Adam and Tristan

Crazy Love

2012-02-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

With valentines day falling on a Tuesday this year the hubby and I spent it the munchkins at school. We were spoiled with candy, chocolate and cards.
Tonight we will spend the evening together at a budget meeting. Not super romantic but we as long as we get to be together it'll be great!
Happy Valentines day!

Wearable arts show 2012

2012-02-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

The Wearable Arts Show is normally my "annual Molly date". My birthday present from Molly is always a date to the Wearable Arts Show but this year she's in Washinton, DC. She gave me the tickets and I decided to take Stephenie. We had a great time and enjoyed the show which was (as usual) amazing!

This is a dress made of mussel shells! So impressive!

Happy National School Counseling Week!!!

2012-02-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of National School Counseling Week. Our fabulous supervisor gave all the school counselors appreciation cards and chocolate covered fortune cookies at our meeting today. While it's nice to have a national day of recognition it's even better knowing that you have the best job E-V-E-R.

It's going to be a good week ;-)

Bye, bye January

2012-02-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

January brought loads of snow mixed with days of rain, ice and slush. The sun rarely made an appearance and when she finally showed her pretty face it was too cold to get out and enjoy it. The first weekend of February is bringing a false sense of spring. The days are noticably longer and the snow is melting as the temperature rises. It's only Februrary so I'm sure we're still in for a few more weeks of snow and chilly temperatures.

Finding a little time to relax....

2012-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I realized that I just needed to take a moment and regroup. The week has been crazy....we had over a foot of snow here in Juneau which made driving scary and dangerous, many of my 'high needs' kids at work were in crisis, talk of major budget cuts within the district has weighed heavy on the minds of so many of my co-workers, friends and family members have been sick and on Friday I had to take my cat to the vet. I'm sure I could write a sappy country song if I really wanted but instead I decided to head out to the Airport Trail with my dog in order to unwind. It was beautiful out there and as I fought against the chilly wind I found the craziness of the week slowly disappearing.

A sneak peek into my work life....

2012-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

A fellow school counselor and blogger, Danielle, wrote a "show and tell" blog about her school counseling office and invited others to do the same. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to join in on the fun. I've been having a great time reading her blog and following her on pinterest and facebook. It's been fun sharing ideas with other school counselors who are just as excited and in love with their jobs as I am.

With that said....welcome to my room!

This is my "play" area complete with books, a dollhouse, castle and rice bucket.

This is a resource board for teachers which has information about different types of behaviors and interventions that they can use in the classroom.

Each class comes to my room for 45 minutes once a week. In order to try to manage behaviors every class has a star. Once they earn 5 stars they can have free choice in my room and then they move on to a different colored star.

This is the area of my room where I do most of my teaching. Kids come in and sit on the lines for the lesson then we get up and move around for the activity. In order to save space I do not have any tables or desks set up for the kids. They use clipboards and lay/sit on the floor when we do writing or drawing activities.

My desk...I keep lots of photos on my wall to remind me of how lucky I am to have such great friends and family in my life, a large cup of coffee nearby to give me enough energy to keep up with the kids and a box of tissues on my desk because.... well...because I'm a counselor
;-)

Problem solving board. When kids come to talk to me about a problem we often look at the board and I help them choose which solution they'd like to try.

Photo board outside of my classroom. It says "MRCS Eagles are doing great things!". This is where I post all the pictures of our students that have been in the local paper.

This resource board is also outside of my classroom and is intended for teachers and parents. The folders contain Big Brother/Big Sister applications, a list of activities to do in Juneau, a list of local counselors, homeless information and other community resources. On the right hand side are brochures from Yardsticks which list the average behaviors and milestones children should reach in each grade (K-5).

Thanks for visiting my counseling room! I hope you have a chance to check out Danielle's blog as well.

Great way to end the week!

2012-01-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

Friday couldn't have come soon enough! After a long and exhausting week all I wanted to do was head home and put on some sweats but it was the first Friday of the month and in Juneau we have what's called First Friday or Gallery Walk. It's a day where local artists can display their artwork in some of the downtown stores. It's a great time for Juneauites to meet up with their friends, check out the artwork downtown and catch up over appetizers and drinks.

Last night our adventure took us to one of my favorite stores in Juneau (Trove) where we saw a few of my students from school. One of the students was excited to show off her new Parrot and let me hold him. After that we headed to the Hangar for some appetizers and drinks. It was a great way to end the week and kick off the weekend!

Polar Bear Dip ~2012~

2012-01-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

Today, Jody, Molly and I decided to do the Polar Bear Dip along with about 100 other Juneauites. It was our first time but apparently the tradition has been going on for 20 years.

It wasn't as cold as we thought it was going to be but it was still pretty darn cold!

I think I might have to make this a yearly tradition- who's joining me next year??! Happy 2012!!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Lately, we have spent a lot of time talking about how fortunate we are in every aspect of our lives....we have great jobs, wonderful friends, a supportive and loving family and we count our blessings every day. 2011 brought with it many tragic events for the world, our community and a few of our closest friends. However, it also brought us closer to the ones we love, reminded us to live every day to the fullest and to appreciate the people in our lives.
We look forward to a new year that is full of love and happiness. Happy 2012!!

Happy 6 year anniversary!

2011-12-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's already been 6 years since we tied the knot in Vegas. There have been so many adventures and memories in that time. We have a lot more memories to make and adventures to be had!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Happy holidays!

2011-12-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas comes early at our house and it's a tradition I think I'm finally beginning to get used to. My husband's family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve and it's a tradition that has taken me a while to be ok with. I think I've finally learned not only to accept this tradition but to (dare I say it??!!!) enjoy it!

Our Christmas Eve was wonderful this year. Adam and I did a little last minute shopping, I dropped off a few gifts to some friends, Bob and Molly came over for the evening with tons of snacks and I got to watch my favorite Christmas movie of all time (A Christmas Story). After that we settled in and began opening our gifts. This was the first Christmas that Adam's brother has been here and it was way more fun to celebrate with the 3 boys rather than just Adam and I.

We were spoiled with so many great gifts from our friends and family. I got a new camera, lots of yummy candles, beautiful jewelry, lots of warm socks, gorgeous handstitched tea towels from my grandma and lots of other great goodies. Adam got a new PS3, a toolbelt, a coffee basket, lots of coffee, a new coffee mug (yes, the hubby loves coffee!) a travel case for his tablet and plenty more.

Christmas Day will be spent writing Thank You cards, reading, relaxing, and just enjoying each other's company. I had big hopes of going snowshoeing with Rosco today but the weather has been very un-Alaskan lately and all our snow has sadly melted away.

We hope that our friends and family had a great holiday season with their loved ones!

A little Christmas decor

2011-12-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

This year we opted to keep things simple. Rather than stressing out about decorating the house, mailing packages and baking we've decided to enjoy our time together and worry about what doesn't get done later. That might mean that my christmas tree is a simple strand of holiday lights, friends and family will be opening their gifts from us on new years and there will be very few cookies to munch on but at least we're relaxed and happy.
We hope everyone has a great holiday season. Our holiday photo and pictures of our anchorage trip coming soon!!

Spoiled puppy

2011-12-18T23:29:00.001-08:00

We are missing our Rosco-baby
but we know he's being spoiled and loved like crazy.

Adam's number one rule

2011-12-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last night Adam and I took Chance to target for some Christmas shopping. Obviously, we had to stop at Starbucks for coffee first.
Adam's number one rule....never do anything without a cup if coffee.
I think Chance likes this rule :-)

Winter break has begun!

2011-12-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

All the craziness and stress of the last week of school melted away this morning as we started our first day of break.
Last night we arrived in anchorage to spend some time with my brother's family. After a long and busy day it was nice to see a happy 5 year old and a new baby.
My nephew wanted to sleep with us and I couldn't resist taking this adorable picture of him and Adam when I woke up.

Holy Friday!!!! Where did you go???

2011-12-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

Friday was our last day at school before our two week winter break. All of the classes had fun crafts, plays or parties going on so all the kids were filled with excitement!
We held our second annual ugly sweater contest among the staff. Last year Erin and I purposely wore matching sweaters but this year another teacher and I just happened to have the same ugly sweater! What are the odds? :-)

wrapping it all up....

2011-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy busy few weeks between work, coaching basketball and getting ready for Gallery Walk and the craft fair. As of today things will start slowing down and I'll be able to get back to the gym, clean my house and spend time with my husband and the doggy.

Basketball season was a huge success. We lost every game we played but the girls had fun and showed a ton of improvement and that's really all that matters in my book. Now it's time to wash 14 uniforms and plan a pizza party!

Thanks for setting up the chocolate fountain, Molly!

Gallery walk was great! We sold a bunch of our stuff, had a delicious chocolate fountain and got to see lots of our friends. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us!

A "get out an play" kinda day!

2011-11-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

It's been fun playing in all the snow we've gotten here in Juneau. Yesterday I replaced my old snowshoes which broke last season. I was a little sad - they were the first pair of snowshoes I'd ever owned and I bought them off e-bay from an old man who purchased them so he could go snowshoeing with his daughter in Colorado. They weren't the most high-tech but they introduced me to my love of snowshoeing and we had many great adventures together ;-)

Turkey Day: new traditions and things to be thankful about!!!

2011-11-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving...I like it because it's fairly simple in terms of holidays-no gifts or week long preparations- and yet it brings everyone together to eat, relax and enjoy one another's company.

At our house we keep it simple. In college Adam and I were too poor to buy a turkey and go all out on the other dishes so we'd make a huge pot of fettuccine alfredo and breadsticks and invite our friends over to help us eat. It was simple, fun and it brought us all together for the day.

This year there is a turkey roast breast in the oven, pumpkin pie ingredients waiting to be thrown together, potatoes and sweet potatoes sitting on the counter and cranberries in the fridge. We will enjoy the meal, one another's company and have a day to celebrate all the things we have to be thankful for.

Today (and EVERYDAY as Adam politely reminds me....) we are thankful for:

Our family

Our friends

Our health

Our jobs

Our pets

Our home

and many many many other things!!!

Last night our Wine Wednesday group took a field trip to the ice rink for Turkey Bowl Disco Skate...Here's a little clip of my attempt. Before you watch it I have to say...I'm not a good skater, I haven't skated in years, I was the FIRST one to go and the guy knocked me down when he was trying to give me the turkey!!! Enjoy ;-)

a few things to celebrate!

2011-11-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

This month has been full of things to celebrate....especially birthdays! Stephenie's birthday was on Thursday and our Wine Wednesday group managed to pull off a suprise-birthday-craft-party for her. Each of us brought homemade items and we exchanged them with each other. At the end of the night we all left with 12 fun goodies. We all had such a good time we're thinking of making it a yearly event.

Thursday night was Stephenie's real birthday party and all her friends gathered at her place for a night of fun! We enjoyed good food, an amazing banana cake, lots of games and conversation!

Friday was Veteran's Day and Adam and I took some time to just RELAX and enjoy ourselves. We caught up over coffee, took the dog for a walk and spent some time organizing things in our classrooms.

On Saturday our friend Zack came through Juneau on his way up North for work. It was fun seeing him again. The boys had "boy night" that evening as I headed out for ANOTHER suprise party!

Paula's husband managed to pull off quite the suprise party for her. She thought she was going out for a drink and dinner with the hubby when she got the "come home quick" phone call from the babysitter. She came home to a house full of friends, food and birthday wishes....I don't think she had a clue!

Today we woke up to close to a foot of snow and a SNOW day! The first snow day of the year is definitely something to celebrate! Thanks to Stephie's class for doing their snow dance! It worked!!!!

And finally, we are still celebrating the newest addition to my brother's family. Baby Natalee is doing great and Chance is an excellent big brother. I can't wait to meet her in real life but until then I've been enjoying this sweet little picture of them.

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

2011-11-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Josh and Erin! Natalee Lynn was born on 11/1/11 and we are so excited to welcome her into our family. I wish I could've met her while I was in Anchorage but she wasn't quite ready to join us. I think I'll just need to take another trip up north sometime soon ;-)

Halloween Weekend Fun

2011-10-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

What a fun and exciting weekend this was. We started off our Halloween fun by helping out with the Fall Festival at our school. Adam and I enjoy going to see the kids dressed up in their costumes and this year we volunteered to be on clean up crew. I was asked to help judge the costume contest and it was tough to decide on the winners. There were so many great costumes!

Adam with one of his students at Fall Festival

Saturday night was the Roller Derby Bout for Juneau's two Roller Derby teams. Roller derby is a fairly new sport here in Juneau and the girls have been working hard. We got all gussied up, made posters and headed out to Centennial Hall to cheer and support this group of ambitious women!

Costumes aren't allowed at school this year so I'll be hanging up my Dorothy costume. It was a fun costume to wear ...especially since I had the Wicked Witch with me!

Anchorage

2011-10-26T19:32:00.001-07:00

It was a wonderful trip to anchorage. The conference was great, I got some shopping in, ate lots of delicious food, joined Danielle for her birthday dinner and was able to spend lots of time with the family.
It was great but I'm definitely ready to see my hubby and sleep in my own bed.
This weekend will be busy with fall festival at school and watching the roller derby in Saturday night but I plan on being super lazy on Sunday!

Bowling!!!

2011-10-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

We won't be joining a bowling league anytime soon but we sure had fun!

Friday night delight......

2011-10-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

My blog is not intended to be a food blog but there are a few recipes that I just can't help but share! I've been eating a ton of the "cookie dough" and I'm excited to try a few new garbanzo bean recipes this weekend.

Last night I was craving ice cream. Anyone who knows me knows that ice cream is my weakness (thanks mom....). I decided to try a new twist on my banana smoothie recipe. I threw some bananas into my food processor, added a little bit of vanilla chai, pureed until I had a creamy mixture and whaaalllaaaa! fat free ice cream!!!!

I promise that my next post will NOT be about food! I'm heading to Anchorage on Friday so I'll blog blog blog about seeing Matt & Danielle, my mom, brother, sis-in-law, Chance and MAYBE the new baby??? I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to go along with those blog posts. Until then, enjoy some ice cream.

Holy Garbanzo Beans, Batman!!!

2011-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

I am hopelessly addicted to pinterest and have been pinning up a storm lately. The problem with pinterest can be summed up by a quote I found on the website. "Thank you, Pinterest for making me feel creative and productive even though I just spent the last two hours sitting around on my computer." Yup, that just about says it all. There are so many great ideas on this webiste that it is easy to spend hours pinning pictures to your virtual pinboards. Rather than just sitting around pinning all weekend I vowed that this would be the weekend I'd actually try something I pinned.

I decided that I would try a cookie dough recipe that I found awhile back. I became interested in the recipe when I read that you could eat a whole bowl of this healthy cookie dough. Upon further investigation I discovered that the cookie dough was made out of garbanzo beans! No butter, no flour and very little sugar!!! It's delicious and everyone that tries it is shocked that it's made out of beans!

(recipe & blog link)

Since I'd just stocked up on garbanzo beans and my food processor was already out I decided to make some hummus as well. I didn't have a specific recipe that I wanted to follow but here's what I did.

1 can of garbanzo beans

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

balsalmic vinegar (I didn't measure....add enough to soften the hummus and taste yummy)

I'll have to look up some more recipes for garbanzo beans. Fred's was having a 10 for $10 sale and I stocked up! Any ideas???

Can't wait to meet you baby girl Robinson!

2011-10-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is an ultrasound picture of our new little niece. She's looking a little squished in there but I love the snarl she's making with her mouth. So cute....Erin is due the first part of November but maybe baby will come just a tiny bit early so I can meet her when I'm in Anchorage???? Either way, we can't wait for you to join us in this crazy adventure called LIFE!!!! XOXO

Happy October First!

2011-10-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's the first day of October and I'm starting it off by proctoring SATs. I'm a little bummed because there was an indoor garage sale and a run that I wanted to do. Oh well, the sun is shining and I have time to enjoy my coffee and catch up on my blogs all while getting paid ;-)

October is going to be great and there are so many things to look forward to this month! Dividends!!!! Traveling to Anchorage!!!! A birthday celebration for Rosco. A Halloween party and a new baby neice who should be entering the world towards the end of the month! Happy October!

Sunny Sunday with a Pumpkin Spice Latte

2011-09-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sunny days in Juneau are never taken for granted. After another wet and rainy week we were blessed with a beautiful Sunday. I decided to ride my bike to yoga class and enjoyed the crisp fall air as the sun came out and warmed the pavement. Today was the first day I started to feel fall in the air. I love this season because it means fuzzy boots, knitted hats and Pumpkin spice lattes at my favorite drive through coffee shop. What a perfect start to fall.

Healthy Chocolate Milkshakes!

2011-09-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Adam and I have been loving our banana milkshakes but the other night I decided to change it up a little bit and make chocolate milkshakes. We were pleased to find that they were just as delicious as any real chocolate shake and WAY better for you. All you need are a few frozen bananas, chocolate soy milk, whip cream and peanut butter. Blend the frozen bananas and chocolate soy milk together until it's nice and smooth, poor it in your favorite cup and top with a little whipped cream and peanutbutter. Enjoy!

We're ready for a little R & R!

2011-09-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

What a week it's been! Life at school is always fast and furious but things were especially busy towards the end of this week.

Surgery for Rosco (read all about it on his blog http://www.roscoberkey.blogspot.com/ ), work, doctor appointment for Terry and Parent Night at school made for a very busy Thursday! Parent night was exhuasting but it was a huge success. Adam gave a presentation to the parents of his students and had a former student talk about math club. I had a ton of parents and students visit my room thanks to the fun little scavenger hunt the 2nd grade teachers had their kids do! We didn't get home until about 8 but we ended our night perfectly....tortilla pizzas and the season premier of It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia!

Now it's the weekend. We have the usual stuff planned...laundry, lesson planning at school and other little errands but we also plan on relaxing, hanging out with friends and maybe a date to the movies. Happy Friday!

And then the sun came out to play....

2011-09-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend it was in Juneau! The sun finally came out and what a welcome relief it was! Adam and I took advantage of it and played outside as much as possible. Saturday we worked on lots of outdoor projects that have been neglected due to rain. I mowed the lawn with our new motor-less mower. What a great workout that was!!!!

I did give up one sunny evening this weekend to go to the 1st annual Who's your Diva performace. It was a fundraiser for the Juneau Opera and about 10 or 12 different women (I mean DIVAS!) sang. We were blown away by the talent that we have here in Juneau. Two of the divas were still in high school and they were both pretty amazing. We will definitely be making this an annual affair!

Erin, Stephenie, Katrina, Me and Molly @ Who's your Diva? 2011

After the show....heading downtown for some dancing!

Thrifting Tips!

2011-08-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE thrifting? I love the fact that you never know what you're going to find and there are always different things when you go thrifting. I know heading to the closest store is often way easier but it's also more expensive and way less exciting.
I've been able to find some great deals while shopping a the thrift stores but I agree, sometimes it's not always the easiest and most convenient way to shop.
Here are some tips I've learned over the years. Thrifting is fun, environmentally friendly and CHEAP! I hope that if you're not a thrifter this blog post will inspire you to give it a try!

1. Make a list!! Start a list of items you don't need now but need eventually. Right now my list reads something like this....white tiles (for craft project), shower curtain (must be new!!), yarn, note cards, muffin tin in a cool shape (for craft project), craft paper.

2. Go often! Things are constantly changing at thrift stores so be sure to go as often as you can. I try to go on Saturday mornings.

3. Know when they're having a sale. Our local Salvation Army has a 5 dollar bag sale most Saturdays. You can fill a shopping bag full of clothes and shoes for only 5 dollars. What a deal!

4. If it won't work for you-consign it! You might find something fabulous that's not your size or style but you know that there's no way you can pass it up. If you have a local consignment shop then don't hesitate to buy the item and consign it. Use the extra money to do more thrifting ;-)

5. Take your time. There are so many random things in a thrift store that it might be overwhelming at first. Go when you have plenty of time and can peruse the aisles and search for all your treasures. (granted, if you have kids you might just have to scratch this one).

I've found a ton of great stuff over the years. Lots of fun clothes, WINE GLASSES (I refuse to allow any new wine glasses into my house. They always end up breaking!), books, organizing gadgets, furniture, baskets and lots more.
This is a mug from Sea Mart that I found. I dug up an old picture of my brother and I with the Sea Mart man and sent it to him for his birthday!

Oh, and the last tip...know when to say no!

Happy Thrifting!

Beat the Odds 5K & other rainy day adventures

2011-08-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

It's been a wet couple of weeks here in Juneau. You'd think we'd be used to it after living in Ketchikan for so long but Adam and I are desperate for a sunny day! We've been making the most of this wet weather with indoor AND OUTDOOR adventures.

We've had LOTS of Rosco training sessions. He has mastered closing the door behind him after he comes in from outside and is learning how to fetch (this one has taken us years! He's great at running after the ball but forgets to bring it back to us!).

Dinner at Twisted Fish! What was supposed to be a double date with our friend Paul turned into 3 boys and myself. The night was still a success and we enjoyed great food and good conversation.

Rainy day walks on Douglas. Sometimes it's nice to just walk in the rain, breath in the misty air and surrender to the fact that you are going to get wet...perhaps even soaked.

Marathon Pit Boss watching sessions. Adam and I have been sucked into Animal Planet's show Pit Boss. I think we watched the entire first season yesterday...oops ;-)

We've both spent lots of time out at the school orgainizing, lesson planning and trying to stay caught up now that the kids are back!

The annual Beat the Odds 5K! I started running this 5K about 4 years ago after my friend Stephenie invited me to run it with her. It was my first 5K since my highschool cross country days and I was a little nervous. She ran with me the whole time and I was so happy to have actually finished it! We've tried to make it a tradition to run it every year and it's always fun to see so many Juneau women come out and support this great cause. This year we finished in UNDER 30 minutes!

MaryAnne, Me, Stephenie & Kris after the run. A little wet but full of smiles!

Spud and Spice Cake

2011-08-19T19:19:00.001-07:00

I"ve been wanting to try this Spud and Spice cake recipe for a long time but NEVER have enough leftover mashed potatoes! We finally had a few left overs and I decided to give it a whirl for Wine Wednesday. The recipe calls for a cup of left over mashed potatoes and the rest is pretty much like a spice cake. After the spd and spice cake cools you're supposed to drizzle caramel over the top. I found an interesting caramel recipe on pinterest that I just had to try.

I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out but luckily, it was a success! Here's what you do.....

1. Fill your crock pot with water, turn in to low and drop a can of condensed milk in there.

2. Let it sit on low for 8 hours (rotate occassionally).

3. Let it cool and ENJOY!

Careful opening it! I had caramel all over my fridge and photos...

This is one recipe I will DEFINITELY make again!

Back to school!

2011-08-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Let the new school year begin! Here in Juneau teachers headed back to school yesterday and the kiddos will come on Tuesday. We've been enjoying our summer so much that it's hard to get motivated to go back to work. BUT, if we HAVE to work teaching is definitely the best job ever.
Once I got back into the school and started arranging my classroom I began to get excited about the year. Yes, there's always drama....drama with the kids...drama with the staff.... BUT, I know that overall, this will be a great year. Adam's excited about his incoming 5th graders (they're a BIG class but a really sweet bunch) and I'm excited about having an intern for the school year.
I hope all my teacher friends are ready to greet their little muchkins and help them explore the fascinating world of learning. Remember, whatever you have planned will NOT go as planned so just smile and pretend it's on the lesson plan ;-)

Tuesday Tip -Just say no!

2011-08-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Chapter 3 in Elisabeth Wilson's book Stress Proof Your Life discusses the need to SAY NO!!! Too much of our time is spent doing things we don't want to do but just can't say no to the person asking. Her tip, say "let me think about that and get back to you" whenever someone asks you to do something. That will give you time to think about whether or not you really want to/have time to do it. This is one tip I'm still working on!

Running in the rain...

2011-08-15T20:14:00.001-07:00

August has been WET, WET, WET! Growing up in Ketchikan has made me pretty oblivious to a few showers but this weather is putting Ketchikan to shame. Even the nastiest weather wouldn't stop Stephenie and I from enjoying our early morning Monday run. We decided to check out the treadwell trail over on Douglas. It was pretty steep at the beginning but then leveled off into a really nice running trail.

View of downtown Juneau

barefoot in the park

2011-08-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

The sun came out on Saturday and Juneauites came out to play. I headed down to Cope Park to enjoy some live music and friend time. This August has been especially rainy so people were itching to get outside and see some sunshine!

Let the crafting begin!

2011-08-11T11:08:00.001-07:00

After a long hiatus from the crafting world I'm finally starting to get back to it. I've unpacked all my crafting supplies and have been spending these rainy afternoons making jewelry and other goodies.

My latest project was a cork board made out of used wine corks. I was almost finished with it and then realized I wouldn't have enough corks! Luckily, my Stephie friend saved the day with her two giant gallon sized bags of corks! I finished the board last night and found some old photos, a few stickers we've collected from our travels and a couple love notes that just had to go up on the board.

I have a few cork projects that I want to do for the Christmas craft fair and a bath mat tutorial that I want to try for my bathroom (this one takes LOTS of corks so it might be a while!).

I miss the sun but sometimes it's nice to stay indoors and play!

Tuesday Tip - Find an hour a day to play!

2011-08-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a book titled Stress Proof your Life (52 Brilliant Ideas) by Elisabeth Wilson. Here is brilliant idea number duo!

Chapter Two - Find an hour a day to play
Wilson asks the reader to imagine you had an hour a day to do anything you want. What would you do? She points out that most things will break down into two categories.
1- The things you want to do because they're fun or enjoyable
2- The things you know you should do because the benefits are good for you.
It really is important to take time out for yourself. So often we make other people's needs a priority before our own. It might seem impossible to find an hour to do something you enjoy doing but it's sooooo necessary for both your emotional and physical health. If you truely can't find an hour to dedicate to yourself then Wilson suggests you make a list of EVERYTHING you're expected to do in the next week then identify the things that can be delegated to someone else. All too often we think we're the only ones who can do these tasks when in reality they can be done by someone else.

"People who spend at least a bit of their time doing the stuff that they want to do tend to feel that they're in control, and that's majorly de-stressing."

Danielle's super-fun-but-way-too-quick weekend visit

2011-08-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Danielle came to visit this weekend and we had a great time. I love showing my beautiful town to visitors (this was her 3rd time to Juneau but still....). The weather decided to cooperate with us this weekend and the rain held off and the sun even came out on Sunday. It was beautiful.

Saturday I took her downtown and we played tourists for the day. We got coffee at my favorite downtown coffee shop, Paradise Cafe, went to my favorite downtown store, Trove and admired the artwork in all the cute little art galleries.

Later that day I took her out to Auke Bay and we walked the docks and picked out our dream boats, I mean Yachts ;-)

No Juneau trip would be complete without a trip to the Island Pub for pizza and salmon spread and of course, a walk on Sandy beach. Danielle's trip was way too quick but lots of fun!

It's gonna be a good weekend!

2011-08-04T21:39:00.001-07:00

As I was drinking my coffee and checking the news (ok, and facebook too) this morning my phone chimed with a new text. It was from my sweet friend Danielle whose wedding I officiated exactly two years ago tomorrow. Her text made my morning and I've been walking around with a smile on my face all day!

It's pouring down rain here but I know we'll still have a great time. I have lots of fun stuff planned for us and you know I'll be sure to blog it all so I can have a virtual memory of our weekend. Stay tuned ;-)

Tuesday's Tip -Let's get positive!

2011-08-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

So, I've had my nose stuck in my Kindle for the last few days and have downloaded a ton of free books. One of the books I downloaded is titled Stress proof your life (52 brilliant ideas) by Elizabeth Wilson. Though I have to say my life is rarely as stressful as some people's I figured this would be a good book to take a peek at. After all, who can't use a little stress-proofing now and then??
I thought it would be fun to do a weekly blog post about one of the "brilliant ideas" from Wilson's book. My goal is that each week I'll read a chapter and blog about it.

Chapter one- Let's get positive!
What a great way to start this book! Wilson asks the reader to look at stress in a different light. Some stress is good! It keeps you motivated and ready to take action. She also asks the reader to look at the things that are causing stress and think about what life would be like if you couldn't do them. Stressed because you have to take your kids to their weekly soccer games? Soon they'll be old enough to drive themselves and might not even want you there. Don't look at it as a chore but rather as something you GET to do. Obviously, not all stress can be erradicated with a simple attitude change but I think it's a great start!

"Nothing in your life will change unless you take action"

Douglas Island Half Marathon

2011-08-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I checked off another "must do" from my bucket list - Running a half-marathon. I have been running a lot this summer but haven't really followed any "training" techniques so I was a little worried about how I'd do on race day. I knew I could finish. Heck, if nothing else I could walk the 13 miles (I just walked a full marathon a few months ago so this would be nothing!) but I really wanted to run it.

Luckily, I had two great running partners who kept me entertained, encouraged and motivated for the entire run.

Here are our before and after pictures ;-) I have to say, we look waaaayyy more excited afterwards!

Our time was 2 hours and 20 minutes and we still have smiles on our face. I'd say it was a success!

slowing down....

2011-07-24T22:56:00.001-07:00

That's been my focus this week.

I've been trying to slow down and....

....enjoy the weather, whether it's rainy or sunny.

....have simple and pointless conversations with my loved ones.

....enjoy the scenery along the drive.

....taste the coconut in my morning coffee.

....take time to do the things I enjoy.

....be ok with running a few minutes late.

....cut myself off from facebook so I can write a good ol' fashion card.

....think of ways to make someone else's day.

Soon we'll be back at work and life will be busy once again. Until then, I'm slowing down and enjoying these lazy days.

Sunday morning Yoga and other Tenakee Adventures

2011-07-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Stephenie and I decided to head over to Tenakee for the weekend. It's about a 6 hour ferry ride from Juneau but feels like it's a million miles away. It was a girls weekend that was full of relaxation! We had an amazing dinner with friends, soaked in the hotsprings as much as possible, perused the farmer's market, spiked our coffee and enjoyed every minute of being away.

I was feeling bad about having to skip my Sunday morning yoga class so we decided to take our yoga outside. It was the perfect way to start our lazy Sunday.

A day of rest

2011-07-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yoga, steam room, books, movies and coffee. Some days you just need to relax. Peace.....

So far So good...

2011-07-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

So far the summer has held great things.

Bonfires with friends and a view of the glacier....

Fishing from a kayak on calm smooth waters...

Sunshine and laughter.....

And bug hunting adventures....

Can't wait to see what July holds....

She's on her way!

2011-06-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

This cute guy is getting a little sister!

And these two are super excited to be an aunt and uncle again!

P.S. Josh,
Girls are pretty awesome...waaaaaayyyyyy easier than boys ;-)

Since we've been home...

2011-06-17T23:42:00.001-07:00

We've been home from our vacation for about a week and have simply been enjoying our summer break. I start my part-time job at the mental health center next week so I've been trying to get in as much play time as possible.

Since we've been home we've stayed busy enjoying all that summer has to offer us

.....I've taken lots of long runs with friends. We've been running to the Mendenhall Glacier and it's pretty awesome to have THAT kind of view at the end of your run.

....Lots of dinner dates with good food and company.

....We've gone on a few dates to the frozen yogurt shop.

....We've stayed up late....and slept in late.

....Adam took his kayak out for his first kayak fishing adventure of 2011.

...I've lost track of time reading a good book in the warm sun.

Tomorrow night I'll be joining some friends for the Only Fools Run at Midnight 5K run. It's a fundraiser for Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) and at midnight there will be a bunch of insomnia suffering runners and walkers hitting the streets in costume. It's always a fun night and I'm excited that so many of my friends are able to participate this year. I'll be sure to post a few pictures ;-)

You know you're on vacation when...

2011-06-10T12:33:00.001-07:00

You sleep in until noon.
You're not really sure what day it is.
You leave the restaurant feeling waaaay too full.
You try all the fruity drinks you can (because they're free!!!).
You see things you never would've seen at home (including a woman trying on pants behind a clothing rack).
Ahhhh, vacation.

Chocolate wine? Yum, yum!

2011-06-09T10:03:00.001-07:00

Our first full day in Vegas was great. After lounging by the pool Adam and I headed down to the strip to do some shopping and eat dinner at the Peppermill (our favorite restaurant in Vegas!).
I discovered chocolate wine at one of the liquor stores and HAD to try it. It was a little rich bit quite delicious.

Vegas, baby!

2011-06-08T10:48:00.001-07:00

We made it! We arrived in Vegas late last night. Checked into our hotel room and hit the casino.
We're staying at the Tuscany which is just a little off the strip but the rooms are huge, the pool is awesome and the food is delicious.
I started the morning off in the workout room and lap pool and am soaking up some sunshine before the hubby wakes up.

Bye bye Ketchikan!

2011-06-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

It's a beautiful day in Ketchikan and we are headed to Vegas. We had a great time catching up with old friends and hope it isn't another 5-10 years before we see them again.
Karen and her boys took me on a bug hunting adventure last night. Turns out we're pretty good bug finders.
Wish us luck in Vegas!

Ketchikan

2011-06-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

What a perfect Sunday in Ketchikan. I woke up early and ran with my friend Karen. There's something peaceful about being awake before the rest of the world. Later on we did a little thrifting, walked Ward Lake, and enjoyed dinner and wine with with some awesome musicians ;-)

Tomorrow we'll try to make a few more rounds to see old friends before we head off to Vegas!

Prince of Whales

2011-06-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Prince of Whales. We spent a ton of time with the Barry's. They were so hospitable and we enjoyed every second of our time with them, their friends, and their beautiful home.

While we were on the island we spent a few days out in Whale Pass where my parents have their cabin. We took dad's new boat out on the water, played on the 4 wheeler, ate a ton of awesome food and played board games. We lucked out with the amazing weather this week. Adam and I woke up each morning and sat on the deck drinking coffee, listening to the eagles and staring at the ocean.

Perhaps someday we'll be able to spend the whole summer out there! Ahhhhh, so lovely.

Blogging from the middle of nowhere

2011-06-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Weather is gorgeous....scenery is amazing and we are relaxed. Love this place!

Memorial Day

2011-05-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

I spent Memorial Day at the beach near Thorne Bay and it was amazing!! Lots of sun, friends and fun. As much as I missed the hubby it was probably good that he hadn't arrived in town yet. He's not much of a beach person and would've turned into a red lobster!
Today we head out to Whale Pass to spend a few days at my parents house. We're excited to catch some fish and play in the sun!

Marathon!!!!

2011-05-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

We did our marathon!!! It was awesome and we finished in 7 hours and 30 minutes. So glad we were all able to do this together!!!

Happy last day of school!!

2011-05-26T19:03:00.001-07:00

It was a successful last day of school! Awards assembly, slide show, 5th grade promotion, Kinder promotion, yearbook signing, outdoor lunch and bump dodgeball were the many activities that I enjoyed today.

I took a few of the classes outside for chalk art and the kids had a great time! Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

The "Rock Amerika" one is from our new Bulgarian student. She's so adorable!

Tomorrow I'm off to Prince of Whales to walk a marathon with my mom and Molly. Let's hope we finish!

Cheers!!!!

Happy toes

2011-05-21T17:10:00.001-07:00

I figured I'd give my feet some love this week. Next week-MARATHON!!!

Catching up...Friday-Tuesday

2011-05-17T21:22:00.001-07:00

It was a busy and emotional weekend and I feel as though I'm running to catch up with everything.

Friday morning one of my students and her mom came in to my office to tell me some truely horrific news. It's the kind of stuff that breaks your heart and makes you feel helpless despite how much you want to fix things.

Friday night ended with a bonfire, good friends and live music. I love the people that surround me.

Saturday morning Stephie and I ran a 5K out at Lena Loop. The weather was beautiful and I felt great on the run. My time was exactly 30 minutes so I was pretty excited. I haven't done many 5Ks in my life (um, 5 or 6 maybe??) but this was definitely the fastest I've ran and the best I've felt.

Saturday night we went to the staff retirement party. It was a great night and we were all able to relax and enjoy ourselves. The food was amazing and one of the retirees even provided fresh salmon for everyone (delish!).

Sunday was spent out at Auke Rec celebrating the short life of S & K's sweet baby. I was asked to photograph the event and that was such a special honor. I know S & K will never forget their beautiful daughter and I hope that the pictures help baby G live on in her parent's memories for ever and ever. This was honestly the most amazing memorial service I've ever attended.

Monday was beautiful and the work day flew by. I took most of my classes outside to soak in the sunshine. Who else has a job where they can sit in the sun all day? I spent the evening playing with Erin's crazy little monkeys while mom and dad were at the hospital. The news they heard after surgery was good and we are all excited about some happy news.

Now my desk is messy....work is crazy....but life is good....

My May day present is growing!

2011-05-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Stephenie did a ninja mission on May day and planted some of her rhubarb to my yard. It's growing so well and I can't wait to harvest it. I need to do some research before I harvest it. Anybody know how to properly harvest rhubarb?

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms out there. This year has been one long reminder of how precious life is. I am striving to never take people for granted and to love and cherish every moment spent with those close to my heart.

Thank you to my sweet mom for always being there for me and loving me unconditionally.

To the rest of the amazing mom's I know....You have the hardest job on earth and you are doing a great job!

Thank you for giving your kids the opportunity to express themselves and have fun while they grow up to be awesome adults.....

Thank you for setting an example for your children and guiding them through these crazy and often confusing years!

Thank you for being silly and laughing with your children.

Thank you for teaching your children to love.....

Thank you for showing your kids that people, friendships and love are the things that are important in this world.

Thank you for making sacrifices and putting your children first before your needs and wants.

Thank you for being a beautiful mother whose strength does not go unnoticed.

Thank you for knowing how important family is...

Thank you for remembering to take time for yourself so you can be the best mommy for your children....

Happy Mother's Day.

Adam's surgery bear

2011-05-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

One of our friends recently had surgery and Adam made her a cute little koala bear with matching stitches. He loves making these "surgery bears" for our friends that have to go under the knife (so to speak!). We hope it helps our friends find a little humor during a not-so-humorous situation.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

2011-05-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day and I just had to share this picture. My friend and fellow co-worker sent it to me a few years ago. It cracks me up so much that I try to post it to my blog at least once a year or so.

Here is the response the teacher received from the mom a few days later.

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.

From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Smith

Our awesome PTO made all the teachers super cute clipboards with our names on them. How crafty and fun! It's nice to feel appreciated ;-)

think we found our new favorite spot

2011-04-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

Awww, sunny days are lovely! The kids were so energetic today but Adam and I were feeling the same way. We were just ITCHING to get outside and play.
After school we ran home to grab the doggy then headed out to the glacier for a walk around the lake. It was warm and sunny and we both agreed that we could have stayed there all evening.
Rosco ran around smelling dirt and actually got his paws wet jumping through the streams ( he is sooooo NOT a water dog). I think it's safe to say that a great time was had by all.

Along the way....

2011-04-24T16:51:00.001-07:00

Today Molly and I did our 10 mile walk today. The weather has been nasty lately so it was such a great suprise to wake up to blue skies and sunshine!

We started out at my house and walked to my favorite coffee hut, The Grind. It was goregous and along the way we saw the first signs of summer - SKUNK CABBAGE and FLOWERS!

running, running, running

2011-04-20T18:09:00.001-07:00

I bought my first pair of running tights! I needed to start buying the clothes I'd wear for the marathon so that I could wear them in so to speak. I wasn't sure how I'd like them and was happy to discover that they are sooooo comfortable. I just want to live in them! Oddly enough, I'm starting to look forward to running just so I can wear my tights ;-)

I have a fun idea for my Sunday post and can't wait to share it. Happy Wednesday!

Another piece of history....

2011-04-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Dad sent me a few more old pictures the other day. This one is of my great grandfather, Leslie Breaker Atterbury. He's the man on the top left leaning on the plane. He was in the Army Air Corp in WWI and WWII.
I don't know anything about the other people in the photo. I wonder a lot about the women who are photographed with the group. I wonder what their roles were in the war since this was a time when women were pretty much expected to stay at home and raise their babies.
I have a few more photos and will post them soon.

Testing testing testing!

2011-04-14T18:08:00.001-07:00

What a week it's been! This week was SBA testing for the 3rd-5th graders in Juneau. As the testing coordinator my life at work always gets a little crazy the week before, of and after testing. Things went fairly smooth this year and two of the teachers said I was the most relaxed test coordinator they'd ever dealt with (REALLY??? I guess I put on a good show!).

The kids all took their tests this week and it was an exciting time at MRCS. We fed the kids breakfast, gave out prizes to hard workers and decorated the school with lots of encouraging messages.

Monday and Tuesday will be spent packing up the tests and getting signed off by the District Test Coordinator. Once I get the final signature there will be a HUGE weight lifted! I already have a massage scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Adam and I have a dinner date planned for that evening. AAAHHHH, I can't wait!

"looking at her flowers"

2011-04-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

My dad e-mailed me this picture today. He does a lot of research about our ancestory and came across it while on his historical quest. I love looking at an old photo and wondering what story it would tell if it could speak. Why did someone choose to capture this particular moment over another?

I've always been a photo-lover but it's only recently that I've learned how valuable those photos are. Sometimes they're they only things that can bring us back to moments that we want to re-live and cherish forever.

pirates, surfers and sailors...OH MY!

2011-04-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I celebrated my 30th birthday back in February. Adam really wanted to throw me a suprise party at DIPAC but the "planner" in me made that impossible since I had the same idea (the party at DIPAC part-not the suprise party part). So, with the help of my sweet friend Molly we came up with a great theme and got the ball rolling.

DIPAC is our local aquarium that is primarily for the tourists but they do rent out the space for private parties. It's gorgeous and everyone has fun looking at the fish and sea life. It went perfectly with the BON VOYAGE theme as well! Unfortunately, we had to reschedule the party from February until this weekend due to some heating problems but it was well worth the wait. The theme was "Bon Voyage 20s" and costumes were strongly encouraged ;-) People came as pirates, sea creatures, sailers, captains, cruiseship passengers and surfers. I ordered about 30 sailor hats so people could decorate them if they wanted. Molly brought fabric paint and cute stickers so people could get creative!

People were so creative with their costumes and even Adam dressed up! He was a hippy pirate wearing a hawaiian shirt ;-)

I decided to be a captain and was thrilled to see my friend Amy shares my fabulous taste in clothing ;-)

There was a ton of great food, good conversation and of course a little booty shakin' ;-)

I had a wonderful time and hope all my friends did too. Thanks guys! XOXOXO

Happy Spring!

2011-03-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it felt like spring for a little while. We had our first fire of the season and it was fantastic. I feel like it's been a long, dark winter and so many of us are ready for spring.
Tomorrow is first Friday and I'm excited about heading downtown for drinks and shopping! Happy spring time friends!

Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday & I really don't want this to end....

2011-03-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY ALREADY! UGH!!!! One week is way too short! I'm just starting to enjoy this nice little break. I've been a bad blogger but this week has been full of....
*Walks with my hubby, friends, and two little monster boys ;-)
*Lots of reading
*Coffee and Kahlua
*Thrifting and antiquing with the hubby (the Juneau version isn't as exciting as it was down south but we still had a great time)
*Sunny runs along Twin Lakes
*Yoga
*Waffle House adventures
*Meeting our friends' adoptive son from China (he's super adorable!)
*Games of Catan with the boys
*Wine Wednesday with the ladies
*A massage
*Dinner with friends

What a great Spring Break we had! Lots of fun and NO ALARM CLOCK! I love it and can't wait till summer ;-)

Spring Break 2011 * Tenakee Trip * Day 3

2011-03-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

It's always such a bummer to say goodbye to Tenakee. We woke up this morning to a beautiful spring day. We ate a great breakfast and headed down to the hotsprings for our last bath.

Our ferry came in around 4 and although it was full of people from Angoon we managed to find a nice spot in the solarium.

We soaked up the sunshine, curled up in our sleeping bags and read or slept for the few hours we were on our "cruise".

As we came into Juneau we saw the full moon come out over the mountains and it was a beautiful sight to see. What a great way to end the perfect little get-away weekend. Thanks Stephie & Marissa ;-)

Spring Break 2011 * Tenakee Trip * Day 2

2011-03-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

Day number two in Tenakee and we have been having a great time. We woke up this morning and had banana coconut pancakes and sausage. It was a little foggy this morning so we decided to head down to the hotsprings before our hike.

After a long soak in the tub and a quick lunch the fog had lifted, the sun was out and we decided to head out for a hike.

It was a beautiful hike and we found lots of interesting things along the way. After resting for a bit we headed down the road to visit Wally and his palapa bar. They welcomed us with drinks and a ton of food. It was my night to cook but we were stuffed by the time we went back home.

Back at home we ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples, pomagranite margaritas and a movie. Ahhhhh, perfect day number 2 in Tenakee.

Spring Break 2011 Tenakee Trip Day 1

2011-03-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day for a ferry ride! Marissa, Stephenie and I took the early morning ferry to Tenakee for the weekend.

It was a beautiful day in Tenakee when we arrived around noon. We put on a pot of coffee, shoveled the deck and got ready to head to the hotsprings while it was still women's hours.

That evening we enjoyed an amazing dinner of smoked salmon alfredo, cheese bread, a salad and lambic.

After watching the sunset we settled in for a few movies and a good night sleep.

What a wonderful first day in Tenakee!!

A little of this and a little of that...

2011-03-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

Once again the week flew by. I always have these great intentions of blogging throughout the week but never manage to do it. I'm not sure where the time is going but it sure is flying by quickly.

Remember my post about finding out we'd had 1500 dollars worth of unathorized charges taken from our paypal account? Well, yesterday the money was returned to our account! What a relief it was to see that money back in there. I love paypal right now! They made it super easy for us to dispute the charges, took 7 days to investigate the charges and then returned the money to our account. Thank you, Paypal!!!

I finally downloaded the iphone app Words with Friends (basically scrabble) and have been playing it with a couple of my friends. Last night Adam and I played together and it was so fun (even though he beat me by a ton!!!). I love the fact that I can play a "board game" with my friends who live all over the U.S.

I've been keeping up with the iditarod this year since one of our local Ketchikanites, Angie Taggard, is in the race. She's currently at 47th place and taking her 24 hour rest. Hopefully, after her rest she'll be able to cruise right past all the other mushers. Go Angie!!!

Oh, and remember when I mentioned that there was some exciting baby news? Well, since she finally posted it on Facebook I figure it's ok for me to talk and blog about it now. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting baby number two! Congrats Josh and Erin!

Marvelous Monday....

2011-03-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

It's a little late but yesterday was a marvelous Monday. The workday was pretty mellow so that's always nice. I had a great workout and we enjoyed dinner with some awesome people. The people at Papa Murphy's also helped make my Monday pretty marvelous and I have to share this story with you guys.

Before you can fully appreciate the story you need to know two things. First, Papa Murphy's calls out your name and very loudly yells, "Pizza for __________ 1, 2, 3!!!" as the rest of the staff choruses it just as loudly. Second, the last time Adam and I went to Papa Murphy's I told them his name when I placed my order. I did this because I get really tired of hearing people butcher my name or having to repeat myself 2 or 3 times before they understand that I am saying TRistan rather than KRistan.

Anyways, this time Adam ordered and gave them MY name instead of his. We laughed about it and I called him a jerk. When our pizza order was ready the guy yelled, "pizza for JUSTIN 1, 2, 3!!!!" which was chorused by "Pizza for JUSTIN!!!". As we were leaving we heard the young lady who had taken our order say "no, it's TRISTAN!!!" and the rest of the staff say "oh...ooops...um, pizza for Tristan 1,2,3????!!!!" By that time we had already walked out the doors and found this to be the most hilarious thing we'd experienced in a long, long time.

Thank you Papa Murphy's for the giggle and the yummy pizza too.

A beautiful weekend....

2011-03-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful weekend and I spent it relaxing and being quite lazy. A drink with Molly, a massage, a good book, a few good movies, delicious food, swimming and a walk along Sandy beach with Stephenie and Marissa was exactly what I needed this weekend.
I'd read an article about a UAS student who made log wind chimes and hung them along the driftwood at Sandy beach. We walked down there to see if we could hear the chimes but unfortunately the tide was too high. It seemed like a cool project and would be worth heading back there on a windy day.
The countdown is on for Spring break! I'll be heading to Tenakee for a few days and am looking forward to spending time with friends and soaking in the hotsprings.
Happy Sunday!

marvelous monday...

2011-02-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

So, today as I checked our bank statement I discovered that someone had hacked into our paypal account and charged something for 95 dollars FIFTEEN TIMES!!!! We're working on getting it straightened out and while it definitely wasn't one of my most marvelous Monday's ever there were a few marvelous moment's I'd like to share with you.

Marvelous moment # 1 - Getting a beautiful and cheery plant from my Paula friend.

Marvelous moment # 2 - Having a former student spend the day with me and seeing what an awesome young lady she's becoming.

Marvelous moment # 3 - Hearing some exciting baby news from someone close (sorry, it's too early to spread the word but it's exciting and NO it's NOT ME!!!)

Happy Monday, all
XOXO

Birthday fun continued...

2011-02-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Yay! I got my birthday pictures off of Stephenie's camera. Thanks for helping me celebrate, ladies!

30th birthday fun

2011-02-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Friday was my birthday and I'm officially 30. It was a wonderful day. I had lunch with some fantastic friends, got a massage, had my favorite dinner made for me (with carrot cake for dessert!) and went out for drinks and dancing with the girls.

I got spoiled with cards, phone calls, FB messages and presents. I'm so lucky to have such caring and funny people in my life. My 20s were great but I think my 30s are going to be even better ;-)

Silly me, I forgot to bring my camera while we were out on the town! My friend Stephenie brought hers so I'll steal some pictures from her later.

Marvelous Monday

2011-02-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

It was a crazy fun day at school today! Lots of excitement about Valentine's Day. By the end of the day my desk was cluttered with cards, candy and chocolate!

My desk...it's under there somewhere!

Marissa makes every game WAY more fun!

Happy Valentine's Day dinner

After work I headed to the gym where I worked out with my friend Molly. We did a little catching up, party planning and marathon planning while burning a few calories.

After my workout it was time to head to a friends house where we met up with a few other people for an amazing dinner, yummy wine and fun games.

It was the perfect Valentine's day and a Marvelous Monday. I hope yours was great too!

The Wearable Arts show A.K.A. my (pretty much) annual Molly date!

2011-02-13T12:52:00.000-08:00

Molly and I have been going to the Wearable Arts show for the last 3 years. It's what I call my Annual Molly Date...we get all gussied up and head out to see Juneau's creativity strut down the catwalk. Every year we talk about entering but have yet to actually do it. We came up with a pretty good idea as we were watching the show last night so we'll see if we can get motivated enough for next year.

This year the theme was Illumination and the show was amazing. The pictures don't do the costumes justice-you just had to have been there.

There were a ton of kid entries this year and let me tell you...we have some incredibly creative youth in our community!

If you want to check out pictures of the last few years just follow the links below. I looked for 2008 pics but I guess either I didn't take any or just didn't blog about it. Also, if you live in Juneau and missed out this year be sure to get your tickets early next year!!

2010 Wearable Arts Show
2009 Wearable Arts Show

All before 11 a.m.

2011-02-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

The other day our school nurse told me that she had to write a report about what she did during the day. She found it pretty humorous when she looked back at her day documented on paper. Anyone who works in education knows that everyday is different and you NEVER know what might happen. Some days you really do feel like a teacher but most of the time you're playing the role of parent, lunch server, coat zipper-upper, mediator, bandaide putter-onner...the list could go on and on.
I thought it would be fun to give you a snippet of my day yesterday. I won't do the entire day but here's what my morning looked like.

7:40....rushing into the school building because I'm 10 minutes late and am stopped by a parent....
J*** really needs to talk to you but she's too shy to ask you!
7:41...see J*** in the school and ask her if she wants to talk.
7:43....am talking to J*** about her fear of zombies and how they give her scary dreams when I'm interrupted by another parent. B*** won't get out of my car. I've tried and tried and don't know what to do. I figured maybe you could help before I have to get the principal.
7:48...find myself sitting in the back of a pathfinder trying to coax B*** into the school building.
8:10...leave the pathfinder with B*** and head into school.
8:14...finally open my e-mail and see that I have 12 new messages....no time to read them yet.
8:15....teach a Kindergarten class....It's P.J. day in their room today so they're all hyped up and asking them to focus on a lesson is like pulling teeth.
8:45....teach a 3rd grade class...all goes well. Am able to open my e-mails while they work on their project...there are now 22 e-mails to read through.
9:15...teach another 3rd grade class. Little girl freaks out about a paper cut and NEEDS a bandaide. Apply bandaide...all is well.
9:45....If you look on my schedule it'll say BREAK but today it's spent getting boxes out to classrooms for the upcoming food drive, talking with two teachers about struggling students and printing out anti-bullying documents.
9:59....RUN to the bathroom!!!
10:00....Teach another Kinder class....TRY to give the lesson but spend more time on classroom management because three boys are OUT OF CONTROL!!!
10:28...transition the Kinders into lining up so they'll be ready for their teacher...send one boy to the end of the line for hitting someone and hear "I HATE you!!!!! I don't want to go to the end of the line. You're mean!!!".
10:30...teacher shows up to take her students and I escort the little hater to the office.
10:31...principal is in a meeting so I do some problem solving with the hater on the poor choice bench.
10:45...escort hater back to his classroom.
10:48...fax Big Brother/Big Sister application.
10:50...talk to the nurse about two 504 plans that need to be put in place.
10:57...talk to another teacher about student who had a blow out yesterday when a sub was teaching.
10:59...escort little girl who fell into a puddle to the nurses office
11:00...get a student for our weekly individual counseling meeting..

All this before 11:00.... but I wouldn't switch jobs for the world.

Marvelous monday

2011-02-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

+ Stephenie = A Marvelous Monday

Poor little ol' granny...

2011-02-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've been stuck in a class all weekend but did manage to meet up with my friend Erin and do some quick thrifting during my lunch break. Salvation Army was having a $5 bag sale (LOVE the $5 bag sales!!!) so we grabbed our bags and loaded up!
We found a HUGE pile of hand-knitted hats, mittens and baby booties. All I could think about was some poor ol' granny who had been slaving all day and night to make these beautiful hand-knit goodies. It was all I could do not to grab the whole pile and stuff it in my bag.
I limited myself to this cute hat, some mittens (I CANNOT make mittens to save my life!!) and a pair of booties for my cousin's baby. Thank you little ol' granny!

Happy birthday!

2011-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

February birthdays are AWESOME! Can't wait to celebrate mine soon but today is the big number TWO for Mr. Logie Bear.

I love taking walks with my Carriker friends. Logie will need to learn how to ride a bike soon so mommy doesn't have to carry or push him!

I love that this little man plays hard and sleeps hard ;-)

I love that Logie can makes EVERYONE laugh and have a good time!

I love this little family. So glad they chose to move to Alaska!

Marvelous Monday..

2011-01-31T21:00:00.001-08:00

Today was marvlous because...

....This little taste of spring was what welcomed me to my desk this morning...

XOXOX

Marvelous Monday...

2011-01-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

It was just a plain ol' day today but sometimes "plain" is nice. These are the things that made my Monday Marvelous...

*Laughing with Adam's students. Sometimes his boys just crack me up.
*Getting in an extra good workout tonight....sometimes sweating feels so good.
*Watching hours of mindless episodes of Parks & Recreation...sometimes you don't want to think.
*Trying out our new juicer... sometimes you want to try something new.
*Opening my e-mail to find a dinner invite for the weekend...sometimes you just need to hang out with people who will make you laugh.
*Knowing that we are one day closer to the weekend...sometimes you need to countdown.

If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will ;-)

Happy Monday
XOXOX

Looking forward...

2011-01-22T10:04:00.000-08:00

To a weekend spent with friends and family.....

To a wine night with Erin and the monkeys....

To sunshine and bonfires!!

To a VEGAS anniversary trip!

To a week in Tenakee with Stephie and Marissa!!

To finding happy messages in random places...

To more photoshoots....

To my annual "Molly Date" to the wearable arts show..

And to loving every moment of this crazy thing called life....

I'm in love with this charity

2011-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

I've always been in love with photography. For me, a picture is more than just an image on glossy paper. It's a flood of memories. In my mind I remember why we took the photo....where we took the photo...what we were saying or doing before or after the photo was taken... That one little picture captures a moment that will never occur again but can be lived in our memories over and over and over.

I've recently discovered an amazing charity called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. It's a group of photographers who volunteer their time and skills to capture the final moments of a young baby's life. "The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation is there for parents and families to help aid them in their healing, bring Hope to their future, and Honor to their child. It is through Remembrance that a family can truly begin to heal".

https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/home/

If you're looking for a way to help our S & K friends I'd encourage you to find a charity that is close to your heart and make a donation in honor of Baby G.

XOXOX

Marvelous Monday....

2011-01-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ugh, finding the strength to write a "marvelous Monday" post is tough today. The thought of skipping this week definitely crossed my mind. The last few days have been filled with tears and pain. My friend's sweet baby passed away Thursday night and on Saturday we went to a memorial service for the father of two of Adam's former students.

It's easy to wonder why life is so tough sometimes. Why all this heartache and pain? The one thing I've realized through all this is that life is precious and can change in an instant. For me, the last few days have been a reminder to love the people in my life, cherish the moments we have together and live each day to the fullest.

My sweet friend is so strong...through all her pain she asks only one thing of her friends and family. She asks that we, "appreciate the moment by loving on those around you - give them kisses, hugs, high fives, hip bumps, do whatever to show you care!"

So, my marvelous Monday post is dedicated to appreciating everyone and everything I have in my life.

*I have a husband who is a rockstar. He's strong and compassionate and caring. He makes me laugh and we have so much fun together.
*I have amazing friends. They are caring and supportive. They are people that I can laugh and cry with. They let me be silly and I love the time we spend together.

*I have the most wonderful family from my parents, brother, sister, in-laws, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephew....I couldn't have asked for a more perfect family. They are full of love for each other and we laugh and make the best memories when we're together.

*I work with some wonderful and caring people. I love the way they pull together to help the people around them. Teachers are truly the most caring individuals I know.
*I have the best pets a person could have. A snuggly dog full of spunk and personality and a cat that drools.
*I work with 400 kids that do their best to drive me crazy, make me laugh and cause me to question my sanity on a daily basis and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I hope your Monday was marevous...I know mine was.....

Banana Smoothies * Recipe *

2011-01-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

We've been drinking a ton of banana smoothies at our house lately. I've enjoyed them for years but the boys in my house have just recently discovered this yummy treat (the hubby swears I've been keeping this drink a secret from him because I don't want to share) and are now huge fans.

I figured I'd share the recipe incase any of you are looking for a low-fat, healthy and tasty treat. They're easy and delicious!

What you'll need:

4-5 FROZEN bananas

Milk

Fat-free FROZEN cool whip

Your favorite glasses

Straws

Throw your bananas and milk into the blender and blend until smooth. I usually put about 2 cups of milk in but you can adjust depending on how thick you want your smoothie to be.

Put a scoop of frozen cool whip into each glass

Fill your favorite cup with the banana smoothie and drink with a straw!

They're a Berkey favorite and I hope you enjoy them just as much!!!

Marvelous Monday

2011-01-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

Coffee was definitely needed this morning. My blanket was warm, my dog was snuggly and it was dark and cold outside. All-in-all it was a pretty marvelous Monday......no drama at work, a beautiful sunset (the days are getting longer!!!), a great workout, 4 episodes of The Office (this show was definitely intended to be watched back-to-back...it is HILARIOUS! I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time) and banana smoothies for dessert (Recipe post tomorrow-I promise!). How was your Monday?

Couldn't have been better....

2011-01-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful and sunny weekend here in Juneau. We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend-couldn't have asked for more.

We started the weekend off with a clean house (one of the benefits of a Saturday open house) and managed to finish all our errands early in the day leaving the rest of the weekend free to P-L-A-Y!!!

On Saturday I went walking at the airport trail with my pregnant friend Stephenie in an attempt to bring on baby. No baby yet but it was so nice being out in the sun. The weather was perfect and there were lots of doggies for Rosco to play with. We took another walk on Sunday out at Dredge Lakes. It was colder but just as gorgeous.

View of the Mendenhall Glacier from the Airport Trail

This is the view we all (including Rosco) soaked in for a few minutes at Dredge Lakes

I stayed out of the kitchen on Saturday night and was treated to the best Rueben sandwiches ever! One of the benefits of having a brother-in-law who used to work at the best burger joint in Ketchikan is that he knows all their yummy recipes. Gavin made the dressing while Terry made the sandwiches and threw together a big cobb salad. I did get in the kitchen long enough to make a huge pitcher of banana smoothies for dessert (I'll do a recipe post one of these days-they're soooo yummy!). I had a hard time convincing the hubby that they were healthy and good for you - he's sure that they are milkshakes and there's ice cream in there somewhere.

This was us after dinner...so full and happy ;-)

The rest of the weekend was super relaxing....drank some wine, read The Book Thief and caught up on my online newspapers and blogs. Hope your weekend was just as relaxing :-)

Happy Birthday, Chance-a-roo!!!

2011-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Two really great things happened 5 years ago....Adam and I got married and our little nephew Chance was born! Happy Birthday, Chance! Wish I could be there to help you celebrate it AND eat that good looking cake!
XOXOX

***Adam and Tristan***

Crazy Love

Wearable arts show 2012

Happy National School Counseling Week!!!

Bye, bye January

Finding a little time to relax....

A sneak peek into my work life....

Great way to end the week!

Polar Bear Dip ~2012~

Happy 2012!

Happy 6 year anniversary!

Happy holidays!

A little Christmas decor

Spoiled puppy

Adam's number one rule

Winter break has begun!

Holy Friday!!!! Where did you go???

wrapping it all up....

A "get out an play" kinda day!

Turkey Day: new traditions and things to be thankful about!!!

a few things to celebrate!

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Halloween Weekend Fun

Anchorage

Bowling!!!

Friday night delight......

Holy Garbanzo Beans, Batman!!!

Can't wait to meet you baby girl Robinson!

Happy October First!

Sunny Sunday with a Pumpkin Spice Latte

Healthy Chocolate Milkshakes!

We're ready for a little R & R!

And then the sun came out to play....

Thrifting Tips!

Beat the Odds 5K & other rainy day adventures

Spud and Spice Cake

Back to school!

Tuesday Tip -Just say no!

Running in the rain...

barefoot in the park

Let the crafting begin!

Tuesday Tip - Find an hour a day to play!

Danielle's super-fun-but-way-too-quick weekend visit

It's gonna be a good weekend!

Tuesday's Tip -Let's get positive!

Douglas Island Half Marathon

slowing down....

Sunday morning Yoga and other Tenakee Adventures

A day of rest

So far So good...

She's on her way!

Since we've been home...

You know you're on vacation when...

Chocolate wine? Yum, yum!

Vegas, baby!

Bye bye Ketchikan!

Ketchikan

Prince of Whales

Blogging from the middle of nowhere

Memorial Day

Marathon!!!!

Happy last day of school!!

Happy toes

Catching up...Friday-Tuesday

My May day present is growing!

Happy Mother's Day!

Adam's surgery bear

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

think we found our new favorite spot

Along the way....

running, running, running

Another piece of history....

Testing testing testing!

"looking at her flowers"

pirates, surfers and sailors...OH MY!

Happy Spring!

Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday & I really don't want this to end....

Spring Break 2011 * Tenakee Trip * Day 3

Spring Break 2011 * Tenakee Trip * Day 2

Spring Break 2011 *Tenakee Trip* Day 1

Adam and Tristan

Spring Break 2011 Tenakee Trip Day 1