{Quick Getaway to Oklahoma}

Tomorrow is our first anniversary! Brian and I have been discussing a few ideas but when it came down to it we felt like we really didn't care what we did, we just wanted to be together. I've never been a huge celebration person, but this was our first anniversary so we felt like we should do something. We discussed going somewhere for the weekend and Brian said he would plan it. So Saturday morning came and Brian told me to pack clothes for the night. As we hopped into the car, I asked Brian if he would give me the direction we were going {North, South, East, West}. No such luck. I would just have to enjoy the ride and figure out where we were going as we went.

{Meers, OK}

Brian drove us North to this quaint little mining town called Meers, where they made fresh Meersburgers. When I say fresh, I mean the meat comes right from their own cattle. It was delicious! And they even put our drinks in mason jars. Following our tasty meal, Brian drove onto the wildlife preserve so we could go hiking and see buffalo, long horns, elk, and deer. They were so close to our car, it was crazy! And there were no fences between us and them. They literally crossed the road ride behind us when we stopped the car.

Our final destination was Lawton, OK where we ate at an amazing local Italian restaurant. Brian booked us a hotel with a Jacuzzi {score!} And we simply enjoyed the time together and sleeping in.

Oh, and on our way back, we purchased an iphone for me! It will come right after Christmas and I will finally be a part of the smart phone world.

::Turkey::

Guess what?! Today Brian and I made our very first turkey. Yes, I know Thanksgiving has already passed but we didn't get to make our turkey and enjoy all the wonderful leftovers. We had Thanksgiving at one of our friends down the road which was absolutely amazing, however, we still wanted to make our very own turkey.  We bought the turkey the week of Thanksgiving and have been waiting the right day to cook it up. Today was that lucky day!

I got back from work at noon and started reading directions. Prior to this, I had a few conversations with Grammy and Papa {the turkey experts in our family} to prepare for the cooking.  As I opened the turkey, I was calling Brian because I thought a dissection might be needed to extract the neck, liver, and other giblets. Thankfully, they were all neatly together in a separate paper wrapper. Cooked those babies up and prepared the stuffing for our soon-to-be delicious turkey. When everything was ready, we popped the turkey into the over and cooked it for a good three hours.  Unfortunately, we had no thermometer to measure the temperature so Brian carefully watched the bird. 

And let me tell you, our bird ended up being perfectly moist. However, only as we pulled the turkey out did I realize I had forgotten one small yet significant ingredient {salt} Oops! Yet, the turkey still tasted amazing and we had one successful post-Thanksgiving meal complete with a scrumptious turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Not quite the full meal, but we were completely stuffed afterward!

Now we're ready for turkey noodle soup, turkey enchiladas, turkey sandwiches... and the list goes on!

{Sharing Christmas}

What is the best way to share Christmas with those far away? Christmas cards! Brian and I made a little setup the other day to take our Christmas photos. Wish we had our brother-in-law, Ashur, around to help take photos. Or my professional photographer friends, Danielle, Jordan, and Kari M. But we made do and I'm looking forward to sending them out! Sneak peak of our photos, but not the one we used for the card...

Yes, ma'am!

I've decided to go more in depth on my teaching in Texas so far.  As soon as I had started subbing, I learned real quick the "yes, ma'am"s and "no, ma'am"s the students are supposed to respond with out of respect for their teachers. It is so endearing to hear their little voices say these words!

As I mentioned, I'm currently working with small group part-time. I meet with two groups of third graders in the morning for 45 minutes each. One follows the other. We've been talking about different types of poetry. And I'm just starting to get to know their little personalities.  I have to admit, as a teacher there are days I feel on top of the world when lessons go extremely well and then other days when I feel down in the dumps, wonder why I even considered teaching and think of all the things I should have done differently! After my lesson on Friday, I felt awful. I taught an okay lesson, but I wanted it to be great! The kids learned, but the lesson didn't come together as well as I had hoped. I don't like those days. I came home to Brian and vented about the not-so-great lesson and then called my family and vented some more. At times like those, I'm very thankful for the listening ear those around me provide.

Today, I taught three lessons and by the end, I felt accomplished. My lessons ran smoothly and everything flowed. Even got observed by the Vice Principal {Eek!} I hope he liked what I was teaching cause I had no idea he was coming and it was my first day working with the first graders. My first graders are little dears. I cannot wait to see the progress they make this year! They follow my groups of third graders.

{via}

My last group is second grade but we're still trying to workout my schedule to see how I will be used. With adding my new position, schedules have been altered and still more changes have to be made to figure out where the need is. But so far, I'm loving my job. And can I say how awesome part-time is? I know I will be thankful for full time in January when Brian is gone, but right now I'm loving this!

Christmas time is here...

We have our tree up, the nativity set, and even a few poinsettias! Brian and I went to the store last night and bought hot cider and eggnog to celebrate! Today, I volunteered on base for the annual Christmas party. I helped kids decorate their cookies. But the most amazing part is Santa and his elf came on T-38's (yes, we live on an AF Base!) The kids loved it.

I've been working part time this week as I mentioned earlier. I'm currently teaching 1st-3rd graders in the morning. I'm loving the part time work schedule! However, I know come January when Brian is gone, I will love going full time.  It's been a joy getting to know the students and the staff. I can tell their going to be fun to work with!

Thursday night, I met with some ladies on base who get together every Thursday night for hot chocolate and popcorn. I'm planning on joining them again we had so much fun! They even pulled me into a Zumba workout on Friday. I cannot dance. I don't think this was the workout for me but it was good company.

Well, Brian is making something that smells delicious for dinner but I wanted to post a quick update cause I hadn't posted all week.

thankful.

I believe you should be thankful always, but in light of the holiday coming up tomorrow, I decided to make a list of all the wonderful things I'm thankful for {or at least everything I could think of at the moment}.

I am thankful for my husband. I love being married. He compliments me in all the right ways. He loves to grill and I love to bake. I love to decorate and he loves to put everything together. He loves to work outside and I love to work inside. He loves to take care of the cars and I love... to just enjoy them. He loves people and so do I. He enjoys serving and so do I.

I am thankful for family. Both mine and his. I love that even though we're currently miles away, they are still the closest people in my life who listen to my woes, encourage me, support me, and love me for who I am.

I am thankful for friends. New and Old. The ones I have been able to stay in touch with over the years and the ones I have recently made here in Wichita Falls.

I am thankful for a new job starting on Monday! Tutoring until Christmas and then Reading Interventionist position come January. And the tutoring is perfect cause it is just in the mornings! Morning is my favorite time to teach.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have subbed these past few weeks. But I'm looking forward to a consistent schedule.

I am thankful for the Air Force. My husband has been given the chance to be a pilot, his dream. We get the opportunity to travel.  We have a beautiful house because of the AF. We get to live on a base, which is basically a city in itself.

I am thankful for driving. Seriously, when I drive, God speaks to me through creation and the moments I reflect on.

I am thankful for finding a church that we love here in Wichita Falls.

I am thankful for good food. Sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, smoothies, hot chocolate, apple cider, steak, turkey, and many other delicious goodies.

I am thankful for my education. Biola was amazing! God placed me in the right place and I am blessed with many friends, helpful career preparation, and of course, my husband.

I am thankful for pinterest. Providing me with many hours of entertainment and wonderful ideas.

I am thankful for walks. I love going on walks and talking about life with my husband or family or friends.

I am thankful for pictures. I love how they capture special moments.

Mostly, I am thankful for God. And the giving of His Son to save the world!

{Rainy Day}

I'm staying indoors today and out of the rain.  Reminds me of Oregon. Oh sometimes it feels like forever ago that I lived there. Still can't really believe that we live in Texas now and I have a Texas drivers license. Anyways, this will be my last home post for a little while. I realize I've been monopolizing my posts lately with updates on our home. Guess that is what happens when I'm in the house a lot. We've finished our living room and here is the final effect.

{view from our entry way}

{view from our kitchen area}

{i'm loving these sconces} 

We are thoroughly enjoying our home and love to have an area to be comfy. I've been enjoying lots of hot chocolate and apple cider in our living room lately.

Thanksgiving is on Thursday. Can you believe it? The holiday season is coming so quickly! The Zenks {a couple we've gotten to know through Brian's class} have invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Since they were staying around for Thanksgiving, they decided to have a bunch of friends over to celebrate the holiday. It won't be the same as it is with family, but we are looking forward to a great time with new friends. Oh, and it looks like Brian and I will be needing to go looking for our Christmas tree! Brian mentioned that around Thanksgiving time we would go searching.

Oh, and another exciting thing, Brian is going to try and fix Blaze! Blaze {our Blazer} has been having some issues lately and really needs a new part but the labor is super expensive. So Brian is going to see what he can do. And Bella {our new addition} is a wonderful ride. She has been the perfect car! Especially with Blaze having his issues. And of course, I cannot forget the motorcycle. Brian is happy to have him back in action. I haven't gotten a ride here in Texas but Brian made a ride last weekend to check out the scenery towards Oklahoma. I'm hoping to get my ride soon with Brian and travel to the Oklahoma border.

Recent Moments

After 11 months of having a Crock Pot and never once using it, I decided to bust it out and make a pot roast. Thank you pinterest for the wonderful recipe that turned out delicious and only took five minutes to stick everything into the Crock Pot and press start! Now I'm thinking to myself, if that was so ridiculously easy why have I never used this thing before? So here's to new Crock Pot recipes and easy cooking.

While our meal was cooking, Brian and I made a trip to Kirkland's Home Store, Hobby Lobby, and Bed Bath & Beyond were we found some curtains to complete our living room.   That was our goal: to finish the living room. And now that we have accomplished that, we are going to take a break from the home decorating and just enjoy what we have. I love decorating my home and I'm proud of what we've done so far.  Slowly but surely it will get done.  The sad thing I'm realizing, as I'm visiting with other military spouses, is by the time we finish decorating our house, we will be moving onto a completely different house.  Oh well, we will thoroughly enjoy this house while we have it.

This morning, we have been working on ironing and hanging our curtains. Finally looking like a put together room! Love it.  Then I walked over to our neighbors for some fellowship and I was able to meet a few other wives.  The more people I meet, the more excited I get about living in Wichita Falls, sure there is not a whole lot to do here but people can really make a place. So far I have had some blessed days.

As far as my job goes, I'm just waiting to here about going into HR and then I will start tutoring right away which I will do until January when my job starts! Lots to look forward to and be thankful for!

An Offer

On Friday, I was offered a teaching job!!! Such a blessing. But it was not the Third grade teaching position that I expected. Another lady who also interviewed had six years of experience in Third grade so they are putting her in that position. Thankfully, the school really enjoyed my interview as well so they offered to hire me as their Reading Interventionist for 1-3 grade. It is a fully certified teacher position which is what I was looking for and I plan to accept the offer on Monday morning.  Interestingly, it does not start until Jan.2, so until then they have asked me to be a tutor at their school.  Tutoring means same pay as subbing AND I get to have a consistent place to go to everyday AND it is only 30 hours a week AND I have the opportunity to work with the kids and staff now. How wonderful! Not what I had originally expected or planned, but I'm thankful for this position and I'm looking forward to teaching reading {my favorite subject to teach}.

..Veteran's Day and Some Projects..

After a morning of subbing high school, Brian insisted I leave my schedule open for the afternoon so we could enjoy Veteran's Day and his free entree at the {Texas Road House}. Yum! On top of all that, I came home to a wonderfully clean home. This is one very happy wife. Plus I have an update on our house... our latest project was hanging black picture frames up our staircase.

A sneak peak of the living room, which still has a few details to be complete.

And the start of our kitchen decor.

my camera kept changing the color but you get the idea{purple and silver}

{more to come}

Happy Veteran's Day!

{pinning my home}

Today, I have a mug of cozy cocoa and I'm pinning away my dream home. My interview went well yesterday and I'm celebrating by making more dreams for my home.  Here are my recent pins/dreams:

slanting shelves with a clock in the corner

Link

and a desk to go opposite the shelves

Link

fabric covered picture frames for wall decor

Link

possibly making this canvas for the living room

Link

A mirror with candle sconces on the sides (with mulberry candles)

Link

a necklace hanger for the bathroom

Link {but with a black frame}

A cozy throw blanket

Link {I adore these colors}

Link {I like the idea of sweater like material to snuggle up in}

Link {lovely knitting but I don't like the colors. i would have this blue with a light green and cream} 

pictures to line the staircase

Link

bathroom shelves

No Source {Please let me know if you find it}

Hopefully, I will have a few pictures of our completed rooms soon.  As of now, we have yet to finalize a room.

::Interview::

I mentioned earlier that I applied for a third grade teaching position and I got a call last week scheduling an interview.  My interview is today! Ah! I'm thrilled to go through the interview process and I'm praying hard it goes smoothly. While I am set up to sub, I would much prefer a class that I go to everyday and get to be with the same students.  I love watching my students grow throughout the year! I've missed my first graders tremendously.

Additionally, I applied for a Kinder position in the school district right next to here. It amazes me teaching positions have opened this late into the school year, but it is exciting that more students are registering for school in the area. I figured I would just sub for this school year and hope to get some long term sub jobs, but now there are some possibilities that I could be in a teaching position for the rest of the school year. God is good! He has been building my faith through it all and no matter what comes, I'm glad for the experience and I know he has something uniquely in store for me. And I'm very thankful for Brian and my whole family who has supported me through this whole process! Let's pray this interview goes well.

{Our Car}

So on Saturday, Brian and I planned a little trip down to Dallas to purchase a new-to-us car. Brian has been scoping out many Mazda 6's in the surrounding area and the closest we found was Dallas. I must brag my husband did some awesome searches to prepare for this excursion. At the first dealership, Brian was not impressed with the insides of the car so we moved on. At the second dealership, we found several Mazda 6's but one kept grabbing our eye. So we decided to take it for a spin.  Our spin died shortly when the car decided to stop because the battery had not been charged enough. Thankfully we were not on the freeway and could easily push ourselves to a driveway nearby. We really liked the car, so we decided to give it a second go (with a fully charged battery). We loved the ride and the car... so now we have this little baby setting in our garage:

::DIY fall wreath::

I did it. Melissa and I made our very own DIY fall wreath! And mine is hanging up on my front door at this very moment. I am amazed at how it turned out.  It was a blast getting together with Melissa, making our trip to Hobby Lobby and Michaels to gather all of our needed supplies, and making our wreaths. (I will be going back to Hobby Lobby very soon. So many fun things there to decorate our house with and great prices!)

{my door}

Well, Brian is gone and I'm currently listening to pandora and scoping out pinterest. Love it! Something peaceful about this moment. Isn't music amazing in that way? {Gungor radio} is my current station.

What a week!

Purple Mums

In no particular order, here is what has been going on this week:

gardening. Brian and I fixed our flower beds which were mostly dead and dried out. We went to a local nursery and purchased shrubs, mums, snap dragons, mulch, and potting soil to redo our flower beds. I'm definitely not a gardener, but with Brian's help it looks very nice. And I love the beautiful colors! Flowers are just very happy to look at; they tend to brighten up my day. Hopefully I will be able to keep everything alive while Brian is gone in January.

washington trip. Brian's grandfather past away this weekend so Brian is flying up to Vancouver to be with his family. Trying to make all the arrangements was a little challenging but everything has fallen into place. And I'm especially thankful to my new friends who are helping me out while I'm car-less (Thanks Sarah and Melissa!).

subbing. I'm submitting all my paperwork on Thursday for subbing and attending an orientation so that I am good to go for subbing. I want to have this back up in case the Third Grade teaching position doesn't work out.

laundry. We have so much of it due to our lack of washer and dryer at the moment! Thankfully, Sheppard Inn (the inn on base) has allowed us to wash our laundry there until our household goods arrive. I have divided the darks and lights and now there ready to be washed!

saturday. Guess what? Our household goods are scheduled to be delivered!!! Finally. Although I do have to say we have learned a few things from this move. First of all, what items are necessary to pack with you in the car you drive over yourself. We didn't really think our stuff would take 3 1/2 weeks to get to us so I simply back items I didn't want stored in a garage. Second, to make use of the family readiness center which offers families items to borrow while you wait on your household goods. We purchased a few things that we could have borrowed for free from the readiness center. And finally, maybe next time we will consider moving it ourselves.

business cards. Yesterday, I created a cute little business card for subbing to hand out at the schools. This will be helpful in getting my name and number out there to teachers.

fall wreath. I am most looking forward to this! (well, aside from our household goods arriving) Melissa and I decided to DIY (Do it yourself) the fall wreath I posted earlier. On Wednesday, we are going to Hobby Lobby or Michaels to pick up our supplies and then we are going to create some beautiful festive wreaths. I hope they turn out well! I will post pictures of the creating process and the final product.
  
I wonder what else will happen this week...

{holidays}

Holidays are just around the corner... well, practically. Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! I am eagerly awaiting their arrival.  This will be the first Halloween that we get to have trick-or-treaters. Yes! I need to go out and buy some candy.

For Thanksgiving, we will either be here in Texas or try to travel to Arizona. Hopefully we will get to make the trip to Arizona but Brian does have to take leave unfortunately. And we don't know his work dates yet for that holiday so we have to wait on looking at tickets until we know that information.

But what I'm most excited for is Christmas! I love this festive fall/winter wreath from Etsy.

I don't know if we will buy one this year... but I love it! They have so many fun ones on etsy right now. I also cannot wait to set up my nativity sets.

This one I have started collecting pieces for the last couple years and I think I have everything now except for the backdrop. Each piece has been a gift from family members. Setting up the nativity is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It is a great reminder of why we celebrate Christmas. I also bought another nativity on our honeymoon in Cabo, which I'm looking forward to setting up as well. While all this holiday stuff may seem a little ridiculous to you because it is so early, I can't help but be so excited! And we are also planning to send out a Christmas card this year!  More to come on this.

{Nothing Day}

Today is a nothing day. Nothing much to do around the house, nothing scheduled, and pretty much I get to do simply nothing. I've decided nothing days are what you choose to make out of them. I decide to get ready, search for job opportunities, make a few phone calls, try to be available by phone while all our household goods are being packed up, watch a good movie, make some lunch, visit with my husband when he comes for a quick hello before he heads back to work, check email, enjoy my comfy new couches while reading a good book, consider weeding but decide not to tackle it today, spend time enjoying the company of God and simply enjoy the nothing day because I know the time will come soon when a nothing day is all I wish for. Isn't it funny how life seems to cycle that way?

Anticipation

Lots of anticipation is going on in my head right now. Anticipation for tomorrow and all the church activities going on. Anticipation for a Third Grade job posting I found yesterday and applied for. Anticipation for our household goods to arrive.  Anticipation for buying blue pillows for our couch, silver and purple pots for above our kitchen, and a rug for our living room.  Anticipation for what next week will look like.  And simply anticipation for the future. Feels good to let it all out. While there is lots to look forward to, this causes my anticipation.

Brian has had a relaxing morning after a full week of work, while me on the other hand, I'm ready to get something done. I'm ready to tackle something. Looks like our laundry is what we will be tackling. Since we have no washer and dryer, we will be heading over to the Sheppard Inn, which has so graciously allowed us to use their laundry room while we await our household goods. I've started a book called the Pilot's Wife which I will bring with me while we wait. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy the book or not but it looks like it should be a worthwhile read. After that, I'm hoping to go to Home Depot and Lowe's to look at some area rugs for our living room.  We've heard they are fairly cheap with some good deals. Then, who knows. Guess I will have to anticipate the rest of the day as well!

..a sneak peak..

My mom requested "before and after" pictures of our house. Beware we are missing many things and have been making due with what Brian brought over in the Blazer along with 2 bags I was able to fly over. Therefore, I will give you a very rough tour. Let's start off with our entry way...

And a flip view. From the entry way you can either go up the stairs or into our living room.

Our lovely spacious living room with absolutely nothing in it. Yet. Couches come tomorrow!

Now, if you move in a little further, there is an entry way into our dining room.

Notice our fabulous blue kitchen chairs (they will double later as outdoor event chairs). And our lonely little lily that had to be moved into the house due to the fierce wind. Brian is still not too sure if it will make it. After two moves in a months time our plants have had a rough time adjusting.  *Note to Grammy and Papa: Our mint plant seems to be flourishing here in Texas! Thanks for sending it!

Our very classy dining room table:

Zooming in on our kitchen.

In this last picture, I zoomed out a little to show you our pantry door and the start of our laundry room door. Here is our laundry room. Nothing to special, especially when there is no washer or dryer to go inside. The left side:

And the right side:

Okay, now time to back track to the option of going up the stairs when you come into our house. Our Master bedroom is at the top with a small closet on the right.

Down the upstairs hall, the first door will be our "office" but technically it is a bedroom, the second door is the guest bathroom, the third door is the guest room, and there is a little closet at the end of the hall. I didn't take pictures inside these rooms because there is nothing in them. However, the guest bedroom does have a nice walk in closet for whoever wants to come and visit us!

Yes, you may have noticed Brian's fancy pull up bar at the end of the hall for his in-the-house-workouts (Thanks, Ashur!). And I will give you a small tour of the Master Suite...

As you might imagine, Brian is not a huge fan of the pink comforter, but we are trying to make due until our stuff arrives. To the right, we have our bathroom.

In the picture above, our bathroom is by the shower and the walk in closet is the door that is partially open. I  love having a walk in closet! Room to hang up as much of my clothes as I like and space for shoes too.

And that concludes the tour. Hopefully it will look I lot more homey once we have everything setup!