Happy Birthday, Sharon!

After our Christmas festivities, we celebrated Sharon's birthday! Sharon's birthday is December 25, and her birthday is always celebrated in the evening.

I'm very thankful for Sharon and the wonderful mother and mother-in-law that she is. She is a wonderful example of a wife, loving Sammy so well. She is a caring, giving person. She always puts others first and is very selfless. Sharon shows her love by giving to others and doing for others. She is one of the most generous people that I know. I am so thankful for her and all that she does for Aaron and me. Happy birthday, Sharon! I hope this day was filled with joy for you!

Merry Christmas!

As I said before, I love Christmas and all the things that come with Christmas. I love spending time with family for Christmas, especially since our family has grown so much. My family's tradition has always been to go to San Antonio for Christmas. We spend Christmas Eve eating tamales, menudo (which I don't eat), and KFC. The KFC tradition started with my grandpa when my cousins, sisters, and I were little. We wouldn't eat the tamales, so my grandpa would get us KFC. My uncle continues that tradition still. Aaron and I went to San Antonio yesterday. We rode down with Monica and Matt. The whole family, which has grown this year with Claire and Scarlett, got together at my aunt's house for Christmas Eve. It was so much fun, and I loved meeting Scarlett! This morning, Aaron and I flew back to Dallas to spend Christmas with his family. It was a wonderful day! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as mine! I hope you celebrated the birth of Jesus with people that you love! Merry Christmas!

Two Projects in One Day... This is a Record!

The last day of school was Friday, so I took it upon myself to really take it easy yesterday.  I took a shower at some point yesterday morning, but I never dried my hair or put on makeup.  I love days like that.  I finally ventured out right before the massive downpour to finish up the last of my Christmas shopping.  One of my stops was Hobby Lobby, so I picked up a styrofoam floral wreath and some yarn.  Last year I had a hard time finding a wreath that I really liked for the winter months after Christmas.  I finally found a wreath that I liked, but it's more of a springtime wreath.  I decided that I would just make my own wreath this year.

This morning, after my shower, I decided to finally be productive.  But I wasn't in the mood to start cleaning my house or getting anything on my list done, so I made my wreath instead.  The yarn is light blue and white.  I bought the 'A' at Hobby Lobby and painted it white.  Total time for the wreath was probably 2 or 2 1/2 hours.  I finally have a wreath I love for January!  This wreath also cost me maybe $20 total, but probably a little less.  All I needed was the styrofoam wreath, hot glue gun, yarn, wooden letter, and some paint!

A work in progress...

The finished product!

Since this wreath was so easy, I decided to go ahead and make one for February too!  I got this styrofoam wreath, wooden hearts, and yarn from Michael's since I needed to go to Target and it was next door.  I made this wreath the same way, and painted these hearts.  This also cost me probably less than $20 to make.

Valentine's Day Wreath

I made both of these wreaths and managed to cross everything off my list for today!  Maybe one of these days I'll actually take a break when I'm on break from school, just not yet!

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is hands down my favorite time of the year.  We have gotten to celebrate with friends and family, and Christmas hasn't even arrived yet!

On Wednesday, Aaron and I had plans to look at lights from the comfort of a limo with our sweet friends Courtney and Marc, Andrea and Chris, and Stacey and Jay.  However, Baby Dane couldn't wait to make his appearance in the world.  Courtney came to work on Tuesday morning, but left not long after to head to the hospital.  Instead of a limo and lights, we headed to the hospital on Wednesday to meet sweet Dane and take dinner to Courtney and Marc.  Dane is a sweet, precious baby, and I loved every minute of getting to meet him and hold him.  He's a little thing, and I love him!  It was definitely better than looking at lights!

On Thursday, the Everitt/BitsyBug/LPR Christmas Party was at the Bowlin's house.  Stephanie's brother, Sean, cooked for us.  Dinner was delicious!  Sean is a chef at Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton.  He can cook!  One of the best parts of the Everitt Christmas Party is always the Secret Santa exchange.  Everyone is required to wrap the gift they are giving so that the recipient is very obvious.  It's always pretty funny, and I like to see how the person who gave to Aaron wraps his gift.  This year, Aaron's gift was wrapped in red paper with Buddy Holly glasses on it.  The glasses had tape around them.  It was too funny for two reasons.  Aaron is a little bit of a nerd, and before he got new glasses, he held his together with tape.

Yesterday Aaron and I celebrated Christmas with my mom, dad, Monica, Matt, Adelina, Reed, and Claire.  We always go to San Antonio to spend Christmas with my mom's family.  A few years ago we realized that it was better to open gifts together here instead of taking them all to San Antonio with us.  We ate tamales and opened our gifts.  I love spending this time with my family.

Merry Christmas, Sweet Claire!

 

Monica, Adelina, and I are in charge of desserts for Christmas Eve, so we'll be baking on Thursday.  This is our second year to make the desserts.  We'll be baking several different desserts, but no sugar cookies.  We burned them last year, and by the time they were ready to be decorated, we were ready to be done!  Aaron and I will be going to San Antonio on Christmas Eve, and we'll fly back to Dallas Christmas Day to spend the day with Aaron's family and celebrate Sharon's birthday!

Thankful

Thanksgiving came and went without a hitch!  I am thankful for so many things this year, I know I can't list all of them.

Aaron and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time.  I am thankful that we have a home that allowed us space for 16 people to gather and spend time together.  I am thankful that we only had to do Thanksgiving once this year since both of our families are in Dallas.  Normally, we spend part of the day with my family wherever they are, then the other part of the day with the Arnolds.  Our first Thanksgiving was spent at the hospital with the Arnolds because Brian was having surgery.  This year, I am thankful that everyone is healthy and doing well.

I am thankful for our families.  I love my sisters, and I was so sad not to spend Thanksgiving with them this year.  Adelina, Reed, and Claire spent Thanksgiving with Reed's family.  Monica and Matt headed to Lubbock to spend Thanksgiving with Matt's family.  I am thankful that my sisters have these wonderful families that they enjoy spending time with.  I am thankful for Brian and how much fun we have with him.  Since he no longer lives with Sammy and Sharon, we don't see him as much, but we always have a good time with him!  I am thankful for Claire, and for the joy that she brings to our family.  Adelina sent me a video of Claire laughing so hard at Reed making noises.  It was the most precious sound, and I loved hearing her laugh.  I am thankful for my parents and Sammy and Sharon.  Both my parents and Aaron's parents have been married for 33 years.  We are so blessed to have parents that show us how marriage works, and that it is not always easy, but it is so worth it to work through the tough times.

I am thankful that Aaron and I have jobs that allows us to have a home, our cars, and enjoy the things we love!  I am especially thankful that my job allows me to have a week of rest at Thanksgiving.  It has been a wonderful week, and I am a little sad to see it end.

Last, but absolutely not least, I am thankful for my little family.  Aaron is the best husband, and I could not have asked for more.  He is kind and caring, and a wonderful chef!  Brody and Lily are sweet animals, and they bring us so much laughter on nights when we are just sitting around.  I am beyond thankful for the many blessings God has given me.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and ate well!

BOO!!

I realize that Halloween was about a month ago, so this post is really late.  But, I just now decided to upload the very few pictures I took this Halloween onto my computer.  The five pictures taken were all of Claire, because she really was the only thing worth getting a picture of on Halloween.  Maybe I should have gotten one of Adelina too, because she really took the mom role to heart and wore an awesome pumpkin headband.  I love my sister, and all the things that make her uniquely her.

Claire was a ghost for Halloween, the cutest ghost you've ever seen.  I can be biased; Claire is adorable, and I made her costume.  My love for her is shown by making her costumes that result in glitter being all over me, and none left on the tulle for her skirt.

Hope you had a safe Halloween!

Cuter than Casper.

Celebrating Gabriela and Scarlett

I love babies, and I love that so many important people in my life have recently had or will have babies in the near future.

This past weekend, my sisters and I hosted a baby shower for my cousin Gabriela, along with her sister, Carissa, and her sister-in-law, Tila.  It was wonderful to celebrate Gabriela and Scarlett, her baby girl set to make her appearance in November!

Gabriela... she's very cute pregnant!

Cousins

 Gabriela and Adelina are only a couple of months apart in age, and their little girls will only be a few months apart as well.  That is something that I love!  Adelina and Gabriela are not only cousins, but close friends.  I can't wait to see their little girls grow up as close as they did.

Adelina and Gabriela

Saturday morning, Adelina, Monica, Claire, my mom, and I loaded up and headed to San Antonio.  We stopped first at Gabriela and Dean's house so we could see Scarlett's nursery.  It is adorable, with wonderful personal touches.  It's just how I would picture it.

The shower was Sunday morning, and it was so much fun!  There was such a variety of food, and all of it tasted wonderful!  A diaper wreath welcomed guests, and a well wishing tree allowed guests to write sweet messages to Gabriela, Dean and Scarlett.

Monica made this adorable well wishing tree.

This diaper wreath was so easy and fun to make!  Plus, it makes a really cute door decoration at the hospital!

 Guests were asked to bring a book in place of a card, so Scarlett's library is off to a great start!  Gabriela received so many wonderful gifts.  Scarlett is set when she arrives!  I can't wait to meet you, Scarlett!

First Day...

Today was the first day of school.  It is such an exciting and exhausting day, and I love every minute of it.  The kids always come in so excited to be upstairs with the big kids.  Third grade really is a big deal.  The kids mature and grow so much during the year.  The first day is always such an eye opener for me.  Because the kids grow up so much in 9 short months, I forget what they are like on the first day.  There is always a little bit of panic when I think to myself, "How am I going to get them to where they need to be?? They're so young!"  But then, I remember that I was able to do it the year before, and that before too long, they will have changed so much.  They go from seeming so young and dependent, to quickly becoming responsible and owning their actions.

I have such a sweet bunch of kids this year, and I can't wait to get to know all of their personalities.  What a fun year ahead of me.  I can't believe this is already my fifth year!

14 Weeks and 19 Pounds

That's how much weight I've lost in that amount of time.  It is insane to me.  Who knew that I could lose weight so quickly??  Maybe I should have tried this earlier.  I'm 9 pounds behind where I really wanted to be at this point.  I started with a goal to lose 2 pounds a week.  I've hit a few plateaus along the way, and I've really had to figure out what I can and can't eat and what time I should really stop eating after.  I've also been spending a lot of time at the gym this summer, and I've had to learn not to do the same thing every time, because it quickly becomes completely ineffective.

I'm 14 weeks into my journey, and I still have a ways to go.  I have 31 more pounds before I reach my goal.  I've had some really discouraging days, where I felt like no matter what I did, no more weight was going to come off.  I started this journey weighing myself every morning.  I needed to do that in order to figure out how my choices from the day before affected me.  But, then I wanted to know how working out affected me, or what my weight was at the end of the day.  I had to take a step back and realize that weighing myself three times a day wasn't going to change what the scale was going to say in the morning.

I've also had some really encouraging days along the way.  I started on May 4, and by August 4, I had lost 18 pounds.  At this point, I'm averaging 6 pounds a month.  That is such a good feeling.  Even though I am not at the 28 pounds I really was hoping for, I remind myself that I am 19 pounds from where I was.  My wedding dress, which I wore only a year ago, is TOO BIG for me now.  I've had to buy clothes because all my old clothes don't fit.  Up until this week, I didn't have pants to wear to work.  This is such a good feeling.  I have found a love for the gym, and a love for drinking water.  I've had probably 5 Dr. Peppers in the last 3 months.  I without a doubt used to have more than 5 Dr. Peppers in a week.

19 pounds down, and 31 more to go.  What a good feeling.

August Means Work

The end of the summer is approaching quickly, and I guess there's nothing I can do to stop it.  This week I have been at school, preparing the hallway and my classroom.  I was thankful that we scaled down the extent to which we decorate our hall, so it was done in 3 hours.  Last year we made several trips to school without air conditioning to get it done.  It took forever.

This time of year is always a little bittersweet for me.  I love summer.  I love having a break, because mentally I need it.  I love sleeping in (which means I sleep until 8 instead of 5:30).  I love not setting an alarm.  I love getting to choose what to do each day, and what time to eat lunch!  This summer, I have loved going to the gym or taking Lily on a walk.  But, by this point in the summer, I usually miss the interaction I have with my teammates and friends at work.  I work with some pretty amazing women, and I simply don't see them enough in the summer.  Maybe next summer I'll work on that.

However, August means work for me.  So, back to work I go.  I'll officially be back at work on August 12, and I'll have students on August 22.  I'm excited that I'm changing my classroom around this year.  It has looked the same for 4 years, so it was time for a change.  I'm excited about this new group of students, and honestly, I'm excited to find out which students are in my class.  They're always so excited to be upstairs, and so eager to be with the big kids.  I'm not excited about my 5:30 alarm.  I'm easing myself into it.  This week, I've woken up at 6:30.  I'm not excited about sitting outside during recess in this heat.  Hopefully, it won't stay this hot too much longer. (I can dream, right?!)


So my countdown begins, just under three weeks until school starts.

Happy BIRTH Day Claire!

Claire has made her arrival!  She was born yesterday, August 3, at 1:34 in the afternoon.  Adelina and Claire are doing great!  Adelina went to the hospital around 10 Tuesday night, and we anxiously awaited more news.  The family went to the hospital around 11 yesterday morning.  Reed's mom, Mary Ann, drove in from El Campo late Tuesday night/incredibly early Wednesday morning.  She left around 2:30, and she was in Dallas by 8.  Reed's dad, Donnie, drove to Dallas yesterday afternoon. 

Claire is 6 pounds, 8 ounces and is 19 and 1/2 inches long.  She has a some hair, just the right amount!  Everything about her is perfect!  I have very much enjoyed spending time holding her last night and today.  Adelina and Claire will go home tomorrow, and I am so thankful that I still have a week before I have to be back at work, so I get a little more time to just love on Claire!

Break from Construction?

Aaron bought our house in November 2009.  The first thing we did was knock down a wall.  We ripped wallpaper down in the kitchen and both bathrooms, then had those walls textured.  Every room in the house was painted.  Carpet was torn out of the entry way, family room, dining room, living room, and hallway.  Aaron, Sammy, and my dad put wood floors down in all those rooms.  We stained the cabinets in our bathroom and took off all the pulls.  Our bathroom was pretty much completely gutted.  Aaron and Reed attempted to put new tiles around the tub. When it didn't work, we hired some guys to do it for us.  Every room that has new flooring also has new 6 inch baseboards.  Basically, we've been living in construction, and we haven't even had the house for 2 years.  Our house looks great, and it has come a long way from day 1.  I was so excited that we were going to take a break from construction, at least for a little while.  We knew our next project would be new carpets in the 3 bedrooms.  But, we were happy to put it off for some time.  We just wanted to live in our house without working on something.  I have a list for the things I want to do in each room of our house, but I'm good with letting it sit for now.  Then, our front door kept sticking.  The guest bathroom door would not shut all the way.  If you were lucky enough to get it to close all the way, I couldn't guarantee that it was going to open back up.  The front door no longer opens.  I just tell people to walk around to the back.  We have foundation problems.  So, back to construction we go!  At least this time I don't have to do the work, especially in this heat.  I'll update on when our foundation has been repaired with some pictures.

Countdown to Claire

I said in my last post that Aaron and I had celebrated many things in our first year of marriage.  We are getting ready to celebrate the birth of Claire, our first niece!  My sister, Adelina, is pregnant, and due in just 10 short days!  I can't wait for Claire to be here and experience the joys of being a part of this wonderful family.  I can't wait to love on her, and see how Adelina and Reed parent her.  I think really Adelina has been preparing for this her whole life.  Being the oldest, she always took on responsibilities that she didn't have to, but did because that's who she is.  Adelina is going to be a wonderful, loving, giving, protective, active, fun mommy.  She will care for Claire in a way that only Adelina can.  She will teach her daughter how to love well, and Claire will probably inherit a lot of Adelina's Type A personality traits.  She will do everything for Claire, because her love is that big.  Reed will be Reed.  He will be an amazing father, showing his daughter immense love.  He will make her laugh more than anyone else could ever try.  I'm pretty sure he will give her a love for fishing, and water in general.  He will also give her a love for music that makes you want to dance.  Adelina and Reed will be the perfect balance of silly and serious.  I am so excited to meet Claire!  You should all be hoping that Claire will come six days early, on August 4.  That's my day in the family baby pool, and I'd kind of like to win!

Adelina with all of Claire's aunts!

One Year

One year ago today, I married the most wonderful husband!  I don't remember very much about our wedding or reception specifically, but I remember feeling very calm all day.  I only got nervous around the time that I realized that people were being seated in the church and the ceremony was set to begin in 30 minutes.

My sweet bridesmaids came to my parents house to get ready early in the morning.  We had our hair and makeup done, which was so fun!  I felt relaxed, and so thankful for my friends who would stand by my side as I got married.  We headed to the church, where things begin to blur for me.  I remember that the air wasn't working in the bride's room, so we sat in another area.  I remember walking down a hall that was all windows as Aaron and the groomsmen walked by outside.  Some of my bridesmaids, but I don't remember which ones, told me to run, so I hiked up my dress and ran faster than I ever have before.  I remember just having so much fun at our reception.

We took an incredible honeymoon to Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  We stayed at the Royal Plantation, and I would go back in a heartbeat.  It was wonderful.

This year has gone by so quickly, and it has been filled with exciting events and constant construction in our house.  We have celebrated friends getting married, and we are about to be an aunt and uncle!  We are finally on a break from construction in our house, but it will probably only last a little while until we decide to upgrade the next thing in our house.  What a wonderful first year!

Just a few pictures from the day.  Rachel DeBell did a fantastic job of capturing every moment of our wedding!

This cake was delicious! Thanks, Radford Cakery!

Ryan is my proof that the reception was fun.  I love this picture.

twenty-six

I turned 26 last Friday, and I am so thankful for all the love from my family and friends.  I am immensely grateful to my mom, who went into labor at midnight, and delivered me 10 hours later.

I started the week of my birthday with dinner last Sunday with some of my sweet friends from work.  I hadn't seen Stacey, Andrea, or Courtney since school got out, so it was a wonderful time to catch up and just hang out.  What a great treat!

Aaron has had a crazy schedule for the last couple of weeks with children's camp and youth camp.  I am thankful that he was coming home from Brownwood on Friday, and that he was able to hang out with me Friday night.  We went to see Harry Potter, which was fabulous!

Since Aaron was going to be in Brownwood for a week, I decided to visit Amber, John, and Josh, who also happen to live in Brownwood.  I hadn't seen Amber or the boys since the wedding last year, so I was so excited to see them!  I love that I got to spend a few days with my sweet friend, and that I got to see her on my birthday.  We made a cake, which was so much fun!

Fun cake!  We made the fondant, which was surprisingly easy!

John and Josh helped me blow out my candles!

After seeing Harry Potter on Friday night, I got to open my gifts from Aaron.  He gave me a gift card to Loft, which I love because Loft Loves Teachers, so I get a discount every time I shop!  The other gift was a new chandelier for our breakfast room.  I am beyond excited about this chandelier!  We currently have one that looks like a Tiffany lamp.  We get a lot of compliments about how unique and neat it is, but I can't stand it!  So, if anyone wants to buy my old light fixture, let me know!  I think I'll be putting it on craigslist or ebay soon.

Old light fixture.  So very much not my style.

New chandelier!  This is just a picture of the box.  It hasn't been put up yet.

 To end all my birthday celebrations, I enjoyed dinner with my family and Sammy and Sharon on Sunday night at Amigos.  We came back to the house to have ice cream cake.  What a wonderful birthday!

Aaron forgot to buy candles.  We used matches instead.

A Few Good Books

Reading is one of my passions.  I love it to my core, and I am almost always reading something.  During the school year, I really didn't carve out time for myself to read.  I was working on the yearbook (which I procrastinated on, but I think it turned out well!) and constantly grading papers, or at least it felt like it.  I've taken on very little this summer, which I'm really glad about.  I've already read several books this summer, and I am loving it!  I started with Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.  It is an amazing read, and if you haven't read it already, you should!  I'm currently reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  It is wonderful so far!  I think I'll wait a little while before seeing the movie when I finish the book. 

Happy Father's Day!

Today I am so thankful for my wonderful daddy.  My sisters and I have been so blessed to be raised by a man who shows love well.  What a great example we had growing up of what a good husband and father is.  My parents have been married for 31 years and have raised 3 children.  My dad loves my mom well, and he loves my sisters and I well.  I think God knew what he was doing 60 years ago when my dad became deaf.  God knew that one day, my sweet dad would be living with four women and would need something to keep him sane!  He has so much patience, and has put up with so much from us!  He has been a great example of what my sisters and I should look for in a man.  He has embraced Aaron, Reed, and Matt and is so supportive of all of us.  He gives them great advice on loving the Rosenthal girls!  Daddy, thank you for all you have done for us!  I love you!

Project Number One

I have a few projects lined up for the summer, and I'm hoping that I actually get them all done.  This particular project started in April, stalled for a while, and I'm working on it again.  Aaron and I have a rocking chair in our living room, but it doesn't really go with our furniture.  It has a green cushioned seat and back and the arms and legs are brown.  I decided that I really liked the placement of the rocking chair in our living room.  It sits next to the fireplace, and it makes a nice little reading seat.  Instead of getting rid of it, I am painting the arms and legs black and Allison is going to help me cover the seat and back.  I attempted to spray paint it (I was really hoping I wouldn't have to sand it), but it was turning out spotty, and just looked bad.  Aaron helped me sand it the other day, and I am in the process of painting.  Hopefully it'll look great once it is all done!

Beginning stages of painting.  It still needs a lot more work!

A little later than most, but I'm here.

It's summer, and I decided that I needed something to keep me busy while I am home until August.  Aaron was a little surprised that I decided to start a blog.  Actually, maybe a little more surprised by the way I told him.  I was outside painting a rocking chair, and I came inside to grab the camera.  I took a few pictures of the rocking chair, went to the backyard to take a few pictures of the flower bed that we worked on today, came back inside and said, "I'm going to start a blog."  Completely out of the blue and random, but I had been thinking about it for a while.  I love to read blogs, so I may as well try writing one too.  One of the many things I plan on doing to stay active while being off from school.

The name comes from my love-hate relationship with being a middle sister.  It's more of a love relationship now, but not so much growing up.  It's a big part of how I identify myself.  In fact, it's so much a part of my identity that we served Middle Sister wine at my wedding.

Hopefully this blog thing will go well, and you'll enjoy reading my crazy little rants!