Thanksgiving: 100 Days

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! 

I'm not gonna bore you with an entire post of everything I am thankful for..... because I have to eat a lot of food today and that takes mental preparation. So, I'm only giving you one thing!!!

I am so, so, SO very thankful that............

It is 100 days until I marry this guy!!!!

Seriously, one hundred. Tomorrow it will be ninety-nine (I know, I'm a math teacher, I can't help it)... but it will be double digits instead of triple digits and that basically means the wedding is tomorrow!!!! Or something like that. 

I am mainly thankful that he puts up with me through wedding planning - more to come on that later.

I am thankful that he loves me and allows me to love him.
I am thankful for our families that have supported us, as a couple.

I am thankful for our lives together, currently, and I am so excited for our future.  

From us to you: Eat a lot of food, enjoy your loved ones, and be thankful.

Insta-Staph Ed. 2

I could be blogging about wedding Wednesday. But I'm not. Because I would much rather bring you a second edition of one of my brilliant disgusting posts instead. Because I know you all want to read about my staph infection again right before you eat a whole bunch of marvelous food.    My body is apparently a wonderful host. So here's the second edition of how to caption your own personal nasty infections.   

Insta-staph Happy Friendsgiving Staphgiving

Insta-staph Staph light staph bright, the first staph I see tonight. #Fourseasonsofstaph

Insta-staph All. Winter. Staph. Everything. 

Insta-staph Chunky staph for the win

Insta-staph When life gives you macaroons staph, take pictures with them.

Insta-staph Staph's all here. 

 

Insta-staph I am in love with this gorgeous centerpiece staph.

Insta-staph All staph everything. #fourseasonsofstaph

Insta-staph Ohhhh yaaaaaah.... my staph.

Insta-staph A staph does not think of competing with the staph next to it. It just blooms.

So much glorious-ness all in one post. No worries though, I'm on antibiotics. Again. For the third time. I'll be thankful when the staph finally goes away for good. 

Read edition one here.

Link Your Ink: Anchor

Today, I am linking up and talking about some of my own ink! That's right, I have tattoos.

Sometimes I surprise people by saying, if I could have an entire sleeve of tattoos, I would. I think they are beautiful. I thought this link-up was going to be really easy... mainly because I thought I had already posted about this tattoo. Turns out I haven't. I have had this tattoo for 2 years and it's never been "officially" on the blog. Weird, right? So, here it is.

I'm talking about my anchor on my wrist. It's about an inch wide and an inch tall and the last color in the world I ever thought I would get. I got this tattoo in January of 2013. My personal verse for the year was Hebrews 6:19 - "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." But, I don't get a tattoo of all of my verses, so why this one?

I've learned repeatedly over the years that if I keep Christ as my anchor, he will always keep me where I need to be. That is, technically, the purpose of an anchor: to make sure the vessel does not drift in a body of water. In this case, I am the vessel.

Then there's this really old gospel song, and it makes me cry almost every time... but here's the chorus:

the anchor holds
though the ship is battered
the anchor holds
though the sails are torn
i have fallen on my knees
as i faced the raging seas
the anchor holds
in spite of the storm

Through the ups and downs of life, my anchor holds and I love that little reminder on my wrist every day.

I Made It!!!

I made it!!! I Made it to Thanksgiving Break without taking an entire day off for pleasure this school year!!! And now, I get to enjoy an entire week off! I don't have any double date duck hunt planned... and we're not going glamping... But here's what I plan on doing.
    -   An entire week to wedding plan!!! Cake testing appointments, florist appointments, figuring out what the heck Duck Dude is actually gonna wear appointments

    -   An entire week to put off packing!! Just kidding... kind of. I really do plan on packing some of the little things up... like what's above my kitchen counters. All of that can go to Travis'. And my book shelves. Let's be honest, I'm probably not gonna have a ton of time for reading in the next couple of months. 

    -   An entire week to decorate Duck Dude's our house in Christmas decorations.. I'm playing Christmas music in my classroom allllll day today. I just can't help it. I love it so much. I've missed my Dash reindeer.. and my joy, hope, and peace bottles... and I love the stair case being decorated in garland and burlap... and I discovered a nail in the brick above the garage and I'm reallllly excited because Duck Dude agreed to have a wreath hanging there!!!

    -   An entire week of balancing eating and working out! A reasonable expectation... I think! I'm down two pounds. Which is a start.. not a huge start.. but I want to at least maintain during the week. 

    -   An entire week to spend with my families.. original and new. I feel so grateful to love my families and I am so thankful for an entire week to hang out with them! They are definitely the coolest people in the world!! So I love Thanksgiving for that reason alone. 

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!!

Fall Recipes

A re-post of a couple fantastic fall recipes. 
Grilled Cheese with Avocado. Originally posted here. And now reposting because it's the perfect weather for a warm grilled cheese and soup. My mom and I had it on Saturday, while watching college football, and hanging out with the dogs and I swear there is nothing better. 
Bread, cheese, avocado, cheese, bread. 

Pumpkin Pie Dip. Super easy to make and the peoples of the world swoon over it. Seriously, one timea friend asked me for the recipe and I was embarrassed to give it to her because it's so easy. I serve it with apples, gingersnaps, or eat it with my fingers. Originally from here. 

• 15 oz can pumpkin
• 3/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more to taste)
• 6 oz fat free Greek yogurt 
• 8 oz cool whip free
• cut up apples to dip

Candy Apple Delight. Another super easy recipe that has to be good because it has Snickers in it!!! And cool whip... which I also eat with my fingers. I could call it my kryptonite. Yum. Impress some people with this one y'all. The only stipulation with this one is presentation wise it has to be made the day of... because the apples do turn a little brown after a day.... but I don't usually have leftovers. 

Let's not mention that 2 out of the 3 of these are dessert-ish. There's an appetizer, a meal, and a dessert. And I am still on a wedding diet... ish. 
One. More. Day. Of. School.

Bed Upgrade

We did it!!! We upgraded our bed to a king!!! And I'm slightly jealous that Duck Dude gets to sleep in it for 3 1/2 more months than I do. I'll just hang out in my queen bed over here. He sent me a picture and I said, "Oh my gosh! We never have to touch!!!" ... which he didn't exactly appreciate.... but I'm not used to sharing a bed, so I think it's wonderful!!! 
We have selected our bedding, and I am in love with it. I cannot wait to see it all put together. But here's how it will look for the next 3 1/2 months until I move in!

You can tell just how much the bed shifted from the uncentered picture above it! :)
Then, last night, Duck Dude and I had planned to work out together. So I get over there and the Ranger is sitting outside of the garage. I was confused and was hoping he didn't want to take it for a ride, because it's still freezing. But no, he just wanted to do "Insanity" in the garage. You know what they say..... "Couples who do insanity together..... are INSANE!!!" It was hard... and today, my calves have this constant burning feeling. It's marvelous. 

#weddingworkout

And I'd also like to give a special Thanksgiving shout out to the turkey that's been hanging out at Sonic right by my school. It really is the strangest sight. But I love Sonic tator tots too, so you can't really blame him. 

They're also the reason I need a wedding workout in the first place. 

Two more days until Thanksgiving break. Praise the Sonic turkey. 

How to Keep Warm Kit

Duck Dude made it home from North Dakota. -12 degree North Dakota. 
I think if I had to live there... I would die. Not, like, "oh my gosh I would die" die... like, my fingertips would slowly freeze and my toes would be goners within minutes.. and I would slowly freeze to my death. Or if I didn't die I would look like a constant marshmallow. 
Anyway, they couldn't duck hunt because the lakes were frozen (what?). So, he did the only next logical thing. He modeled. America's next top duck clothes model, everyone. 

This photo is used without permission

And so obviously I sent it out to my family!! To which the red head almost immediately replied with..

Also used without permission

And now my fiance is a meme... and I don't hate it. And then I thought about how Travis and Joey would get along. 

But Duck Dude changed his flight to get home before the blizzard hit... because -12 isn't bad enough.. you have to throw a blizzard on top of things. So, I made Duck Dude a "How to Keep Warm Kit." 
Here's what you need: 1. Coffee 2. Coffee Mugs 3. Socks - any will work 4. Soup 5. Wine

It's Monday... and I want to go home. 

Casually Court Side

Last night, the blonde and I got a really awesome opportunity to sit casually court side at the Mavericks game. And we were anything but casual about it. 
Because here were our seats.... My camera isn't even zoomed in!!!!  

And then... when they got in the corner.. they were REALLY close to us!! And we were like this the entireee time. 

 

You see, I have had this healthy obsession with Chandler Parsons ever since he was a senior at Florida and they went to the final four in March Madness. Then I was really excited when he got drafted to the Houston Rockets, because Texas. So, when the Rockets played the Mavericks I told my dad to give him my phone number. I tweeted Chandler on March 27th, 2012 and said, "When the camera man gives you a phone number it's not from him, it's from me." ..... well my dad did not give him my number but he did take a picture of him and send it to me... which I cannot pull up anymore because I uploaded it to twitter from yfrog and I don't know how to get it back. 
Long story short, Chandler Parsons is now on the Mavericks.... and all the old men around us knew it.  He glistens when he sweats and when he bent over right in front of us.. we about died. The best part is he could actually probably hear us. 

Half time we got to go up and see my dad! And that's always fun! We took a selfie and a real picture and I love them both. This is when Caroline made the grave mistake of saying, "I want to be on the dance cam again." She's been on the dance cam before. She did the lick your fingers, slick down your eyebrows, and double finger gun move and she lost to an 8 year old. She wanted redemption y'all. Stay tuned. 

 Oh yeah, we were on tv... and smiled and waved like veterans. 

We had soo much fun with our friends Grumpy Cat Michael and Travis #2. We laughed the entire time, they put up with all of our, "CHANDLERs!!!!!", and we hung out by the practice court after which was pretty sweet. #wannatakeaselfie

But the dance cam was the best part of the entire night. Caroline was primed and ready. Facing the under the basket camera man when I noticed my dad's camera at her. I quickly told her to face toward dad instead. So, when she was on the jumbotron her back was to the camera and everyone missed her epic move. She felt like a failure: "I'm 0-2 on the dance cam. That's so embarrassing." Until the end of the game... when dad texted us and said make sure you check out the final "package" at the end of the game. For those of you not out in the camera world, the jumbo tron camera is completely different than the tv camera. Caroline, in all of her finger-gunning glory, was the last shot of the night.

You're right NBA, you should absolutely copyright that. 
Happy Friday y'all!

My Makeshift Outfit

My anticipated schedule for yesterday afternoon was to be as follows. 

• Finish practice
• Go to my apt, pack a quick bag of things for the weekend
• Go to Travis' and play with Koal girl
• Meet a teacher friend to do some planning

But as Duck Dude and I are quickly learning... there's always something when you own a house. So, when he texted me yesterday morning and said, "There is no heat downstairs" I was like uhhh, great. Koal girl was freezing and I was gonna have to deal with the maintenance man.... the girl who asked a cop the first time I was pulled over for having a head light out -- "What's a head light?" Maintenance isn't my strong suit. So Duck Dude tells me the maintenance man is coming between 4 and 5. So I tell the other basketball coach I cannot stay for practice and have to go to my new home. 

My new schedule. 

• Leave school 10 minutes before to miss traffic. Drive to Duck Dude's house
• Meet maintenance man, let him do his thing
• Teacher friend graciously agreed to come to Duck Dude's house instead so we could plan while maintenance man worked
• Eat dinner with teacher friend
• Drive back to my apt to pack a bag

Therein lies the problem. Maintenance man did not show up until 7 pm. SEVEN. So, I missed practice for nothing. We didn't go to dinner until 8:30 and we finished dinner at 9:30. Driving to my apt and back would have taken another 50 minutes of driving alone. So, I made the decision I would go by my apt in the morning. 

Until I got back to Duck Dude's house and remembered I had clothes in the laundry room that I had left the last time he was out of town and I was housesitting. I found my orange pants and thought to myself.... could I make an outfit? Because if I could, I could sleep 20 minutes longer and sleep is good.

I dug through my athletic bag, because I consistently leave things in there. And found a sweater I wore last Friday. Hmmm. Wearing the same sweater less than a week later? I'd have to change it up.... Cue: Duck Dude's closet. Uh huh. I'm wearing Duck Dude's clothes today... and I didn't even tell him. I thought it would be funnier if he found out when he was reading this. Columbia vests can be unisex, right? Oh, and I'm wearing his socks too. And I wore a tshirt for athletics this morning. Annnnd a jacket. Because. It's. Still. COLD. So, thanks babe. For letting me wear your clothes that you didn't know I was wearing. I really appreciate those 20 extra minutes of sleep. 

Our beautiful coaches office

And let's be honest, it's probably not the last time I'm gonna steal articles from "his side" of the closet.

Does this count as a fashion post? 

First Things Off the Truck..

And by truck.. I probably mean cousins (yes, y'all!) and Duck Dude's truck because we live in Texas and I would love to move all of my belongings without paying for a U-haul truck!
Some of these are obvious and some are not so obvious! But these are my list of things that need to come off the truck ASAP, first, absolutely the last things loaded and the first things off. 
1. Keurig. Because coffee. 

I have a very nice Keurig that I got as an apartment warming present. It's seriously a life changer and Duck Dude has already mentioned that he is excited to have it in our home! Let's also face it... I'm moving my stuff the week after Christmas, and if the weather is anything like today (see yesterday's post) then I will need coffee. Stat. 
2. Bucket 'O Blankets

I have a couple.. a few... an absurd amount of blankets. I love them each equally and they are all coming. Sometimes I need my Baylor blanket or my other Baylor blanket. Sometimes I need my fuzzy blanket. Sometimes I need my Delta Waterfowl blanket. Sometimes I need my quilt throw. Sometimes I need my Mavericks blanket.You never know which blanket you need, which is why you neeed them all. 
3. Vase of Fake Flowers

I bought this vase from Home Goods when I was moving into my new apartment. I was shopping with Bridesmaid Julie and then we picked out flowers from Hobby Lobby and I just love it. It greets me every morning in my bathroom with it's bright colors and it's whimsical little peacock feather to top it all off. It signifies the time in my life when I was out on my very own for the very first time. I think back to the day I bought this and realize how much I have grown in these last 3 1/2 years in my apartment. It was one of the first things I mentioned to Duck Dude when we talked about what would be making the trip to his house. This vase. 
4. Brita Pitcher

Something I should have bought way before I did. I love this yellow brita pitcher. It's so shiny and bright and the only color I wanted when I started looking at brita pitchers. Cold water out of this pitcher is so refreshing. It's the only water I'll drink without ice in it. And obviously water will be needed during the move! And something has to balance out the coffee!!
5. Jewlery Organizer

Because it only spent 8 months on my kitchen table. And something that took that long deserves to be in the house... and not in the closet where it can't be seen (ahem, Duck Dude)!! I need to get a couple more nails to hang up bracelets on that right side, but I still love it as much as I thought I would. So that's always good! 
Have you ever thought about what would be the first things you would unload if you had to move?