Baby it's cold outside...

OK, I know 50 degrees isn't REALLY cold, but it's definitely cooler than it has been lately, and it feels very "fallish." I love this time of the year. Aren't the trees absolutely gorgeous? God's creation never ceases to amaze me.

My week-long Thanksgiving break has begun. I'M PUMPED. I have all of my lesson plans ready for the week AFTER Thanksgiving, and I don't plan on doing anything school related for about 10 days. Both of my sisters and their families are coming here for a few days next week. So, other than a day trip to visit some family in Collinsville, I won't be doing too much traveling. I'm looking forward to having a few days to RELAX. I'm also planning on finishing my Christmas shopping, wrapping Christmas presents, getting my Christmas cards ready to be mailed, and cleaning my house. Yes, these are the things that excite me in life. :) I've been listening to Christmas music for a while now (I make fabulous Christmas Mix CD's if anyone is interested! :) ) and I can't wait to break out "Elf" and "Christmas Vacation".

I'm eager to decorate too, but I'm trying to hold out until after Thanksgiving.

MSKS posted a list of things that she was thankful for, and I'd like to do the same. I have been blessed with so many wonderful things in my life. Trying to condense all of these things into a short 'list' will be difficult, but I'll give it a try.

Here are the obvious ones:

our Creator
awesome parents/grandparents

the 2 best sisters in the world

Henry

the most amazing friends

a great guy who makes me smile

Max

health

a job (one that I actually enjoy!)

Others (sometimes it's the little things in life!):

the ability to use all 5 senses

mexican food

my bed

diet coke

my digital camera

weekends

summers

my 4 year old Altima

MSU

pajama pants

Bobbi Brown makeup
Target

contacts

What a good life, huh?

Totally changing the subject: I have been on a serious carb-kick lately. I don't know WHAT my problem is! I can feel my waist line expanding and it's not even the holidays yet! AHH! I'm a fairly healthy eater. I enjoy eating healthy, I REALLY DO. But, I also LOVE to splurge on junk food every once in a while. In fact, sometimes if it were up to me, I would order an appetizer and a dessert at a restaurant and totally skip the entree. Give me some chips and dip and a piece of cake, and I'm a happy (but not-so-healthy!) camper!

I usually don't buy junk food. If it's not in my house, I'm not tempted! Not a problem. I used to have good will-power too. You could put "snacky foods" in front of me, and I could look and not eat. I haven't so much been able to do that lately for some reason. As Thanksgiving and Christmas are approaching, I'm only seeing this problem get worse. Any suggestions?

If I were to try the "South Beach Diet," I'm SURE I'd lose weight fast, but on the flip side, I would become a very mean person. No carbs at all? No thanks. I'm with you on the SBD, Em, NO WAY!

Maybe I'll think more about this after Christmas, but all I have to say now is BRING ON THE BREAD!

GO CROOM!

I'm sure most of you State fans have seen this site, and hopefully you've voted for Croom to be named 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year. Who's more deserving?
If you click here, you'll see the standings. Right now, Croom has had the most votes today, and is ranked #4! YAY! So, fellow bulldog fans, go and vote!!!

Oh, and Emily Stringer posted a fantastic article about Croom. You should definitely read it if you have a few minutes. Love that man.

A*M*A*Z*I*N*G

Jennifer Nettles rocks!

The concert was a blast! JR and I had the best time.

I'd seen Sugarland perform on TV, but seeing them live was absolutely amazing. It's no surprise that they were voted CMA Duo of the Year.

I know I have a lot of readers who hate country and are rolling their eyes right now, but you have got to trust me on this one. Country fan or not--J.N. is an INCREDIBLE entertainer. We had great seats too, which always makes it even better. Take a look at some of the pics I got.

I want to be her. :)

Here are some pictures of me and JR before the concert (taken at Heather's) and during the concert (one pic taken by Adelia and the other taken by a random person who I trusted with my camera).

My cousin Adelia (on the right) and her fabulous roommate Deanna (middle) were also there, and we were able to meet up at the concert long enough to take some pics. :) So fun.

And to make the night even better, I got to unexpectedly see little Henry for about 5 minutes before we left Heather's for the concert. Kris and Rob were headed back from the beach and stopped by Heather and Trey's to say hey. It was like a little bonus getting to see my little man!

a little hanging out time with the sisters...

a little smooch from my sweet little Henry...

fantastic hanging out time with JR...

running into Adelia and Deanna...

seeing Sugarland in concert...

ALL IN ONE NIGHT??

Does it get any better than this? :)

Looks like a 4 day week for me and then...A WEEK OFF FOR THANKSGIVING!

What a GREAT day to be a bulldog (and a not-so-great-day to be one of those annoying Bama fans...)!

It was quite the perfect day in Starkville today...
the weather was perfect,

I got to visit with several out-of town friends,

and

WE BEAT ALABAMA.

You must understand...I hate UA almost as much as I hate Ole Miss.

When James predicted (pre-football season) that we'd win at least 6 games this season, I laughed in his face. I guess I should allow his optimism to rub off on me a bit. :) Right now, we're 6-4 with 2 games remaining (Arkansas and the infamous Egg Bowl vs. Ole Miss). We're Bowl-eligible for the first time since 2000.

I'm proud to be a bulldog.

I got to spend most of the day with Chad, Candy, and little Landon. It was the first time I'd seen them since this summer, which is unacceptable and completely ridiculous. I sure do miss those kids.

I also got to visit with Alexa again at the tailgate, which was fabulous as always!

James also managed to squeeze in a couple of minutes of his busy working day to stop by long enough for me to take a cute picture (he knows how important pictures are to me! :) ). He worked both the football and basketball games (which, by the way, we ALSO won!), so needless to say, he was quite busy and had very little time to socialize. BY THE WAY...just so you know...I sometimes refer to him as 'James', while other times it's 'JR'. It's been brought to my attention that this is causing a bit of confusion to my readers. His name is 'James Robert,' but most people call him 'JR.' I go back and forth. Sorry for the confusion. :)

After the game, I got to eat mexican with my dear friends Matthew and Sarah, who were in town for the game. They moved to Lousiana at the end of the summer, and it was my first time to see them since then. Oh how I miss having them here.

3 other quick reasons why I'm in a great mood:

1. SUGARLAND CONCERT TOMORROW NIGHT! :) James and I are headed to the coast! I'm pumped!

2. We're staying in Hattiesburg with Heather and Trey tomorrow night, so I'll get to have a little hanging out time with the sis!

3. 4 more school days until Thanksgiving holidays! I GET THE WHOLE WEEK OFF!!!

Life is good.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I love Oprah. I don't necessarily share the same beliefs and values as her, but I think she is a good person who does incredible things for others. I emulate her selflessness.

If you're ever able to watch her show (I guess that excludes all of you who work until 5!), you may have seen the show titled "Oprah's Favorite Things." It's amazing. I THINK she does this special show once a year around Christmas. It's my absolute favorite. She shares lots of her favorite things (anything from recipes, to perfumes, to furniture) with the viewers, while often distributing samples to her entire audience. Oh how I'd love to be there! While I don't have gifts to give you, I have compiled an Oprah-inspired list that I'd like to share. If you're stumped on what to give certain people as Christmas gifts, maybe something here might give you some guidance. I've been working on this list for a while. Some of these things are items that I have now, have had in the past, or would LIKE to have.

So, allow me to present...

MY FAVORITE THINGS

(in no particular order!)
1. ANN TAYLOR LOFT! This has become my new favorite place to shop. In fact, I have already asked Santa to bring me an ATL gift card for Christmas. Their clothes are stylish, classy, comfortable, and while they're more expensive than Old Navy, the quality is great and will last longer.

2. TV episodes on DVD! My two favorite TV shows of all time are Seinfeld and The Office. I own several seasons of Seinfeld and only the 1st season of The Office, but I hope to one day have ALL seasons of Seinfeld on DVD, as well as the other 2 seasons of The Office. How great will it be in 20 years when I'm still able to watch these shows on DVD after so many years?! (Of course, DVD players probably won't be around anymore, so this could get complicated, but it's a great thought anyway).

3. My transpod! I love my ipod. It was a bit pricy, but I use it while I'm exercising, and now that I have a transpod that goes in my car, I also listen to it whenever I go ANYWHERE! I think these also can get kinda expensive (maybe $75??), but I actually found one similar to the one seen in the pic on EBay for only $20. It was a great purchase. I highly recommend getting an ipod AND a transpod!
4. MISSISSIPPI STATE CHEESE (and other MSU products). Have you ever tried this amazing cheese? So yummy. This actually makes a GREAT Christmas gift for anybody, so if you're looking for something that almost anybody would like (unless they're lactose intolerant!), you should visit this site and order some now!

5. Magazine subscriptions! These make great gifts. You heard me mention recently that my favorite magazine is Real Simple, so if looking to buy for a
female, I highly recommend this one.

6. Lollia bubble bath! I am obsessed with bubble baths. I take them nearly every night, so finding good bubble bath is top priority for me. I've actually never owned this product, but I gave it to Kristen once and I've used it and it is FABULOUS. This, too, can be a little pricy for bubble bath, but who says you can't treat yourself every once in a while? The bottles are really pretty too.

7. Sarah Jessica Parker's perfume: "Lovely"! This was actually on Oprah's "favorite things" list a couple of years ago, and I tried it because SHE highly recommended it. I don't use it now because I ran out, but I absolutely loved it. It's not a heavy scent, but it's enough to tell that you're wearing something. I love being told that I smell good. :) I'm trying to decide whether to get another bottle of this or try something else. Any recommendations?

8. Woodwick candles! Have you tried these? They're by far the best candles I've ever used. In addition to wanting MYSELF to smell good, I also like for my house to smell good. I burn candles often. Santa brought me one of these (Cotton Flower scent---THE BEST!), and I used it all the time! The wicks are actually made of wood (hence the name!) and when burning, it sounds like a fire crackling. Not even kidding. These make great gifts, and if you get "gift-buying-happy," feel free to send one my way! :)
9. Willow Tree Angels! I like these because they're sweet and personable. Each angel has a specific name. For example, the angel here holding the puppy is the "Angel of Friendship." I have been given 2 of these angels. I have the "Angel of Learning" and the "Angel of Love." These are inexpensive and make really good gifts.

10. BATH AND BODY WORKS!! What girl doesn't love to get something from this store? I love it all-the lotion, shower gel, bubble bath, body splash, etc. I was also recently given one of the Wall Flowers that gives your house a great smell and I LOVE it. One of my all time favorite scents is Warm Vanilla Sugar. A favorite seasonal scent of mine is Vanilla Bean Noel (I'm hoping it's back this Christmas). I think giving a $9 bottle of lotion makes a perfect Christmas happy. :)

11. Nike Shox running shoes! I've tried lots of different running shoes and my favorite by far have been Nike Shox. I'm on the hunt for some new tennis shoes (Santa, I guess you can add it to the list!), and I'll most likely be getting another pair of Shox.

12. Pajama Pants! Who (male OR female) doesn't like a good pair of warm PJ pants? I'm always wanting new PJ pants. In fact, if it were up to me, I'd probably want to wear them all day everyday. Unfortunately, people who do this are usually frowned upon. Stacy from "What Not to Wear" says to NEVER them in public. I've learned to do whatever she says.

Anyway, if you ARE looking for good PJ pants, check out Old Navy!

There it is. Of course that's not EVERYTHING, but it's enough for a start. Who knows...maybe there'll be a Part 2 of "LT's favorite things". :)

I've been listening to Christmas music already, and plan on making puppy chow soon, but I'm hoping to hold off on decorating until after Thanksgiving. I've been told by more than one person that it's somewhat tacky. I'm just not sure I can wait 2 more weeks to put up the tree. We'll see! :)

Nobody loves Christmas like me and this cold weather has DEFINITELY put me IN THE SPIRIT!!

Have a blessed rest of the week!

better late than never!

I just got these pictures today of Henry and his SNAIL Halloween costume! SO cute.

I had to share even though I'm a little late! :)

(I know, I know, Heather posted these pics too!)

Isn't that costume precious? The little one wearing the costume is pretty cute too huh?

Henry loves his grandaddy (my dad)!

a good read.

My cousin Monica sent this to me, and while I'm not a fan of most email forwards, I found this one to be quite good. Allow me to recommend taking a minute to read this.

Paul Harvey Writes:
We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.

And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

Of course I didn't include the end of the forward which said something like "send this to 10 friends or you are not a good person." That's the very reason why I don't like forwards. I don't really think I need a mass email telling me what kind of a person I am! :)

I spent another great weekend in the Delta, and it's time to start thinking about another week! Hopefully the weather will be as beautiful as it was this weekend. I LOVE IT.

Happy Monday.

GUESS WHERE I'M GOING IN 10 DAYS!!!

I made this music playlist at MyFlashFetish.com.

Happy Halloween!!

Can you tell I'm having fun with Shutterfly? :)

Happy Halloween!

Here are a couple of pictures of me and my friend Heather at school today. My Halloween attire simply consisted of a $5 shirt from Target with "BOO" written in black, orange shoes (it's ok to be jealous, Candy), an orange bracelet, and some black accessories.

Heather was another story. I only wish you could see a full body shot of her outfit. Picture, if you will, black and orange striped tights, tall black shoes, fun jewelry and a cute little bat headband. She looked adorable and the kids loved her.

I'm trying to convince her to start a blog, but so far I've been unsuccessful. I don't plan on giving up though.

On another note, I saw a Christmas commercial on TV yesterday. I'm pumped. I plan on breaking out the Christmas music next week.

Get excited!!

sweet little pumpkin.

I have been wanting to play around with shutterfly AND I wanted to post some recent pictures of Henry, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone here. Kristen recently used Jenny's photographer recommendation, Monique McGonagill, and got some fantastic pictures taken of Henry a few weeks ago. Kristen was very pleased with the pictures! See Jenny's blog for details about making an appointment with her (you should also check out C&C's fall pictures while you're there!). These are just a few of my favorites of Henry. Aren't they precious?

Several months ago I asked Jade Gaskin how she made the really cute collages that she posts on her blog. She told me to check out shutterfly, and I've wanted to play around with it for a while now, but I'm just now downloading it. It seems very user friendly and FREE! Try it! (I usually use Picasa, which is also a great place to store pictures and make collages!) It's a little overwhelming at first, trying do choose layouts, colors, fonts, etc. etc., but I'll play with it and see if my creative juices will start to flow. MSKS, download it. You'll love it.

Now that my mission for the night has been accomplished, I'm heading to bed.

Until next time.

weekend trip, a genius idea and more randomness for you...

So, I just noticed that this is my 220th blog post. 220? Wow. I've been quite a busy blogger since I joined the blogging world last December. I sure would be interested to know how many regular blog readers I have. Feel free to leave me a little shout out if you're reading. :)

I spent the weekend with James' family in the good 'ol Mississippi Delta (are you proud, MSKS?). We spent the day on Saturday helping his parents move into a new house in Greenwood before heading to Glen Allen (James' 'true home') to spend the night with his adorable grandparents. For those of you who are unfamiliar with G.A. (as I was before I was introduced to it by JR), it's a small town 30 miles from Greenville. James' parents moved to Greenwood after he graduated high school, but his grandparents remained in Glen Allen. I was glad to finally see Glen Allen after hearing him talk about it so much. It's one of those cozy little towns where everybody knows everybody and it's surrounded by the beautiful Lake Washington (see pictures below), so it really is a pretty place. I felt right at home. Oh, and the weekend recap wouldn't be complete if I didn't give a little recognition to my bulldogs for their sweet victory over #14 (or should I say used to be #14?!) Kentucky.

I'm also still feeling really sorry for the poor rebels...PSYCHE! hahaha.

I don't know how many of you read Real Simple magazine. If you don't, you should. I always get great recipes, decorating ideas, and organizational tips from this magazine. Those of you who know me know I LOVE being organized. I also love gift wrapping supplies. I always say that when I'm rich (haha), I'm going to have a "craft room" with a gift wrapping station, much like the expensive ones you see in Pottery Barn. I was pretty excited when I saw this idea in the magazine. Why didn't I, "Miss Organization", think of this? Take a look...it's genius.

It may be a little difficult to read since it's a scanned magazine article, but I'm sure you can look at the picture and see what's been done here. Different coat/pant hangers used for hanging gift bags, ribbon, and tissue paper; a shoe organizer used for gift tags, scissors, tape, etc.; and a laundry hamper used for gift wrapping. Is that brilliant or what? I'm definitely planning on converting the closet in my spare bedroom into a gift wrapping station....just in time for Christmas. Can't wait.

I'll leave you with a quick story. Last week I went to the dentist. I'm not a fan of going to the dentist. At all. I've never had a cavity (although I LOVE candy), and I was hoping that I would receive another good dentist report. As my hygienist was cleaning my teeth, she was bragging on how nice and clean my teeth looked and how I still had no cavities. Great news. Although, as I mentioned, I am a candy lover, I also love brushing my teeth...maybe obsessively. I thought brushing your teeth was always a good thing, so I've never second guessed my brushing habits. Well, she informed me otherwise. She told me that she's never really had to tell a patient to brush less, but basically that was the problem she was seeing with me. Excuse me? Did my dentist just tell me that I need to brush less? Weird. I don't think the problem is necessarily the number of times I brush daily, but apparently, I brush too hard. My gums are starting to see the effects of hard brushing. Oops. I think I need one of those expensive electric brushes, so I won't have too much control over the pressure. My question: have any of you ever been instructed to brush your teeth less?? I just don't get this one.

Who says teachers can't have a little fun too?

I always complain to people like Heather and MSKS who get to travel to fun places with their job. I'm a teacher. Teachers never get to go anywhere fun, right? Wrong.

I just found out that I was randomly selected to be the 2nd grade representative from my school to go to San Antonio for a conference in February. I've never been there, but I've always wanted to go. I'm so excited about this.
Even better--my friend Heather, was chosen as the 1st grade rep., so we're BOTH going! There are several other young, fun teachers going too, so I think it'll be fun and a perfect break from school. I feel like we'll have a good amount of free time while we're there, so if any of you have ever been before, I may need some pointers on where all to go!

Oh, and you better believe I'll be eating some good Mexican food while I'm there too! :)

Hi. I'm Laura and I'm a copycat.

This was stolen from Katey and Anisa because I TOO love these silly things.

Two names you go by: besides "Laura" :1. LT 2. Miss T. (I guess I must also add a 3rd one here: "yaya")
Two things you are wearing right now: 1. red zip up sweater 2. brown shoes
Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship: 1. leadership 2. humor (this list could go on and on...)
Two of your favorite things to do: 1. go out to eat (Mexican is fave) 2. hang out with my sisters
Two things you want really badly at the moment: 1. go shopping 2. lounge around on the couch with a blanket and watch movies all day (what else is better to do on a rainy day?)
Two things I did last night: 1. stayed at school until 7 pm because of parent/teacher conferences 2. went with JR to Columbus to visit our friend in the hospital
Two things you ate today: 1. cinnamon toast 2. that's all...i'm about to go eat lunch
Two people you last talked to on the phone: 1. JR 2. Mom
Two things you're doing tomorrow: 1. going to work 2. hopefully running if the weather allows (exciting life I lead huh?)
Two longest car rides: 1. on a bus to Colorado 2. on a bus to Montana
Two favorite holidays: 1. CHRISTMAS!!!! 2. Thanksgiving is a close 2nd.
Two favorite beverages: 1. Diet Coke 2. coffee (gotta love caffeine)
Two things about me you may not have known: 1. my legs are covered with fairly noticeable scars that I got when I was attacked by fire ants at age two. 2. I have never had a speeding ticket (and I'm knocking on wood right now).
Two jobs I have had in my life: 1. teacher 2. on campus job while I was a college student
Two places I have lived in the U.S.: 1. Meridian, MS (1st 2 years of my life) 2. Starkville, MS (past 24 years of my life...oops...I just told you my age).
Two of my favorite foods: 1. Mexican...duh! 2. almost anything sweet, although I don't buy many sweets because my will power is TERRIBLE these days! I CAN'T STOP EATING CANDY CORN!

Now it's YOUR turn to be the copycat.

angel pie

Kristen obviously doesn't have a whole lot of free time these days because of her crazy work schedule, and when she DOES have time off, it's understandable that she wants to spend her time with Rob and Henry. I really do think she'd love to have a blog so she could share pictures of that sweet boy, but it would just be too much. So of course, Heather and I feel that it is OUR duty to keep you all up-to-date on the life of our adorable nephew. :)

I spent the weekend with Henry, and took nearly 40 pictures of him in just a matter of like 36 hours. I realize that this really is a problem, but I can't stop. My camera is always close by and when I see him "doing something cute" (wait...isn't everything he does cute?), I feel as though it must be captured on camera. Don't worry...I'm not about to post all 40 pictures. I chose only a few of my favorites to share with you. Just take my word for it though-they're ALL cute.

Henry will be 11 months old Nov. 1, and he's at a really fun stage. He's able to recognize me, which I LOVE. He also makes repetitive sounds (ex. he says "lalalala" a lot and of course I act as though he's saying my name. What a genius child.). I love being with him more and more everytime I see him.

When I first got there, he gave me a big smile and showed me his 2 adorable little teeth. Soon after, he was reaching for me (LOVE THAT) and when I picked him up, he immediately, laid his head on my shoulders and began playing with my hair. At that moment, I was thinking, "wow...I sure am in love with this child." He then lifts up his head, looks at me, grabs my face and gives me the biggest slobber kiss ever (much like he's doing in the picture below). He gave me lots of wet kisses over the course of the weekend. Precious.

This was supposed to be a 'normal' picture, but H decided to give me a slobber kiss just as the camera was flashing. :)

Now it's time to show off some of Kristen's latest projects. She ordered the most beautiful frame from Laura Helen Home (she has TONS of cute frames and such) and the picture she framed is one taken by the talented photographer who takes most of Henry's pictures. She does such a great job. I had no idea how perfect the picture would look in the frame. Isn't it gorgeous? It's hanging on the wall in Kristen and Rob's house, and it's one of the first things you notice when you walk in. I may be obsessed with it.

A few months after Henry was born, Kristen and Rob transformed their dining room into a playroom, which was a VERY wise decision on their part! Kristen chose 3 of her favorite pictures of Henry, had them blown up, and framed them in the play room. I took a picture of it so you could get an idea, although it's a little difficult to see the middle picture because of the glare.
On another wall in the playroom, they hung the art that Heather painted. I've tried telling Heather that she needs to sell some of the art that she does. She's so talented and loves doing it. Does anybody else agree with me? She's not confident enough I don't think, but I think we should all harrass her about it until she starts her own business or at least starts advertising some of her stuff in her blog! :)

Finally, here are some pictures of the little man. The top picture was taken when we went strolling. He's wearing his MSU jersey, although it didn't so much help us on Saturday. :( He still looked A*D*O*R*A*B*L*E in it. You should see him is his stroller. He props his feet up and usually just talks the whole time. It's so cute. In the bottom picture, he's wearing one of the many cute outfits ordered from BabyFace Design. He loves his little rompers!

My week starts off with parent/teacher conferences at school from 11-7 tomorrow. While it'll be a nice break from the everyday routine, I'm not exactly thrilled about staying there until 7. Is my school the only school in America that didn't have a fall break? Sure, the students get the day off tomorrow, but apparently the teachers were forgotten! I'm definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving break in a few weeks...

I hope your Monday is fabulous!

one good day

So, I woke up this morning, and I was just in one of those "blah" moods. I wasn't in a bad mood, but I definitely didn't wake up excited, energetic and eager to get to school. It was rainy and I was feeling so well, so it was oh so tempting to just stay in bed. You know the kind of morning I'm talking about. But, I got up against my will, got my coffee, got ready and I was at school by 6:45 as usual.

Anyway, around 10:30 or so, I received a message in my mailbox at school which said that I had something at the front desk. Of course, I'm thinking it was something dropped off by a parent for one of my students or something. Thinking little about it, I sent a student to the office to fetch whatever it was. About 5 minutes later, my student walks in the classroom with this in his hand:

(I know, 1 picture would have been sufficient, but they're so beautiful, I had to capture each view)

Yes, I got flowers.

But guess what...that's not all. Attached to the beautiful bouquet was a big envelope which contained a gift certificate for a massage...(every teacher's dream gift). Seriously? What in the world did I do to deserve THIS? Needless to say, the remainder of my day was spent with a smile on my face.

I'm glad I decided to go to school today. :)

After school, I met my dear friends Katey and Camp at TCBY (yes, I said "TCBY" NOT "Cool Scoops"--cheese). Have I ever mentioned how much I love this child? It was such entertainment watching him eat ice cream. Please notice the last picture on the collage...by the time he was finished, it looked as if Katey and I had just smeared it all over his face. Priceless and so adorable.

After I left TCBY, I headed back to my house and got behind a car with a very 'questionable' bumper sticker. Help me with this one please... In case you're unable to read it from the picture I took while driving my car (that's a wreck waiting to happen), here's what it said: "Krystal Lovers get more in the sack." Ummmm..EXCUSE ME? Krystal? As in the fast food restaurant? I wanted to follow the car and talk to the driver about this, quite interested in the thought process behind it.

There are always 3 things that can get a good rise out of me: 1. a good mullet, 2. a humorous church sign, and 3. a good pimped car (especially the "themed" ones seen mostly in South Mississippi...love them). I guess I should add bumper stickers to my list now, because this one's pretty hard to beat.

Some people.

One more thing, and then I'm done...Heather mentioned in a recent post that our little nephew Henry was having surgery this morning. It was just a minor procedure, but they did have to put him to sleep, which, as you parents can imagine, made Kristen and Rob a nervous wreck. I'm happy to say that everything went fine! Kris said Henry was happy before and after the surgery and everything went well.

See? It ended up being quite a good day afterall!

I love fall, yes I do.

Sorry for my lack of blogging last week. I think it was a combination of a week of craziness and nothing really worth blogging about. Enough with excuses though...I'll try to catch you up on my exciting life.

I spent the weekend in Hattiesburg with Heather. Yes, that means that I was absent for the MSU vs. UT game and while it's unlike me to miss a football game, I have no regrets. James wasn't in town for the game either and Trey left for the deer camp Saturday night. Heather's not a fan of being by herself. (Here's the conversation between me and my camo-wearing brother-in-law before his departure to the deer camp. ME: So, I'm trying to understand your excitement about going to the deer camp. I just don't get it. Try to explain why this is your favorite time of the year and why going to the deer camp is one of your favorite things to do. TREY: It's like this LT...imagine that someone gave you $25,000 to spend on anything you wanted in New York City. THAT'S how thrilling it is for me to go to the deer camp. Excuse me? Can we say SLIGHT exaggeration? Sorry Trey. Deer camp vs. $25,000 shopping spree? I don't really think it's even comparable).

ANYWAY...

It had been too long since I had been to the burg and it was just time for a trip. Heather and I actually did some Christmas shopping on Saturday. I have roughly 86.7% of my Christmas shopping completed! That's right! It's not even Halloween and I'm almost finished shopping. You have every right to be jealous. :) We also had a little Mexican food Friday night, which you know I love. The weather was perfect and it was a fantastic weekend.

Last week I posted pics of my fall decorations. I guess you thought that I was calling it quits after painting my bully pumpkin and purchasing the beautiful yellow mums. Think again. Yesterday afternoon I got the urge to go out and spend money that I didn't have to add to my weak decor. I love LOVE the fall and I think the colors are the best. I can't help but want to go overboard when it comes to decorating. James went with me to Lowe's to pick out more mums and Kroger to get more pumpkins.

Who knew JR had such an eye for decorating? He had the idea of nailing the wood posts together to add to the decorations and I think it was very creative of him and looks fabulous. He also trimmed my bushes for me, which makes my yard look much more attractive. I'm actually very proud of our finished product. What do you think? I can assure you that it looks better in person. I may quit my teaching job to start working for HGTV.

I'm at school and the bell's about to ring for my Monday morning to begin, which means I'll be xing out of the blogging box, but I must tell you what just occurred to get my week started off on the right foot....

One of my precious students just walked in here and brought me a bag of candy corn. Apparently, he overheard me mentioning how much I LOVE candy corn, so he decided to go out and buy me some. I'm so excited about this. I wonder how long I'll be able to wait before getting into it. If you like candy corn, then allow me to recommend mixing it with peanuts....YUM! It's the perfect snack.

I said I wasn't going to buy anymore candy corn for myself this year because I didn't need all of the sugar, PLUS I can't control my portion sizes. It doesn't count when someone else gives it to me though, does it?? :)
I hope you have a great week. I love this weather.

Go "BOOOO"lldogs!

Disclaimer: Please excuse the cheesiness of the blog title. When I thought of it, I couldn't resist. I'm a teacher...I spend my LIFE being cheesy.

So I decided to take a stab at being creative. What do you think? In case you can't tell, it's a bulldog (well, it's supposed to be a bulldog anyway). I wish that I could say that I came up with the idea myself and just drew it but I'm not that creative. I actually found this in a book titled 125 Years at Mississippi State University and I copied it. It was fun to make even if it DOES look like a
possessed monster. :)
By the way, how pretty are fall decorations?! I love them. I went to Kroger yesterday and bought this basket of mums. It was about $15 so it was somewhat of a splurge for me, but I had to have them. My tiny little front porch was screaming for something 'fallish'. All of the different colors they had were beautiful, and I literally stood there for about 10 minutes trying to decide which color to buy. I must say, I'm quite pleased with my decision. :)
I'm thinking about going back and getting some maroon mums too....I think they would look great next to my bully!