Doggie Daycare, Weather, & End of School

It is finally that time:

SCHOOL ENDS THIS WEEK!!!!

I am not excited.....or at least not too much ;)

Penny is losing her mind over it too clearly:

Speaking of school, I am the club sponsor for our Military Child Club and we had our end of the year event!  We had a formal Dining In for the students complete with dinner and a guest speaker.

Phil was not only my date (and doesn't he look handsome!), but he also helped me configure the script, the program design, and he also MC'd the event.  I am lucky he is on my team!

We have a doggie daycare in town and so the puppies go play with their friends when we both have nighttime events.  I love that this place cares for my puppies like I do, they get to play, and they are tired when they get home:

The four of us sat on the couch in companionable silence after we all got home from the Dining In...it was lovely.

It is storm season here and to be honest, this is my least favorite part of living in Oklahoma.  I loved the movie Twister (still do) and that is the closest I ever really wanted to get to a tornado...yet here I am, sweating through storm season and coping by eating Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreos (if you haven't tried them, that needs to change immediately...or don't do it because you won't be able to stop!).  As I prep for the upcoming storms this week, I realized that I have no idea why Bill and Jo get such a kick out of chasing the twisters, or why people sit on their porch and WATCH THE TORNADO....maybe I am not cut out to be an Okie after all.

I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Anyone else have a guilty snack like my Oreos??

Teacher Appreciation, Flashbacks, & Puppies

This week for Teacher Appreciation, I became my very own superhero:

I really wish I was that epic, and cute!

One of the secretaries at school is in charge of Teacher Appreciation Week and she goes ALL OUT!!  I am always amazed at the creativity, time, work, and effort that she puts into this week; she really is the best of us :)

I love Timehop because sometimes it helps me remember things from the past that I have forgotten or just don't think about on a regular basis.  Phil and I graduated (and he commissioned) 6 years ago!

He's still as cute now as he was then, and I'm still as smitten...insert mega heart eyes and sigh

I had Friday off from school and got to spend the entire day with my puppies and my books and color me contented!  I even started to take a nap on the couch while watching cartoons with the pups!  Note the "started" part, I soon felt paws on my back reminding me that it was play time now:

Hello Penny!

Max was less inclined for play time as it was overcast, he was much more content napping on my feet:

We had already played and walked and so, he felt the cuddle time was just right.

The rest of the weekend was filled with gym time (finally! It's been more sporadic than I'd like!), volunteering with my awesome Battalion Crew,  dog walks, and book reading.  I have finished two books and am marching my way through a third; ah the joy of the written word :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I am gearing up for my LAST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! School is out next week!  It is finally winding down at a super quick pace!

How was everyone else's week? 

Books, Fundraisers, & Storms

It is storm season here in OK!! Technically, storms and tornados can happen in other months, but March-June is the "typical" storm season time where our weather gets rainy, windy, and scary.  I used to love watching the movie Twister, and then we moved to OK and it took on a whole new meaning...I'm unsure how I feel about that.

However, with the storms come some fantastic clouds

Phil and I went for a ride Friday night (because the dogs and I love them!) and we happened to be between storms.  I rolled down the truck window and took this picture as we were still moving; I can get lost in the beauty of nature sometimes.

I have been talking to a fellow book lover and my new books are FINALLY here!

I cannot wait to dig into these!

Our battalion has been putting on a fundraiser this weekend and I am so blessed to be involved in such an incredible place.  The group of women I have gotten to know in this battalion have been such a blessing!  We are so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.  Especially since some of those people make exceptional cupcakes that you "accidentally" take home with you:

I mean seriously, how cute are these?  I think I ate 8 of them....lets just say, I stopped counting after 8...insert embarrassed face here.   Also ignore allergy medicine...allergy season in OK is no joke!

Max is not excited to start the new week...

But he does not realize that we are down to three more weeks of school left!  Woohoo!  I think we may make it after all!  No Sunday Night Blues here!

Anyone else counting down to summer break?!?!

Baby Showers, Cross Stitching, & Tea Parties

Great news: I finished my book and it was AWESOME!!

Bad news: I now need another book to read...heavy sigh

This weekend I had a blast throwing my beautiful friend a baby shower and she's having a girl!!! I bought all of the pink and sparkly things I could find...then I went back for more!

We had a great time catching up and showering our beautiful mama :)

I also got to go to a Tea Party!!!  I wore a dress with a floppy hat and everything!  My little girl heart was super happy!  These ladies are part of the cross stitching group I am in and they assisted me in making some progress

I learned a valuable lesson today: if your stitches are supposed to be straight across and they are slanting, you probably missed a count...may have had to take a couple stitches out...

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

I'll be over here eating cupcakes in this new and beautiful way

Anyone else make their cupcakes into a sandwich?  I'm never going back to having frosting on my nose again!

Reunions, Shopping, & Easter

I still to this day find Phil's training schedule a mystery: on one hand it feels completely normal and I continue to bop through life at my normal pace, missing him mostly at night.  On the other hand it feels like part of my essence is gone and I don't do certain things while he's gone; but I only realize that when he returns home.  They say hindsight is 20/20 and boy do I believe them! Whoever the "them" actually is in this case...but I digress.

Phil left for a 3.5 week training and I made him take the standard leaving picture:

I am a sucker for photos, I think because when I see cute couple photos on social media and my other half is gone, I miss him more and long to take cute photos with him.  

That being said, I forgot to take a Welcome Back photo with him when he returned on Tuesday, oops!

The puppies have finally stopped eating grass that has caused them stomach distress all week!  We are all finally sleeping through the night once more!

I moved my feet, and lost my seat: they clearly feel guilty about that

Phil and I spent Friday up in OKC doing some shopping and exploring; I was especially excited because I scored two new pairs of shoes!!  A new pair of gym sneakers (my first pair of Reeboks) and another pair of Birkenstocks...I can't help it, they are super comfortable and I absolutely love them.  Unfortunately for Phil, I still haven't gotten rid of my seriously old and broken ones...I can't though, they are good for yard work and fetch and a lot of other things still!

This is the only photo I took today for Easter; I made Phil and I Belgian waffles, and while I was eating mine, he took over the waffle iron.  He mastered that so well, he might have to put those skills to use more often :)

I hope everyone had a restful and thankful Easter!  Phil and I took a really nice walk around post today, got some quality puppy play time in and I have put a lot of pages behind me in my new book:

I love a classic "who done it" and I am seriously enjoying this one!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Anyone else reading anything good lately?

M&Ms, Rain, & A Sick Pupper

State testing is over!  Wahoo!! It has been a long two weeks, but we have conquered those tests and are now on our way to fun things - again, probably English teacher fun ;)

I had a sweet delivery to the school this week:

Phil has been away at training and must have sensed that I needed a boost...he was right! Insert sigh and heart eyes.

I had another sweet surprise this week and it came in the form of a bag of M&Ms:

A small gesture with such a huge impact that I literally cried.  A student bought these for me and told me: "Miss, these are for you because you never give up on us and sometimes we really don't deserve that, so thanks.  And your cold sore looks really painful.  And you miss Phil."-7th grader

It is those types of moments that really bring me to my knees sometimes and remind me why I do this everyday.

We had an all day rain/wind soaker on Saturday; spring was in full force here in OK!  The dogs and I enjoyed spending all day on the couch watching cartoons and Hallmark movies (the Spring movies are super cute!)

As you can see, the couch was well guarded...

Sadly, our night was super chaotic with a sick little pupper :( Poor Penny has been hit with some tummy distress, so Sunday has passed with Clorox wipes, multiple baths, laundry, and more couch cuddles.  She is extra snuggly when she is sick, so we have made sure to grab all of those that we could today.

Max embraced the cuddle day as well:

He feels fine, he just didn't want to be left behind...also I am unsure how the position could even remotely be comfortable...maybe if I did yoga I would understand better.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  We have a four day week to celebrate Easter!

Anyone have any Easter plans or traditions that they are looking forward to?

Cross Stitching, Cold Sores, & Testing

State testing is exhausting!!! Whew!  Our kiddos handled it like champs last week and I hope they got enough rest over this weekend for Week 2.  They had the ELA and Writing last week which leaves Math and Science this week.   I will be excited to have testing over with so we can get back to doing fun things like research writing and reading our novels....at least I think that's fun...English teachers ;)

However, with the stress of testing and Phil being gone on training, I have managed to give myself a beautiful cold sore :(  So I will be sporting a puffy and sore lip for most of this week...Abreva do your thing!!  I think I need new ways to cope with stress lol; the gym, chocolate and my puppies aren't doing the normal job!

Speaking of the puppies, how cute do they look:

They went to doggy daycare today and then got groomed.  Max was happy because he received his Blueberry Facial and Penny got the de-shedding treatment (hello blowing winter coat).  They earned their bandanas and also posed for this photo under the pretense of getting a cookie...they may have gotten two because I'm a sucker.

I have started a new project: cross stitching!

I have absolutely NO experience in this craft, but lucky for me, my amazing friend Julie is awesome at it and is willing to take me under her wing.

This is the pattern that I am working on:

I was honored to be inducted into the Order of Molly Pitcher this winter and would love to do this pattern justice.

I am currently 6 stitches in....


I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Anyone else have any hobbies they are just starting out?  Or any cross stitch advice?

Renewed, Refreshed, & Ready

It has been an impossibly long time since I have written and I have no idea where to start!  It feels as though I am beginning again.  Life in Oklahoma has been very good; most people do not like getting stationed here, but honestly, it has been nothing but great to Phil and I!  The people we have met here have been such a blessing!

I had mentioned last time that I was training for a marathon, and I conquered the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon last April!

First Full is in the books!  No immediate plans for another one at this time....

However, Penny and I enjoy getting some miles in together:

Penny is always pretty smiley when we get our runs in!

Max, while he enjoys walks and wrestling with his sister, is currently very content in his favorite place:

It is so satisfying to tucker out my puppies...not sure why, but it always makes me feel so accomplished!

I had the privilege of watching my husband take battery command in February:

That man never ceases to make my heart explode with love and pride!

Those are some of the major highlights, due to my extra long hiatus, there are too many to really fit into one post.  I enjoyed taking a break from blogging, it became something "extra" I was trying to fit into my schedule and I needed to let it go for a bit.  The distance did make the heart grow fonder as I have found that I miss writing and do enjoy the creative outlet it provides.   

Anybody else feel as though they need to take breaks from things to gain fresh perspective again?

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)