Back. In. Action.

I've basically decided that I should no longer say things like, "I SWEAR I'll post more," or "I PROMISE I won't go so long without posting next time"... because I think that actually kind of jinxes me. I feel like making such promises actually causes me to write even LESS, and that's no bueno. Besides, instead of feeling guilty for the days/weeks/months I'm unable to write as much, I've decided that I'll just write as much as I can whenever I can, and that will be that. Hmph.

I've been playing with my blog layout! (Duhh, Heather.) I don't know how I feel about it, so we'll see how it goes. I'm trying to pretend like I'm super tech/HTML-savvy and make it look all profesh. I don't know how far THAT will get me, though...

What else has been going on? Wellllll... WE'VE MOVED INTO OUR HOUSE! Dun, dun, dunnnn! I'll post before and after pics asap, but let me tell you, it feels uhhhh mayyyy zingggg to finally be in our own place with our own space! I definitely don't feel as stressed out, and life is just... good. :) I've also finished student teaching. Can you believe that? I already miss it soooo much. I feel SO blessed to have been able to work at the school I was at, with the co-workers I was with, and with the kids I was with. Truly life-changing experience. I'll be subbing until I get a full-time position, and the "fear of the unknown" sort of makes me anxious. I know everything happens for a reason, though.<3

What's new with you all?! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! New Years is almost heeeeeere! :)

Xoxo,
H

TGIF. DUH.

It's been one heCK of a week, let me just say, and I am soooo glad it's FRIIIIDAYYYYY. Today was a bit of a long day at school because my mentor teacher wasn't there, and it was just me and a sub (who was a bit... reserved...). Needless to say, the kids were cuhhhhrayyyyyzaaayyyy! I've been feeling pretty confident and proud about the work I've been doing as a student teacher, and I feel like I've gotten the kids to respect me and everything for the most part, but... today... wow. They were just bouncing off the walls and thought they could talk to me like I was doo doo on the bottom of their shoe! Uhhh, come again? You said WHAT? How 'bout we go back and try that again. K. Thanks. I mean, sheesh. This isn't the first time my mentor teacher's been gone, but this IS the first time the kids went bonkers when she left. No worries, though, homegirl did her best to DID keep those kiddos in check. Mm hmm.

We've been working lots at our house, too! I've been going back and forth about whether or not to post pictures of our progress but have decided that I think I'll just wait until we're completely done with everything. I think it'll be more exciting that way! RIGHT?! Right. :) That way, the "before" and "after" pics will be, like, way dramatic, and not just, Oh. Yeah. Seen that already. Moving on. Recently, we've been working on and/or finishing:

• Getting our granite installeddddd!!!
• Painting all the rooms in the house. Still waiting to do the last couple when other things (below) are complete.
• Staining our cabinets. (OH EM GEE. One of the things I'm MOST excited to see at the end!)
• Tearing down a wall in the master bath (so that the shower appears more open).
• Retiling the master shower and bath tub.
• Knocking down the fur-down (piece of wall/ceiling that sort of juts out. Idk. Apparently, it was much cooler to have back in the day. When this house was first built. Now? Not so much. Outdated. See ya!) in the master and guest bathrooms. (Also totally opens up the rooms.)
• Retexturing the bathroom walls/ceilings (after knocking down the previously mentioned walls).
• Painting and putting up molding throughout the house.

Now, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting... because the list is pretty much never-ending... but, those are some pretty big things we've done or are currently doing. I'm SO pumped and ready for it to all be doneski.

Hope everyone has a ballin' weekend! Hollaaaaa for an extra hour of sleeeeeeeep! :) LOVE LOVE.

Xoxo,

H

MISS ME MUCH?!

So I just glanced at my last post... which said that I should be ashamed of myself since I hadn't written in so long at that point. And NOW I'm even MORE ashamed since it's been more than a month since THAT ONE. DUMMMMMB. I hate using the excuse of "life has just been SO crazy"... but it really has been! :/ It's tough being a newlywed, student teaching, fixing up and getting ready to move into a new house, AND blogging all at the same time! I know I need to make a bigger effort, though. I said I wanted to start this blog to document what's been happening in my life... so I need to do that! Boy, is it surrrre easy to let it slip by, though! When I'm not at school or working madly on our new house (which we are STILL not in, btw- grrr... but that's another story entirely), I'm attempting to spend time with my also-extremely-busy-husband orrrrr sleeping. Ohhhhh, life.

But! I've missed you all! All 7 of you! :) And I've missed simply writing about my day-to-day experiences and what's been happening. I'll try to give a quick update about what's been happening and do my *very best* to blog and keep this thing updated more so that I'm not saying in everyyyy post, "OMG, I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN FOREVERRRR," blah, blah, blah... and so that I don't have to give MAJOR recaps every time.

Here's the skinny... student teaching has been going amazingly well! I loooooove my kids and the wonderful 3rd grade team I'm working with. My cooperating teacher has been BEYOND amazeballs, and I feel very lucky and blessed. I only have 4 more weeks left, too. Is that not CRAAAAZAYYYYY?! I seriously can't believe how fast the time has gone!!! Our new puppy, Bentley, has been adjusting fairly well, too! We love him. :) His big sister (our other dog, Laycee) is finally getting used to having him around. They're playing well and getting along. Hubby started his new job and is looooving it. He's been busy, though, and I miss himmmm. :( The day after he started, he went to Dallas for a couple days for training. Then the following week, he went to Chicago for a whoooole week. It was a great experience for him, and he was super pumped, but I missed having him around! He's back home now and getting settled into things at his office here. And our housssse... hmph. Things are moving along... slowly. Very. Slowly. It's tough, working full-time and then trying to get over there in the evenings to work on things! But we are making DEFINITE progress, and it's already looking like a brand new home! Yesterday, we moved everything from storage into our 2 back bedrooms because we didn't want to pay for ANOTHER month of storage, and the 2 bedrooms are painted and done being worked on. We're still not living in the house yet because we aren't quite done in the kitchen and bathrooms. But we're getting there! *HOPEFULLY* it'll only be a few more weeks before we're actually in... hopefully. But then again, I've said that before. TOO. MANY. TIMES.

Well... that's what's been happening, in a nutshell. I'm making it a GOAL to write more, so as not to write ridiculous novels once or twice every month. ;) MUCH love to all, especially Amanda! Thinking of you, girly!<333

Xoxo,
H

Where has the time gone?!

I feel like such a bonehead for not posting in sooooooooooo long. Shame on me. :/ Especially since SO much has happened since my last post. Let's see...

1. I started student teaching and have been doing so for about 3 weeks now. I'm pooped every day but am definitely loving every minute. The kiddos are a handful but sweet as can be, and there's NEVER a dull moment! ;) I feel like I come home with crazy stories to tell the family just about every day. I have my first visit with my field supervisor tomorrow, so hopefully all will go well!

2. We've been doing some MAJORRRRLYYYYYY wonderful things to our beautiful new home! My lovey and FIL surprised me while I was at work one day... I came home, and our WOOD FLOORS WERE INSTALLED!!! They look amazeballs. And the men worked so hard... love love LOVE 'em! :)

The granite guys are coming this Friday! We've done so much, but there's still a ton left to do. :/ We're hoping to be moved in by the end of this month... fingers crossed! Can't wait to post pics of everything! :)

3. We've added to our little familyyyyy!!! :) :) :) No... it's not what you're thinking. But Laycee does have a new little brudder. :)

His name is Bentley. :) :) :) He's a Maltipoo (just like Layc), and he's about 5 months old and only weighs 3 pounds... needless to say, he'll be a little smaller than our baby girl (who weighs about 10-12 right now, full grown... and who weighed about 6-8 when she was his age). ;) He was my co-worker's, but she felt like she couldn't care for him and was really busy, so we decided to take him. He's the cutest little guy, and we're excited to have another little one running around. Now if I could just convince hubby to have a *different* kind of little one running around... ;) Kidding. Sorta. But not really. Maybe.

What's been going on with all of you?! So sorry again it's been so long since I've written. I would promise it won't happen again, but... let's be real. Life is just cray cray right now, and I'm busier than I imagined! I'd like to think things may slow down, but then that'd just be me jinxing myself. So for now, I'll write as often as I can, and hopefully it will still be plenty. :) LOTS OF LOVE!

Xoxo,
H

GEAUX TIGERSSSSS!!!

Today is the FIRST LSU game of the season, and I couldn't be more stoked! Hubs and I are pretty big LSU fans... that's where we went to school. :)

Our plan is to go over to my parents' house because they're having a bunch of people over for the game. We'll probably all hang out, drink beer, pretend like we're still in college and cheer along to LSU chants, and eat some yummy cajun food! (Mom's making crawfish etouffee!) Should be a fab time.

Lots of updates, but I'll write more later. This post is strictly dedicated to my wonderful school. Sorry Duckies, but my heart's with the Tigers!

Xoxo,

H

I GOT A...

STUDENT TEACHING POSITION!!! Woooo hoooooo, words can't even express my excitement right now! A little while after I posted and complained about not having heard anything yesterday, my program called me... and said I got a position with my first choice school district! I'll be student teaching 3rd grade language arts and reading, and I'm STOKED! Oh, and I start Tuesday. As in, 4 more days. Yep. AHHHH!

Many thanks to my whopping 5 followers for all your sweet comments and words of support! :) Can't wait to update everyone soon!

Xoxo,
H

Where has the time gone?!

My goodness, it's been too long since I've posted... things here have been craaaazyyyyy. Let's see... last weekend, hubs and I went to visit my best friend at her parents' lake house. She's actually living there right now to be closer to her job. Not too shabby, eh? Her boyfriend and parents were there for the weekend, so we all hung out, made yummy food, went out on the boat, tubed, and swam. Pretty relaxing weekend. LOVE.

Since then, we've been working like mad people trying to get our house all fixed up and pretty. I'm SO excited about how things are coming so far. We've done a LOT of painting and will soon be ready to put in our wood floors and granite. WOO! I'm *particularly* excited about the master bedroom. :) What we originally thought we wanted (in terms of paint colors) is not at all what we ended up going with... will post pictures when it's all finished. :) In the meantime, isn't the suspense killing you?! ;)

Still waiting to hear about student teaching. DUMB. My program has been working very hard to place me in the district of my choice, but the district is being a bit obnoxious frustrating difficult to get in touch with and return phone calls. It's like, can't you just let us know one way or the other whether I'll be able to student teach there?! Yeah, it'd suck if I couldn't, but at least I could move on to another district and not continue to waste my time. Lame arse.

As I'm sitting here typing this, the power just went out. We had a big storm last night (yessss- MUCH needed!), but the power's going out NOW?! Er... confused?

Hopefully it won't take me as long as last time to write another post! ;) LOVE TO ALL.

Xoxo,
H

Good luck, Booga boo!

My honey takes the first part of the CPA exam today. Eeeeek! Wish him luck!!! :) He's pretty much been preparing since the day we got back from our honeymoon (not kidding... though I wish I was), so my heart will BREAK if he doesn't do as well as he would like/needs to. He still has 3 more sections left (shoot me), so it'd be reallyyyyyy cool if he could pass this one and not have to retake it. But... everything happens for a reason, right? (As long as he passes.) And what's meant to be will be, right? (As long as he passes.) And God doesn't give us more than we can handle, right? (As long as he passes... k, totally joking. But seriously. I REALLY hope he passes, for his own peace of mind and mine!) I know he'd love nothing more than to pass this section so he can move his happy little butt on to studying for the next... and I'd kind of like my husband back, ohhhh, I don't know, this year? So fingers crossed. Say a little prayer (or 5)!

I'll probably get some stuff done then just bum around the house today. Still waiting to hear about if/when I will get placed for student teaching. Blahhh. I think I'll make a nice dinner for Chris when he gets home from taking his test this afternoon. Hmmm, what to make? Any ideas/suggestions? (From my whopping 3 followers- whoop whoop! Lots of love to you all! :) hehe)

Well, that's all I got for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Xoxo,
H

Progress on our new HOME!

So far, we've been making some pretty legit progress over at our house, in terms of fixing it up and what not. *happy dance* This does NOT mean we are anywhere near being done... ohhhhh, no! We still have a wayssssssss to go, my friends... but... progress is still progress! I need to remind myself of that. And to be patient. And to not expect perfection. And to chill OUT.


In the past few weeks, we have...
-Removed the picture frame molding from the walls in the living room and study (and there was SO. MUCH. OF. IT...)
-Filed the holes that the nails/staples from the molding left behind
-Sanded over the areas where there was molding
-Textured the walls where there was molding
-Primed the walls in the living room and (partly) in the study
-Removed the wallpaper (and glue that kept it on!) in the kitchen
-Primed the walls in the kitchen
-Painted the two back bedrooms (a neutral tan color)
-Bought and painted new crown molding


...Moving right along, I'd say. :) And I'm pretty stoked about it. Sure, it may take freaking foreverrrrr to do everything we want to do, but hey... Rome wasn't built in a day. ;) And the house is already starting to look completely different from when we first stepped foot in it. WOOP.


Pictures to come soon! Happy weekend, all!


Xoxo,
H

Seriously?! Thursday!

Well, I think I'm going to stay with Blogger for now... and probably awhile. I just really like the overall style and features of this site, and I've really enjoyed starting to read other people's blogs and getting to know them. The other blogging website has similar features, and I know more people using it, but I don't know... half the fun is meeting people here on Blogger. :) We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll keep both?

Okay, this is my first attempt to "link up"... whatever that means? Ha. It looks like fun, so I'm trying it. *I apologize in advance because I don't think I'm doing this correctly! I don't really understand how to put a button in a post that will link to someone else's page. So... I just inserted a "picture" of the button below and linked back to the blog I got this from in the text below that. If anyone can explain how to do all of this, I'd love you forever! :)*

I enjoyed reading From Mrs. to Mama's post today, and I've had some "SERIOUSLY?!" moments this week, so here it goes...

1. SERIOUSLY, weather?! When will this heat ENDDDD? I'm not much for cold weather, but I'm DEFINITELY ready for some fall time. Commmmme onnnnnnn...

2. I went with one of my best friends to her doctor's appointment yesterday (she's pregnant and right at about 33 weeks). The doctor told her she was looking great and that her baby could be an 8-9 pounder. SERIOUSLY? If only you could see my friend... she looks great, and we went into that appointment assuming the doctor would say her little girl is on the SMALL side!

3. Speaking of pregnancy, I haven't been feeling so hot the last couple of days, and a few friends and family members have automatically jumped to the conclusion that I'm pregnant. SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE?! I'm attributing my nausea to tummy problems or bad food. But I still find it humorous that as soon as you get married, you're not allowed to get sick without people assuming you're carrying a child... silly!

4. My husband has started studying for the CPA, and he took his first practice test and got slightly less than what he'd hoped for. Seriously, I'm SO proud of him and think he did SUCH A GREAT JOB! Sometimes, he's wayyyy too hard on himself. :( But I guess I get how that goes... he takes his first (real!) test next week, so I know he's only nervous about doing well. 

5. My mom left today to go help my middle sister move into a new apartment at school. So, Chris and I offered to stay at my parents' house while she's gone for a few days to keep my youngest sister company. I'm seriously pretty stoked about it... we've been temporarily living with my in laws, so it'll *kind of* be like we're at our own place (until we can ACTUALLY move into our own place). Woo hoo!

6. "And she was like, 'SEEWEEUSLY?!' And I was like, 'Seeeeeeeeweeeeeusssslyyyyyyy!' And she was like, 'OHMYGOSH!'" ...This has become my adorable 6-year-old cousin (and Godchild!)'s favorite thing to say (she says it ALLLL THE TIIIIME... about anything and everything!), and "seriously" has become her new favorite word. She says it just the way I typed it. It's hilarious. And adorable. And she and my aunt just recently moved to Florida, so I miss her terribly and miss hearing this! Love you, Lilly boo!

What made you go, "SERIOUSLY?!" this week? Go link up on Becky's blog! :)

Happy Thursday!

Xoxo,

H

Torn

…between keeping my blog on this site and continuing to blog on another one. A few more people I know are on the other one, but Blogger seems to suit my style a bit better. Hmm… decisions, decisions.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

(Probably a semi-pointless post... simply because no one is really following me at the moment. ;) That's okay, though. :) Still getting my thoughts out! Maybe one day I'll have 1 follower many followers? hehe)

A little about

ME! :) I realized I started this thing and sort of got right into it and never really said much about where I am at this point in my life. So, here we go!...


I got married to the love of my life and high school sweetheart about a month and a half ago on June 11th. AKA, the best day of my ENTIRE life! :) :) :) We'd been together for just more than 7 years when we got married, so it was about time. ;) 

We honeymooned on the UHHHHMAYYYYZINGGGGG island of St. Lucia and stayed at the all-inclusive Sandals resort. OMG- if you've never been to a Sandals, GO! If you HAVE been to a Sandals, GO (again)! It was such an amazing place, and the fact that it was all-inclusive was soooo nice! St. Lucia was gorgeous, the people were phenomenally friendly, and the food was delicious! I can't wait to go back! :) Maybe for an anniversary or something?! :)))

Since then, we've been trying to get settled in and enjoying every minute of newlywed bliss! My husband, Chris, just finished up his master's in accounting in May and will be starting work at a big accounting firm in October. He had the choice to start in July or October... and he definitely chose October. Who can blame him? After 5 years of non-stop, grueling work towards his degrees, the guy deserves a little break! Besides, he has the rest of his life to work! In the meantime, I'm working towards my teaching certification. I graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism and have absolutely no regrets! I LOVE journalism and always dreamed of being a reporter. I was lucky enough to intern at a big TV station in my hometown a few years back, and I learned soooo much! Then, I was even more privileged to have landed a job at another TV station right out of college. I met some incredible people and learned more than I possibly thought I would. It was truly an experience of a lifetime! I realized, though, after working there that as much as I loved the profession and as much passion as I had for it, it wasn't something that ultimately fit into my and my husband's long-term goals of eventually settling down and having a family. So... feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure of what would come next, I decided to go down another road and fulfill a different passion that had, for awhile, been in the back of my mind... teaching. I am currently enrolled in an alternative certification program and am hoping to start student teaching soon! I'm SO excited and can't wait for what's to come!


Chris and I are ALSO in the process of buying a home! Eeeeee! We had gone back and forth between many different options- renting an apartment temporarily, renting a condo/townhome, buying a condo/townhome, buying a house... we were overwhelmed and didn't know what the best option would be for us right out of college and newly married. We ultimately decided to buy a home and were very pumped when we came to that decision. We started looking... and looking... and looking... and found some that we really liked, when we were hit with, yet, ANOTHER big decision. My parents have some rental property and offered to sell us one of the homes because the tenants that had been living there had just moved out. Our first thought was, "Thanks SO much, but no thanks..." because it wasn't at all what we pictured- we had hoped to live a little further from our families, maybe a little closer to the city, and in a newer home; this was about 1 minute from my family's house (and 3 from Chris'), in the heart of the suburbs, and about 20 years old. But... it was a GREAT little starter home and would really help us get on our feet. Besides, we figured we'd only live in it for a couple of years and THEN would be able to buy our "dream" home. So... we accepted their offer! We're waiting right now to get in touch with a broker and what not to start the paperwork to change the titles from my parents' names to ours, but my parents have said that it's already "ours," and we can start working on it and fixing it up whenever we'd like! So, we have! I'll post some pics very soon, but my goodness... things are happening so fast, and we couldn't be happier or more excited! We're living with my in laws right now, so things are a bit crazy, but we feel VERY lucky and fortunate to have such loving, generous families who are so willing to help us get on our feet. We are TRULY BLESSED!


Well... now that I've written a novel, I think it's time to go. Gotta go work on some more teaching stuff, anyway! ;) Hopefully you (whoever "you" are... because no one's currently following me at the moment! :) ) have learned a little more about me, who I am, and what's happening right now in my life. Lots and lots of love!


Xoxo,
H

Birthday fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BESTEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD, ASHLEY ELIZABETH!!! :) :) :)

Hope your day is as wonderful as you arrrrrre! :)

Tonight, a bunch of us are getting together for Ash's birthday and going to see "Crazy, Stupid Love" (SO excited!), then we're planning to head over to Dave & Buster's for some haaaaang time. It'll be a fun evening, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up! I'm MOST excited, though, because it's all for the birthday girl! :) 

I'll post more later... and write a little bit more about what's going on in my life so people can get to know and understand me a little better. :) PEACE AND LOVE.

Xoxo,

H

Here goes nothin'...

I'm new to this whole "blog" thing. I've been contemplating getting a blog for awhile now but always put it off for one reason or another. Then... I finally caved. I have many friends who blog, on this site and others, but I never really understood the point of it. My perspective started to change, though, as I read more and more blogs and realized how cool they can be. What a great way to document the things that are going on in your life, especially big changes- getting married, starting a new job, having a baby... just to name a few. ;) Who knows what the future holds, but I'm excited to start blogging about every minute! (Well, maybe not EVERY minute, but you get the point. :) tehe) So, here goes nothin'! Bring it on, Blogger... I'm ready if you are! :)


Xoxo,
H