The Hope Chest

Last summer, right as we were coming back home from vacation, my Grandmother gave me this hope chest that had been in the family. I didn't have the chance when we first got back to do any work on it since school was starting, and I became pretty busy!Once summer started this year I decided I needed to get started on it. Here are the "before" and after pics...I don't have the best "before" pic, basically because I was so excited to get started on the project that I had forgotten to take a picture before doing anything. So I ended up remembering about halfway through the paint stripping process to get a pic.From the first picture you can at least get an idea of the color it had been painted it what it might have looked like.The second pic shows the completed project, basically I stripped the whole thing down, sanded it, stained it, and finished it with about 5 coats of polyurethane!The third pic shows the placement of the chest in our house! I'd been hoping to put it at the foot of our bed if it turned out nice, it's probably a little "too much" with all the other giant furniture we have in our bedroom. But at least it makes me smile when I see it every day!Finally, it is not actually all the way finished...there is a seat cushion and pillows that go with it as well, but I am having those reupholstered. So I will get you a final-final picture when that comes in!

Float Trip!

This past weekend some friends from school and I went on a float trip! It was lots of fun. Basically you just get dropped off upriver and begin to float down. Our floating lasted about 7 hours, so it was a good long day! Though it did seem to fly by and nobody wanted it to end!

Starting off!

Preparing the raft

On a swim

The "boat" we made with our watermelon from lunch

Running Fun!

We just got home from a trip down to Nashville, TN! This was our second year running in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. It was a fun time!

This year I was able to talk some of the other ladies I work with into joining us, I was able to train with these ladies the last couple of month's and it was fun to race with them! The race went pretty well for all of us, at least we all finished that is, I always think that is the biggest accomplishment. I unexpectedly had a little asthma flare up at like mile 3 (I almost never have asthma issues, it's only been like 3 times in the last 4 years), it wasn't enough to make me stop, I basically had to slow down pretty dramatically though and just do an easy jog for a couple of miles, then it subsided enough to finish out the race with no real issues. I will make sure to have an inhaler on me for my runs here on out. I guess I learned my lesson.

Matt and I were able to stay with some friends Joey and Kristina, who we knew in Germany, it was fun to reconnect with them and spend some good quality time with them as well!

Snow Days in Abundance

So in the last 2 weeks of school we have only actually been to school for 3 days. It's been pretty crazy, especially considering that we've had at least two snow days every week (except for one week) since we got back from Christmas break! I'm definitely feeling bad for the classroom teachers in the school since all the state testing stuff is quickly approaching and we've definitely been out of school far more than we have been in school over the last month and a half! I'm not even going to think about including the month of Dec in that equation with Christmas break and everything, it is too depressing!

We are excited around here for a big thaw this upcoming week! Weather looks to be great and I am excited for a full week of school, though I have a feeling all the kiddo's and staff will be exhausted by the end of the week (a whole week of school, what's that?).

I haven't had it so bad during this time off though. I am close enough with the little kiddo I work with, and his family, that I was able to spend some time over at their place doing some lessons with him and keeping him up on some of his work (I wasn't letting him get away with that many snow days!). I've also been able to get out a little with some friends close by, a couple of lunches out and a coffee or two!

Some of us even got together a few nights ago to celebrate what we were calling "Spring Break 2011, Baby" mainly because these snow days we are having aren't free, they need to be made up... we've already added a couple days to the end of school, we've lost all holidays between now and then, and this last round of snow days is supposed to cut into our spring break significantly.

Hence my disdain over snow days! It's going to be a long couple of months!

Bracing Ourselves!!

We are awaiting a pretty big snow storm here, I know some folks wouldn't be too impressed with the 13-16 inches of snow forcasted, but I certainly am. I'm looking forward to fun in the snow over the next couple of days! Both of us already have the day off and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it turned into the rest of the week...at least for me anyways, Matt will likely be back to work in a day or two.

I'm actually kind of excited for some winter adventuring. We just recently cut off our cable (I hated paying for it, when I never found anything that great to watch); so I think we are going to be forced to play outside! I'll definitely stay in a read a lot too, plus work on a couple projects around the house.

I'm looking forward to sharing some fun pics over the next few days. I have to go now and blow up one of my pool rafts in preparation for flying down some snow covered hills tomorrow. Matt doesn't think the raft will last long...I'm much more optimistic!

The Train!

We took our trip home from Christmas on the train! We departed from Fullerton, Ca and arrived in Kansas City. It was a great trip and even though the total trip time was about 35 hours, it didn't feel so long. We were able to get a sleeping compartment, so basically that meant we had a room to ourselves. We were able to read, work on computers, check out the beautiful scenery, and take naps whenever we wanted to! We also were able to visit the dining car for our meals, and if the train had a longer stop in a town, we would get off and do some walking to strech out our legs. We really enjoyed our train adventure and hope that you enjoy the pics!


Our room, the dining car, the shower, etc...




Some breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert!

Merry Christmas!

Matt and I have been having a wonderful time visting his family in California! There was a crazy amount of rain in the beginning days of our visit, but things have cleared up and we are enjoying some bright and sunny days! It's been great to warm up a bit!

It has been such a blessing being here and enjoying time together with family and friends. It has been such a joy to get the opportunity to visit with everyone.

Tomorrow is our last day here, then we take off on our train trip back home. So fun! We will definitely be sharing some pics from that trip, until then...enjoy the Christmas pics!

The Family Pic

My love and I

The Family Dinner

An awesome bracelet that Katie got Susanne and I, it's made out of two antique silver spoons!