Show Us Your Life!

Today, I'm linking up to Kelly's Show Us Your Life.

I found out I was pregnant the Sunday before Labor Day 2010, after taking a pregnancy test very early in the morning.  Kurt was still sleeping, so I quietly left the house and headed to Target.  I knew I wanted to make telling him that we were expecting a very special moment. At Target, I found this adorable hooded towel that said, "I love daddy!"  I bought that, along with a card that said (in so many words) how I knew he was going to be a great father.  I wrapped the towel and the positive pregnancy test up and filled out the card.  By the time I got home, Kurt was up and at 'em, so I told him I had something special for him.  He literally had no idea what I was giving him!

 Kurt reading the card. He thought the card was telling him how he is such a great dad to our Macey pup!  He had no idea what he was about to open up!

 PREGNANT!

 The pregnancy test and "I love daddy!" towel

A close up!  

Kurt was so shocked!  We both started crying out of pure joy and excitement.

We told our friends Jenni and Blake the exciting news later that night.  It was too hard of a secret to keep!  I told Jenni I had some pictures I wanted to her to see on my camera, which were the pictures I posted above.  They were so excited for us! 

We decided to wait a little while to tell our families, but we knew we wanted to do it in a special way.  We told my family the day before my first doctor's appointment (8 weeks).  I found this awesome poem online that I typed up and put into special "Grandma" and "Grandpa" frames for my mom and dad.  The poem goes like this:

I do not have a face to see, 

or put inside a frame. 

I do not have soft cheeks to kiss; 

I don't yet have a name. 

You can't hold my tiny hands, 

nor whisper in my ear. 

It's still too soon to sing a song, 

or cuddle me so near. 

But all will change come May, 

when they say I'm due. 

I'm your new grandson or granddaughter; 

I can't wait till I meet you. 

All I ask between now and then 

is your patience while I grow. 

I promise I'll be worth the wait, 

because of all the love we'll know. 

So as you're waiting patiently, 

please pray lots and lots for me. 

I cannot wait to be a part 

of this wonderful family!

For my brother and sister, I got plain black frames and wrote, "You're going to be an aunt!" and "You're going to be an uncle!"  My sister was the first person to get her present opened and this was her reaction...

She screamed!  She says she just had a feeling on the way over to our house that we were going to have a special announcement!

 My mom with her frame and poem!

 My brother with his frame

 The excited aunt and uncle-to-be!

The beaming grandparents-to-be!

My mom and dad both started crying right then and there!  They were so excited to be grandparents!

We waited one more week to tell Kurt's family because we were going to all be together at Family Weekend at his sister's college.  I had adorable shirts made for our nephews on Etsy that said their names (Jack and Will) and "Big Cousin."  We were tailgating with Kurt's family before the football game, and Kurt and I took Jack and Will to our car and put their shirts on them.  Kurt carried Will over to his brother and dad, and said, "Check out his shirt!".  I had Jack and had him say to Kurt's mom, "Nina, look at my shirt!"  It took my mother-in-law a little while to get it, but my sister-in-law, Molly, caught on right away.  Again, everyone was so excited!  I then gave Kurt's parents a "Grandchildren" frame with a picture of Jack and Will in one section, the poem in another section, and wrote "Your third grandchild coming in May!" in the third section.  We gave Kurt's sister the same, "You're going to be an aunt!" frame and his brother a "Cousins" frame for them to put a picture of the three cousins in.

Jack and Will wore their shirts when they came to visit us right after Sam was born!

 The boys with their "Big Cousin" shirts!

The cousins: Jack, Will, and Sam

Telling our families that we were expecting was one of the most exciting times in my life!  What was even more exciting, though?  When they actually met this little blessing...

Back to Reality

"It's amazing how quickly ten days goes when you are on vacation."

That was my Facebook status this morning.  Today marks the last day of my winter break, and I'm pretty sad about it.  I get so excited about the holidays and everything leading up to Christmas, and then it's like, BAM....over with.  We had a very busy ten days, which is probably why they went so quickly.  But, still, I'm looking forward to our next day off, Dr. Martin Luther King Day, and some potential snow days.

Our past ten days were filled with:

- Christmas Eve and early Christmas morning at my parents' house

- Christmas Day at Kurt's parents' house

- Dinner at a great restaurant on Christmas night to celebrate Kurt's 32nd birthday

- Some "Day After Christmas" sales shopping

- Hanging out with some college friends

- 20 week doctor's appointment and finding out we are having a boy!

- Shopping for the new little one (Great deals at Gymboree!)

- Dinner at Melting Pot

- Lunch with Kurt and my brother (they work together, so I went down to meet them)

- Hanging out with friends to watch the Terps in the Military Bowl

- Getting my car back from the repair shop and in great condition!

- Late Christmas celebration with the in-laws (and nephews)

- Dinner with Kurt's high school friends on New Year's Eve

- Game night with friends for the rest of New Year's Eve

- Watching the Caps beat the Penguins during the Winter Classic

- Gift Exchange with friends from college

It's been a very busy, but very fun 10 days!  

iPhone Love!

When I first went off to college in the fall of 1998, a cell phone was not on the list of things I was bringing with me.  In fact, very few people I knew at school had cell phones.  It was the time of using a calling card to call home.  Parents and their children didn't have the ease of sending a quick "How was your first class?" text like they do now.  Parents could either e-mail, or wait until their children dialed in that 15-numeral calling card number.   Some parents probably waited a really long time for one of those phone calls to happen!

I didn't go anywhere special for the Spring Break of my senior year.  Instead, I headed home and spent time with my family, and with Kurt, who had graduated the year before.  My big accomplishment during that spring break was getting my first cell phone!  I remember feeling so "with it!"  By that time, a lot of my friends had gotten cell phones, so they were beginning to play an important role in communication.  

I remember going to the Verizon Wireless store and picking out a slate blue phone.  It was a flip phone and it treated me very well for a long time.  Every couple of years, when my "New Every Two" was ready, I upgraded to a newer phone, leading me to my most recent phone, the EnV Touch.  I've never had so many problems with a phone.  It drops calls, shuts down randomly, and had iffy internet.  It drove me crazy!

Kurt and I have been talking for a little while about making the switch from Verizon to AT&T.  It just didn't seem doable, since our families both have Verizon.  But, Kurt did a little research and found that in the long run, it will save us a lot of money if we switch.  So, that is what we did!  Kurt has gone down to one cell phone (HALLELUJAH!!  Can you tell I wasn't a fan of his 2-phone lifestyle?!), which his work is paying for, and I made the big move and got one of these puppies:

I'm really enjoying playing some of the game apps I've purchased (Bejeweled, Oregon Trail, Whirly Word), tracking my sleep with with Sleep Cycle app, and having my e-mail and Facebook easily accessible.  I've only dropped one call so far (and of course, it was my mom who thinks we are crazy for switching!), so that's not as bad as I expected. 

All in all, I'm loving my new iPhone!  Any app recommendations out there?

Time Flies!

Recently, I've been reminded many times of the old saying:  Time flies when you're having fun!  It may be cliche, but it's true.  Let me give you two of my most recent examples.

First, tomorrow is my last day of summer vacation.  I'm wiping my tears as I type (not really...but I am kinda sad!). How the heck did that happen?  I mean, really, it seems like our last day of school (June 15th) was just a month ago.  Our summer vacation to the Outer Banks and the Templeman wedding seem like they were just a couple weeks ago.  We had a fun-filled summer, with many great events and happenings, and it truly flew by! 

My cousins, Amanda and Kourtney, sister, Amy, and I in the OBX at sunset

Jenni and her bridesmaids

(Stole this one from her FB page...thanks!)

The second reminder of how fast time flies was just today.  We helped Kurt's parents move his little sister, Kristen, into her college dorm.  Kristen was just seven years old when Kurt and I first started dating.  It's amazing to me that I've known her throughout almost all of elementary school, all of middle and high school, and now, college!  In fact, Kristen was in fifth grade during my first year of teaching fifth grade.  It also makes me feel old that my first students are now college freshmen, but that's for another post!  But really, where did that time go?!  It's been eleven years since I first met that little girl with long blondish-brown hair.  I don't feel like I look that much differerent than I did back in 1999, but she sure does.  She was just a kid, now she's a college gal! It was great to see Kristen so excited today!  She's going to love college, I just know it!

Here's the college lady in her dorm!

And with her new roomies!

I guess the lesson that I've learned through all of this is to embrace each and every day.  The days, weeks, months, and years go by too quickly.  I don't want to let them slip away!

Phone Drama

I've been having some issues with my cell phone.  It will just randomly shut off several times a day.  It is so annoying, I can't even explain!

So today, I went to the cell phone store (you know, the one that rhymes with Merizon Mireless...you know that one, right?!) to get some help with my phone issues.  This isn't a new issue with my phone.  In fact, I took it in a few months ago and they did some system upgrade.  That seemed to help for a little while, so I assumed that they would do the same thing this visit.  Not so much.  After waiting for a good thirty minutes, the dude came out to tell me that:

1.  Yes, my phone does have issues.

2.  Yes, it does shut down a lot (it did it for him, too).

3.  There was nothing they could do for me.

Put those three things together, and  you basically get that I'm stuck with a crappy cell phone until who knows when.  This frustrates me to no end because I've only had this phone for just over a year and there is NOTHING THEY CAN DO FOR ME.  I don't drop my phone (well, maybe once), I don't get it wet, I don't lose it.  I've done nothing for this to happen, yet I get screwed. 

Kurt called Merizon Mireless tonight to get some advice.  The customer service dude on the phone was actually much more helpful and gave him some options.  One of those options was for me to take Kurt's "New Every Two" and get a new Merizon Mireless phone.  If I do that, I'd probably get this one:

Droid Incredible

I've heard great things about the Droid.  Kurt said there are people at his work who are actually switching over from the I-phone to the Droid because of better phone service.

I really want this one:

I-phone

though, so the other option is to end our service contract with Merizon Mireless and switch over to the other one that rhymes with May T&T.  Kurt already has an I-phone through work, so we'd just need to get coverage for my phone. 

Ugh!  So here we are now...pausing, waiting, deciding what to do.  Do we stick with what we have (you know I hate change!) or do we make a big switch?  Any thoughts on pros/cons of switching?

Change

I've never been a fan of change.  Whether it was my family moving to a different town when I was 11, or when I headed off to college for the first time in 2002, I've always had a difficult time accepting change.  Once I get into a routine or learn to accept the change, I'm fine.  It just always takes me a little while.

So today when I went to get my hair highlighted, I had in my mind that I wanted to do something different with my hair.  I was ready for a change. I was thinking I wanted to get like 4 or 5 inches chopped off.  I have a ton of hair and it takes me forever to do anything with it in the morning.  It's kinda wavy, so I have to dry it and straighten it in order for it to look halfway decent.  The humidity of the summer just makes it even worse.  This all adds up to me wearing a ponytail for the majoirty of the summer. 

I walk into the salon and my stylist, Dana, (who is Kurt's cousin) starts looking at my hair and comments about how it looks so great long.  This is the fourth time I've had someone comment about my long hair in the past two days.  This is probably the longest my hair has been in like 20 years.  I'm not even kidding! 

Dana starts asking me about what I want to have done, and wouldn't you know it...everything I had thought I wanted just pushed back into my mouth and I said, "Oh, just a trim."  The complete opposite of what I thought I had wanted!  So, she does my highlights, and takes off maybe 1/2 inch at the ends.  That's it. 

I'm a creature of habit and apparently I just wasn't ready to make a change today.  I've worked too hard to grow my hair this long, so long it will stay...at least until I go back in a couple months.  Oh well!

Here is a pic of my freshly highlighted and just trimmed hair!  There is something about fresh highlights that make me feel so much better!

Please excuse the no makeup/t-shirt look!

And while we are on the topic of change, here is a pic of a cutie who is not going to like the change that is about to happen next week.  Macey has loved having company (ME!) at home each and every day this summer.  Her world is about to be rocked when I go back to school next week.  Poor girl!

Have a great Wednesday!

FREEDOM!!!!

Or the alternate title:  My Last Week of FREEDOM!!!

This is my last week of summer before heading back to school.  Next Monday begins our teacher work days, with school starting on Monday, August 30th.  Seriously...where does the time go?  It seems like the last day of school was just last week.  Summer used to last forever when I was young.  Now, it seems like it goes by in a flash.

I have a couple things planned for this, my last week of freedom, to make it last a little longer.

Tonight, a couple of my friends from college are coming over for dinner.  I'm going to grill kabobs and serve them with brown rice and a summery salad.  I haven't seen these girls since May, so it will be nice to get together.

Jenni and I are going to go be tourists in DC one day.  We're still deciding on which day would be best.  I'd like to go to the American History Museum, which was recently renovated.

Some of my teacher friends are doing Happy Hour tomorrow evening, so I hope to go to that.

On Wednesday, I'm getting my hair cut and highlighted and then going to dinner and to see Mary Poppins with Jenni at the Kennedy Center.  We gave the boys a pass on this one! Another coworker saw it in New York and said it was fabulous, so I'm excited to see it!

My sister-in-law, Kristen, heads off to college on Saturday.  Her school is only about an hour away, so Kurt and I are planning to go up to help his parents move her in.  We'll probably then have lunch or dinner with his parents, to help ease the transition.  They are going to have a tough time with this, I think. 

I'd also like to throw a trip to Ann Taylor Loft and some time at the pool in there, too, along with finishing my big summer cleanout.  I gotta make the most of my last week of FREEDOM!!

Teacher Week- Day 1

It's Teacher Week over at Babbling Abby.  I just recently found Abby's blog through some other blogs I follow, so I thought it would be cool to link up.  I actually just spent the day at my school--rearranging furniture, covering bulletin boards, laminating tons of stuff...I could go on!

Day 1 of Teacher Week is "Open House."  This is a time to get to know other teachers in the blogging world.  Without further ado...

10 Things About Me as a Teacher:

1.  I'm entering my ninth year as a teacher.  Time sure does fly!  I don't feel old enough to be teaching for my ninth year!!  My first two years were spent in fifth grade, followed by six years in third grade.  This year, I am taking the plunge and making a big move to kindergarten.  I'm excited and nervous, all in one! 

2.  I've taught at the same school for all nine years and don't have plans to leave anytime soon!  I love my school family!  I've met some of my closest friends at my school and wouldn't have it any other way. 

3.  In May 2008, I completed my master's degree in Educational Studies, with certificates in Gifted Education and Teacher Leadership.  Right now, I'm loving being a classroom teacher, but who knows how I will feel in a few years.  I think this degree gives me a few opportunities outside of the classroom, so we'll see where that leads me when the time comes.  I know one thing for sure...I do not want to be a principal!

4.  I completed my portfolio for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards process in March of this year.  I took the assessment in June.  Now, I sit and wait...and wait...and wait until the results come out in November.  Only time will tell!

5.  For the past two years, I taught fifth grade math to third graders.  I really enjoyed working with these super talented groups of students.  Many people have their own opinions about pushing kids too hard in areas like math, but I truly feel that if they are ready, it's the right thing to do.  I can confidently say that at least a few of my math students over the past two years will have jobs in math fields when they are adults.  They are just math sponges!

6.  Grading papers is one of my least favorite things about teaching.  In fact, I hate it.  I'm looking forward to not having many papers to grade in kindergarten.

7.  I've known I wanted to be a teacher for a very long time, probably since I was about seven.  My mom is a former teacher and I used to always go with her to school at the beginning of the year to help set up her classroom.  Even at the age of nine, I was putting up bulletin board paper and borders!

8.  Every year, I have had one student in my class that I've had a hard time reaching.  They've all been boys, actually.  It's hard to admit that I haven't always reached every student in my class.  Each of those boys has, in their own way, challenged me to try new strategies and techniques as a teacher.  I think I've grown from each experience, too.

9.  I become a super cranky gal when the summer ends and I have to go back to school.  I love my job, really I do, but I just get so accustomed to the "summer life."  Once I'm back and in a routine, I'm fine; it's just that initial few days before heading back.

10.  Like many school systems, ours is being affected by the economy.  The budgets have been tightened, and as a result, we are not receiving our cost-of-living or step increases this year.  I'll actually be making less this year than I did last year since I am no longer the third grade team leader.  I'm really angry about this, but I guess I have to be thankful that I have a job.  Kurt likes to remind me of this!

So, that's it from me!  More to come as we celebrate Teacher Week in the blogging world!

Lucky Number 3!

Three years ago today, I married the love of my life!  Happy #3, KB!  Here's to many, many more!

On our wedding day

August 3, 2007

On our 1st Anniversary in the Outer Banks

August 3, 2008

On our 2nd Anniversary in Niagara Falls

August 3, 2009

Us this past weekend at a wedding

Kurt has planned a night out for us tonight!  I'm excited to find out what he has in store!

Things I've Learned...

In the past week, I've learned a few things:

Painting two rooms in two days is a very lofty goal.

I'm exhausted.  My dad's exhausted. Our bedroom and kitchen look great, but that was a lot of painting to squeeze into 36 hours.

My dad is a perfectionist.

Well, when it comes to painting at least.  He says it isn't perfectionism, he just wants to do it right the first time, but I beg to differ. 

Every girl needs a "Girls Weekend" once in a while.

I went to Ocean City, Maryland with some of my closest friends from high school this past weekend, and we had such a great time.  Lots of drinking, eating, reminiscing, and laughing.

This has been the weirdest weather year EVER.

As if the two blizzards this past winter weren't enough, we're having crazy summer weather here on the east coast, as well.  On our way home from the beach on Sunday, we had terrible storms roll through.  I'm not sure if any tornados actually touched down, but it was a scene out of The Wizard of Oz.  I swear I saw Toto fly by as we were sitting on the side of the road praying our car wouldn't be lifted into the air.  An earthquake last week...possible tornado this week?  What is happening Mother Nature/Father Earth?!

Murphy's Law says you will lose power for an extended period of time right after you recently stocked the fridge and freezer.

Yes, remember those storms I mentioned above?  They knocked our power out for nearly 24 hours.  Gotta throw away most of the items in our fridge and freezer.  I do have to say, though, that we are very lucky.  Many people in our area are still without power.  It's going on 60 hours now.  My poor brother has been showering with a flashlight since he has no power.  And yes, I did invite him over to our house and he hasn't taken us up on the offer.

Gotta go watch a friend's house on HGTV's Real Estate Intervention!  Don't worry--her house is the comp house, not the one getting the intervention!

House Matters

Each summer, I set goals for home improvement projects that I want to complete during my time off.  Last summer, it was the guest bedroom and bathroom.  I painted and decorated both the bedroom and bathroom, and got new bedding and curtains for the bedroom.  We recently got a white chest of drawers and night stand for the guest bedroom, too, so I feel like that room is mostly done. 

This summer, my goals have been the basement, entryway/kitchen, and our bedroom.  The basement is still a work in progress.  The contractors finished their work about a month ago, but we're still working on the decorating and making it exactly how we want it.  The entryway and kitchen don't require much work, just a coat or two of new paint.  I got this color:

Diverse Beige

by Sherwin Williams

for those two rooms.  The image doesn't show the color very well, but I think of it as a light chocolate milk color.  The moulding, doors, and ceilings will be white.  I think it will look really nice with our brown/black speckled countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Now, for our bedroom we I (who are we kidding here?!) wanted something different.  Our room isn't very big and it's kind of dark. I love our bedroom furniture, which we got from the furniture store where my mom works:

Chest of drawers for Kurt's stuff

Dresser for my stuff (no mirror, though)

Night stand for each of us

but it is big!  It takes up a lot of our bedroom.

With all of this in mind, I knew I wanted a new comforter in a lighter color and to paint the walls a brighter color, as well.  So, this is what I have chosen...

It's not really our typical style choice, but I like it!  I plan on getting white curtains to brighten up the room and to paint most of the room this color:

Glimmer

by Sherwin Williams

with one wall in this color, as an accent color:

Tidewater

by Sherwin Williams

Again, the moulding, doors, and ceiling will be white.

My dad is coming down next week to help me with all of the painting.  I'll be sure to post pictures once it's all done!  I want it to be finished already!

Wedding Bells

One week ago today, we celebrated the marriage of our dear friends, Jenni and Blake.  It was a beautiful day (though it started out with terrible rain in the morning) for a beautiful couple.  Jenni looked fabulous and Blake didn't look too shabby himself, haha!  We had such a fantastic time celebrating with them.  I can't believe it's come and gone so quickly!  I can't wait to hear about their honeymoon in St. Lucia when they get back this week.  Jenni and I talk almost every day, so I've missed our chats this week!

Here are some of my favorite shots of the day:

Jenni walking out of her parents' house

Us in the limo headed to the church

Walking down the aisle with her dad

Our school crew...lots of crazy teachers!

With some of my coworkers/friends

The Bradshaws and Templemans

The happy couple!

Congrats Jenni and Blake!

Here's to love, laughter, and happily ever after!

I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet...

No, seriously, I did.  Well, I guess it was more like, "I feel the house move under my bed."

This morning at 5:03 AM, our house shook for what seemed like a minute (but was probably only like 10 seconds) due to a 3.6-magnitude earthquake.  The center of the earthquake was just about ten or so miles from our house, so we really felt it.  We have Annie, my bro-in-law's golden retriever, here with us this week.  I really think the dogs sensed something was about to happen, because Kurt had literally just gotten out of bed to tend to the dogs because they were whining.  I'm typically a heavy sleeper, but something woke me up right before the house started shaking. 

I was definitely half asleep, but remember saying to Kurt, "I think we're having an earthquake."  So, I did what anyone would do at 5:03 in the morning...I grabbed my phone and went to Facebook to update my status:  Is it just me or did we just have an earthquake?  Within the next hour, I had several people respond that they also felt it.  We then turned on the news and they weren't talking about it yet, so I thought it was just us...maybe there was an accident on the metro, which is fairly close to our house.  A few minutes later, the "Breaking News" screen came on and they started talking about it. 

We did feel two after shocks, which was weird.  I swear I heard a sound like a train just seconds before the after shocks hit.  I didn't think earthquakes made sounds, but apparently they do.  Kurt's grandmother, who lives just a few miles away, also reported that it sounded like a train was going through their basement. 

Thankfully, there were no injuries or damage.  All in all, it was a strange morning.  We live in Maryland for goodness sakes!  Earthquakes don't happen here!  Well, I guess they do!

Busy Times!

We've had a very busy two weeks in the Bradshaw household!  We left at 1:00 AM on July 3rd to travel to the Outer Banks.  We were hurting all day on the 3rd, with only 2-3 hours of sleep, but it was so worth it to arrive right at sunrise and to make it there in less than five hours, instead of the usual six or more!

Sunrise over the Atlantic!

We stayed in the Outer Banks until Thursday, July 8th and headed home for Jenni and Blake's wedding festivities.  What a fantastic wedding weekend! On Friday, Jenni hosted us for a "Bridesmaids Brunch."  We then went to get manicure and pedicures together.  That evening was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  The following morning, I went over to Jenni's parents' house to get ready.  She had hair and makeup people come to their house, so it worked out perfectly.  We had terrible storms all morning on Saturday, but by wedding time, the skies cleared and made for a beautiful day! 

Us with the new Mr. and Mrs.!

Sunday morning, we went to breakfast with the new Mr. and Mrs. and Blake's family.  We came home and chilled all day watching the World Cup finals.  That evening, we drove Jenni and Blake down to a hotel by the airport, so they could catch their early morning flight to St. Lucia on Monday.

On Saturday, Kurt noticed that Macey's paw was bleeding.  We thought maybe she lost her toenail or something, but just put some antibiotic cream on it.  Yesterday, it was bleeding again (all over the carpet!), so I took her into the vet.  She has an infection on her paw...poor girl!  The vet cleaned it out and wrapped it up with a soft cast/bandage.  She's on pain medication and antibiotics, so hopefully it will clear up quickly.  I have to take her back on Saturday to have it checked out.

Poor Macey girl and her polka dot bandage!

Needless to say, it has been a very busy two weeks!  Today, I'm just chillin'....and I love it!  I'll post more pics from our trip and the wedding later.  Have a great day!