Remembering...

Remembering my uncle, Darrel, who passed away yesterday.  God finally healed his broken heart and took him home to reunite with his wife.

lately...

Well I haven't been very good about updating around here {no surprise there} so I'm just going to lump everything into one post.

A couple weeks ago, my mom, aunt, cousin, and I went on a girl's weekend.  We spent two nights at a casino resort and did a little gambling while we were there. I've never really been a gambler, and have actually only played on the machines twice before this trip.  I've never thought it was very fun to sit at a machine and watch your money disappear, but it was pretty fun when I won this at a penny machine.

Last weekend Dave and I went to Palisades State Park to look at the fall colors.  While there wasn't a very strong fall showing, the scenery was still pretty.

I went to my mom's this past weekend.  We worked on a couple projects and did a little shopping while I was home.  We went to a store that is a little piece of Christmas heaven.  The lady who owns it sets up over 50 trees in the store. Love!

Being in there gave me the Christmas itch even more! Only one more month 'til the Christmas decorations come out!

lately

Hmmm....I should have waited until tomorrow to post then it would have been exactly two months since I last posted anything.  Sooo...what's been going on lately? Not a whole lot around here which is why I haven't posted I guess.

I've had a pretty quiet summer for the most part.  I've been looking for a new position but either I'm really bad at job hunting or there just isn't much out there right now.  Maybe both.  I love teaching but we really need more money coming in from my side.  But, since I haven't found anything, it's back to the school I go in a few weeks.  I'm mostly ok with that since I like most of my co-workers and love the students.  It would be really nice to have more money...but who doesn't feel that way I guess.

My class held its 15 year reunion on July 3.  Sometimes I can't believe we've been out of high school for 15 years already.  Weren't we just teenagers a couple years ago?  I wasn't sure I was going to go this year but I'm really glad I did.  It's always a good time.  Twenty-five of us graduated together and we usually get about half that attends.

I've been back to my mom's several times this month.  My brother moved into a house so I've been trying to help out where I can.  I painted for about 10 hours one day and went back last week to hang decorations on the walls.

This weekend was pretty awesome.  It felt like fall around here, which always makes me happy.  60s and 70s in July is a good thing in my book.  Dave and I went to Sioux Falls on Saturday.  We visited my grandma for awhile.  It's pretty amazing to be around her and think about the fact that she's 100 years old.  We also visited my sister-in-law's family and went out for supper with them while we were in town.

That's been about it.  I feel the rush coming on to get everything done that I should have been doing over the summer before school starts.

Oh, and I've been Pinning lots of outfit ideas in hopes of dressing better this school year.  Seriously, I'm about as good as a 7 year old at putting outfits together.

So, anyone still reading this 'ol blog here?

weekend recap and so on

• Dave and I went out for Mexican & a movie Friday night. We saw 42, which was really good.
• Saturday night we watched our niece go through grand march at the prom.
• We met my mom and brother in Huron for lunch on Sunday. 
• I started the couch-to-5k training again today.  I ran through each running session, with no breaks, and even ran an extra minute at the end.  Huge improvement from the other times I've started it.
• 83 days until we run The Color Run. Saying I should have started the C25K weeks ago would be a huge understatement.  I am so excited though and can't wait to cross this off my bucket list.

• We're a full month into spring and this is what it looks like outside today:

Yeah, not cool.  We got out of school at 1:30 today.  Third week in a row that we've had time off because of the snow. 

Spring has to arrive sometime, right?!

color run photo source

weekend recap

I looked out the window shortly after I woke up Saturday morning and saw everything was covered with a thick layer of frost so I went out to take some pictures. 

I stopped to visit some horses while I was out.  Last winter I tried to get some pictures of these horses but they were not interested in me at all and ran to the other side of the pasture.  They were much friendlier this year and stopped eating to come see what I was doing.

I wish this one was a little clearer but I like it anyway.

Dave and I went to Sioux Falls later that morning to do my six month ring cleaning.  We stopped to get gas and drinks before leaving town.  I grabbed these chips to try.

Ew. I ate one chip and that was enough.

We did a little shopping while in town but didn't buy much.  We went to visit my grandma (the one who turned 100 a couple months ago).  She had a mini-stroke Friday night/Saturday morning.  We didn't stay very long because we could tell that she was exhausted but was trying to be a good hostess and stay awake while she had company.

We went to my BIL's house Sunday to help celebrate our niece and nephew's birthdays. 

We spent a few hours there.  Sarah and I went out to take a few pictures but it was windy and chilly so we didn't stay out long.

Have a great week!

weekend recap

It was almost three weeks ago when I wrote that I planned to post more often. I haven't written a post since then. Oops.

We went to Sioux Falls on Saturday for a few events.  We went to David's cousin's diaper keg that afternoon.  It was the first one I've ever been to (or even heard of) but it seems like a good idea if you have a lot of drinking friends. Sort of a guy's baby shower I suppose.

Dave and his cousin, Chauncey

All the diapers they received (totally stole this from Chauncey's FB)

We had supper that evening with Tony, Jackie, Sarah, Conor, Annie, and Brian at a restaurant called Acoustic.  After supper, we went to a concert at the Orpheum.  We saw the Hadden Sayers Band.  Not something I'd normally think I'd enjoy but it was fun. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the 50 year old Snooki and her boyfriend in front of us.  Seriously, you'd think by the time you're that age you could handle yourself in public a little better.

We spent most of Sunday just hanging out around home.  I made these scones for breakfast...

I bought them at World Market in the fall and just got around to making them.  I threw some raisins in too... yum!  They were really good.

We did some grocery shopping in the morning but that was our only outing.  This was pretty much my view for the rest of the day...

I did get off my butt for awhile to make some minestrone soup for lunches this week.  I made it last week too and it is so good!  This is the recipe I used.

Dave went outside in the late afternoon and spotted some sundogs so I went out too and tried to get a picture of them. One is on the right side and the other is one the left side just above the tree.

Hope everyone has a great week!

happy new year/weekend recap

Happy New Year! I hope everyone one had a fun and safe celebration last night! Dave and I drove down to Sioux Falls yesterday to have a nice lunch.  We stopped to visit my sister-in-law and her family while we were in town also.  Last night we spent some time with my brother-in-law's family.  We came back home just before midnight.  I crawled in bed to watch the ball drop and was asleep shortly after. Pretty wild, I know. ;o)
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We headed to my parent's house Saturday afternoon so we could attend a surprise party for my aunt and cousin that night.

Linda and her family

 

my mom and her sister

 

Lindsy, my aunt, my mom, and me

We came back home after lunch on Sunday so we'd be home in time for the Vikings/Packers game.  I was super happy that the Vikings won, but not excited to see they'd be playing them again this coming Sunday.
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We're just hanging around home today trying to decide what to do.  I have a couple projects I want to work on but not sure if I have the motivation today to do anything that big.

Hope you have a great week!

2013 pic source

weekend recap

Dave and I attempted to do some Christmas shopping Saturday but didn't get much done.  We had some ideas but nothing really panned out. 

We drove around for awhile Saturday night looking at Christmas lights.  This house had it's lights synced up with Christmas music, which was pretty cool.

I found out that it's really hard to take a decent picture of Christmas lights from a car without looking like a total creeper.

I went on a Christmas tour of homes with my sister-in-law on Sunday. There were some really pretty homes but I didn't get many pictures because we weren't sure if they were allowed.  I did sneak a quick picture of this little SDSU themed tree that I thought was really cute.

I also got one of our niece.  Sarah is a member of the high school group that hosted the tour.

And in other news, I've officially started my countdown 'til Christmas break.  12 1/2 days to go!

weekend recap

Well, more of a quick recap from Wednesday-Sunday...

I pulled out our Christmas decorations out on Wednesday since we had the day off.  I will do a post later of everything but here's a little peak at our tree.

We spent Thanksgiving in Sioux Falls celebrating with my Smith family.

The only Black Friday shopping I did this year was a quick run out to Walmart around 7:30 am to see what was left.  I left with a mini crockpot that I'd been wanting but everything else was gone.  We had Tony, Jackie, Sarah, and Conor over for another Thanksgiving dinner later that day.

We headed back to Sioux Falls on Saturday to attend my Grandma Smith's 100th birthday celebration.  I plan to do a full post on this once I get some pictures. I forgot my camera at home so all I have are a couple phone pics.

We hung out around home on Sunday and relaxed.

grandma

My Grandma Hoxsie passed away early this morning.  My emotions are so conflicted right now. I am so incredibly sad that she is gone. But, I am so happy that she has been reunited with my grandpa and other family members.

I adored my grandma.  She was funny, feisty, and you really never knew what might come out of her mouth.  During one visit with her not too long after Dave and I were married, she told me that even though we weren't ready to get pregnant, we should still "practice" a lot.  Not something you really expect to hear from your grandma, yet not totally unexpected from mine.

I get my love of Christmas from my grandma.  She hosted our family Christmases every year.  She baked tons of cookies, pies, and other treats and decorated every square inch of her house.  I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas at her house.

A couple of traits I didn't inherit from her are her gift for gab and her toughness.  I'm usually pretty quiet while she could talk to anyone, anywhere.  She was a strong lady and often lovingly told me to "tough it out" when I was upset about something.

I feel like I could type forever and still not be able to truly convey how wonderful she was and how much I loved her.

I love you grandma. Thanks for all the happy memories.

weekend recap

Saturday was SDSU's homecoming, known as Hobo Day.  My parents came up for part of the day and joined us at the parade.   It was a little chilly for the parade with the temperature in the mid 20s.

We got a good view of our nephew this year in the high school band.

We hung out around home the rest of the day. We watched The Five Year Engagement Saturday night. I thought it was pretty lame and Dave thought it was ok.

I spent a good chunk of Sunday painting a Christmas sign for myself.

I distressed this one.

I painted one for my mom last weekend.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to seal them since it's too cold to do it outside with the spray I usually use.

Hope ya all have a great week! 

weekend recap

Dave and I headed for Mitchell Saturday morning to attend my godson's 8th birthday party.

We went to my mom's house that afternoon.  My brother was an usher in his friend's wedding so we didn't get to see much of him.  Just a quick hi and a picture and that was it.

We spent the rest of the Saturday and part of Sunday hanging out at my mom's house.  It was a relaxing weekend!

Hope you're having a great week!