Category Archives: think happy thoughts

Feb14

Valentines Day 2012

Posted on by
Valentines Day 2012

Actually, my Valentines Day started back on Saturday. I had been anxiously anticipating this particular Saturday for months. And all because my awesome husband snagged us 3rd row tickets to see one of my favorite musicals: “Wicked”.

That’s right. Jared had the insight before we even knew about Baby Boothe to buy the matinee tickets, which meant that we got to go at 2:00 PM instead of 8:00PM, which was much better for my pregnant body. And naturally, the musical was again, incredible. And Jared was great when the rest of the evening thereafter I kept singing songs from the musical… Didn’t complain once.

In summary: it made for an amazing day.

Today the magic continued. The surprising part was that my day started off so well at work because my students were so incredibly sweet. I have never received so many thoughtful gifts from my students for Valentines before! I got all sorts of candy, cupcakes, and even these beautiful flowers from a seventh grader student:

Crazy, right?

Then, when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, Jared sent flowers to my work, which were also beautiful. And they made all the girls in my 5th period class go “Awwww” because of how sweet it was that my husband sends me flowers at work.

Then I got to come home, make a fun dinner for my wonderful husband, and eat said dinner with my wonderful husband. Then, to top it all off, we did some additional gift-giving, wherein Jared went over our pre-arranged money limit (he usually does) but always has thoughtful gifts that I love!

All in all, it’s been a wonderful day, and I feel so lucky to be surrounded by great people, especially my incredible husband! 🙂

Feb4

Why I live in Texas…

Posted on by
Why I live in Texas…

…and avoid Utah winters like the plague.

It is February, but behold:

My snapdragons are in FULL BLOOM. It’s February. And there are flowers blossoming. And they happen to be snapdragons, which are some of my most favorite flowers (but we can get into that some other time).

So back to the point of flowers blossoming in February. We have been experiencing weather in the 60s and 70s, which is a little warm for the area during February. (Sorry, I keep on having to emphasize the word February because how fantastic it is that things are so springlike in February.) I think all the plants are confused about this whole concept of spring and winter, and honestly, that’s okay with me.

Jan16

Lazy Weekend Recap

Posted on by
Lazy Weekend Recap

This weekend has been a four day weekend for me. Technically, it should’ve been only a 3 day weekend, but I missed work Friday due to a migraine that had just been getting worse and worse over the week. (One of those unexpected side effects of being pregnant- most migraine and pain medications are off limits. And sometimes, Tylenol just doesn’t cut it).

Despite the discomfort, this weekend has allowed me time to reflect how lucky I am. A couple of things that specifically come to mind:

1. I have an amazing, thoughtful, sweet husband who goes out of his way to make my life easier.

2. I have a wonderful home, and even though it’s not perfectly what I want it to be (who’s home ever is?), is more than I thought I would have at this time and place in my life.

3. I have two adorable dogs to cuddle with when I am feeling yucky/sleepy/frustrated/needing snuggles.

4. I have good friends and family members to spend time with and who truly care about me.

Case in point:

Exhibit A: Friday evening, I was feeling a little bit better (after sleeping most of the day), so Jared offered to take us out so I didn’t have to make dinner. We went to one of the better Mexican restaurants around here. It was packed and noisy, which started to make the headache come back, and I couldn’t eat too much. It was the third time we had tried eating there since we found out about Baby Boothe, and each time I come home on the verge of puking, so we decided we will try visiting there again in about 7 months or so. Jared felt bad, but I thought it was so sweet that he was just trying to make life easier for me.

Exhibit B: Saturday we did some errands. Jared even suggested we could go to Kohl’s and search for some clothes that will fit me a little better. (For somebody who has struggled with how I look and weigh for most of my life, it’s been a little challenging to accept the changes that are occurring around my midsection, even if they are for a good cause!) He even cheerfully bought me some of the clothes I tried on.

(Side note: I will say that so far, my favorite place with the best prices for maternity clothes has been Burlington Coat Factory. Found these great looking black pants with a comfy elastic waistband for $10! Score!)

Exhibit C: We had some friends come over Saturday night. I was getting the house cleaned up and Jared was upset that I wasn’t sitting and cuddling with the dogs. But I know how proud of our home he is, and to make sure it looks nice, it takes teamwork. And we had a great time when our friends came over. Even if we stayed up a little later than we previously wanted…After all,  I have a feeling that once Baby Boothe comes, time for friends will be a little more limited.

Exhibit D: All the extra things around the house Jared sneaks in. Like trying to help me with dinner last night, and cleaning up the entire kitchen. Or getting up with the dogs in the morning because Stevie doesn’t know how to sleep in. (After all, THE FOOD WON’T WAIT FOR HIM PAST 7:15! If we try to push it, he lovingly will jump on our heads and lick us until once of us gives in and feeds him. And with his dog breath, you might as well just not let it get to that point…)

I know that there’s more that I am forgetting with my sleepy brain, but at least there’s the general idea. So much to be grateful for in my life. Sometimes things like work overwhelm me, and I just need times like now to recenter and realize that the main things in my life that define me are not my career at school. It’s the things here at home that are the most important and meaningful to me.

So here’s to the best decision I’ve ever made in my life: choosing this great guy as my husband. 🙂

Dec10

Holiday Ducks

Posted on by
Holiday Ducks

I love this time of year. It’s my most favorite. There’s something about Christmas time that makes everyone generally just a little bit nicer (well, most people, anyway).

As I was decorating our house this past week, I came across this:

A student gave this to me two years ago at Christmas. This particular student stood out for two reasons. First, in a year filled with a rough group of kids (seriously, lots of them had some serious attitude and behavioral problems), she was one of the few sweet ones who wanted to do well. Secondly, she was obsessed with ducks. Her folders, binders, and notebooks were covered in ducks. If she doodled on her homework assignment, you knew it was her even if she forgot to write her name on it. 🙂 And she had the craziest collection of rubber duckies. Ducks of all colors, animal types, holiday types… You think of a rubber ducky out there and she’s got it. Somewhere around my house or classroom I have a tiger-duck that she gave me when I told her that was my favorite animal.

Anyways, I guess this stands out to me this year in particular because it’s been the roughest year of my teaching career. With the drastic changes and little support from admin, district, and parents alike, most days threaten to crush me. But when I look at something simple like this, I remember the students that are doing everything right. The ones who do always do their homework, and come to class with a great attitude, and even thank me as they leave the classroom for teaching them. The ones who are consistently honest, good, sweet kids. And those are the ones that help me power through when I feel like I can’t do anymore.

So this year, I put this little duck on the mantle. I know Jared thinks it is a little tacky, but whenever I see it, I have to smile at the memories.

And let’s face it. This year, I need to find more reasons than usual to help me smile.

Dec6

Heart the Jicama

Posted on by
Heart the Jicama

So, weather in Texas has taken a fairly drastic turn recently. The days of 100+ weather is long gone. And FINALLY, my little garden was producing.

But tonight, we could get down to 26 degrees. Even though I am sicker than a dog, I know that there’s no chance what little has made it this far would make it past tonight. So what do I do? I go outside and start salvaging what’s left.

One of my more adventurous attempts this year was planting jicama. It’s a root vegetable, but has a sweetness to it. One of our friends used to use it in his Indian potlucks- he would make a fabulous salad with a peanut sauce- and it was fabulous. So when I saw it at Home Depot as a starter plant, I figured, “What the heck?”

Note: I planted it back in April. Jicama doesn’t usually get harvested until December. That’s a huge chunk of time before harvesting, so that made me pretty worried. After such a crazy summer, what could I expect when it was all said and done?

After digging it out of the earth and washing the dirt off, this is what I saw:

Feel free to interpret as you will, but I’m interpreting this as a happy sign from the cosmos. 🙂