It's Better When...

Monday, Monday

Today was a good Monday.

You know those typical Mondays when you dread going to work, when you get there it's hectic, when you have a huge to-do list for the week, and when you are already looking forward to Friday afternoon?  Well today was kinda not one of those days.

Yes, I still groaned when my husband's (super loud) alarm went off 3 times. Yes, I still made a mile-long list to hopefully tackle this week, and yes I am looking forward to Friday already and our plans for the coming weekend.

BUT....this Monday was better than most because....

...getting out of bed is better when you make a hazelnut latte!

...doing your hair is better when you have a brand new cut and style that you love and feels heatlthy! (and getting many compliments throughout the day doesn't hurt either)

...an outfit is better when you include coral, such as adorable wedges and super fun dangly earrings both gifted from your great mom (not to mention the teal scarf as well!)

 

...teaching is better when you get to collaborate with your awesome team.


...driving home is better when you can roll your window down and open the sunroof!


...folding laundry is better when you watch "Friends" :)



....a house is better when it has a roof!

...working out is better when you have brand new, cute, work-out clothes to make you at least feel like you are fit and athletic when you really are gasping for breath and have terrible foot cramps

...biking for 7 miles at the gym is better when your husband encourages you and pushes you to finish strong during the last 5 minutes.

...chicken is better when you add garlic (a little brown sugar doesn't hurt either!)

...dealing with the politics of teaching is better when you have a husband that gives great inspirational speeches to make you feel better.

...and blogging is better when you have readers and comments!

So tell me, what are a few things that can instantly make YOUR day better?

A Weekend Getaway

Two weeks ago was my spring break. The first part of the week I worked on my lesson plans for 3rd and 4th grade math. I worked a lot. I worked more than I had imagined for my spring break. But...all this work paid off because I knew that at the end of the week I got to escape from it all and spend a few days with my husband on a mini vacation! We found a Groupon for a B&B that was about 7 hours away. We decided to road trip! We stopped so I could get Starbucks of course! :)

 On the way to our B&B we took the scenic route and got to see several fun sights. We found the house his grandparents lived in when he was a little kid. We stopped at a hot springs for an hour. Here is the river and garden view from the springs.

A 300 foot cliff and one of the three bridges that spans it.

 

We made a quick stop at the state schools to document that we had been there.

Our destination

 Isn't it so adorable?!?!

Enjoying our gourmet breakfast.

Yum!

After breakfast, we explored the beautiful property.

 I just love the blooming cherry trees, green shutters, and lantern!

 Hooray for porch swings

Coolest tree ever. I think it's just begging for an awesome tree house.

Guaranteed the kids who used to live in this house climbed the tree all the time!

 Backyard

Make a wish

I think this is a Hobbit house

The carriage house

The Parlor

The Dining Room where we enjoyed delicious gourmet breakfasts.

Our bedroom

The old school across the street. Check out the slide fire-escape!

The school is now a huge antique mall.

Our Groupon included a winery tour in a limo!

Liking the luxury :)

Beautiful country!

On the second day, after breakfast and checking out, we headed to the nearby Space and Aviation Museum! It was really cool.

The Spruce Goose!

Based on the description, we are pretty sure that this is the

German plane that his grandpa shot down in WWII

 A piece of the Berlin Wall...it came down the day I was born.

 Too many buttons, levers, and gauges, no thank you!

Trying to land a space shuttle...maybe he should stick to his current job ;)

 Such a fun getaway with my man! The very thing I needed 

before heading back to work for the rest of the year.

These are a few of my favorite things!

The first day of April and the first day of spring break!

I started my day by diving into the 3rd and 4th grade math curriculum, standards, and lessons. Oi vey, I was overwhelmed. No clue where to start. No idea what these students know. My brain was spinning. So I left the house to run some errands and give my brain a break. This little interlude was just the thing I needed. During my escape, I realized I was getting to experience several of my favorite things!

 warm weather

driving with the sun-roof open

 

coffee

wearing flip-flops, my Rainbows especially

oh, and painted toes! 

 math

while it was causing my headache earlier, I do enjoy lesson planning and I do love math

my husband!

and doing fun things with him, like building a rocket! 

All of these wonderful things helped me get my brain back to normal and ready to tackle the lesson plans again! Maria VonTrapp had it right,  "I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad!"

Are any of my favorites also a favorite of yours?

And the Big Surprise Is...

So I know a lot of you read my last post, and I think I caused quite a bit of curiosity with the mention of a big surprise. A handful of you even texted me to make a guess. When every single one of those texts asked the same thing, I wondered if the other 50-something readers had the same thought. I figured I should start this post by putting to rest the probably-most-popular-assumption.....

Nope,

I am not pregnant. :)

It's funny how once you are married, the next question people ask is 

"when are you going to have kids?"

My answer:

 (in spite of my dad's encouragement that he is ready to be a grandpa)

in about 4-5 years

Now that we are all on the same page, any new guesses?

Well, without further ado...

 the big surprise is...

We bought a house!!!

Okay, so this picture looks like we bought a terrible patch of weeds, so let me clarify...

We are building a house!!!

 I think they broke ground a couple weeks ago. Due to some miscommunication we weren't informed like we wanted to be when they actually broke ground. I found out this last week by driving home this way from work. Imagine my surprise when I saw this huge cement hole.

I called my husband to tell him. We met there when he got off work so we could take some pictures together. Here he is standing in what will be his shop!

 My man by his man door.

 Our basement!

So excited about the size of the backyard!

The view we will have from our front porch.

 I picked 3 spots (based on cuts in the curb and cracks in the sidewalk) where I will take pictures through the various stages so we can see the progression. This is the first spot.

Picture location #2

Picture location #3

 When I left the house, I grabbed my camera and the tripod. However, I failed to grab the tripod adapter so that my camera could actually sit on the tripod and be used to take a picture of both of us. Needless to say that meant we had to come back the next day.
 

When we returned, we were greeted with wet concrete. 

This is our 2-car garage.

In addition to the 2-car garage, we added a 3rd tandem stall. 

The back half of this stall will be the shop.

A different shot of the basement.

  

When finished, our house will (structurally) look like this except a mirror image. 

Our garages are on the left and the front porch on the right.

As for colors, our house will look more like this palette.

After looking at some houses and not finding what we were really wanting, we decided to look more seriously into the route of building a home. We quickly found a builder and a floor plan we liked and made some customizations so that it was what we truly wanted in a house. 

The past month we have got to pick out all our appliances, flooring, counter tops, cupboards, door knobs, exterior colors, light fixtures, rock work,  and interior paint. Some choices were easier than others but it has all been very fun and exciting. 

I feel so blessed by this amazing house we get to move into in three months!

Keep coming back to see our house as it comes along. I can't wait until it starts to look like a house and you can see all the different rooms! I am FULL of so many decorating ideas and DIY plans. I look forward to living in this house for many years, decorating it, creating memories, turning it into a home, and yes, someday raising a family in it. I'm excited to be able to share the whole journey with you. I have been inspired by so many other blogs about home remodeling, decorating, etc. and I can't wait to join in.

Hooray for a new house!

So is that what you thought my big surprise would be?