School’s Out & I Actually Have Time to Blog

     In the words of Alice Cooper, “School’s out foreverrrrrr!”  My last day of work was last Friday, and I am footloose and fancy free for the next eight weeks…except for on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I work at the daycare.  But compared to school life, that is being fancy free.

     We kicked off our summer with our churchwide picnic Sunday night, and Davis had the best time!  Usually late evening is a tricky time for him, but when you’re surrounded by your people and a petting zoo, it’s #nobedtimenoproblem.  Also he learned what a chocolate chip cookie is…

Y’all…that picture of him with the cookie.  I cannot.

     The rest of this week, we’re going to work on cutting out the morning nap, buying birthday presents, and planning a FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!  I am equal parts weepy and happy (and all the other dwarves too).  We cannot wait to celebrate sweet Davis Malcolm!

     In other unrelated news, I took a wild shot in the dark and opened a shop on Storenvy.  For the past few months I’ve been doodling around with lettering, and while I am by no means an expert, I have been having such a fun time with it that I figured…it can’t hurt.  For all of your lettering needs, you can visit me at Love Lettered and follow me on the ‘gram @loveletteredshop.

 
The 4x4 canvases are my favorite!

          Those are my summer plans in a nutshell.  The littlest bit of busy and a whole lot of down time.  I am savoring every last minute of this summer and not even thinking about August…except for my required reading…  I’m hoping to be around a little more this summer since my mind is not otherwise engaged…we’ll see how that goes.

Happy Summer!

Red, White, and Blue

     Happy late 4th of July!  We’ve been busy spending time with family, crafting with babies, and eating.  I love any sort of holiday, and I’ve had all sorts of red, white, and blue warm fuzzies for the 4th – the music, the pageantry…the food.  This was Davis’s first big holiday, and the cousins were fully decked out in their red, white, and blue!

We love these sweet cousins!

     Della loves to decorate for any holiday, so after she adorned the house in streamers and shiny garland, we got busy crafting.  Della and Suzanne made one for my sister.  Davis made one for me, and all the cousins made one for Granny’s house.

     My sister found the boards at Walmart in a 3-pack for just a few dollars.  We used tempera paint, and if we made any mistakes, we were able to wipe the paint off with a wet rag and redo it without ruining the board! #winning  Also…in case you were wondering, Davis loathes crafting and having his foot painted was apparently pure torture.  Luckily, babies have a short memory, and I love my art!

Look at those sweet feet!

The big girls did some firework art (shamelessly pirated from Momfessionals).

     I love how our art turned out.  Davis may be making me a firework picture in a few years!  After our crafting and photo shoot, we spent the afternoon playing outside (the weather was so nice) and eating.  We didn’t go to a firework show, but there were sparklers and smoke bombs to be had in the backyard.  I figure we have a little time until Davis is begging for the big show!
     I seriously cannot believe that it’s already July!  I am soaking up every last minute of this summer with my baby because I know August is coming too soon.  If you need me between now and then, I’ll be staring at my baby.

It Looks Like Summer

     If you need me for the next few months, I’ll be doing summery things.  Yes, that’s right, school’s out (for summer…forever…)!  I made it through my first year of teaching, and am well on my way to enjoying my first full summer as a married lady.  My plans include organizing closets, working at the daycare, and spending a glorious week at the beach!

     I am by no means wishing my summer away, but three and a half weeks is almost nothing…aaaaaaand it’s been two years since I’ve sunk my feet into this sand.  We are so ready.
     In other time-related news, it’s been almost a year since Keith and I got married (I know!).  After all this time, I finally finished our photo album.  I used Somerset Albums to create a lay-flat photo book. It should be here any day, and I cannot wait. 
     There you have it friends:
          1.  Clean closets
          2.  Wedding album (…finally)
          3.  VACATION! (Seriously…I may not make it three more weeks.)

What is your summer looking like?  Are you staying busy with fun plans?  Happy SUMMER!

Better Days are Coming

     I think I’m late to the party again; I’ve been seeing this cute little #100happydays thing going around on Instagram…and I had to Google it to make sure it was a real thing.  Now that I know that it is in fact a real thing, I’m going to do what I usually do and jump on the bandwagon late and probably fall off early.  Feel free to peruse my Instagram and see if I ever actually start it.
     In other news, in two and a half days you will no longer be reading from a first year teacher!  I have almost made it through a full year of teaching! (Is there a punctuation mark stronger than an exclamation mark?)

via

     All of that means it’s almost summer.  Really it is.  I  can almost taste it – or maybe that’s the chicken we grilled earlier.  In less than one week, I plan to be sitting in the sun and eating summertime food and doing all of the things that mean summer!
     On that note, we have about a month until time to head to the beach, and I could not be more ready.  I’ve finally found some swimsuits that fit.  The meal plan has been made, and I’ve been looking at the place we’re staying just pretending I’m there.  Anybody else pretending to be on vacation?

This Post is More Exciting Than the Title

     Instead of the blasé, gratuitous post vacation photo dump, I thought I would take you sweeties on a little timeline recap.  Let me start by saying that I love the beach probably more than anyone else in the whole world…I’m a vocabulary person, and I don’t even have enough words to tell you what a great time I had. 

Day 1

Mostly driving.  Eating some incredible peach cobbler on the way at Burris Farm Market.  Learning that Della loves sand…a lot. 

Day 2

Pictures (in sunglasses because it was way too bright for anything else).  Dinner at King Neptune…so eating way more than I care to admit here.  Just a little glimpse of what it was like – I had bacon-wrapped-crabmeat-stuffed-shrimp.  Yum.  Also, that shirt I’m wearing in the last picture is my new favorite thing!

Day 3


Snacks on the beach.  Let’s be honest, this was every day.  It was also the end of the snap pea crisps…

Day 4

Low. Country. Boil.  That’s really all that needs to be said.  (P.S. That’s alligator sausage…just learned that this year.)

Day 5

The day Della and I went “boating.”  The day my brother-in-law flipped over the boat (with me in it) and we all laughed.

Day 6

This is by far my favorite restaurant.  They have live music (who play us “Rocky Top” every year) every weekend.  Della was obsessed with the girl playing the bass fiddle…I kind of was too.  How cool is that?

Day 7

With the exception of the last one, these pictures are too sad to enlarge.  After a week of beautiful weather, a freak storm blew through and totally destroyed our canopies (tent city).  We left them in a mangled heap at the end of the driveway.  On the plus side, Della is clearly a future blogger, and we had great weather for the rest of the day to make up for not having shade.

     Sorry if it took thirty minutes for this page to load!  I couldn’t pare it down anymore, and I love all of these pictures.  Other notes about the week:
          - We saw so many dolphins!  I even saw a cute, little baby one jump all the way out of the water!
          - This was the year of the sand bar.  Every afternoon there were these huge sand bars all up and down the beach that went out really far with water barely up to our ankles.  It was beautiful.
          - It was also the year of the seashell.  I filled up the rest of my shell jar and got seven giant shells!
          - I finally had a chance to wear my neon orange flip flops!  I’m going to have to show them to you very, very soon.

     Now that summer is officially over, I have got to get into school mode quick.  I start student teaching orientation tomorrow!  I’m definitely going to miss summer, but I am so ready for fall (and everything that follows).  Student teaching > graduation > job (hopefully) > wedding planning > WEDDING! 

Can’t Convey

     It’s been a long time coming, folks.  Some days I wasn’t sure if I’d make it.  It’s been a whirlwind summer.  Now…work is over, the bags are packed, my nails are done, my hair is cut, Keith is here.  We are leaving for the beach tomorrow!
     There is no way to convey through typed out words on a screen how excited I am.  As you may have guessed from my week of talking about pretty much nothing but the beach…this is what I live for (not really…but it’s right up there). 
     In addition to sand, sun, salt water, and incredible food, I am so excited to spend time with my family and just be away.  As you probably already know, I don’t have a fancy phone, so there are no Internet temptations to deal with there.  I love all you sweet bloggy friends, but I am going unplugged for the week.  No email, no posting (from me), no nothing.  Just toes in the sand hanging out.  I can’t wait!

 

I hope y’all will still check back next week I have some incredible guest posts lined up for you!  Seriously…amazing.

Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Aren’t you excited?!

This is the Final Countdown

     I’m back from a weekend with Keith…with no pictures yet again.  I have got to do better.  Oh well.  You’ll just have to take it on faith that we had a wonderful weekend.  I can now say that I’ve been to a duck blind drawing (which I think makes me pretty good hunting-wife material). 
     In other news, it’s beach countdown week!  I am off work all week, and I will be doing non-stop beach preparations.  Eeeeeee! I am so excited.
     To totally switch gears, I’m linking up with Neely and Ashley for Sunday Social.  I’ve never done this link up before, but this week’s questions were all about fall.  How could I resist?  I know I’ve been talking typing y’all’s ears off about the beach, but I love love love fall!

 

     Let me be clear.  I am NOT wishing away my vacation, but watching all my daycare kids start school has really made me start thinking about fall and everything I’ve got coming up.  So…here we go.

What is your favorite fall activity?

Where to begin?  School (I know…), Halloween, leaves, Thanksgiving, cute clothes, delicious cool weather food, not sweating constantly because of the oppressive heat, decorating for all of the end of the year holidays, GRADUATING, fall crafting (I have some big plans), using quilts, our city’s gigantic thrift sale, etc.

Do you follow a football team?  If so, which one and why?

I would never dream of supporting any other teams but the UT Vols and the Titans.  I’m not going to lie and say I watch every single game, but there is something so nostalgic about watching the team run through the big T.  I am just dying for Keith to take me to a Vols game.  Also, I saw the cutest UT scarf at the store the other day.  It wasn’t overdone and tacky…I may have to go back and snatch it up!

What is something fun about fall in your area?

The Service League in my town holds a huge thrift sale every year.  My mother, sister, grandmother, and aunt all wake up early, and go wait in line to be there.  Last year I found a pair of practically brand new Under Armour tennis shoes for $2!  It was definitely the find of the year.

Fave fall outfit staples?

Blue jeans, blue jeans, blue jeans!  Also…I have like eight sweatshirts (and pairs of sweatpants) – obviously I love those too.

Thing you are most looking forward to about this coming fall season?

I already said the thrift sale, but if you notice in my first answer…I’m graduating DECEMBER 15 (technically still fall)!  I am so ready.

Favorite fall holiday? Traditions?

I loooooove Thanksgiving!  The day after (instead of Black Friday nonsensing), my mother, sister, and I decorate our whole house for Christmas…which is a pretty big ordeal.

Technically this was taken in the summer (on vacation two years ago), but we’re at the Christmas Place in Gatlinburg – so it’s applicable.  Vacation. Summer. Looking forward to fall/decorations.  Check, check, and check.

Have a great week!

Distracted

Both via

     This is all I can think about today…and I still have to wait until August!  I can’t stand to wish my summer away, but I just want to hop in my car and drive have someone drive me until I see the beach.  I love where I live, and I think Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, but the beach takes my breath away every single time I see it.

    
     They, too, observed the LORD's power in action, his impressive works on the deepest seas.  Psalm 107:24 (New Living Translation)

What I Wore Wednesday

     …to be truthful, this is actually What I Wore Tuesday, but I don’t like to post twice in one day, so I’m sharing today.

     

     Simple. Simple.  Simple.  If I could wear one of these every single day of the summer, I would.  This one came from Wal-Mart (I know!), and it is so breezy and soft and comfy.  I will definitely be taking it to the beach for one of the nights we go eat.
     You can barely see my shoes (and I did not take a picture of them because my toes aren’t painted right now – shameful I know), but they are Chaps braided black flip flops from Kohl’s (last year).
     I have to admit, I used to hate maxi dresses; I thought they looked silly.  I now have no problem admitting that I was wrong, wrong, wrong.  I am so on the bandwagon now.  I have two, and I have worn them to dinner, out running errands, and even to church with a cute denim jacket over the top.  I have even seen teachers layer them with a tank top underneath and a cardigan or jacket for work.  I probably wouldn’t do that with this one, but if/when I buy a more subdued one, I will definitely try it out.  There’s a Calvin Klein one at TJ Maxx that I have been eyeing – like this one only black.
     I’m beginning to notice that pretty much all of my posts lately are very summer themed, but I am still so excited about the break.  I start work next week, but I’m not really worried about it, and I don’t think it will make my summer any less enjoyable.  I feel like I’m really in a transitional place right now, and while that can be really good or really bad, this one is so good!  I keep reminding myself that even if things are really tough, nothing that I’m doing for the next year is permanent – summer job (a few months), student teaching (one semester), graduation/one semester away from Keith (one semester) – after that it’s onto the real rest of my life.  I’m not wishing my life away by any means; I am really excited about these next steps, BUT no matter what, I’ve really got something to fix my eyes on.  I like a long-term goal to keep me focused.
     In other totally unrelated news, I think I’m going yard saleing this weekend.  Send lots of good shopping zhu-zhu my way so I can find something incredible!  My mini-long-term goal is to slowly find things for my future home.  I don’t want to find a place to live and immediately spend tons of money of furniture OR live on camping chairs and cardboard boxes.  I feel like starting now will give me time to look a lot and find things I really like for not so much money.  I’ll of course be keeping you posted on my yard sale adventures. 
     For my last totally unrelated bit of news.  We’re going to cook a little something delicious this weekend, and I can’t wait to share it with you!  Aaaaaaand, I Know and I Don't - No. 14 will be up on Friday.

 Allyson

Ya-Ya Dress

     I’m also calling this post WIWS (What I Wore Sunday).  I know I don’t usually do outfit posts, but I love this dress, and I was so excited to wear it…so I’m sharing it with you!
     If you’ve been reading for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me mention the Ya-Yas or The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.  It’s one of my very favorite books (for a multitude of reasons – which will probably get their own post after I reread in a few weeks), and this dress so reminded me of the book.  Something about the summery feel and the ‘60s sort-of style…and it’s hot pink!

     FYI, this picture does not do it justice.  It is pinky pink and so soft.  I wore it with white patent leather slingback kitten heels (they have a little round toe with a white buckle) – love.  I would have shown you my face, but it looked something like this…

 

     The velcro rollers are a new “investment” (by investment I mean 10 whole dollars…with a gift card), and I am loving what they do for my hair (I’ll post about that too).  I seriously would have worn this dress all day long, but it didn’t make much sense.  Also, I have a hot pink purse (with a giant bow on it), so I looked a little gauche with all of that – in the best way of course.
     Don’t you love it?  I’ll post again sometime with my “tutorial” about my velcro rollers.  Until then, I hope your summer is still going wonderfully (and that you all find a sassy hot pink dress to wear).  Oh, and if you’re wondering, the dress came from Cato – not where I usually shop, but when it works, it works!

Allyson

Summertime

     Summer is officially here – actually not ‘til June, but it’s here for me (and the rest of West Tennessee).  To kick off summer, I thought I would give y’all a few updates about me and general summery thoughts!

1.  I’ve got a new job this summer, and I am so excited about it!  It’s another daycare job, but just from the few meetings I’ve had with the director, I can tell I’m really going to love it.  The theme for the summer program is “Around the World,” and I’m working with the kids going into second, third, and fourth grade.  Even though I usually work with the babies, this is going to be such great practice to have right before student teaching!

2.  My mission for the summer is to stock up on teacher-appropriate clothes.  I’m okay in the tops department, but I am in desperate need of pants! 

3.  Back to the job – I don’t officially start work for a couple of weeks, and while that obviously means I won’t be getting paid…why would I ever complain about a break?!  Also, the director said she likes to schedule employees four long days and one day off a week…love.  I never mind working a couple of extra hours, and any day off is going to be so nice!

4.  I (and my mother) unpacked and reorganized my school stuff – another check off the 101 in 1001 – today (and yesterday), and I still cannot believe that I only have to move one more time.  I never like to wish my life away, but I am pretty sure that this summer/next semester is going to fly by.

Before.  My stuff does not always look like this – until I unpack that orange crate and green file folder.

The file folder before.  It was a pitiful mix of my personal papers and my lesson plans and activities.

After.  I’m still planning to get sticky tabs so that my subsections in the math and science sections look tidier.

5.  Finally, in true summer fashion, we had bacon and tomato sandwiches for supper and ate on the patio.  It was so nice.  I indulged in my second Coke of the day (as a reward for all the organizing) and a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Deeelish!

Perfect summer weather.

A little indulgence.

A little begging (from both parties).

P.S.  I got my ring inspected and cleaned today – so sparkly.  It makes me a billion times more aware of it (which I so did not think was possible), and the lady who cleaned it asked about the wedding.  Even though we don’t have real plans yet aside from the date (June 22, 2013), it’s so nice to be asked and to talk about it!

I hope your summer is off to a wonderful start!

Allyson

All Over the Place

     If you know anything about me at all, you know that I have two hair looks – ponytail and down.  When I wrote my 101 in 1001 list I promised that I would try some new hair styles, and so far I haven’t had so much luck.  Today, however…I actually made a little attempt AND wore it out of the house!

     

     Is it the greatest picture? No.  Is it the greatest braid? No.  Do I think this is going to go viral on Pinterest? Absolutely not.  BUT…I tried, and no one gave me strange looks at the grocery store – success! 
     I’ll keep trying – promise.

     Also, you may remember from a few weeks ago that I won a giveaway or two.  Now that I’m home from school, I’ve been able to actually see my lovely prizes.  From Kelsey Bang I won the most adorable little zipper pouch and bow tie.

    

     Both of these (and plenty of other adorable items) can be found in her Etsy shop.  Now if only I could convince Keith to wear a bow tie…
     I am still so surprised that I won, and I can’t wait to put my little goodies to good use!

     In other news, I took my very last final yesterday!  Next semester I have exit interviews (no finals), and then I am a college graduate!  I am so excited to student teach and graduate and be a real, married “grown-up.”  I am really loving the season I’m in right now, and I just keep thinking, “A year from now, I’ll be about two seconds away from getting married…”  Wow.

     I know this post was a little all over the place, but that’s me right now, and I’m okay with it.  Summer is just beginning for me, and I can’t wait to get it started!  Eeeeeeeee! (That’s the noise I make when I’m excited.)

Allyson