Christmas, Classes, & Homecoming Prep

 There is a huge part of me that still semi believes that I am trapped in this endless loop of October, but we are officially in January! It feels incredibly strange that Christmas came and went, Fall semester ended, and I am in the home stretch of this deployment.  Time is such a funny thing to me.

Even though Phil was deployed, I still made him do Christmas card photos with me:

Our photographer is super talented and Phil definitely indulged me with doing his part of the photo (shoutout to his awesome 1st Sergeant for being his photographer).  These turned out so well and are a sweet reminder of this deployment.

The puppies and I had a great Christmas with my parents (they came to spend it with me), and they each got new collars, leashes and bones!  

Spring semester is going to start soon!! I am so excited!  I really enjoyed my first semester of my doctoral program and cannot wait to keep pursuing this dream.  The only downside is that I have to take statistics this semester and I am NOT a math person in any way, shape or form, so think good thoughts for me please :)

We are definitely on the downward spiral of this deployment and I am so excited!!!  I am so ready for Phil to be home and re-establish our "normal".  It is so strange because for a while the deployment seems like it will last for eternity, and then you look up and you have less than a month left....I am not complaining about that process in the least! 

I hope you all have a great week and have had a great start to your New Year!

I am looking for fun destinations for Phil and I to visit when he gets home, he will get a little leave time, any suggestions? 

Classes, Flowers, & More Truck Stuff

 THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL CAME!!!  I have been thinking about this day since I officially accepted the offer into the University of Tennessee's Doctoral Program in June, and it finally came!

The occasion obviously called for a First Day of School picture: 

GO VOLS!

I was full of excitement Monday morning!  However, my classes are at 5pm, so by 3:30pm, I began to pace.  The dogs were huge supporters as they too walked laps around my house.

By 4:30pm I was in full pace/panic mode when I received a very sweet surprise:

Phil is the sweetest :)

About halfway through class I realized that this is just school, and it felt really good to be back in the saddle.  The build up to my Tuesday class was a lot better. 

                                                

Max and Penny were there to cheer me on!

Also good news: in addition to four brand new tires, I am now the proud owner of new rear and front brakes!!  I can do all sorts of truck stuff now with my new tires AND stop when I want to...life is good and hopefully vehicle maintenance free for now.

This made me chuckle because as much as my dogs hate anyone who rings the doorbell or heaven forbid someone knocks, they have a canny ability to tell when its the Chewy delivery...then they look at me wondering why it's taking me so long to bring that beautiful box in....that's because its heavy and I have to wrestle it inside the door with a doggy audience.

I hope everyone has a great week!! How is school going for everyone?  Are you all doing online or in person learning?

Books, Syllabi, & Care Packages

I received both of my syllabi for my classes this semester!!!!!  I am soooooo excited!!!!  And ridiculously nervous; I am really hoping I am smart enough for this...

For my Leadership Theory class, we had to choose a leader ( could be any) to analyze their leadership tactics and write our final paper on.  This gave me pause for concern as the term "leader" could be taken in many different directions.  I finally settled on Lt. General Hal Moore

We Were Soldiers is my favorite war movie and I am always inspired by his leadership as it is portrayed, so I decided to get up close and personal with Hal and his leadership qualities over the next semester.

Along with reading about Hal, I finished Voyager and am now moving onto the next installment of the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn and I am pretty excited!  I have not watched seasons 4 & 5 yet, so no spoilers! 

In true Outlander spirit, I also preordered this gem:

Such fun! Maybe it will spark ideas for that Scottish vacation I was talking about... ;) 

I received a surprise care package from my brother and sister-in-law and it was so cute and thoughtful! I was just completely touched!  And how cute (and fitting) is the card they sent:

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!  The pups and I will be taking short outdoor breaks to combat this crazy triple digit heat and drinking plenty of water!  

Anyone else wilting in this summer heat too?  Is it too early to wish for Fall? 

Hello Again

Hello!!! It has been a very very long time since I have written!  Life has been crazy and really so much has happened over the past year to really recap.

We are still in Oklahoma!  We bought a house last summer and have loved every minute of being homeowners

We are working through our 3rd Deployment; due to COVID Phil's deployment date changed quite a few times, and even though I had secretly hoped he wouldn't, he did in fact deploy in May

It is tough as always, but I have these two cuties to help me through it!

Look at those faces!!! :)

I am embarking on my own new journey career-wise: I have been accepted into the Doctoral Program of Educational Leadership at Tennessee University!!! I am beyond excited as this has always been my goal! I am starting their online program this Fall and am literally counting down the days until my classes start!

If you don't wear the swag, do you even go there?? ;)

It feels good to be back!  Maybe I will make this a regular thing again???

How is everyone's summer?  What are you all doing to stay sane during the heat and during COVID?

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??

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?!?!

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?

Sneakers, Anniversary, & More Sneakers

Phil and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary this week!  This year was extra special because he was actually here to celebrate with me!  I swear I look at that man and the butterflies still just flap away :)

This is one of my favorite photos from the big day <3

He also surprised me at school with flowers...needless to say, I was a puddle when he showed up to my classroom door looking all handsome in his uniform (he graduated from CCC that day!)

He also got to meet a few of my students....they all want him to come back to school so they can ask him questions.  It was a very, very cool day!

Phil made the mistake of taking me to the mall Saturday night...I say this because we happened to stroll on by the Journeys store and lo and behold, there were shoes I just had to have!

A pretty pair of pink Converse to be exact!  I was looking at the neon pink ones and decided that they are just a tad too loud (neon toenails, yes, neon Converse, just couldn't do it) and then Phil found these beautiful pale pink/charcoal gray ones and I was hooked!  It was love at first sight!

Then I also saw these beauties:

I walked out of Journeys wearing my new pink Converse (with my formal dinner dress...heels went in the bag) and those beautiful Adidas creations.  They are super supportive and were immediately tested out today on our walk with Max and trip to the gym.  MEGA LOVE!

New shoes, a truck, a puppy, and an amazing husband equals perfect a Sunday to me!

Speaking of perfect Sundays, this is what is happening on this wonderful afternoon in the Sutton Household:

Max is snoozing, Phil is playing Destiny 2, and I am reading, stretched out on the couch...perfect!

Phil is heading home for a little while to do some much needed catching up, so Max and I will be holding the fort down here in OK.  I wonder what kind of mischief we will get into....never can tell! (insert mischievous laugh)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)

Anyone else have a sneaker obsession like me?  What are they?  Please share!

I am linking up with Bianca this week!

School, Hugs, & Gym Time

The first full week of school is done! And Week #2 is ready to start tomorrow! It has been a crazy week!  Apparently in Middle School, kiddos still hug the teacher; I didn't know that (my high schoolers weren't super big into hugs) so I was very surprised when I received many First Day of School Hugs, Monday Hugs, End of the Day Hugs, Open House Hugs, Friday Hugs, etc.  Hugs on hugs on hugs.

Along with the hugs, you get the thugs...or the students who think they run the hard life, can Netflix and Chill, and all that business.   Well, their attitude is no match for my own and they realized who actually ran the classroom...its me.  Plus, they look kind of cute when they act all tough, I didn't tell them that so I didn't ruin all of their "street cred", but let's face it, they are 11 years old, cute is all they can manage at this point.

This was an adorable card I received on Friday...they really can be so stinking cute!  It made me feel so good!  I also hung it up on my filing cabinet so I can look at it whenever I need a boost.

I also appreciate that he spelled my last name correctly :)

Max has also been adjusting to this new work schedule:

Life is ruff...

But he was a good boy for the groomer and scored a brand new bandana!  Look at that handsome little bud!

Phil and I had joined a gym that is literally across the street about a month ago and have been religiously hitting it 5-6 times per week.  I was a little hesitant at first about the two of us being gym partners, you never can tell about your spouse until you're both lifting weights, but it has actually been awesome!  We lift each other up, keep each other motivated, and it is a nice hobby that we have together :)

That being said, sometimes I do make him take selfies with me at the gym...I can't help it, he's cute!

I love that he humors me!

Last week was intense with our gym routine, I had gotten out of Teacher Shape: standing all day, pacing all day, knowing all of the answers to all of the questions, and being responsible.  Whew! Definitely an adjustment compared to summer break!  But, we did it and I feel ready to hit it again this week!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  May your caffeine be strong and your attitude high! :)

Linking up with Bianca!

School, School, & School

HOLY CANNOLI SCHOOL STARTS IN A WEEK!!!!!!

When did this happen? How did this happen?  Where did summer go?  And oh my goodness am I excited!!!!

It is finally here: the prepping, the decorating, and the First Day of School Dreams have come back into my life like thunder.  One minute I'm looking at new vacuums (as per move), and the next I am figuring out how in the world to decorate my classroom.

I have always shared a classroom and relied on my partner to take the reins on that particular facet of education; it has never ever been a strength of mine.  I look at Pinterest and am out-gunned on all of those designs.  It really is fortunate that I am a Middle/High School teacher and not Elementary...

*Any of my Elementary friends want to visit me in Oklahoma and decorate my room, I will love you forever and shower you with sweet tea, chocolate and puppy snuggles*

Since I am a perky person, I went with the neon dots my friend and I had used in our room about two years ago to give it a little pop of color:

I have a lot of cork-board space!  As well as shelves, cabinets, and cupboards...I am sure I will find stuff to store in there eventually.

I dragged a friend to help me put up all of those dots as well as to put up some fabric boarders.  Due to my amazing (eye roll) photography skills, I have no photos of the boarders...oops!

This gem also came in the mail so I have been placing my bookmarks, sticky notes, and date dots getting it all ready for the first day!  I absolutely LOVE Erin Condren planners!

Check them out at her website! https://www.erincondren.com

I do believe the only one who is NOT excited about school starting is Max, he now has to get up early again and everyone knows how he feels about that...

(that is a photo of him at my parents house this summer, but he is feeling the same way now, trust me!)

I hope everyone is having a great week and has awesome plans for the weekend! :)

If anyone has some extra classroom ideas, please let me know :) I love buying school supplies and decorating supplies, so don't be shy!