Dillard's

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I have the day off! What am I going to do? Shop of course!! However, when you are on a budget, it kind of puts a wrench in the 'ole shopping habit. I think I've found a way around this though...I searched through my purses and have found about 3 different gift cards to Dillard's!! So, this calls for a special trip to the Northeast Mall to get rid of my gift cards at their Dillard's! I have done a little online pre-shopping and have my eye on these three items:Aren't these riding boots beautiful?! I love the lighter brown color too and have a knock off Dolce and Gabana purse from NYC that would look fabulous with these boots! I might even get daring and wear them with skinny black pants/leggings because I have seen lots of people wearing this brown color with black pants and it looks good but goes against everything I have ever been taught about brown and black not going well together--I might push the envelope if I get this pair of boots though!!Then there are these little jewels...I have been wanting these ever since I first laid eyes on them when I was in College Station shopping with my mom on my birthday...in October! So, 3 months later here I am still drooling after the cute flats with the precious little broaches on top! At the time, I got a pair of black shoes that look very similar with a black broach on top and wear them ALL the time. These are a gold/silver color that would probably go with anything--but are they too close to the gold Tom's I just got for Christmas? Lastly, I would love another long-sleeved wrap like this one. I got a black wrap like this from Nordstrom Rack when I was getting my sweet hubby jeans for Christmas and didn't realize until I got it home that it was 3/4 length sleeves. I still wear it and love it and it even looks cute over a long sleeved shirt, but I would love another one with legitimate long sleeves so that I can wear it over cute sleeveless and short sleeved shirts and not look ridiculous in the winter.

So, I need help here!!! Which one should I get?!?

Calling All Crafty Friends

So, my friend, Lara, had a brilliant idea and I just wanted to share it with you! She thought it would be a blast to get some girl friends together to make a craft once a month. We'd meet at someone's house that is willing to host and the host would be in charge of leading the craft that month. The host would need to send out an email beforehand, letting everyone know what supplies to bring to make the craft and it would need to be under $10-$15. She has been wanting to make one of those infinity scarves with a cute broach on the side. Other ideas?

*yarn wreath (Kacie, please?!?!)

*coffee filter wreath (I guess I am in a wreath phase)

*rosette headbands

*decorative pillows

*coasters

The possibilities are endless...anyone interested to join in the fun? What a great way to get to hang out with and meet new friends! I love it!!

Potluck and Graduation

What a fabulous weekend! On Friday night, Drew and I hosted a Thanksgiving Potluck at our house. We invited 4 other couples: Danny & Sarah Kenyon, Cody & Lindsey Carver, John & Deborah Perkins, and Tony & Lara Larson. Everyone brought the most delicious items to the feast! We had cranberry salad, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, salad with Sarah's green goddess dressing, stuffing, beer bread, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and apple cider drinks to top it all off!! Drew and I attempted our first turkey with success! Thank you Popeye's (and mom and Diane)!! Haha! We bought a cajun turkey from Popeye's that you just take home and bake for about an hour and a half after thawed. I borrowed Diane's portable roaster and just poured a cup of water in the bottom to make sure the turkey stayed moist. It got great reviews from our guests of it being moist when most had only had dry turkey in the past and that it was flavorful! I highly recommend this turkey to everyone. Sorry I look a little bit hagard in this picture...I haven't quite figured out how to clean house, cook for guests, and look cute by the time guests arrive. Thankfully I was able to accomplish 2 out of 3 of those...can you guess by the picture which skill was left by the wayside?! Drew cut our turkey for us with a new electric knife I got for the occassion. I asked him if he wanted to watch a Youtube video or something to learn how to cut the turkey and he asked me, "Did the pilgrims have youtube videos?!?" and then just went for it! I think he did a great job...bones and all! We had a great time visiting with everyone and Drew even made a fire for us to enjoy after dinner. Thanks to everyone who came!!

On Saturday, we went to Kellye's graduation at her cosmetology school, Ogle! Here she is pictured at her station all decorated up for the big day. So cute!!

Cindy (aunt), Kellye, Diane, Ken, Drew

We are so proud of Kellye and can't wait to see how God will use her in the future! I have heard this girl has mad skills with updo's so if you are in the market for a smashing look for your next party, wedding, or prom...Kellye Branch is your girl!

Who's Paying For My Botox?!

What a day! And, I don't mean that in a good way. Warning: venting session ahead! These Kindergarten kiddos are about to be the end of me! I think what people should really call me is "Person who molds kids into decent human beings" rather than "teacher." Today I had two students pushing each other in the lunch line. One student lied about it. I watched a student take a pink eraser out of another student's box when they weren't looking and watched him place it in his own box very quickly! I had one student make fun of another student because he didn't have very many books in his book box to read...why does this constitute making fun? That doesn't even make sense! I had a fun activity planned for the end of the day: cutting open pumpkins and exploring what the insides look like and feel like while they pulled out the seeds. I had 3 boys that didn't get to participate in this fun activity as a consequence for all the craziness they chose to do throughout the day. They just had to sit and read books to themselves/watch us with interested eyes. Sad!!! I should start charging students money everytime they make me put up with that kind of behavior! Why? A) Because I would be rich! and B) Because I could pay for Botox Treatments...Look at the horrible frown lines I am getting from these kids causing me to make this face so many times throughout the day!

Not to mention the therapy I have go through after days like this...today's therapy was fantastic, but there wasn't much left by the time I got home. (Yes, I ate these in my car.)HELP!!!

The Fire is So Delightful

Yesterday was the most relaxing and wonderful day EVER! I spent the majority of the day in my flannel pajamas that I had pulled out for the colder weather recently. My friend, Patricia, a Kindergarten co-teacher, texted me on Saturday to tell me that she just saw a new Blue Bell icecream called Pumpkin Spiced Pecan that she knew I would probably "need." Aren't friends that know you fabulous?! I told Drew that I needed it badly! So, yesterday while I was taking a long Sunday nap in my flannel pajamas, Drew went to get firewood and surprised me with the Pumpkin Spiced Pecan icecream!! Am I married to the best husband ever or what?!? Let me tell you...that icecream is delicious! I think I have a new favorite. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, watching football, and playing with our sweet/crazy dog Brisket by the fantastic fire Drew built for us in our fireplace. Oh! and pictured with the icecream are two new favorite pumpkin scented candle finds! On the left is a Paula Deen candle that was given to me as a birthday present from my Kindergarten room mom and the candle in the tin on the right is called Pumpkin Clove from Target that Lara Larson gave me for my birthday and it smells wonderful as well! I had given this same kind of candle away as a prize at my last Bunco party and wished I had won it myself...but once again, what are good friends for? Knowing you wanted that candle and giving it to you for your birthday of course! Thanks Lara!

The 50th Day of School

{Me, Stephanie Lucero, Kim Blevins, Patricia Guajardo}

On November 2nd, our Kindergarten classes celebrated the 50th day of school by dressing up 50's style! Even the teachers whipped out their cardigans, rolled up jeans, rolled down socks, and poodle skirts. I even used my Aggie ring on a chain around my neck! The kids loved it and it was so fun to see all the girls in pony-tails with scarves and the boys with their hair slicked back! We learned how to make 50 tally marks, colored a pink and black pattern on 50 squares (looked like a diner), counted to 50 by 10's, counted to 50 by 5's, counted to 50 by 1's, drew a picture of how we celebrated the 50th day of school, listened to 50's music all day while we worked on different activities, hula-hooped in PE, and danced to 50's music in Music! To top it all off, we had coke floats for snack-time at the end of the day...uhhh what was Mrs. Branch thinking on that one?!?! They were hyyyyper! I can't take credit though, Stephanie Lucero (in the pink ladies jacket) had heard of this idea and really got it all together for our Kindergarten team. I think this idea is a keeper as it was a huge hit!

My Birthday Weekend

So, I am truly embarrassed at how long it has been since my last blog entry! September...really? SEPTEMBER?!?! Wow. Now that one of my favorite months has come and gone (October), I will just have to pick up from the most recent happenings to stay up-to-date.

This past weekend, Drew and I headed off to College Station for time with family and many celebrations. The first big news of the day was that Drew got a NEW JOB!!! We are so thrilled and find ourselves thanking God over and over again and how He has blessed us and answered our many prayers. Drew will be working in the Human Resources department for a company called Ferrovial! They are a company based out of Madrid, Spain (I'm dreaming of Drew taking me with him on company trips in the future to Spain...and then remember that I am JUST dreaming!). He won't be working in Spain, he will be working here in DFW! One of their offices is in Dallas and another office is in North Richland Hills by our church. Drew thinks he will be splitting his time between the two offices. I know he will be excellent in this career and can't wait to see how the Lord will use him!!

The second celebration of the weekend was my 27th birthday on October 30th! I hadn't been to an Aggie football game since I graduated and was dying to go back to Aggieland, so my parents were sweet enough to get us tickets so that us four could see the Ags beat the Raiders (Texas Tech). It was a fabulous game and so fun to hear the yells, see all of the maroon, kiss my husband when we got touchdowns...sigh...it was wonderful! I snuck in some shoe shopping with my mom while the guys played 9 holes of golf earlier that Saturday. After the game, we ordered Double Dave's pizza rolls and Trey and Katie came over to hang out.

I got wonderful birthday gifts: panini maker from Trey and Katie, mula from Branches, Powell grandparents, Carver grandparents, and Branch grandparents, black Coach purse from my parents, and diamond earrings from my sweet husband! I am spoiled!!! Sunday we went to church and then over to my grandparents' house for lunch with the whole family. It was delicious! When we got back to our house, I discovered cute birthday decorations on my fridge, cupcakes and candles in the fridge, and a card from Ken & Diane (my father-in-law and mother-in-law)! We got home just in time to hand out candy to cute kids trick-or-treating on Halloween!

What a blessing this weekend was!