I've moved!

Check me out at:

http://keepingupwithkate.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

Bullet Points

Yes, I'm resorting to bullet points. It's been TOO long. So, in short - here's what I've been up to.

• Hiked the Grand Canyon (oh yes I did!) Pictures follow. This trip is highly recommended.

Our campsite. Yeah...it was sorta beautiful.

On the way down...

Every turn was seriously breathtaking. I wish the pictures did it justice.

• Learned to sew - somewhat decently. Just finished baby gifts for a friend last night. I get way too excited when I've made something. It also is slightly scary because I picture cute babies in my future and my husband rolls his eyes.
• I've revamped my website at school and LOVE it. Then I wonder...does it matter that much?
• I'll be presenting at a conference in February about my absolute favorite web 2.0 (FREE!) tool for the classroom. Edmodo. I love you. Really, seriously. If you're a teacher and you haven't heard about it, ask me...or better yet, come see me at the eMINTS Winter Conference in February!
• Read lots of books, but that goes without saying, right?

Currently my cat has decided to take over my lap so I must end this amazingly wonderful update of my life.

Currently Reading: The Book Whisperer (I'm excited about this one), Good Without God (heard this bit about Humanism on NPR and got interested)

Scattered Update

• I finished my first dress that I made ALL BY MYSELF today. Yay me! I'll post a picture Thursday.
• My dog is scared of watermelon. Seriously. I picked one up off the counter today and she went bezerk. It was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in my whole life. Well okay, maybe not my whole life, but it was damn funny.
• This evening when we took our dogs on a walk Zoey didn't pull. It's a miracle. I tell you, that dog's been pulling on the leash ever since we got her (over a year ago). I probably shouldn't get so excited about a dog walking on a leash but it's awesome.
• I have to go to work tomorrow. I'm not excited about that.
• I really liked the books North and South and Love and War by John Jakes. So, of course, I wanted to watch the television mini-series (again). I'm really loving that E likes watching it too! :)
• I'm going to the Grand Canyon!!! My brother and his girlfriend as well as E and I are going for five days. We're going to hike down into it and camp out a couple days. It'll probably be hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks, but I've wanted to go for so long I don't care right now.

Currently Reading: Just finished Mudbound, it was awesome.

Trying to be creative...

I made these fun little coasters for my friend's housewarming party yesterday. And besides the fact that I couldn't find a needle and thread (seriously?) to do an invisible stitch (hello!? am I the only one who's never heard of an invisible stitch? how cool!) they still turned out cool. You'll have to imagine though cause I forgot to take a picture. They were cute.

In other news, E & I had a pretty awesome (read: really REALLY filling dinner) the other night: Hummus Quesadillas and a Southwest Salad. Okay, so E's salad was just a regular salad with some cucumbers. He didn't want to throw on the beans (who doesn't like beans...really...) or the avocado, or the salsa. And his "hummus quesadilla" didn't have any hummus either. Haha, oh well. Mine did, and it was pretty good. I'll admit, I've never bought an avocado before, and frankly, I wasn't that impressed. Maybe I got a dull one, but it didn't seem to have much flavor. I got the recipes from a new blog I found, Feed Me I'm Cranky. Which really, is so true. :)

Yes, we have dinner on the coffee table.

I've taken the doggies to the dog park three times this week - twice to run. Boy was it H-O-T! Seriously, the amount of sweat was ridiculous. Last night we ran (only a mile) and I swear they almost killed me when they took off after a squirrel. Fortunately I was quick enough to stay on my feet. I really love running with my girls though, it's a motivator (they're full of energy, so I really should take them), and it distracts me from what I'm doing (I'm making sure not to trip on them, watching out for squirrels, etc.). Overall, I like it.

It's my break day from P90X. Thank you! This is the end of week 5, sweet! I have triceps, in case you were wondering. I've never had triceps before.

Okay, so that's not my triceps, but still...

This weekend I will attempt to make my first dress. I'm excited, and nervous. And really excited about going to Joann's this afternoon to find some cute fabric. I'm a nerd. It's cool.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (for the umpteenth time).

The Poor Man's Vacation

As a kid my family and I went on float trips every summer, multiple times each summer. I loved them. I don't know what it is exactly about floating down a river that's so relaxing and fun, but if you've never been, go. Seriously. What's not to love? Water. Sun. Camping. CHEAP. Smores. Seriously.

The group (minus me) getting ready to bus to the drop off point.

So, some friends and I went on a float trip this past weekend, and besides the sunburn I'm still feeling, it was pretty awesome. It started out interestingly enough. We couldn't find the place (bad Google Maps!), our campsite was taken by people who weren't supposed to be there, there was no grill for our hot dogs/hamburgers, three of our friends couldn't make it, they were out of kayaks, um...oh, my brother's car got rear-ended on the way there....then he also had some front bumper issues when we tried to leave. BUT, besides all that, we still had a great time. It was the perfect weather for a float trip, the river was great, the drunks were funny (as usual), and I've decided we need to make it an annual thing. Next time we're bringing along a couple dogs, cause I know they'd LOVE it.

In P90X news? So far....I'm doing it. If you look at my workout widget to the right, I've been updating it each time I work out, which is almost everyday (minus Friday - my rest day - and Saturday - the float trip). This is week 4 for me on the program, meaning it's recovery week. Last night I did a painful session of Yoga X - painful because there are parts were you have to rest on your shoulders/back, which right now is pretty red and irritated (thanks sun!). Today I'm going to try and do both Core Synergistics and Kenpo X. I don't like to get off schedule, at all. If I get off, I get off bad, and then I just give up. Silly? Probably. But true.

Oh, and get this. Last week I burned over 6000 calories. That's like, a lot. I never burn that many calories. And yet? I gained 2 pounds. WHAT?! All I have to say is that better be 2 pounds of pure muscle. I know I didn't eat any more than I usually do, so what gives? I told myself at the beginning of my "P90X Journey" that I wouldn't mind if I gained weight, but let me rephrase that, I won't mind if I gain muscle, but I'd still rather be slimmer than I was before I started. I want to lose some inches, gain some muscle tone.

I'll leave you with some cute pictures from our wedding. Fortunately after one of our dogs chewed up the wedding picture CDs the photographer was able to make us another copy. Yay for backups!

Little T-monster (my nickname for the baby) comforting me after mascara found it's way on my dress.

I feel like we look photoshopped, but it's just so pretty! E & I at my parent's farm.

I really like this shot of me & my bridesmaids. And it was even one of those silly ones where the photographer said, "Pretend like she said something really funny," but it worked. Who'da thunk?

Currently Reading: Umm...I haven't perused my bookshelf yet, but it better not be too interesting, I've got stuff I could be doing, right? :)

Ouch.

When I first started really running a couple years ago I got shin splints. Then I didn't stop running for longer than a day or so, so they never had the chance to heal. Therefore, every time I ran I felt sore afterward. I remember the first time I wasn't sore later I wondered what I was doing wrong.

The reason I'm telling you this? I'm sore. P90X makes me sore. Everywhere. But I like it.

Today was Plyometrics. I really like this workout (however if you would've asked me 2 hours ago when I was in the middle of it I wouldn't have said that). It's SO much like the bootcamp workout that I did at the gym last year, it's nice, I already know the moves, I know I can do them, and it definitely gets your heart rate up.

So far my least favorite workout is Yoga X. I like the weights workouts, because I never do weights, so I like the guidance, and I like that I imagine I'm already seeing results. I'm sure I'm not, I just never paid attention to my arms before, but I can imagine, right?

I'm making this brown bread recipe tonight and I'm excited. I LOVE bread. Off to the grocery store to get some yogurt (and diet coke of course).

Currently Reading: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (yeah I know, I already read chick lit for this summer, but it was only $6 at Barnes & Noble, I couldn't pass that up!) Read Stay by Allie Larkin last week - really good!

Updates in pictures (and a few words)...

Even my parent's beagle had fun at the wedding. All I'll say about our wedding is that it was exactly how I wanted it and I loved it. For more on the wedding, check out my Aunt's post here. I should be getting the pictures from our photographer soon, so maybe I'll say more then. :)

Our trip to Canada was great (besides that basket of fish and chips, which was just a greasy mess). Gorgeous, but wet. I'll take Missouri weather any day - even days like yesterday when the heat index was 105 degrees. Ew.

Tennessee was awesome. Really. Beautiful. The Smoky's are gorgeous. That falls behind us, Ramsay Cascades, was beautiful and worth the hike that made my butt sore the next day (all uphill...until you turned around of course, then you had to fight to stay upright all the way back down). Need an idea of how gorgeous? Let me show you:

Both of these are along the trail. Now for some mountain shots...

Left: The Smoky's being Smoky. Right: Erik after we encountered a bear on our hike. No joke. Needless to say we abandoned that trail and got on a nearby road and ended up running for a couple miles. This shot was taken shortly before we encountered two more bears. It was interesting. And fun :)

After our trips we had to puppysit for my brother and his girlfriend. Now, when I say had to, I really mean GOT to. She's so freakin adorable. See below for evidence.


Last week I started P90X. This is my hope. I hope that I can blog through my P90X experience, which will make me keep up with blogging a bit better. If I really impress myself I might even post pictures. Yesterday was my first experience with Kenpo X and I wasn't too impressed - it wasn't as fun as the hype made it sound. However, I am sore today - so some progress had to've been made, right? Today I have to do legs and back. I'm really hoping blogging through this will make me actually stick with it. Here's hoping!

Oh, and no more 3 month absences from blogging. At least not soon...I hope!

Currently Reading: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner (I require at least 1 chick lit book per summer, please forgive me)

You mean you're supposed to post on a blog?

Yeah, you can just check me off as one of the worst bloggers this year. Seriously. My problem is I tell myself to post, then I put it off because I think I have nothing interesting to post, then I think it's been too long, then 2 months have passed. Yes, I admit. I'm bad.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of the busiest part of the school year. 7th grade volleyball has begun. Practice every night, followed by spinning or bootcamp classes at the gym. Needless to say, I'm away from home quite a bit these days. That's why days like today (thank you, Mr. President), are pretty nice.

The wedding planning has been moving along. We're now about three months from the big day. We haven't rented anything yet, but we've sure talked about it. I went to look at dresses today, but when you're looking for a pretty casual wedding dress, the pickins' are slim. That's okay though, I'm determined. Oh, and if any of you out there have suggestions, I'm all open. Seriously, I'm looking for anything...not necessarily white, could be multicolored, has to be tea length.

My goal for Weight Watchers by the wedding? Lose the poundage I've put back on since school started. I want to go on my honeymoon confident that I can get in the pool and look good. Swimsuits are my downfall. I think the same is probably true with most women, but I've never felt confident in a swimsuit. This summer was the first time I didn't feel horrible, but my goal is to feel good. Not great. I think I'll probably never feel that way (that's just how I am), but I could definitely deal with good! Feeling good would make me really excited to take a cruise through Mexico next summer. Ever been? I'm researching it for E and I and I'm excited!

I've decided to begin a different blog (which I'll link to here when I get it up) for book reviews. That way my students can read reviews (and maybe post their own?) so they can better decide what they'd like to read. I think it'll be fun! And it'll keep me reading.

Currently Reading: 10th grade Research Reports (oh yeah!)
Today's Mileage: 3.5 miles on the treadmill

Lack of Motivation

That's what I'm blaming on my sad lack of posting lately. It's what I'm blaming everything else on, so why not, right? That's why I haven't been able to finish a book I've had out from the library for a month now. That's also why I haven't been running very much (AT ALL) lately. Oh, that's also why I'm not tracking. Bad Kate.

To break my lack of motivation spell, I'm hoping my new year's resolutions will help keep me motivated. Here they are:

1. Log 50 miles a month. That'd be 600 miles in a year. Not a lot...but I'm afraid if I set more it just won't happen.

2. Drink less diet coke. I was going to try and give it up completely, but I'm thinking with my lack of motivation (nice excuse, huh?) that just won't happen.

3. Continue to try and stop biting my fingernails. I'm much better now, but I hope it goes away completely...eventaully.

4. Track my meals again. All of them. Need to get back on track before the wedding in May.

5. Do these things. Seriously. Especially numbers 1 and 4.

Maybe since they're written down I'll be better. And maybe since I plan on logging my mileage at the end of every month to prove to myself that I can (and will) do it.

What are we teaching kids these days?

Every year the DECA chapter at the high school where I work puts on a Veteran's Day Assembly. It's really great. They make biscuits and gravy, kids interact with them, they invite a special speaker, the choir sings, the band plays. It's nice.

Not this year.

Okay, okay...the band was good. I'm sure the food was good. The choir sounded great. But the speaker? What were they thinking? They obviously didn't ask for a copy beforehand (which I wouldn't think they would...but maybe they will in the future).

The speaker was a veteran who teaches at a high school where our Superintendent used to work. I guess they're buds. I'm guessing that's how our speaker got the invitation.

His speech started out okay. I guess. It was all over the place though. He talked to the kids about jobs - mainly just advertising the two careers he's held: a teacher, and a member of the military. Okay...but what does that have to do with Veteran's Day? Then it got worse.

He told the kids about two students he had in the past. The first was Suzy. "Suzy is what we would've called a hippie in my day. She has red hair, piercings all over, and tattoos." (Holy crap! Lock her up!) Then he went on to say how Suzy would not stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. "Suzy works in fast food now. She has a boyfriend. She'll probably work in fast food in 10 years, and have a boyfriend; maybe the same one, maybe different." Apparently not saying the pledge leads to all sortsa horrible crap. Who knew?

The second student? He signed up to serve our wonderful country. Now he's had his education paid for and is an upstanding citizen. Be like Tyler, not like Suzy. "Suzy wanted to be her own person. Tyler is serving his country. Are you going to be like Suzy, or Tyler?"

What's wrong with being a unique individual?

Then an Army recruiter got up. His speech was short. Seriously, it was like 1 minute. He was nervous. But in this nervous speech? "If someone comes into my country and blows up buildings, I want to be able to return the favor." Uh...what? So now it's a good idea to promote revenge? Nice. Real nice.

Seriously. The entire ceremony completely missed the point of Veteran's day. I felt bad for the Veterans. They deserve better. So do my students.

Review: Masquerade

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The second book in the series seemed just as good as the first. It didn't summarize everything in the first book (thank you!!) like some series books seem to do.

In this book Schuyler is trying to find out more about the Silver Bloods and throughout all the twists and turns in the story readers are trying to figure out just who the bad guy really is. My gut feeling from the first book seemed dead on, on both counts...so don't expect this story to throw you for a loop.

However, it was still good. It stayed away (mostly) from the mushy romantics and kept me interested. And just like all good series (unfortunately, I really am a sucker for series), it left me wanting to read the next one, which I promptly started about 1 minute after finishing.

View all my reviews >>

The Million Dollar Dog.

We'd been looking for a house. Mom and Dad wanted to move, Mom said she wanted to live out in the country and the road by our house was just getting to busy with all the traffic. So that Saturday morning we all piled in the Geo and drove down the road.

Of course, I thought we were going to look at a farm. Let me just tell you now, I was in no mood for this. The last thing I wanted was to move. Especially out in the country!

When we pulled in the driveway Mom and Dad told us we were there to pick out a puppy. Maybe it was because we weren't expecting it, or maybe it's just because no one can resist an adorable fuzzball, but we shot out of the car and made for the puppies! They were cute, of course, and so tiny. I wanted one of the fat little fuzzy guys, but of course my brothers chose the skinny one. That day we welcomed Buck into our family.

This has to be about 13 years ago. We still lived in our old house, so I can't be more than 11. Oh, and my family is weird :)

Why did we call him the million dollar dog? If only you knew. It all started with an innocent game of baseball, when Buck happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hit in the eye with a baseball bat and for the rest of his life was blind in one eye. But did he complain? Nope! Seriously, you might think I'm a horrible person right now, but I swear he was the happiest dog alive.

Not long after the bat incident, Buck came down with Parvo (he got this while at the vet recovering from his injury). So, Mom nursed him back to health. A few years later Buck got lime's disease. Then I accidentally ran over him with the truck.

I know, I know. But picture this. We (my Granddaddy and I) were driving the red rocket (that's what we called the old farm truck) through the field. Dad had just finished building a new pond on the back of our property and we were hauling a truck full of square hay bails out to spread over the dam so the grass would grow. Buck (the million dollar dog) and Jenny (our somewhat annoying dalmation) were riding happily on the top of all those bails. What happens next? For some reason Buck decides to run off the bails, but instead of going off the back, he takes a shortcut over the cab of the truck, onto the hood, and straight off the front. Of course, I freaked. "Oh my GOD! I just killed our dog!!" I'm sitting there crying while Granddaddy shook his head saying, "Damn dog."

Buck and Jenny. They loved each other. :)

I dried my tears when Buck simply got up and ran off, still heading towards the pond. I tell ya, that dog was tough.

Well, we got Buck when I was about 11 years old, which means he was about thirteen last year when Marly & Me came out in theatres. E and I went to see the movie and I bawled at the end. You see, Buck was getting old. Poor guy hadn't been able to jump in the back of the truck for about a year - and boy did he love the back of the truck. He'd sit there for hours.

Oh yeah, he was spoiled, too. :) Right there? He's eyeing the ice cream.

He was old. We'd been talking to Mom about ending his suffering, but times were tough at the moment, what with the loss of our other favorite dog, Sneaker. It was just too tough to talk to Dad about it. He gets a little attached to those of the furry variety. Just a little ;)

When I was home this weekend Mom asked if I noticed if anything was missing. It took a moment, but when I noticed the empty dog bed in the garage I knew Buck was finally at peace. He really was one of the best dogs. A big furry lug who just loved taking walks around the farm, was the perfect size for a big hug, and loved everyone he met...well, except for our old real estate agent. I'll miss you Buck. You were one of the good ones.

Such a beautiful dog. Seriously.

Review: Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So I've been trying to read books that my female students seem to be in love with and I picked this one up. After reading Twilight I was wary of this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Unlike Twilight, which was ridiculously corny and mushy (sorry, I'm just not that girl), this was refreshing. I feel in the future this book will probably be challenged because of it's view on vampires and their ex-role in Paradise, but it's an interesting twist on the story.

I'm not going to try and explain the complicated vampire history, but I'll point out a couple things I enjoyed. I really liked how the author tied the vampire's history back to the beginning of the New World (Roanoke) and before. History's just cook, okay? Obviously, as with most teen novels, there are always sections I just kind of skim over - those would include all descriptions of designers, makeup, etc. I'm not interested, so I try not to let those interfere with my opinion on the story. So, that point aside (and the fact that some characters are incredibly shallow and will most likely end up as the "bad" guy), the plot was interesting, kept me reading, and I'll be finishing the series.

:) But then, I finish every series. I even suffered through Twilight.

View all my reviews >>

I'm lazy,..

but at least I'm posting something! I think I deserve the 4-day weekend though, or at least that's what I tell myself! Thank you school.

We had parent teacher conferences Thursday after school. Those are always fun. Lemme tell you, some parents share WAY too much information. I don't need to know every detail of your personal life. It's uncomfortable. One situation that made me especially uncomfortable? The ex-wife of my spinning instructor (from the gym) came in and talked to me about her daughter who I have in Sports Literature. Their daughter's really smart, just a real good kid. Well, her Mom talked to me for at least 20 minutes and brought up how horrible the situation was with her "biological father" many times. It's just weird. I mean, I know him and he's a great guy, and he loves his kids, and they seem to have a great relationship. The worst part? She came in with one of their children and the kid had to listen to her Mom talk poorly about her Dad, which I'm sure happens often. It just sucks, for the kids, I mean...really.

In other more uplifting and fun news? A look at a couple projects we're doing? Of course!

This was dinner. How come my pictures of food never look as good as the professionals? Anyway, Bubble up pizza casserole. Easy and really yummy.

New shelves in the kitchen.

The shelves aren't done of course (well, the one with my cookbooks on it is, ain't it cute? E just built the shelf next to the dishwasher today while I was supervising the kiddos in Hermann, and although it's not painted and has no door (yet) I love it! And yes, yes, I know...we still haven't grouted the backsplash. Tomorrow?? We'll see. I love our kitchen.

Oh Diet Coke.

So I attended this health seminar at my gym the other night after my bootcamp class and learned a lot. A couple interesting tidbits?

1. Don't wait until you're hungry to eat. My bootcamp instructor is a big advocate of eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. She says that if you wait until you're hungry to eat your metabolism has already gone into the "starvation mode," thinking it won't be getting food for awhile, so it takes longer to kick back into action.
2. Everyone should eat (minimum) 9-14 fruits and vegetables a day. Woah there. And it should be a 2-1 ratio, twice as many veggies as fruits.

She also talked about soda. Now, I'm a soda drinker. Big time. I did manage to give up soda for lent a couple years ago, but it was tough. I've been hearing everywhere lately that even diet soda (Which is all I will drink, regular soda? No thanks!) actually contributes to weight problems. Something about the fake sugars they use in diet sodas triggers the brain into thinking you're hungry. Check out this article if you're interested in learning more...my ability to summarize valid points is pretty lame. :)

So, my goal is to quit diet soda. Maybe allow myself one a week. I'd like to quit cold turkey though. My little bro did, and he doesn't miss it. My problem is that I rarely drink water. I know I need to just suck it up and do it, but if I make myself do things before I'm ready, I generally wimp out. Like with Weight Watchers, I gave myself a few months to get used to the idea, so when I committed, I knew what I was getting into and I was ready for it.

(By the way, as I write this, I have a can of diet coke open beside me. Darn you addictive soda!)

Currently Reading: The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Some finished projects.

Before...
After...
Things we did to the outside (front): painted the shutters, added flowerbeds (can you say NO landscaping?), took out the dying - and ugly - evergreen bush, got a new, prettier front door.

Before...
After...

What didn't we do in the bathroom? We: plumbed for a 2nd sink, added electrical for a second light above a second mirror that we installed. Replaced the subflooring and added the tile (ew, I'm not a big fan of laying tile, but it is pretty). Painted cabinets and added new cabinet hardware. Replaced the countertop with more tile. Painted the walls. Added pictures I took (and developed) at craft camp :). Um...that's all.

Before (a different view)...
After...
I can't wait until I can show pictures of the kitchen. You'll be floored by the change. Seriously. I am. When I look at old pictures I'm like "What?!"

Oh, and here's a closer look at the amazing flower bed E's mom planted for us. I'm not joking when I say I got home from work one day and she'd planted the whole day while I was gone. She also moved two railroad ties by herself. Two! By herself! Do you know how heavy those are? Amazing.

The flowerbed:
Currently Reading: Just finished Becoming Anna, what next?

No excuses

I could say it's been awhile, and that would be true. I could try and come up with excuses, but my only excuse is that instead of blogging, I've been doing one of the following: reading, playing with my puppies (yes, that's plural), working on our house, or watching recorded episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond like the amazingly awesome person that I am. I keep telling myself to update, and then I put it off. Maybe now that I've done it I won't put it off for so long anymore.

First news: New puppy.

Her name is Sadie, and she's adorable.

We got Sadie about a month ago and we've discovered the following little jewels of information. She licks. A lot. Zoe loves having a playmate. They're both adorable (that was an easy lesson). Taking two dogs for a walk is a bit more of a commitment, and therefore doesn't get done as much. We (well, at least I) love it!

Reading. Wow. I've read so many books over the past few months. Just a few: North and South, Love and War, Heaven and Hell, Beastly, The Chocolate War, The Earth Children series (again!), Olive Kitteridge, Thin Wood Walls, Home of the Braves, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, Peak, The Appeal, Luna, Someone Named Eva, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, whatever the name of the book I'm reading right now, and at least 10-15 others which I've forgotten the names of at the moment, so look forward to just a couple reviews comin up. :)

Work on the house. Our bathroom is officially complete. Yay! We now have a dishwasher (which we got for free) installed in our kitchen which has new countertops and backsplash. We should be done painting the kitchen and putting the grout on the backsplash by next weekend, so I'll add some pictures then. We've also got a new flowerbed (pretty!) which E's mom planted for us, and it's awesome. Some advice? Take free plants from people. At least if you're not a greenthumb like me. It's awesome, and if they like it? More power to 'em!

E, Dad, and I competed in the Sedalia Fall duathlon this morning. It was pretty good. Besides the fact that I sucked it up on the bike portion (no surprise since I haven't been biking...at all...). It was pretty cool. Second in my age group, out of what...maybe two?

I wanted another puppy, but instead I decided to blog.

Why Summer's Great!

• I don't have to go to work. Seriously, who doesn't love that?
• The weather is generally awesome. Okay, I admit, last week when the heat index was 109 and you stuck to every surface as soon as you exited an air conditioned building wasn't that great, but come on! This week is pure Heaven. Simple as that.
• I have to ability to get SOOOO much done. Now, actually doing it is another story. :)
• Reading. All the time. Just finished the Harry Potter series for probably the third time. Yay for the movie comin out in a couple weeks!
• Trips. So far this summer I've only gone to Minneapolis, but there are plans in the works for Minnesota again and a trip to Kentucky for E and I :)
• Holidays. The fourth is one of my favorites because most of the family's in town and I always love that. :) Hello sand volleyball tournament!
  

Well, our bathroom is almost done. Don't hold your breath for pictures, cause we won't get the baseboards until this weekend, but I'll DEFINITELY post pictures as soon as it's done. I'm so freakin excited!

I also bought a paint sprayer for repainting the kitchen cabinets. I am NOT going to do them all by hand like I did the bathroom cabinets. Can you say brush strokes? Ugh. Paint and I aren't too friendly these days. I've painted the following in the past month: front door (three times, mind you), trim, bathroom cabinets, bathroom walls, bedroom, living room, hallway, and shutters. And, I still have the kitchen and the two bedrooms to go. I love paint, it changes a room immediately, but it does get a little old after awhile.

Today I finished our first flowerbed. The front of our house previously had no landscaping whatsoever. E and I built a flowerbed underneath the picture window yesterday, and I spent a couple hours (Ouch!) leveling out the soil, which was somewhat clay-ey (I know, not a word) and impossible, but I did get it done. I have a feeling my back won't like me tomorrow, but it looks SO much better out there. Once we actually have flowers growing maybe I'll post a picture of that, too.

The picture for today? Our adorable puppy and my pretty kitty getting better acquainted.

Okay, so Simon's still adjusting. But Zoe loves playing!

Hello my friend.

Yes, I missed the internet. I welcome you back my wonderful friend.

A short update in pictures follows.

E and our new puppy, Zoe. Such cuties.

Our bathroom before.

Our bathroom now...well, a couple hours ago. Now it's grouted, too!

Oh, and we discovered a hole in the floor under the particleboard. Yay. Go figure.

So, so far we've done the following:

• Installed a doggy door, yessss!
• Put a ceiling fan in our bedroom, oh yeah. I am in love with ceiling fans.
• Put a new light fixture in one of the guest bedrooms.
• Cleaned the yard. That was some work.
• Tiled/Grouted the bathroom counter.
• Added another sink in previously mentioned bathroom.
• Fixed light fixture so we can have a vanity light over each sink in said bathroom.
• Half painted the bathroom (had to wait to fix the wall above the vanity to paint the rest)
• Ripped up the really moldy particle board by the shower (and found the hole in the floor)
• Umm...picked out paint colors for the kitchen, which I'm not gonna start working on until the bathroom's done.
• Oh, and painted the previously ugly bathroom cabinets and put on new hardware.

Yay to fixing a house. I'm hoping we're done with our bathroom renovation by the 20th...can we make it? Seein that we'll be in Minneapolis all weekend, I'm wondering. But I'm hopeful!

Oh, and what am I reading lately? Nothing. ::Tear::

Holy Busy Schedule

So I've been bad. At blogging I mean. It's been really crazy busy lately, but only in a good way.

E and I are now homeowners. We are also proud dog owners (her name's Zoe and she's adorable!). I'm also a new(er) car owner. Um...and we've been moving. And if this counts, half my mouth is now numb from my dentist's appointment.

So, needless to say, I haven't had much time to update. That and the fact that we have no internet at our new house. Next Tuesday - one week from today - we'll be online. I have to travel about 30 minutes to use the internet now, but I'm okay with it, cause we have a house!

I'll be posting pictures soon. Of the dog, the house, and hey...maybe the car.

In the meantime I've read a couple great books: Hunger Games by Susanne Collins (I think) was A-mazing! Then I read The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau (the fourth book in the City of Ember series). It was good as well, but not as great as Hunger Games. Both books are for young adults, but I think almost anyone would like to read Collin's book. It's great. Besides that I've been reading Harry Potter books again. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them.

Well, I've gotta go register my car, paint some cabinets and the bathroom, and mow the lawn. I'll be better...I swear, once I have the internet.