my sister

Today I am happy to announce that my sister is coming to visit me! She is hauling her three little ones all the way from Minnesota just to see me! ... and maybe my other sister too, but mostly to see me :) Oh, and to also run in the Color Run with me. yikes! It's okay though. I've been running more and more so, I'm praying I will make it to the finish line.

I think we are going to go to the zoo while she is here and maybe even go see our grandparents. I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving, so I'm really happy she's coming. Also, she's never been to my house before. I warned her that it is pretty dull around these parts no toys or nothin' for her sweet little kiddos. But we do have a sprinkler and lots of left over bubbles from our wedding. So, I'm sure that could provide some entertainment one afternoon if we need some.

Anyhow, I'm going to go finish cleaning my house for her arrival. Good thing I have a few hours till she gets here :)

I hope you all have a happy Wednesday!

no peaches

I lied. I didn't mean to. It just kind of happened. You see, I went downstairs to make the yummy (and oh so healthy) ice cream and reached for my peaches to get to work. That is when I discovered the awful truth. I had let them soften a little too long. They were moldy.

Honestly I thought they were fine. Granted I only felt the peaches from outside the bag they were held in and never really inspected them. Shame really. I hate seeing good food gone bad. I'll have to let you know if I get more peaches and make the ice cream.

And my day is ruined. Actually. Not really. I'm just having trouble making myself be productive. It's a shame really. I have all this time and yet, I abuse it. I just can't bring myself to spend hours on lesson plans! oh dear.

Anyhow. That's all I've got :)

Happy Tuesday to you.

homemade peach ice cream

One of my favorite things to do is bake and make sweet treats. I have made more sweets this past week than I probably should have (apple cake and gooey butter cake). The real problem comes about when it is time to eat these sweet treats. I mean, I have no problem eating them, I just know that I probably should refrain. 

Anyhow. Before I made all of those sweet goodness I mentioned above, the hubs and I were at the grocery store and decided I out to make some peach ice cream. So I bought some stuff and waited for my peaches to soften. They are finally to the soft stage and tonight I am going to try out a new recipe. I'll share it with you once I've emptied my tummy enough to try some, share the recipe with you and let you know how it turned out. 

But for now, this is what's cooking in my kitchen :) 

pretty peach ice cream. 

made in my awesome little ice cream maker. 

Anyhow. That's all I've got for today. I'll let you know the turn out tomorrow! Have a happy Monday!

happy day :]

Today is my happy birthday :) It's been super so far. I've talked to most everyone in my family and gotten lots of sweet messages. People are just so thoughtful these days. Tonight I'm going out for dinner with the hubs and a few friends and then I'm going to drag said friends back to our house so that they can help eat the cake I just had to make. I mean, I can't eat a whole cake by my lonesome, now can I? Maybe I should say, I shouldn't eat a whole cake by my lonesome. Cause, believe me you, I can eat cake. Oh, yes I can.

A few weeks ago the hubs asked me what I wanted for my birthday. And I really kind of drew a blank of all the awesome things I would like. So I gave him a list of practical things. Things I actually need. Oh my dear. Maybe you do that. But typically, I don't. I ask for those kinds of things I just can't bring myself to get. The things that I really want. Like...

this super fabulous bag from Fossil

    

or this little cutie :)

or these little charms

[can you tell I like Fossil? :]

But no. I did not think to share these gems with the hubs. Why? Why?! Oh, my dear. I suppose practical gifts are nice too. I can't say anything bad about them, if I do get them, because I did list them on the birthday wish list. Next year, I will not let this happen again. A candle. I didn't even say a candle would be nice. What is wrong with me this year?! Someone please help me. i suppose I should have asked for help before it was too late. But, eh. Oh, well. Today is still a nice day. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!! 

my day

Hello :) Today my garden gave me a gift. A sweet little red tomato. Isn't my garden so thoughtful? Today I took a nap (after sleeping in this morning) and cuddled with Puppy. Today it stormed and I watched from under a cozy blanket. And today I put off all real house work. Whoops. What did you do? Probably a lot more than I did, I'm assuming :)

a letter to myself

Dear Future Hannah,

This letter has been a long time coming. You have told yourself numerous times before that you would write it, but you never did. Naturally I found it was time to intervene and just go ahead and write it for you. You know what this is about, you're just too chicken to write it yourself. Well here it is, the message of this letter: never chop all your hair off again. Just don't. Even if it is for a good cause (donating it to some sweet little girl), you have done it three times already. Now it is time to take care of you. Save yourself months of agony. Do not chop all of your hair off ever again.

I know what you're thinking, "But I like a change, and chopping my hair off is sometimes a nice change." Yes, it may be. However, that nice little change is very short (literally). And it takes months to grow back. You like your long hair. Hubs likes your long hair. If for no other reason, think of him. Don't be selfish, save your marriage, don't chop your hair off.

If you get an inkling of wanting to chop 12 inches of your beautiful locks off again, DON'T DO IT. Read this letter and think, "huh, what good and solid advice that is." Then if you still want a change, buy some lipstick and wear that for a few days (that would probably be an even bigger change considering you never wear the stuff). Go get a manicure (a real one). Bake a cake. Run a mile. And if after all those things you are still thinking about chopping a foot of your hair off, don't.

You could, say, get a trim. Trims are nice and good for you. And they make your hairdresser happy. She's nice, remember? Oh wait. you probably don't because you haven't gone back to see her to have your hair fixed since you asked her to chop it all off a year ago. Trims are nice and they can make your hair feel fresh and new and nice and pretty. All of that with only snipping a mere inch or two off.

And if you are thinking, "but it looks so cute short," or "it's so much easier," just remember: not so much. Sure it may look cute for a little while. But then, since you know you aren't going to keep it short, it has to go through that really awkward length stage where you really can't do anything with. It gets too long to easily and quickly straighten and is still too short to let it be curly without looking like a poof head. And then it will get to the length where you would really like to have a little trim, but you know that even a trim of 1/2 an inch will mean that you can't pull it all back into a ponytail (and you live in ponytails, so you can't do that now can you?).

So just don't. Don't do it. Think back (and look back) on the times when you had luscious long locks and long shiny hair and tell yourself, "I love my long hair so much (even though it can sometimes be irritating) that I will never chop it all off again." Ok? Good.

The shortest you are ever allowed to cut your hair is to right below your shoulder blades. No shorter. Longer is fine (but not too long, you don't want to have hair that goes to your booty), but definitely no shorter.

See? This is good. 

this too. Perfect length. 

here too. 

not this. not so much. 

And there is all the proof you will ever need should you even think about cutting a foot of your hair off. Save yourself. Don't do it. 

K. Good. I'm glad we had this little talk. Just remember this letter was written in love.

Sincerely, 

             Hannah 

was it really worth it?

This has been an alright little week for me. Though I am very happy to see next week is not far around the corner (though, not too excited about it either as it means it's one week closer to school starting! ah!) Anyhow, I've gotten house work, yard work, and school work done. Though, I will admit, not as much as I would have liked. eh. oh, well. What can you do when life brings along unexpected surprises during the day? Nothing but go with it I say. At least they were pleasant surprises, I got some new reading material (mostly for school) and have been busy catching up on some reading (and planning in my head... I should write those plans down, but the paper and pencil just seem so far out of reach when I'm thinking about those things :)

Anyhow. Here's the story. I've kind of been putting off telling it because, well, it's probably one of the worst things that has happened to us recently (I might even venture to say all year, it's not a good story).  But I feel as though I must be fair to myself and relive this horrid experience one last time.

Warning: lots of words ahead :)

So, I left off with sharing some pictures from our big adventure in New York City. After all the sightseeing was done for the day (and after it had cooled down by about 10 degrees, thank you Jesus!) and after we were all sweaty and unpleasantly sticky we finally headed back to the apartment we were staying at. We (that is: me, the hubs, and our couple friend) freshened up a bit (or not at all :) and decided on a little restaurant to eat dinner at.

Now, the hubs and I are cheap people so our criteria for eating out for dinner included: no famous chefs, no reservations, and no dress code (i.e. we could wear flip flops and t-shirts). We are not all about dropping hundreds of dollars for one measly meal. So, we found this place that had come recommended to us.

cute, huh? 

We looked at the menu online before we headed over just to make sure it had food we would like and could afford. So we strolled down the lane and enjoyed a pleasant and yummy little dinner. I will have to say that the food was very tasty, my salad was quite filling (I feel like most of the time salads never fill me up) and it was one of the better salads I have had. The others also seemed to enjoy their food as none was left on any of the plates. The super bright side was that we didn't even have to pay an arm and a leg (who ever even came up with that expression?) for our meal, we were pleased. 

After a happy dinner we went back to the apartment and that's when the hubs decided he wanted some dessert. Honestly, I could have passed, and I let it be known that I would be perfectly happy to skip out on a sweet treat. But Hubs wanted some, and of course I wasn't going to make him go out all on his own, now was I? Our friends were going to go shopping so we went over to some place (I don't even know where) together and split paths. Since the hubs and I were only going to have dessert we told them we would probably be back at the apartment before them. They gave us the key and off we went. The Hubs had looked up the name of the dessert shop online before we left, so we knew the street it was on. We walked a few blocks in one direction and thought we ought to check for street numbers. That's when we realized we were walking the wrong way. No problem, we just turned around. After about 6 minutes or so is when we realized, yet again, we were walking in the wrong direction. So we turned around. Again. 

Finally, we got there. To the sweet Little Cupcake Bakeshop. It was very cute and it had a fun little atmosphere going on. Plus all the treats looked delightful. 

Minutes after arriving at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop however, our friends called us and said the shops were closed and they were headed back. yikes. That meant we had to ditch our plans of leisurely enjoying our desserts at the shop and instead taking them to go. Which was fine, just not what we had planned, you know? 

Off we walked and went to the subway station. Looked at a map and found out the stop we needed to get off at, the first street we needed to see once we got off, and the name of the other subway station we needed to get to (they were on different lines or something). No problem. So we got on the subway and were on our way. After we got off, at the correct station, we walked outside to look for Mercer St. It was not the first street we came to. I thought we should turn around and look to see if it was the other direction. But we asked a guy and he said we were going the right direction. So on we walked. For ten blocks. No Mercer St. We saw another guy and asked him the same thing. He said we were going in the right direction. So on we walked. No Mercer St. But we did see a map. Thank you Jesus. And that's when we discovered, both of those men were liars and we should have turned around a long time ago. 

Now, under "normal"circumstances that wouldn't have been a big deal. But because we knew our friends were almost back to the apartment and would soon be waiting for us, we were trying to rush and, it of course added stress to the whole walking in the wrong direction for ten blocks thing. So, we promptly turned around and started towards the direction we should have been going in all along (and past everything we had already passed). 

ai. ai. 

Then the Subway station appeared and down we went. We found the name of the stop we would need to get off at on the map, and the name of the street we would need to walk towards once we got off. Except the problem was, the subway didn't come. And it was soooooo hot down there. And there were no people down there. And I was slightly scared of getting mugged for some reason. Not that I had anything with me, but still. I was scared. So, we decided that we wouldn't wait for an hour for a train and that we would walk the rest of the way. 

Problem was, we didn't have a map with us nor did we have a smart phone. So we couldn't just "know" where we were and how to get to where we needed to go. ugh. 

We walked for a while, looked for names of roads we thought would put us in the right direction. But pretty much had no idea where we were or how to get to where we needed to be. We were lost. 

Keep in mind our friends are back at the apartment waiting for us, texting us constantly to see where we were and when we were going to get there. Wanting us to arrive about an hour ago. I understand. I would be frustrated if I were them too. But we were doing our best with what we had, which was nothing and no knowledge whatsoever of the city. And knowing that they were waiting for us only made the whole situation more frustrating for us. Overall, it just wasn't good for anyone. 

bah!

Finally, the hubs had had enough and called a taxi. We knew that we were super close to the apartment, only blocks away, so it should be a short short taxi ride. Well. Our taxi driver decided to take us the long way. And then claimed he misunderstood us, when in fact, he knew what we had said all along, because after we told him he said it right back to us. We were two blocks away from the apartment. He drove us ten. Ten. And then, "conveniently" didn't have the correct change when we were getting out. oooo.... I don't know if I have ever see hubs as upset as he was then... I'll spare the full details. stupid taxi driver. I was pretty cranky by then too. I do not like being gypped. no I do not. 

Thing is. We were so angry at the whole situation that the night turned out to be, that we didn't even get to enjoy our desserts that I had carried 60 some blocks through the streets of New York City. 

ooooooo....... 

All I can say is thank goodness I hadn't freshened up earlier and mostly, thank goodness for cool showers. Hot water was the last thing I wanted. Oh, and even more mostly, thank goodness for sleep. 

The next morning we left bright and early (and in a semi-better disposition) and after driving for an hour or so I was famished (we didn't eat before we left). I pulled out the desserts we had gotten the night before (which I had almost thrown on the ground in anger several times the night before) and took a bite, hoping they would taste so amazing that the night would have been worth all the stress and craziness that it was. 

carrot cake cupcake. 

...it was good, the peach one was better though. All in all, not the best cupcake I've ever had. Not worth the fiasco of the night before. 

blueberry cheesecake. 

ah-mazing. or delicious at the very least. This one made me very happy and it made me think it might have been worth all the trouble. Or maybe, I was just really extremely hungry. 

Regardless, they were both gobbled up that morning (don't worry, I shared them with the hubs :)

dang desserts.

I will end with this (if you've stuck around to read the whole story, you are almost done), NYC is not for me. Granted, we had some not so great experiences, but still: big city + hannah = cranky hannah. I'm not sure if I would go back there, it wasn't quite my cup of tea. And I like tea.

Anyhow. thanks for sticking around and reading my miserable tale of NYC at night. I hope you all have a lovely Friday and weekend (and do not have an experience like the tale I just shared)!

nyc

Yesterday I had every intention of sharing some pictures from our trip to New York City. But I got a little carried away with school stuff. yep. I have officially started working on school stuff. Yesterday I started writing myself a little script. There is just so much that I want to say, and I'm afraid that I would forget it if I didn't write it down. Or, I would tell one class but not the other five. This way, I have papers in front of me, that I wrote, telling me what I want to tell the kids. I don't really care if I end up reading most of it to them anyway. I mean, it is in my voice after all. But don't worry, I will look up a lot and stare dark black holes into the souls of my new kiddos as I go over the classroom procedures. I finished it today, the classroom procedures that is, that I want to go over with the kids. Things that I really didn't even think about last year. I mean, I tried to think about them. Everyone told me to think about them and tell the kids where I stand on this or that: when they can throw trash away, sharpen their pencil, get a tissue... and the like. I thought I did. But boy, I did not do a very good job with those expectations that first day last year. I am really hoping and praying with my whole heart that this 12 page list with thought out explanations for each and every one of my classroom procedures helps, and that it's not entirely overwhelming. Though, I'm sure it will be. But hey, better to be overly prepared and know what I want and how I want my classroom to run than to not have a clue (as was last year). Also, I'm kind of figuring that by the time I read over this whole list (and possibly have them take notes over the procedures??) and actually practice some of the things on there, that it will take up the whole class period. At least, that is my hope. I have one class that is significantly longer than the others (90 minutes long, ugh) and nothing ever seems to take very long in that class, sad but true.

Anyhow. That's what I've been working on. I have a lot of other teacher things I need to get working on but I thought I'd share a few pictures from our trip to New York City.

Times Square. 

and again. 

proof that we were really there :)

We supposed this is where the ball drops on New Year's Eve :)

I don't remember the name of this building, Madison Square Garden maybe. 

But I do remember, that basketball by UK has been played here 

(or at least some of the team has played there)

need I explain? 

The guy that was trying to sell us tickets said the line would be super long 

and that we would probably have to wait at least an hour to get to the top.

He was wrong. Or a liar. Or both. 

We were able to walk straight in and go right to the top. 

a view from the top. 

We got lots of pictures from up here, but this gives you the general idea.

right? 

me at the top. for some reason we didn't get our picture together up here.

I think it's neat that lots of movies (or parts of them) have been filmed up here :)

another look see. 

We went to a cupcake shop, Molly's Cupcakes. 

They were yummy. I kind of got involved with my cupcake and forgot to take a picture.

woops. 

So I took one of the cupcake in the display case. 

That's the one I tried. It was really delicious. 

Especially the topping. 

the full display case. I think the ones under the peach looked really good too. 

But, we couldn't be pigs now, could we?

Oh, and on the door to this cupcake shop there was a sign that said

"Cupcake Wars Season Finale Champions"

I thought that was kind of cool. 

But then I didn't see them on Cupcake Wars website. 

Were they lying about that? I'm not really sure. I could have just not seen them.

But, their cakes were positively delightful!  

The 35 pound cat we saw at a music shop. boy, was he a fat cat. 

the Freedom Tower, 

still under construction. 

We went into the church that helped a lot of people and volunteers in the 

aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and saw this really neat picture. 

(and also got to sit down, which was really nice :) 

poor little pidgin. see his foot? 

We went to Central Park. 

As did a lot of other people. 

The nice and pretty green lake at Central Park. 

Last look at the park. 

And the end of most of the New York pictures. 

I will say this: we probably visited on the hottest day of the year. Oh my goodness gracious. It was ridiculously hot. I do not like hot weather. Hot weather and I do not get along very well. Let me put that in simple equation terms for you: 

hot weather + Hannah = cranky Hannah 

I also do not like big cities. Big cities and I do not get along very well at all. 

big city + Hannah = cranky Hannah 

therefore: 

hot weather + big city + Hannah = super cranky, not nice, not pleasant Hannah

it's true. I'm not even pretending like it's not. When I get cranky on a hot day in a big city (and yes, this has happened on many occasions) I stop talking (I'm not much of a talker to begin with so you can only imagine how chatty I would be) except for every now and then when I mumble, "it's soooo hot."

Also when I get cranky, I don't tend to smile much. I do smile quite a lot (or at least I think I do. I feel like I'm a pretty pleasant person most of the time), so for me to not smile is not good. If you look at me when I'm cranky or ask me a question, the outcome will not be so pleasant. 

There is no question, I much prefer the cooler weather over hot weather.

To my poor friends and hubs that spent the day with me in NYC: I'm sorry. Really. I am. I tried to be nice, so you can only imagine how much effort I was putting forth to be as "pleasant" as I was. I'm much nicer and happier in cooler weather and outside of big cities. Though, I would hope you would know that by now. 

Anyhow. That was the day trip. I'll try and fill you in on the night trip (which I have tried to block from my brain) tomorrow... as long as I don't get carried away with doing all kinds of fun teacher stuff like planning and what not :) 

Have a Happy Tuesday! 

the jersey shore

Remember those hydrangeas I was talking about the other week? well, these are them. so so so pretty. 

how do they get to be so pretty? 

I'm not even going to show you mine. They are sad and dried up and pathetic looking. 

This is pretty much what my view was the whole time. 

When I looked up from my book that is :)

sand and ocean. 

I quite enjoy digging holes with my toes in the sand. 

The Hubs and I got a picture on the beach before

we left for the big city. 

I like him. 

To sum it up: the Jersey Shore is nothing like what I was lead to believe by watching the show (heh heh. fact: I do not watch that show. ever). Seriously though, it was a nice little trip. The sand was nice. The water was not clear and very wavy, not my ideal kind of ocean water. Not to mention it was cold, but that I can get used to that. It was a fine little time. I think it's safe to say it's not my favorite beach trip... that would be something more like this time... 

(this beach was beautifully perfect!)

but the Jersey Shore was still a nice trip. 

ok. That's all I've got for you. 

Happy Friday y'all!! 

hello again

I'm sure you all missed me and were all wondering why I wasn't around and about lately. Right? Right. Well, I was away on a little holiday. The Hubs and I went on a little trip to the Jersey Shore last week and since we've been home I've been busy getting everything back in order and groceries in our fridge.

It was a nice little trip. I'll share a few pictures tomorrow (there aren't many, we pretty much did the same thing every day, sat on the beach :). The last day we were there we went to New York City and did lots of walking on a very very hot day. I will tell you all about that soon. Don't worry your pretty little heads :)

But, I just thought I would say a little hey after being gone for so long. That and I need to work up my creative brain skills again as well as get back to writing.

Anyhow, I hope you all have have a lovely week and that you enjoy this very nice Independence Day! :)