A little of this, a little of that...

I suppose each law grad is on the mailing list for the Texas Tech Lawyer magazine since we began receiving it lately. Micah was flipping through yesterday when it came to the house and notices his name in the contributors list even though he's not in school any longer. Then he finds he had a full page article published he wrote about over two years ago! I'm so proud of him! Pictures below!

In other news, here’s what's been going on around the house...

FROGS...we have them! A LOT of them! We didn't know we had so many until we pulled out of the driveway and our headlights lit up the front yard and exposing the little hoppers. As we were driving we looked for them in other people's yards...nope. Just ours. Oh, and in our house...we found two! I thought it was funny. Micah was grossed out! I read they eat mosquitoes and bugs and don't hurt yards. We are having to be careful with Dodger and his curiosity.




It looked like at one time our garage had hanging shelving units, but the old owners had taken them out leaving large holes. I went on a hole filling mission and washed the walls. They were so nasty from all the spring dirt storms. They still looked gross so I decided to paint a dark color. We now have a blue wall in the garage. I may keep painting the other walls, but I'm still letting my eye switch from the white to the blue.


I bought chairs for the back porch this week since we spend more and more time outside in the evening. I love that lawn furniture is on sale this time of year!


My wave petunias have taken off the last couple of weeks!



Much love,

Oprah seconded me!

So I made my Friday post somewhere around 1:30 AM. Now, a mere fourteen hours later Oprah (I only get to watch the reruns in the summer, so I'm sure this aired a couple of months ago) and a rabbi on her show are saying the exact same thing as my post today!

On another note, just got back for my class in Lubbock, and after two days it's all cleaned out for the new person moving in, and man, I've written a lot lessons and learned so many life lessons in that classroom. I left my mural, and took my files and books. I was going to keep my bulletin board fabric, etc. but decided instead to make a fresh start.

Back to watching Oprah and the rabbi to tell these people like it is!

Much love,

I'm on my soapbox

Oprah got me on my soapbox the other day so here goes--money. If you ever want to experience awkwardness, there’s a topic to bring up. I think I read one time where it’s the number one cause of divorce, too. I was talking to a friend the other day about money. See in our mid-twenties we are all at different places in our lives—some friends are still in graduate school, some single, some new parents, some homeowners, some renters, and we all have varying salaries. Our candid money discussion came to consensus that some people spend a lot of money on things we would not spend it on (I wish I could go on, but I don’t want to divulge her chat with me). She has always been thriftier than me. I’m pretty good, if I say so myself.

Continuing on about money, I was watching Oprah this week about a woman who was in denial about debt. They had an adjustable mortgage about to increase over 2k a month and hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I don’t want to judge them, but it makes me so sad for that family. Here was the point of the show: people all over live like this. I also believe this is a generational problem. Take my grandparents…depression era folks. The mantra on money was that they always thought tomorrow could bring a rainy day. Everything was paid in full, in cash. Weary of banks, distrustful of the government and stock market. Take my parents; on the tail end of the baby boom generation…this is really a mixed bag of folks. However, many of people my parents age watched their parents take advantage of the G.I. Bill to complete higher educations, move to the cities, and provide their families with more. I am a product of Generation Y. I have been disappointed by a sense of entitlement my generation seeming to flaunt a "Thirty Thousand Millionaire" attitude. In fact, I have even heard a lecture or two about feeling something is owed to me by my own parents. I think parents want to give to their children what they lacked, but sometimes when you give and never make your children “own” anything you wind up with a lazy, ungrateful byproduct. Ownership makes you value what is yours. It makes you work hard and take pride in your hard work I could go on and on about this, but parents please stop, you are doing a disservice to you kids. Do you really want to end up with children going on the MTV hit "Sweet Sixteen" where teens demand luxury cars, celebrity entertainers, designer threads all with snarly attitudes?

Ownership can never come too late. If you need to own it by looking up your free credit score annually. I went to https://www.annualcreditreport.com. I recommend if you don’t have a clue how you measure up, take that step of ownership!

I'm hopping off the soapbox for some shuteye!

Much love,

A Rant

"This is the day...this is the day that the Lord hath made, that the Lord hath made...I will be glad, I will be glad and rejoice in Him and rejoice in Him..."

Remember that sweet song we used to sing in children's church? I do. Boy, do I ever need it. I'm just down today. It's cloudy, and it's been cloudy. I like the rain at night, but I'm a sunshine girl. And, this is a big one...birds have built a nest on my porch. I knocked the nest down twice with the hose since I cannot reach (not that I would touch it with my hands anyway), and those tenacious suckers came back and rebuilt even bigger. They aren't nice. They swoop and loom. I'm scared to walk out my front door. Then, yesterday Micah comes home for lunch and we run to bring back a coke (no cokes=Maloufs unhappy) and discover (along with the line of cars waiting) for the next 3 WEEKS the main highway road to and from our neighborhood will be down to one lane. This means as we exit our neighborhood we are stopped and we wait for approximately 30 minutes until a lead truck comes down the highway then someone with a walkie talkie tells us to go. The same thing happens as we try to reenter our neighborhood...another 30 minute wait in the car. Yep...no fun. I feel like a prisoner of my home. And, to top it off tomorrow is the day I go to clean out my room at school. I worked so hard on my room to make it a fun learning place, and this just makes it final. I'm really sad, and I stink talking about it because I either sound whiny or just start to cry. The other hard part about it is that I want to be excited about my new school, but I'm just not there...yet. I want to be...I'm just still so sad about my school. I know people probably think...it's a job, but it became so much more for me. I could go on and on and on, but suffice to say the clouds, birds, the construction, and my self pity over my job have got me into a funk.

Okay, I'll try to end on a bright note...tomorrow I'm getting my hair done (much needed) and a dress I've been stalking online from Ann Taylor went on sale in a big way so I'm going to pop in there tomorrow...I hope it works...it looks adorable!

Much love,

Backyard fun

Micah loves golf and is quite good considering the time he put into it growing up. I love it because on Sunday afternoons it lulls me to a fabulous nap if on television. However, my patience level for golf isn't great. And, I don't like to be bad at something and have people watch me so we practice in the backyard.

Showing off his Tiger-like skills

I'm in paint clothes...I painted the garage--the walls looked dirty after I washed them.

Dodger chasing the dog next door through the fence...notice both of his back legs are off the ground.

Dodger is tired so I pretend to putt him.

Much love,

Oh no she didn't...

I was on the phone with a dear friend this weekend (I would mention her by name, but I'll protect her identity) and someone stole her baby name. I should mention she could potentially be around this person for a number of years. She acknowledges she's not in a relationship or close to having children, but still you don't go around stealing baby names. SO...in order not to have my baby names stolen I'm posting my list (yes, I've had a list saved on my computer)! No, I'm not trying to tell anyone anything other than if you steal my names I will hunt you down! :)

Colby’s baby names

Boy
John Andrew (My absolute favorite boy name!!!)
John Patrick (second choice, apparently #1 is someone else in the family, but c'mon I can't help that they were a fruitful people and took the good names)
Landon (Micah doesn't like)
Micah (means who is like God, but Micah says no to naming children after him, but I like his name!)

Girl
Caroline Grace (Is this not the greatest name EVER?)
Isabella (we would call her Belle…Micah not fond of this one and I'm losing interest as well)
Evelyn (middle name...this was my Granny's first name and if my daughter turned out anything like my Granny the world would be a beautiful place)
Leigh (middle name...I love my middle name, especially since it lets people know I'm a girl!)
Kenner (middle name...I loved what it meant to be a Kenner and all that we stand for and Karli and I were girls so why not pass it on)

Micah’s baby names (He has a "thing" for M's)
Boy
Marshall (Anyone else want to shout, "We are...Mar-shall!")
Mason

Girl
Madison (It's not quite me, nice name, just not what I envisioned.)

Much love,

Happy 4th of July!

Since I love summer and grilled food, the 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Watching fireworks was always a must growing up along with family and friends meeting up somewhere for good times! This year Micah wasn't sure if he would have to work, and I had returned from camp in a zombie-like state almost forgetting about the 4th. Micah's sister called and wanted to know if we would like to attend the Lubbock Country Club festivities courtesy of their second cousins. Wow, how fun! Delicious food, good conversations, and fabulous fireworks. Our camera didn't capture the pictures as well as Ash's did, but here we are...






Much love,

I'm no longer a Lubbockite

Thursday afternoon it became official that I was no longer a Lubbockite when my resignation went into effect at 5 PM and I signed my new contract at 1:30 PM. I have mixed feelings, but I know that if I'm going to give the move a chance this is what the decision should be. I suppose my feelings can be summarized best in the email I sent my coworkers Thursday. Say a prayer for me...I had no idea I would be taking it this hard.


Dear Friends,

I got back from student council camp last night, and it was actually fun! You will have four great leaders at Evans next year in your student council program. Late last week I accepted a fourth grade position at Highland Elementary in Plainview. I cannot tell you how difficult the decision was to leave. I feel like I just now “get” middle school and how things work at Evans! I had chatted at Wayland about a few neat positions at the end of last year and at the beginning of summer, but decided I really wanted to teach. I received a call from the high school to coach (really, can anyone fathom this!) and teach history, but decided no, again. Highland Elementary had a first grade opening which later turned into a fourth grade job when the fourth grade teacher decided to move down. I won't lie...I'm scared out of my mind. I will be teaching all subjects at the oldest title school in town--a vast change from Evans. I randomly came across a Beth Moore devotional late one night mid-June talking about stepping out of our comfort zones. She went on to talk about experiencing God’s blessings by doing something you wouldn’t normally do. As I was groveling with the decision to leave, her sermon kept playing in the back of my mind. Evans is my comfort. I grew up in a school very similar to Evans. I teach Pre-AP, and I was the Pre-AP kids I teach. Now, I will be with children whose parents may not speak English and I will be teaching math, science, writing, reading, English, and social studies. This is far from my comfort zone. Evans has become a family to me. I cannot tell you how appreciative of the support you all have given me. I came into teaching and didn’t love it at first. It was much more difficult than I imagined it being, but you all gave me ideas and tips and were so encouraging. I now can’t imagine not teaching. On a personal level, you’ve been there during my engagement, wedding, and the turmoil when my mom was ill. It’s hard not to feel extremely sad since I feel like I’ve become an adult while at Evans. I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you since I didn’t have that opportunity at the end of the year.

Much love,

Student council camp

I got back home from student council camp last night. First thing on the agenda--shower and sleep. I have dreaded camp from year to year as there are some snappy sponsors that can make for negative energy floating around--not to mention community bathrooms aren't up my alley. I really had a great time. The kids were precious and adorable (they even bought me a present and a sweet card when they found out I wouldn't be back next year...really, would you want to leave them???). I found a group of really fun, funny positive sponsors and I laughed until my stomach hurt. During our free afternoon, LISD went to Frisco and I did some shopping! I can't show pictures of the kids, but here is the fun bunch who along with the kids made the trip a joy with their stories and transparent attitude about sharing our life experiences! Thanks girls!



Much love,

Flowerbed

We have a flowerbed with live shrubs and everything! We were rained out last Friday when were originally supposed to get it. Then, it rained a great deal over the weekend, but our landscapers came from Lubbock and installed it on Monday anyway. Then, it rained Monday night, Tuesday night...I should mention when I say rain...I mean flood. I put red geraniums in for seasonal color this year, but the picture was taken after the pummeling rain so they are in recovery as you will see. The large shrub is a Yaupon Holly. The foliage against the low brick wall are five Indian Hawthornes, the Pinkie variety that will give off sweet pink flowers in the spring. The eight smallest shrubs are dwarf yaupons. I laid three bags of mulch which said it wouldn't float...note, it floats. Clumps and floats right into the grass across the sidewalk. Sure beats the rock garden!






Much love,

Katie

I met Katie in the 8th grade shortly after moving from Pampa to Amarillo. I was in a bit of a culture shock when I arrived even though I went to a great school. It was when Amarillo was going through the "grunge phase," a few years after the rest of the country had been experiencing "punk." During the first few weeks of school I saw a boy with shoulder length fushia hair, and then I met the student council president who came down the sidewalk up to the school entrance dressed in a thrift store princess outfit screaming the "f" word. I was in a denim vest and loafers. Welcome to the big city! Since I moved to the great metropolis of Amarillo in August, I got put into classes that I was unsure of, for example, p.e. I had already met my state requirements for physical education, but somehow I got put in this class. One must understand that my p.e. class was quite the mix of girls. There were the girls that pretended to be pregnant and during basketball drills would hold their stomachs "just in case." Note: I was afraid of these girls. Then, there were girls like Katie. Katie was the line leader of exercises. Katie did everything 110%. Katie understood the coordination drill and what moved where when. I didn't really meet or remember talking to Katie until I sat behind her in Pre-AP US History. She made a 98 on a paper and argued, politely, of course, that it should have been a 100 since nothing was wrong. She even mentioned her two points could merely be added due to the fact it was on "quality paper." I was the new girl and took advantage of her whining by teasing (and being quite annoying she would later tell me) her about her "quality paper." Mostly, I was trying to make a friend--one that wasn't holding her stomach pretending to be preggers at the tender age of 13. Katie has been a wonderful friend since. On Monday, I went up to Amarillo to see her before she left to go back to Georgia to pack her things to move to Washington, D.C. where she will begin working. Katie and I just get each other. We don't have to pretend like everything is great; we are who we are in any kind of mood or situation. Advice, tears, and joys have all been shared over the last twelve or thirteen years. We aren't alike in terms of personality, and I'm sure no one would've pictured us as friends. She's actually more like Micah. I think it's great we aren't alike; I would annoy myself as a friend. I'm also glad that I like her family so much...they treat me just like one of their own. As a matter of fact, they opened their home, handed me the keys to a car, even nursed me back to health last year when my mom was in the hospital. Anyway, it's just great having a friend like Katie--everyone should have one. And, I'm sure Katie won't read this for a long time since I have to remind her to check the blog.


I forgot to get a picture of us on Monday, but here's Katie and I at the shower her mom hosted at her house for my wedding.

Much love,

Proud moment, funny moment

I'm so proud of Micah. Yesterday I saw his suit hanging up (clothes hung up with proper care is a big deal for Micah...small victories!) in our guest room, and I asked if he had to be in the courtroom today. He normally doesn't wear the full suit gear except once or twice a week for court. He tells me that he's been sworn in in front of a federal judge so he can argue in the federal court. "And, you didn't tell me," I stammered. He proceeds to be totally nonchalant about the whole thing explaining to me that it is just a formality and any lawyer who pays can be sworn in, yadda, yadda, yadda. Still, I need the photo taking moment to bask in his success! So why am I typing and not there you may ask. We have been a wait list since March to have our flowerbed done (tilled, planted the whole works). Today was supposed to be the day, and Micah wanted me to be here when the landscapers were here to ask questions. Last night, it rained and rained and rained (we have frogs out the wa-zoo in the backyard!). This morning I get a phone call from the nursery in Lubbock coming to work on it and the tiller won't be able to get through the mud. Mind you, it hasn't rained in weeks here...WEEKS! They rescheduled us about ten minutes before Micah walked out the door to go to Lubbock to be sworn in. I'll have my proud moment from afar and know Lanny is taking good care sponsoring him today. Micah, I'm really so proud of your hard work. I can't wait to be your biggest fan (do they allow buttons, posters, and air horns, haha) watching you argue in federal court.

I submitted the above paragraph around 11:30 AM. I just got back from lunch with Micah and the swearing in at the federal court was good. Nice and uncomplicated. He and the law partner had to go to the state court to submit something and they set off the fire alarms by pushing the down button to the elevator. When I say set off the fire alarm, I mean the whole court house had to evacuate! HAHA!!! Don't you just love those moments...I guess he will really never forget this day! Still proud...

Much love,

It's unofficial...

I took my EC-4 test yesterday. It took me three hours to take since I rationalize and rethink and annoy myself (kinda like I do in life). I took it on a computer so I would get my scores back quicker. I am "old school" and like to mark on the test. I do just what I tell my students to do: highlight, underline parts of the questions, and eliminate answer choices. You can't do that on a computer. I got scratch paper to work with so I was marking A, B, C, D on the paper and marking choices out. My contact in my eye bothered me during the test and I kept fiddling with it. I'm sure the people monitoring me by camera wondered what the heck I was doing. I so stressed from reading and rereading that I drove straight home and didn't stop to run any errands, get lunch, or make a day of it. I prayed during the test, after the test, and today. You must understand that I never took these classes that teach you the terminology associated with teaching one to read. I left feeling dejected. I hate that feeling of not knowing something. To not pass, what would people think? I had to rely on my own elementary experiences, and a lot has changed since then. Thank you my precious elementary teachers and God for answered prayers, something stuck...I received my unofficial score report today--passed with a 274!

Much love,

Tim Russert

I'm a nerd. A proud nerd. On my Friday nights as a kid, I would watch 20/20 (after TGIF, of course). In the sixth grade, I would bring Pampa Middle School a fact of the day from my watching Good Morning America prior to getting ready. I would always start getting ready at 7:10AM and sometimes later if there was a really good story coming up. I love the news. I majored in broadcast journalism...for a semester. I even worked at a news station as an associate producer (fancy title for intern making minimum wage who heard and saw way too much for her taste). I so enjoyed watching Tim Russert. He made the news simple, unpretentious. He asked tough questions, but asked tough questions to everyone. I loved him more when he wrote a book about his dad. Most people know how much I love my own dad. I love rooting on the good guys...the underdog. Tim Russert was one of the good guys, the underdog from a blue collar background who really had to work for what he achieved. Click the link below to view this morning's interview on the Today Show between Matt Lauer and Luke Russert, Tim's son. Very moving.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20...080616-20206862

Much love,

Happy Father's Day

Aren't dads great? My daddy is a wonderful man. My mom told me that I would wait by the door for daddy to come home from work and say, "Dadoon, Dadoon" as I anticipated his arrival by the garage entrance. As I grew older, I went with Daddy to feed the horses--especially in the summer; it was our special time. He taught me to ride a bike, ride a horse, and how to drive after I panicked my mother. I watched my dad. I watched how he handled his temper, money, my mom, and his relationship with Christ. He's also been slow to anger, no credit cards for dad, forgiving and patient with my mom, and a man of great, great faith. I cannot think of anyone with a better work ethic than him. Nor, can I think of anyone with a better attitude. He's the eternal optimist. He's also been so supportive of all of my activities and endeavors. I love our chats now; we talk almost every other day when I'm driving back and forth sometimes about nothing! I admire my dad so much for all he's sacrificed for me and my family. Take time today to tell your dad how much you love and appreciate him! Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Much love,

Can I be this cool?

I so want to be able to dance like this !

I'd take even a hint of gracefulness! My mom used to call me "Grace" totally sarcastically growing up because I have fallen, tripped, bumped more body parts than can be counted. I've seen choreographed wedding dances before, but this is by far the best one! I read somewhere that this was a wedding renewal ceremony hence the children helping with the dance. I can actually see my sister-in-law Ashlee doing something like this! Micah and I, not so much. If there was anyone with less rhythm than me...it's him and his perpetual head bob with a finger point if he's really "feeling" the music!

Much love,

Home update

Normally at this time, I would be either showering from a long day's work or would be out working. Today it all caught up with me. My back between my shoulder blades is telling me that tonight is a night off so I thought I'd show you all some progress. The kitchen remodel is on hold because I can't make up my mind. I thought I had everything picked out, and I still like my color choices, but I'm just not sure about the countertop. We painted our cabinets a bright white and I want white subway tile as the backsplash, but now instead of the granite I'm liking black soapstone. The problem is, yes, you see it on the internet and I think it's used in the Northeast, but no one around here (that I know of) is putting it in houses! My indecision is nice because as I'm using the kitchen more and more, I'm discovering that I don't like our porcelain sink--it's scratched up. I figure I'll save up the extra money to do the counter, sink, faucet and backsplash and maybe by that time, I'll have my mind made up. Maybe.

So the money that was going to the kitchen is now into landscaping. We've weeded and reweeded and reweeded and tomorrow, I'll do some more. We are now on another waiting list with a landscaper in Lubbock to come out and do our bed. She's already been out to look at the soil and our drainage and gave us the okay, but now we wait for plants. So while I've waited, I've done some work myself. My manure shoveling days are proving useful!


Impatients by the front door. I took this in the heat of the day so they look sad, but they are lovely!




These are wave petunias we have in four hanging baskets. I picked the petunias because my granny had the lilac version in her front bed, and sometimes it's nice to look at something and be reminded of her sweetness.


This is not just dirt. This is freshly weeded, tilled dirt that I nearly killed myself over. The house in the picture is my neighbors house and since his home is new there was no lawn here. We've tried to plant grass twice and see the side that I didn't till that is the grass that grew...the rest...not so much. I'm hoping with all of tilling and weeding it will grow!!!


R.I.P. ugly tree. In less than five minutes this tree was gone thanks to my frustration. It is awaiting burial at the landfill later this week.


Here's why is was ugly--it was growing sideways. The roots are growing sideways making it crazy hard to get out of the ground. I bought is tree stump decomposer to help and it looks like it is working, but we'll see!


I don't mind these pine trees as much as they are growing upright and along the back fence as a wind guard of sorts. Mowing and weeding is near impossible since they are grown to near the ground. There are four of them. This is what they looked like before.



And, after. Now, maybe I can get back there and get the weeds and trash that blows back by the fence. I hope I didn't kill them, but I gave them a pretty serious trim and found an old wasp nest in the process!

See why I'm sore???

Much love,

One thing I know...

One thing I know is sunscreen. I was slathered in it as kid going to the pool. Knowing that I would be outside quite a bit this summer, I went to purchase sunscreen. I wear sunscreen in my moisturizer and foundation each day, but considering yard work isn't really makeup friendly, I bought the latest, greatest sunscreen. I am so sad they didn't have this stuff when I was a kid. I cannot tell you the number of times I got the stuff in my eyes and the stinging feeling it left, and to top it off I looked so cool with a white film over my already pasty body. Oh, and it used to smell--eww...the smell. Good thing I have a pretty healthy self esteem. It blocks UVA and UVB rays, no bad smell, not sticky, doesn't block your pores, it sprays so no gross hands and it lasts through my sweating! And, just so everyone knows...30 isn't good enough for a whitey like me...I go 70! So here it is...I totally recommend.

Much love,

She's delicious!

She's delicious...referring to my niece. I was in Gap this weekend and I took Reece with me. Her and Micah played peek-a-boo under the dressing room door. As I exited the dressing room area, the lady working the area stopped me to marvel at my adorable niece (mind you, I had her dressed in a sweet pale green seersucker gingham set with watermelons and polka dot trim with a giant pink bow on the side of her head--I wish I had a picture!). I replied at her praise with, "I know, she's not mine, but isn't she just delicious!" Reece, Micah, and I had so much fun! Micah is so sweet to her. They love to play in the backyard with anything that bounces! We were babysitting while my parents went to Colorado to visit friends and worship God. Most of their Pampa friends have moved off and so a couple of times a year they get together at two of the friend's cabins. I grew up with some of these people and just love that my parents have such great friendships that have stood 15-20 years. Dodger came and was a great cousin to Reece; she thinks his tail is really fun! Sissy (my Boston Terrier sister) and Dodger are jealous of each other and did the things that jealous dogs to do each other...ick. As for me, I had quite the motherly experience. Besides changing some diapers (how much can one kid tinkle???), feeding her, bathing her, she had a fever in the middle of the night which I had to take care of. Micah was so proud of my motherly moments and made mention of it. It's funny of all of the compliments he's given me, this one just stands out as really important. I love you sweet Reece!

Much love,