June: Loves of the Month

Books: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.  In college I was hooked on Dan Brown books (Da Vinci Code, Angles and Demons).  On the plane to California last month, I saw his new book, Inferno, everywhere so I decided to read the last book he came out with which was The Lost Symbol.  It was a typical Dan Brown novel with suspense, mystery, and controversial topics.  I especially enjoyed that it took place in Washington DC and talked a lot about all the historical places there.  I love reading about American history and enjoy a good historical fiction book.





Movie: Promised Land and Side Effects  Both great movies on two totally different topics.  Promised Land stars Matt Damon and Frances McDormond as salespeople for a large natural gas company who want to lease and drill on farmland in a small town.  It discusses the effects of this clean, burning fuel on farmland.  Side Effects is a psychological thriller about the effects of taking anti-depressants.  Great movie with so many twists.



TV Most shows have ended for the summer so I don't really watch much during these months. My guilty pleasure, Pretty Little Liars, did start their summer episodes but that is about it.  Jason and I did start watching the series Under the Dome mostly because there is not much else on.  We are both patiently waiting for the August premier of the last season of Breaking Bad.

Eating One of my favorite parts of summer is grilling and one of my favorite foods is a yummy, grilled hamburger.  Jason and I like to experiment with our hamburgers and stuff them with different cheeses or make fun toppings for them.  Yum!!

Music Don't Ya  by Brett Eldredge.  This song just makes me happy when I hear it.  Watch the video here
ViewPure.com is also one of my favorite websites.  I like to show YouTube videos in my classroom but the ads are not always appropriate for 4th graders. ViewPure allows you to create a different link without all the ads. I then store them in my portaportal.com account but that is a whole different topic for another time.

Best Thing About June Definitely my bachelorette party in California!!! Thank you all who made it!

Wedding Update

I can't believe our wedding is 3 1/2 months away! Some thought I was crazy to wait a whole year to get married but I have to say all this time has made the planning process pretty stress-free.  I am hoping I remain this calm as the date gets closer.

This summer off from school has given me some extra time to finish up the planning process.  I finally registered for gifts.  I registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and a few items at Target. We would love to do some remodeling to our house, so we are hoping for Home Depot cards as well.  Jason did not want anything to do with the registering process.  In his words, "Our stuff is just fine. Why do we need more junk?"  If you know Jason at all, this sounds like something he would say. The funny part is that Jason does most of the cooking in our house so you would think he would want new kitchen things.  I just think the idea of spending an hour or more in a store scared him away.  While I was registering at Bed, Bath and Beyond, there were two other couples there registering as well.  The look on each of the grooms' faces told me I should be happy (and Jason should love me even more) that he was not there with me.  Registering was a little overwhelming but we I picked out some great items.

Besides registering, I also bought my wedding shoes! I love shoes but can I just say that shoe designers need to make more wedding appropriate shoes that are not 4" or higher heels.  What is up with that!  I am not opposed to wearing high heals but I also don't want to be 6 feet tall when wearing shoes either.  I also want to wear my shoes all night long and not break my ankle either.  I did eventually find some cute shoes in an acceptable height.  I thought I would wear red shoes but I just couldn't find anything I liked.  I ended up going with gold, sparkly shoes.  I could still end up changing them but right now I am happy with what I got.

I have also ordered my tables, linens, and other items that we needed to rent for our event.  I designed and printed our wedding invites.  Now I just need to start assembling everything.  Lastly we finally booked our plane tickets to Cancun!  We have had our resort booked for awhile but hadn't bought our tickets.  111 days until we are relaxing on the beach!

Bachelorette Party

Last weekend I flew to Southern California for my bachelorette party.  I was so excited to see my Cali friends but having three of my Kansas City friends there made it even better.  The weekend was amazing and   they did such an amazing job planning it.

We started on Friday with breakfast at my favorite little restaurant, The Beachcomber.  It is right on the beach, has great food, and great Bloody Marys.  We then spent the rest of the day at the Glen Ivy Day Spa. We lounged by the pool, had a few cocktails, took a hot/cold plunge, soaked in the mineral bath, and even got covered in mud.  We ended with a moisturizing treatment in an underground grotto. It was such a relaxing day.

After we left the spa, we went back to the house we were staying at to get ready for the night.  We went to dinner at RA sushi.  It was a fun night with lots of sushi and good fun.

On Saturday we went wine tasting in the Temecula Valley.  We visited 4 wineries, had a picnic lunch, and even got serenaded by our limo driver.  We also discovered the best Pandora station, Hip Hop Road Trip and enjoyed our little dance parties in the limo.

This was such an amazing weekend and I couldn't have asked for anything more.  I am so thankful to have such an amazing group of friends.

Minnesota Trip

The last week in May, Jason had to take a trip to Minnesota for work.  Since I didn't have to start summer school until the following week, I decided to go with him.  It was a long 11 hour drive there but it was fun to go on a road trip with Jason.  We survived and didn't kill each other so I think that is a good sign for our marriage:)

I have never been to Minnesota and I really enjoyed it.  It is such a beautiful place and I would love to go back sometime. We stayed in Bemidji which is pretty much where the Mississippi River begins.  We stayed right on Bemidji Lake and I enjoyed my beautiful walks in the morning.  I hope to go back again when Jason doesn't have to work so much so we can enjoy it more together.

Top: view from our room; more lake views
Bottom: walk around the lake; enjoying the sun on the beach

May: Loves of the Month

Books: I read a few good books this month.  Ice Cream Girls by Dorthy Koomson, Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline, and The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain.  They were all really good but my favorite was Orphan Train.

Movie: We didn't watch many movie's this month.  I must have been too busy reading:)  We did watch Django Unchained.  Like usual I feel asleep before it ended.  What I saw was pretty good.  I apparently just missed the very violent, bloody ending.

TV The Voice

Eating: Since the weather has warmed up, we have started buying popsicles again. My favorite right now are the Lemonade Bomb Pops.  They are frozen lemonade on a stick.  Yummy!

Music: Mama's Broken Heart by Miranda Lambert.  I LOVE her!

Best Thing About May There are so many great things about May but it definitely has to be the end of the school year and the beginning of summer break!

Honeymoon Booked!!!

Jason and I finally booked our honeymoon! We have decide on the Isla Mujeres Palace which is on an island off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.  To check it out click here  We are using one of my parents time share weeks to go.  It is an adults only, all inclusive resort that looks beautiful!  Picking a honeymoon was a little difficult since Jason is not a "sit by the pool" type of guy.  This place seems to be a good balance for the both of us.  169 days until we go! 

Isla Mujerere Palace

I also have my bachelorette party coming up in 4 1/2 weeks.  We are going to Southern California for a spa and wine tasting weekend.  I have amazing friends in California who have done a fabulous job of planning it.  I also have great KC friends who are coming with me too.  Can't wait!!

Glen Ivy Day Spa

Temecula Wineries

April: Loves of the Month

Books:  Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. This is a great summer read if you haven't read it yet.



Movie: Zero Dark Thirty  Great movie!


TV: Mad Men I have been a fan of this show since the beginning.  I was so excited when the new season started last month.



Eating: Dole Mango Chunks dipped in Yogurt.  Yummy!!

Music: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show.  Darius Rucker also has a country version of this song.

Best Thing about April: Parkville Microbrew Fest  Even though the weather was not that great I still had a great time.  I love craft beers!!