Spent the Morning Scrapping...

I wish I had more time to scrap!

I had forgotten how fun it can be.

Maybe after all the madness is over this summer!

:-)

Journaling:

"Dec 31, 2008 - A night full of non-sense and drama ... but it led us into 2009 - which will be a great year!"

Journaling:

"Burgs is my photo friend. We do lots of photo shoots of her, and she has even helped me with a wedding. It's always a great time! 4/2009"

Journaling:

"One of the prettiest little babies I've ever seen! Miss Joelee is way too cute for her own good! March '09"

Journaling:

"Dad celebrating his birthday at his work. February 2009"

Journaling:

"April 2009 For Chris's 26th birthday, I got him the boots he wanted for his dirtbike. We also went to the Blew Inn for sesame chicken and I got him a rhubarb pie."

What's New?

Long time, no blogging!

Things have pretty much been the same around here:

Had a great Memorial Day with a group of friends - including my friend's daugher's Jaelynn and Joelee, who are getting SO big:

Chris with Joelee. I can't wait til I have a photo like this someday, but with our OWN baby:

I think I mentioned it before, but I graduated from college on May 15th. We went for dinner for my mom's birthday, and my sister in law and my brother surprised me with this freakin' awesome Coach clutch for a graduation gift - I was NOT expecting anything at all! Isn't it just the cutest? I LOVE it!! Thanks if you're reading!

Shot my first wedding for the season two weekends ago. I had a lot of fun and it inspired me to purchase a different wedding gown! I felt mine was too plain and I didn't feel "gorgeous" in it - my new one - watch out! I feel pretty darn sexy in it! No sneak peeks! I'll post some photos for you on July 19th! ;-)

Here are some photos from the wedding I shot:

Our own wedding plans are going smoothly. We are kind of in that "waiting" period ... just waiting for response cards and for the day to get here!

There are preceisely 46 more days to go!

And 49 days until we hit the beach in Mexico!

Finally .... I finish my 5 1/2 month long first grade student teaching placement in 6 more days. It went so fast. I've been applying for jobs, but no bites so far. Wish me luck in the hunt!

Scraps

Had a chance to scrap last night for the first time in what seems like forever.

I was feeling very simple while creating:

Life on the Patio

We've been enjoying the warmer weather by spending more time out on our patio. My dad gave us his grill and patio set, so it's been nice to cook and eat dinner outside. (Less dishes for me - woo hoo!) Just took a few snapshots of "our little patio life."

We got new, nicer chair pads for the shower from my Aunt Christy - the new pads are REALLY thick, cushy, and GREEN :-) ... obviously this photo was taken before the shower.

Pineapple Sage Salvia plant ... its named such because if you rub the leaves, they smell just like pineapples. You can use them to make teas, and I'll have to try that. It's supposed to flower out more when fall comes around.

These leaves remind me of watermelons:

My "sentimental" flower pot - our wedding colors. The orange is SPOT ON, but the blue (another Salvia variety) is the closest to "our" blue (which is really pool/ocean/aqua). Still really pretty though! Ignore all the weeds in the grass - LOL.

Let's take a break from all the plants ;-) ... how do you like that flame?

My "baby" flowers. The greens shot up fast, but now they've stayed this way for a couple weeks. It probably needs to get warmer before the buds can fully develop. We shall see.

I love these....so pretty.

My cosmo plants are HUGE. They're probably over three feet tall with big flowersl like this all over. LOVE IT!

Bridal Shower & Bachelorette Party Recap

I think I had the best bridal shower ever :-) Thanks to the amazing planning of my sister in law Shannon and my maid of honor Alanna (and to all the other people who I know were involved too!) Alanna even flew in from her new summer home in Philly for the event! It was the best day ever! Truly!

So it started out with me not knowing where the shower would be held (city or location). Even after the invites went out, I didn't get to find out until the day before the shower! It ended up being at Alanna's dad's house in Stoughton. They were orginally going to have the shower down by the amazing pool area and have a fire going down there, but sadly, it ended up being rainy and yucky that day - so they had it inside instead - which was still totally pretty and fun!

As you can see, they planned a Mexican theme (for our honeymoon!). It was SO cute! Like my sombrero?! Ole! It had a cute "Bride to Be" button on it too!

Then onto the yummy food and CUTE decorations! I loved all those tissue paper puffs everywhere! Even in the bathroom! The girls made margaritas for everyone (over 30 guests in all, I think( ... so pretty all sitting out on the tables! The date is wrong on some of these photos, so ignore!

My aunt Christy, me, and Jacque:

The favors were SO CUTE and SO THOUGHTFUL! You all know about my obession with coffee, which Chris now shares, thanks to me .... the favors were little baggies of coffee beans and on the tag, it read: "Kayla and Chris....the PERFECT blend."

WAY TOO CUTE!

My brother wasn't at the shower ... but he did come afterwards to help take all the gifts back to our town ... WOW, I am SO LUCKY to have received such amazing gifts. I cannot thank everyone enough!

My girls: Alanna, me, Burgs

Another photo of me for your viewing pleasure:

Onto the bachelorette party....which was also a surprise! Again, the original plan did not turn out last minute but the 2nd plan was just as fun! (Shannon and Alanna had planned a party cruise for the evening out on Lake Mendota in Madison, but the place called Friday afternoon ... and cancelled on them). We ended up going for dinner at Porta Bella's in Madison, and then onto State Street Comedy Club for some laughs and embaressment! Read on!

First, I forgot my clothes. So I had to go shopping at the mall and scramble to find something last minute ... I think I did well ... even though Alanna was probably SUPER annoyed with me .... as it look like two hours for me to finally find something.

The pre-party events were at the hotel ... complete with dirty questions and naughty gifts for me! Woo hoo! My sash says Sexy Little Bride ... there was a veil too that went with the cute set Shannon got me, but it wouldn't say in my hair.

Now onto dinner... isn't this the cutest place?

Jacque, Kate, Shannonn, me, and Alanna. My mom was with us too, she took the photo.

Some cute shots around Porta Bellas:

I loved this staircase:

Now we are at the Comedy Club ... seated at the front table, of course.

So yeah, front row means attention, of course. Oh boy. So they knew we were celebrating something since I had the sash on, so one of the comedians asked about my wedding, etc. Then that lead into talking about certain body parts .... which turned into him coming up to my mom and stripper dancing by her. So funny, yet so embaressing, lol!

Such a great night! Thanks to EVERYONE!

One Portfolio Exhibition To Go ...

I have to get up at 4:00 tomorrow morning so I can drive to my college town and be in an all too familiar college classroom for my final School of Education Portfolio Exhibition, to start sharply at 7:30 am. My portfolio has been a work in progress for the last 5 years of my life ... and if I can say so ... I will be glad to have my presentation over and done with ... because then, officially, I will become a college graduate!

Wooo hooo!

Graduation is on Saturday, but I am not walking the stage. Just send me my diploma in the mail, thank you very much. I only lived in my college down on the weekdays, as I came home nearly every weekend - so I don't have a strong emotional tie with being there for graduation.

But honestly ... can I get a wooo hooo!? I still have til the middle of June before student teaching is over, but the college part, totally done now!

5 years was enough!

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about my bridal shower and bachelorette party from this past weekend!

66 more til our wedding day!

Jac's Question:

Jac: The couch set was from Slumberland Furniture

FUNNY!

My mother learned to email.
Its 2009!!!

So funny when parents learn to do the "cool" techy things their kids are doing. Although, funniest of all, email is no longer TECHY and my mom is just catching on to it.

How do YOU like her artwork? LMAO!!!

LETTER BY A FLORIDA TEACHER

When will the American People get fed up and do something, or is it too late....

This is a subject close to my heart. Do you know that we have adult students at the school where I teach who are not US citizens and who get the PELL Grant, which is a federal grant (no pay back required) plus other federal grants to go to school?

One student from the Dominican Republic told me that she didn't want me to find a job for her after she finished my program, because she was getting housing from our housing department and she was getting a PELL Grant which paid for her total tuition and books, plus money leftover.

She was looking into WAIT which gives students a CREDIT CARD for gas to come to school, and into CARIBE which is a special program (check it out - I did) for immigrants and it pays for child care and all sorts of needs while they go to school or training. The one student I just mentioned told me she was not going to be a US Citizen because she plans to return to the Dominican Republic someday and that she 'loves HER country.'

I asked her if she felt guilty taking what the US is giving her and then not even bothering to become a citizen and she told me that it doesn't bother her, because that is what the money is there for!

I asked the CARIBE administration about their program and if you ARE a US citizen, you don't qualify for their program. And all the while, I am working a full day, my son-in-law works more than 60 hours a week, and everyone in my family works and pays for our education.

Something is wrong here. I am sorry but after hearing that they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. That's a real slap in the face. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close.

I don't care whether this offends someone or not but this is MY COUNTRY.

I am not against immigration -- I just expect immigrants to come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM -Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone - YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

It is Time for America to speak up. If you agree -- pass this along, if you don't agree, just ignore it!

Hey michele... Im enjoying a pineapple lump! Blogging from my car on the way home from work!

Two Three

As in, 23 years old, that is.

My birthday is a really big deal to me! :-)

Celebrated my birthday this year by getting an assortment of handmade kids birthday cards at school - some of them were SO funny, I should make a whole post just of those. Entertainment! The kids and my cooperating teacher also got me flowers + made me a vase with hand painted turtles and all the kids names on it - she has a turtle classroom! Very cute! Can't wait til I have my own classroom to put it in! :-)

Then came the birthday dinners. Thursday, my actual birthday, my grandma took my mom and us to my favorite Mexican place and enjoyed dinner + margaritas - YUM! Then came back for cake + presents, of course!

Finally, my birthday celebration ended Friday night and Chris' just began! (Our b-days are 8 days apart). My mom and her husband took us to a really DELISH supper club, where I induldged in even more fruity icy drinks. ;-)

Next time this birthday thing comes around, I will have been married for almost a year! Such a strange concept!

On that note....

91 Days to Go!

Mobile blogging is awesome!

Oh. My.

I wan't one!
It's not a Yorkie, its Morkie!
Mix between a Yorkie and Maltese!

Interesting...

I'm finding a little irony that it only costs $25 to actually get your Bachelor's Degree ... the actual piece of paper saying I'm a college graduate.

Only $25 after...
Very close to $50,000 to go to college.
And leaving me with enough debt ... a substantial amount that could've covered 25% of the price of a HOUSE.

You'd think since they charged 6 arms and 12 legs for the experience, they'd find a way to clip me on the actual graduation fee.