :) went to the movie with me. One of Karen's friends from her new school even bought us vampire teeth. We had tons of fun even though we were clearly part of the older crowd.

The verdict on the movie: so not as good as the book. Of course, I was expecting that. After reading and then watching Harry Potter I understand that the literary work is almost always so, so much better. Maybe it's the power of using your own imagination that makes it better. Oh well, I did like the movie and ended up seeing it again yesterday afternoon. I did my share to help it make over $70 million for the weekend!

Twice Tagged

I was tagged in 2 different blogs, by Cari and Kerri, and it has taken me a while to get them done. Here's the 1st... 7 things that you might not know about me:
1) I have visited 13 different countries since I graduated from high school. I am looking forward to going back to Italy in 1 month!!
2) I consider myself an early bird but don't like to talk to anyone for at least an hour. Lucky for Steve he has late classes this semester so he doesn't have to endure my silence.
3) My sophomore year at Baylor I was interrogated by the BU police. It was scary but luckily I was not involved in the incident in question.
4) The summer after my senior year in high school I had the opportunity to speak to several groups including WMU and the National Acteens Convention which included 5000 teenage girls.
5) I have some OCD tendencies and I think that all educators have some. If I ever get my PhD I would like to research the idea.
6) I did some silly things while dating Steve. A) called him "sir" when he first called, B) at our first movie he asked if I would like popcorn, I said sure. He held the popcorn out for me the entire movie and I didn't eat any! C) I made dinner one night and he brought dessert. He asked what kind of pie I liked and I said any kind. He brought a coconut creme, while I don't like. Luckily I was sick and couldn't taste it so I fooled him :)
7) I love to watch basketball. I love that it is indoors and usually goes by quickly. My least favorite is baseball, way to long. Football is okay as long as the Bears are winning.

Onto my second tag... In this one you are supposed to tell 6 unknown, quirky or random things about yourself and then tag six friends.
1. I love to sing in the car
2. I used to write everything I wore down on a chart. I had it on a clipboard in my closet (did I mention my OCD?).
3. I am picky eater even though I don't like to admit it
4. My mom has passed onto me the enjoyment of hosting friends at my house
5. I am allergic to chocolate. Doesn't really stop me from eating it but then my nose gets runny
6. Easter is my favorite holiday
I tag... anyone who wants to share!!!

Question... Lasik

For awhile now my eye doctor has been encouraging me to get Lasik performed. I have allergies and a continuous infection on my eye lids which makes wearing contacts hard. Up till now I have been very wary of having the procedure done but recently I decided now was the time. So here my questions... have you had Lasik done? What are the pros/cons about it? Who did the surgery?
I have an consultation appointment for the place in Waco that does it on Thursday and am anxious to here more about it. Till then I will be researching and trying to psych myself up for this!

20 year Flashback

Last night I got to relive a concert I attended 20 years ago. My first concert was Amy Grant's Lead Me On Tour in Las Cruces, NM. I was in 7th grade and remember having so much fun. Steve also attend the original which is a fun coincidence. Since this is the 20 yr. anniversary of the tour she decided to bring back most of her band members and sang the same song set. It was GREAT! I love her old stuff which made the night so much fun.

Picture Tag

I got this from a friend's blog and thought it would be fun to see what ya'll have in your folders. Go to your 6th folder and take your 6th picture.

I have 2 b/c I used my desktop and laptop folders. This is a cake my sister made for a baby shower I help with. She is very talented!

Obviously this is from the folder titled "birthday 08".

Let's see your pics!

Is it too early?

I am a huge music fan. I think music is an amazing thing that can impact us all and I wish I had a great talent to play and sing, oh well. As I type I am listening to Nessun Dorma my favorite opera piece and getting chill bumps, oh I love it! After some initial issues I have come to love itunes. Even though I am a pc girl itunes is my fav application and I have lots of songs but only a little ipod, gotta change that :) Anyway, where am I going with this? Oh yeah, Christmas is still many days away (48, if you're counting) and we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving so is it too early to break out the Christmas CDs? Steve surprised me last night with 2 new Christmas CDs, Casting Crowns and David Phelps, and Wednesday I bought the new Harry Connick Jr. Can I start listening to them? They are now in my computer to sing with at school (my office mates love that). I guess I figure with Christmas all over the stores it puts me in the mood.

Steve also bought the new Michael W. Smith praise album. It is GREAT!

A happy homecoming and the countdown begins

We had a great Halloween/Homecoming weekend. We started the weekend by hosting a Halloween party with some friends. We enjoyed yummy treats and a good movie. We watched a classic Strangers on a Train which was good. I don't like scary movies so Steve had to wait till I went to bed to watch the real scary one.

I started Saturday very early. My mom and I helped with the Tri Delta homecoming breakfast reservations. It was fun to see some old faces and catch up. We headed to the parade and enjoyed seeing all the floats. There were a lot of good ones this year. We gave our fball tickets to Rich and Drew since Steve had tons of papers to grade (hope his students appreciate that!). We listened to the game on the radio, it was a great game. I was busy making pumpkin bread for home group. It was a good Saturday!

On Sunday we enjoy a mini concert at church by David Phelps. He was great and I really enjoyed listening to him sing. I look forward to singing with him for a Christmas concert with the church choir.

In other news the official countdown to Italy has begun. We have 48 days till we leave and I can't wait!!! I still have some plans to finalized and some shopping to do but we are ready to go. I just can't wait!!

LID #9

Well, I totally missed posting for #8, oops! Today is our 9th month of waiting for Emily. Several times a week people ask me how long we have waited and how much longer we have to wait. I enjoy answering because I get to chat about Emily which makes my heart happy. Usually after I tell people we will probably be waiting 30+ more months they get a look of horror upon their faces but I remind them of the incredible nursery Emily is going to have when she gets to us. Since I have already started collecting and have much longer than most moms I will be ready. My favorite is to buy things that are personalized. I have always been a big fan of anything with my name or initials on it so I am starting with Emily early. I remember when I was in elementary school there was a store in El Paso called "It's Personal". It was one of my favorite places to go. I remember having hair clips with my name on them, oh so fun!

For our 9th month of waiting though I skipped the gift for Emily or the nursery and gave myself one. I joined the Waco Y with a friend from school. I have been needing to get myself in gear for awhile and she was an encouragement to do so. For our first day we thought we would start with something light, Beginners Turbo Kickboxing. Ummmm, let's just say I hope I can walk tomorrow! I can't imagine how the regular class is, yikes! Cari, it might take me a few years to join you in that class :)

A trip to the State Fair of Texas

Last Friday as part of our fall break we headed to the Great State Fair of Texas. This was our 5th trip to the fair and it was a great one. The day was perfect with temperatures that weren't too hot which was great. Here's some pics from our day.

We got to the fair at 10 when the gates opened.

No trip to the state fair is complete without a picture of Big Tex.

I love to see at the animals and these little piggies were too cute!

A new fried treat! Fried grilled cheese, it was okay, very fried.

We always enjoy the bird show.

Here is me in my new car, okay not really but it's the one I want.

This was the biggest rabbit I have ever seen. We got lucky and were at the fair the day they were judging the bunnies.

I couldn't help taking this little guy. He looks a lot like our little guy (except for the lopped ears).

We also happened upon a chocolate dessert tasting competition. They didn't ask us to judge, bummer. After the light show Jessica Simpson did a concert. We didn't stay long but did get a glimpse of Tony Romo. It seemed there were a lot of people there just to see him. It was a great trip and a fun weekend to get away.

The Color Purple

As part of our Fall Break weekend we went to see The Color Purple at Fair Park on Thursday night. It was a fun show to watch with some great songs including "What About Love". There were several actors from the original Broadway show and they did a wonderful job.

I am excited about the new season of Dallas Summer Musicals. I think we might get season tickets which will include 7 shows including Fiddler on the Roof, Legally Blond, A Chorus Line, and Mary Poppins to name a few. Looks to be a fun season.

Negotiator

We returned from a wonderful fall break trip to Dallas. Steve had Friday off for BU's fall break and I decided to take a personal day (they give those to us to use right!) and we went to Dallas. We had a great time and I have decided to spread out the weekend into a couple of entries.
I am all about staying in nice hotels but I don't like to spend a whole lot of money, I know a contradiction. Anyway, my sister has gotten some great deals through Priceline and has encouraged me to try it. I have always been wary of using it for some reason. I guess I like to pick the hotel from a list but that way is more expensive I have learned. So a few weeks back I decided to search around the downtown Dallas area to see what I could find. Well, I quickly decided that I should give Priceline a try. I am so glad I did!! We ended up at the Sheraton downtown for $55! Considering the price from their website was over $200 I was very happy. Steve and I decided on Wednesday to go ahead and stay 2 nights. I went back to Priceline and ended up with the Hyatt Regency for $50, yea! I know, it's a bit silly to be so happy about the hotels but I figured we saved a little more money that can go towards Italy. We were very pleased with the Hyatt (I love all the glass) and the Sheraton was okay, not great. We had never stayed in Downtown before so it was fun to enjoy the city lights!

Tickets

I didn't know what a demand there was to see The Last Supper. We will be in Milan as part of our Italy trip. The main reason we are going to Milan is to see the famous painting. I guess I should have known what a hot ticket that would be, oops! Anyway, the church where the painting is does not have anymore tickets for the day we will be there. I was lucky to find another "vendor" that has tickets (at a higher price, figures). I emailed them awhile back about our date and I just found out they do have 2 available! I am still looking at a day tour in Rome. I have a lot of research to do before we go, that's for sure!

Finished!

Well, I finished the Twilight series last night. Good thing I got to sleep a bit late this morning due to inservice for the district, it was a late night. Anyway, I really like books 1-3 a lot. Book 4 was okay but I guess I was just more distracted and couldn't ever really get into the grove of it. I still liked it but there was just something about it, I'm not sure. My nephew and others have suggested reading Lightning Thief so that may be up next. I think my library at school has it. I'm hoping for a quick week at school with fitting 28 guidance lessons into 4 days, should be fun!

Game Day x4

Yesterday was a big day for sports. We had 4 different games to watch. Since my nephews and niece live in Waco we stay busy going from game to game. So here's some pics from the day.

Here is Jacob and his flag football team. He made a great kick!

Hannah is enjoying playing soccer.

Andrew is on the Steelers team. Go Steelers!

The Baylor game wasn't too bad. We scored 17 pts. which I thought was pretty good.

I ended the day with a wonderful wedding. Congratulations Jay and Liza!

Wonderful Wedding Weekend

We enjoyed a great family weekend and a fun family wedding. Steve's sister, brother-in-law, and brother came in Friday night from Lubbock/Amarillo. They got here in time for us to enjoy a night out for dinner and a movie. We wanted to see Fireproof but it was sold out. I think that is a good thing for Waco but a bummer for us. We ended up seeing Eagle Eye which was okay. On

Saturday morning we headed down to Austin and Pioneer Farms. Steven's nephew, Josh, got married there. The wedding was at a historical homestead. Josh and Caitlin met there while volunteering. The wedding was just precious! All the dresses were handmade and her wedding dress was beautiful! We enjoyed a reception by the creek in a beautiful, tree filled area. It was great to have Steve's brothers and sister together, even if for a short time. We enjoyed visiting with other family members and celebrating a wonderful day. The pictures are of Steve and his brothers and sister and the happy couple.

I am a little tired from staying up late reading Twilight. I have really enjoyed it and went and bought the other 3 books in the series today. Guess it's going to be a late night reading tonight :)

Birthdays

Happy Birthday Dad and Rich!

Last night we celebrated their birthdays with a dinner at Cheryl's house. Dad's b-day was Friday and Rich's is Monday so we decided with the busy schedule we should combine the celebration. We have gotten to spend a lot of family time together this week which has been great. My granddad, aunt and cousin are here from Houston. Their house was okay but they still don't have electricity. My mom has done a lot of cooking and we have enjoyed it! It has been fun to spend some fun times together.

Gotcha Day, Gochis style

Today is gotcha day for my sister's family. Gotcha day is the day they first met my precious niece Hannah in China. For any family who has adopted children Gotcha day, or Family Day as we call it, is an important celebration. We celebrated at Cheryl's house with Chinese food, what else :) It was a fun celebration and we are so lucky to have Hannah in our family!

new adventure?

So what do you do while you are watching 24 hr. hurricane coverage? You get on Facebook of course. I have heard friends talk about it on blogs and other places but had never visited it myself. So I thought I would see what I could find. With just a little info about me (where I graduated from) there was an instant list of friends. Some people I haven't seen since graduation, more years that I want to remember. I managed to find my best friend from elementary school, go figure! Let's just say I am not addicted to all this social networking yet but it is fun to play.

As for the hurricane. I am praying for my granddad, aunt and cousin, along with other family who are in Houston. Looks like it is going to be a bad night, that's for sure. They say Waco will be windy and a bit of rain so we will see.

All booked!

Today I finalized our hotel plans for Italy. I had put things off due to school getting started and had forgotten all about needing a place to stay :) I spent 4 hrs. at my parents house last night getting the rooms for Milan and Florence. Today I booked the ones for Rome. We are staying at 2 different hotels in Rome since we will start and finish there. My sister helped with our Venice rooms a few weeks ago. It is always hard to book a hotel you have never seen or heard of. We had great luck with our hotel in London and I am hoping for the same results. I rely a lot on tripadvisor.com when booking hotels. They have hotel reviews. That is always helpful although some travelers opinions are a bit different than mine they have been pretty reliable in the past. So we are one step closer to our Roman Holiday!! BTW the pic is of our hotel in Venice, too fun :)

ATM woes

I don't go to the ATM a lot and I never seem to have cash, guess one goes with the other. Today I needed cash for some school stuff so off to the ATM I went. Everything was normal until the money came out. Not only did it come out it went FLYING OUT. I mean it flew away. There was a little wind but not too much, I mean not enough to take my money!! So what do I do?!? I had chosen to get a receipt, do I wait? Is my money still around somewhere? Where is it? Oh, good gravy!! So I wait for my receipt and then drive up a bit hoping the car behind me won't get upset that I am totally in the way. I found my first $20 bill and spy my second bill on the pavement ahead. Luckily I got close enough in the car to stop and get the second bill. Thank Goodness!! I am really, really glad I was only getting $40 out and not more than that. So, the moral of this story is... don't go to the ATM when the wind is blowing.

Today is LID # 7. I've always thought 7 was a lucky number. In China the lucky number is 8, hence all the Olympic programing. As #7 rolls by I am continually reminded of the fun of having children. With almost 600 children at my school I get to see lots of personalities. Students are always asking if I have children of my own and my response has been "I don't have time for kids I have 600 of ya'll everyday". They usually laugh and then I tell them about adopting from China. It is fun to talk about and the students think it is pretty cool. I thought the number with Grover with it was cute. I think Grover is my favorite character from Sesame Street. I'm sure Emily and I will enjoy watching it together.

Day One Done (Finished)

I survived my first day of school, thank goodness! It is the beginning of my 10th year at my school. 10 yrs. holy cow! I don't think I am old enough to have been here 10 yrs. Guess I am older than I feel :) The first day at any elementary school is busy and ours fit the mold. My feet are killing me and I am reminded why I need to wear my athletic shoes this first week. Most of the day went great. Dismissal was chaotic but successful, try getting 600 kids in cars, vans and buses.

Steve had his first day of class as well. This is his 7th year at Baylor teaching math. His 4 classes are full with over 200 students, mostly freshman. The summer went by way to quickly but guess that's what happens when you are having fun. On a good note, the shot worked and Steve's leg/back is feeling great!! He has no pain right now which is awesome. We are hoping he won't have to get another shot for awhile and this one will last past our Italy trip.

Beautiful Sight

This picture is not of the sonic sign :) Monday and Tuesday we got some much needed rain. Our yard is looking a little more green, thank goodness. When I came out of a restaurant last night there was a BEAUTIFUL Rainbow. I couldn't help but smile and be reminded of all the blessing God has given to me and my family.