For the Love.

For our four-year anniversary, the husband and I went on a trip to Dallas. I love taking trips with Russell, because it lets you relax together, talk together, play together, laugh together, and just enjoy each other without the insanity of daily life back home. Couples trips are the best. And I'm glad I am a part of this couple! :)

Some highlights:

Our hotel! We used Priceline.com to book a four-star hotel for only $50 a night! And it was wonderful, elegant and quite mod. Loved it.

IKEA! Oh, what an adventure, my friends. I had no idea. Three hours to get through the upstairs showrooms, hour-ish for lunch, another few hours rounding up our finds in the warehouse below. Wow. I so enjoy shopping with my husband for a few reasons: he actually cares about most of the ideas I conjure up for our house; he is patient while I look at EVERY last item in the store before deciding; if the store happens to have guy things AND girl things, we'll part at the opening of the store and meet at the dressing rooms half an hour later. Works out well. I'll keep him.

Medieval Times! If you've not been, it is quite the experience. You are assigned a knight for which you cheer during the jousting tournaments that take place as you eat dinner arena-side. You must eat with your hands (as they did in Medieval Times, duh Erin....), and they call you "Me Lord" or "Me Lady" all night. The show includes sword fighting, falconry, horse performances and a jousting tournament, all of which are fake and rehearsed...but I found myself still enjoying it! NERD ALERT! Give us a break: I teach British literature for a living, and my husband once taught European history...we like this stuff! ;)

Anniversary dinner in Deep Ellum at Daddy Jack's. YUM. Cool area as well.

Wizard of Oz! After dinner, we went to see this Broadway show at Dallas' performing arts center. It was a lovely show, complete with a real puppy playing Toto! He stole the show, needless to say.

Since it was our last night, we decided to try and play with the camera a bit, and a nice man asked if he could snap our picture together....

We were laughing in this picture, and, while it isn't the greatest shot of the two of us, I love that we are captured having such a fun moment together. These have been a strange and challenging few months, and my husband has tirelessly cared for me and supported me. I was so very grateful for a trip where we could forget about a lot of things and simply enjoy each other.

Happy anniversary, my love.

Bling. Bling.

Weird fact about me for the day: Tight necklaces and/or collars give me massive headaches. Don't know why, but they do. Oh yes, and t-shirts. Bad headaches.

Which brings me to the irony of the day: My loving husband spent a few hours taking this idea from a magazine...

...and making it for me! It is a frame with radiator grille attached the back. You add some S-hooks, and, bam...good place to hang all those adorably irresistible and bejeweled headache-makers! ;) Although necklaces give me these headaches, I just can't seem to resist them. Ah, vanity. What a price.

;)

Anyway, here's how the lovely guy did it.

Spray radiator grille and S-hooks appropriate colors.

He then found the perfect antique-y-looking frame.

And...voila! A place for all of my lovely necklaces sponsored by Excedrin Tension Headache!

I'd already found a few dessert stands to use to collect my various chunky rings and earrings, so the whole thing is picture perfect. Love it.

And my task-oriented husband. ;)

Wedding Cake #2.

This past weekend, I did my second wedding cake for my little sister's best friend and her new husband. She wanted a four-tiered vanilla cake with strawberry filling, and she wanted it covered with white fondant. The bride also requested chocolate brown ribbon and sparkly polka-dots which looked lovely when paired with the fresh flowers she left for me to use.

I was a bit nervous about this cake for a few reasons. First, this is someone's WEDDING cake...oh, the pressure! Second, this was the first wedding cake I'd done where I also attended the wedding. My biggest fear all night was that I was going to overhear someone saying that they thought the wedding cake was awful, totally not knowing that I had done the cake! Fortunately, I heard nothing but sweet compliments, so that was a relief! ;)

Here are some pics:

I had to bake, cut and cover the cakes at my mom's house, but I didn't feel comfortable assembling the cake before driving the 45 minutes to the wedding hall. So, I arrived quite early to finish assembly on-site. Little did I know that the groomsmen and about 12 various family members of the bride would be standing around watching me finish. It was unnerving!

My mom came along as my sous-chef to assist with the polka-dots. She was a big help, and it was nice to have someone there who knows that when I'm focused on finishing something well, I'm not always super-perky and ready-to-chat....! She just let me work and work to finish it up, and she was there to help when needed!

Finishing up placing the fresh flowers on the cake.

The finished product: taaaa-daaaa!!!

The newly married couple, lovingly jamming pieces of my cake into each other's mouths. ;)

Before she left, the bride found me to say that the cake was exactly what she wanted (PHEW!!!), so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. While I can't say I don't love the payoff for these big cakes, the pressure makes it all even out...! ;)

And...can I just tell you how sick of eating cake I am...!?!?!

Ha!

Egg Shells.

Don't listen to the DIY network when they tell you that these:




...are good for your disposal.


They are not.


At least not in the quantity it takes to make a four-tiered wedding cake.


It will lead to this:







...a husband who (luckily) knows how to work plumbing.


(Thanks, babe. And...sorry.)




Let's look at the bright side...now I know!!! ;)

Mabel and Cheese.

Let me tell you a little story about my dog, Mabel and her uncanny ability to embarrass me in public.

The lot next to our house is under construction. The home is going up fast, so there are various and sundry workers around the area at any given time of the day. Well, a few days ago, my power went out as I was trying to get ready for the day. I politely sauntered over to the workers who were in the back part of the lot to ask when I could expect the power to come back on. They told me I'd only have to wait about ten minutes, so I decided to do a little work in my gardens (who am I kidding...my potted plants sitting on my porches...) while I waited. I was in the backyard finishing up my extensive gardening (...) when I noticed Mabel hadn't come inside yet. She was allllllll the way out at the far corner of our lot, right across the fence from the group of workers and their loud trucks. After already feeling a bit ogled during my previous conversation with said workers, I decided not to make the trek out to pick up my pup. Instead, I tried calling her to come inside. I called and called, and she looked at me, stood stone still and did not come. I kept calling, thinking my voice was muted to the workers due to their loud truck engines.

Finally, when my efforts seemed to be in vain, I tried to tempt her inside by squealing in a high-pitched-annoying-to-anyone-but-a-dog voice, saying, "Do you want some cheeeeeeeese?!? Mabel, come get some cheeeeeeeeese! Don't you love some cheeeeeeeese!?!" This annoying mouse-voice call went on for about five minutes as Mabel watched me with disdain, when suddenly I heard a deep voice shout, "What? What do you want to give us? Some cheese?!?" Yep. All the workers could hear me. The whole time. Screaming out "Cheeeeeeeeese?!?!??!?!?!" countless times. So, I did a nonchalant wave and tried to explain over the blaring engines that were not quite as loud as I'd hoped that I was simply trying to call my dog inside...to which they asked, "What dog?" You see, Mabel is a mere three pounds and was completely hidden from their sight the entire time by some irises. Great. So, these men, already annoyed at my impatience with the power outage issue, believed I was screeching at them the entire time wondering if they'd like some cheese.

Thanks, Mabel. Real helpful.

Oh, and then I had to make the walk of shame across my yard, pick up my dog, turn to the sound of snickering laughter, and walk inside.

Mabel looked up at me as if to say, "See, told you I didn't want any cheese."

Thanks.

Okay, okay, so she isn't as obedient as a lab.

Maybe she barks at birds, the delivery man, and, occasionally the vacuum.

She doesn't come for cheese on demand.

I'll admit she is too smart for her own good, and, when she's mad at me, she knows how to grab a few sheets of toilet paper and evenly shred them on the bathroom floor for me to find.

But....

She is sassy and spunky and has a huge personality which I prefer any day. She loves to be held and snuggled, and she'll tap at my arm to let me know she wants me to make room for her on the couch or (okay, I'll admit it) when it is time to go to bed. (Yes, my dog sleeps with me. Whatever. I'm one of thoooose people.)

I love my pup. My sassy pup, Mabel.

Drowsy.

This day.  I liked this day.

After church, Russell and I hopped in the car for our next musical adventure courtesy of the Tulsa PAC.  Today's showing: The Drowsy Chaperone.  Before we attend our monthly shows, we usually eat in one of our favorite areas of Tulsa.  We love the Cherry Street area due to the local restaurants and quirky one-of-a-kind shops.  Today we tried the Full Moon Cafe, and it did not disappoint...especially because I got to sit across from this handsome man:

Next, it was off to see the show!  Due to our recent camera purchase (that was highly overdue...just note the crummy pictures in ALL of my other blog posts!), we toted along quite the bundle into the PAC.  They eyed us quizzically as if to remind us that, duh, you can't take flash-photography inside the theatre.  So, we just snapped a few pics outside of the theatre...!

The show was so great: it was a comical mix of 1920's humor, quick songs, lots of laughs, and it was short enough to not need an intermission.  Good show.  I recommend.

Finally, (after a detour to the mall...free Victoria's Secret panty coupon....too much info, yes?) we made it home.  We took a long, leisurely stroll as the sun was setting, and we ended up here:

A drowsy day, indeed.

Side note:  Does anyone know how to format the blog to allow for larger pictures...?  Help!  

New Camera.

Experimenting.

This will be fun.......

Goodbye Letters.

At the end of school each year, I have my students choose four teachers or other support staff members at the high school to whom they will compose "thank you/goodbye" letters.  They are given an entire class period to write the letters, and they must be thoughtful, specific and respectful.  We do this right before Christmas break as well, but the end of the year letters are always more meaningful.

While I urge them to choose other teachers/support staff, I will admit that I do receive quite a few letters by the end of the day.  I take this as a major compliment, but I also realize that I am the common denominator shared between all of my students.  Eh.  Either way, I'll take a few kind words from these teens any day!

Well, this year's crop of letters did not disappoint.  One of my favorite moments of the year is when I have shut down my classroom for the year, said goodbye to all the kids, and then I finally get to come home and read through my letters.  Whether or not they were sucking up (which, why would you at this point of the school year....?), I take each letter to heart.  

Below, I'll share some samplings from some of the kids that meant a lot to me this year.  I'm writing this post at the risk of sounding vain, but, if anyone out there is a teacher or knows a teacher, you realize how astounding it can be to hear a compliment come out of the mouth of a student...especially a Senioritis-striken Senior!  ;)  Thus, I wanted to share my surprise with you.

From Blythe:

"Dear Mrs. Kern,

I was pretty terrified of you from the first day of school when you made us write a five-paragraph essay.  The past two years, I've had to go to Summer School to make up my English classes that I failed.  It wasn't because I wasn't smart enough to learn the material, but it was because the teachers were bland and only gave out busy work.  We read a lot of novels this year, and normally I hate reading...but you made this class a place where I would be motivated to do my work AND also be afraid to NOT do my work.  Thanks."

From Dallas:

"Hey Mrs. Kern,

Although I have absolutely dreaded every year of school since the third grade, I actually enjoyed your class a lot.  Most typical English classes are so cut and dry, and I never really learned anything.  Your class, in my opinion, is a great balance between work and fun."

From Casey:

"Dear Mrs. Kern,

I can honestly say that I have learned more in your class than in any other class this year.  I really enjoyed the novels we read, and we all enjoy your crazy hand gestures and accents that you add in...!  Usually people hate English class or think that it's super boring, but I can not tell you how many times I have heard people say that this is their favorite class.  I just want you to know that we really appreciate you."

And, lest you think I am writing this post to only share the lovely letters complimenting my teaching abilities.....see below:

From Cody:

"To: Mrs. Kern,

I have to admit that during the year I spent in your class under your authority, I did not like you or any of your judgement calls.  But over time, I just learned to get over it and like you as long as I could stay on your good side.  If I hurt you by disrespecting you throughout the year, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.  You are a great teacher....you just require a little more effort than I wanted to give...!"

Talk about brutal honesty!!!  I love it.

Well, in short, I have had a wonderful school year, and I can say with all truthfulness that I am going to miss the class of 2009.  Maybe these things go in cycles; some years, you have great kids, some years....not so much.  Maybe these kids mean more to me due to the fact that they were so kind and patient with me during the loss of my dad.  Maybe it is because I am becoming more and more comfortable with myself as a teacher as the years pass.

Whatever the reason, I'm going to miss this bunch of crazies.

A lot.

(Small picture, I know.  I'm in the middle with the pink shirt.  Love this group)