ABC's of Summer: I, J, and K

I is for iPhone. Since my dad got a new one he sent me his old one. And after some frustrating hours trying to set it up, I love it. Luckily Apple has some great technical support, my computer is too old to use my phone with so I had to go to school twice to get it to work. I love finding apps! Although urbanspoon for our little town gives the same 7 results!
It is also for irresponsible (just a little) all last year I worked hard paying off my credit cards and then this summer hit and I spent more than I should have so now its back on the wagon. I just started using mint.com to track my spending and budget and hope to get back on track quickly.

J is for Jamaica. In case you are new to my blog, my mystery honeymoon was in Jamaica! It was amazing. I made this interactive Google Map with my pictures! Thanks to the best husband in the world!

View Jamaica--Ya Mon!! in a larger map

K is for Kevin—the best husband in the world!!

ABC's of Summer: F, G, and H

F is for food network. There is not a lot on TV during the day, so I frequently turn to Food Network. My favorites are Sandra Lee, Rachael Ray, and Bobby Flay. I have watched a lot of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives but none of the places he goes are near me. What a fun road trip that would be!
My favorite recipes from this summer:
Hula joes—Rachael Ray
Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches—Sandra Lee, check out the round 2 recipes too, I am going to make the pizza and potstickers this week!Beef it Up, a week of recipes from one roast—Robin Miller, we loved the empanadas
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars—Barefoot Contessa

G is for the gym. Ah how I love the summer, I can go to the gym in the morning. It makes such a difference especially when its hot-I am dreading hitting the gym in the afternoon next week when school starts with temperatures in the high nineties. I have been going to Spinning 3 times a week with a group of great ladies, I hit cardio hip hop on Thursdays where we learned the Thriller one week, Kickboxing once a week, and a great class called Body Flow twice a week. Our gym did a contest for July, you got 10 points per class you went to, 30 points for going to Body Flow, and 50 points for bringing a friend. I think I ended with 300 points(maybe more, the results will be available tomorrow) good for missing 1 week in July. I brought my hubby once and made him go to spin class with me, although he seemed to breeze up the “hills”. And I hit Body Flow 3 times since they started it mid month so that was 90 points. I will probably just win a waterbottle or something—but the points really motivated me. I might have to set up some rewards with my hubby to earn, like clothes at Ann Taylor or a Sephora gift card…

H is for hiking. I didn’t go as much as I thought I would. It is too hot here. But we hiked a little in Devil’s Canyon on the 4th of July with Kevin’s Cousin. And my friend Carol, took me on a 6.5 mile hike on Crag’s Crest Trail on the Grand Mesa—it was awesome!

ABC's of Summer: C, D, and E

C is for cupcakes. I checked out this awesome book from the library a couple weeks ago, Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes. I have since renewed it so I could keep it longer. I love baking and cupcakes are so much fun. It makes more sense than making a cake as there are just 2 of us and then the leftovers sit tempting me at every turn. But with cupcakes I can easily tell 1 serving and easily pack the rest off for my husband to take to work. I made…

Banana pecan cupcakes with caramel buttercream frosting,


mint brownie cupcakes,


and chocolate chunk cookie cupcakes so far…this week who knows.

D is for decorating. We are staying in our apartment for at least 1 more year. So I decided it needed to be more homey and less college student like. So we have been framing pictures and hanging them.

And let me tell you hanging pictures with my engineer husband is a lesson in math. He measures to find the center of the wall, marks spots, and measures and measures again.

Hanging these 4 pictures took us over an hour (well maybe only 30 minutes but still…).
I also have been decorating a lot with vinyl decals—we can’t paint and these are so fun and affordable. I have
these from SingleStoneStudios,





these from ScribbleIt (I also ordered a few for my classroom last night)



and this one (it says, "If I could be anyone in the world, I would be me in love with you")is coming from LittleLoveLetters.

I bought this bedding from ebay after so many trips to stores and discussions about colors finally we agreed on this set.

It is Style & Co Seaflower in aqua and cream—very soothing. Plus I love this little sequin pillow. Now I just search craigslist daily for a dresser and a china buffet so we can get some stuff put away!

E is for envy. Ok this is a serious one and an issue I have been dealing with. I know I have a great life, a life that a lot of people would envy. I love my job, I have a wonderful husband, he loves his job, we are both healthy, heck we even went to Jamaica this summer. And I know I shouldn’t compare myself to others but I do. I got stuck a lot this summer reading stories of other people who got married when I did buying houses and having babies; things we want for ourselves but just aren’t there for us yet. It doesn’t bother my husband but it bothers me. I think it comes down to basic insecurity about myself—something that has always been there and reared its ugly head with a move to a new place and a new job. So what am I going to do about it? I am starting a gratitude journal to refocus myself on what I have in life instead of what I don’t.

ABC's of Summer

I figured since I only have 10 days left in my summer--I would find a fun way to recap! Feel free to do the same on your blog--maybe I could design a button?
Anyways today is the letters A and B:

A is for AVID. I just got back from San Diego where I went to the AVID conference in preparation for becoming an AVID elective teacher. It was an inspiring conference and the friends I went with were a blast. We hit the piano bar one night for some great fun.




B is for books. I love to read and summer is the perfect time--there is only so much daytime television a person can watch, so I usually read a good chunk in the afternoon and an hour before bed or so. I have read 44 books since school got out--hoping to hit 50 before the 12th when we go back for professional development. I found some new authors, read some great Young Adult books, and spent some time with some old favorites!

Show Us Your Life--Flowers and Wedding Party

A closeup of my bouquet--I had hydrangea, roses, and lisianthus.


and one of my favorite shots!


My girls had hydrangea and lilac roses.



My girls--Stacy, a friend who I met teaching in denver, Tracy, my BFF from college, and my sister, Karen.


Our whole party ballin'

Heading to...

San Diego!! I am headed to the AVID conference, cooler weather, and a chance to see my sister!!!

Show Us Your Life

So a few of my blogging friends have directed me to Kelly's Korner where she is starting a series called Show Us Your Life and this week it is Show us your Wedding Dress, since I loved loved loved my dress, here it is! It was Casablanca 1831 in Ivory--gorgeous!!