Happy Back-to-School!

Yesterday was our first teacher day, and tomorrow will be our first student day.
Last night we had our Ice Cream Social and
it was so much fun to meet all my new little first-ies! :)
Even though it's sad to see summer go,
I can't wait to get back to teaching!
(Pictures coming soon!)

Summer Top Ten:
1. Visiting family on the west coast in June
2. Celebrating our anniversary in Louisville
3. Weekly dates at the Farmer's Market
4. Celebrating the fourth of July at the lake
5. Random trips to IKEA and Jungle Jim's in Cinncinati
6. Completing another round of grad work
7. Our niece, Natalie, getting baptized
8. Poolside times with dear friends
9. Countless movie dates
10. Our Kitchen Make-over

Enjoy your day! :)

We had a wonderful four-iversary celebration! :)

We decided to visit Louisville for our anniversary, and we had a fabulous time!
We arrived in Salem on Wednesday and spent some time with Eric's parents.
They agreed to take care of Harley and Rayne for us!
(Thank you, thank you, thank you!)
We began our adventure on Thursday morning and made a point to stop at
all the places we used to go when we were dating.

This flea market was one of our favorite places to hang out.
We used to roam the aisles and just crack up at all the odds
and ends we'd come across.

After the flea market, we went to King Fish for lunch.
We had a seafood platter, and it was delicious!

After lunch, we drove across the bridge into Kentucky.
We did a bit of shopping, went to some bookstores, and
enjoyed driving around the city. Then we headed to the Woodhaven Inn,
a lovely little Bed & Breakfast that I found online. :)

The main house is a beautiful old home that the owners
have restored and it is gorgeous!

This is the main entryway/foyer.
After we checked in, we chose some movies to
watch later that evening.

We loved hanging out in the common sitting areas.
Everything was so interesting and beautiful!

I had originally booked the Rose Room, but I got a call
before we got there saying that they had accidentally double-booked,
and that we would be upgraded to the Master Suite.
Once we arrived, we found out that they heard it was our anniversary
and decided to upgrade us to the Rose Cottage.
It was adorable! It was right next to the Main House, but was detached
and had its own private walkway, gardens, and porch area.

The cottage was quite spacious! This is a view from the loft area above.

For dinner, Eric took me to a little French restaurant called Le Relais.
The food was excellent, and it was a great preview of the French food we'll enjoy
when we visit Paris in October. :)

We had Escargots de Bourgogne, an assortment of cheeses,
pork with roasted vegetables, conch gazpacho, and a creme dessert.
Everything was delicious!

This is the little corner in the dining room where we enjoyed our breakfast.

We had fresh fruit, coffee, juice, eggs, toast, bacon, and carmel french toast.

After we checked out of our little cottage,
we raced to the theatre to buy tickets to the LAST Harry Potter movie!
We were so excited to see it! Funny enough, the last book was released during
our honeymoon. So, on our honeymoon, we stood in line at Wal-Mart at midnight
with a bunch of people dressed in Harry Potter costumes and got the book.
It was only appropriate that we fit the last Harry Potter
movie into our anniversary celebration! :)

We came back from Louisville so refreshed and relaxed.
We enjoyed our stay at the Woodhaven Inn so much, we're already
plotting when we can go back again! :)
*Sorry about the quality of these pictures -
most of them were taken on our i-Pods* :)

We are packing our bags and heading to Salem to visit Eric's parents.
Then we're off to Louisville to stay at the Woodhaven Inn and celebrate our
four-year-anniversary. Happy Wednesday! :)

Oh Happy Day!
I've completed AU's coursework and I am officially licensed to
teach K-12 EL (English Language Learners).
I figured since my current job description is an EL teacher,
I had better be licensed by the state to teach what I'm teaching-
and my school corporation agreed with me!
**Don't worry, my overseas experience and my mad bilingual skills
count for something! Haha.** :)
I chose the fast track, which included four classes in a matter of 5 months...
but I loved it, learned so much, and it was all worth it.
Luckily, all of my EL classes count towards the elective requirement for my masters,
so I only have 8 more classes until I complete
my masters degree in curriculum and instruction.
YAY! :)

On a side note, Eric and I are allllllmost finished with our massive kitchen re-do.
We redid the molding, flooring, wall color, curtains, and decor.
Then we came up with a wild idea that included replacing all the doors
and molding throughout the entire house - we are definitely
"get-an-idea-go-to-Lowe's-let's-get-on-it-right-now" home owners! :)
Our garage is currently filled with new doors, handles, hinges, door frames,
gallons of white paint, paint brushes, sanding equipment, and
a wonderfully upbeat ipod playlist that keeps us groovin' and motivated!
The Great News: we only have one more coat to go on four doors, and the painting is finished! Tomorrow we'll begin to hang all the doors, and then we're headed to the pool.
Enjoy the sunshine, friends!

The sun is out and the birds are chirping!
Today we are going to the movies to see
The Zookeeper.

Then we'll meet Mom, Dad, and Nate at Red Robin
and have a lovely family dinner. We had to get in one last
family dinner before Mom and Dad's trips begin ~
Mom is headed to Hawaii and Cambodia (for a month!) and
Dad is headed to the West Coast, Kenya, and Tanzania.

After dinner, we'll come back home and I'll (hopefully)
finish "Picture Perfect." This is the first summer that we've had ALL of July
free and at home, and we're thoroughly enjoying it! :)

Have a happy day! :)

Eric, Patricia (Eric's Mom), and I went to lunch, a movie, and the bookstore yesterday.
Patricia picked up "The Help" and "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven."
I had already read "The Help" and LOVED it, and Eric has been wanting to read it,
so she let us borrow both books. I started "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven"
last night, and finished it early this morning.
What an unbelievable read! I hadn't even heard about the book,
but it was a life-changing read.

Here's a quick description of the book from the website:
In 2004, Kevin Malarkey and his six-year-old son, Alex, suffered a terrible car wreck
that left Alex paralyzed. When Alex awoke from a two-month coma,
he shared incredible stories of the accident scene and events
in the hospital that took place while he was unconscious;
of angels who took him through the gates of heaven;
and the most amazing things of all...meeting and talking with Jesus!

I learned even more about Alex and his family on their website: www.prayforalex.com

Have a happy Thursday! :)

Summer 2011 Reading List

Emily Griffin - Love the One You're With
Emily Griffin - Something Borrowed***
Emily Griffin - The Heart of the Matter***
Jodi Picoult - Picture Perfect***
Jodi Picoult - Vanishing Acts***
Jodi Picoult - Perfect Match***
Karen Kingsbury - Between Sundays***
Karen Kingsbury - A Thousand Tomorrows***
Kathryn Stockett - The Help***
Ishmael Beah - A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Sara Gruen - Water for Elephants***
Jeannette Walls - The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls - Half Broke Horses
William Young - The Shack
Anne Lammott - Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Shilpi Somaya Gowda - Secret Daughter***
Tatiana de Rosnay - Sarah's Key
Leslie DuBois - Ain't No Sunshine***
Alison Strobel - The Heart of Memory***
Brennan Manning - Souvenirs of Solitude (Finding Rest in Abba's Embrace)
Kevin & Alex Malarkey - The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven***

*** = Already Finished :)

"She fed her spirit with the bread of books."
-Edwin Markham

Countdown to Paris:
99 DAYS

Hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July
celebration with friends and family!
We spent the weekend with family at the lake ~
kayaking, fishing, hammock-ing, reading, eating,
laughing, and enjoying time together! :)

Our brand-new-gorgeous-little-niece, Natalie Joann, was born on June 30th at 8:01pm.
We are head-over-heels smitten with her!

A trip to IKEA and Jungle Jim's International Food Market
makes for a wonderful date day! :)

Summer School was a blast!
Here are some pictures of us working in our vegetable garden,
visiting the Indy 500 Museum, and posing with the Cat-in-the Hat! :)