Distraction

Okay -- who all out there has been sucked into the lovely, resourceful land of Pinterest?

I can't stop!

Yikes! Eye Candy!

One year ago...

We walked down the aisle as husband and wife!

Happy anniversary Grant! I love you.

Country Road

Grant and I ventured to West Virginia a few weekends ago with my nana and poppy. We had a GREAT time visiting with family friends at their cabin and enjoying God's gorgeous creation. The pastures, muddy trails, river, cool mornings, and stubborn cows made for a great long weekend. Here are some pictures of our weekend!









We did have to leave Sawyer at the kennel for the first time -- I have to admit, I shed a few tears when I had to say goodbye. Let me tell you...he was a HAPPY and tired puppy when we returned. See for yourself!

Project!

A while back I posted about recovering the chairs in our dining room. Grant helped me pick out a fabric from a local fabric outlet store and we went to town. I ended up having one yard of fabric left over...and that evening I also saw this post by Jenny of the Little Green Notebook for a pelmet tutorial so I started scheming. After Grant got home from work that next evening, we ventured to Michael's and purchased foam core boards. They were on sale so we only spent about $3.00 that evening!

I did take pictures along the way as I worked on the pelmet boxes for each window. Please let me know if you want to see those and know of all the steps involved! I give my husband all the credit for helping me hang those things...light (because I used foam core) but still tricky to adhere.



Please excuse the Droid picture...I was too excited to wait for Grant to snap a clear shot.

The pelmets add more character to our dining room; I'm in love! We had guests here for the weekend and they couldn't believe I made them. Me either!

Summer Reading...

I've got a few titles for you! Since I have more free time now, I have been reading for at least an hour before bed or in the afternoons.

I read Water for Elephants last week and thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction novel. There are parts that are slightly "racy" and I've been more apprehensive about recommending it to others for that reason. The writer makes the 1930s setting quite realistic; sometimes I think that I was born in the wrong era. I LOVE the flashiness of the 20s and 30s! The main character in this story is an elderly man who is full of humor and even flaws, which makes him easy to relate to. I certainly enjoyed the circus train setting and the descriptive plot, as the performers, menagerie, and roustabouts become so vivid!

I'm about half way through reading Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls. I read her older novel The Glass Castle back in 2005. I was very excited to begin this new story about her true life account of her grandmother, Lily Casey. This book has already brought me to tears and it makes me want to travel out west!

What are you reading this summer?

Next on the list is The Paris Wife.

Monday Musings

1. Recovering the dining room chairs tonight! Will post pictures of the before and after, have no fear. I wanted to do something like this:


(image from styleathome.com)

But was vetoed by Grant...and he has always been very supportive in my interior choices so I knew I better compromise. Haha!
We ended up going with a floral piece that has fun colors and is slightly less bold!

2. I've loved having more time free to experiment with recipes and I found two new ones that I tried last week. They were a huge hit with the family!

Pulled Pork



Found this recipe from a college friend:
Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies
They were AH-mazing!

3. Missing my students but I received a letter from one little gal yesterday! It absolutely made my day.

Celebration!

This is my 100th blogpost! When I started this blog, I had a LOT more free time and interest in writing. I would have predicted that I would hit my one hundredth post long before now! Between a new job, husband, new house, and new city, I'm good if I can sift through my Google Reader! Anyway, happy celebration -- two reasons to celebrate: pup's first birthday and my 100th post!

Here is a blogpost written by my students:
Mrs. Linderman got a new puppy in January and his name is Sawyer. He will turn one on April 23rd!

Here are our ideas for how Sawyer should celebrate his first birthday:

From Paxton, age 8 (almost 9!),
For Sawyer's 1st birthday, you should give him a treadmill and tie a bone to the handles so he will chase it and even, maybe, get a tv fro him to watch sports or something. That's how I would celebrate his birthday.

From Sarah Curtis, age 8,
For Sawyer's birthday, I would buy him a birthday hate, a huge bone, and dog cake. Then, put the birthday hat on him and give him a huge iece of dog cake and put the huge bone on top! That is how I would celebrate Sawyer's birthday!

From Anna, age 8,
You should get cookies for Sawyer's b-day but you have to get the type of cookies for dogs, or you can get a medium size bone. But for the party, invite just two dogs so it won't get too crazy!

From Tanner, age 8,
If I could attend Sawyer's first birthday, I would...
First, I would have to think of a theme...maybe Super Sawyer or Sir Sawyer the Great. Then, you woul dhave to buy all of the goodies for Super Sawyer like a cape, a piñata, or a sculpture or a Sawyer mobile! That is what I would do for Sawyer's birthday.

From Mrs. Linderman: We'll be celebrating at the beach; hopefully he'll get into the ocean this time! Maybe he can wear a birthday hat too... :)