Father's Day

Well I went home this past weekend for Father's day and because I missed my family...I know..I'm a sap.Before I go any farther I feel like I should tell you about my daddy whom I love so much.

My dad is one of my heroes. He shows integrity and sincerity in everything he does and I respect him so much. He loves my mom more than anything and would do anything for her, and I know she would do the same for him. He works so hard, gets up early, stays up late and still can never seem to get everything done that he wishes he could. My dad wants the best for his family and would do anything for us. He goes the extra mile to show us that he loves us and I only wish I did half the things he did so that he would know I love him bunches! I can't imagine the day when I have to say goodbye to my daddy forever and honestly I would rather not think about it, but I do have the comfort in knowing that once he is gone from this life it isn't forever. One day we will meet again in heaven and he will be standing at the gates with his arms open wide and a tear in his eye because he will know that he succeeded in his goal of getting us to heaven! Not a lot of people see my daddy as this big stuffed teddy bear...but he is a sensitive, loving, caring, God fearing man who loves God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. I only hope that I grow up to be half the Godly person he is! I love you bunches daddy!

So for father's day we went to Mark and Renee's house..our normal custom on Father's day and grilled out and had a lot of good...yet healthy food. It was a lot of fun to get to see everyone but yet I knew that I had to come back to Searcy...not so much fun...for work.

2 down...10 to go!

So I, as of an hour ago turned in my last assignment for my second class...which in other words means that I am done...I mean done...with my second grad school class!!!! Wooo hoooo! I feel like a weight is off my shoulders for a least a few weeks..until July anyways. So to celebrate I decided at 10:30 tonight that I was going to make pumpkin bread and drink a cup of chocolate milk! Over these last few weeks I have learned a few things:

Grad school=writing papers
Flynt Cooter and the Ekwall Shanker are not illegal they are assessments
According to Ken Stamatis I am a midwife of literacy
Late nights studying=bad hair day in the morning
Sometimes you forget to shower...i'm just saying
Books don't have all the answers..just most of them
Sonic happy hour will get you through classes
A Convenient store isn't very convenient when looking for skim milk
Investing in a white board was a good investment
The living room will look like a library exploded
If computer is left on your leg too long...it will start to burn...
I couldn't do this without my roommates

Well..I think the pumpkin bread is almost done...there will be more to come but for now just remember that friends are friends forever...and grad school isn't any fun without them!

My first week of Grad Classes!!!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING

Well, I started Grad school classes this last week...and in a nut shell...WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!! The first day I was completely overwhelmed!!! My first homework assignment was to read 145 pgs....that's right 145pages!!! And then retell in writing what my reading was about..fun times! So I had to do this everyday...with a new assessment. I had to tell what the purpose, how to administer, scoring, and what it tell me about the child as a reader and writer. So each retelling ends up being 5 to 8 pages..but no biggie...now it is second nature! The good news is a have an A in both classes..hard work is paying off!!!!

But don't worry in all this homework, Aubrey, Camille, and I have still had a couple of adventures! For instance...I got my hand slammed in a car door..on accident...and the car door shut..I mean like if Aubrey would have driven off..I would have been stuck. But no worries, God knew I couldn't handle having broken fingers right now..so they were just a bruised and a little sore! Also, Saturday night we decided that we needed to have a little bit of a life...so we got all dressed up and went to the dollar theater and saw the Hannah Montana Movie! The girls cried...it was so good! I'd seen before, but it was worth going again. After the movie..we went back to the house for more homework...fun! These pictures are of us on the first day...then on Friday...you can see the difference..we were definitely sleep deprived!

A "Typical" weekend...expect the unexpected

This weekend Aubrey and I were debating on what we were going to do on Saturday. I had a gift card to Hobby Lobby (props to Randy and Ramona) from graduation, and I LOVE Hobby Lobby! So I asked Aubrey if she wanted to take a trip to Little Rock with me. She was game as long as we could go to Old Navy and maybe Target..which is a given! Anyway, we made the trek to the Rock and found hobby lobby with no trouble. It must of been meant to be because they were having a 66% off home decor!!!! I thought we would be there for about an hour...well...two and half hours later we were checking out! I got some really neat things like a lamp that was 66% off..and some scrap booking things that were 50% off, plus I had a coupon for 25% off any item..which you know got used. I know some of you that don't know me very well are probably wondering why I am telling you about this great sale.

Because my motto for shopping is: IF IT IS NOT ON SALE THEN IT IS NOT FOR SALE!

Okay on to Old Navy, where Aubrey and I were in search of some summer cotton dresses that were supposed to be on sale, and I had a coupon! Well, we got there and went in search of these dresses....Old Navy failed us...this particular store had two dresses. Not two different styles..no TWO dresses...both were ugly...and made for barbie dolls. SO let's just say that we left empty handed. So we tried Target...

Target..was better but still it is not even summer and yet we have only found a few dresses...but they were cute and had more than the XXS size that nobody really wears.

Well, after Target Aubrey and I were hungry but we spent 20 min. decided that we would drive until we found something that looked good..we didn't drive long..On the Border..yummm! We had a waiter that called me "Sweetie" which doesn't go well when it comes to the waiter tip...I mean really.I have a name..ask me my name and I will tell you, but don't..don't call me sweetie...if I am not your sweetie! I'm just saying...but the food was good. Well after that we headed over to Barnes and Noble to walk off dinner...we didn't do much walking except to the children's section. You know your a teacher if...you spend more time in the children's section of a book store than the time it takes a person read a book in B&N.

Okay on to the next adventure of the "typical" weekend... CABOT, AR. We needed to make a Wal-Mart run and we were up for a change of scenery. So, we walked into the Wal-Mart and I almost fell to my knees....CLEAN...NICE.....NEW....SANITIZED....It was refreshing. I told Aubrey from now on I will drive the 20min..if it means I don't have to go to a old.. trashy..always crowded..glorified convenient store that takes 20 min to find a parking spot... Wal-Mart! Anyways, after the shock of seeing a Wal-Mart that I was used to seeing we went in search of a trashcan and a broom....let me just say..Wal-Mart is nice but why would those two things be on opposite sides of the store....really! I got past that and we did however find a couple of cute cotton dresses..props to Wal-Mart..plus they were cheaper!
I have an observation to make about Cabot, AR...because it is a smaller town and most know everybody...when two cute college girls come waltzing in their wal-mart...they notice...It was like "who are the new girls in town" There were some cute boys, who I'm sure were thinking fresh meat, and the girls who were thinking who are they and why are they here trying to take our men. I really wished I could just stand up and say..We are just here getting a trashcan and broom...don't panic..lol..

Anyways, after walmart we were going to go ahead and head back to Searcy...boo...but our adventure doesn't end there. Let me just say the Cabot might have a nice Wal-Mart and few good-looking men...but the street signs STINK! After turning around twice to find the on ramp for the interstate...we finally saw a street that looked like it was going the same direction...good sign..so we turned and there was no on ramp in sight. But I had faith that eventually this road would have to get us closer to Searcy than driving back and forth over the overpass in Cabot. I had my brights on and after dodging a cat (it was a fast cat) we saw a stop sign and then in all its glory was a highway 67/167 North Sign!!! Yes we weren't lost! It was pretty much amazing! After we got back we were tired from all this adventure that started from a small trip to Hobby Lobby and turned into a 7 hour trip...all the more fun!

It was a great Saturday...but it is not going to be typical anymore. Tomorrow is my first day of real masters classes...ALL DAY LONG! Which means homework gets kicked up a notch and social life ( the small one I lead) gets kicked down a notch! No worries..the adventures we still happen..I just can plan them as much. Until next time!

Time... Huge Garage sale......Mayo..and a lot of fun!

Well, it's Thursday night and Aubrey and I had no idea what we were going to do except that we wanted to go to Harding Academy's garage sale. It was HUGE!!! We had a lot of fun and found some very unique things...and a lot of people!

Well after we went to the garage sale we were on our way home thinking about what we could do..well we came up with the idea of washing our hair in Mayo...so we did! Apparently it moisterizes your hair....so we took some before and after pictures to see if our hair looked more moistureized! So if you like what you see, here is the step by step to washing your hair with mayo....

Step 1: put mayo on hair

Step 2: scrub into hair

Step 3: put plastic bag over hair

Step 4: Watch an episode of Friends..or the Office

Step 5: Rinse with COOL hair

Step 6: Wash with Shampoo and Conditioner

Step 7: Dry and Shine!

I guess you could say that is what happens when you have time...a garage sale....and mayo!

Need a Plumber???

Well, when we moved in our house our bathroom shower and sink we're clogged with what we thought must be hair! (girls shed for those that don't know) Anyway, I told our landlord and he put Drano in both places...but it didn't help. (he obviously doesn't have daughters) Well, Aubrey and I got tired of taking a shower in each others left over shower water, or having to constantly wipe the sink after we brushed our teeth. SO, we took on the task of plumber and set out with a fork, buckets, duct tape, and flash light. We started with the shower..which was clogged with hair(just as we suspected). Then we moved on to the sink, which we thought wasn't going to be to bad...little did we know! We couldn't get the stopper out of the sink..which should a been a red flag that this wasn't going to be easy. So we got down and opened up the bottom cabinet and decided to take apart the PCP pipes.

As we took off the first pipe nothing could prepare us for the rat nest of hair that flopped out with the brownish green water that came out! I think that if I could describe how this looked...a decomposing rat would be best...gross and to prove how gross it was I took a picture...behold:

So you thought that was disgusting...you haven't seen the worse. We decided that we need to take the next section off, and what to my wondering eyes should appear....but an even bigger rat hair thing that know one should ever, ever have to see..but I couldn't help but take a picture:

Well, we aren't done yet...there was one more section that looked like it only had a small bit of hair coming out of it so it couldn't be that bad..right....WRONG! If I was going to puke during this process..well this was the time. Honestly I didn't know how I kept it in. Out slopped this slimy, new york city sewage rat hair thingy..... NASTY! So here is the grossest thing ever plus a few pictures of Aubrey and I through out the process!P.S. Trying to but these pipes back together was a little more intense than we thought..so I think we need a plumber..maybe...although...duck tape is cheaper :)