Latest and Greatest

1) School is officially half way over!  I always love the first semester because it just flies by and with all the holiday breaks, I always had something to look forward to!  This next semester will be like walking through mud but I just take deep breaths and know that it will end eventually.

2) Christmas this year was so much fun!  The following pics are from Christmas Eve and our trip to Newport after Christmas. Thanks Mom and Dad for the nice vacation!  It was so relaxing and just what I needed before heading back to work!

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving season has been one of the best yet!  Tim and I got to see the Jubilee of Trees this year and were so impressed by all the gorgeous trees!  We saw Santa Claus and even got free popcorn - it was perfect!

Thanksgiving day was a blast!  My uncle Randy put together a scavenger hunt for all the kids this year.  We were running around town trying the find the locations to his clever (very clever) clues - we got third place (which is another word for last) but it was so fun.  The feast afterwards was incredible and of course, I made myself sick by eating way too much.  How could I help myself?  After dessert, we headed to Walmart for Black Friday (which started at 10 pm this year).  I have NEVER seen Walmart that crazy!  It took Tim and I about 10 minutes to find some DVDs we liked (Thanks Rand for our third place prizes - it went straight to our Black Friday DVDs) and another hour to stand in line.  Hey, its all about the experience and it was quite the experience.  Now, bring on the Christmas season and let's get wrapping!  Happy Holidays!

Workin' Woman

I get up to the sound of Tim's automated alarm this morning. "Get up Carlee and Tim.  It is time to conquer the day.  The weather outside is..."  After cuddling with my husband for what seems like another 5 minutes - shoot, make that 20, I rush to the closet, throw on a skirt and one of my many (many) cardigans and run to the bathroom.  I mutter complaints as I splotch on my make-up (I really hate wearing make-up every single day - why do I feel its such a necessity?  Is that a zit?  Ok...), and sit down for my morning bowl of Bran - hey, it works. After giving eachother pep talks and telling eachother how cute we look (if you saw Tim, you would think he looked pretty cute too), we turn off the lights, lock the door and head out into the cold morning darkness.  I kiss Tim goodbye, he tells me to be safe and we get into our freezing cold cars.  As I drive to work, my mind becomes focused on all the things I have to do today.  I get excited to see my favorite students and gear up to see my not-so-favorite students.  Do I need to make those copies? Will that teacher stop by for his daily chat and how can I get rid of her?  Mostly though, I get an overwhelming sense of purpose.  I love working because I see that it makes my life full...full of purpose, accomplishment, security, and well-being.  I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a workin' woman!

What a fun birthday this year!  It was so fun to see all the students dressed up and chocolate smeared on their faces (even in the morning - they waste no time getting candy wasted).  Tim took me to breakfast and surprised me with a present everywhere I went - bed, car, school, and at home right before bed.  We had a cake at my family's house and my darling nephew was more excited than anyone to blow out the candles.  What a day!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Fall Break 2011

Tim and I took a road trip down to So Cal last weekend to take a break from school and life.  We played in Disneyland for a day and relaxed at the beach the next day.  It was short and sweet but we had a blast!  As we were driving back, Tim was getting more and more excited to be home and I was getting more and more sad.  I'm always sad when vacations are over.  I think if I made him do more laundry, he would be more understanding.  Overall, we had such a great time and now I think its time to plan our next trip!  Anyone going anywhere fun?  We're in!

BACK TO SCHOOL

I have been through the gambit of emotions these past few weeks, trying to decide how I felt about coming back to school.  This should pretty much sum it up.