Welcome to the Jungle.

I’ve spent all days on my Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-knees KNEES!!

Seriously. Our backyard was overgrown and a general hot mess. As am I, after spending all day out in the jungle.

Overgrown, and sad. Our grass has died, the landscaping is a mess, and the patio is dreadful. We moved to Texas because we want to sit outside, and we never, ever do.

True story.

After today, however, we’ve made some progress, at least on the jungle front.

So much better. Now we just need grass to grow as well as my sweet little vegetable garden…

Hubby spent all evening grilling and fertilizing (maybe those two things shouldn’t go together??) so here’s hoping we have progress.

A patio/landscaping (very minimal) plan to come soon!!

Heather’s Shower

One of my very best friends is getting married the first week of June! Not this past weekend, but the weekend before, we had a bridal shower for her at a local tea room. I was in charge of flowers and a couple of other things and was pretty stoked about how they turned out Here are some pics from the day, straight out of the camera because I’m super lazy at the moment…

Isn’t she going to be a beautiful bride??

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Today I was completely wiped out… here’s hoping tomorrow I can get back into my routine!!!!

Psst!! Did you celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day?!

MIA

Whoops… isn’t it obnoxious when bloggers disappear for a while and then apologize for not posting??

SORRY Y’ALL .

Not to worry. You didn’t miss a whole lot around here last week except for a ridiculous amount of sugar I ate due to teacher appreciation week. That, and I actually stuck to my morning workout plan for two whole days until I had a couple of late nights prepping for my ESL (English as a Second Language) Certification Test.

I also registered for classes for the fall & found out I am being transferred to a non-traveling position for next year (this year I was split between two schools). So it was busy. Oh–and a few race photos for the win.

Oh hey, look. I’m incredible awkward when I run. Which is why I wear a DRC shirt to try and feel a little more hardcore.

And then I get cocky racing black-capri girl to the finish. I was NOT about to let her beat me. Look at that sassy smile–It hid all the pain I was in.

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Shall we get to the weekend??

Hubby and I did work all the live long day yesterday and today. Yesterday, we cleaned up around the house and completely reorganized our kitchen cabinets.

Now all our little spices have a place to live

Adam also re-discovered these blue canisters we inherited from his grandparents. I’m so excited to rinse them out and fill them with delicious baking things!

After cleaning, we headed downtown for the city’s best chili dog and beer.

Deep Ellum is actually our old hood, and such a cool part of Dallas. There’s a lot of neat murals and paintings on the buildings in the area–I really want to get back out there soon to take some pictures.

After dinner, we headed to see Miranda Lambert in concert!!

It was such a good show, and we had a total blast!!

(source)

I wish we could go to concerts like this every weekend (you can read a review of the concert here )

After a day of cleaning the carpet (hubby–I’m so lucky!!) and playing around in the yard (me…) I’m totally beat!

I planted a few seedlings… and cried a little more over our dead lawn

And took about a year trying to cover the piles of dirt in the silly built in dirt pits flower beds the old owners left us. I think now Piper will be out of luck with the digging… or at least I’m hoping!!

Food is prepped for the week…

…and a delicious treat and magazines are calling my name

And I have no self control.

Hope your Mother’s Day was fantastic!! Cheers to the best mama around

We’re on a boat!! (…like 5 years ago…)

Off to listen to the sweet sounds of Hannibal, thanks to another quality night with Adam’s Netflix selections Have a great week!!

Dolce de leche

How did I not know about this deliciousness before??

I’ve heard of this awesome stuff around the blog world and in recipe books, but I enjoyed mine with some blue bell ice cream.

I’m excited to play with it in some other recipes, but tonight we kept it simple and paired it with some delicious cream sherry.

A perfect end to what was a pretty great weekend

Highlights included:
-Heather’s shower yesterday (which I have pictures to share, I promise!)
-delicious grilling with hubby
-seeing The Five Year Engagement, which I loved with all the Ann Arbor and University of Michigan references
-an epic afternoon nap and reading
- Piper breaking a window.

Yes, our sweet girl who has a fierce habit of thinking she can jump through windows to catch squirrels got just a little bit closer today… No severe paw damage was done, but we do have some plastic covering a window pane until we can fix it up. There’s always something isn’t there??

This week is the real test of the morning workouts. I started out this morning with a crazy humid run.

I had every ambition to do some hot yoga, but the humidity did me in. Later this week, I have plans. Morning plans

Have a great week!!

Silky Smooth

Well folks, I’ve been using this lovely Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Shampoo and Conditioner* for the past week, and I might be a convert.

I’ve tried a lot of shampoos in the last few months, trying to find something that didn’t make my hair too greasy. My super fine hair has a hard time if it isn’t washed everyday, so I started looking for a clarifying shampoo. After using Aveda Shampure for as long as the bottle lasted, I decided it didn’t quite work for me–too drying. However, Aveda Damage Control is my number one, and only one, hair product. And it works great with this stuff.

My hair feels, as Adam would say “Silky Smooth.” But it doesn’t give me that “just combed your hair with a hamburger look.” And yes, I actually had a friend tell me that once. This stuff is legit!

(full disclosure – I was sent full size samples via BzzAgent)

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So yesterday was my trial with a morning workout. And I have to say — Success!!

Since I had been out of the running loop for about a week now, I did an easy 3 miles with a 2 min warmup and a 2 min cool down on the treadmill. I felt so much more relaxed and energized the rest of the day!

I made sure to lay all of my stuff out the night before so I could practically get dressed in the dark the second my alarm went off.

I have to say, it still wasn’t easy–I found myself still thinking, oh man, I could get another hour of sleep if I took off these stupid workout clothes and just hopped back into bed…

But I forced myself to keep on keeping on And I did it!! Today was Miss Heather’s wedding shower, so I didn’t get in my workout, but I’m thinking I may run AND go to yoga tomorrow… just call me a rebel! I now resolve to workout in the morning 2-3 times a week and take classes/yoga the rest of the week. Here’s hoping I can stick with it!

Tomorrow I’ll post a few shower pics, but for the rest of tonight, I’m just laying low, reading and drinking wine with my favorite guy and fuzzy ones.

And celebrating life–even if it is about to get even busier…

As of yesterday, I’m officially heading back to SMU to get a second masters degree in Music Education!

L-A-Z-Y

Throughout each class time, I ask my kiddos to stand up maybe two or three times to move around the room. Each and every time, I’m answered with a resounding groan. It’s probably my biggest pet peeve as a teacher.

Too bad I can’t follow my own advice when it comes to a workout routine. We ran our half, I nailed my 5k, hubby aced his PT test, and we’ve been avoiding the gym & running in the heat, lazing around eating chocolate and drinking wine.

I mean, can you really blame us?

I believe that Somoa girl scout cookies and rocky road fudge were created for me, single handedly to turn me into the laziest person on the planet. As I was digging into another bag of pop chips this evening, I saw this on FitFluential’s Facebook Page:

Well gee, doesn’t that make me feel swell. Is it horrible that I don’t miss going to the gym after a long day of teaching and piano lessons? That I’ve liked having a ton of downtime to read magazines and watch endless episodes of Army Wives? No, it’s surely not bad, but I’m starting to feel super sluggish.

I wasn’t lying when I said I was excited to try new classes at the gym and not really be “training” for anything. But training is what keeps me going. Without that goal in sight, I have a hard time being motivated to just get out and run. I keep thinking more and more about training for a marathon… there’s one in the D in December… which means if I keep my mileage up over the summer it just may be in my sight…

ooh geez it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Good or bad? I don’t know.

But regardless of the goal, it’s so darn hard for me to exercise after teaching a full day. Aside from that, I’ve really been loving this past week, coming home to decompress and relax instead of running to the gym. I think that my days would be much better if I could get into a steady morning workout habit. I’ve done it once or twice, and each time it makes me feel so much better throughout the day. Plus, I don’t feel any guilt for sitting down and relaxing. But when you have to be to work by seven (with a 15-20 min commute), getting up that hour early hurts.

Right now I wake up around six, rush around to shower, make my lunch and eat breakfast before running out the door at 6:45. I guess waking up around five wouldn’t be that big of a difference, as long as I got to bed on time. I think I might just give it a whirl.

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When you sign up for bzzcampaigns, everyday is like Christmas around here

Check out the swag!!

I scored their eye brightener and new eyeliner…

and three shades of lip balm that I’m already loving. The only makeup that I’m religious about is clinique mascara, bare minerals foundation, and burt’s bees lip balm, so it’s a big deal that I found another one that I like. This tinted stuff reminds me a lot of the tinted bees.

More coming on all the loot after I use it for a couple days

But for tonight, I’m off to organize my mess of a desk.

I have so many resource books and files and mail and checks and everything else that needs to be organized for school/work/life. Not to mention software to install and files/photos to back up!

You can tell by my coordinating bins I had the best of intentions to organize… the system within is a little suspect. Weekend project anyone?

But first things first. Tomorrow, 5 am gym date.

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Psst: Update on cleaning schedule – So far a success! I didn’t vacuum bedrooms tonight, but we did put away 3 baskets of laundry that had been sitting out since Monday…

What’s your secret for morning workouts, or your morning routine in general??

Wednesday Randoms

Today’s random thoughts brought to you by my weekly bathroom cleaning. Yes, because I’m a disgusting person, or incredibly anal, or just right, depending on how goldilocks you tend to be on the bathroom cleaning schedule. But I digress.

Question #1: How do you organize your bathroom??

Our organization is currently non existent.

(source)

Okay, so it’s not all that bad, but it’s usually this frazzled. Hubby and I generally have about 8 different drawers with various items scattered… sometimes Ibuprofen is in the kitchen, sometimes it’s in the bathroom, etc. HELP.

Pinterest to the rescue

(source)

Although, these bathrooms only exist in my dreams.

Anyone have great tips/tricks??

Question #2: Do you have a weekly cleaning schedule??

(I Heart Organizing’s Cleaning Caddy)

I haven’t had one in the past, but I’m definitely thinking about adopting a mild one so we aren’t left with a “big clean” every weekend. The idea is a quick 30 min of cleaning every night = a neater home and a happier Anne.

This particular schedule might be a little too overzealous for me, but I like the general idea. Then I look over at Martha’s weekly plan, and I realize that I am a terrible, terrible homemaker. It’s too detailed to share here, but take a look and you are guaranteed low self esteem. Or just guilt.

I am, however, in love with this little gem.

So here are my thoughts: tackle one room/task a week and then (hopefully) have the weekends more free–except for Sunday night, which will forever be laundry night

Preliminary Cleaning Plans (which will surely be thrown by the wayside as soon as life gets busy):

• Monday: Living Room/Dining Room
• Tuesday: Bathrooms
• Wednesday: Kitchen
• Thursday: Bedrooms
• Friday: Nadda
• Saturday: Nadda
• Sunday: Laundry

Seems like it just might work, eh?

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How do you organize things around your house? Do you have a cleaning schedule??

Vino

Enjoying some of our delicious souvenirs!

Branson, MO

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Places we visited…

Stone Hill Winery * Dixie Stampede * Bradford House Bed & Breakfast * Branson Landing *Jim Stafford Theater * Jackie B Goode’s Uptown Cafe

Here’s a little taste …

What a fun trip… so many laughs

Checking in

Lots of fun things to share from the weekend tomorrow, but for tonight I’m hanging with hubby and dreaming about some new makeup samples I was sent to try!

Happy Monday