What I've been up to (list format)

I've decided lists are more efficient sometimes, so here we go:

This weekend/last week I...
-Freaked out about getting a sub for the first time.
-Stayed at school til 10pm on Wednesday to make sub plans for 3 days while thinking to myself, "there's no way I could do this with kids at home".
-Drove to Oregon on Thursday with Mark and my in-laws.
-Drove to California on Friday and met my uncle Bob on the way at a rest stop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (it doesn't take much to impress him) :)
-Went to a really fun rehearsal dinner and ate delicious walnut prawns with Mark's extended family, who are SO much fun!
-Thought about how full my school email inbox probably is.
-Enjoyed a fabulous time hanging out with Mark's family and attending a wedding for one of his cousins.
-Had a bbq in 80 degree weather.
-Wanted to see the Tangens while we were there, but ran out of time. After experiencing the 80 degree weather in October, understood why they moved there.
-Decided to fly home Sunday night so we could spend more time with family instead of taking Sunday and Monday to drive home.
-Endured a smooth flight. (I don't appreciate flying...at all.)
-Since we came home on Sunday and I still had a sub for today, got to hang out at home- bonus!
-After pacing for a while, deciding whether or not to open my school email, I did it and realized why I didn't want to.
-Went to Starbucks and Ikea with Mark to look at kitchen cabinets- if only I didn't have a job, Ikea is a great place to hang out on a Monday!
-Did lots of laundry.
-Looked at photos from our trip. I'll post more later so you all can see how the Pearsons party.
-Now enjoying a cup of tea (I practiced my british accent all weekend) before heading to bed early.
-Browsing blogs and seeing that so many of you have been to the pumpkin patch- fun!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Something worth blogging about!

The last few weeks have been busy, for sure. And it took me a while to get over my heart-break of not being pregnant. :( About that, I know it's all in God's timing- Mark and I are doing everything we can this year to prepare our home, finances, and hearts for a child and I look ahead with anticipation of what is to come very soon for us. (hopefully)

School is awesome. I have such a great class and I can't believe we're almost to November! That means parent conferences and report cards are looming, but I'm excited to experience it all since this is my first year with it! (can you say "naive"?)

We're going to California for a wedding next week. Mark's parents rented a minivan, so we'll be driving...and I'll be cracked up (or down, depending on how you look at it) on Dramamine the whole way! I'm looking forward to the break from school and time with extended family- but NOT looking forward to making sub plans for 3 days- blech!

So...for the "something" worth blogging about- if you've followed my humble blog for a while, you know that we are embarking on a rather large remodel this next year and plan to do it without financing a dime, so we have a lot to save for! I went to the Tacoma Home Show with my parents last week and entered a drawing for granite countertops...

my mom said to me, as I filled out the form, "Robin, you should write 'pick me!' on the form so they know to make the right choice!" Well, it was a funny joke, but guess what?

WE WON! Whoohoo!

We won a credit towards the material/installation that pretty much (from my calculations) covers the whole deal! We are going to look at the showroom this weekend and peruse what they have to offer. This is such a motivation for us because we've lived in this house over a year and haven't put ANY of our personal stamp on the place. I love to decorate and Mark and I enjoy collaborating on these projects. He, being a graphic designer, has such a great eye for color and form and I feel like we really "got it right" with our condo that we remodeled. We're anxious, but so very thankful to the Lord for providing us with such an amazing home to raise our children and host our friends and family in...we see this as a blessing from Him to keep us motivated towards our goals in the next year.

In other news, my hair from a few weeks ago turned out great. :) More of a natural look than what I've previously had going, but I'm having this inner-struggle about my hair and getting pregnant and the chemicals/money used to keep it up.

Did you moms worry about hair color when you were pregnant?

It would take a while to get my hair back to the natural state because I'm much lighter now than my roots are. For now, I'm happy with it. The new lady is great and she charges less, which is REALLY great! I know you've all been waiting for an update on that situation. :)

And lastly, I'm just so thankful for this little blog community. It's so fun to keep in touch with my family and friends that have blogs, and also it's been so great to "meet" new faces and hear the challenges and joys that others out there are experiencing...I love to check up on everyone and feel so encouraged by many of the words you all write. I think my brain is so shriveled by the end of the day that any of my deeper thoughts worth blogging about get lost in my thoughts of "where are my sweats?" and "was that my second or third glass of wine?" (actually, that last thought only occurs on a REALLY bad day!). But thanks anyway for checking in on me- you girls are great!