I Copied

OK, I have to admit, when I look at other people's blogs that I do know, I look at their followers list, many of whom I don't know. One headline stood out to me. It said "For all you Taylor Swift/Coldplay fans". That's me, and I had to look. What I found was amazing.

I have always been a fan of music. I grew up performing to it and today, even though I can't carry a tune, it doesn't stop me. I sing everywhere, and throw a few dance moves in there just for fun. I especially love watching music being performed. Here, at this link, it is amazing what people can do with instruments.

I say I stole this link, but I'm pretty sure that the person that put it on YouTube WANTS everyone to see it. So, consider it my good deed for the day to share this masterpiece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

Oh, and thanks to Tommy and Becky for having interesting blogger friends for me get this from!

Spring Time Projects In Full Swing

This year we got started early on some projects around the house. With me being done with school and Jason working day shift (finally for the first time since we've been together) we've found plenty of things to do to keep ourselves busy.

This first project actually has a story behind it. I got bronchitis, for the first time ever, and had it for the whole month of April. The first week I had it I was taking cough medicine with codeine in it and I pretty much just melted into what ever I was sitting or laying on for several hours. And here's where the story begins...

Jason's side: He came home from SWAT practice and asked me if I wanted to go ahead and put rails up on the front porch to close it in. We talked about it and he even called his mom to ask her a few questions about and even went across the street to see how they built theirs. He then asked if I wanted to go to the lumber place with him, which I declined, so he went by himself.

My side: I woke up and heard something loud out front. I went outside and Jason and our neighbor Shaun were sawing away at wood for the railing that was halfway done.

Regardless, it's something we had talked about in the past but never quite got to yet. I think it came out pretty nice.

Before:

After:

And now with the addition of new plants, plus what's already blooming, it looks like this:

We also laid down a walkway that leads to our backyard and put in a huge deck (no jokes, please).

Jason's stepdad and mom helped get us started:

And Jason's dad helped us finish it:

And now:

We still need to add rails around it, but for now it's great. Every single night we sit on that step and play with our dogs. Then we do a perimeter check on all of our plants and flowers. Jason made a beautiful garden area under the tree in front of the deck with hydrangeas, our wedding flower.

I think we're done for now. At some point this year we'll probably put the rails on the deck up, but with triple degree weather here it makes it kind of hard.

Panther Pride

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!! I'm officially a 7th grade Language Arts teacher. I just found out last Wednesday.

I went on an interview 2 Wednesdays ago and I was up for either the 8th grade or 7th grade position. Luckily, this is the school I student taught at so I was a bit more comfortable than most. That is, until I walked into the interview room. It was every person I had previously worked with sitting at a table across from me, or a "jury of my peers", as I joke. I had never been so nervous. I think at that moment I would have preferred complete strangers.

I left the interview feeling confident, but knowing that there were more qualified people that they would see that day. The principal told me that I would hear something that afternoon. I went on to work, late, and checked my phone every 5 minutes. (Did I mention that we're not allowed to have our phones in the pharmacy, "allegedly"?) Finally, between 4 and 5 the principal called me and said I was up against one other person for the 7th grade position. Is that better than getting told I do/don't have the job, or worse? Anyway, they wanted to see me the next day. I went in again and this time it was only grade level, subject specific teachers in the room. I answered all their questions and even fired off a few of my own, and as i got ready to leave, I walked out of the room and saw my competition. Are you kidding? Here's how it went...I student taught the first semester of this past school year. My competition student taught the second semester next door to where I student taught. Two rookies. May the best woman win.

I'm kidding, but that really is the way it went. I waited all day Thursday and Friday, and by the weekend I wasn't so confident. Monday rolled around and by Tuesday night I couldn't sleep. I knew I blew it. I woke up from little sleep on Wednesday morning and put on a brave face and called the middle school to "follow-up". The secretary said, "When they make a decision I'm sure they'll call you!" I got in my car, and the check engine light was on. Of course it was! What else could go wrong? So I called and complained to Jason about it, and about 10 minutes before I was supposed to be at work my phone rang. It was a representative from Northwest ISD calling to extend an offer. My reaction? I screamed in the phone "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" He said, "I'll take that as a yes?" Idiot!! After that all I heard was blah blah blah. He said some things that I'm sure were important, but my heart was beating out of my chest and I was trying to drive between my own lines and try not to use the other lane's lines to the best of my ability. I'm not even sure when I start. Oh well, I got the job.

It's bittersweet. I'm leaving the comfort of the pharmacy for something I've worked so hard for so long for. I'm going from the top the bottom. It's gonna be hard, but I'm sure I'll survive. And it doesn't hurt that I student taught with the 6th graders too, so I know most of them. Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll have great student stories. You know what they say, kids say the darndest things.

We Celebrated with The KING!

The King of country, that is. That's right. Jason got us tickets to the hottest show in town...the George Strait concert at the brand new Texas Stadium.

The best part about this concert was that we saw George Strait the weekend before we got married, and now, 5 years later and a day after our anniversary he was back in town.

It was amazing, and hot. I got a sunburn walking from the car to the stadium.

Here's what it looks like:

So, before I add more pictures, I want to talk about our seats. Once we got inside the first gates to get into the stadium we saw Blake Shelton, who was also performing at the concert, talking to a local radio station.

Then we got inside the stadium. It is completely open on the inside, and magnificent. Very different from the old stadium.

It also has the world's largest HDTV located inside (everything's bigger in Texas).

Jason was online to buy these tickets at 10am the day they went on sale and he was not happy with where we sat. I have to admit, we were up on the third balcony, and the people on stage looked very small, but who cares. As it turns out we were on the suite level, so we got the luxury of having a full service bar, snack bar, pro shop and restroom all to ourselves and only a select few that were in our section. And, with the giant HDTV in front of you like this, who needs front row!

It was amazing. Julianne Hough was supposed to be first but she didn't make it and they had LeAnn Womack come out in her place. She was really good. And just so you know, I took all these pics from the giant screen.

Next was Blake Shelton

Next was Reba McIntire

(This is what she looked at from where we sat, and zoomed all the way in on my camera

And on the big screen...

And for her encore presentation, of course there was a wardrobe change. And let me just say that with my hair color I never through I could pull off red, but if Reba can do it, so can I!

And finally, the KING:

Thanks Jason. Happy Anniversary, and long live the KING!