I've Got the Christmas Spirit Early!

Our new stockings and stocking hangers! We still need something for over the fireplace!!


First round of lights

Halfway there

Our First Christmas- 2008

C'est fini!

Pros & Cons...

We have been thinking about getting a puppy lately. We know we want a dog for sure, it's just a matter of when the timing is right. I have my eyes on this little guy:



On one hand, we definitely want a dog and can't wait to get one. On the other hand, a puppy brings responsibility and some of our ability to be spontaneous. Anyone want to weigh in??

How can you resist that face??

I Am Deeply Distraught...

because my husband (seriously) wants these. Love him, but...atrocious!

Never Before Seen...

When Gil and I met up with his Aunt for lunch in Seattle, his Uncle Larry gave us a CD with over 200 pictures that he had taken at our wedding. I was so excited to see them for the first time and relive our wedding day! Here were a few of my faves:


The sky couldn't have been any more blue!


Married!


St. Cecilia Music Center in Downtown Grand Rapids where we had our reception


I love how happy I look!


Gil and Meem at the reception

We have a video of our wedding somewhere out there...we'll have to watch that one day!!

Seattle Weekend!

This weekend, I went to Seattle to visit Gil and to celebrate my birthday. I had never been to Seattle (or that side of the country!) and I loved the city...minus the drizzle. On Friday, we ate dinner near the hotel in Tikwala at BJ's brewhouse. Great chicken barbecue pizza!

Saturday I woke up to the foggy views of Mount Rainier:

We spent the day walking around the city. It was COLD. Michigan is cold, but Seattle is WET and cold. I had no idea how hilly it is there! It was so fun walking around and spending time with Gil.

Of course we checked out the Fish Market. We got there early before it was packed.

Yes, that's gum.

We also got a chance to meet up with Gil's aunt who lives in Seattle to have lunch together. On our way, we got a chance to see a bit of the University of Washington campus.

We walked around the Seattle Center area and saw the Space Needle.


We didn't pay to go up in it though! In the evening, we went over to see the Olympic Sculpture Park along the waterfront. They have a Calder and there is a Calder exhibit going on at the Art Museum. Reminded me of GR!

I loved being on the water...the Puget Sound is beautiful!

By this point, we were frozen and headed to the Seattle Aquarium to get inside for a bit. I actually touched a starfish and a sea anemone. Gil wouldn't do it! I was fascinated by this fish...gross, right?

On Saturday night, we headed back to the Fish Market to eat at the Pike Pub & Brewery.

Everywhere we went, I was pointing out buildings that I thought were cool. I'm sure that got old for Gil to hear. I kept picking out condos along the water that I wanted to live in.


On Sunday it was really rainy. We spent a low key morning eating breakfast at the hotel and then we headed to the Science Center. We saw A Christmas Carol in 3D at the IMAX at the Science Center which was pretty good. Sunday night, we headed to Tacoma for my birthday dinner. I liked Tacoma because it was still right on the water, but less busy than Seattle. We ate at a brewery on the Puget Sound. It was nice and casual and Gil was happy to get some football watching in!

Aside from getting stuck at the airport ALL day on my birthday...it was a PERFECT weekend. :)

I Miss Them...

Look at those little faces. I wish I lived closer to my nieces! They are already so much bigger than when this picture was taken!
P.S. Sisters...I need more current pictures!!

Little By Little...

When we moved in, it was hard to know what to do with this room. The dimensions were a bit awkward.

Since then, we've slowly been adding things. This picture was taken at night, so it's a bit dark. Not to mention our camera isn't great.

It is definitely not done, but it's come a long way. We need a mirror for over the fireplace and we need artwork on the walls. We also need some colorful pillows to make the room pop.

Now I can't wait for fires in the fireplace this winter!!

Why I Love Being a Teacher...

Funny things come up in the classroom all the time. Take Friday afternoon as an example, Damonte' brings over a picture that he has drawn. He declares that the picture is of my husband. Then I look closer and notice a red line coming out of his eyes in the picture. "What's coming out of his eyes, Damonte'?" I ask. "Lasers!" he shouts excitedly. Ah, the creativity of children. Too cute!

Robot? Cheerleader? I'll never know...

Fall is Upon Us...

A couple of weeks ago, 2nd grade visited Wiard's Orchard. It was a cold, cold day but everyone had fun.

Here we are on the Hayride.


Here we are exploring the corn maze!

Gil and I went back to Wiard's last Saturday with a couple of friends to go to the Haunted Houses. It was fun to go, but I can now officially say that I'm not a big fan of Haunted Houses. It was noisy and there was stuff hanging off the ceiling that I didn't particularly want to touch, but was forced to as we walked through. Yuck.

This weekend Gil and I (mostly Gil) tackled the yard. The trees around our house finally dumped all their leaves on our yard. It took a while to clear it all out.

You can see how much Gil cleared before I even came outside!

Today was the first day of the MAPSA conference in Detroit. We went to a couple of good breakout sessions and the keynote speaker, Flip Flippen, was good. Back for day two tomorrow...