4 MORE DAYS!!!

I think I can make it...I hope. Only 4 more days until Thanksgiving break. I know that God built in Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks just for teachers. If they weren't there, there would be lots of injured children this time of year!
We had lots of fun in A-town this weekend. Here are a few pictures of the Thomesen Thanksgiving. Next week we will celebrate the Ware Thanksgiving. Having two Thanksgivings is good.
Me and Ryan at the cool new art thing at ACU. It is amazing!!! Go see it if you are in Abilene soon.
When you look at the sculpture from a certain angle it makes a cross.
Laine with curly hair. So cute!
I was being crafty and making a wreath. It is so gaudy that it is cute! I found all the stuff at Wal-Mart for 97 cents.
The angels climbing up the ladder in Jacob's dream.

New bed

I've had a pretty uneventful week...plus, it's hard to follow the cat pee story. We are going to A-town tomorrow for "Thanksgiving" with my family. I am excited to get out of town so I don't have to look at the laundry piling up or my dirty floors or school stuff. It will be nice.

We've still been running. We are up to 4 miles now...look out. That may not be much in the grand scheme of things but it is definitely the furthest I have run in about 6-7 years. We usually average about a...I'm actually not going to tell you how fast we go. Because when you tell someone that you ran a half marathon your audience will be one of two types:

Type One: They are just really impressed that you ran a half marathon and are trying to remember exactly how far that is. They couldn't care less how fast you ran it because they are now busy thinking about the last time that they worked out and how long ago it was. They then occupy their thoughts not with you running a marathon but could they actually do it themselves...
Type Two: You tell them you ran a half marathon and they want to know: what did you average per mile? how many times did you walk? do you walk while you are drinking water? what kind of energy gel did you use? how many races did you run to prepare for the half? And you want to know what I have to say to these people? I WAS BEHIND YOU... the whole time. I am slower than you are so don't ask. And probably, you already know that I am slower than you and you are only asking so that you can feel good about yourself when I tell you my speed.

Anywho...we got a bed recently. We still have the same bedroom furniture that I used when I was 13 but we splurged and got a new bed.

It Could Happen To You...Actually No

No it couldn't. It could only happen to us. The "it" I am referring to happened the other day. I came home from work and the sugar container was out on the counter.

Let me describe sugar container...nice ceramic thing from Pier 1. Has a cute little lid that I left off while making some tea.

I noticed the container because it was scooted to the edge of the counter...not it's usual home so I looked inside. Here is what I saw:

Carmelized sugar. "Weird..." I thought. I wonder how it got all wet. Maybe it has been like that for awhile and I hadn't noticed. I had just been getting the sugar off the top and hadn't seen that it had hardened into a brick like structure.

Forgot about it. Got in bed.

Ryan comes in from a late client. (yes, I go to bed early...shut it.)

Ryan: Did you see the sugar?
Mere: Yeah...what happened.
Ryan: You don't want to know.
Mere:Yes I do.
Ryan: No, you don't.
Mere: Yes.
Ryan: I think either Mike or Pete (not people...our cats that live outside) was trapped inside last night.
Mere: uuuuhhhh...
Ryan: gross.
Mere: Are you kidding me?
Ryan: No.
Mere: They didn't really.
Ryan: Totally.
Mere: Did you smell it?
Ryan: Yeah, I smelled it!
Mere: Are you 100% sure?
Ryan: Do you want to smell it?
Mere: No!!!!
Ryan: Believe me. It's true.

WANTED: Mike or Pete Cat

The Crime: Peeing in the sugar container.

Camping Trip

We went camping this weekend with Aaron and Andrea in Atlanta State Park. Aaron was Ryan's good friend from ACU and right now he and his wife (who is from Nicaragua) live in Searcy while he finishes school. We had a great time hiking, hanging out by the camp fire and eating...lots of eating! Anywho...here are some pics. I have a great story that I am going to post tomorrow. Hate to leave you hanging...but that's how I roll.

Me, Ryan and Lola in front of our tent. Do you like my sweet hat?

Aaron and Andrea on the trail.

Me and Ryan trying out the timer action on our camera. This is a random "ampitheater" near our campsite.

I am a Hallo-weenie!

First of all, this is how I feel today. (This is my neice Laine, making a funny face for the camera. I thought it captured my mood perfectly!) I have headache behind my eye. It's an I-don't-feel-cute day. My student's were a little bit insane-o. I have an assignment due for my grad class but my parents are in town so I don't feel like doing it. It isn't due until tomorrow but I have a conference all day tomorrow and a meeting in Denton at 5:00. So like I am going to get it done then...

But that is not the point of this blog.

I am a huge weenie when it comes to scary stuff! For example...
*I don't like roller coasters if they go high...i.e. the titan, the texas giant, Mr. Freeze, the cliffhanger etc.
*I don't like taking a shower if Ryan isn't home. I think this is mainly because one time he was in the shower when I got home and I went in the bathroom and scared him really bad. Now I am just waiting for payback every time I get in the shower.

As far as Halloween goes, I don't like haunted houses. Ryan has been trying to get me to go since we got married. And I refuse. Now, I would go to haunted houses in Abilene, those weren't a big deal. But when I think about haunted houses in Fort Worth, it makes me wet my pants a little bit. There are two huge ones right by our house. So, today...I am thankful that it is Halloween because tomorrow the haunted houses will close and I won't have to worry about Ryan talking me into going, and standing in line with knots in my stomach, and getting the crap scared out of me by some high school kid with a chainsaw and walking through the rest of the haunted house with my eyes closed and being mad at the end because I paid $40 to get in and then I didn't see anything!

Until next year...scary haunted houses...until next year.

p.s. Point taken on the purse, guys, THANKS!!!

Things don't last like they used to...

We carved pumpkins about a week and a half ago and here is what they look like now...

Not too shabby...uuuuhhhh, right! They looked like this after about 3 days! I really don't remember pumpkins rotting this fast when I was younger. If you can't tell that is the top of their heads sitting behind them because they are too small to fit in the hole in the top. Mine (the one in the back) had some pretty sweet buck teeth but they curled up into his mouth. Ryan's guy just has a sunken in face and a little gangrene (sp?) inside of his head.

I was going to try and make a list of "things that don't last like they used to..." and now I am drawing a blank. Any ideas?

Oh...and don't forget to offer up your opinion on the dooney purse, see below. No anonymous comments allowed...whoever you are! :)

I'm back and I need your opinion

Ok- It has been over a month since my last post...I have no good reasons for not blogging. I just haven't been. But today Ryan and I bought a digital camera (yes, we wanted to continue our move into the 21st century) so maybe this will inspire me to post more!

So now, I need your opinion...if any of you are still out there!


I have this Dooney and Bourke bag that I have had for a long time and I have not carried it for years. It is in great shape....but is it still cool to carry it??? Check out the professional pictures and let me know! And be honest...please.

I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to

Quick update:
1. I am still alive.
2. We are still training for the marathon. We are currently running 3 miles 4 times a week. The real training starts at the end of October.
3. I still can't blog at school which is the main reason for such a long hiatus.
4. Lola got spayed today.
5. My cousin Robin had her sweet baby and it is really too bad that she is not cute at all... :) (just look at her pictures on www.lefttexas.blogspot.com)
6. I am still alive.

Now...I really need a second title for this next part of my entry...it would probably be something like: Dustbunnies and Crotch-less panties. Don't worry friends this is not x rated.

This weekend Ryan went to Oklahoma to see his sister and brother-in-law who just moved back from Oregon and I had to stay here because I was playing in a tennis tournament. So Friday night I decided to deep-clean our bedroom. I bought a new duvet cover, put that on, rearranged some decorations and then decided to rearrange the furniture. We have wood floors in our room and when I vacuum I usually take the hose and stick it under the furniture. However, I guess this isn't the best way to do it because when I moved our dresser there was a hairball the size of a ferret! I guess I now know why they are called dustbunnies. If this thing had legs it could easily defend itself in the wild. Since Ryan wasn't there and I watch a lot of CSI, I took a shoe placed it next to the hairball so that he could determine the size and I took a picture with my phone. I really wish I could post it on here but it just isn't possible.

As I continued my cleaning frenzie I noticed that there were about 5-6 pairs of my underwear (**the no panty line kind) laying on the floor. I knew they couldn't be clean so I tossed them into the laundry basket. When I picked up the 6th pair I noticed something a little peculiar. The most vital part of the underwear was gone! Lola has taken it upon herself to start up a business where she makes crotchless panties by chewing out the well, the crotch...of course. What the heck, Lola??? The crotch is the most important part!! I mean, couldn't you chew out the tag or something? That would be helpful...but chewing out the crotch? Come on...
But I'm a glass half full kind of girl...what better reason to go on a new panty shopping spree! By the way, when it was all said and done, she had chewed a grand total of 11 pairs of panties.

I hope you all haven't completely given up on me! Even though you are few, you are loyal!

Half marathon...shmaff marathon

Whatever that means...Okay I am making this official so that everyone can hold me to it and bug me about training and make me feel guilty if I quit...Ryan and I are going to run a half marathon in Austin. Now, I know you will all want to come and watch...you can actually get a triple whammy because Heather is running too (no backing down now)...but the marathon isn't until February. I think. See, I don't even know when it is, how serious can I be??? But we did just do our first "official" pretraining run. We ran for 20 minutes and I felt good when we were done. Granted it is 8:45 and today was the first day it was under 100 in like 3 months but hey, we did it.
When we first got married we trained with a running store here and ran every Saturday morning at 6:00. I think the furthest I ran was 5 miles. In case you didn't know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles (isn't it?) That is a whole 7 miles further than I have ever run in my life. But have no fear...I ran for 20 minutes tonight!!! There's no stopping me now!
But I can do it...right??? If my dad can run 2 marathons and several half marathons surely I can run one. Seriously, I am almost one third his age and both he and my mom are in better shape than me. (Ya'll can thank me later for writing that.) But not for long. You all now know of my plan and when it is written in blog world it is truth. There is no turning back...see you in February.

Taaaadaaaa

Here I am. I know, I have been baaaaaddd at posting lately. School started and you will never believe what happened. They blocked blogs at school!!! AAAHHH!! I knew it was going to happen eventually but I was just keeping quiet as a mouse wishing that they would forget. But no...I can no longer blog during my conferences anymore.

My students are so far, so good. No huge complaints yet. But to all the teachers out there, is it just a given that every year you are going to have one class that is completely ridiculous?? I have had one every year since I started teaching. This year, they just have started to rear their sweet, ugly heads a little earlier than usual. But we will survive, I have no doubt.

I just took Lola on a walk. It was enjoyable. I am wearing a pedometer and my goal is to walk at least 10,000 steps every day. Yesterday I walked about 14,000 but today I only barely made 9,000. As we were walking Lola, of course, stops to poop in someone else's yard. I was embarrassed and dramatically slapped my hand over my eyes in case anyone was watching so they would know that if I had known she was going to poop I would have brought a bag to put it in. (right) But what do you do? If I even did have a bag to pick the poop up in, do they really expect me to carry it with me on the rest of our walk? No thank you. I am totally cool with other dogs needing to poop in our yard if it is an emergency...but I am also not in charge of mowing.

Think positive...

It is now 10:44 and I am just now starting to feel tired. This is a normal time to feel tired for most people but not me...not when I have to start school tomorrow and I need to go to sleep! I still have to take a shower and decide what I am wearing tomorrow...that is another story in itself, we have these shirts that everyone from our school wears to convocation and I don't even have words to describe what it looks like on me. I borrowed Heather's camera so hopefully I can get a good picture and post it.

I have to wear khakis (sp?) tomorrow...is it weird that I don't really like khaki pants? I don't own a cute pair so that just makes my outfit for tomorrow that much worse. My life is sooo awful...just kidding.

We had a great girls weekend. It was just what I needed! I loved seeing all of my friends and just getting to hang out with them...no interuptions. We did lots of fun things and laughed a lot. I hope that I can post some pictures soon. I took them on my really fancy disposable camera so I will have to try to scan them onto the computer. The only problem is we don't have a scanner.

My goal for my life right now is to be more positive. I think that I am usually a pretty positive person (if you don't agree I don't want to hear it) but lately I have been griping about stupid stuff. I think it just becomes a habit and I need to quit. A verse I read in James last night really stuck with me: "Those who consider themsleves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this...keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
That is what I am right now...polluted. My first challenge will be tomorrow morning when I am putting on my silly outfit for my first day....think positive...and then when I get to school and I know that every other girl will be complaining too....think positive I need to stay above that! Think positive...khakis and an ugly shirt can't bring me down!!!!!

Different verse, same as the first...

Here I am, not working again. I have one more article summary to write and then I have some questions to answer for my online class. Not tooooo much left, before my friends come in town. So I feel like it is ok that I am doing this right now.
Everyone has been asking lately when we are going to have kids. I don't even want a kid right now, much less kids plural. It's not that I don't like kids, I teach that would suck if I didn't like them. I just don't want my own yet. I love Laine and Bowen and I know that I will love Reegan and I love all of my friends kids but I just am not ready yet. And that seems hard for people to understand. It's not the same person asking, it's everyone asking. Do I look ready? Am I just getting to that age? What is the deal??? I guess that is just the next logical step...get married, work for awhile, then have a baby. But I am not there yet.

I am happy right now! I am happy just the way things are. Sometimes we are stretching it to feed two cats and a dog. And their food is pretty cheap compared to baby food. I don't want things to change yet. I love to be with Ryan just by myself. I love to sleep in. I love to be immature and a little selfish sometimes. I want to travel more...I know that those of you with kids are going to tell me that it is better on the other side, and I am sure that it is but I am not ready for the other side. The grass is green enough right where I am standing. I think it is hard to be content in this world but that is what I desire. I just want to be content with where I am. And right now, it's in a tiny house with my sweet husband, our crazy dog and me. And that's the way I like it.

I should be doing something else...

I am the queen of this. What I am doing right now. No, not blogging...procrastinating. If I need to study, I clean. If I need to grade papers, I do the dishes. If I need to clean, I do stuff for school. If I need to write three papers today so that I don't have to worry about it once Joni gets here, I blog.
I haven't been on in awhile. Last week I spent Monday and Tuesday doing 3 papers and all of my work for my online class so that Ryan and I could go to Ruidoso on Wed (we left at about 5:30 and got to New Mexico around 2:00 am). We met my family there. It was awesome! I will post some pictures soon. We hung out and did nothing, went on a mountain bike ride, went on a hike, shopped, went to the horse races and visited the casino. It was a great trip! We got back late Sunday night and I had a hard time getting back to school stuff yesterday. So instead, I went out and bought Ryan's birthday presents and did as little work as possible. So now, here I am again today...at the computer, not doing my work. Oh well...
Ryan turned 27 yesterday. In a few short weeks I will be 26. I think that starts to be real adult years. At 25, you could still be in college but at 26 you are a real life adult. I am nervous. I didn't like turning 25 and I don't think I will like turning 26. But what do you do? I would rather be turning 26 than not turning 26. Does that make sense??? Now I am just rambling so I don't have to do what I really logged on my computer to do. So that is enough...I will write again tomorrow because I am supposed to finish my internet assignments then...

Lazy Day

We decided to have a garage sale this past Saturday. It was fairly successful, we got rid of lots of stuff. Heather and Jonathan sold lots of baby clothes and we sold some wedding presents that still hadn't been used. Then we went out to dinner with some of the money and then watched 8 Below. SOOOO good. I cried a lot but I loved it!

Today I have been useless. I ran this morning and now I am alternating between rereading the last Harry Potter (I know I am a nerd so there is no need to comment about it) and watching What Not to Wear. I think my internet course starts today but I can't figure out how to access the info so I just emailed my professor. Other than that there is nothing exciting to speak of around here.

Oh...Ryan and I almost forgot about our anniversary. I wouldn't have remembered except that I was looking at cards at World Market with my mom and saw the card I gave him last year. Then last night before we went to sleep I asked him if he remembered and he got this really weird look on his face. We were both a little sad that we are already forgetting and it has only been three years. Then today I told him that since our anniversary is tomorrow and I have class that we should go out tonight. He said that sounded good so I got on the internet and started looking for a place to go. I stumbled across a calendar and realized that our anniversary isn't tomorrow it's Wed! What is up with us?

Things that make me go hmmm...

AKA Random Thoughts
1. How do they make fireworks? I sort of understand how they get the different colors but how do they make those cool designs?
2. I am not sure people understand how much I hate grasshoppers.
3. It must take a lot of time to train a seal to perform in a show. We can't even get Lola to sit consistently.
4. I hate to pay bills. I don't mind paying the money for certain things I just hate having to remember to pay it or to balance the check book.
5. It's thundering right now. Can they shoot fireworks if it is raining?
6. I really don't want to be in school during July. But then again, I know that I really, really won't want to take this class in the fall.
7. I love summer time because I don't have to put makeup on.
8. We went to the grocery store today and saw a lady (about 40) and her butt was actually hanging our of her shorts. Sometimes I wonder if people know to not only check themselves out from the front but also from the back.
9. After writing that I thought that maybe people think that about my hair sometimes!
10. I have a presentation tomorrow night in class, a grant proposal due, a paper due on Thursday and a final exam to study for...but what am I doing instead???
11. We have a girls weekend coming up that I am super excited about but if I look forward to it, that means school starts the next week.
12. Isn't it weird how people are different?

Blog Envy

I haven't posted pictures in a looong time (maybe because we don't have a digital camera anymore) so I had some people send me some so I could get some pics on my blog. I look at other people's blogs and I love looking at pictures and then I look at my blog and it is boooring. So here you go. This was at Bowen's b-day party in May. It was a cowboy theme and we were supposed to have a pony but it rained and we had to move the party inside. And ponies aren't allowed inside.

Family portrait at my parent's house. I think this was Easter weekend? Lola has gotten a little bit bigger but not much. Me and Ryan's cousins, Anna and Holly, tearing it up on the jet ski at the lake in Oklahoma. We had so much fun that day! I hadn't been on the lake in about 3 years. After Ryan's family left the cabin's we decided to hang out for awhile so we went on a canoe trip. This picture was taken not too long after Ryan dumped us over in the freezing river water. Who is taking the picture you ask. As we came to the end we looked on the road and saw Ryan's parents at a fly fishing shop so we flagged them down and then went to lunch.

So that's it...just trying to make my blog a little more exciting by putting some pictures of myself in my post. Hope you enjoyed it!

Summer School? Really?

Not real sure what I was thinking when I decided to take classes this summer. I know all of the good reasons but this week I have been finding lots of bad ones too. Our professor decided to wait until this week to assign to major projects and a paper. So I have gotten to spend two days this week up at my school creating a power point for a group presentation. That is where I am now. I finished the power point (yippee) and now I have nothing to do. And since we don't live close to my school anymore I can't just go home. So here I sit...entertaining all of my blog readers with stories of my exciting life.

This weekend was going to be the first weekend all summer that we didn't have anything to do. It was going to be nice to be home and clean a bit, maybe work in the yard. But not near as cool as going to SEA WORLD! Last night Ryan and I were talking and I jokingly said something about not having anything to do this weekend so we should go to Sea World or something. Then Ryan tells me that Aaron (friend from Austin) called him the other day and said that he had discount passes and that we should go sometime. So...Ryan called Aaron and we are going to San Antonio this weekend! I am so excited. I love Sea World and I haven't been in forever! So, the house will stay dirty until we get back on Sunday. I am totally okay with that.

Gotta get in shape

It is official. Today started the first day of our new workout and healthy eating. Ryan and I pulled ourselves out of bed and ran this morning. I really like working out first thing in the morning because then it is over and you don't have to worry about it the rest of the day. So far, so good. We will see how long this lasts.

We decided this new routine was necessary after being at the lake this weekend with Ryan's family. Ryan felt chubby and I just felt flabby and out of shape. Nothing can get you motivated like being in public in a swimming suit. So here we go! I checked into some gyms around our house and I found a really good one but it is expensive! I really think that if I could find a good class to go to and I knew exactly what time I had to be there, I might be a little more committed to the gym. But then again, if I can't commit...I don't want to spend money to sit on my couch. Working out during the summer is not a problem. The real problem comes when school starts again and I can't make it to the gym when I need to and then I feel guilty about not going and then I stress out because I am spending money for something that I am not even using. Then the stress makes me want to eat and I get those cute little hot dogs right under my rear end. It's an endless cycle!!!!

barbra manatee...you are the one for me

I don't know what my problem is sometimes. All year long I wake up at 5:40. It's not easy but once I get up, I am fine. There have even been some mornings where I lay my head on the edge of the bath tub and tell myself that I can take a nap once I get home. It usually helps. This summer has been a completely different story. I can't drag my butt out of bed before 9:00 for anything. This morning, I needed to get up about 9:00. That would have been perfect. But no. I hit the snooze until about 9:40 and then finally got up when I realized that if I didn't I would be late to meet Heather and Jonathan. Then I learned my lesson. If only I would have hit the snooze one less time, there would have been a little less drama to deal with. You see, Lola had climbed up on the bed at some point this morning and was sleeping soundly until we got up. Then I was in the bathroom and suddenly heard her gagging. I ran into the bedroom to find that she had "spit up" a little (barf is not the appropriate word because it was mainly clear...) on Ryan's pillow. I laughed a little and then proceeded to take the sheets and his pillowcase off thinking that it was a little gross but mainly funny. Then I stepped around to my side of the bed where she had spewed all over the bedspread and the floor. Thanks Lola. Thanks for teaching me such a valuable lesson. I will, from this point forward, never hit the snooze more than three times. You are so wise for a chocolate lab. I learn more from you the longer I am with you.

After that extravanganza I still managed to make it on time to catch a train with H & J and the kiddos to go to the Dallas World Aquarium. That place is awesome! I think that my favorite part is Barbara Manatee. She is so cool. I also really like all of the fish tanks from around the world. If you have never been, definitely put it on your to do list.

What a long, strange trip it's been

Wow! What crazy past few weeks! Sorry I haven't posted...since I have been out of school I haven't had a computer at home. Well, that's not true, we had a computer but it completely died...along with our phone, which randomly stopped working and our cable that went out for no aparent reason. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. We went from being fine in the apartment without internet and cable to moving to the house and getting both of those things and within about 3 months having them taken away. You would have though that someone told us we couldn't eat for a week. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. But now, the cable is fixed, Heather and Jonathan gave us a phone that works, and we had to buy a new computer...but since Ryan has a new job and we are officially millionaires, it wasn't a big deal :)

I got to go see my friend Joni in Arkansas for about 5 days and it was awesome! We spent lots of time in our pajamas just talking and laughing a lot! It was just the rest I needed after finishing another year molding young minds! While I was in Arkansas I tried to register for my UNT class this summer and eventually through the process of trying to pay for that class found out that someone had our debit card number and was spending all of our money in California! We did get our money back...but it was a huge mess! One day I called the bank crying because I was at a gas station with no money and my debit card wouldn't work and I didn't have enough gas to even get to the bank to try and get more money! Not fun.

So since then, I have started my class...which was supposed to be from 9-11 in the morning and switched to 5-7 in the evening, for some unknown reason...I was not happy. We went to Oregon to see Ryan's sister Melissa and her husband. They took us all around Eugene, it was amazing. The temperature was about 70 the whole time we were there. Ryan's parents were there also because the purpose of our visit was Melissa's graduation. So we got to see her walk but we did lots of other things too! This week, I'm just trying to clean our house and be a good student. Not much going on.

This has been one huge summary of our crazy lives the past few weeks! Sorry it's been so long and sorry so much info is crammed into this little space! Hope everyone is doing well! I love summer!