A Pep Talk... Too Cute!

I'm sure many of you have seen this.... but this is as cute as can be!

Enjoy!

Park Fun and Belly Rubs

Ruby has loved the park recently. Here's a video from today.

Ruby in the park from Erin Vestring on Vimeo.

Notice the belly rub at the end. She loves those. Isn't she just the cutest? :)

Nerdy Website Fun

This week I have had some of my classes do a "website exploration" on the Smithsonian website.  Perhaps it's the fact that I am a currently a tech teacher or maybe it's just because I am a complete nerd, but I have been loving this website recently!  It has links to the zoo and museums, a teacher and kid section and photos of current exhibitions.  When we went to D.C. last summer, going to the American History Museum was one of my favorite things we did (oh how I'd love to go again, that museum was just. so. good.)  It is great that even though you may not be able to go to D.C. they have made it so easy to explore the museums from your own living room! 

Ok, ok I'll stop with my extreme nerdy-ness.  But you don't have to take my word for it. 

Go check it out yourself!

*Alright, as I was typing this I had an extreme flashback to Reading Rainbow.  Check out the video below*

As if you needed further verification of the nerd that I am.  You're welcome.

Perfect Soup Weather

Well, it's finally gotten reallllly cold here in Oklahoma.  It's reached that time of year when I don't want to go outside to even get the mail.  I'm sure if you live in a place where weather is traditionally below freezing in the winter than our weather this week would be a piece of cake for you.  I for one, am already ready for the Spring! 

But until then, we are making a lot of soup at our house. 

Below is one of our favorite recipes for Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup.  I found it in a Cooking Light cookbook a while back and let me tell you, I could eat this soup every week. 


Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package of mushrooms
1 cup of chopped celery, red pepper, onion mixture
1 small (2.75 ounce) package of fast cooking wild rice
1 package of light garlic-and-herb Laughing Cow cheese wedges
2 cups of low fat milk
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

First, heat the oil over medium and cook the mushrooms, and vegetable mixture until the vegetables are browned. 

Next, prepare rice according to the package; unwrap the cheese and chop into small pieces.

Finally, add milk, cheese, thyme, pepper and salt to the mushroom mixture.  Stir well and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cook for a few minutes.   Stir in the rice and cook for a minute more.  The soup should be fairly thick and delicious!

It is soooo good. 

Enjoy!

Now, does that not look tasty?!

Mmmmm, the weekend

Hello weekend!  It's good to see you again.  While it was great getting back to school this week, man am I exhausted.  Can't wait to not have a schedule all weekend longgggg.   It's. gonna. be. good. 

Here's a little something funny to get the weekend going.  Seriously, I was on the floor laughing.  Ok, maybe not literally the floor but I don't think I've laughed this hard in a while....

Happy

School started this week, so we've been a little busy around this town (ie. house).  But despite all the craziness, I've been a pretty darn happy person this week.  The kids at school have made me happy, my husband has made me happy (good job Boo), Ruby has made me happy (but then again she always makes me happy....), I've just been one big bundle of happy. 

But for reals.  This has been a good week so far and I'm excited to see what the rest of the week has in store!

Here are a few happy (have I used that word enough?!) instas from this week.







My cute cousin!  Isn't he a superstar?!  I mean, look at those medals!

Monster cookies.  So good.  Recipe here.

Ok, I know it looks kinda gross.  Poppyseed chicken.  Brings me back to my sorority house days.



My girl resting with Daddy.  I love these two.

New Years Party

For New Years this year we had a progressive dinner party with our friends.  Despite the fact that I was under the weather and couldn't actually participate in the eating of the dinner, we had lots of fun.  Dinner was at our house, and Jeff was a humongo help preparing everything.  I got sick shortly after I started cooking and he had to finish up the lasagna.  He says he had fun making it but I'm sure he was just trying to make me feel better.  Sweet man I have. 

I had seen some tutorials on pinterest on how to spray paint wine glasses and decided that this would be the perfect craft for the party!   

First, I found some wine and beer glasses in the dollar bin at Target.  I picked them up knowing I would have some future use for them.  I mean, they were a dollar! When I saw the pinterest tutorial, I knew I had found their destiny!

I taped them off with blue painters tape.

I wrapped the part that I didn't want painted in tissue paper.

Then took them outside to spray.  (*What I learned during the process...it's best not to spray at night, as it's really hard to see what parts of the glass are being painted. Make sure there is plenty of protection on whatever surface you are spraying or you'll end up with a gold porch...oops.)

(notice the gold cement in the top right of the picture)

Here is the final product!

Below are a few pictures of my tables.  ( I had to add a couple of folding tables to our living room to accommodate everyone.  It was a little crowded but I think it turned out ok.  Just ignore this mismatched chairs!)

Happy crafting!

Welcome 2013!

Well, I had great plans for a big New Years post yesterday but it seems other things were in store for me.  I came down with a stomach bug New Years Eve day and was still recovering from its wake all day yesterday.  Luckily Jeff was off work and took wonderful care of me!  I'm so lucky to have him.

Soooo, here is the New Years post a day late!  Hey better late than never!


2012 was good to us.  We were blessed in so many ways!  Here are some of our favorites of 2012:

1. In February I celebrated my 25th Birthday with my sissy in NYC. 

2. Also in February- I got a new job! Love it and feel so lucky.

3. In May we got to go here and here

4.  In July we spent some time at the lake and Jeff's best friend got married in Vermont.

5.  With August came the return of school and the decorating of my classroom.

6.  In September we went to the beach with Jeff's family.

7.  October was filled with wedding activities and the wedding of our friends Erin and Connor.  We also had a Halloween party.

8.  We had another best friend wedding in November with Grace and Jeff, and we went to NYC for Thanksgiving!

9.  December was a crazy month but we were able to spend Christmas with both our families and ring in the New Year with friends at our side! 

Can't wait to see what 2013 has in store!  Thanks for reading this year!