on books

a few weeks ago, joel reluctantly confessed something that bothers him: when i hold a paperback book and fold back the front cover as i read. doh!

apparently he doesn't care if it's "my" book or one from the library, but if it's a book he chose and wants to keep, he wants the front cover to be taken care of.

wouldn't you know it... this week i started reading a book he just finished for grad school. not even 50 pages in, i noticed i'd done exactly what he hates! and look what happened:

also related to books, i just found out about this. i definitely want to host a party! oh my goodness-- what a wonderful idea!

a new necklace

i can't remember the last time i bought myself a necklace. i'm much more of an earrings girl... and despite my frequent etsy meanderings, i don't really purchase things. especially not for me.

BUT after seeing that a necklace i'd been eyeing was sold, and after purchasing a "good cheer deal" on oh hello friend, i got myself a new pretty thing to wear around my neck. it came on monday night and i've worn it constantly ever since (except to sleep & shower!)


here are some pics:

and here's the link to the shop where i got it: pangea handmade.

on living within your means

i stumbled across this encouraging article this afternoon & it inspired me to process a few thoughts about finances...

being careful with money is tricky. joel actually told me this summer that he imagines money to be the thing in our future that will cause us the most disagreements. at this point, we're in great financial shape, so disagreements rarely surface. we both have jobs but we're basically living on one salary. we're taking grad classes. both our cars are paid for. we have incredibly generous families. we both feel called to give regularly to our church and to causes that are important to us. yet paying bills and writing checks don't really bring me much stress.

on the other hand, we're regularly thinking/talking about the future. about kids. about having only one of us working. about further education. about changing homes and/or location.

and sometimes that scares me. to consider major lifestyle changes, based around money. though, i guess that's the wrong way to look at it.... none of our future decisions or plans will be made completely because of money.

anyway, the article above was a great reminder that others are making smart financial decisions and living within (or below!) their means. what an encouragement :)

next weekend

 this time one week from now, i'll be hanging out with this girl:

we're meeting about halfway between our 2 homes to stay in a darling little B&B. oh, and run a 5K. she's going to kick my butt. and we're gonna have an amazing time together. eating. laughing. talking. and running, too, i guess.

funny things & a few photos

 rode my bike to the bank & around town on wednesday. then took a photo while still wearing my dorky helmet. awesome.

 a FEW zinnias finally surprised me & made an entrance

 happy birthday to ME.... only about 1.5 months early, haha. I wore them today for the first time.

 after back-to-school night.

oh, hello, friday! let me welcome you by putting on gym shorts the second i walk in the door.

hilarious things, via my job teaching 4th graders:
"oh, that's a watch? cool watch" (i ignored these comments because he was supposed to be writing an answer to a test that he's still not finished after one hour and 30 minutes..... grrrr....)

"mrs. alberts, i like your boots".... then... "i like your boots, too. i like your style"

"i don't believe in pets" (overheard as my co-workers chatted in the hallway outside my classroom)

sad things, via my job:
two girls cried today, like seriously cried. okay, they balled. my garbage can was filled to the brim with used tissues (can't wait for flu season, jeez!). one girl had a headache because she forgot her glasses at home. though i can't help wondering if that's because her classmates told her the glasses were too big for her face yesterday. darn.

incompleted goals & wishes

this is disgusting. look at this list:
- by Friday, that i'd know all my students' names without hesitation (YES! i basically knew them by tuesday afternoon, but i'm absolutely a rock star with their names now)
- to actually make myself run the 5K on saturday morning. i'm such a baby. No. i watched. and sat on a rock wall, causing it to crash and scrape my ankle.
- to take at least 4 photos by next Monday (i was going to type "interesting photos" but that'd be pushing it) not one photo has been taken since i came home from NYC last month.
- that i'd find a perfect side table for our basement couch either on craigslist or at the thrift store nope. didn't happen. ugh.

i'm hesitant to try this again after my epic failure of last week. but here goes:

i wish: 
- to communicate clearly and effectively with my kids' parents at back-to-school-night on thursday
- that i'd take at least 2 photos by next monday (let's try being less ambitious...)
- for the internet at school to work again! we've been without it for a week now.
- to encourage joel every day

p.s. unrelated photos, to try & make up for the fact that i don't take them anymore...

bah, halloween!

i actually don't like halloween at all. BUT lookie here. TONS of creative/cute costume ideas. plus, an etsy shop that sells sushi costumes. hilarious! be still my heart.

another hairstyle, another blog

in my blog hopping this morning (gotta digest my cereal before i run, right?) i stumbled upon this:

i wonder if it would work with a normal headband, too. perhaps i'll try.

food blogs i love

this afternoon i wanted to make french toast (for lunch, ha!) and hunted through all my regular food blogs to find a recipe i remembered seeing recently. i'm pretty sure it involved sour cream and orange juice. however, i couldn't find it. and just did another search (even though the basic french toast i made is now currently being digested...) and still can't find it. oh well.

all that to say, i decided to compile a list of the food blogs i read regularly. there's a section on the left side of the page that includes a couple, but there are far more. it's so tricky for me to remember on which blog i found which recipe. basically, i don't look at cookbooks anymore. they never seem to have quite enough photos for me. i'm totally a visual learner (and apparently a visual recipe chooser, too) so blogs are much more inspiring.

alright, here they are, in no particular order:

the pioneer woman. some of her recipes include a few too many steps for my full-time teacher schedule, but my absolute favorite salsa is from her and it's amazingly yummy. next up on my list is her pasta w/ pesto cream sauce. whenever i use homemade pesto w/ pasta, it's never moist enough.gotta try this!

dinner a love story. i just found this site, but i'm already excited to try some dinners from it. especially this recipe.

the brown eyed baker. though i know this blog includes some savory recipes, i mostly use it for unique flavors of brownies/chocolate-based goodies. there's an excessive focus on cheesecake [like the one below!], which is fine even though i don't usually make it. (just noticed: last week she posted a list of 150 best fall recipes. holy cow, i'd better check that out!)

annie's eats. probably the best enchiladas i've ever tasted are the ones i made using her recipes. she calls them "benchiladas" if you want to type that into the site's search box...

two peas and their pod. this site isn't updated often enough for my liking, but that's only because i love their recipes and i'm always checking to see if there's anything new posted. a few weeks ago i made their vegetarian chili, which was delicious except i added too much water.

awesome tough-girl video

 please check out this video. i found it via design mom.

speaking of tough girls. i've been one this week. my students stand on the second square in the hallway. they stop talking the instant i turn off the lights (our signal for quiet). they were utterly silent when i picked 'em up for lunch.

of course, i let them have fun. and we learn a lot. and they're darling. hopefully i'm singing the same tune in 4-6 months. though my 1st two days of this year are already light years better than last year.

post labor day wishing

let's check on the wishes i made last monday
- i would take the time to send a note to someone i love: CHECK
- that my darling brother would get some job interviews in Philly: can't really control this/don't know
- to give joel my undivided attention when he talks to me: tried my darndest. i think i did better than i've been doing most of the summer.
- for my classroom to be completely set up by thursday afternoon so i don't have to go in over my 4 day weekend!: went in on friday for a couple hours, but that's not bad. now it's ready for kiddos!
- that my staff scavenger hunt would rock (and my team would win. though "bragging rights" are the only prize. darn. haha.): we tied for fourth. pretty darn good, i'd say. plus, we had fun! 



today i wish:

- by Friday, that i'd know all my students' names without hesitation
- to actually make myself run the 5K on saturday morning. i'm such a baby.
- to take at least 4 photos by next Monday (i was going to type "interesting photos" but that'd be pushing it)
- that i'd find a perfect side table for our basement couch either on craigslist or at the thrift store

plus, aren't these flowers nice? i got 'em at produce junction. it's on the way home from joel's school so he's bought me two bouquets since then! :)

banana... cake?! really?

yes. really.

i was skeptical, too. i hate banana flavored candy. and i'm actually not even a huge cake lover. but it turns out this cake tastes like banana bread (which i LOVE) with rich & decadent chocolate frosting. oh yum. please make this.

[images from cake duchess.com]

a day off

last night i made a to-do list for today so i would be productive while joel's working/at a cross country race. it wasn't too ambitious, but there were at least 5 things on it. here's how my morning actually went.

6:30 wake up with joel (because that's how we roll) & eat breakfast/ make his lunch
7:00 read in bed under the covers while joel showers
7:30 finish my book, hug/kiss him goodbye
7:32 turn off the light, snuggle up in my sheets, dream vividly!
9:00 wake-up, surprised to have slept so long
9:58 get dressed for a bike ride, notice both tires are completely flat even though i pumped them on saturday
10:03 ride on a flat-tired bike to the shop across the street, pay 35 bucks to get both tire tubes replaced
10:33-10:55 bike around town
11 make delicious smoothie (frozen blueberries & frozen mango pieces, greek yogurt, honey, milk)= YUM

Now i need to get my butt in gear and head to school for a couple hours. kids come on tuesday!!!