Summer

Summer is here!! I wasn't sure if I'd ever make it to this point, but I have now successfully completed my 1st year as a teacher! It wasn't easy, I'll tell ya that much, but I can't wait for many, many more years to come with the kiddos.

Now that school is out, I've found myself not exactly bored (I would NEVER complain about getting to sleep in everyday!) but I guess you could say restless. I seem to feel the need to start a million different projects to keep myself busy. I haven't really completed anything yet, but here's my "to do" list that I'm aiming to conquer:

- Find the perfect fabric to make curtains out of for our master bedroom (and FINALLY finish the hemming on the one's I've already hung in the other rooms)

- Either find a new dresser and nightstand for our bedroom (preferably an old one at a garage sale that I can redo) OR use the dresser we currently have in our living room and replace it with something really cool :) Here's what I would LOVE to have in our living room under our TV:

















ahhh I love El Paso Imports :) But, I also have a budget to follow, so this might just have to wait. Hopefully I'll find something really unique that's similar to this piece that I can redo and make just as beautiful.


-Make a T-shirt quilt out of all of my college t-shirts. I've wanted to do this for SOOO long!! I've just never had the time to do it (or atleast that's been my excuse) Welp, guess what? Now I do!!


-Do some gardening. I've always enjoyed planting flowers and making the yard look pretty, but I've always picked my flower choices based on what color I like the best instead of the important things like how much sun they need, which ones grow best together, etc. So, I'm hoping to sharpen my gardening skills a bit this summer and maybe create a new flowerbed in our backyard.


I know there's more, but this is more than enough to keep me busy for a while. I'll post updates on how things are movin' along!!

Adventures in Cookie Baking

Well, I've never been much of a cook, and it usually takes me a few tries to get something right, but for some reason I decided that I should try to make fancy cookies for Mother's Day and my sister's graduation the night before I need them. Suprisingly, it turned out ok! Not perfect, and I definitely messed up a few of the steps, but I'm satisifed. And now I may even have a cookie baking addiction....

Here are some pictures throughout the process. Courtney and Jen, these are for you!

Just getting started......

All done baking and beginning the icing!

Finished!

It's been a while...

Well, I started this blog so excited to get on every day and fill everyone in on what is going on in our lives, and obviously that isn't what happened!! I can't believe it's been this long since our last post. We have definitely had a busy past couple of weeks; Weddings, jobs, and this crazy winter weather!

We actually just got home from a pretty crazy weekend as well. Michael's sister, Kallie, plays basketball for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton TX, and has been a starter for 4 years. She's a senior and will graduate in May, so Michael and I went to TX this weekend to watch her play. She also just got engaged!! Congrats Kallie and Colby!! It was a lot of fun to see the family, but a lot of flying/driving places, and the trip was definitely too short!

Michael is enjoying his new job in the Insurance business, but it is a lot of hard work, and it's been a little stressful. We're definitely thankful for this new opportunity, and he's much happier than he was at his old job, but keep us in your prayers! Financially, it's a lot more difficult not knowing how much his paychecks are going to be each month, but we're making it!!

It's conference week this week at school, so I have a lot of preparing left to do before I go to bed. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Well, 2009 is officially gone and 2010 is here! So what is the right way to say the name of this new year.....two thousand ten?.....twenty ten? I guess we'll have to wait and see. We had a great time last night with our bible study group, playing games and eating TONS of yummy snacks. And we all made it to midnight! Woohoo!

And speaking of 2010, there is something that is already going on here in the WhiteHouse....my birthday! The big 2-5. Yes, I am a New Year's baby, and no, I was not the first baby born on that day. I didn't get any free stuff, scholarships or tax breaks. But I still get to have a huge birthday party every year with all of my friends! I guess that makes up for it :)

Today, Michael and I slept in and then went to see the new Twillight movie, New Moon. Neither one of us have read the books, but the movie was still pretty good. I think I'll be excited when the next one comes out. After, we went to my parent's house and had my family birthday party, which was fun. My mom makes the best chocolate cake for birthdays, which unfortunately I was too full to eat after all of the movie popcorn, but I brought some home and will definitely enjoy it tonight! To finish off my birthday, Michael has made reservations at an unknown restaurant at 7:00 p.m., which is less than an hour from now. So, I better go now and get myself ready for my birthday dinner :)

P.S. My mother-in-law called to tell me Happy Birthday while I was writing this, and my father-in-law called and sang me the entire Happy Birthday song this afternoon. I was just thinking that I'm very lucky to have such great in-laws. Love you guys!

Until next time.......

Welcome to our blog! This is the first time I have actually written on a blog, but Michael and I thought with so much of our family out of state, this would be a great way to keep everyone updated on what's going on in our live. Don't expect much, we're normally not very exciting! Here are a few highlights of our 2009:


- In March, we took a cruise out of Galveston to Cozumel. It was a 4-night cruise, and we had a blast! It was the first vacation we've taken since our honeymoon, and it was especially nice to get away because on that same week, Oklahoma was expecting snow! It was really nice, and I'm already ready for the next one......(hint, hint :) )

-In April, Heather completed the Alternative Certification Program to become a teacher in Oklahoma. In July, she left the University of Central Oklahoma after 2 years (tear) and took a position teaching 5th grade at Santa Fe South Elementary. It has been quite a journey! And 2010 is only looking better :)

-Michael had quite a big career change in December (actually about 1 week ago!) and is now a licensed Insurance Agent, working with clients to provide life insurance, health insurance and annuities. Look him up if you need anything!!

-We also joined a wonderful bible study group made up of 7 couples, all around our age and in about the same stage in their lives. It has been wonderful getting to know everyone and making new friends. And the idea to create a blog actually came from it as well (Thanks Jen!).

Overall, 2009 has been good to us. We've had a lot of changes, but we're excited to see what 2010 brings. Happy New Year, and we'll talk to you soon!!