New Chapter Starts Tomorrow!!!

I can't believe how nervous I am to start my new job tomorrow, and I don't even have students coming in yet!! We have institute days tomorrow and Tuesday which means meeting a lot of new people! I hope so very much that this school year goes well and I meet a lot of inspiring teachers. It's going to be so different going from a school of 3800 students, nine deans, four assistant principals, and over thirty teachers in the English department to a school of 2000 and less than 10 teachers in the English department! I'm so interested to see how different things will function and run. I'm hoping it'll be easier to open up to other people and feel important, like you're not just a number without an opinion.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed working at BHS, but sometimes with that large of a faculty, you can't help but feel slightly overwhelmed and replaceable.

I can't wait to be a part of SHS and look forward to a really great year!! Fingers crossed!!

p.s. I also start my part-time job with Ashford University on August 31st so I'll talk more about that when the time comes!

Project #1: A Fingerprint's Inspiration

The whole reason I got back into this blogging thing was because I became obsessed with following other people's creative blogs. It was completely inspiring. Something I am not. It was so refreshing to happen upon someone's blog one day, read about their DIY project, see their before and after photos, and want to get up and do it myself. It forced me to rethink/question a lot of my own ways of decorating. Having a home and time off this summer gave me a lot of time to reconsider how I wanted to design/decorate this home. Reading a stranger's blog gave me so many ideas and tips to consider. It also made me REALLY jealous that I'm not made of money. However, many of these women's blogs that I read are doing things on a serious budget just by thinking outside of the box and trying something different. It made me want to try.

That is why I've chosen to reconnect with the ol' alexandkatie blogspot. Plus I've been REALLY bored this summer. : )

I've been reading up on so many other people's projects and have tried my hand at a few things myself. I haven't put anything up on here yet because I've been working on it periodically throughout the summer. I think I'm ready to share my first project: organizational bins/tags.

If you know me, you'd know I'm a huge perfectionist. Slightly OCD. I can't stand when things aren't facing the same direction (like labels on shampoo/conditioner bottles or food items in my pantry, etc.), or when they're not lined up by height in the pantry, closets, refrigerator, or when they're not grouped into common categories. It drives me crazy. For some reason my crazy obsessions make sense to me, though. A couple weeks ago I stumbled across a fantastic blog featuring a redone entry way. I would kill to actually have a room like this in my house, but I used her photos to help me organize my closet instead. Now this woman is genius! Not only this blog entry is so inspiring, but everything she does with her house is beautifully done with a fresh twist on things. Plus, if I could choose a twin of how I want to decorate my house, she is EXACTLY what I want. So make sure you head on over to her website and check it out!

Here's my dilemma. I have a million scarves, hats, and gloves laying in a huge pile in my living room closet. It's an absolute mess and makes me want to cry every time I open my closet and see it. I needed something to organize these with that was appealing to the eye when you open the closet, which will get used a ton in the winter. I wanted to try out her chalkboard tags! It was super easy, quick, and unbelievably cheap--sign me up! I followed her very detailed tutorial and also kept record of my own to post. So here goes.

I purchased some chalkboard paint for around $6.00. This was the most expensive thing I had to get for this project! This paint comes in black and in green so you can play around with it! It creates the kind of paint that you can actually write on--with chalk! Go figure! I bought this thread for a tiny 50 cents from the local thrift store. 

You'll also need a ruler, something to cut with, and cardboard. Since we recently moved, I had boxes in my basement still and used those. You could really use any kind of cardboard you have laying around the house, though.

I cut out five of them to be about the same measurement.

I then took them outside and sprayed them with the chalkboard spray paint. Pretty painless. The worst part was doing it in 100 degree heat. 

Let them dry for 24 hours just to be on the safe side. 

In the blog I used for my inspiration, she used burlap for the backs of her tags, which I LOVE. However, I live in the tiniest area in the world and we don't have any sort of craft store or hobby store that's over 5' x 5' (sooooo annoying, makes me miss my stores in Batavia so bad!) within a 45 mile radius. So I had to improvise. I bought, for fifty cents, counted cross stitch backing to use instead. It had roughly the same look. So I measured those to be a little larger around than the tags themselves. 

I used double-sided scrapbooking tape to adhere the cardboard to the fabric. They also recommend that you use the side of the chalk and smear it over the entire part you used the paint on for the first time. This way the letters won't stick. 

Then I erased it and played around with what I wanted the words to look like. I hate my capital G's. 

The beauty of it is you can erase it and rewrite it as many times as you want being that it's a mini chalkboard!! : ) sooo cool!! You could do this project with absolutely anything! You could use circular cut outs of cardboard, whatever shape you want. You could back it with paper, too! Now I'm totally inspired with this chalkboard paint and have been looking up other things I could use it for! I even found a blogger who did an entire wall with it in her office! Absolutely stunning! Check out her amazing stuff over at Jones Design Company.

You can click Great Chalkboard Wall to see her full office remodel!

Back to reality...

I purchased three of these baskets for only $7 to organize each of my main categories into. There is the perfect amount of room in the closet to house all three baskets each bearing their own identification. Hopefully this will entice Alex to place his belongings into the correct basket! eek. 

Finished project #1

I know it's not that big of a deal but it makes me feel so much better knowing that this is organized and has a designated place. It's funny how the small things in life can make you so happy. : ) 

I Like to Call Myself an Expert Mower : )

Today I'm thankful for this fine machine.

I've pretty much become an expert mower. With the husband working full time and usually 13 hour days at that, I've become the primary yard-keeper! : ) This was a stretch for me. I'd only mowed one other time in my life before this summer and it did not go well. My dad made me try it and after five minutes banished me from ever mowing the yard again. lucky me! We literally lived 10 feet from the middle school I attended and the first time I ever tried mowing was the most embarrassing experience. To keep it short, I fell...with the mower. Not very cool in middle school. 

So when I realized I was going to have to take over all the yard work this summer, I was quite worried. In one short week, I learned how to adjust the height of the mower, fill it up with gas, and start it! : ) (That was a big step.) I also learned how to work our weed-eater and put aside my terror of hitting myself in the ankles with it. We also bought a leaf-blower when we moved in and I learned how to run that, too! Now I can make the sidewalks look all pretty when I'm finally finished with everything! So now I mow our yard with a push mower twice a week. it sucks. bad. especially when it's lava hot outside. 

Here's an idea of how much I have to mow at our house. The front, the west side, and then the east side of the house. Not too bad. (Please ignore how bleak everything looks. These pics were taken the weekend it was bought and that was back in April, when there were no flowers blooming and no special touches to the house.)

But I also mow the many acres out at my in-laws every week, and I'm so thankful they purchased a Grasshopper to mow it with! They have a lot of hills, small ditches, trees, and what not to mow around and this thing does it all! Here's my in-laws. What you see in this picture is only 1/16 of what I mow there. 

I would highly recommend this piece of equipment if you have a lot of land to mow. It goes fast...blazing fast, like 'it's gonna throw you out of the seat' kind of fast. It's a zero degree turn around trees without having to back track at all! Plus it's comfortable!! 

I love me a grasshopper! 

Plus I get a tan and a lot of alone time to think!! A pretty great summer job! : )

Classic Coach

A mere six years ago, Christmas 2004 to be exact, my lovely husband, little did I know then, introduced me to the world of Coach. I remember it was just starting to become popular in this area, and I'd recently started noticing it.

Alex and I had only been dating since October so I didn't expect much from him that first Christmas together. I had no idea then that Alex was one of the BEST gift-givers!! Lucky me! He surprised me that first Christmas with my very first Coach product, a beautiful classic black wallet. I was instantly in love. He left that fancy little price tag on accidently, a whopping $238 bucks, and I still have that tag today!! I was so embarrassed that he'd spent so much money, but so surprised that he'd picked it out all on his own and only three months into the relationship knew exactly what I'd like.

I still carry that wallet today. I still love it today. I still have people compliment my wallet when I get it out to pay.  Good ol' Alex, always a classy guy giving classy gifts. She's suffered some turmoil the last six years, a broken zipper due to me over stuffing the coin department.  But she still looks pretty dang good.  Leave it to Coach, always making a quality product.

This is my wallet, only a brand new version of it. 

This is my actual wallet as of today. I have to say, she still looks pretty dang good! Slightly faded, but classic. 

As you can see, there's some snags in the fabric and a lot of icky dirt and grime in areas, but after six years...she's held up well. 

I would recommend a Coach wallet to anyone in search of a wallet that will always be fashionable and classic and pure quality.

Since that wonderful gift from Alex, I've become a lover of all things Coach. For Christmas 2007 and 2008, I also chose to receive Coach purses from the hubs. Christmas is a great way to actually get some things you REALLY want but can never EVER afford to just buy! I'm still carrying my 2008 Carly purse with my 2004 wallet inside and I don't feel one bit sorry for myself about it either. It's a great looking couple and I'll be sad to see them go the next time I decide to purchase a new purse/wallet combo. I still haven't found a new Coach purse that I like better than the one I have, thus the reason I'm still wearing it. 

I love love love this purse and I seriously never want to get rid of it. Other than a few tiny bleach stains on the bottom, it looks brand new practically. 

In Christmas 2009, for part of my present, my parents got me a beautiful little toiletry bag to take with us on vacations!! I looooove it because it's not super girly so Alex isn't embarrassed to carry it. Plus it has two separate zipper compartments so we each have our own section. Aaaaaand, did I mention how cute it is? So cute that it makes you want to wake up earlier on vacation just so you can get ready while looking at it's cuteness. 

Lastly, when I graduated college back in 2008, my parents got me a large bag/satchel to use since I would be a classy teacher and all and would need to carry all my papers to grade...of course I had to look good while grading them. It's hard to look fashionable while toting millions of papers around, but this bag did just that! I'm still carrying it to school/work on a daily basis. It's been my lifeline the last two years. 

She's the most weathered of all my Coach products, but I'm still completely loyal to her. 

That brings me to today...upon checking my mail, I found that I had two things from Coach. I'm lucky that they still send me these things for my old name, Temple and I also get one for my new name!! I almost threw it in the garbage because I figured it was just junk.  Man, am I ever glad I didn't do that!! Inside each envelope was a $50 gift card to put towards my next purchase!!!!  That's $100  of FREE Coach money!!! CONGRATULATIONS, ME!!! Now, I can't use them on the same day towards the same purchase, but I can buy two separate items, one on each day. This means I can pick something small out that I've always wanted!! If I'm going to buy Coach products, I usually figure go big or go home. I've always wanted to try their perfume, a small clutch wallet, a camera case, an umbrella, scarves, even a dog leash!! Never wanted to spend the $80 to get something small like that though.  Now I have the chance!!!! 

This Saturday Alex and I are heading into Aurora/St.Charles for the day to run some errands and there's a Coach store in the Geneva Commons calling my name!!!! We WILL be stopping there so I can use one of my cards at least.  The other I'll have to use before August 31st, so I'll have to come back in. Shoot, more shopping! : ) So, now I need to pick out what I want!! Here's a few things I'm considering. 

Any other ideas you've seen while shopping?? I have until Saturday to decide!!!

Finally! A Shelf I ACTUALLY Like!!

I've been searching EVERYWHERE for some sort of white shelf to put on our big empty wall in the kitchen.  I knew I wanted to do some sort of plate arrangement on the wall, that I had mentioned in a previous post. But I needed something to go next to the plate arrangement, as well.  I've looked at Ikea, Target, and local antique stores and never found what I was looking for.  This past weekend Country Gathering's was having their fall open house and my mom and I went.  Boy am I glad I went, plus I got 25% off of my purchase!! So this is the beautiful shelf. 

It's made locally from an old window. I've seen this a lot and always loved them but I've never seen one that has a shelf attached to the window!! Bonus!! I love the weathered old look of it and how it's more of a horizontal window pane instead of the typical vertical ones. It even has the cute little window opener thingy!! : )

Now I just need to hang it and decorate it. I'm thinking it's going to be real fun to change things out on the shelf for every season!! In the store, they even had things hanging from the window portion.  I was thinking some sort of real cute wreath like these for the Christmas season!

Obviously these wreaths would be too large for my little window, but you get the idea. I've always loved the classic look of hanging wreaths like that in windows; I may just have to put them in all of my regular windows, too!! 

For now, though...here's a few things I'm considering using.  Obviously, there will be a lot more to go along with them, but I'm not quite ready to hang it yet so I haven't got everything out. 

I can't wait to get it up, decorate it, get a plate arrangement next to it, and finally feel like I have a completed kitchen!! 

Now if I can just talk my real strong husband into putting this three thousand pound window up for me sometime soon... : )

She's a River Dog!

We took Kya out on the river yesterday for her very first time!! Alex and I enjoy the river so much, it's one of the perks of living in this sweltering heat, and it was crucial that Kya get use to it as quickly as possible. Shiba Inu's typically do not like the water. In fact, they will even walk around puddles instead of jumping head first into them like most puppies. Knowing this when we got her, we knew she would have to be familiarized with the water as quickly as possible. This was our first full weekend having her so we decided to take her out and test the waters. 

I have brought her over to my parent's pool twice so she wouldn't be completely freaked out on the river. It went fairly well.  She's definitely a good swimmer, I just don't know how much she likes it. 

Trying to swim over to her Aunt Mary!

She didn't know what to think about having wet fur! 

All bundled up with her mama : )

We took the pontoon boat out with my sister and her husband, my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and her boyfriend.  They were a lot of help, too!! All in all, it ended up being a good day.  She was calm, well-behaved, took a big nap on the boat, and did well pottying on the beach! We'll be bringing her out for round two next weekend!

She got real comfy and was even laying down chewing her bone. 

First time in the river. Alex was really holding on tightly!! haha.

Swimming to her mommy : )

Guess she didn't really like those chips from Matt. Her face looks so cute here!

Captain of the boat!

On the way back to the dock she fell asleep and there was no waking her up!! She was sooo tired from the hot sun and all the attention!

We can't wait to bring her out again and hopefully it'll go even better!

We Got a Dog!!!

We finally caved and got a puppy!!! I haven't blogged in a week due to the fact that I've lost all sense of a life upon getting her. She's so much work, but completely worth it!  I have a feeling this blog will turn into an "All About Kya" forum! : ) She's our baby girl and we love her to death already!! So for me to remember when I'm old and gray...

• She was born May 8th, 2010 and we brought her home on July 25th, 2010.
• Alex came up with her name, Kya. Nobody can remember it but us and my sister! We think it suits her perfectly! She's a japanese dog and her name means 'a diamond in the sky.' we love that!
• She was 12 weeks when we got her and already weighed in at 8 lbs. and 4 ounces. 
• She went to her first vet appointment and was given a clean bill of health and a lot of attention from the people there!!
• Every single person who meets her asks if she's a siberian husky and when we reply that her breed is a shiba inu, they look at us like we're nuts and think we made the name up. 
• We picked her among the litter of nine other puppies because she seemed the most calm, was cream color, had sweet eyes, and an adorable white stripe down her nose. 
• She was practically potty trained on day three of having her and has only had two small potty accidents in the house up to today.
• She's REALLY good at playing catch with her red ball and will already bring it back and drop it in our hands. 
• She's cuddly and really loves her belly rubbed. 
• She wants her sisters, Ellie and Amelia, to play with her so bad but they're extremely scared of her.  
• She's done SO well meeting everyone in the family and all of the many dogs in the family, too! She's so sociable!
• She's also independent and likes some playtime by herself on a daily basis. 
• She loves truck rides and looking out the window from her daddy's lap!
• She's THE best dog in the entire world!

We're so looking forward to all the years we have with her; we think she's going to be a great dog! : )