Best Husband Ever!

I know people often say this about their spouse, but I really do think I have the best husband ever. This week was very busy and stressful for me. It's the week before school starts and despite yesterday being our first official day back for teachers, I put in a 43 hour work week in 4 days this week.

Thursday I had an emotional breakdown when I couldn't find my August file in my classroom. For those of you who teach, you know that this is pretty much the most devastating thing that can happen. Our files are PRECIOUS! It was 6:00 and I still hadn't eaten lunch nor dinner and I was hot and sweaty and exhausted. I called James who was still at work despite the fact that he's supposed to get off at 4:00. He came to school and brought me dinner!

This was incredibly thoughtful for a number of reasons:

1) He had just worked an 11 hour day and I'm sure he too was exhausted.

2) He got Minsky's...which I love AND he chose a veggie pizza because he knows I'm trying to eat healthy.

3) He had been sick all week and I know he didn't feel good but he put my needs ahead of his and I just feel so lucky to have him.

On top of being super sweet Thursday night, yesterday morning I got a text from him saying "I hope your first day back goes well...love you!"

What can I say...he's THE BEST!

Best Wife Ever!

James' birthday was Monday and let's just be honest...he got spoiled. Last Saturday, we went to Old Chicago for lunch. He got a free pizza coupon for being a member of the World Beer Tour so we decided to use that. We ate our pizza, had a couple beers, and played some Big Buck Hunt then decided to go to Best Buy to buy a new TV for the basement. I got a bonus this summer of a little of $1000. I figured since I'd been so responsible with all the rest of the money I earned this summer, I was allowed to spend this. So I put it towards a TV. We got a 55 in LG LED 3D TV with BluRay. Woohoo! Happy Birthday!

That evening we went to dinner at J. Alexander's. AMAZING food! Then we went to Jerry's to have drinks with some of our friends. There was an 80s cover band playing so despite me be the D.D. for the night, I still had a good time.

Sunday, we went to 77 South for brunch then came home and watched our first movie on our new TV. We still haven't watched anything in 3D yet, but will hopefully find something on Netflix soon.

Monday was his actual birthday, so I gave him the plethora of K-State/Royals t-shirts that I had bought for him back when KS Sampler was having their big sale. Aside from that and his TV, I had another gift that hadn't yet arrived in the mail. That night when he got off work we went to Jerry's for poker. Cassie, the bartender there, surprised James with a card signed by everyone in the bar and an ice cream cake. It was incredibly thoughtful!

His final gift finally came today...The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set. He's currently curled up under a blanket reading the first one. It's pretty cute.

Update on KC's Top 100 Restaurants

I've now been to 17 of the top 100 restaurants. This low number is reminding me that the hubby and I don't eat out nearly often enough!

75th St Brewery

BB's Lawnside BBQ
Blue Koi
Blue Nile
The Drop

Fritz's
Garozzo's

Julian

JP Wine Bar

La Bodega

Manny's
Minsky's Pizza
Nick & Jake's
One80
Thai Place
Tom Fooleries

Zest

2 Year Anniversary

Last year, for our anniversary, we stayed at The Raphael Hotel. It was where we spent our wedding night and we thought it'd be fun to go back there to celebrate. It was very romantic...rose petals, champagne, private jacuzzi tub. We watched fireworks from the hotel window. All in all it was a very nice night.

This year, since we had just bought a house, we decided it was okay to scale it down a bit. So Saturday, I planned a surprise date. Since we weren't able to leave town and go to the lake or anything, I decided to bring the lake to us. We went to the lake at Shawnee Mission Park during the day. We rented a pedal boat and went out on the water. James had never been on a pedal boat and I hadn't since I was a kid so we both had fun. After a while, our legs got sore, so we went back to shore and traded the pedal boat out for a couple kayaks. We had a blast on the kayaks. The only other time we'd kayaked was on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. After we had thoroughly fried our thighs (must have missed that spot with the sunscreen) we left the water and found a shady spot to lay down a blanket for a picnic. The picnic was nice despite getting attached by a posse of 40 geese. James managed to run them off though. After lunch, we lay in the shade and talked while enjoying a bottle of white wine.

Later that afternoon, we went to Town Center/One Nineteen and did some shopping. We went and looked around at Z Gallerie and Crate & Barrel. It's funny how much more fun it is to look at house decor than clothes.

After our mini shopping trip, we went to Brookside to a restaurant called Julian. James and I both love the show "Top Chef" and on the most recent Masters season was a contestant named Celina Tio who was from...Kansas City. Julian is her restaurant and we both wanted to check it out. I think we were both happy with dinner (and the wine, of course) and I got particularly excited when we had Celina herself deliver our appetizer. I made a huge dork of myself by telling her how much I love her.

We concluded our night at home with yet another bottle of wine (third one that day). Then we headed to bed early so we could be well-rested for our housewarming/anniversary/4th of July party the next day.

Sunday, we spent the day getting ready for our party. Around 4:00 people started to come over. We had washers, bags, and hillbilly golf set up in the backyard. We drank good drinks and ate good food and shot many shots. All in all, I would say it was a very successful party and our couches provided a nice sleeping spot for those who had a little too much to drink.

On Monday, James and I went to lunch and then lounged around most the day "recovering". That evening we went to dinner and a movie followed by fireworks at the Great Mall. We snuggled up in the back of the Escape, opened the tailgate, and watched them from the parking lot.

Another great 4th of July and anniversary!

How We Came To Be

James and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary this past weekend. My sister, Maggie, called to wish us a happy anniversary and she asked me if it felt like it'd been 2 years. On the one hand, I can remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. Many people tell you the day flies by in a blur. This wasn't the case for me. I have very vivid memories about the entire day...memories I hope I'm able to hold onto as I age and become (even more) grey-haired.

On the other hand, I feel like James and I have always been together. We started dating almost 8 years ago when I was just 19. Life before him was...different and I guess kind of insignificant.

After dating for 2.5 years, we moved in together. We lived together for 2.5 more years before he proposed. We had a fairly short engagement...just 7 months, though it was plenty long enough for us. We got married July 4, 2009 - two years ago yesterday. Life has been good to us. We have since found, purchased, and moved in to a beautiful house that we are quickly making "our home".

Yes, children are in our future. As to how soon that happens, you will just have to wait and see! In the meantime, we are very happy to be fur-parents.

I wouldn't change any of it!

I love a good bargain!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a die-hard K-State fan. Well, one of my favorite places to shop is Kansas Sampler. For our anniversary, I got James a nice Cornhole set. It's wood and unpainted and I decided instead of painting it, I wanted to put K-State Power Cat decals on them and then coat them with polyurethane.

So I was planning on going to Kansas Sampler sometime soon anyway, but I made it a priority today when my friend Lisa told me they were having a super sale.

I ended up getting over $500 worth of clothing for less than $200. For his birthday, I got James a Royal's shirt, a K-State polo, 4 short sleeve K-state t-shirts, and a long sleeve K-State shirt. For myself I bought a long sleeve Chief's shirt, a Royals t-shirt, a pair of cropped K-State yoga pants, a K-State zip up hoodie, a long sleeve K-State shirt, and 4 super cute K-State t-shirts. I will never have to buy KSU apparel again! Though realistically, I probably will.

These 4 items were what I paid for.

These 16 items were what I got.

I LOVE a good bargain!

Summer Job = STRESS!

I've always had a summer job, ever since I started teaching. Despite the fact that I get paid year-round, it's nice to have some extra income for things like weddings and buying houses. I also, quite frankly, think I would be bored out of my mind if I didn't work during the summer.

I have yet to find the perfect summer work situation. One summer, I just tutored. That summer I felt like I had a little too much time on my hands and kind of wished I would have worked a bit more. Another summer, I was a nanny for a family. That was the same summer I was working on my Masters and also getting married, so it ended up being a bit too much. Not to mention the fact that the kids I was nannying were pretty high maintenance and thus required a lot of attention and energy. Last summer, I taught a 6 week summer school and while it wasn't ideal, I decided to do it again this year. I figured since I'd already done it before, it'd be a pretty easy gig. WRONG! I have a very different mix of kids this summer and without being too negative, let's just say this has been anything but easy. The past 9 days of summer school have been the hardest of my teaching career. I think it's safe to say that it's just been way more stressful than it's worth and I will be needing to do something else next year.

Prior to teaching, I spent my summers bartending. While I really enjoyed doing that, I have no desire to go back to working nights. I enjoy my evenings with my husband way too much. However, I'm not sure it'd be worth my time to bartend afternoons somewhere. That sort of job doesn't usually pay all that well.

So, what SHOULD I do next summer? Thoughts?