Photoshop!

Well, tons has happened, yet again, and the blog has gotten somewhat neglected as of late. Last Saturday, I graduated from A&M with my Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. I am so relieved to be done, but an itsy bitsy small part of me actually kind of wants to get my doctorate. Now, not enough to go back to school anytime soon, but seeing all of those doctorate students getting hooded kind of got me thinking. To be perfectly honest, I will probably never get my doctorate, but for one short instant I thought about it. :)

For a graduation present, my parents got me Adobe Creative Suites 4 (and I should be getting a free upgrade to CS5 since it was released right after they bought CS4). I haven't had much time to play with it, seeing as our last week of preschool was this week (a whole other post about the end of preschool), but this evening I've been playing around with the help of free tutorials. So, without further ado, I bring you the only the picture I've touched up and watermarked (just for fun). Hopefully I'll learn more and more and will soon be a "pro" at this.

Before

After

Did you know that Adobe has it's own format to save pictures in? It took me FOREVER to try and figure out how to post the after picture... It is really easy, though... Just change the way you save it to a jpeg file and it's done. Have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to hit the hay... it's been an emotional day.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

How does your garden grow?

For some reason this nursery rhyme just popped into my head while I was out checking on our growing garden this morning. It is looking really good and I can not wait to start getting fresh veggies to eat. We already have jalapeños and tomatoes that are growing our a lot of our bell peppers have begun to flower, but no fruit yet. One of our squash/zucchini plants has taken off and the other two are moving at a slower pace. The green beans amaze me! Alan set up a ghetto trellis for them to climb up and most of the plants have begun to do just that, all on their own. Here are some pictures to document the growth, sense everyone is just so interested... haha.

Baby Jalapeño 

Cherry Tomato

Squash or Zucchini 

Proof of our ghetto trellis

Winding it's way up the twine

Close-up - it amazes me that it just curls 

around the string on it's own

Another close-up of a green bean plant

In other news, only 4 days until I graduate! I can't believe that in just a short time, I will officially have my Master's of Education. It's crazy to think that after all this time in school, 18 years (including 1-12 grade, undergrad, and grad school), I will finally be done! My dad and grandparents from Texarkana will be traveling down Friday afternoon, and my Granny will come for graduation and dinner and then head home that evening. I'm so excited to see everyone, but am sad that my mom and sis won't be able to come. PGisd decided that prom needed to be late this year, so that is interfering with graduation. 

Well, I'm off to go paint. We're trying to get the master done before family comes down. I'll post before and after pictures once I'm done.

Job Hunting

Well, if you know me IRL, you might be shocked to hear this, but I have bitten the bullet and decided to apply for teaching jobs in the public school. This change of heart was a long time coming was very abrupt, and I have to admit that I am still shocked, myself. However, I am very excited about the prospect and hope and pray that I didn't wait to late to submit my application.

It all started Saturday afternoon. I had just driven to College Station to go to a baby shower for one of our good friends from church (whose husband grew up in DeKalb, TX for those that know the area... such a SMALL world!). While I was there, I was still adamant about only teaching in a preschool. Little did I know, though, that this would change all too soon.

To make a long story short, Alan and I went to dinner that evening at The Cheesecake Factory, my favorite, and on the way home we just talked about preschool vs. public. At this point in our life, it just makes more sense for me to be in public education. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep Saturday night and began researching and applying for various school districts around our house. As of today I have completed and submitted applications to three different districts and debating whether or not to submit an application to the fourth four different districts. Hopefully I haven't waited too long to submit my application.

I would value your prayers as we begin this new phase in our lives. Hopefully I will soon be able to tell y'all that I have a position in a local elementary school (preferably pre-K through second grade, although I won't turn away any position).

Long time, no blog...

Well, it's almost been a month since I've last blogged. I've thought about it often, but just haven't made the time. Not to mention I haven't done anything picture worthy in the home in quite some time. Let's do a quick recap of the past month (minus pictures, because I didn't take ANY)...

• Easter weekend my parents came to our house to celebrate Dustin's 21st birthday. Can't believe my baby brother is 21!!
• The next weekend found us spending time with my parents on Friday at the Cheesecake Factory (YUM!!), watching my nephew on Saturday, and finding time to go to Home Depot to pick out vegetables for our new garden.
• This past weekend, we went through 4 paint samples before finally finding one for our bedroom, me hanging out with my SIL and nephew and Alan helping them move stuff to storage, and surprising one of our friends at their baby shower for their baby boy! (We had so much fun seeing them and the rest of our old Home Group). We MISS you guys!!

The garden was something that was already in place in our backyard. However, the previous owner's had beautiful ginormous Sago Palm. It looked like it was dying and Alan couldn't stand it anyways, so Alan decided it was time for it to go. He spent forever trying to get it down and eventually realized it would have to be taken down in sections. I wish I had pictures documenting the demise of the palm, but I didn't even think about it at the time. We've slowly been putting parts of it into the trash on Fridays, so all I had left to take pictures of was the bottom part (maybe?). It left us with tons of sago spawns, so we're still picking out the seeds whenever we tend to our garden.

Now, on to the pictures of our garden. We planted it Saturday, April 10. And until the rain of last Saturday/Sunday have seen nothing. Well, much to my surprise, when I went out with the dogs on Sunday after church to make sure they didn't trample on the seeds did their business, I was shocked to see many of our seedlings were a couple of inches above the ground. Now, remember, the day  before there was NOTHING sprouting in the garden (minus the cucumber plant that we bought as a seedling). Ok, enough talking, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

 

Container plants (front cherry tomato, 

back L to R jalapeño and red, yellow, and green bell peppers)

Jalapeño

Cherry Tomato

I think we're getting blossoms!!

Big Bertha bell pepper (green)

Yellow bell pepper

Red bell pepper

All three together (hopefully we won't have to re-plant these!)

Again, I think I'm seeing the beginning of a blossom!!

Garden plot (squash is in the front two corners of the triangle, 

zucchini in the back corner, cucumbers in the very middle and 

green beens in rows between)

A row of green beans

Looking down at the bean plants! (how cool!!)

Close-up of cucumber plants

One of the squash plants (the squash and zucchini all look the same to me, 

so no zucchini pictures)

My mouth is watering just thinking about all the yummy veggies that we'll have this summer. Hopefully next year we'll also have some fruit (like cantaloupe and watermelon and such) to plant as well! I'm also debating whether to get a couple of fruit trees. I know we want to plant a tree or two in our backyard, but I don't know if it'd be worth it to plant a peach and/or apple tree. We'll just have to wait and see. :)

Only 25 days until graduation!!! I can't wait to be DONE with school. This summer I'm watching my nephew again, so I won't be getting bored AND I'll be making a little bit of money. Now all that is left is to find a job. Ugh... Hopefully one will turn up soon!

Picture Time

Well, before I get to the picture summary of our weekend, I just have to say... I PASSED MY ORAL EXAM! And I can now graduate with my Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education May 15, 2010. I was extremely nervous beforehand, and it didn't help that my sinus' started to act up the day before. What a weight off my shoulders!

Anyways, this weekend we got our tax refund money. We had the intention of saving it all, but Alan we quickly decided that it was, indeed, time for a new grill. This amazing monstrosity is called The Big Green Egg. Now, my dad has had one for a while, and I was always amazed at the delicious-ness of the meals that it produced, so naturally, I knew we would get one someday. I just didn't realize that "someday" would be Saturday. We moseyed over to The Woodlands to pick it up, and as luck would have it, we were able to take it home that day! Alan then set about building a table for the BGE (or Big Green Egg). We also got a new light fixture for the breakfast nook area, which was my splurge with our refund money. The following pictures are what we were up to with the building of the table for the BGE and my beautiful new light (and partially decorated buffet).

Alan, hard at work

Disassembled BGE

The table is taking shape!

Base is in...

Complete, now just need to cut a hole

I love a man with power tools ;)

It's finished!!

Big Green Egg

Right after breaking it in on yummy steaks and grilled zuchinni!

Beautiful Tiffany-inspired lamp

2/3 of the way decorated... The bottom shelf needs a holder for the cross, but they are engagement/wedding pics on the left and some sentimental cookbooks on the right with our champagne glasses and cake topper. The middle shelf has some Limoges plates with a beautiful plaque from my secret sister (at work). Now just need to figure out what to do with the top shelf. :) Any suggestions would be welcome!

Well, time to get back to paying attention to my class chat... It's the last one! Yay!!!

Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is the day I've been dreading looking forward to for the past two years. And, on top of that, I've decided that it is time to get a sinus infection... Yuck. What a great way to go into something that is a deciding factor in my graduation in May. Please say a prayer for me tomorrow at 2,  that I feel great and ace my orals. Oh yea... on top of all this, I have to wear a suit, of which my only suit probably doesn't fit. Hopefully I can figure something out without having to go to the store or break the bank...

Before and After... Dining Room (and what's new!)

Long time, no blog. I've had a ton going on these past few weeks and no pictures to post, so hence my hiatus. Last week was spring break and I had a blast! I saw my best friend and her ADORABLE daughter, watched my favorite nephew, and went to the zoo with another one of my friends and her two kiddos (who I used to babysit for once a week or so). Not to mention, I got to sleep in some days and all the cleaning I did. I also painted the hallway where 3 of our bedrooms are on. White is not the best idea for painting, in my humble opinion. I felt like the hallway looked like a hospital. So, needless to say, we wasted $30 on a gallon of paint and then had to go buy another color. I love the new color, but we're still not finished. It's two shades lighter than our living room, so it ties in perfectly! This weekend we're going to finish and then put up some decorations, then it'll be picture time! :)

On another note, I think that Alan and I have found a church home! We have only attended once, but I felt right at home. It's about 30 miles from the house, but it only took us between 25-30 minutes to get there. I love that it is a straight shot on the highway! It took us about that long to go to our old church in College Station. Suffice to say, we will be going back! It doesn't help at all that I already know a couple of people that attend. My college roommate, her husband, and her daughter (the one that I got to visit with over spring break) attend and one of Alan's good friends attends, as well. I was just thinking... these two friends were our matron of honor and best man at the wedding. How crazy is that? Anyways... enough boring words... on to the pictures!

So on to the before and after pictures. The dining room still isn't 100% done. We have to do a few paint touch-ups, but I figured you can't really tell in the pictures. Let me know what you think!

Before... Looking in from foyer

Before... Same spot, different angle

After... Looking in from foyer

After... Looking in from kitchen

I was so excited on Monday when I got the call that our buffet was ready for delivery. I scheduled it to be delivered Thursday, and it got here this morning around 10. I must admit that I love it even more in person! Now it's time to accessorize the buffet! It looks great with our cabinets and I can't wait to be able to get the table and chairs to match!

Straight shot... I can't WAIT to change the light fixture. 

It's way too modern and 'heavy' looking for my tastes.

Looking from the side... So pretty!

In other news, I started the Couch to 5K training program on Tuesday. I did two walks/jogs of 3 miles on Tuesday. Wednesday it was pretty gross outside, so I just rested my sore legs, and today I've done one 4 mile walk/jog and will hopefully do another 4 miles or so once the hubs gets home. It's only been 2 days, but I actually find myself enjoying walking and jogging outside! I can't wait to see how my endurance changes (not to mention that I hope my weight changes) over the next 9 weeks.