Published Puppy!! :)

Some of my more frequent readers may remember this post back from June when Maverick & I found ourselves accidentally in the middle of a photo shoot for Woman'sDay. Once they saw him, they asked (begged) me to let him join in, and of course I agreed!

They took a TON of photos, like this one:



During the shoot Maverick ended up in some photos, but during others he was off sniffing a tree, chasing a dog, barking at a turtle, or shamelessly seeking attention from the photographer :) I was really hoping they'd end up selecting a picture with Maverick actually in it for the article! Well, the article just came out in the October, 2011 issue!





Both MeMaw Evans and my Mom called/texted making sure that Bryan and I obtained a copy of the issue so we could see if he ended up being the picture or not- and he is!
(Bryan picked up a copy from Kroger for us, since we don't actually have subscriptions to ANY magazine, let alone Woman'sDay.



{He's the small apricot colored goldendoodle on the left side for those of you who haven't met my fabulous and adorable "child"}

Now, granted, it is a small picture, and he is definitely not the focus of the picture, but I mean really - how many people can say their dog has been in a magazine!? Now we can!! I'm going to be "that person" and probably have this page framed. I'm so stinkin' excited!



My sweet baby boy is basically a model. Oh yeah :)

Of course, when I told him about it, he carried on with his usual daytime routine:



Although he doesn't exactly show it here, he's very excited too :)

Saturday Swimday

I love weekends! For many reasons, but most of all because I get to hang out with wonderful people on weekends :) .... like my amazing husband, puppy, parents, and friends.

Friday night Bryan & I went to Los Cucos with Collin (yay! we haven't seen him in what feels like a very long time) and then took Maverick over to Collin's new house, which we were excited to see for the first time, and Maverick had fun wrestling with Gracie & Gumbo (Collin & Laura's bulldogs). It was wonderful to get to visit and catch up. Collin & Laura - if you're reading - we MUST get together more often!

Saturday we slept in until almost 8'o'clock, which was glorious. I got all of my grading from the week done, which is more than you'd think given that I have 4 classes, all of which has a lot of work that has to be completed at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays which must be graded in addition to what we do in class. However, now all the grading is done, put in my paper gradebook and uploaded to the online grading.

After grading, Bryan dropped me and Maverick off at my parent's house while he scooted up to College Station for a TexAgs Tailgate, which amounted to a mixer/conference all rolled in one. He LOVED it and got to hang out with fellow nerdy Aggie football addicts for the afternoon :)

Meanwhile, Mom, Dad, Maverick & I went swimming!
Love these pictures Mom & Dad took:





Does he look like a happy water pup or what? :)

The day concluded with pheasant/sausage/veggie kabobs on the grill (Y.U.M.M.Y!) Quite possibly one of my favorite meals ever - and the more orange, yellow, red peppers/squash/zucchini the better! Mmm, mmm good.

Bryan then showed Dad the Happy M Ranch website he's been building (and doing an awesome job on I should add). I'll post it as soon as it's completely up and running. Looking good!

And today, Sunday, we did our usual routine - church, lunch, lesson planning, playing with Maverick, Bryan worked on the website, we cleaned the grill up, did laundry, I tutored, we walked the puppy, etc.

I love weekends! :) But what's wonderful is that I'm not upset tomorrow is Monday - in fact, I'm ready! Have a good week everyone!

Double Black Out

Well, this has been one exceptional week, for many reasons.

First, I started at a new school which I LOVE. My job is incredible!

Second, Bryan had to go out of town this week. He was at the Anadarko field office in Carrizo Springs. It's so close to Mexico that he could see a Mexican flag flying as he drove up. He was there with 3 other men that he works with.

Even though he was out of town, this may not have been has significant as it was except the following things happened:

Wednesday afternoon Mom decided to come stay over at our house since both Bryan & my Dad were out of town. (Dad was in China.) As it happens, we had a massive thunderstorm (the first in a while!) with some serious thunder and lightening, and quite a bit of rain to boot. Although the grass and trees were probably very appreciative, the power lines did not love the storm. Our power went out around 8pm and stayed out until sometime between 1:30-2:00am. We had to walk around a pitch-black house looking for either a lighter or flashlight, and then locate candles. We finally did!! The power-out made going to the bathroom, brushing teeth, and changing clothes for bed a little more interesting :)



We decided to camp out on the sectional in the living room for the night, which Maverick found a little strange. Since he wasn't in his usual spot, he was really restless and didn't get much sleep. I was so relieved to have Mom there instead of being there by myself for the first time without power!

The next day MORE drama happened!

I went to PureFitness to work out - this time with a personal trainer. I'm a very driven and motivated person by nature, so whenever a trainer tells me to do something I do it regardless of how hard it is. Later I found out some of the things she asked me to do she really didn't expect me to do, but just said it expecting me to not be able to finish, but to see "how far I could get." I find this rather terrible because like I mentioned- I don't stop unless there is something seriously wrong.
Well, at the end of the hour we were finishing up with free weights, and I was starting to feel a little weird while doing some bicep curls. I told the trainer that I needed to stop, and she kept saying "just a few more" (if she knew me better she'd realize that I NEVER say I have to stop unless it's really serious) ... and sure enough I had a seizure a few moments later. Yes, a seizure. Thankfully I had just dropped the weights and got on the floor right before it happened, totally ignoring the trainer and knowing that something was wrong. The seizure was followed by me blacking out for a few minutes. By the time I came to, the gym manager had contacted the paramedics and the ambulance was there. Thank GOODNESS my Mom was staying with me and had just gone to run a few errands and was already at the gym to pick me up. She was able to be there, and I can't say how much I appreciated that while laying on the floor of a huge gym with a bunch of people staring at me :( There were 3 paramedics and a police officer hovering, all doing different things - hooking up oxygen, taking my temperature, testing my pupils, pricking my finger every couple of minutes to check blood sugar, checking my pulse over and over and over, taking my blood pressure over and over and over .... and the list goes on. Then they hooked up 18 (18!?) different electrode things to me (my legs, arms, tons on my chest, stomach, etc) to check my heart.

I would like to note that I was was incredibly embarrassed. Humiliated. Mortified. Can I really show my face at the gym again?

My blood pressure was at a dangerously low level, and they weren't sure what caused everything to happen, so the paramedics really wanted me to go the hospital for further testing. Mom agreed, so off I went in the ambulance while they continued giving me oxygen, put in an IV, and kept checking my blood pressure hoping it would go up. Which it did eventually - and I started feeling much better.

At the hospital I got poked and prodded even more, had blood drawn from a separate arm for them to run labs, had an EKG done, and a CAT scan - all of which were inconclusive.

They told me that if I have another episode like this, that they would need to conduct further testing on my heart in case there is a dis-rhythm (?) or something that's causing me to occasionally pass out.

A couple of the milder moments:

It was crazy. I am fine now and feeling much better - nothing more than a headache and sore spots from the needles and electrode things. Hopefully it doesn't happen again!!

Power outage and fainting? That's TWO black outs in less than 24 hours ... what are the chances?

I'm so relieved Bryan is finally home, and Dad's on his way back now. I really am so glad my Mom was with me through all of this!

School tomorrow, so I've got to go get some sleep. Let's hope the power stays on tonight!

Hmmm

If a man shares an opinion in a forest, but a woman doesn't hear him, is he still wrong?

:)

My dude is out of town this week. Missing him! But he'll be back soon!

1st Day of School

It seems like I wrote a post like this .... maybe a year ago? :)

The difference is last year I was scared out of my mind and about to start teaching Kindergarten (SCARY!) and this year I was more stressed out of my mind and about to start teaching High School (Less scary, but more stressful!)

In summary, however, Kindergarten < High School.

My 10th graders are incredible!! I am so excited about teaching 10th grade English/World Studies. My 9th graders are a little squirrely, so I'll just have to stay firm to make sure we actually accomplish something in the 9th grade English/World Studies classes. Speech only meets on Wednesday/Fridays so I can't yet comment on that class, but I'm hoping for great things! :)

I did (finally!) get "big kid" furniture, so that my teenage students didn't need to sit in 1st and 2nd grade chairs at tiny little tables, which would have been slightly less than ideal. I also had plenty of time to set up and arrange my tables and chairs with a seating arrangement before the students got there. (I was the 2nd teacher to arrive this morning... I know, I know. I'm NOT going to make that a habit this year though!) My students weren't thrilled about a seating arrangement, but that's how it goes when I'm the teacher. The big, mean, vicious teacher that I am :)

Anyway, on a scale of 1-100, I'd give today at least a 75 which is pretty darn good for a first day of school!!! I'm thinking it's only going to get better too, which is wonderful.

I hope everyone else had a good first day of school!

Back-to-School Block Party

Today I frantically worked on school stuff, more or less all day until 4:30. We even moved my personal office stuff into the middle bedroom downstairs, which I really like. I'm sort of in panic mode, although I'm trying not to be. Having 4 preps is too many! :/ High schoolers are scary, too. Yikes.

That said, I took a break at 4:30 so that Bryan, Maverick & I could go hang out with our street for our last summertime party. The water slide was set up for the kids, ping-pong for the adults, the dogs ran and played, and everyone ate hot dogs right off the grill. I've said this about a 1,000 times before, and it'll keep being said, but I just so dearly love our neighbors!! They are precious. Today was even more fun because several people brought extra friends (most were Aggies :) to hang out with us.

The parties will continue, they just won't be as often, and *hopefully!* they won't be in 105 degree weather :) Although since we sat in the shade and there was a light breeze it really wasn't too unpleasant. Just gotta stay hydrated!!

Now we're watching a new episode of one of my favorite TV shows (Renovation Realities!) and are thinking pretty hard about going to treat ourselves to Frozen Yoghurt and grocery shopping, haha. (Mom- do you remember the Renovation Realities we watched where the British guy kept yelling "Annie! Annie" every time he messed up??? :)

I hope everyone's having a great last weekend of summer vacation!!

Notes & Requests

Although different from my "usual" type post, I did want to share/ask the following.

First, I'd like to point out that as of today Bryan & I are only ONE month from our 2nd anniversary! Crazy time. As of today we've also had Maverick for 5 months! I can't believe we ever got along without him.

Second, I've had some people ask how they could pray for Bryan & I specifically. Here are our prayer requests:

1. I've started a new job in a new school, working a different schedule than I've ever even heard of before, with a new age group and 3 new subjects. I am feeling remarkably like I'm drowning. Thankfully I know that with God we have the strength to do anything, yet I know my stress level is in full drive anyway. Please pray that I will know what to teach, what to say, how to manage my students and how to be the Christ-like example I'm called to be. Please pray that I won't be scared to death on Monday - or any day for that matter! (Praise: I love my co-workers!)

2. Bryan has been working many hours these days. Please pray that his stress level also stays under control. (Praise: He loves his new group!)

3. I've had some doctor appointments recently, and there aren't any definitive answers yet. Please pray for the wisdom of the doctors, and for my patience as we wait for answers and solutions.

Thank you for all of the many gestures of support, encouragement and help we've received from so many family members and friends. Love to all of you!

Classroom - Check!

It's that time of year again!

Legacy is a school that physically takes place within a church building. This means that we are subject to their policies which can be a little bit interesting. I'm only allowed to use/decorate two walls, one of which has the door and whiteboard. Since my room is the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School room we will have two sets of chairs and tables. It's not a large room, and there's a pole in the middle. It just makes it the teensiest bit interesting trying to arrange furniture and prep the classroom! I'm also responsible for re-arranging the furniture every Friday afternoon so that it's ready to go for Sunday School on Sunday. It's just a little different from a traditional school building.

Ah, 207. Given all the classes I teach in here, this room and I will have a love/hate relationship by the end of the school year :) I realized after looking at this picture again that it left off "Speech." Maybe that's because it will change to Health next semester?



(Please note that I will be sharing my classroom with the principal, Mrs. May. Crazy, I know.)

The area where my future desk WILL be - this one is being taken away :( Sad times. But my year's theme "SPEAK with an upright heart" (thank you Job!!) will stay, as well as my Word Wall for Speech and my monthly scripture update. If you want to know more about where my theme came from, ask and I'd love to share!

The Word Wall boards are foam boards that Mom & I covered in blue jean material. I hot glued cute buttons onto clothespins and then we added ribbon to complete the "sweet country look." Cute AND functional!! The words will be added by clipping them with the clothespins.



The second wall I'm allowed to use. I've got my whiteboard, my English Word Wall boards, my materials' lists and the clothesline for showing off student work.



Here are the materials' lists. Rather than write out the supplies my students need to have out and ready on their desk when class starts - or worse, tell them everyday - they will look here. I have all of the commonly used supplies on signs I created on Word that have been laminated, that I will clip using clothespins (yes, I'm using the same materials over and over!) to the same ribbon I used to hang the Word Walls. Re-purposed materials make the room look consistent, well put together, but not tooooo horribly matchy-matchy, I hope!



And the one and ONLY poster I hung (take that silly policies!!) with the clothespins on twine that will hang exceptional student work.



And that's a walk through my new classroom!!

School starts Monday!! Wow. Are you ready!?

Back-Porch Crashers :)

Welcome to my personal piece of Heaven!!

Bryan & I owe many, MANY thanks to Paw!! Not only did he build us our very own amazing porch swing, but he also helped Bryan install the back swing door with a puppy door (as you'll see in a moment).

Ronnie & Bryan spent this morning in some serious heat up in the attic (sooo hot) & backyard (also insanely hot) hanging the wonderful porch swing that Paw built. I'm sensing a theme of thanks :) [Meanwhile I tutored and signed up at PureFitness (more on that later too).]

This is me. I am HAPPY. :)

How wonderful is this?!
You may notice a member of our family is basically absent from all of these pictures. That is because he was a little (or majorly) concerned about a moving bench :) I think it may take Maverick a little while to warm up to it, haha.

I feel like there should be a spotlight on the swing in the following picture:

The other major improvement would be the following:



A swing door that fits in nicely right behind our backdoor. It sports the super convenient doggie door just for one particularly awesome (and perhaps spoiled) puppy.

It took Maverick maybe a couple of hours to feel completely comfortable running in and out, and less than 24 hours to get the impact of such a convenience (i.e. he can go out whenever he wants to use the bathroom, roll in the grass, chase bugs, etc.). It's been especially wonderful when Bryan & I are both at work! We set up a pen around the inside and he's free to go in and out whenever he pleases. The screen door has a lock, though, so people can't get in from the outside - unless very determined of course.

Now he lets himself in and out all day long - and really loves the freedom!
Bryan & Paw worked VERY hard to get it hung. It turns out that it's a bit more difficult than it looks :) Thank you guys!!

Doesn't he look happy?

Anyway, what with the screen door, the porch swing, the table & chairs Bryan and I bought, the fire ring, and the recent gift of the Coleman BBQ pit from my parents, our backyard is pretty darn snazzy!!

Cute Overload

Just in case you were wondering if Maverick is still adorable ...

Yes. Yes he is :)

He's still doing really well with staying at home - which we are very thankful for.

Ready to enjoy the weekend!!!! :)

Happy M Ranch: Cuero Edition

The new Happy M Ranch is gorgeous!!

Again the menfolk stayed super busy unloading machinery and barn stuff, while the ladies unpacked boxes and got the ranch headquarters set up. Granted, the people who lived there before us left, quite literally, nearly EVERYTHING - from mounts to bedding to kitchen items like pots, pans, plates, & spices to furniture (way more furniture than necessary I might add) to incredibly pretty decor. Who has enough money to so completely decorate a place with high end stuff and then just leave it when they move? Crazy.

Photo Gallery through the new place!

First the outside pictures:







Some of the bedrooms:

Den:

Dining area + Kitchen

It's official - our towels are in the bathroom!! :)

Fire Ring:

House:

Yard around the house:

Maverick absolutely LOVING all the space to run and run and run:

Looking pretty awesome, no? I didn't pictures of everything - but still, even from these you get a good idea. Granted, I need to put up some pictures from what the deer cameras caught :) I think it'll blow your minds!

Maverick's trip to Coleman

Last weekend I drove up to Coleman with my parents to help them pack up and get ready to move to the new place. We, of course, brought along my favorite puppy dog :)

As you will soon be able to tell below, Bryan has come up with a solution for my picture problem!!! Thank you!!!

Since Coleman is cursed with an over-abundance of sticker burrs, I put these little booties on Maverick's little paws:



Although he was not exactly thrilled, and walked really funny :) they did help for the little while they were on. Plus he didn't fight them much! However, we soon figured out that it is in fact SOOO dry that all the sticker burrs were dead. They were still absolutely everywhere (and Maverick's fur is basically velcro for that kind of thing), at least they didn't hurt and were easier to get out of his fur, so he did eventually get to walk sans booties :)

Maverick loved exploring the indoors - and was quick to make an enemy out of the bobcat in the living room! Don't worry, he made sure to protect us!

While the menfolk (Dad, Uncle Dwayne, Kevin, Al, Kenny & Papaw) loaded up the machinery and barn, Mom, Meemaw, & I packed up what was going in the house. With all of us pitching in, it took surprisingly little time to get it done!

Naturally, Maverick was a huge help too :)

Mom working on packing up the kitchen:

And then loving on the pup who is so starved for attention:

We saw a coyote!! Keep in mind this is taken with my camera at FULL zoom from very far away. Not too bad given the distance!

The next day saw us loaded up and taking another 6 hour drive - this time to Cuero, TX where I got to see my husband again AND see the new ranch for the very first time!