Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Sassy Yellow Pillow

It's currently 1:19 in the morning, and yet, I'm still awake. I'm not even really sure why I happen to be awake; I'm usually the type of person who's done with living around 10 p.m. I need eight hours of sleep a night to be considered fully functioning. No, we don't have kids, and as mentioned in the previous post, my sweet Tallulah would sleep all day if we didn't force her to get out of bed and walk around the house.

I had been so discouraged with the whole sewing thing that I decided to sit down tonight and make something I knew would be successful...a new pillow cover for one of our pillows. We needed some new spunky pillows for our lavender room, and I am smitten with this fabric that I picked up from Joann's. I'm hoping it will make its appearance in my first ever attempt at a quilt.

So here you have it...a sassy yellow pillow.

Not too shabby for 1 in the morning...oh, and that cute little chair? My husband refinished it for me and upholstered it with leather for our "leather" anniversary last year. :) He's a keeper.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

It's raining here today. Actually, I think raining is kind of an understatement. Can monsoon be a verb? If so, it's monsooning here. The wind is ferocious and has whipped my two little outdoor trees off my porch and down my steps. What is there to do other than stay bundled up in the house and spend countless hours on Pinterest? Well, I could "undeck" my halls and take down all my Christmas decor, but I'm just really not feeling that right now.

Hank stayed up late painting furniture for our laundry room redo, and he's still in bed with sweet Tallulah Jane. I assure you, those two would sleep all day if it were an option in life.

Yesterday, I attempted to get crafty. My cousin, Emily, is with child...baby girl child, to be exact, and her shower is on Saturday. I got in my head yesterday that I would go ahead and sew up some of her gifts. The sewing thing is still coming along, though I'm starting to feel like I don't have that natural knack for it that my mother seems to possess. Sewing a straight line is sometimes difficult for me. However, I successfully created a monogram taggie toy after an unsuccessful attempt. Today's goal is to make some burp cloths. We'll see how it goes.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

I've Gotten My Read On...

Near the end of 2010, my husband looked at me one night during dinner and said, "How many books do you think you've read this year?". I honestly had no idea. Since I read all the time, I imagined it would be a lot, but I wasn't sure. One of my goals for 2011 was to read 52 books over the course of the year. I reached that goal in mid-June, so I expanded it to 100. I'm currently reading my 100th book of 2011.

A lot of what I have read has been young adult lit. I'm guessing that's a casualty of the job, but I'm always trying to find books that my students will read and enjoy. Some of it, however, has been great.

I will always plug The Hunger Games, but I actually read that near the end of 2010. If you haven't taken the time to read it, get your hands on it and read it soon...at least before you see the movie.

Two of my top favorite YA books I read in 2011 were If I Stay by Gayle Forman and The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Both are stories of terrible loss, but they also dig into the stories of those who are left after another family member (or more than one) is gone. If you're at all interested in YA lit, please give them a read. They are most excellent.





Both pictures are courtesy of Amazon.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

So this is Christmas...?

While there are many reasons I love being a teacher and being married to someone who works in the school system and "gets" my frustrations, some of my very favorite teaching moments are the built-in breaks we get. It's even more fun that Hank and I get to spend them together. Of course, there are times when we have to find something else to do because our nerves are shot from too much "together-time," but for the most part, having a very similar schedule has been good for us.

With that being said, we're obviously on two weeks of glorious Christmas break. No work, no papers to grade, no necessary early mornings. All of that is enough to bring out a chorus of rejoicing!

Today, we ventured to the country to meet up with our friend, Fennel, who works in law enforcement for us to shoot our gun. This is something my sweet husband is very into. We quickly discovered it's not really my thing. Other than shooting a BB gun with my daddy when I was little girl, I had never actually shot a gun before today. It jumps and smokes and all that jazz that just isn't for me. Hank had a blast though, hitting cans and targets and generally making a whole lot of noise.



I think we're probably still on the search for a "couple hobby" because this one most certainly wasn't it.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas is...

Ever since I was a little girl, Christmas has been my favorite time of the year. There's just something magical in the air. People are nicer. It's the season of giving and loving and caring. And for one moment, it seems the whole world is aware of the loving miracle that is Jesus Christ. Do I foolishly believe that every person celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ? No. Do I even get caught up in the lights and gift-giving and snowmen? Yes.

For me, Christmas has always been magical. It's a time of warmth and happiness and love. As my husband and I were driving home from the beach the other night, we passed a small little rundown house that was draped in gaudy Christmas lights. I pointed it out to him and explained that when I was little, I thought that type of thing was gorgeous. My parents would load us in the station wagon (not sure if that's a proper noun or not...what car maker even patented the station wagon?), and we'd ride around for hours searching out Christmas lights. It is one of my fondest Christmas memories that I hold close to my heart.

Though now that I'm older, I prefer the simplicity of some nice white lights and wreath, there's something about those huge multicolored lights strung haphazardly around a house that make my heart smile. There's a house near us that is simply nearly in shambles,steps detaching themselves from the house, tin roof rusted and aged, but each year, the owner pulls out her Christmas lights and for a season, it's one of the happiest sights in our neighborhood. To me, gaudy Christmas lights do to that house what Christ does to our lives.




Let's face it, we are ugly people...covered from head to toe in the filth of our sin, but when we let Christ shine through us, the dull ache of our lives vanishes and is replaced with an unmistakable glow. The light of Jesus Christ transforms us in the same way the Christmas lights can transform any old house. Let's let our transformation be for more than just a season.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Casual Introductions

I'm not entirely new to the Blog World. I've been a blog stalker for a few years now, and I've attempted starting my own blogs from time to time, but they never "stick." I'm hoping this one is different.

I'm a 27-year-old English teacher who lives in a small town in a cute house with a precious husband. I obviously have no problem with prepositional phrases. I am currently in my fifth year teaching, and I absolutely love what I do. Very rarely do I wake up and feel like I'm going to "work," but I do wish school started at ten. I think I'd be a much better teacher if it did!




My husband and I will be celebrating our fourth year of marriage at the end of the month. During the past four years, we've acquired a sweet pup who is the best thing ever, lived in an apartment so small I used to study locked in the one bathroom, purchased our first home, eaten a whole lot of food from our local Mexican restaurant, argued and made up more times than I can count, and somehow figured out this whole "living comfortably together" thing.

I know this is where most people give you some kind of update about what their blogs will be about, but I simply don't know. My day to day is kind of boring, but I love it. That doesn't make it blog-worthy. I don't have kids. I'm only semi-crafty. I do read, but a lot of people don't care about that either. I'm hoping this becomes a place for me to record the goings on of my life and share some exciting news from time to time. I guess we'll see.