Absolutely Nothing

Today I have done absolutely nothing.  Well nothing too productive that is.   There is a list of things I could be doing that is probably a mile long, but I feel that reading, blogging, facebooking, playing around with my new phone and contemplating when to shower and run an errand or two, a much better way to spend the day.

Did I mention that I made an eggnog latte?  They are one of my favorites.  I know that it is a little too early for eggnog, but I saw it in the stores and just had to have it.  It will be coming to a Starbucks near you soon.  But if you can't wait, come on over and I'll make you one!

Here is to a day spent relaxing (much needed after talking to parents for like 12 hours yesterday!)

Yummy!

Just thought I should make your mouths drool a little bit about some yummy treats I've made lately.  I meant to post these muffins a long time ago, but I am not just getting around to it.  These bring back memories of picking blueberries on the blueberry farm back in Washington!

Before Baking

After Baking!

The Recipe for: The Best Blueberry Muffins

1/2 C Butter @ room temp

1 C granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 t vanilla extract

2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 1/2 C blueberries (mash 1/2 C with fork)

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C milk

1 T sugar mixed with 1/4 t ground nutmeg

Heat the oven to 375.  Greese 12 regular muffin cups, including the area between each cup, or use foil baking cups.

In a medium size bowl, beat butter until creamy.  Beat in the sugar until pale and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt.

Mixe mashed berries into batter.

Fold half the flour in with a spatula, then half the milk.  Add remaining blueberries.

Scoop batter into muffin cups.  Sprinkle with nutmeg sugar.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let muffins cool at least 30 minutes in pan before removing.  (I like to eat them warm!)

The next batch of treats I made were ones that I found on Bakerella.  When I have time I like to try out her creations, mine never look quite as good, but I am enjoying getting better at decorating things.  My class devoured these!

Before Baking

Fresh out of the oven

Decorated and ready to be eaten

Happy Eating!

A freezing homecoming

I thought it was about time to write a post about my trip to Wyoming for homecoming.

Before heading off to Colorado and Wyoming my sweet husband sent flowers to school to let me know that he would miss me and to say have a great time.  They were so beautiful and filled my room with wonderful smells!

I think the weather wanted to give me a reason not to miss Laramie, so it snowed!  Not just a little bit of snow, 6 inches of fluffy, white, freezing flakes.  But do you think I let that stop me from going to a football game?!  Oh no!  Here are some pictures from the game.  Jamie and I left at the end of the third quarter because we were winning and we could no longer feel our toes. 

Here is Pistol Pete working the crowd!

Of course I had a wonderful time catching up with friends and some of the basketball coaches.  I truly miss all of them and feel so thankful that I was able to go.  Enjoy the pictures of my friends!  I am getting tired of writing today, so maybe tomorrow I will be more creative with my posts!

Amber and I hanging out in her awesome house with her hubby and adorable puppy!

Night out in Laramie after the big win!

I love these girls!  I am so happy that I got to see them!

This is what happens when you get stuck in the car for 3 hours in bad weather....you take random pictures.  Oh how I don't miss the road closures!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Like I said, there is a more interesting post to follow tomorrow!  (I hope!)

I think I've lost my mind!

This morning I decided to do something a little crazy.  Well, actually it was really crazy.  I ran a half marathon without really training for it.  My body is currently reaping all of the painful rewards.  Originally I signed up for this half marathon thinking that it would motivate me to train and whip my butt into shape.  I just knew I would follow my fancy training schedule because after all I did pay for this.  I thought wrong!  My life is too crazy for me to find the motivation to get running.

Despite knowing that I paid for the race, yesterday I debated whether or not I should run.  "Maybe I'll just pick up my shirt and turn in my timing chip," was the thought running through my mind driving into Kansas City.  I got there, and decided I couldn't quit before the race started.  Then this morning of course I set the wrong alarm, but luckily woke up in time to still make it to the race.   BUT I would be cutting it close to making it on time for the start.....SO I thought, "Maybe I will just stay in my nice warm bed and snuggle with my husband," BUT I knew I couldn't do that.  I was already awake, and I knew I would feel like a quitter if I did not at least try to run. 


The next excuse that came to mind was my ankle.  My ankle has been bothering me off and on for the last few weeks, so I maybe it would be better for my ankle (and my untrained body) to not race. I was trying to avoid running in every way imaginable.  Of course the thought that popped up next was running a little bit, but not necessarily finishing because of my bum ankle. Being the competitor that I am, I knew that I had to just run it ALL or else I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

After making a mad dash to the start line in  the nick of time, I was off and running.  While my body wasn't entirely thrilled with me, I ran.  I ran all 13.1 miles!  My goal was to finish in under 3 hours.  I did just that and even better than I expected.  The benefit of running was being able to taken in the Kansas City scenery.  As I ran along I found myself admiring old buildings, homes, parks, fountains, new buildings as well as Kansas City life in general.  This run has given me a new appreciation for the breath-taking beauty this city holds that I wouldn't usually make the time to see.


So, you might be wondering what is the moral of this post and why do I feel I have lost my mind. 
Moral #1- My body can do more than I think it can, so as a result I should push it harder more often. 
Moral #2- Running 13.1 miles without training for it was not the smartest thing and next time I need to train. 
Moral #3- I love running in races, even if they are painful
Moral #4- Today's race (despite the pain) has awaken my desire to run another marathon.  Now I need to make time to train and find a fun one to run!
Moral #5- Running long distance races makes you think you like running really far until you have to train for it, but you decide you should still do it despite the crazy affects on your body.....


Yes I know that I am crazy for running a half marathon when I only got my millage up to 3 miles!

Looking Forward

I am looking forward to catching up on all the shows I missed while I was gone.  I plan on not moving for the next two hours!  First up Bones, then maybe Private Practice, followed by Glee.  Don't worry there are still more to watch tomorrow night!  I promise to write about my trip soon.

I'm Freezing!

I was welcomed back to the wonderful state of Colorado by a FREEZING gust of wind as I deplaned last night.  I knew it would be colder here, I just didn't prepare myself mentally for snow and being chilled to the bone. 

With that said, I did enjoy my first night of girl time with two of my oldest friends, Courtey and Kristen.  It was so fun to catch up, swap stories, and hang out together. 

This morning I type with my stomach filled with grandma's home cooked breakfast, waffels with fresh raspberries and homemand raspberry jam.  Life couldn't get much better today. 

It's off to Laramie this afternoon.  I am sure that it will be snowing and that I will spend my homecoming weekend looking like a giant marshmallow!  I may be an ice cube by the time I return home!

A Much Needed Girls Weekend

I am going to sprinkle this post with some old photos of friends and some good 'ol Wyoming Cowboy Football!

I just wanted to share with you how excited I am to be headed back to my almamatter for homecoming.  While I am not looking forward to spending Saturday afternoon freezing my behind off cheering for the Pokes, I am looking forward to catching up with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world.  My heart feel like is headed back home, back to what is familiar, warm (ok, not literally warm, but you know what I mean) and comfortable.  I would move back in a heart beat....I am just waiting for God to bring along the right moment.

All week I have been chatting with my girl friends about our plans for the weekend.  I am anticipating late nights full of laughter, girl talk, and lots of "okay we seriously need to go to sleep" moments, but finding ourselves in another conversation.  I am in desperate need of some girl moments.  I know that I will leave this weekend with my heart full!

In honor of homecoming weekend I taught my students Rag Time Cowboy Joe.  Tomorrow they will be performing it for our school's principal!  They were over-joyed to take a break from all of learning to sing and shout.  I over heard a few of them saying that they were like cheerleaders now!!!  I wish I could post a video of them doing it.  Their favorite part of the song is spelling out and chanting Cowboys.  I think they would do it all day if I let them. ;)  Anything to not do work!

I am not sure how much  will be around while I am gone, but I will take lots of pictures and try to keep you up to date.  Go WYO, beat those Lobos!

Unexpected Joys

Sometimes things in life just sneak up behind you and surprise you.  These are not the bad kind of surprises, but the good kind!  Yesterday while getting my hair shampooed by my hair dresser, I realized just how much I look forward to getting my hair cut.  I live for that 2 minute head massage, you know the one that puts you to sleep every time?!  The joy in short hair I have realized is being privileged to these wonderfully relaxing head massages once a month!  I never got my hair cut that much when it was long.  I love going in and just having someone else take care or me (well really my hair) for an hour, don't you?!


Today my students brought me great joy.  How did they do it you might be wondering.  It was not by showering me with gifts, or hugs, or compliments about how wonderful I am.  My heart melted when I saw how excited they got about our writing prompt.  Instantly every single student shouted with glee at the rush of ideas that came to their little brains.  I have never seen them get working so quickly or work so diligently on a list or web for a writing assignment.  I felt great pride as a teacher as they were beaming with excitement and their pencils were racing across their pages.

The prompt they were so excited about is "I know the house on the corner is haunted because..."  I loved hearing them describe to me the things I would hear, feel or see if I were in their haunted house.  In their houses I would hear the floor creak beneath my feet, feel a spider race down my arm, smell dust as it filled my nose, and hear the eerie hoot of an owl.  Oh did I mention that there may be some human soup, and that blood-sucking vampires warm these haunted houses?  Of course I had to set the mood by playing some Halloween music.  I can't wait to read their final copies.

Feel free to your thoughts on how you know the house on the corner is haunted!!!!

No Time Tonight

So I fail day two of the challenge.  I have a great post in mind, but not time to write it tonight.  Maybe tomorrow!

When Life Happens

Life always seems to throw a curve ball just when you think everything is going great.  Our curve ball this week was Stinson's car.  It started acting up and of course it will be a major repair.....  So instead of spending close to what his car is worth we are in the process of finding a new car.  You don't realize how dependent you are on the small things that make day to day life easier. 

Stinson not having a car right now is going to make life interesting because I need my car to get to school, and due to the fact that I work 40 minutes away from home it won't work for him to drop me off and have the car for the rest of the day.  We think we have found a good candidate for a replacement car, well really it is a truck.  I think Stinson is over-joyed at the thought of having a truck (which of course is very much a man's vehicle) and is brainstorming all of the ways that it will come in handy. 

In other news, this Friday was Special Friend's Day at school.  This is a day where grandparents, parents, and other relatives can come spend part of the day at school to get a glimpse of what a day is like for the students.  Of course this day is not remotely close to what an actual day is like.   Our job is to plan 3 hours that keeps the adults and children entertained, which is much more difficult than you would imagine.  The adults have a tendency to talk while you are talking or not follow directions very well.  I guess they have forgotten that you do not talk while the teacher is talking! :)   Overall it was a great day and I enjoyed meeting some of the people that are important to each of my students.

Stinson's life is still pretty crazy.  He is going all the time and just passes in and out of the house.  Yesterday the football team beat Benedictine to make the Pioneers 4-1.  Stinson looks like a natural in his "coaches uniform," and comes home completely happy each night.  I am finding ways to keep myself busy so I don't miss him too much!

This last week Jennifer (my mother-in-law) came for a quick visit.  It was so wonderful to have her here.  She was able to come in to talk to my class about being an author and writing.  The students enjoyed asking her questions as well as coming up with details of a story.  Stinson and I enjoyed spending time with her.  Each time I spend time with her I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law that I respect and admire and get along with wonderfully.  I have heard the mother-in-law horror stories and I am grateful to say that I do not have a single horror story to share.

Just an FYI that I am going to take Sara's blog every day in October, so hopefully you will be hearing more from me.  I can't promise that it will be too exciting, but I will try to make it interesting ( like all those blogs that have tons of followers).  Well it is time to dive into my bible study and enjoy a Sunday full of football and lesson plans!