It's been awhile....

Hello all...its been awhile since I have written a new blog...so I feel the need to do a little updating....

I went back to work this week...teaching session 2 of summer school. Originally, I decided to teach summer school to help us pay off some debt, but the more I learn about myself, the more I know that 3 months off for me is too much. Way too much. Maybe if I had expendible income and could travel around the world, than maybe I wouldn't think 3 months was so bad. One month off is ample. :)

When I say summer school, I'm talking about something different than you may be imagining. I'm teaching Special Ed summer school. The kids who not only deal with cognitive and physical challenges who I teach in the regular school year, but also have severe behavior challenges in addition to that. If you want to learn how patient you can be, trade places with me for a day...no, not a day...just an hour....you'd be surprised! Despite all the intense and hard work it is, I LOVE it. LOVE my kids! You can't help but to fall in love with these kids--they are rockstars! It is an all consuming, physically demanding, emotionally draining job that I wouldn't trade for the world. I am one of the lucky ones who absolutely loves their job--because we all know teachers don't do it for the money! ;)

One of Dusty's oldest friends and her new little family came in town yesterday. Shea, Kyle, and their little bubby, Carson. One of THE cutest kids I have ever seen. Can't believe I didn't take any pictures. We hadn't seen them since our wedding almost a year ago. They were only over for maybe an hour, but it was great to see them! Wish they lived closer than Arkansas!

One of my bestest friends, Alyson, is getting married next Friday--8-8-08! I am the matron of honor...is it just me or does "matron" sound old? Whatever! I can't wait. They are getting married barefeet in the sand on the beach...love it! I guess since I'm the matron of honor, that means I have to give a toast, correct? Any of you out there done that before? I think I'm just going to shoot from the hip...I do better that way. Stay tuned for pictures!!

Happy anniversary to my parents!!!

Today is my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! Wow. 35 years. Its hard to wrap your brain around it. Together for 35 years!!

Aren't they cute?!

My parents are a living example of a happy, good, solid, and loving marriage. In a world where half of marriages end in divorce, they prove that love and commitment prevails. They know they are in it until the end. After all, that's what the vows say.."til death do us part." Marriage is hard work. You hear it said all the time, but until you're in it yourself, you don't quite know what that means. Two people have to be committed to the other no matter what. I don't understand why people forget that the vows say "for better" and "for worse".

In our first 10 months of marriage, Dusty and I are learning all about that hard work. Like I said in my earlier blogs, we have already been through some things that people married 10 yrs haven't experienced. Don't get me wrong, I know we are blessed and things could always be harder. But, it hasn't been an easy first year of marriage by any means. We have gotten through these things because we are committed to each other--for better, for worse. We know we will be together the rest of our lives. I am so lucky to have found someone who values marriage the same as I do--a man that tells me "we are a team, you and me, for eternity." (Love my husband!) Marriage is forever. I can't wait for us to hit our 35th anniversary! Our life together truly gets better every single day!

Happy 35th anniversary to my incredibly awesome parents!!

The kitchen is finished!!...Well at least the floor is...

In addition to our living room, we began work on our kitchen floor. Like I said, our wonderful home was built in 1984...the level of taste was not what it is today my friends. We had a beautiful floral linoleum floor. (yuck) It looked fairly new...it was clean...it wasn't hideous...but I'm not digging the floral patters people.

Here is the beforePretty huh? ;)

Since becoming a married homeowner, I have become addicted to those house flipping shows (and let's not forget the Food Network!!). I've seen a bunch of houses doing concrete in their kitchens. I immediately loved that idea...I thought that would be a great way to do something different yet inexpensive. Then I meet my good friend, Kelley, who also happens to be one of my aides at work. (Love her!) She and her husband have the best decorated, most eclectic house ever...and their kitchen floor was also concrete. It was a sign!

So, when Dusty and I finally got serious about beginning home improvements, that was my big suggestion. I have good ideas every once in awhile. Usually, its my stud of a husband who thinks things up--he is a genius when it comes to any kind of construction/ artwork stuff. He is remarkable.

In between coats of paint, Dusty began ripping up the ever so pretty linoleum.

It came up somewhat easy at first until Dusty discovered a second layer on linoleum underneath. And that was even uglier. Thank goodness they covered that crap up--I may have passed on the house! Anyways...the whole process ended up taking Dusty 3 days start to finish. Like I said, I had the idea on this one. He was the elbow grease! Gotta love him!!!

When you do the concrete finish, you have to put some sort of concrete sealer on it. And that takes forever and a day to dry.

The floor was finally dry enough to be functionable 3 days later. We still want to paint the cabinets a lighter color and change out that pretty salmon colored countertop. But I think the floor makes a huge difference.

Stay tuned...more changes to come!!!!

My husband turned 30!!

So...when do you officially start feeling old? Is it when kids start calling you "ma'am" at the grocery store? Is it when staying up until midnite kicks your ass? Is it when you begin talking about "good grass" and you're actually referring to someone's lawn? Is it when cleaning your house gives you an odd sense of peace? Or is it when going to the grocery store alone is almost therapeutic? When you no longer think of speed limits as a challenge?

Or, my friends, is it when you're husband turns 30? Well mine did, and I do. Not so much old...but not necessarily feeling as young as I once did.

Anyways...back to my wonderfully gorgeous rockstar of a husband! He had a pretty major birthday this weekend..the big 3-0! His mom made a surprise trip out here all the way from California to surprise her boy!

My beautiful mother in law!......(she'd probably kill me if she saw this photo up here!)

The weekend started with a Rangers baseball game. They played the White Sox and lost on a bad call...booo. My parents joined us for the occasion. It was fun, but 100 degree heat + $6 beers + way too many people can put a damper on things. I particularly enjoyed the ass sweat stain left on my dress after sitting in my seat for an hour. Pure bliss. Oh and lets not forget the major traffic jam on I-30 on the way home. Nothing like sitting on the highway at a complete stop when you have to pee so bad its about to shoot out of your eyes.

All in all...we did have a great time despite what you just read. Good family + baseball + beer always equals a marvelous time! My husband was happy--watching a baseball game and drinking some beer are two of his favorite things!

The next day, Dusty's actual birthday, we got up and went to see the movie Hancock. Let me just tell ya folks, it was a great movie. Loved it! After the movie, Toni (my M-O-L), informed us that she wanted to buy Dusty a Wii for his big day! We proceeded to Wal Mart--no dice. We then headed over to Target--no luck there either. (And let me add, everytime Dusty and I go shopping, we see Wiis just lined up.) So we all jumped back in the car, again, and headed back to Best Buy--they didn't have it either. You know what happens next, we all get back in the car again and go to Circuit City, Game Crazy, and Game Stop--you guessed it folks, nada. We get home and I get on the phone to call around to find a Wii. I think I called 40 different stores and none of them had one. My poor hubby was disappointed needless to say.

We decided it was time to start his little party. My parents came over to the house where we had a ton of food and a ton of beer. Dusty got on the grill to cook tri-tip. And for those Texans out there who don't know what in the hell tri-tip is (like I didn't), its a cut of beef that is hugely popular in Cali. Its like their version of brisket, but better! The cooler was filled to the brim with all kinds of beer. Despite our troubles with the Wii, we were about to have a great day!!

Toni working hard in the kitchen....

Does he look 30..or drunk...or both? Our little man looking a little water-logged...hey, he was celebrating in his own way!

After many, many beers.....

The day after the big 30, Dusty was still yearning for that Wii. He got up and got on the internet to find some different Game Crazy locations. The first one he called--Frisco. They had one left! We all got our butts in gear and jumped back in that car for the 30 min trek to Frisco....

We got it!! Yay!!I didn't think I would enjoy this Wii thing as much as I do. We have played non stop since we got it. I am sore in places I haven't been in years!! Tennis is my favorite! But bowling is a pretty good time as well. Let me just tell you about Guitar Hero.....oh my gosh....it is the most addicting thing ever. You really feel like a rockstar when the songs are going! Last nite as we were playing, we kept looking at each other in between songs with our guitars hanging around our necks and said "man, are we dorks or what?"...who cares, its way too much fun!

Dusty going at it....

When its all said and done, who cares if my husband is 30...40...50...thank goodness he is here with me and healthy. Age is just a number. I think we have proven that with our new Wii addiction! ( I don't really feel old, just not that young anymore! ;)

Fixing up the house!

So...we finally broke down and bought some paint for our living room. We have lived in this house for close to a year and not a day went by that we didn't mention how badly we wanted to paint our living room. See, our lovely home was built in 1984. For those of you who don't know, that was the era of wood paneled walls. I know, sounds beautiful doesn't it?! ;) It wasn't bad, but you couldn't see any of our furniture or wall decor because it all blended in with the walls. It was like a nice camo effect. While we were just happy to have a home of our own, we were sick of the wood look. Just wasn't our thing. We began on Sunday.
We had no idea what we were in for. I did a lot of painting in college and I quickly remembered why I was so happy for that job to end. We started with the primer--first coat took almost 5 hours! It was about 1:30am when we finished the second coat of primer and hit the sack.We got up the next morning and began the first coat of paint. We naively thought we would get away with 1 coat...we were sorely mistaken. Two coats of paint and 10 hours later, the walls were complete. I forgot how sore painting can make you...we were both hobbling around the house last nite and this morning!


We think it looks pretty good!! Our living room looks so much bigger and brighter! We're pretty proud of ourselves! The kitchen is next...stay tuned.....

*More pictures are at: http://community.webshots.com/user/grneyez15

Does this make me a "blogger"?!

Well...I finally caved into trying this thing out. Who knows how little or how much I will do, but its worth a shot! Here we go!

Ahhh...where to begin. I live in Sachse, TX with my rockstar of a husband, Dusty, and our precious son, Duke--our 90lb puppy. That's right--I said 90lbs and puppy--believe every word of that! He is a giant ball of energy. We got married on September 29, 2007 and have been living, loving, enjoying, and learning about married life ever since! Dusty is the love of my life--couldn't navigate through this world without him!

We've been married almost a year...wow...can't believe its been that long already. And let me just tell ya, we've put those vows to the test already. On our one month wedding anniversary--to the minute--Dusty was badly injured in a motorcycle accident and as a result, careflighted to Parkland's trauma center. Thankfully, the only thing that was hurt was his leg. He messed it up pretty badly and underwent emergency surgery and a week in the wonderful Parkland Hospital. This led to 3 months of crutches and not being able to use that leg. The "for worse" part of our vows were put through the ringer right out of the gate! The first 4 months of our marriage was full of ups and downs, but we learned what marriage is all about.

In early May we learned we were pregnant with our first baby. The due date--my birthday! I'll never forget the morning we took the pregnancy test--we were stunned and speechless. It was something we had wanted for so long, but couldn't believe it was actually happening. I decided I wanted to wait to tell people until I saw the doctor a couple weeks later. That didn't last too long! I awoke the Saturday morning after we took the test and felt this nagging in my heart. I just had to tell my family. I was about to bust at the seams--so I sent out an email to everyone. My uncle, Calvin, was the first to respond with a suggestion for a name and full of excitement. I read it, laughed and went about my day. Hours later, my Dad called me with the news that my uncle had just been killed in a motorcycle accident. I couldn't believe it. Calvin was a great man, one of the coolest I had ever had the chance to sit and talk with. It is still hard for me to process...he can't be gone. I had an odd sense of peace in the upcoming days knowing he was excited for us and our baby and that I was lucky enough to hear from him in his last hours on this earth.

About 3 weeks later, we were blind sighted with the hard news that we had lost our baby. I was 8 weeks along. Its the most unexplainable thing. One day you're pregnant with a tiny little person inside and the next day, its all gone--empty. Its a sense of loss that I've never felt before and pray I never feel again. I wouldn't wish this pain on my worst enemy. I know there is a reason, a bigger plan, but the hardest part to swallow of all this is that we will never know what that reason was. My husband has been a phenomenal source of strength for me. He really is my rock. I know he is sad about losing the baby in his own right, but he won't let me see it. His only concern is if I'm okay. How did I get so lucky to marry a man like him? I truly am blessed. He is the love of my life...I couldn't do it with anyone else. Its been almost 3 weeks and I'm still coping. I get blue when I see babies..pregnant mommies...families. Its all hard. I take comfort in knowing that our little one is up there with my uncle watching over us. But now more than ever, I know without a single doubt in my body that I want to be a mom. It is an all consuming desire. I cannot wait!!

So this is us. We truly have learned how to love in the best of times and the worst of times. If these past 9 1/2 months are any indication to the excitement life holds for us, I can't wait. Buckle us in--we're ready for the roller coaster! Stay tuned!!