Tis the Season

Happy Holidays to all! Apparently, when I created this blog, I had lots of free time on my hands so it seemed natural to say I would update weekly and my 101 in 1001 list didn't seem so ambitious. Alas, as it does with most things, life got in the way. This is not to say I am abandoning my list or my blog, but rather that I will continue to work on both while I'm out there busy living life. Rather than jump into a long diatribe of all my daily activities these last few months, I will resort to bullet points for a brief synopsis....

• November
• EHS finished the football season as district champs...but lost their first game of the playoffs.
• So....my life is now consumed with basketball games every Tuesday and Friday night....at least our team is good (reigning 3A state champs..thank you very much)
• cooked my first Thanksgiving meal all by myself (only the pecan pie didn't make it)
• visited Washington D.C. with my mother in law, sister in law, and grandmother in law...a first for me (at least first vacation to D.C....I have stopped through)
• December
• bought our first "big" family tree...and decorated it...with way to much stuff.....
• watched Colton put lights up on our first house (I encouraged from a lawn chair with Louie)
• baked...and baked.....and baked.....out of this came my first attempts at holiday fudge (success), chocolate mint puddles, peppermint bark, oreo truffles, and several batches of chocoalte chip and double chocolate chip cookies
• our first big holiday party in Lubbock
• EHS cheer Christmas party

And that the brings me to today, where I am sitting at my parent's house in Fort Worth, with no make-up on, finally finding time to blog. It feels good to be home for the holidays and to have a short break from reality. It's nice to be able to see my family and friends, to sit and know you have nowhere you have to be, to enjoy holiday cookies and Christmas lights, all the small joys of the season.

Louie is adjusting nicely to my parent's house and hopefully Gracie won't drive him nuts over the next few days. She is very excited to have a visitor. Colton and I are planning on seeing friends later today and tomorrow, even Adam and Shelley all the way from Japan! We are looking forward to the next few days.

As I watch Louie and Gracie try to eat all the firewood on my parent's back patio, I will take that as my cue to sign off. My wish for this holiday season....peace and happiness for all my family, friends, and students. May you and your family have a blessed Christmas!
XXOO,
Devin

My Time Flies!

Holy moly! It feels like yesterday I just woke up and moved to Lubbock. Instead, the reality is we have lived in Lubbock for four months now and my last blog post was in July. I have been CRAZY busy and therefore my ramblings to the general public through the web have been put on hold. Truth is, any free time I have had to myself has been spent watching reruns of Gossip Girl on the couch while eating Bahama Bucks snowcones. I have not even wanted to blog. But...have no fear. I'm back! :)

So what exactly have I been doing these last few months that would cause me to describe myself as "Crazy busy"? School started...that's what. My whole life has been consumed with my job. I have never worked harder than I am now. I literally work ten hour days sometimes and I'm a teacher! What! Not only am I teaching an entirely new class (which I found out about 6 days before school started) and coaching Varsity cheerleading (which takes up all my free time and my Friday nights) but I am almost positive my 7th period is conspiring against me to make me go grey in my 20s. Seriously...I'm not kidding about that last part. Oh..and somewhere in between all this I try to find time to act like I'm actually married and a good wife, not a single lady who eats mac n cheese for breakfast because she is too tired to actually grocery shop properly. Lord knows my waistline has not forgiven me yet for all this extra activity. I have not even worked out since July.

In all seriousness, I love my job. It is more challenging than I imagined but also much more rewarding. I have experienced things and heard things about situations students are in that I never thought I would have to hear myself. Plus, I have lots of funny stories!

In other, non-work related news, I have finally started cooking again. Colton no longer has to pretend to be husband and wife.

Colton and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in Boise, Idaho this year. One of my very best friends, Susanna, got married the day before our anniversary so to Idaho we went. I have to admit I was not too excited about Boise. I mean really, who wants to go to Boise? I was pleasantly surprised. Boise is like a smaller Austin but with less weirdos. Its about the size of Lubbock but its right near the mountains and white water rafting. (neither of which I did) Most of our time was spent doing wedding related things and checking out the nightlife. Colton had an especially awesome time with Amelia's husband Jeremy and Jordan's boyfriend JT. ( I will leave that story for him to tell) The weather was nice too...much cooler than that horrid Texas heat in August. THe wedding was beautiful and Susanna made a gorgeous bride.

LOUIE UPDATE: Louie is quite possibly the cutest dog ever. He is now four months old and almost 18 pounds. He shouldn't get too much bigger. He has these huge man paws that look like bear paws on his tiny body and his bulldog features continue to become more apparent (especially his stubborn attitude). He is an absolute joy for Colton and me. Pics soon!

My life is very busy but very content. I try to remind myself daily I am so blessed (even when a certain student in 7th period tells me to chill out when I reprimand him) and that what I am doing is for the good of my students. I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful support network of family and friends. Life is good.

July Musings

Summer is almost over! Can you believe it? I feel like I just left for the school year. I don't want to whine because I am lucky to have eight weeks off every summer but, geez, it feels like I have had no summer at all. I go back to work next week for professional development and the kiddos come back August 23. Crazy!

Last week, I went to cheer camp with the twelve varsity members of the cheer team at Estacado. Camp was held in Plainview at Wayland Baptist. It was actually a lot of fun and the girls did an awesome job. They worked really hard and made some great improvements. I am excited for the upcoming year.

Colton and I have been spending our free time working on the house. He made a comment the other day how if we were still in Fort Worth, we would probably be sitting on a patio on the weekends but here in Lubbock we do chores and work on the house. Ha! The joys of acting like a grown-up! The house is coming along though and we are starting to decorate some. My mother in law is coming this week to help me refinish an antique hutch my parents gave us. I cleaned the house yesterday and for the first time I wished for an apartment. Cleaning a real house is a pain! Literally! I think I pulled a muscle in my back. I will file that away for a future conversation with Colton about the need for a cleaning lady! :)

I spent the weekend after 4th of July in New Orleans. I really love that city. There is so much personality and culture. It has a rythym to it, something you feel while you are there. The people are friendly, the food is good, and the music is always flowing. My only suggestion...cheaper drinks. Susanna, one of my very best freinds, is getting married so we all flew into NOLA to celebrate her bachelorette party. We spent Friday at Pat Os and on Bourbon Street. Saturday, we toured the 9th ward and walked around Jackson Square before a nice dinner at Mr. B's Bistro and more fun on Bourbon. It was crazy to go down to the 9th ward and see the lack of recovery there.
**It is kind of sad how once something is out of the eye of the media the public no longer thinks of it. I am sure many people think its fully recovered, just as people think of Galveston.

Colton started work last week with his new office and he is really loving it. The people in Lubbock are so friendly. He really likes the staff and he gets along great with the other dentist, Jimmy.

Finally, the most important news I have to share.....WE GOT A DOG! His name is Louie and he is sooo cute! He is everything I said I didn't want and I love him to death. I always said I wanted a girl dog and I didn't like brindle. Of course, the dog Colton decides he wants is both male and brindle. Louie came home and I fell in love. He is a mixture of miniature dachshund and English bulldog (the mom was the bulldog!). He is about seven weeks old and he is lots of fun. He has a good disposition and gets along well with other dogs. We are having so much fun with our new addition! I posted pics on facebook if you want to see what he looks like.

XOXO,
Devin

Texas Tornado

Texas Tornado...this is what I feel like I have been lately. My "path" has taken me to Lubbock for training with my new school, back to Fort Worth for one night only to leave for Lubbock again with all that we own (minus our storage unit--> that is a whole different story), back to Fort Worth to blow through Crockett, Texas for the 4th of July, to find myself currently in Fort Worth. Of course, this has all taken place in two weeks and I am about to take another detour to New Orleans, LA for my good friend Susanna's bachelorette party. Talk about a whirlwind...I am pretty sure I may have left some destruction in my wake, probably in the form of my body (eating at random foods at random times is hard on the body...don't even show me a scale for at least two weeks, please)! It's been fun though and I am excited for my new life in Lubbock, though still a little apprehensive to leave the familiar. I guess that is what life is about, following the path God takes you to and hoping to find courage and comfort along the way. At least I have a handsome man to share this journey with!

Speaking of that handsome man, let's go back to that clip about the storage unit aforementioned. My dear, sweet husband did not order a large enough Uhaul for all of our stuff (who knew we had that much junk) so we could not even load up our storage unit. This means we left without some furniture and boxes so Colton now has to rent another Uhaul to bring up the rest of our stuff.

On the bright side, Colton's family has been really supportive and helpful so that is making the move much easier. Also, my awesome mom and grandma came up for a week to help me out. We unpacked, organized, made several trips all over Lubbock for things we needed (and Baskin Robbins ice cream...my mom is obsessed), and cleaned. Well, they cleaned while I was at cheer practice. They did so much for me, even cooking dinner every night. It was so nice and I know Colton and I will be returning to our brand new home that is clean and ready to go. What a nice feeling!

In other, unimportant news, I caved in and switched over to AT&T cell service, which means I am now a proud Iphone user. It was really because Colton wanted to consolidate all of our tv/phone/internet service under one bill but the Iphone is a nice perk. However, its a little addicting and I am going to have to work hard not to lose my manners because its so easy to be on it ALL the time. I really hate that people are so tied to their phones that they cannot even enjoy a dinner with texting or using some app. So, note to self, do Not become one of those people.

Finally, Colton celebrated 29 years of life yesterday. Happy birthday babes!

XOXO,
Devin

Life in Transition

It's funny how things sneak up on you in life. You make plans, you talk about those plans, you think about those plans, and you even plan for those plans. But suddenly, when it's time to follow through, there is this pause, kind of like, wait! What am I doing? This would describe my head the last few days as I began packing for Lubbock.

Don't get me wrong...I am very excited to move to Lubbock and I WANT to move to Lubbock. It's just that C and I have been so busy lately with wedding activities, showers, birthday celebrations, and actual weddings that I have not had time to stop and really think about the fact that I am officially moving to Lubbock this Friday. I haven't really dealt with the emotional side of our plans...the part where I am moving 300 miles from my family and most of my friends. So, needless to say since I am very sensitive, I have had a couple of breakdowns (or meltdowns, whichever you prefer) this week. I already stress easily when it comes to big projects (funny how I am a teacher since I stress easily) so when the boxes came out this week the tears came too. Lucky for me, I have a great support system around me, starting with my wonderful husband who can deal with anything I throw at him. I think I caught him a little off guard but he knows me so well so he adapted quickly. Now that I am in Lubbock for training for my new job, I am managing those feelings better...at the moment. :)
Last weekend my good friend Lizzy got married. The wedding was very pretty and lots of fun. She had a great band so the dance floor was packed all night. It was also fun to spend time with some of my closest girlfriends right before I move. Lizzy was a beautiful bride and her family is lots of fun. I think I may be getting too old for those late nights, though. My body just doesn't recover from those nights as well as it used to.

Colton's cousin JuLea got married this past weekend in Lubbock, which is why I am still here. No sense in flying back for one day just to return on Tuesday. Her wedding was outdoors at Spirit Ranch. She used peacocks for her theme and her colors were purple and lime green. It was a gorgeous color combination. Her dress was amazing, too. Lots of flowers all over...I am not doing it justice explaining it. It was a lot of fun and Colton's entire family was there, even Grandmommy! I love getting to see his family. It's always a good time.

Well, the official move is this Friday. Wish us luck!
XOXO,
Devin

School's Out for Summer!

Woohoo! Finally, the end of the school year is here. I thought it would never come. My last day working for Fort Worth ISD was officially Monday, June 7th. While I have enjoyed my time here in Fort Worth, I am looking forward to my new school in Lubbock. Friday was the last day with the kiddos and I only had to go in Monday for two hours or so to check out (which is a really detailed process of basically chasing administrators all over the school to get them to sign you out. fun!)

My first day of summer was actually rather busy. I came home from my two hour sprint through PHS to find the laundry basket overflowing. So began a full day of laundry, baking chocolate chip cookies (cravings....too hard to resist), making lunch for my husband (a  really elaborate way to say I made some mac n cheese), cleaning the kitchen, P90X, and making dinner for Colton. Now, I will say, dinner was more elaborate. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans...a way to congratulate myself on making it to the end of the year. Funny how I always choose to reward myself with calorie laden foods. But man do they taste good!

Tuesday brought a little time by the pool, where I rescued a poor baby bird who had fallen in and could not get out. I also began my serious workout routine. I call it my serious workout routine because it involves me doing three different workouts a day...30 day shred, P90X, and some type of cardio. I realized that I had overlooked the fact in my euphoria that school was out that I now have absolutely no excuse not to work out and make myself feel comfortable in my own body. So...its time to get serious. I also enjoyed a little one on one time with Laura Bush. I am absolutely loving her memoir, Spoken from the Heart. I have literally laughed and cried while reading it but I am not done yet so I will post a review later when I finish.

Today, the realization set in that I am MOVING to LUBBOCK in three weeks and of those three weeks one is almost over and one will actually be spent in Lubbock at a training. What this means is I have exactly one week to pack up our whole life here. If you know me, you know I stress easily so imagine how poor Colton feels. Actually, so far I have taken it fairly well. I am extremely organized so I sat down today and made my to do list. I work well when I have a list to work off of and I like being able to cross things out. It makes me feel better.

So...with all these realizations about my short time schedule....I think I will take a walk with my hubby and procrastinate until Monday, after Lizzy's wedding weekend, to start. After all, my best work is done last minute...or at least I tell myself that!

XOXO,
Devin

Bachelorette Re-Cap & Lady Gaga

May and June are proving to be filled with all things wedding related. Lots of showers, bachelor parties, and bachelorette parties to be followed with weddings in June. We have spent a busy May jetting across Texas to attend all these festivities all while trying to keep our sanity before we move. Our days in Fort Worth are numbered and soon we will be official residents of Lubbock. But until then, we plan to enjoy as much time with friends and family here. It has not really hit me that I will be moving away FOREVER in less than a month, I guesss because I am very excited. But the good Lord knows I will miss my parents and our cute dogs Bailey and Gracie. ANd....my sister may be moving back to Fort Worth just when I leave. Boo!

The school year is winding down nicely. Finals and benchmarks have taken lots of time this May and I know the kiddos are ready to go. Just when I think I may go grey prematurely or pull my hair out one of them will step in and do something really fantastic. This was what happened last Friday. I had a frustrating morning reviewing them for finals. The day before I had handed out their end of year notes. Every year that I have taught, I create a typewritten letter (it has actually evolved into more of a brochure with quotes and song lyrics) but I hand write a note on each one for each student. It  is time consuming but I do it because I want them to know I care. Well, 7th period rolls around on Friday and one of my students presents me with a hand-made card about twenty minutes into class. It has a huge picture of Lady Gaga on the front (I lOVE her) with shards of those plastic dress up mirrors you played with when you were little artfully arranged in a collage around it. I thought"Sweet" and then opened it up. All my 7th period students had written a note in it. I cried! Ha. It was so sweet and the first time I have ever received a note from my entire class together. I have received letters from individuals before but this was the first time a class planned together. I loved it! I was reminded of why I teach and why even the most frustrating moments are worth it.

This past weekend was the bachelorette bash for my good friend Lizzy. We spent Saturday evening out and about in Dallas, hitting up Dragonfly for dinner first. Let me tell you the macaroni and cheese at Dragonfly is to die for. Delicious! After two hours of fellowship and wine, we headed off to S4 for a drag show. It was fun but we only stayed an hour. Next up...the PM lounge at the Joule. Very swanky and filled to the brim with people. It was a fun night of dancing with the girls and the bride seemed to enjoy herself quite nicely!

Next up...an 80s themed 30th birthday bash! Four days and counting til summer.....

XOXO,
Devin