Taking Stock | 02

Making: burp cloths and taggies...I want to keep making them...
Cooking: totdish
Drinking: water, water, water
Reading: Orbiting Jupiter
Wanting: this individual coffee pot...because I'm not a huge fan of the Keurig and I can't afford a Nespresso
Listening: to Amy Poehler's Yes Please and I only have one chapter to go...read it. I dare you.
Playing: catch up with grading and dishes and sleep and and and
Eating: these cookies
Wishing: for some warmer weather and no snow
Loving: this little boy...

Watching: Parks and Recreation...for the second time

Enjoying: time with Kyle before he goes to Orlando next (not this) weekend

Wearing: my favorite target cardigan (similar)

Noticing: how antsy I'm getting for some change...what, I'm not sure...

Bookmarking: this recipe from Tales of Me and the Husband and I can't wait to try it...also, floor beds

Happy Monday!

5 things needed to survive sleep deprivation

*Linking up with A.Liz Adventures for Five on Friday!*

Lewis has been having a rough week. I think it's a combination of being at a new daycare (week 2) and teething. Poor little guy was so crabby on Tuesday night.

Since we've been lacking a significant amount of sleep in our house the last week or so, here are five things you're going to need to survive sleep deprivation with an infant.

*I'm no pro...this is our first go around, but here's what I've learned so far*

one | coffee, Coffee, COFFEE

This is a must! My dear friend, Ashley, just sent me a gift with my Lularoe order...a Starbucks gift card! *heart eye emoji* She's a momma and she knows the feels. I'm thankful for a Starbucks drive thru...kind of on my way to work.

two | snacks

Lately, my snacks have been oatmeal with peanut butter or granola bars. But some of my favorite healthy-ish snacks have been dried fruits and popcorn.

Homemade snacks are always a good option too...homemade trail mix, granola bites, or just easy veggies and dip.

three | snuggles

What helps more than snuggling with the very baby that keeps you awake at night? Not much. This meme says it all.

four | help

I'm thankful I have a partner that I can tag team with. Last night Kyle took Lewis for a while so I could try to sleep. And then Lewis started screaming and only wanted Mom...so then it was my turn again.

five | cry

If none of these other things help, just cry. That's the last suggestion I have for you. I'll just say that it's not off the table in our house... Who knows? Crying might make you feel better.



Happy Friday! And we'll see you soon!

Taking Stock | 01

Making: stew in the crockpot
Drinking: water, water, water. Gotta feed my baby somehow.
Reading: Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have  I'm not sure how I feel about it yet...I'll keep you posted.
Wanting: a GIANT latte and a nap.
Listening: to Bryan & Katie Torwalt Pandora station. Love.
Playing: with Lewis
Wishing: for a nice new pair of slippers and a new pair of TOMS....mine are pretty ratty.
Loving: watching this boy grow.

Watching: GG: A Year in the Life.  I've not seen the final installment yet...I'm waiting on Aubrey to get her butt up here this weekend. (read, impatiently waiting)

11 | Friday Night In

I haven't linked up with A. Liz Adventures for her Five on Friday posts in a while. So while I'm working on my Sept. 11, Blogtember Challenge post, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.


One  |  Pizza
We truly having a night in tonight. One of my favorite Friday night traditions is making homemade pizza for Kyle. I'm not a true master chef...I don't make my own crust. I don't make my own sauce from my tomatoes from my garden. But I do make a mean Margherita pizza. And unfortunately fortunately for you, my recipe will be up in the coming weeks. *clap clap clap*

The traditional Margherita pizza is made with tomato sauce, but I've opted for the kind that looks more like this. Mostly because we love olive oil and garlic so much. But also because I don't eat fresh tomatoes unless they're in fresh salsa (pico) or on this pizza.

Oh. And we make it on our grill.


Two |  Friends

What is a Friday night without friends? More often than not, we invite people over for supper on Fridays because we know what we're making and we don't have much planning that has to go into it. We already know that we're going to make two pizzas. Since we know we're going to have plenty of food, why not have people over? 

One thing we've really loved about having our house, is that we are able to entertain company and not feel like we're filling up the entire place. Yeay for a wonderful dining room table that seats eight!

Three |  Coffee

We are suckers for coffee. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Coffee Company has the best coffee. Ever!

Sarah roasts her own beans and usually a few times during the week. That being said, the beans are never more than 14 days old. They'll even ship the beans to you! AND! If you order on Mondays and buy two pounds, you'll get your second pound for 1/2 the price! Woohoo!

*No, Sarah does NOT pay me to say these things. I just really love their coffee.*

Seriously...call and order. 701-772-1995

We will make coffee to go with our conversation and maybe our...

Four |  Dessert

I'm not sure if you know this or not. But I love to bake. If you've read this blog here before, you may have seen some cupcakes. I try to post recipes as I'm able and as I've found one I love. But, I've been going back to my same-old, same-old chocolate cupcakes lately. But tonight, a new type of cupcakes will be made for our company. 

Stay tuned...I'll share! If you're on Instagram, make sure to follow me over there. I'll be adding photos as the cupcakes are done. 

Five |  Games

Kyle and I are also big fans of games. We tend to play Hand and Foot quite a bit. We also love Rook. But don't think we're so shallow to only associate with card games.

A friend introduced us to Ticket to Ride, we play Settlers of Catan quite a bit too. If you play card and/or board games, come over for a visit. Odds are, we'll pull our decks of cards out and offer to play anything else with you. 

Got a good board game? Let me know. We're always looking for good games. 

Our Friday nights usually look different, but we do love a good night in. If you have any suggestions on how to improve our Fridays in, shoot me an email or contact me via Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook too!

Happy Friday!  

 

Year Goals {By the Numbers}

I don't usually do resolutions for each new year. I've seen monthly goals and I've seen year long goals. I've been thinking about what my goal(s) should be for this year.

Do I want to lose weight?
Do I want to read (school books, self-help, my Bible, etc) more?
Do I want to foster better relationships?
Do I want to pay off lots of my loans?
Do I want to grow more as a teacher?

There are so many things that I want to achieve. But I've decided that I want to have just one goal.

Be the best that I can be.

That's my one goal for 2015. I want to be the best:

*wife, teacher, writer, friend, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, person*

that I can be.

The hardest part about this goal is trying to find ways to achieve it. So what's happening this year, is I'm setting small goals to help me achieve my ultimate goal.

One day a week, I'm going to send a message to a friend or family member letting them know how much they mean to me.
Two days a week, I'm going to sit down and have some me time. No distractions. For 30 minutes.
Three days a week, I'm going to the gym. It can be for 20 min or 120 minutes (hah!).
Four days a week, I'm going to bring my own coffee to work. No more buying coffees regularly.
Five days a week, I'm going to cook homemade suppers (seven if we're really ambitious).
Five days a week, we're going to bed earlier for school.
Six days a week, I'm going to read out of an actual book before I go to bed.
Seven days a week, I'm going to show my husband how much I love him (I'm sure there'll be a series of posts of how that's going...)

I know there are more things I'm going to do...if I want to be a better writer and teacher, maybe I'll commit to reading 4 teaching books this year and writing in this space a few times a week. If I don't write here, I'll have to write somewhere else too.

Stay tuned. 

I'm sure I'll have more updating to do on this goal. 

A Contest

I was thinking on my way to work this morning...a dangerous activity since I hadn't yet had my coffee.

But as I was thinking, I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about today. There are so many things. You may have read my post about our most recent house hunting developments. And you may have decided that I was suuuupppeeerrrrr boring interesting, so you'd come back! Well...welcome. And here's what I schemed up for today.

A few weeks ago I had my students write 5-7 pet peeves on a post-it note. I then wrote them on the board in a random order. They then had to guess which pet peeve belonged to each of their classmates. So I thought I'd give you that same opportunity today...or similar.

I've thought up five...not seven...of my real pet peeves and two (totaling seven) fake pet peeves. Can you figure out which ones are the fakes?

A prize to the first reader who guesses correctly!

1. I get annoyed with people who DO.NOT.CARE. about moving forward in life. Are you reading to learn something new? Are you thinking about life differently? Are you appreciating what you've been blessed with? Are you trying to make the world a better place? Are you trying to make yourself better in some way?

2. I dislike when people chew with their mouths open. Gross. Flying food? Bleck.

3. I hate clashing colors. Really? Those pants with that top?

4. People who DON'T use their blinkers. Enough said.

5. Crunchy leaves.

6. Smelly people who don't shower and you can tell.

7. When I realize how attached to my phone I am.


So...now it's your turn! Let's see how well you do!