"Honor the Texas flag..."

I am a proud Texan.

I even say the pledge of allegiance to Texas every day at work. I even validate the reasoning for saying the Texas pledge to students who whine, "Because we just do, okay!?"

I took Texas history in 7th grade and twice in college (don't ask).

Texas IS bigger and better. The people ARE friendlier. The girls ARE definitely prettier.

That being said, I have one complaint, Texas. We don't have seasons; we especially always skip Fall. And, I hear it's wonderful.

I hear that in some states girls get to wear their amazing new boots before January. I hear that the leaves change colors and September means a shift in the air.

I wish we had Fall. I wish that I could wear my fun, new boots tomorrow and not feel like I was out of place. I mean, it is going to be late September by tomorrow.

My boots are actually being shipped to me, and I don't even have them, yet. So, I wish I did have them already AND that they were "in season" by something other than the date on the calendar.

What do you think, fellow Texas ladies? Should I go by the date on the calendar or the weather in the air? When can we wear our new boots!?

The new boots:

Clinton, OK

Over Labor Day weekend we went to visit Miles' family in Oklahoma. Clinton is in western Oklahoma, and both of his parents grew up there. His grandmother, aunt and uncle, and cousins are always excited and welcoming, when we get to go visit!

Here is the family tree, so to speak, so you can keep up with this post:

Grandmommy, Phil and Karen's mother
Uncle Harold and Aunt Karen, who have three grown sons with families of their own:
Jeff and Kim, parents of Lynlea and Mitchell
Chris and Amanda, parents of Reagan, Maelea, and Kit
Aaron and Amy, parents of Patrick, Blair, and Craig

Sorry in advance, Patrick and Mitchell, but you ran off after calves and girls, so I didn't get your picture.

When we arrived, we went to eat at the White Dog. It is a really amazing restaurant, dug out of natural rock, and it was gggooooooooddd.



Grandmommy and Aunt Karen at White Dog


The lovely ladies with Uncle Harold


Miles and Lynlea

On a wonderfully cool morning, we went to the Littke farm. This is Miles' mom's family's land. Miles' grandad grew up on this land! He and Matt have a lot of fond memories from visiting here as they grew up.















Sunday night we went to dinner at Chris and Amanda's house. We thought it was funny that Aaron and Miles wore matching shirts.



Matt, Miles, Aaron, and Chris

Then we were off to the rodeo in Elk City!


Amanda, Maelea, and Reagan
Craig, Kit, and Aaron


Kit, Craig, Amy, and Aaron


Kim and Jeff


Sarina and Maelea



Blair and Reagan


Amanda and me

My favorite part of the rodeo was the calf scramble. There were seriously about two hundred kids who chose to participate.


The calves had no chance!


Late entries were allowed, and I believe this young boy has the makings of a real cowboy.


We finished off the trip with breakfast at the Branding Iron with Grandmommy and a visit to Aunt Karen and Uncle Harold's house. It was a great trip, and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!!


O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A, Oklahoma, OK!!

I'm all grown up!

There are certain things in life that make me realize I am a grown adult, nowadays.

You might think that's a weird comment, but if you could get inside my head, you would know that I still feel like a child and think like a child very often. (Okay, just so you know, I am aware that if you didn't think my first comment was weird, you probably are definitely changing your tune as you continue to read.)

Here are some things that slap me in the face with this horrible realization - I'm all grown up!:

1. When I was trying to think about what to post on my blog, I thought about telling you how Miles was devastated after coming home with three new "soaker" hoses last night, getting them all set up, and sitting down to watch the news to find that Fort Worth will put water restrictions in place, beginning on Monday. He had plans, people - plans to save our bushes!



2. I know what soaker hoses are, I watch the news, and I am worried about our landscaping. I wouldn't pay any of those things any mind, if I wasn't all grown up.

3. I have foot issues - like old person foot issues. What the hell!?

4. The state of the U.S. public education system has me so upset, I can't stop calling my parents to talk it out.

If you care, too, visit www.studentsfirst.org.

5. I am thinking that I shouldn't have ended my last sentence with a preposition. You may have noticed, I don't follow stringent grammar rules here on The Sweet Life. But, I still THOUGHT it! I'm old.

6. Health Insurance - It's confusing to me, not exciting, and when I'm dealing with it, I think, "Wwwhhhyyyy? I so wish I was on the playground."

7. The two things that made me feel like I had immediately grown up, and simultaneously question why I didn't feel different now that I had "grown up," were getting married and buying a house. Those were milestone events, y'all. Amazing, but so grown up of me!






8. I told my students I was "appalled," when they didn't get my joke today because they have never heard of John Denver.

I remember laughing so hard at my own 8th grade teacher, when she kept my friend and I after class to tell us we needed to come down out of space and try to learn algebra. We literally thought she must think we were aliens, or why else would she say that? I thought, "I'll never be so grown up that I don't remember how it is to not care because you're 13."

But, I have, I've forgotten - I'm that grown up. I get mad at my students for not knowing about someone who died about a year before they were born (and they didn't even care for an explanation)!


9. I know that I am not going to live forever. (No more invincible feeling.) And, I am okay with that, because I am sooooooo tired. ;) I know, I know, I don't even have kids, yet.

10. Lastly, I have been going slowly grey for at least two years. I know, I know, I don't even have kids, yet.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Ava is my niece, and today she is three! It really puts time into perspective, when I think about how big she is getting. On the one hand, I can't believe she is already three, and on the other, it feels like I've always loved Ava and had her here to love.


Ava is smart! She is beautiful, funny, and sweet. Watching her grow up and hearing all the funny things she says is such a joy. Joanie sometimes posts pictures Ava has taken from her phone, and I love it. It feels like you get to see things from her perspective. Here are two she took, one ofJoanie and a self portrait.





I am lucky to be an aunt to such a special girl! Happy Birthday, Ava!

What a Mess

Guess what this is...



Nope.

It's Amish Friendship Bread batter.

Bet that wasn't your first guess, unless you spoke to me on Thursday (which is highly possible because I don't think anyone is reading this that I don't speak to almost daily).

Some sweet friends of ours prepared this batter for us, and if you know anything about this batter, you know that means a lot of work! Seriously, they probably did about 6 days worth of steps before giving it to us with instructions about what to do over the course of the next few days and how to bake.

Our job was easy once they gave it to us. All we had to do was keep the air out of the bag and mush it each day. And, we were doing such a good job!

So, imagine our despair when this guy got it off the counter and spread it all over our wool rug.


Not cool. I spent two and a half hours cleaning up this really thick and smelly fiasco. Just thought I'd share.

Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to do all the steps and give it to me again:

So Long Summer

August 13th!? Really?

I try to keep up with blogging, but there has been so much going on this month that I just haven't had the time. Well, when I do have the time, my brain is too tired to write.

...Okay, acceptable. You don't buy it because you know I've really just been feeding my addiction to Pinterest. You're smart.


This month, I have mainly been focusing on moving classrooms at work, attending some professional development, and lesson planning. The move is occurring because I have changed from teaching 7th grade to 8th grade.

This change is super exciting to me. It will be a challenge to get a good understanding of the new curriculum, but not the biggest challenge of this school year. My district has changed the scheduling, and I will now have 45 minute classes (used to be 90 minutes). That is literally HALF the time I've ever had to teach.

They didn't half the curriculum I'm supposed to cover, either! Geez, thanks, guys.

Really, I'm exaggerating my annoyance with this, because the main reason behind the change is that it helps to save money (need less teachers), and I am fortunate to teach in an amazing district that didn't have layoffs and have a great job.



So it's all good.

This summer has gone by really quickly, but I am not sorry. Today is the first cloudy, not over the top ridiculously hot day, we have had. The heat really made me contemplate the intelligence of year round schools. Why not be at work/school when it's miserable outside?


Monday, I am back to work. I truly am excited! Even as a child, I was always ready for the routine, the productivity, the busyness that a new school year brings. It's that "new year" feeling that inspires you to be better, more of all that you already attempt to be.

Three work-related, you don't care because it has nothing to do with you, goals:

1. Energy - make it last all year, stay motivated and positive
2. Environment - have super high expectations, even for little "Johnny" who you really think may be there as a test for you from the government
3. Efficiency - especially in grading and assessment areas


So long summer. Tell Fall, we are ready!

Tennis Time?

Tennis is awesome because you don't need a whole team to play, you can play at any level and still have fun, and you can get in a good workout.

Now, I used to play tennis everyday, but that was a few (or more...) years ago. I haven't played regularly, in fact, since freshman year in college. I have been missing it a lot, and am trying to get Miles into it. So, imagine my excitement when I was asked to join a league with some old tennis friends and other ladies!



Unfortunately, I found out last week that it fell through. Truth be told, it was a little daunting to be joining a pretty tough league that would have probably whooped my booty. (Since my booty needs to be whooped into shape, it would have been the perfect way to do it, though.) It also hurt a little that I'd been so excited, I had immediately registered with USTA to get my official membership.



And by registered and hurt, I mean payed $45 to be legit in league tournaments.

My goal is to still go practice with Miles, maybe find a league to join that's even closer to my home, and still get back into playing tennis more - even if the first plan didn't pan out.

Also, I've decided what will help motivate me is a bit of a temperature drop and a cute, new tennis outfit!

Kidding!

...kind of.