Summer Days

This summer was one of the craziest, busiest ones I can remember. 

I was so thankful that we both had the time off that we could do all these wonderful things. 

Our July:

1. 4th of July was spent BBQing and hanging out at the pool with the family.

2. Julia and Robbie's Wedding.
The following day we spent an extremely short, whirlwind weekend celebrating my best friends wedding in Colorado. It was absolutely gorgeous.

3. I had my first experience with jury duty.
Thankfully there were too many jurors and I got to go home almost immediately!

 

4. 7/11

 

5. Orlando Weekend

One of Kyle's best friends came down from Iowa to visit. 

So we made the trip up there to see them. 

The last time we saw them, his wife was 6 months pregnant. 

When we saw them this summer, they had a 4 month old. 

 

 

 

 

  Of course, no Orlando trip is complete without a stop at Harry Potter World. 

6. Boender Annual Colorado Trip.

The following weekend, it was back to Colorado for a week long stay.

 

Totally met Clark Duke on the way home!

7. This cutie turned 1!

As you can see, July was insanely busy, but full of wonderful memories.  

Hello Summer!

Between switching over computers, trips, and the end of the school year there just hasn't seemed to be any time!

However, it officially is summer now and I actually have time to post. 

Lots has happened since I took my unplanned break. 

1. My niece lost her first tooth!

It fell right out of her mouth after dinner one night and we had to search the sidewalk in the rain for it. Lucky for her, we found it and the tooth fairy was able to make her first appearance.

2. Right after that, she celebrated her 5th birthday!

We went to Legoland and Sea World to mark the occasion. 

Sea World has gotten way better over the years, Legoland, not so great.

       

3. It's been the beginning of wedding season around here. 

The following weekends were filled with bridal showers, including my beautiful best friend's!

4. That brought me right up to the end of the school year.
I'm so thankful my first year is finally over and can't wait to dive into next year!

Some lovely parting gifts!

5. Right after school ended, we left for a family vacation to the beach.
Despite Kyle and I getting slightly burned the first day, we had a lot of nice relaxing time hanging out on the beach.
           
6. We left vacation early in order to get back for my best friend's bachelorette party.
We stayed on the beach, and luckily it was gorgeous weather!
    \    

High Five for Christmas Break!

I love Friday! It's a chance to relax and get caught up on all the things I ignored during the week. 

This Friday I'm especially excited!

It's the last Friday of the school year. Hello, Christmas Vacation!

I definitely appreciate Christmas break as a teacher more than I did as a student. 

I can't wait to sleep in, celebrate Christmas, celebrate our 1st anniversary, and spend time with family.

1. One of the things to do on Kyle's countdown was to go see The Hobbit. 

He has been talking about this movie for over a year. 

Friday night, Kyle came home with matching shirts for us to wear to the movies. 

Yes, we were that dorky couple all dressed up for the movie. 

You know it's bad when the people you go with think it's dorky!

It really was a good movie though!

 

2. On Saturday, my beautiful best friend asked me to be her Matron of Honor. 

She was my Maid of Honor and I couldn't be happier to celebrate this wonderful occasion with her!

 3. Later that same day I got to go dress shopping with her. 

I never went dress shopping for my own wedding so I had a lot of fun experiencing it with her. 

She tried on dresses in practically every style. 

Don't worry, this wasn't one of her top ones!

 4. There is a light show right down the street from us that I had been wanting to do to. 

The park has done it for as long as I can remember, but I couldn't tell you the last time I went. 

Kyle works at the same park so we were able to go for free. 

I enjoyed being able to experience it, but I wouldn't pay as much as they ask to do it!

5. Rocking my Gator PJs to work today. 

Be Jealous!

The whole school is wearing pajamas and doing a Polar Express Day!

It should be a ton of fun and a great send off for break!

"I Believe"

Life Lately

Whenever my schedule gets a little off track it seems like it takes forever for me to catch up!

My beautiful childhood best friend got married to the love of her life on the 30th. 

I took off work to be in the wedding and let me tell you, it's more stressful to be away from class than actually in it.

The wedding was gorgeous despite the windy day and we had a great time together. 

True to form I have no photos. 

At least this time I have somewhat of an excuse since I was in the wedding.

Later that weekend Kyle and I bought our first Christmas tree!

My family has always done fake trees, so for our first Christmas we decided to purchase a live one.

Update on Kyle's countdown:

It's been going pretty well. I can't believe we're almost halfway done!

Some of the things have been, 

Quality Time- Setting up our Christmas Tree

Acts of Service- A back rub

Words of affirmation- notes about things I love or am thankful for

Gifts- S'more night

I've been crazy busy at school. I can't believe how life seems to get away from you when you're constantly busy. 

Christmas is quickly approaching and I've been loving starting all of the Christmas activities with my students. 

It's so exciting to see how much they are progressing!

Some of the things we've been working on are colors and sorting. 

I found this great magnet activity at the dollar store that paired both together. 

This little cutie was so excited that he was able to do it on his first try!

I love watching their joy when they are so excited about their learning.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with everything instead of coming home and crashing!