Last Day of Camp Feeling

Tomorrow we're leaving for a family vacation with TJ's family.  But today, today we're cleaning the house.  Honestly, I feel like its the last day of church camp where you clean and clean and clean and have to eat leftovers so you don't dirty any dishes.  Poor Faith had the wierdest hodge-podge for lunch, she kept looking at me like "You're kidding, right?"  I know I'll appreciate it when we get home and its nice and tidy, but right now I'm exhausted.  My friend Corrie told me her moma always made her make her bed before they'd go on vacation for the same reason, so tomorrow I will be making my bed at 4:30 AM and thinking about you, Corrie, and your moma. 

On another note, did you know that babies grow up into little kids?  No really, did you know? Because last July my child looked like this:

And this week...

And I just. can't. handle. it.

Adrenaline Junkie

Preface: My husband and I are usually very tuned in to one another's wants and needs.  I don't know what the h-e- happened that day.
An adrenaline junkie I'm not.  I mean, for heaven's sake, I'm a kindergarten teacher.  That job alone takes up all your time and doesn't exactly lend itself to any sort adrenaline rush.  And somehow I married someone who loves nothing more than to run into a building that is in flames or give someone CPR until they breath again.  Who knew...
So last week I'm talking to TJ about how I need to do something that is thrilling, something exciting, something different than the typical day to day to day to stinkin' day or I'm just gonna go off the deep end.  (Yes, that was a run-on and yes, that's pretty much how I said it.)  And do you know what he said to me?  DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE HAD THE NERVE, THE GALL, THE CAJONES TO SAY TO ME?  DO YA, DO YA, DO YA? Here it is, and I quote:





"Well, Amanda.  What about driving the lawn mower?"





What the freakidy freak freak is that supposed to mean?  I blew up and frizzled into a pile of dust.  Is that the kind of person I've become?  Not that long ago I was a teenage girl who had her nose pierced, wanted a snake as a pet and begged my parents to somehow let me skydive.  And now I'm a mom who assumedly only gets kicks from mowing the lawn?  IS THAT WHAT I'VE BECOME, PEOPLE?  Well, now that its been brought to my attention, no.  And not just no, hell no!  I can't let that happen.  Something's gotta give.  I'm formulating a plan, so if you see someone skydiving while getting a new piercing from her pet snake, you know who it is.

Or this...

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/uploaded_images/john-deere-chopper-lawn-mower.jpg

Where We Live

When TJ and I were looking to buy a house we had MAJOR discussions about where we wanted to buy.  TJ would have been completely happy buying the land that attached to my parents and building a house there.  Uh... no.  I would have been completely happy buying a house on a main street in the middle of town, any town, but NOT the country.  We came to some sort of agreement about where we would live and God gave us a house that fit both of our descriptions.  We have a little bit of land in an addition.  I feel like we live in town, although when a friend came over recently she told me otherwise.  "You know, Amanda" she said. "This IS the country. You don't exactly live close to anything."  And she's right.  I don't live close to anything.  But this.  

This is one of my favorite sights.  When we drive home down the highway and I see a field like this I ALWAYS smile.  It makes me happy, like I can take a DEEP breath of air right in that spot.  I know its not for everyone.  Heck, it wasn't even for me a few years ago.  But now I love it.  It's where I live.

(Just FYI- I did not take this picture.  I googled it.  Because my iPhone camera taking a picture while TJ zooms down the highway at 70mph just didn't do it justice.)

The Great/Scary/Happy/Sad/Thankful Day

Yesterday was a great/scary/happy/sad/thankful day.  Let me break it down for you:

GREAT- I'm going to a Literacy First training all week.  Basically, when you go to college to be a teacher they don't really teach you how to teach reading that well.  So you go to trainings to learn how after you've been doing it for 4 years.  I am there with 3 other teacher from my school and a teacher from Ponca that just happen to sit with us.  It has been a great week, and that's surprising because the last thing I wanted to do on summer break is go to school.  The ladies I'm with are TONS of fun and I've learned a lot.  BUT I kept thinking about Faith yesterday afternoon.  More than usual.  I kept looking at my phone to see if my mom had called, how long until I could leave, etc.  I just thought I was missing her.  Enter...

SCARY- When I got home I walked in the door and could tell my mom had been crying.  Last time that happened we ended up taking Faith to the ER.  She was super frazzled and told me a copperhead snake had been within 2 feet of Faith on our front porch.  Her and Faith had gone to the store and when they got out of the truck Faith ran ahead to look at the two froggies that live on our porch.  (She thinks they're her pets and who are we to correct her? :))  My mom walked around the corner to see Faith and the snake two feet apart!  THANK GOD my mom saw the snake before Faith because she would have walked right up to it to look at it.  God is so good.  Guys, it really could have killed her. My mom threw her sacks, swooped Faith up and ran over to the neighbor's house.  He came over with a hoe and chopped it up.  Yay Mr. Brumley!!  Enter...

HAPPY-  Last night we loaded Faith up in the stroller to take Mr. Brumley a thank you jar of strawberry jam. (The last, coveted jar of jam, by the way.)  We rang the door bell and he ushered us into his house. He was SO happy to see us.  He moved his laundry and made us sit down to talk.  We talked about Faith, the snake, his house, voles, and his late wife.  Enter...

SAD- He told us how is wife had passed away 2 years ago and how he just doesn't do things like he did before.  I could tell it made him very sad.  As I looked around I could see he was right.  Laundry left unfolded on the couch, dishes left on the counter, valentine candy boxes and wedding pictures with a 1/2 inch of dust on them.  It made me and TJ very sad as we left.  We continued on our walk through the neighborhood talking about how hard that must be and how death is so final and how do you live through something like losing your very best friend in the entire world.  Enter...

THANKFUL- TJ and I spent the rest of the evening on the couch together.  It wasn't glamorous or romantic or anything like that.  We watched The Ultimate Fighter and went to bed.  But we were together and I was so thankful for that.  I am so thankful that our family is healthy, safe, happy and together.  God had given me more than I ever could have imagined for myself.    Psalm 126:3- The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy.

No more pencils, no more books...

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!  SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER! Never, EVER in my life have I ever loved Alice Cooper more.  I could squeeze his cheeks and kiss his face.  Of course, then, I'd mess up his make up and we can't have that, now can we?

Summer, for me, means project time.  I have a million ideas running around in my head all school year of things I want to do.  I print them off or jot them down and put them in my "Dream Book."  I randomly go to thrift stores in search of items to use for my dream book ideas.  School's been out almost 2 weeks and these are the projects I've finished already:

My mom and I made 22 jars of strawberry jam.  I got half and gave away 10 of my 11.  I loved making it,but I loved giving it away more.

I made these cute paper flowers for our bathroom.  I got the frames at Goodwill for cheapo, covered cardboard with muslin and made flowers.   I think they're cute.  And if I don't like them in a couple of months, it doesn't matter because they cost $2.50.

I made this book page wreath for the mantle.  Don't fret, I am not related to Hitler and I don't burn or ruin books.  This is a book I rescued a long time ago only to realize about 1/4 of it was missing. 

I redid the mantle with windows.  I'm tolerating it right now.  I may put the bird pictures back up.  I'm unsure right now if I like it enough to keep it. 

I made this bow holder for the bathroom as well.  Faith's bow just get thrown in a basket and so we never really use them.  The day I put up the frame Faith saw it and kept saying "pretty" over and over.  I put a huge flower in  her hair and she wore it all night.

I made this corkboard to hang picture and notes on in the laundry room.  I know the A isn't exactly centered.  I spilled a big blob of black paint and had to strategically place the A to cover it.

I've actually made a few more things, but they're a surprise for my friend so I don't want to spoil it. 

HAPPY SUMMER PROJECTS, EVERYONE!!!

Resolution Check- I'm super pumped about this one!

This resolution check could be my best one yet!

1. Invite someone over to the house, at least once a month.  Our amazing friends and godsons came over while they were in town.  See a few posts ago for the pure joy those 4 people fill my life with.

2. Start playing guitar again.  Faith and I have been jamming a lot lately.  I play, she dances.  Its wonderful!  And, I may be completely off on this, but the girl's got some rhythm.  All three of us were eating out this week and a song came on at the restaurant.  TJ and I were dancing around (jokingly, of course) and Faith starting drumming around with her hands.  One hand doing one thing, the other something different, but in perfect rhythm with the song.  And its not the first time.  Just sayin, she's gifted or something.

3. Lose weight. I've kept up a little bit of a diet since the beginning of this week.  Took Faith for more walks at night.  Didn't snack in between.  Its slow, but a few pounds to show made it worth it.

4. Start a blog.  Can I take this one off yet?  I'm kicking #4s butt!

5. Get a camera that doesn't make me cuss everytime I pick it up. Found the charger piece that was lost when I cleaned out my classroom.  I was excited, but quickly realized that now I'm taking one step back from getting a new one.  Oh well, I'm thankful to have one at all. I'm reading Pioneer Woman's camera tutorials hoping to get something out of them I can use one step at a time.

6. Complete lesson plans weekly. I'm doing some MAJOR organizing this summer.  I know that with the district's budget creating larger class sizes with no assistants I'm gonna have to have my crap in order BIG TIME if I want to survive this coming year.  I'm organzing each unit more concisely than before which should help in all planning when school starts again.  And, this has really nothing to do with my resolution, but I'm going to a great training all next week.  What a teacher nerd, I am.

7. Grow a garden.  The aerating paid off guys!  Look at what I have to show for our hard work.

In other gardening news, the friggin' ants are killing our plants and the few herbs we have.  Any ideas for getting rid of those pesky varmits?

8. Be consistent with getting my hair did. Welp, I fell short on this one.  I'm letting summer do its thing with my color and a haircut will have to wait until after the vacay.  Maybe I'll get a quick cut somewhere just for the trip.

9. More water, less Happy Hour DDP.  Guys, this is the one I just want to freak out over.  My water intake is actually exceeding my DDP intake.  Can you believe it?  I have never, ever been able to do this before. 

10. Decorate our bedroom. This is my plan, courtesy of Pottery Barn.  We're working on it.  We painted a super cool headboard white and have two cool nighstands I found thrifting around and at An Affair of the Heart.  An old quilt I bought back in KinderCare days that I bleached out to be more muted.  I LOVE what we've got so far.  I've actually been spending way more time on other crafts and goodies so our bedroom's taken a back seat.

So that's it.  I feel like a ding dang success story. 

An Open Journal Entry

I never knew in my life that a house would need more attention that the three inhabitants combined.  If its not our puny lawn, its the lack of fence.  If its not the lack of fence, its the ants.  If its not the ants, its the ill-kept Mustang in the garage calling our names.  If its not the Mustang, its the flower beds.  If its not the flower bed... you get the picture.  

This, along with a loomy summer vacation to sunny Bosque Farms, New Mexico (a smidge of sarcasm detected) has created a frenzy in the Aragon household.  We want to make everything work, I WANT TO MAKE  EVERYTHING WORK.  I'm getting consumed with it all.  I'm consuming myself with it all.

Let me back track a little...

TJ and I are very plan-oriented people. When we were going to get married, our five year plan, our buying a house plan, etc. Our house runs on a strict plan now- who's watching Faith what day, meal calendars, cleaning checklists (plans for sure, it never gets done), etc. This fits into our jobs quite nicely- TJ has his schedule a year in advance on a color-coded calendar for heaven's sake!  So when you're a planner, but you see a million things that need to be done and no possible way to plan them out you get consumed. 
And I don't want to be consumed.  I will not be consumed with stuff.  Because after all, its just grass.  And its just a fence.  And its just a friggin' flower bed.

God, family, church, work.  Nowhere on that list are things like lawncare, chainlink vs. wood panel, or frickin' frackin' petunias.  I will choose the more important. 

No, I will choose the most important.