Temptation has a name.....

and that name is Cadbury Egg. Every year I eagerly await the Easter candy season with feelings of excitement and joy over the vastly superior (in my humble opinion) selection of candies. The mother of all those candies....the Cadbury Creme Egg....has long been a secret vice of mine. Okay okay...not so secret but nonetheless  I have enjoyed them for many years now. It all started when my father brought home these delicious creme filled chocolate eggs back when I was growing up. (I have no idea how long ago he first started getting them) I would eagerly wait each day before Easter to see if he had brought home any more eggs and in my haste to enjoy the yummy goodness of them I usually ate all of my allotment in the first two hours and would then resort to begging my sister to give me one of hers. (I sometimes think she did this on purpose to annoy me.) So began one of my Easter traditions and each year parents (my mom joined in on this eventually) would shower me with Cadbury eggs. When I went off to college, I would get care packages of them delivered to my dorm and my post college visits home would always end with a pack or two of Cadbury Creme Eggs. And then this year I had to go all crazy and give them up!

Yes, my friends, I have briefly parted ways with my Cadbury eggs. In a crazy plot twist, this year I am aiming to slim down a bit (baby, these hips don't lie) just in time for summer and swimsuit season. My upcoming reunion and vacation played a prominent role in this decision as well as my desire to just feel better about myself. So, with much trepidation, I gave up three things I love most for Lent....any chocolate in candy form, queso, and sodas. The only caveat to this is I do drink diet cola if I have an alcoholic beverage...Malilbu and orange juice just isn't the same. (Note- I am Methodist but I decided to participate in Lent this year.) Every year I claim I will give something up for Lent but this is the first year I am actually doing it. And let me tell...I have not cheated. Not once. No sodas, no queso, no chocolate candy until Easter weekend. It has been a struggle but I am managing.

To add insult to injury, upon her most recent visit to Lubbock, the weekend after Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, my mother brought me not one but TWO boxes of Cadbury Creme Eggs. Not only are there two of them staring me down every time I open up my refridgerator door but they are extra value packs, meaning there are five eggs in there instead of four. FIVE EGGS! Five eggs of yummy creamy chocolatey goodness just teasing me every day! And I am most proud to say I have not cheated once!

My diet these days consists mostly of meat, veggies, and fruits, with the occasional indulgence in white carbs or frozen yogurt (if you live this close to Bless your Heart, you have to make allowances for their yogurt). I have more energy and I feel a lot better, especially seeing the scale slide down every few days. But what, you might ask, about those delicious eggs?

Ask me about them again after Easter.....

XOXO,
Devin

Spring Break 2011

Usually, I cannot wait until Spring Break but this year it snuck up on me. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I have been going ninety miles an hour since I first started school back in the fall. I can now officially declare cheerleading season is over! Thank goodness. Until next week....when we start try-outs for next year's squad. This will be followed by uniform fittings, fundraisers, and practices to prepare for camp. So...my break from cheerleading will last ONE week. Though, to outsiders, on paper, it may look like I have three months off in the spring. Not true! However, I do enjoy my job thoroughly, maybe more so than any other job I have had. This makes all things bearable, including no off season for cheerleading.

In other news, our good friends, the Harkriders, are alive and well in Japan. They survived the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last week. We are so very grateful for their safety and we continue to pray for the others affected by the tragedy in Japan. See you soon, my friends!

Spring break brings the bliss of no plans! While I do have things to accomplish, I have no set schedule and therefore can go at my own pace. Like I said...pure bliss! I have managed to accomplish one thing thus far...tanning. I am currently sitting on my couch blogging (instead of completing online training..which is, of course, not my fault) while I wait on my new bronze spray tan to settle in. I plan on telling the kiddos when I get back my glow is natural. Shh...don't tell my little secret!

Other things to tick off my list this week include:

• spring cleaning
• online training
• lesson plans
• car wash

Those are the necessities so we will see how much I get accomplished. My parents arrive at the end of the week for a visit. It will be their first visit to Lubbock since football season so they have not seen our new bedroom furniture or tv in the master bedroom. It will be nice to have them come stay at our house. I am looking forward to it.

January and February were fairly busy for us with basketball games every Tuesday and Friday night but we did manage to get down to Dallas at the end of January for Ford's thirtieth birthday party. It was a throw back to the eighties and tons of fun. I also managed to sneak in some girl time with my girlfriends, which is always therapeutic and always fun. We also managed to make it to Houston for the rodeo cook-off with our friends the McKnights and Jordan/JT. It was sort of a mini-reunion from our trip to Boise last August for Susanna's wedding. It was lots of fun. We did the rodeo cook-off Friday night and we went out to an Irish pub and another Houston bar Saturday night. I think my favorite part of the trip was sitting on a patio with Jordan and Amelia drinking mimosas and talking. There is nothing a good chat with your girlfriends can't fix!

Well, having done my duty to update this blog, I am now off to enjoy the rest of my spring break. Here's to hoping for beautiful weather and sunshine this week!

Devin

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