Just checking in... real quick

Merry Christmas!!!

I wanted to stop in and say hi since it's been a while since I've blogged.  Farmboy and I just got back to my apartment from his family's Christmas Eve get together.  In the morning we'll go to my parents' to open presents and eat breakfast.

Future posts:

Vegas trip
Snow, ice, slippery mess that I love
Christmas goodies!

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!!

Christmas Survey

Cee at Curiosity posted this survey, so I stole it!

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Wrapping for the family, bags for coworkers and that sort of thing

2. Real tree or Artificial?

 Artificial tree!  I can't handle the needles and the sneezing!  Actually to be technical I have no tree, it's up at FB's house.

3. When do you put up the tree?

     We put up our tree at FB's the day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?

     I usually take mine down right after New Year's day.  FB informed me that it won't come down until middle of January after the story of Magi Sunday.

5. Do you like eggnog?

    I like a half of a glass once a year, that is usually just enough.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

     One year Dad built a fort with swing and slide and rope ladder and cool stuff like that.  He had built it at a neighbor's house and somehow got it into the backyard in the middle of the night.  So we could see it when we first woke up.  Of course at the time, I thought Santa brought it.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

     Farmboy, because I want it to be the perfect gift.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

    My mom, she usually tells me about ten things she'd like.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

    My mom has collected the Willowtree Nativity.  It's so pretty!  FB and I talked about the need to get one for his house/my future place. 

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

      This is the first year I've done cards for lots of people, and I'm mailing them.  They're also save the date cards, two birds one stone... that's my style :)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

       I honestly can't think of any really horrible gifts.  We've done white elephant gifts from time to time, and those are intentionally bad.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

      National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is by far the most hilarious ever!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

        My routine changes from year to year.  This year I've done quite a bit online, so I'm almost done.  I'll finish when I get back from my mini-vacay.  The day before Christmas Eve.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

      Yes, I do that some with coworkers and acquaintances that think we should exchange presents when we really don't need to.  Do yall have those people?  I just don't get exchanging presents with all of the people I know, I would rather simplify and spend more on those that truly impact my life.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

      Christmas brunch

16. Lights on the tree?

      We have a white prelit tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

      Carol of the Bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

       I like staying around home, but sometimes we go to Kansas City to see extended family. 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

      I think so, it may take a little while for me to remember all of them.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

      Growing up we've had both throughout the years, but this year it's a multicolored lit star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

       We usually get to open one present after Christmas Eve service, so technically they're all opened on Christmas day. 

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

      long lines and traffic and people who are rude

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?

      My ornaments are all blue and silver and glittery.  I also really like looking at all the ones from when my brother and I were babies.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner?

       We do Christmas breakfast.  It's different from year to year.

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year?

       I'm excited to spend most of the day with my family on Christmas, then most of New Year's with FB's family.

26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up?

       Christmas Eve service at 11:00.  It's candlelit, so by the end of Silent Night the whole room is lit with candles.  Everyone has a candle to hold up high for the last verse.  Then after the service you leave and it's Christmas and you can be the first to wish each other Merry Christmas.

27. Favorite tradition now?

      Going to everyone's house for Christmas to celebrate and see people you haven't seen in a while.

Christmas Shopping

So I was really worried and dreading the shopping, but it was not so bad.  Academy was good, we got what we needed without much hassle there.  Lowe's was great!  There weren't even lines at the check out there.  Then we went to Walmart, this is where the evening began to unravel a bit.  It was a zoo!  However, we did run into my mom who was getting some pictures printed for her Christmas cards.  Then it got worse at Kohl's, I couldn't find what I wanted in the whole store.  Even if I'd found what I wanted, the lines were all so long I probably would've given up!  Overall it wasn't too terrible, so I suppose we'll call it a success. :)

This lil piggy went to market...

And this lil piggy will probably run all the way home crying "Wa wa wa wa wa"

We're going Christmas shopping tonight.  As you can probably see, I'm not super excited!  I'm kind of the opposite!  There will be tons of people in not a lot of space.  But I'm going to try to get in a Christmasy spirit!  I think I can, I think I can...

I'll let ya know how that goes for me!

Picture of the day

OK so there's more than one picture of the day today.  We got the CD from our photographer, so I've been looking at all 294 of them!  My photographer rocks my socks off!  Other than a few with us making weird faces, there is not one single bad picture in the bunch!  Her photography is great in all of them, even if we weren't quite cooperating.  Anyway, I've got the save the date/Christmas cards ordered.  Hopefully I'll get around to sending them all off soon, so they're not too late. :)

I'm not particularly fond of the way I look in this picture, but I love it when FB kisses my head like that!

Really like the background in this one!

One of Farmboy's favorites.

We're at the lake!

You may think this makes me crazy, but I really really love the lake this time of year!  Well anytime when it's too cold to do the typical lake things.  Right now there are maybe 3 other condos occupied, it's so quiet!  Plus look at the view this morning!

This picture doesn't do it justice, there's a haze coming off the lake, and the sun's just coming up over the hills.  I'm really glad we got to get away.  The reason we're here is to build FB's brother's Christmas present.  FB's best friend lives here and has all the needed equipment.  If we ever move to this area I must insist we have lake view!  That'll go over well, the insisting... hehe

Hope y'all have a great weekend planned as well!   Oh, did I mention this lake has a major outlet mall?  Yea, Christmas shopping here I come!

More Engagement Pictures

Just posting these cuz.... well cuz I wanna. :)  I heard from my photographer's mother, whom I work with, that the picture CD should be done soon!  Yay!

Tell me do you like the second one here, or the first one in the earlier post??  I need a good up close picture for all the save the date and engagement announcement stuff.

Thankful!

This year I'm going to post my thanksgiving "what I'm thankful for..." in the form of pictures.  So here goes...

My amazing love!  There aren't enough words to explain how thankful I am to have him in my life!

My supercool parents.  They're so fun and do so much for me.

The great friends I have, they all mean so much to me!  This is the adorable Glamorous Newlywed at her bachelorette party.

And I couldn't leave out this little precious.  She definitely adds color and loads of personality to my life!

We picked a reception location.

We decided to go with an old creamery.  It has indoor and outdoor space, so now we just have to decide how to decorate.  The patio has bocce ball, so I need to learn how to play.  We're thinking about putting lots of fun games and activities outside, and food and dancing inside.  We'll see how it all turns out.

I stole this picture from Google images... So thanks google?

Engagement picture preview!

Here are a couple pictures to get us started.  These are the ones Audrey posted on her facebook, so of course I stole them.  If anyone is in the Southwest Missouri area, she is so great plus she's SUPER reasonably priced.  She does this on the side, so we got together yesterday afternoon.  Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you in contact with her.

Here's a couple of my favorites.  I'll post some in the future and you all can help us decide what we should use for our save the dates.

Thank you Cee!

The super cute Cee at Curiosity sent me this sweet award.

The rules are pretty simple...  10 tidbits about myself, then nominate 10 bloggers.

1.  I am exactly 6 months away from being Mrs. Farmboy!  I couldn't be more thrilled, and to celebrate the occasion we had our engagement pictures taken.  I look forward to getting them in a couple weeks to share with y'all.

2.  This is my fifth year teaching and I learn something new everyday I teach.  I hope to be able to say that in another 15 years or so.  I'd be so bored if I didn't learn anything and just worked to pay bills.

3.  My favorite dessert is cherry chocolate cake.  My mom makes it every year for my birthday.  She also laughs about it being my favorite, because it is the world's easiest cake.  She made it early for me this year, because I'll be with the future in-laws for the actual day.

4.  This is the fourth time I will celebrate my birthday and Thanksgiving on the same day.  1987, 1992, 1998, and this year all have had Thanksgiving on the 26th.  The next time this will happen is 2015.

5.  Since my b-day is during Thanksgiving break, I've rarely had to work or go to school on my birthday.  One of many reasons that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

6.  Using initials from both Farmboy and I we can make up a chunk of the alphabet in order.  JKLM

7.  I get giddy around the holidays.  It's just so much fun to have a little extra time to spend with family or enjoy some down time.  I also really hate the stores from now until January.  Busy stores make me feel very uneasy!

8.  I took a motive matters quiz last night and I'm a blue.  That means I'm generally motivated by intimacy and love.  Is that the least bit surprising to anyone??   Farmboy's white, which means he's motivated by peace.  So true he does love keeping the peace.

9.  This is my 120th post.

10.  I really dislike cats, and I blame it on my childhood pet.  When I was little I helped a neighbor while they were on vacation.  When they got back their cat had kittens, so for pay I got first pick.  I chose a little yellow stripey one that I called Tigger.  Soon after Tigger grew past kitten stage, he turned into Tiger.  Dad said we should change his name when we found out he was a boy.  As he grew he definitely turned into more of a Tiger.  I was the only one who liked this cat, and I was the only one who he hated!    Tiger would run at me and tear around my legs then take off with no reason or provocation I could ever figure out.  He just really enjoyed making me bleed.  So now I try to avoid adult cats as much as possible.  But I'm with Cee when she says she still finds kittens precious.

I nominate anyone who would like to share 10 tidbits about themselves with the bloggy world.

Rain rain go away...

Well the rain has cancelled our engagement photo shoot. :(  But I plan on enjoying my rainy Sunday afternoon anyway.  Farmboy and I have been to church, lunch, and a couple errands, so now we can be total bums for a while.  I do enjoy a good rainy day every now and then, even though it ruined our plans.  The minute we walked into the apartment, I changed into my cozy pajama pants and curled up on the couch.  Hope next week goes just a bit smoother than this week has!  I'm sure it will, wishing everyone a great week to come.

Rocky Raccoon strikes back

Apparently initial diagnosis was not so accurate, probably because it was done in the dark of early evening...  I know this is off topic but I don't like night coming at 6:00!  OK, back to my poor car.  When I killed poor Rocky, it did a lot more damage than I had hoped.  The black plastic skirt thing that goes under most cars these days is shattered.  The radiator is dented and pushed into the air conditioner coils.  I vaguely have some clue of what my fiance and dad mean when they say all these words to me, and my small amount of knowledge knows it's gonna cost me. :(  Dad thinks he and FB could fix it, but parts might be pretty close to my deductible anyway.  If that's the case we'll just let insurance deal with it after my deductible.  This kinda put a damper on my Friday evening.  Do you ever feel just a tad overwhelmed??  I'm there now.   Thankfully FB is amazing and pulls me back to Earth every time I start to skyrocket.  It's just piling up a tad bit more than I like to let things pile.  Car, engagement pics, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas presents!, wedding, work, fixing up FB's house, moving in with FB this summer.  I know I'm skipping ahead a few months, but that's how my brain goes.  So needless to say, Rocky I'm not sorry!  Hehe, ok I'm kidding.  Please don't send PETA after me.  I'm going to slow down and worry about this week, let next week worry about itself til I get there.

Rocky Raccoon meets his maker...

So I killed a raccoon last night on the way to Farmboy's house. :(  It's the first time I've ever killed anything with my car!  He was scurrying across the highway with one of his little furry friends, his friend kept right on going.  However, Rocky raccoon decided to chance fate and turn tail and run...  Fate caught up with him by way of my right front bumper. 

Then my car decided it didn't like being a murderer, so it overheated!  Luckily I could see FB's driveway.  I walked in his door and said, "I killed a raccoon, and it killed my car."  Followed by tears.  Of course this confused the FB, but he handled it well.  He handed me his keys and said we'd check it out and I'd take his car until it was taken care of...  And now we realize one more reason why I'm so crazy in love with this man!

Hopefully, if FB's initial diagnosis holds, it's just a small leak or hose.  Something that won't cost an arm and a leg.  I wonder what my insurance lady would say if I told her a raccoon killed my car?  I really hope it won't be bad enough to mess with insurance.  Going to call my dad after school to find out what he thinks.  My life... never dull.  Not always fun, but never dull.  Hope y'all had a better Wednesday evening. 

We found THE One!!

Bought my dress today!  I'm so excited to have something finished!  I'd love to post a gazillion pictures of it, but FB would see... we don't want that!  If you're curious shoot me an email and I'll email pics to ya.  We looked at bridesmaids dresses a little bit too.  One of my nieces went with us too, so we looked at jr. bridesmaids dresses for her.  Both nieces will be candle lighters.  I found some of those that I love!  And I can post them.  yay!

These are all Forever Bridals dresses from foreverbridals.com   Just picture all of them in turquise/tealy kind of color.  Probably with a brown sash.  Or possibly brown with teal sash.  Very bright and fun.

Family Dinner

We try to have dinner at my parents house once a week or 2.  Tonight was family night.  My brother and his family brought Chick-fil-a! YUM!  It was their elementary school's night where proceeds help their school, so it was an easy choice.  We got to talking about our Christmas lists.  Farmboy couldn't think of much of anything... He's just a tad bit difficult to shop for.  Not as bad as other guys I know.  My dad is hard to shop for.  Anyway, I'm getting off track.  My post was more about what y'all want for Christmas.  Please do share... What's on your lists??

New Blogger Alert!!

My Farmboy is an official blogger now!  Please go check him out.  He even kept my lovingly given nickname.  reflectionsofafarmboy.blogspot.com   He tells me he's planning on writing about us, wedding stuff, work, and all his hobbies.

My love/hate relationship with Halloween

I love the super cute Halloween costumes!  I hate that we had lots of scary kid costumes at school yesterday.  I love that one teacher brought her itty bitties as Luigi and Mario.  I hate that we had a couple boys dressed as girls... there's something truly weird about wanting to dress up like a girl when you're a fourth grader.  Oh, yea I do love these adorable Halloween pics of my precious pup.

She doesn't like her spider hoodie when I make her wear the hood.

Love the lady bug!  Speaking of lady bugs... I hate that Farmboy's house (my future home) has lady bugs that infiltrate every fall when it gets cold.  We've got to figure out where they're coming in.

Back to Halloween.  I have always loved and hated this holiday.  I really do love seeing the kids that I know and love having such a great time!  This year I hate that I can't pig out on whatever candy I want.  I've joined Weight Watchers, so I'm trying to be good.

In other news... I'm going dress shopping today!  I would love to post some pictures, however, I know Farmboy loves to read the blog. And we wouldn't want him to have any hints now would we?

Hope you all have a terrific Halloween!

Talking Tuesday.... Yea, yea, I know it's been a loooong time...

I am really really cold!  At recess duty today I thought my fingers were going to fall off.  It's been yucky outside for all of October.  Also, my car is in the shop.  Which is almost alway bad news!  However, even though I'm frozen and my car was broken, I'm in a great mood.

I can't really explain it, guess I've just been better at looking at things half full lately.  My car was still under waranty, so I only have to pay for the alignment.  My amazing father is going to do the other stuff, that the shop acts like they need to do.  My fiance was sweet enough to come pick me up last night, when I dropped my car off at the shop.  He then let me borrow his car, so I wouldn't be inconvenienced.  We got to have a relaxing evening watching some very entertaining sitcoms.  Oh yea, and the biggest thing that keeps me as a glass half full kind of girl lately, I'm gettin' married!

Anyway, I'm in a great mood even with super cold weather.... What makes you happy even in yucky weather??

By popular demand...

Since apparently I've been a slacker, I thought I'd better post a couple wedding ideas. 

Guests can write little notes and hang on the tree branches.  Then later I can take all the notes and create a book of well wishes.  Maybe a good idea for the reception.

I really love this decorating option without the brown ribbon.  I've really had trouble finding my outdoorsy barn-like venue.  So I may not get what I want.  But for now the search is still on for the perfect reception location.  This area just does not have good locations at all.  No restored barns or anything, trust me I've looked!  Any ideas for a fun outdoor location that's on the rustic side??
Thank you theknot.com for pics.

Surprise Guest Post!

Howdy sweet friends! Glamorous Newlywed here, bringing you a surprise (as in Miss Lovin a Farm Boy had no idea this was going to happen :) guest post AND a little bloggy makeover!

As you know, Miss Lovin-A-Farm-Boy recently got engaged {super-exciting, OMG} to her Farm Boy! I decided that this warranted a little blog face-lift to reflect this fabulous event! (secret alterior motive: hoping this will inspire Miss LAFB to post more wedding ideas/inspiration. Ssshhhh. Don't tell her.)

Here's a little inspiration to get her started...

Insurance Companies Suck... plus first wedding idea

I'm sick... yet again.  Apparently schools are breeding ground for germs... uh duh!  I haven't received my new insurance card yet, so I've had to call about 6 different 800 numbers, talk to my HR lady 4 times, and it took her calling them twice to finally get it fixed!  UGH!  I think I spent a good 2 hours messing with that crap.  Then went to the doctor and was there for a solid 2 hours too.  Apparently everyone and their brother is sick.  They made me wear a mask too.

I'm so happy to be back home waiting on my Rx to be filled, that I thought I'd give you a peak of one idea I'm thinking about for the wedding.  We've decided for a May wedding, after school is out.

What do y'all think of this for color scheme?  I think I'll let my 2 bridesmaids pick their own style in this color.  We're also thinking about having our reception in a barn or outside.

Thank you  theknot.com for the great picture.

Big Excitement at the Pumpkin Patch

So we started out our Sunday fairly ordinarily. FB and I went to church with his sister and mother. We came back to the farm and worked on getting ready to open the pumpkin patch for the afternoon. My parents had planned to come out for pumpkins, then for lunch. FB had bigger plans. When my parents arrived we hung out checked out the attractions, even went through a corn maze. Then FB called me out to help him pick some pumpkins. We all went out to the actual pumpkin patch area, where he was out in the middle. He told me to come get this pumpkin, which sounded pretty normal to me. Then when he hands it to me he turns it around. It said, "Kara, will you marry me?" I screamed then tackled him.

He really is in there somewhere, see the maroon hat?? He had put the ring on the stem, but I totally missed that. I was too excited about the whole will you marry me thing. :)

We both wore these goofy grins for the rest of the day. After we all calmed down a little, my parents picked the pumpkins they'd come out for. We also had an amazing lunch from FB's mom.

Didn't he do a great job on the ring?? I spent the afternoon calling people in between families coming to the pumpkin patch. Can't wait to tell everyone at work tomorrow! I will def. be in need of opinions on numerous wedding ideas for the next few months, so stay tuned. :)

The goat meets the sheep

Farmboy's family does a big pumpkin patch every year. Complete with pumpkins, gourds, corn mazes, corn tanks, and animals. This weekend we moved the sheep over from FB's brother's place to the pumpkin patch. Elvis the goat already was there, so we just added Tootsie Roll and Charlotte to his space. Elvis got a little territorial, and the sheep thought he was fun to play with. Here's my first attempt at video uploading... we'll see how it goes. I tried to edit the video with my imovie, but I got frustrated. Instead you get the unedited version, please ignore the conversation I finished with Glamorous Newlywed and whatever else I said. I couldn't help but laugh at Elvis acting all tough and big.

Sick at Home

This is the second sick day I've had to take this school year. I don't know if it's moving back from a different climate/environment. Or maybe it's just this year everything seems to be getting passed around. Whatever the reason that I'm getting sick more often is, it stinks! I hate missing work, it messes my kids' schedules up, they don't get the extra help they need, and I have to find people to cover my recess duty. Oh yea, and I really don't enjoy being sick. However, I did enjoy not getting dressed and ready, and watching all the morning shows. What's your take on sick days? Have you noticed an increase? What's your fav/least fav thing about them?

Thank you Cee! Cee was sweet enough to award me with the Kreativ Blogger Award. She has a super fun blog, Curiosity. Go check her out along with two of the cutest puppies ever! The object is to come up with 7 facts about yourself that we probably don't already know.

Here are the exciting rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Weird fact #1

I am typically quite the rule follower, but occasionally I get a very strong urge to break some rules. I should say written rules. Like today we were at Silver Dollar City in Branson. While there we saw a sign that said "Don't look in this hole" Of course everyone is going to look just out of sheer curiosity. Instead I didn't look in the hole. Maybe that makes me a crazy rule follower. Back to the original point.... When I see signs like stay off the grass and other signs like that I have the very strong urge to run in the middle of said grass and roll around in it.

Weird fact #2

About 75% of my close friends and family are in education or were at some time. Both Farmboy and I plan on staying in education our entire careers. Every household of my extended family has at least one educator.

Weird fact #3

I would rather watch Gilmore Girls on repeat for the rest of my life than be subjected to any more reality shows that play matchmaker! Yes I know there's a whole bunch of you crazy bachelor/bachelorette watchers that are gasping right now. I'm really NOT a fan.

Weird fact #4

I love to bake, but would rather not have to clean up ever again. OK I don't think that one is so unique, nobody likes to clean up. I really do love to make cookies though. My pumpkin cookies will be coming up shortly... YUM!

Weird fact #5

Never really thought of myself as that great at video games. Then FB wanted to play Lego Indiana Jones on XBox, soo I played along. Who knew I'd like it so much! We got addicted to it there for a little while, then his XBox went on the fritz. Guess we'll have to wait to get it back to see what other video games I can get into now.

Weird fact #6

I tie my shoes differently than every other family member. This always leads to the question... who taught you how to tie your shoes? I honestly don't remember. I would've thought my older brother would have tried to help me learn, or for sure my parents. How I picked up an entirely different technique... I dunno!

Weird fact #7

I grew 2 or 3 inches in college. Usually girls are supposed to stop growing by their sophomore year of high school, but I did not. Now I'm 5'8"

I tag everyone who would like to be Kreativ and share some weird facts with blogworld. If you take the award, comment on here so we know to go check it out.

Labor Day weekend recap

I'm a little behind in my blogging lately, so I'll do a recap of the long weekend. Farmboy went on a weekend outing with the guys in my family. FB, Dad, my brudder, and my uncle all went to Arkansas and canoed 23 miles in 3 days. They're crazy, but hey they had a good time.

While the boys were gone, the girls had lots of fun! Saturday my mother hired a manicurist and a masseuse to come to her house. My mom, my aunt, my sister-in-law, her mother, her friend, and my 2 nieces all got super pampered. I LOVED getting a massage, it's been a very long time! I liked it so much I scheduled another one for the end of this month.

Sunday was just as enjoyable. My best friend from high school and I had lunch then hung out most of the afternoon. I also got to have dinner with a few work friends. Then to top it all off my best friend from high school came back over with another friend for a little slumber party.

Overall it was a great weekend, I even got a couple hours of farmboy time Monday. I picked him up from my parents, after a fun filled day of laundry. Hope your weekend was great as well.

Movies

I'm sick at home today, soo I was thinking about all the movies I wish I was watching.  Instead I've only put my glasses on a couple times today, because they hurt my nose... oh the pressure.  Anyway, I thought about all the great kids' books that are movies these days.  It's great!  Makes getting kids interested in reading pretty easy when there's a great movie to go along with it!  I'm super excited about cloudy w/ a chance of meatballs, coming out soon.There's also Winn Dixie with was a great one and who can forget Flicka!

But the most exciting thing is Where the Wild Things Are!!!  It just looks so great!  The previews make it look just like the illustrations, so hopefully it'll be all I've built it up in my mind to be. :)

Well I'm going back to bed, hope you all have a great Tuesday evening!

Yay! A trip out of town!

Farmboy and I got to get away for the day yesterday!  After a full week of school and craziness, we both needed a day out of town.  FB even had to break up a fight with a couple of his kids, apparently high school's a little more exciting than I remember.  Anyway, we took about an hour drive and enjoyed Bass Pro Shop, Macaroni Grill, a movie, the mall, and Carlos O'Kelly's.

     Oh and we also took a tour of our college days.  We both went to the same school, yet didn't meet until 5 years later.  FB was a senior when I was a freshman, the crazy thing is we lived within 2 blocks of each other just a couple years apart.  We had fun driving around talking about dorm life and crappy college houses.  

     FB and I watched The Shorts at the matinee.  It was actually really cute.  It's the movie about the magic wishing rock.  Yes, FB and I like kids' movies.  I've also found a new love for legos games on xbox 360.  FB bought legos Indiana Jones on a whim and I've gotten a little addicted.  

     Alright this post has gotten a little derailed.  My point, I believe, was how much we enjoyed the much needed time out of town.  Soo I'm off to finish laundry and clean a lil.

Blonde Moment!

So farmboy and I were driving back from the farm to his house.  We drive the same highway every single trip, so I know it fairly well.  Anyway, I'm sleepily watching the scenery roll by as FB drives.  I broke the silence with "A ZEBRA!!"  FB, of course, used to my tendency to shriek when surprised, said "No it wasn't."  I asked if he'd seen it, and he had not!  I was still convinced it was a zebra.  So today we're driving and I'm intent on proving my case.  Well sadly I didn't get to gloat about being right... The zebra was really a horse.  But in my defense the horse had been dyed zebra print.  Yes that's right, some farmer decided to paint zebra stripes on their horse!  My question to you, blogger friends,  WHY?? Who has time for that?

Surprise!! Surprise!!

I came home from a loooong day at school today.  We had our open house for parents and kids, so I just stayed there instead of driving clear home just to go back.  Anyway, when I came home I was welcomed be not just one but two surprises!  

The first was the cutest card from Farmboy!  He found a really sweet "Hoops and YoYo" card that talks of course.  He was here to take care of lil' Holly, who would of been doing the "I have to tinkle" dance for quite a while without him.  I'm so glad he likes my lil girl!  Thanks love!

The second surprise is the wonderful layout change!  I do love my Adventurous Newlywed!  She's so great!  I could say that this was planned change to celebrate the 100th post, but I'm not that with it.  So instead I'll just say thanks to her, and Happy 100th Post to everyone else.

It's about time..

So it's taken me a few days to get around to this.  My bestie posted her version here, so I thought I'd answer the questions too.

~What is your salad dressing of choice?~
Ranch 

~What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?~
Red Onion, or there are several I could name in Dallas but that'll have to wait til the next time I visit

~What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?~
Chick-fil-a, or chip n dip

~What are your pizza toppings of choice?~
I like fairly basic stuff, sausage pepperoni or just cheese

~What do you like to put on your toast?~
I rarely eat toast, but I love apple butter.  There's an actual apple butter making festival nearby, it's so great!

~How many televisions are in your house?~
2 one in the living room and one in the bedroom

~What color cell phone do you have?~
White

~Are you right-handed or left-handed?~
right

~Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
They took my wisdom teeth out when I was in high school

~What is the last heavy item you lifted?~
a gate when I helped FB move his hay

~Have you ever been knocked unconscious?~
I don't think so...

~If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?~
No!  I worry enough as it is.

~If you could change your name, what would you change it to?~
Hopefully I'll get to change my last name sometime soonish

~Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?~
No, maybe for $10,000

~Last run-in with a cop?~
It's been a while, just a traffic stop.

~Last person you talked to?~
FB's sister in law and her 2 kids

~Last person you hugged?~
Farmboy :)

~Favorite Season?~
Fall, school starts, it cools down, the leaves get so pretty, then there's the holidays!

~Holiday?~
Thanksgiving

~Day of the week?~
Saturday

~Month?~
November, October's pretty good too!

~First place you went this morning?~
FB's house, we went up to his family farm to hay and work on the pumpkin patch.

~What's the last movie you saw?~
FB took me to see the Proposal last weekend.  It was really good.

~Do you smile often?~
Of course!

~Do you always answer your phone?~
Almost always, I don't get very many calls from unknown numbers or anything

~It's four in the morning and you get a text message who is it?~
It used to be my bestie, but she doesn't have to deal with crap like she used to

~If you could change your eye color what would it be?~
I like my hazel.

~What flavor drink do you get at Sonic?~
Vanilla Coke

~Do you own a digital camera?~
Umm... yea...

~Have you ever had a pet fish?~
My family did when I was young.

~Favorite Christmas song?~
Oh I can't pick just one!  I guess the Ay Ay Ay it's Christmas song is pretty good.  Probably the only Ricky Martin song I care to hear.

~What's on your wish list for your birthday?~
I could think of a ton of things, but what fun would that be??  I'd rather get a true surprise.

~Can you do push ups?~
I haven't tried in a very long time!

~Can you do a chin up?~
LOL that's funny! eh... no

~Does the future make you more nervous or excited?~
excited

~Do you have any saved texts?~
I don't delete any of my texts, so I suppose I've saved the last 100 I've received 

~Ever been in a car wreck?~
Yep, but I've never caused any

~Do you have an accent?~
I don't think so

~What is the last song to make you cry?~
The new country song about praying for his kids n wife no more me myself and I.  Can't think of the song or singer... Couldn't find it on Itunes either.

~Plans tonight?~
I just got home from the farm, so I'm crashing. Getting ready for my first week of school.

~Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?~
No I don't think so.

~Name 3 things you bought yesterday?~
Dinner at Wendy's for FB and me

~Have you ever been given roses?~
yep, but I liked my tulips better

~Current worry?~
That I won't get a desk before school starts.

~Current hate right now?~
laundry and sweat

~Met someone who changed your life?~
More than one person

~How did you bring in the New Year?~
FB and I spent the evening with his brother and sister-in-law and their kids

~What were you doing 12 AM last night?~
sleeping

~What was the first thing you thought when you woke up?~
ugh, it's too early!

Help!

I'm on a hunt for girly desk organizers and a desk calendar.  I've gone to all the stores in my local area, which I must say not promising.  The lovely Target has cute stuff, but I had higher hopes for my desk.  See this year I just have a desk, because I'll be helping in other classes not teaching my own.  I'll pull small groups of kids to help reading.  So since I don't get to go full out with a whole room, my desk gets all the brunt of my need to decorate.  So my friends, please fill me in where am I forgetting to look??

Dessert Date

Farmboy took me out on the town Friday night.  We decided to do appetizer and dessert, because we rarely order either when we go out for dinner.  I am a chocaholic, so I miss out on a lot of the great restaurant desserts.  Luckily my "I'd rather eat a banana than chocolate" boyfriend, loves me enough to indulge my sweet-tooth occasionally.  We had Cheddar's sampler, followed by the Cookie Monster!

It started out delish!  And as you can see it ended just terribly.  Heh Just kiddin it was fantastic!  FB even let me have the last perfect bite, equal parts cookie and whipped cream with just a bit of ice cream and hot fudge.  Then he drew me this picture.  Can you see what it is he wrote??
Isn't he the sweetest!  Sweeter than the cookie monster we devoured. I heart you too Farmboy!

He's at the state convention for career and tech. teachers until Wednesday.  What will I do with the spare time?? I suppose I should get ready for school.  I'll leave you with a very amusing shot of FB and I on tractors that were way too small.Hope that gives ya a laugh or two.  Have a good Monday!

You know it's time to go back to school when...

When you feel like yelling at Meredith Vieira after she starts each news story.  I mean really... We know more about the beer choices of the pres, vp, and 2 guys who should've never made it to TV, but very few of Americans could name their senators.  We hear all about how well the two women are getting along with each while figuring out a custody battle of celebs kids, yet we hear nothing about the hundreds of thousands of kids in foster care needing loving stable homes!  Ugh! I feel a few different rants coming on all at the same time!  I'm just saying the things media feel like putting on TV is so out of whack lately.  Don't even get me started on the seven year old joy-rider whose only punishment is no TV or video games for 4 days, yet he gets to go to NYC and be on TV. UGH!!

It's time for me to get back to school and stop watching morning news shows.  It's also time to take Holly outside, she's looking out the door longingly!

Isn't she cute?? Sorry for the ranting, I promise my next post will be more entertaining.  Oh and if you were wondering about the go-carts... I totally won!  Farmboy couldn't come close to my speed and skill. :)  The second game my niece and her friend totally beat all of us, in one of those double carts!  

Turtleheads

While my BFF was in town my parents wanted to take us all out to eat.  My parents are the typical midwestern couple, however occasionally they like things and it completely blows my mind!  Turtleheads is one of these strange things, it just does not compute!  

Turtleheads is a bar that attracts bikers, women who want to be biker babes, and apparently my parents.  They like to go have dinner after church some Saturday evenings... yes, I said dinner at a bar after church.  LOL My parents really do crack me up.  So anyway, back to my real point.  My parents took Farmboy, BFF, and me to dinner.  It was awesome!
We started with some refreshing drinks, with flamingoes!  Turtleheads is known for their seafood, so we all got sea creatures.  Mom had boiled shrimp, FB had boiled crawfish (did you know they serve those things whole?? I don't like the idea of eating something that still has a face!) Dad and bestie both had the sampler platter (which included oysters), and I had fried shrimp with sweet potato fries!  It was sooo good.  Bestie and Farmboy tried oysters for the first time, and neither plan on repeating that experience.  If y'all head to her blog, and beg real nice, hopefully she'll post both reactions.  They're pretty priceless.  After dinner on the patio a band began to play some fairly good music.  Farmboy is pretty talented at "name that tune."  All and all a good time with the parentals and friends.  Tonight FB and I are going go-carting with my whole family.  I plan on leaving them all in the dust!

Winston continued

My bestie wrote about her Winston modeling for the camera here.  I felt the need to add to the post with a couple pictures of my own.  Here is the "I can't believe you let that fluff ball on the couch but not me" pose.  Shortly after this shot Holly decided to use Winston's head as a trampoline.
Here Winston gives us a "When is that mop thing going home?" pose.  Taken shortly after Holly landed squarely on his head.  Also known as the "I have a raging headache" look.
Lastly is the "I'm the top dog" pose.  They really do like each other.... I think. :)  At least I tell myself they're best buds.
Winston:  I can't wait to see your momma... only 9 more days!!!

Talking Tuesday

Farmboy not too subtly reminded me of my Talking Tuesdays duty, one that I'd forgotten lately.  So today I want to talk about doctors.  I went with my grandfather to the doctor today.  He's lost most of his hearing, so we usually send a family member to talk loudly for him.  I really disliked his doctor!  I'm usually not picky about doctors at all.  You know you go in get checked out then find out what you need to do.  This guy, however, was annoying.  If you know someone can't hear very well, would you talk to them directly or talk to their chart/ the wall.  I repeated several things to Papa, yet the doctor continued to talk to the wall.  I haven't been that annoyed in quite a long time!  So what's annoying you??

Summer Bummin!

Holly and I have been total bums lately!  I swear to you Holly sat exactly like that, no posing at all.  Promise!  We're just rolling our way through the Gilmore Girls series... yes I do mean the series.  Farmboy and I went to my family's reunion last weekend.  It was a lot of fun!  FB and I tubed behind my uncle's boat and seadoo-ed.  Is seadooed a word??  Apparently not based on the squiggly red lines.  I definitely like driving the seadoo better than riding while FB drove.  I accidentally hit a wave a lil harder than I should have, family was impressed FB hurt his ankle.  oops  Anyway, now we're getting ready for FB's reunion tomorrow.  Well more correctly FB and family are getting ready, and I'm watching Gilmore Girls.  The reunion should be a blast, great food, fun, and fireworks!  I plan on taking pictures if I'm not too busy with the fun!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Parents, pumpkins, and planning

Mom and I went shopping today.  Yay!  I love the opportunity to hang out with either of my parents, especially when it involves possibility of free clothes or food.  I got a little of both!  Mom wanted my opinion on furniture and clothes at the mall.  She also took me to Banana Republic.  I found a really cute outfit for school when it starts back up.

A really fun tshirt that has a cool neckline.  This is close to the same thing.
Mom bought me these pants, she really wanted to get a pair of capris for me too.  She really liked them because they made me look super skinny.  I however, would not let her buy them because the capris hit me just barely above the ankle, not sure who that flatters definitely not me!
I almost bought this one, but decided on the pink instead.  This one did not hang on me quite like it does on this chick.

After shopping I picked up my bff from high school and my 2 nieces.  We went up to the farm to plant pumpkins for their pumpkin patch.  We planted 324 hills with 3-5 seeds in each hill.  That's a lotta seeds and a lotta pumpkins!  Hopefully this will keep FarmBoy from having to make any trips to buy more pumpkins to sell at the patch.  Yes, I realize that sounds silly... but they did it last year.  Hopefully not this year.  

Now I'm planning what to pack for our family reunion.  FB and I leave tomorrow afternoon, so I've gotta get busy tomorrow early!  I'll be at the lake for the reunion all weekend.  I'll be back next week with lots of goofy stories I'm sure.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday FB and I headed to my parents' house for dinner.  My brother and his family joined us to celebrate my daddy.  Brother and I were in charge of snacky kind of foods for dinner, so Dad wouldn't have to do anything.  I thought I'd post about my daddy since we're in the Father's Day mood.

This is Dad's baby.  He's been working on this 1951 Willy's since I was in high school.  We joked about it being my graduation present.  It definitely was not ready for that graduation.  It wasn't ready for my college graduation either.  However it was really close.   He loves tinkering on this thing.  He pretty much built it from the ground up.  The frame is 70 something Jeep, the engine is from a buick or something.  The Willy's is definitely a mishmash of things.  
My dad's interests are as much a mishmash as the Willy's.  He really gets into my nieces' sporting events, cooking, geocaching, camping with my mom, and the Willy's.  Recently he's become a wine connoisseur and an exercise buff.  I can only hope and pray that I can raise my future kids as well as my parents have done for me!  They're both amazing.  Happy late Father's Day everyone, go hug your dads again!