Cookies!!!

Since I had time on Memorial Day, I wanted to try something I had never done before - sugar cookie decorating! My friend, Anna, was the first to get me hooked on these addictive homemade treats! I clearly remember the first time she ever served me her homemade sugar cookies with the delicious homemade icing. We were over at her and Karl's house for small group and it must have been close to summer because I believe the cookies were cut into suns and other summery shapes. Not only were the cookies melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they also were very beautiful. I raved and raved about how fabulous those cookies were. After that, I discovered that my friends Allison and Jill also make amazing cookies. Since I love this dessert so much, I finally decided to have an hand at it.
I think they turned out pretty well. I never really knew what hard work it is. My hands are still sore today! However, I enjoyed the process and coming up with designs. I would like work on perfecting my technique while I have time over the summer.

Fun-Filled Weekend

I did several really great things over Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday morning I woke up early and set out to Home Depot in search of flowers. Last year, I bought a rod that you set inside of a large clay pot and it allows you to stack flower pots in a cascading manner. I did this last year, but bought the plants too early and most of them did not survive the summer. So, this year I waited until much later to plant them, so I would have some heat resistant plants. I ended up planting moss roses, lantana, pentas, silver mound, and asian jasmine. They look really pretty right now, so I hope they will last!

On Saturday afternoon I went with my brother, Jeremy, in search of kittens. He decided once he moved into his house that he was ready for a pet. He (like me) thinks that dogs are too high maintenance, so he opted for cats. We grew up with cats, so we enjoy them. He decided he wanted to get two kittens so they could keep each other company. We found a listing on craigslist and went to the location. We found two absolutely adorable kittens and brought them right home. Jeremy is really enjoying the company!

The kitten gray and white kitten is a female named Gracie and the orange and white is a male named Sam.

They really enjoyed this rolled up rug in the corner!

Finally, we had some friends over for a Memorial Day cookout. My family always celebrated Memorial Day by grilling out hamburgers. So, as this day approached, I asked Mark if we could host our first event at our new house. We had 5 couples total and it was a wonderful time. We had a feast of cheese dip, chips, hot dogs, hamburgers, veggies, fruit, cookies, and two different fruit cobblers. Yummy! We rounded out the evening by playing two player Guitar Hero on the Wii. Thanks for bringing your guitar, Philip! I really do want to make this Memorial Day celebration a tradition!!!

Anyone know?

Does anyone know the name of this flower? We were given these and I love them! As a cut flower, they last for SO long!

That's my man!

On Thursday night Mark and I attended the PISD Teacher Gala. This is the awards ceremony and dinner to honor all teachers who have been chosen as teacher of the year or beginning teacher of the year for their campuses. Mark was chosen beginning teacher of the year for his school, so he was there to be honored! There was a very nice dinner held at the Plano Civic Center. Then each honoree got a chance to cross the stage and received prizes. Mark was given a very nice paper weight with his name and award title on it, along with a bag of goodies! I am VERY proud of my husband. He is a wonderful man and I know that he has such a positive influence on the students that he teachers. Go Mark!

Beginning teacher of the year
We saw our good friend, Zack, at the dinner. He is a principal at an elementary school in Plano.
Mark crossing the stage. This is a picture of the screen because that was the best hope I had for getting a clear picture!
Mark with the other two 8th grade math teachers from his school who were there to support him.

Canton weekend

I absolutely love Canton weekends! For anybody who doesn't know about Canton, here is a brief description. Canton is a town in east Texas. The weekend before the first Monday of every month they have a very large outdoor market. It is a wonderful place to get home decor at a discounted rate.

Today I was able to go with my friends Allison and Kimberlee. We were also able to meet Allison's parents there. We all had a wonderful time together! I came home with a trunk full of stuff. I got several home decor items as well as 4 hanging plants and tomato plants. I also got a wonderful plant stand for our front porch. I have already arranged the plants on the porch.

Here is what my front porch now looks like.

Here is a closer look at the plant stand. On the bottom is a fern. On the top left is a petunia I already had. On the right is a new plant I got, but I don't remember the name of it!

My petunia is looking a little ill. If anyone has any suggestions for how to nurse it back to health, I would love them!

Pics of the house

I feel that things have finally slowed down enough to actually post pictures of our house. Please remember that we haven't decorated anything yet!

This one view of the living room.

This is another view. I love the plantation shutters because I don't have to worry about window treatments!

Here is the master bedroom. We have two vanities that open into the room, each with their own closet.

This is the dining room. Thanks to Karson and Sharon for the table! It would have been on big empty room without it!

Here is the kitchen. I am standing in the office to take this picture.
Here is the built-in office. It is just off of the kitchen.

Don't Think I Mentioned It

Well, most people already know this news, but I never did officially blog about it. I got the job at Hunt Elementary in Murphy. It is still a part of the Plano ISD, like Mark's school is. There will be six 4th grade teachers, and 3 of us will be new to the school. Mark and I will only be about a mile apart and less than 10 minutes from home. I am looking forward to resting this summer, but I know that the fall semester will be new and exciting!

It's so sad!

Well, unfortunately the first pictures I get to post of my new house are not what I thought they would be! On Wednesday night we had a storm blow through. It was raining like crazy when we went to bed about 10:30. At about 12:30 we were startled awake by a sound we did not recognize. I was still half asleep so I didn't bother with it. But, Mark was curious, so he got up to look around. When he walked back into the room, the look on his face told me it wasn't good news. He said, "It's our tree. It fell over and broke the fence." I went to the kitchen to look out our glass atrium doors into the back yard and this is what I saw.

The beautiful, big shade tree in our backyard had been blow over by the wind and knocked down part of our fence. We were both very, very sad about this. We loved that tree because it provided just the right amount of shade to our back patio. We had big plans to enjoy the outdoors this summer. We also had big plans to build a deck around that tree. Within minutes all of those plans were completely changed. I have to say I was actually heartbroken that night. I couldn't go back to sleep until about 3:00.

This was something mother nature caused and we knew there was nothing we could do about it, but clean up the mess. Two days now removed, I can see the "bright side" of this. Here are some "good" things about this incident.

1. God watched over us on that night. The tree fell on the fence and not on our house.
2. On Thursday Mark's dad, Tom, offered to help clean up.
3. Thursday afternoon when the men were about to get started, city workers showed up and removed the whole tree! The tree was blocking the alley, so they had chainsaws and a wood chipper and took care of it in about 45 minutes.
4. With the tree gone Tom and Mark were able to start repairing the fence right away.
5. At least the tree fell before we built our deck, and not afterwards.
6. Now we can plant whatever tree we want in the location of our choosing.

I had quite a few people at work say, "Welcome to homeownership." Yippee!

My Job Can Be Crazy!

Sorry it's been a while. I haven't hardly had a moment's rest since we moved in. However, something happened at work yesterday that I thought was interesting enough to share. On Thursday afternoon it is my "duty" to go outside and be the "traffic director" for the car line. My only job in this duty is to make sure the buses can get in and out. Some parents do not appreciate that this is my job. Here is what happened yesterday:

I asked a parent to stop and wait where she was so that the buses could get in when they came. Another parent zooms right around her and pulls into the spot I was trying to clear. So, I walk up the the lady, who I will now refer to as "rude woman" and tap on her window. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Did you not see that car stopped back there?
Rude woman: I thought she was parked too far back.
Me: She was parked there because I asked her to so the buses could get in.
Rude woman: Well, I don't see any buses.
Me: No, but they are about to come and you are in the way.
Rude woman: Well, it is too late for me to back up now.
Me: There is plenty of room for you to turn around and get out of the way.
Rude woman: No. (Then she rolls up her window while I am still standing there.)

By this point I am seething mad, which I rarely get. I know that I can't hit her car, b/c that would be ridiculous. Even though that is what I felt like doing! So, I stood there and thought about what I could do. So, 10 minutes later when the buses started to pull out, I went and stood directly in front of her car. With the buses cleared the car line could now pull forward. I continued to stand in front of her car and waved the other cars on. So, she tries to pull around me and I move over in front of her again. She eventually almost hits me and then pulls around me. I know that my actions were not the most mature, but it sure felt good! And, it has been a great story to share with coworkers!

Hello from Hondo Drive

This is going to be a very short blog. I just wanted to let you know that we are all moved in. We get to spend the first night in our new house tonight! Thanks so much to Tom and Nancy, my parents, and my brother for all of your help during the move. We also had great movers to move all of the furniture and most of the boxes. They were AB moving at abmoving.com. I recommend them! Oreo, our cat, has been hiding in various spots throughout the day. He is currently under the bed. Maybe tomorrow he will venture out. Good night!

Shout out

I want to give a HUGE shout out to Tom and Nancy! Yesterday, Mark and I were able to get into our house for the first time. Our big moving day isn't until Saturday, but we wanted to clean up a bit. We discovered that the previous owners hadn't mowed in about 1-2 months. So, Tom brought over his lawn equipment. He and Mark spent the evening taking care of the lawn. Nancy spent the evening sweeping our garage and 3 porches. I spent the evening wiping out kitchen cabinets. They were a huge help. I am VERY lucky to have such wonderful, supportive, and helpful in-laws!

Plano Job Fair

On Saturday I attended the Plano ISD job fair. We will be moving to our house this week. Mark's school is going to be less than 10 minutes away. I will now be commuting for 30-40 min. one-way. So, Mark and I decided that it would only make sense for me to search for a job in Plano. This was a hard decision to come to because I have really enjoyed my job is Lewisville. It has been a wonderful place to begin my career.

So, I show up at the job fair at 8:10, but the door don't open until 8:30. I already saw a line forming at the doors, but it was drizzly, so I decided to wait it out in my car. As I sat there, I saw the streams up applicants heading towards the school. The longer I sat the more dread a felt. All the self-confidence kind of fades away when you see hundred of people heading in to try and get the same job you want.

Once I finally made it inside I consulted my list of schools I wanted to talk to. I had "narrowed" the search to about 20. But, out of 40+ schools, that was less that half. I am lucky enough that my resume had already been passed around before the job fair by my friend Zack, who is a principal in Plano, and Mark's assistant principal and one of his other coworkers. When I walked up the 3rd table, the principal saw my name tag and, before I said one word, she said "Hattie! I've been looking out for you and I want to set up an interview!" I said, "Okay, let's do it!" She had already seen my resume, and was already interested. How easy! So, we set up an interview at Hunt Elementary for 1:00 that afternoon after the job fair. After that, I proceeded to finish my entire list of school and got out of the job fair at 10:40 or so. Most every school was very nice and encouraging. I was impressed the with job fair overall.

I went to the interview at 1:00. It lasted about 40 minutes and went very well. They actually have to hire three 4th grade teachers, which if very unusual. They currently have 5. However 2 are leaving and they are adding 1 more position b/c it is a growing area. So, I think my chances are pretty good b/c I have 5 years experience in 4th grade. The school is about 5 min. from our house and 2 min. from Mark's school. Hunt Elementary feeds into Murphy Middle School. Well, they ended the interview by saying they were going to check my references and they were "very, very interested" in me. Yea! This would be a wonderful job and opportunity.

So, if you are still with me after this very long blog, please keep me and this job opportunity in you prayers. Please also keep Mark and I in your prayers as we move this week!

Packing, Packing, Packing

I forgot how time consuming packing can be. It has been 2 1/2 years since we last moved, and I just seemed to have forgotten that it really is work! Of course, part of my problem is that I like to do it all myself. Mark offers to help, but I usually say, "No, thank you." I guess I am just a control freak about that. I'm not normally a control freak, but when it comes to packing our things, keep your hands off! I like to know it is done the way I want it done, and I also like to know where I put everything. I am carefully labeling each box to make sure it gets in the correct room. Yesterday I spent the entire afternoon packing our office. I didn't realize we had that much stuff in there. But, between all the books, decorations, and items we had stuffed in the closet, it took 20+ boxes. I have finally consented to let Mark pack the cd's, dvd's, desk supplies, computer items, and t.v/stereo equipment. But, goodness knows he won't do it until the last minute! My last big project to tackle is the kitchen, I will probably put that off for another week, because I want to still be able to eat at home. We get our keys to the house in a week from tomorrow! We will be able to get in and do small things and clean starting April 1. The movers come April 5! Yippee!

Washing woes

Over the last six weeks or so our washing machine has slowly gotten worse and worse. This machine is only 2 years old, which makes it even more frustrating. It wasn't spinning on the spin cycle. Sometimes it would spin, sometimes it wouldn't. We could usually get it to spin by running the rinse and spin cycle a second time. However, about a week and a half ago it stopped spinning altogether. This makes the machine pretty much useless, because it leaves the clothes sopping wet.

Last weekend we wanted to fix it, but Tom and Nancy were out of town. Mark usually likes to have Tom around when fixing things b/c he has great tools and even greater advice and insight. So, Tom and Nancy came over yesterday bringing tools to help with the washing machine and boxes for our move. Tom and Mark immediately got to work pulling the machine into the middle of the kitchen and disassembling it.


















Then they took it apart to the bare bones to try and diagnose the problem.














After about 4 hours of work, they finally think they had the diagnosis. There was a part on the very inside cylinder in the tub. The part had been worn and shaved down. This wearing caused it to not catch where it was supposed to, therefore not engaging the tub during spin cycle. So, they hopped in the car and drove to the nearest parts store.













When they returned they popped the part in and what do you know? It worked! It only took a $14 part! Here I have to give Mark props or he will get upset. Mark was the one who technically saw the part and deemed it as the problem. It took him a while to convince Tom of it.


















So, they put the machine back together, slid it into place and I have never been so happy to do laundry! I have always said that Mark is so lucky to have a dad as handy has Tom is. It seems that there is nothing they can't fix together. Thank you boys for fixing my washing machine and doing it for free labor! You are my heroes!

Here I Am!

I never thought that I would have my own blog. I never really understood why people had blogs or what they were really all about. However, over the last year I have become an avid reader of blogs. Many of my family and friends have started their own blogs. I have found it to be a really wonderful way to keep in touch with their lives. I feel more connected to them, even though we don't talk every day. The other day I was telling my sister, Jessica, how much I really enjoyed her blog. She encouraged me to start one of my own. So, after much thought, I have decided to give it a shot. I do not promise to be the most interesting, insightful, or humorous writer that you know. However, I do promise one thing I pride myself on, which is being real. So, I hope that you find this blog to be a real depiction of my life, whatever may come my way. Enjoy!