Pinterest Challenge: I Heart U Alphabet Art

I kept looking for different ideas for displaying the alphabet in nurseries. When I saw these cute I ♥ U alphabet ideas, I knew it was something that I had to recreate for Giuliana's room and hang in the reading nook I'm in the process of creating.

1) Anna C: http://pinterest.com/pin/29062360065507057/

2) Hopscotch Haiku: http://pinterest.com/pin/121949102380538295/

3) A L-Sand: http://pinterest.com/pin/236509417901639621/

4) Colleen Tolliver: http://pinterest.com/pin/31032684901873814/

Cute, right? And when would be a better time to share then the Summer Pinterest Challenge? :)

The DIY link-up brain-child of Katie and Sherry? Count me in!

To make my alphabet art, I used an Ung-Drill frame that my brother and his girlfriend had given me as a gift last year.

It was so easy- the colors in G's room are pink and brown, so I busted out the paint and made the frame pink. I also bought some wood letters and painted them brown- except for the I and the U which I painted the same pink as the frame. I also painted a wooden heart pink to use in place of the letter O. Then I arranged and rearranged the letters on some recycled wrapping paper until I liked the way it all looked. 

Once I felt good about it, I glued it all down, slapped it into the frame, and ta-da!...

I love it! I'm so happy with the way it came out and I can't wait to finish the nursery and get everything hung up- update to follow!

And just because I think she's so adorable- 

I love that face!!!

Edit 7/12/12: I also hooked up with HOH!

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's Fill in the Blank Friday with Lauren!

1.   I am a (morning, evening, middle of the day person)  evening person! I'm always still tired when I wake up- even after a full 7-8 hours of sleep. And then come lunch time, I'm even more tired. Like, ready to put my head down on  my desk and take a nap on my keyboard.

2.  My favorite Pandora stations are  Today's Country, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band (for while I'm cooking/cleaning), Katy Perry (while I'm working out), and after I saw Bridesmaids, I added Wilson Phillips- it was one of the best things I've ever done.... great for driving around to... fun 80's-early 90's music!

3.  3 of my "must-have" songs for a road trip playlist are     um, well I guess any Wilson Phillips song! :) Smile by Uncle Kracker (that was our first dance song!), and Gunpowder and Lead by Miranda Lambert- I was singing that in the car yesterday and all felt right in the world.

4.  My favorite pattern is   I've been really into damask lately. I think it's all of the wedding planning. But I also like a lot of florals and colorful prints. I think color is what actually draws me to something.

5.  My favorite perfume is    I don't really have one. A lot of them smell like old lady to me. But one that I have used before and actually really like a lot is Malaia from Hollister.

6.  Rules are      pretty important. I was never a rule breaker but I definitely didn't like be told what I could and couldn't do when I was younger. Now though, being older and a teacher, I understand that society needs rules and people need structure. If rules and guidelines aren't in place and consequences aren't followed through with, everything will fall apart. Stepping down from the soapbox.

7.  My most overused phrase or punctuation is      I do this a lot... and I do this-

But it's only when I'm writing something on here or Facebook because I like to give my words a voice. I write things the same way I would speak them. If that makes sense at all. Also, I use the word 'awesome' way too much. Like to describe everything. Oh, I call Brian a Diva. All. The. Time. That's getting old to both of us!

Gym Time and More About Me!

I finally did it... I joined the gym. It's not like I need a gym. It's not like I have tons of time and money that I need to spend. But I am on the porkier side and for some reason, nothing helps me lose weight like group exercise classes. So I did it. And I got my mom to jump on board too!


I started March off with a bang and I headed to the gym after softball practice. I did a Body Blast class- which was basically an hour off light strength training with dumb bells. It felt good! I wanted to stay for the next class which was a Boot Camp class, but I don't want to be so sore that I can't get back there tomorrow. So I hopped on the treadmill instead. I wanted to test myself to see if I could run a mile without slowing down to walk. (I still can. Whew!) I did half a mile and I wanted to stop. But I told myself to just get through a mile. And once I got to a mile, I decided to just keep going til I get through 20 minutes. So I did. And I burned just under 200 calories. So that about takes care of one of those damn Thin Mints I had earlier. As far as those other 8 go...


I do feel really good. I love working out. I don't know why I ever stopped!


Time for more question answering time!...


1. I am currently obsessed with my upcoming wedding. We are officially 102 days away. I'm pretty sure I'm right on track with where I should be, but I'm also pretty sure it's all I ever talk/think/dream about!

2. Today I am exuberant because I feel like I was pretty productive at work, I went to the gym, I'm getting to spend some good quality time with my boys tonight, and I have A LOT to look forward to in the coming weeks (and months!)

3. The age I am is 27 and the age I feel is old! I feel all these aches and pains that I never used to have, the kids are using terms now that I've never heard of before, I use terms that they've never heard before! Nah, I really feel about my age, maybe even younger. Life is good!

4. My favorite place is anywhere with Brian. Corny, but true. We genuinely have a great time together and pretty much any situation ends up being fun. Even when we're stuck in the emergency room all day on a Sunday!

5. Something I have been procrastinating is nothing, for a change! I always procrastinate, but this year, I've actually been on top of everything!

6. The last thing I purchased was a gym membership!

7. The thing I love most about my home is the love from my little family. It didn't feel like a home until Brian and Kevin got here!

Exhaustion

I feel like this:

But a little bit chubbier and not as cute.

I don't know what it is, but lately I feel like I hit a brick wall. Like I just don't have energy. Like my legs are made of lead.

I'm yawning by 6:45 and I want to be asleep by 8:30....

I don't know why, but I don't like it one bit.

I've been managing to tough out some work outs anyway, and I'm hoping that eventually, my workouts will start to pay off- size-wise and energy-wise.

On a side note, I've determined that it may just be more work to have a student teacher than to not, and that the average person cannot be a PE teacher. Oh, and I should get paid more.

Off to research more honeymoon stuff!

Las Vegas and Falling Asleep on the Couch Before 9... Cuz I'm Crazy Like That

This week felt L-O-N-G... and it looked something like this:

and this:

... but there wasn't as much beer involved as you might think.

Here are some of the highlights of my last week:

1- Las Vegas!
A week ago today we were heading to Vegas with Kevin and Rachael. We stayed at the MGM and had a blast. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend:

Me and Rach getting cabin fever in the car... caffeine, much?

Cutest dinner date ever!

At the Aria for dinner

There was a special- 5 beers for a dollar... diet coke was like, $4.50. Um, beer, please! 

Like I said, beer wasn't involved as much as you would think based on these pictures. Those five glasses were small, and it was practically the only alcohol I had the whole time. I know, I know, I have to cut back.


Considering those five beers were the most I've had in quite some time, I was feeling pretty silly by the end of dinner. I even proposed a question that everyone but Brian thought was funny (but I think they were laughing at me, not with me)- "If you drink a lot of beer, will you be better at basketball? Ya know, because of the hops?"


Haha, I still think that's funny!

 

Saturday night, I managed to convince everyone to walk over to the Bellagio and watch the water with me... it's one of my favorite things to do in Vegas. Clearly I'm not the gambler/drinker/party animal that is typically found traveling to this part of the country. You now, like the guy we saw jump into the Bellagio water. Like, for real. And it was cold. I can be an silly doofus from time to time. And I rarely turn down a dare. But I would never, ever do that. What a douche.

But I will dance in front of the Bellagio... like I said, I can be a silly doofus...

 2- My Mother
I'm so proud of her! I stopped by her house in the morning earlier this week to discover that she had just completed a workout! And it was her second week of consistent exercise! Woo-hoo mom! Keep up the good work!

3- The Lost Symbol
Brian finished reading this Dan Brown book on Saturday night in Vegas, so I started it. And LOVED it! I reinforced some personal philosophies that I have been trying to live by for the last couple of years. 

I'll do an entire post devoted to how a fictional suspense thriller relates to my PE teaching-5 mini beer drinking- falling asleep on the couch before sunset-life.

Oh yeah. It's been hard to get much else done this week because Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I was fast asleep on the couch well before 9:00. I keep telling you, I'm pretty rad. And like, my apartment smells of rich mahogany. 

So, that was my week in a nutshell... with a little bit of work thrown in!

We actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.


But really.

Except maybe not the wallpaper. ;-)