Meet the Teacher!!

That's ME!!!!! For all those who don't already know I started a new teaching job on Monday! I interviewed two Friday's ago and they hired me the same day! I was so excited!! I am teaching second grade at an elementary school in Plano. The best part is, I had observed at this school in the Spring for college credit, so I already knew the school, the principal, and most of the second grade teachers! I actually knew most of the second grade teachers because Brad's mom is one of them! I love working with her and it is comforting to have her there for my first year coming in late.

I started yesterday and I am spending half this week observing and getting to know my kids and the other half setting up my classroom. Monday will be my first day with my students in my class! I can't wait! I will definitely take before and after pictures of my classroom for y'all! It may be a bit before everything is set up and organized, but I am hoping to get most of it done by next weekend!

I am so lucky to have gotten a teaching position so late in the year! I look forward to sharing my first year teaching experience with y'all!

Have a great rest of the week!
Elizabeth

It's that time of year again...

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!! Football season for me is a love/hate relationship! I love watching the OSU Cowboys and the Dallas Cowboys, but unfortunately being married to Brad (a sports fanatic) means I get to watch any football game that may be on. I'm not a fan of watching teams I have no connection to.

Football Season Favorites:

• tailgating
• traveling to games
• being in Stillwater
• wearing Orange
• singing our fightsong/almamater
• grilling out!
• game day food
• getting together with college friends

I'm sure there are many more things that I will remember I love, after we travel to Stillwater this weekend for our first game of the season! We couldn't be more excited to be back in college mode for a short weekend! We are looking forward to seeing great friends and a great game!! Happy Tailgating!!

GO POKES!!!
Elizabeth

A Teacher's Prayer!

Well school starts tomorrow and I am ready. We finished up summer camp on Friday at work and I spent a few hours at work on Saturday morning to switch gears back into school. I am also getting 3 new kids that are transitioning into my room, so I had to prep everything for them as well!! I have several teacher friends out there and I wanted to leave all teachers with a prayer.

A Teacher’s Prayer

O Lord, Grant me your strength, so I will have COURAGE in every situation;

Grant me your love, so I will NEVER GIVE UP on anybody;

Grant me your wisdom, so I will SHOW others the path to success;

Grant me your mercy; so I will FORGIVE those who have hurt me;

Grant me your peace, so I will FIND THE BEST in everybody;

Grant me your hope, so I will NEVER GIVE UP;

Grant me your joy, so I will be THANKFUL for all my blessings;

And grant me your grace, so you will ALWAYS be at my side.  Amen.

~David Bennett

 I hope your first day of school is wonderful!! I am looking forward to seeing my kids smiling faces tomorrow morning! 

Love,

Elizabeth

Meet Oliver!

Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged, but my evenings after work have been spent emailing every elementary school principal in several districts and letting them know I "exist" and I would be an asset to their school. So far no luck. This job hunting process has been getting harder and harder the closer we get to school starting on the 22nd. Brad has been really encouraging, but I am just so discouraged. I have emailed over 60 principals and have only heard back from 11 :( I am trying my hardest to stay positive until September, once schools will know how many students they will have for sure. Prayers are much appreciated for my job hunt.

In other news Brad and I added a new member to our family!

Meet Oliver "Ollie"!!!! He is a 2 month old Buff Tabby. We adopted him from the New Beginnings Cat Rescue that had brought several kittens to a Petsmart. Brad and I had been talking about getting a kitten all summer, but with all of our traveling we put it off until 2 weeks ago. We searched for 3 weeks before we found the perfect little guy to add to our family. Growing up I never had a pet so it took some convincing and the setting of some rules/guidelines for me to get a pet. LOL We brought him home and set him up in our guest bathroom so he could stay in there during the day/night while we were away or asleep. He is very active and a big talker! Today was his first day to not have to stay in the bathroom while we were away, and we didn't come home to any major damage! He is turning out to be a very sweet and cuddly kitten, in fact he is curled up next to me right now sleeping! Just presh!!!

Here are some pics from his first week in his new home!! 

Helping us put away leftovers!

Helping us do dishes!!

Sleeping belly up next to Brad on the couch!

Riding shotgun in my purse!

 We are looking forward to watching him grow and keep us company for many years to come!! We hope you are having a great work week and keeping cool wherever you may be!

Love,
Elizabeth

My best friends wedding!!

Brianna and I have known each other since second grade and have been friends ever since. Our relationship really grew when we were roommates in college after living in different states for 3 years. We met back up at OSU and roomed together freshman and senior year. She was my maid of honor in my wedding and I was so blessed to be a bridesmaid in hers! She looked absolutely beautiful and I am so happy for her and her new husband Brent!

The picture below is our third grade homeroom class. See if you can find Brianna, Brad, and I. We were all in the same third grade class! Crazy how far we have all come and how we are all still the best of friends!! I am pretty sure Brianna had a crush on Brad in third grade, she must have seen past the buck teeth and chili bowl haircut! I can't say I had my eyes on him, until high school! 

Look at those outfits! So glad our clothes have also come a long way too! lol

We took other pictures but they are on Meagan's camera so I will have to get them from her to post here!

On another note I was actually happy to go back to work today! I missed my kids and apparently they missed me too. They all came in and ran straight to me and gave me a big hug! Made me feel so special! I am looking forward to a weekend off this weekend to relax and get organized again before we leave for the beach next Thursday!! Then its home for the rest of the summer, waiting for a job to pop up for the fall! 

I hope you are surviving the heat wherever you are! Pretty sure the entire south is suffering 100 degrees or more everyday for the next 2 weeks. 

Love,

Elizabeth

Biking

Last weekend Brad and I finally went out and purchased the mountain bikes that we had been looking at, as our one year anniversary gifts to each other. We went ahead and also bought the car carrier as well so we would be able to take them with us on trips. Our first little bike ride was just through the neighborhood across the street. It was a quick little ride as a storm was coming in. Unfortunately all it took was those 20 minutes on that bike the first time to make my butt hurt for days. Why do bikes have to be so uncomfortable the first few rides?? We took the next night off from riding because the MAVS were playing and of course we weren't going to miss that. So our next ride was Wednesday and we rode around the Addison Airport as well as over to Circle Park. It is so nice to live in a big city, and still have great trails and residential parks to ride through. Circle Park is a little luxury apartment area that has little shops and restaurants as well. We rode through there then headed back home. We didn't go out Thursday because of the MAVS game again! lol Then Friday we rode our bikes back to circle park and ate dinner at a little pizza place where we could sit outside! It was so nice out and the food was delicious! Good thing the trip there was pretty much all uphill because, I am not so sure I would have made it back home after eating all that! We have loved being able to just come home and go for a quick ride after dinner, it is fun to explore different trails and neighborhoods. So far we have put about 12 miles on our bikes! haha That's not much, but as soon as these MAVS win tonight we wont have anymore excuses not to go riding every night!!!

Let's go MAVS bring home that W!!!!

Hope you have a great week! We are leaving Wednesday to head up to Stillwater for a wedding we are both in on Saturday!

Elizabeth

Memorial Weekend!

This past weekend Brad and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! I still can't believe a year has passed since we said I DO!!

Our anniversary was on Sunday and we had a wedding to attend that evening in OKC. We decided instead of taking a big trip this year we would just save our money and go on a mini getaway to OKC! We left Saturday morning to head to the city for a romantic dinner and hotel stay in the Historic Colcord hotel in downtown OKC! On our way northbound on I35 we decided to stop off at the G.W. Exotic Animal park. This little hole in the wall animal refugee park hosts over 200 big cats as well as bears, monkeys, reptiles, and other weird animals. We got there right before they were starting a special tour that would allow us to have a 2 hour guided tour through the park, as well as get to interact with tigers, monkeys, and wolves. A photographer would also follow our group around and take pictures, burn them to a disk, and allow us to take it home for free!!! The tour was incredible, other than the cages, there was no barrier between you and extremely large and dangerous cats! I could have easily had my arm gnawed off if I had stuck it through the fence! After the tour of the park we got to sit down and play with 3 baby tigers and 2 baby wolves. OMG I want a baby tiger so bad now!!! They were so cute! We also got to play with monkeys, one of which was wearing a diaper! (I bet that is a pain to change) The people that work at the park don't get paid and they live on the premises with some of the baby animals. They take care of all the animals 24/7! The park is non profit and all the money goes to tending to the animals needs. It really is incredible what these people are doing. Here are some pics from our little adventure!

Liger- Cross between a male lion and a female tiger. 

These tigers were a day old!!

9 day old white tiger

monkey with a diaper

our tour guides!

Geronimo the wolf

baby alligator

After we finished at the park we headed the rest of the way to OKC and checked into our beautiful hotel! We showered and got ready for a romantic dinner at the Mantel! We walked around Bricktown for a while and then ate! We bought tickets at the movies for a 9:00 showing of the Hangover 2 (so romantic I know, but we loved it) and headed back to our hotel to change into more comfortable clothing. A horse drawn carriage came and picked us up from our hotel and took us to our movie! After the movie we grabbed a midnight snack from Sonic!! (yum!) Then took our time walking back to our hotel along the river walk. We got up kinda early the next morning to meet some friends in Edmond at Panera for breakfast! It was nice to catch up with everyone even if it was just a short visit! After breakfast Brad and I headed back to the hotel to pack up and relax for a while. We checked out at noon and headed to Edmond to do some shopping and eat lunch! We met up with Brad's mom and brother at our hotel for Sunday night in Edmond around 3! We relaxed, showered, and changed for the wedding!

The wedding was of a longtime family friend of the Scarborough's. Brad and I went to high-school with the groom, but Brad has played baseball with him since he was little! It was a very small, but beautiful wedding at this adorable little chapel! They got married on our anniversary so it was a great reminder of the commitment we made to each other a year ago!

before the wedding!

Our wedding cake topper. The bakery we ordered our wedding cake from makes you a fresh cake for your one year anniversary so you don't have to eat a frozen one!

Monday we got up and headed back home. We got back to the apartment around noon and I cleaned up while Brad relaxed since it was his birthday!! We celebrated that evening with his family with a steak dinner at Saltgrass and cake and presents at home!!! This Friday we will be continuing the celebration with dinner at In-and-Out Burger (We got one and it finally opened) and a competition at Top Golf!! (Where I will win of course)

At Saltgrass for Brad's 24th birthday!!

You could say it was a busy weekend, but a memorable one for sure!!
Best picture of the weekend...

This would be my husband playing basketball at a Shoe Carnival (shoe store) like a 12 year old boy. He was like "you go shop and when you need me I will be here!" He wouldn't even stop for 2 little boys that wanted to play. Nerd or true athlete?!? Take your pick!

Hope your weekend was just as wonderful!
Elizabeth