Stanton's Annual Old Settlers Homecoming Parade 2017

Every year our little town hosts an Old Settler's Weekend.  It's a fun weekend filled with class reunions, a hometown parade, a hamburger lunch, BBQ dinner and dance.  This year Old Soreheads and Old Settlers were able to tour the Convent and the Connell House.  We were blessed to tour both and are just in awe of all of the work that has taken place.  I plan to post images from both tours soon.

There is always lots of joy and laughter during Old Settlers Weekend.  Think Norman Rockwell meets Gilmore girls and you have it.   Many Old Settlers travel from quite a distance to attend.  And every year, the date is carefully marked on the calendar.  

I didn't grow up here but my husband did and our girls did too.  It's always a fun weekend but the parade is always my favorite.  I tried to capture every entry in this year's parade.  Please, feel free to save your image.  They are for you.  Enjoy!  Below are the images in collage format.  If you would like to see individual images, there is a link to my folder at the very bottom of this post.  

***Individual Images may be downloaded from our Dropbox by clicking here. 

Puppy Fever

I've caught puppy fever! Yikes! But that's better than baby fever at my age, right?! Puppies are so very cute. I would love to have a little cutie with me at my Studio. I've narrowed it down to four breeds. Which one would you pick?  Does anyone else have puppy fever? I really shouldn't, but I do. And a puppy would be so fun to have at the studio. Which one would you choose? Top left is a Yorkie, top right is a maltipoo, bottom left is a poochon, and bottom right is a cavapoo. (Images courtesy of Pinterest).  

Our Cindy Lou Who and her Grinch

Our Cindy Lou Who and her Grinch...he's actually a pretty sweet guy but it matched Hannah's outfit.  Ha!  They actually had planned to go as a huntress and her trophy buck. But, the buck trophy costume didn't arrive on time.  In fact, it has yet to arrive at all.  Weird! So in a feat of last minuteness, I remembered Uncle Tony's Santa Costume and grabbed one of my old Christmas sweaters and the frenzy began.  Nathan picked up green face paint and Hannah's fabulous eyelashes at a local costume shop and we started on Hannah's hair.

We used a solo cup for the main part and pipe cleaners braided in to her hair for the cindy lou braided loops.  It was so fun!!!  And they looked fabulous.  And Hannah won best costume.  Yay!  Our last minute idea worked out well.  Ha!  And now I'm ready to watch the movie and, play Christmas carols, and decorate my house for Christmas.  My high school students might freak out if I played Christmas carols in the classroom this early.  Have you started decorating yet?

It's Pumpkin Carving Time

Both of our girls were home for the weekend.  Delight!  So, in between leading the band Friday night (Hannah), taking pictures on the sidelines (me), and the ACT (Hannah), we decided to have a little pumpkin carving contest.  Yes!  We are all a bit competitive in our family...just a bit.  Ha! The hardest part was finding pumpkins. Seriously?!  We tried four different grocery stores.  Ugh!  The pumpkins we planted in our garden aren't quite finished yet...meaning we have beautiful flowers but no pumpkins yet.  Hopefully someday soon.  Finally, we found our pumpkins and headed home for dinner and a little pumpkin carving competition.

Gone are the days when our girls had to use plastic knives but sites like those above made me want to break out the plastic kit knives. Scary!

Hannah's boyfriend had never carved pumpkins before.  We had a little fun with him. See the tiny pumpkin above?  We convinced him that he had to start small and work his way to the adult sized pumpkins.  Ha! We had a real pumpkin waiting for him in the pantry.  He was a good sport and carved the tiny pumpkin and the larger one.  By the look on his face, I think he was glad to have joined in our competition.

Here are our results left to right:  Rachel's Olaff pumpkin, mine (fairly simple compared to my Martha Stewart pumpkin from a few years ago that shocked the fire out of me), the boyfriends pumpkins, Mr. Incredible's pumpkin (he won!), and Hannah's mustache man pumpkin.  Her pumpkin reminds me of the Monopoly Man.

And here they are close up.  What a fun night!

Ten on Tuesday!

 

I can't believe I am actually doing a Ten on Tuesday list.  I think my last one was before summer!  Life has definitely been busy!  My list is really random which explains the state of my life these days. I'm running in a thousand different directions it seems.  Okay, here goes:

1.  Our Rachel is graduating from college in less than 7 weeks!  7  Weeks!  Wow! She is graduating an entire semester early.  We are so very proud of her!

2.  Hannah's last year of high school basketball officially started last week.  We cannot wait to see her on the court again. Praying they all have a wonderful year and act like the team that they can be!

3.  Speaking of Hannah.  She is the Drum Major for the band, 2nd year in a row, and they earned a Division 1 at Marching Contest!  There was much pressure this year as they have earned Division 1 Ratings every year that she has been in high school. Lots of practices, Saturday preliminary band competitions, late nights, and a lot of sweat, tears, and a few moments of pure joy.  We are so very proud of her leadership and her determination.

4.  My favorite coffee right now is dark French Roast with Pumpkin Spice creamer.  Yum!  Have you seen the new Keurigs?  They now make pots of coffee.  Hmmmm

5.  Only three more weeks until my new Iphone arrives.  My old iphone daily dies at 40% battery.  Why?!

6.  I am so thankful for my new Studio!  I cannot believe I haven't shared pictures yet.  What a blessing it is!

7.  Baylor Homecoming is this weekend and I am so excited!  They are trying to stripe the stadium.  Our section is wearing gold.  Fun!

8.  I am ready to decorate for Christmas now.  I know!  Only a few more weeks and it's time!

9.  I've heard that we are bound to have a rough winter.  Well, rough-for-Texas kind of weather.  I'm thinking I may need these boots.  Okay, not need, but maybe want.  But, what color?  Decisions, decisions.

10.  I made it to 10 things.  I actually had time to stop and type for a few minutes.  I impressed myself.  Ha! Back to editing pictures.   Ya'll have a blessed day!

Blood Moon

Did you see the Blood Moon this month?  I nearly had forgotten to look!  Thankfully, I saw an early morning post on Facebook and quickly grabbed my camera and headed outside before it was too late....in my robe!  It was a little cloudy with some wind.  Imagine me trying to make sure my robe kept me covered, trying to steady my 20lb camera and lens, and hoping to capture the Blood Moon.  I'm sure that I was quite a sight if any of my neighbors happen to catch a glimpse of me that morning.  My hair was perfectly frizzed and standing on edge by the time I was finished.  Thankfully, I had enough time to tame the mane before heading to school. I didn't capture as many images as I intended because I slept right through most of it.  But, I'm thankful for the ones that I was able to capture.  God is so awesome and absolutely so creative!

Mammogram Monday {Sigh!}

One week ago today we celebrated Columbus Day and finally had a much needed day off from school.  Yay!! Rachel was home for the three day weekend and we were all happily back together under one roof.  How about that Baylor/TCU game.  Wow!   That was the Big 12 Championship Game, I am convinced.  What a game!!! Anyway, being the good teacher that I am {sigh!}, I scheduled my annual mammogram on our day off instead of having to take a day off during the school week.  Yay me (hear the sarcasm in my typing?).  I won't go into any kind of details, but thankfully everything looked great and I don't have to come back for another year.  Yay!

A sweet friend of mine sent me this image to encourage me.  It cracked me up!!

So, so funny!  {Sorry Dad if you are reading my blog today}.

After the torture chamber, I met my girls for a delicious lunch and a little shopping.  We visited Miss Casey's Christmas store.  So, so fun!  Now this is a fun way to spend a day off from school! Hannah took our selfie.  Love these girls of mine so very much!

We found a few special gifts but I can't share them here (love you, Mom).  And we may have rearranged the TCU ornaments that were on the top shelf and the Baylor ornaments were on the bottom.  Seriously?!  I don't think the Baylor ornaments are on the bottom any longer....just saying.  :-)  And then we had some more fun at Starbucks.  I even made a new friend. Ha!

Powder Puff Champion

Last week our baby girl and her fellow seniors along with the sophomore girls took on the Freshman and Junior girls at the annual Powder Puff game.  The game itself brought back a flood of memories from childhood when Hannah played flag football with they boys.  Back then, she was the only girl playing flag football and we were pretty proud of that fact.

See our little blondie?  We may or may not have paid her by the flags that she captured....just saying.  She was a good player and not intimidated in the least after a little incentive.  Ha!

Ok, I'm back from a little walk down memory lane and back to the recent Powder Puff Game.  The girls got together with the some of the Varsity Football boys as their coaches and practiced the entire week before the big game.  Finally, it was game time!  These Senior Girls have not lost a game that they played in throughout their high school career and they won last Thursday night too.  Way to go Hannah and fellow senior girls!!!

Hannah had an awesome game.  She got a fumble recovery and sacked the quarterback.  She was stellar on defense....yes, I am totally biased.

The conversations we overheard on the sidelines from the coaches were hilarious!  One of the boys kept hollering, "Can you at least try not to run like a girl? Please??"

Another one hollered, "What the heck are you doing?  That is not what we practiced!!!  And after they ran it in for a touch down he hollered, "Way to go!"  Ha!

But one of my favorite memories was watching the girls, after they scored a touch down, stop and take a group selfie.  I never see that on Friday Nights with the football boys, but I loved it.  So much fun!

A Cousin Session {Sneak Peek}

These two sweet boys simply made my day.  Our oldest daughter was having a really rough day and our baby girl had a lady run right in to the back of her truck.  They are both more than fine, thank you Lord, but this momma's heart was a bit frazzled.  I was spent! I'm thankful God is in control of everything because having these two sweet cousins over for their annual Cousin Session was just what I needed.  They were full of smiles, giggles, cookie breath, and the sweetest hugs.  Mr. C even told me he loved Kiki.  Swoon!    They are both so much fun and so very precious.  What a joy it is to photograph them and to know their beautiful mommies.  God is so good!

See You at the Pole 2014

Seeing our baby girl and some of her fellow students gathering before sunrise to pray together at the High School Flag pole is priceless. Seeking the Lord's guidance and blessing over our school will never fall on deaf ears.  He sees, He hears, and He knows....and He was right there in their midst.  The Great I Am, King of kings, and Lord of lords!  Oh, yes!  He was there! What a blessed morning.  Did your students gather at their flag poles yesterday morning too?  What a blessing!

Sisters

Our Rachel came home from college this weekend and we were all sooooooooooo happy to see her.  Our family of four was reunited and it never felt so good!  We have certainly missed having our girls all to ourselves and it was just what this heart of mine needed.  My cup was full and I treasured every moment. Rachel joined her daddy and I on the sidelines Friday night to capture pictures of the football boys and the band.  Hannah is the Drum Major for the second year in a row. I turned around for a second to see Rachel saying hello to her sister in the stands.   I love this image so much! From a photographer's perspective, it's technically way off, the color balance is off, and it's underexposed big time, but as a mom, it was a moment I didn't want to miss capturing and I treasure it!  It shows the special sister relationship our girls are blessed to have and we are blessed to watch. I love the image but love these two daughters of ours even more.  What joy is ours to be their parents!

Thinking about this image, it makes me think of our Heavenly Father and how He sees us....sees the real us.  We aren't picture perfect all of the time (or even much of the time if we are honest) and our lives certainly aren't picture perfect either, but He loves us and even treasures us.  We are the apple of His eye....what a blessed thought!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  The exclusive Easter Sessions were announced yesterday and we are nearly sold out!  I have a few openings, but please don't wait!

2.  Speaking of Easter, the bunnies may have just had baby bunnies on one of the coldest days of the year.  OIY!  We will see, but how fun to have baby bunnies at our Easter sessions.

3.  

Are you watching The Voice? We love that show!!!  On our trip to New York, we found these chairs from the Voice and had to do our best interpretation.  Love my man!

4.  Did you watch the Oscars Sunday night?  It's always fun to see the parade of dresses and jewelry. I watched it in my Wichita State sweatshirt....so glamorous!

5.  Speaking of Wichita State!  They are the ONLY undefeated college basketball team in the country.  So cool!  My dad is a WSU graduate!

6.  I am ready for March Madness!!!  I always have fun filling out a bracket and keeping up with the progress on my iphone.  Growing up my initials were KU.  I can remember thinking as a child that I simply had to go to KU because those were my initials and being from Kansas, that seemed the thing to do.  Funny!  KU is good, but WSU is doing much better this year.  I may pick them to win it all!  And who knows if our Baylor bears will even make the big show this year.

7.  Remember my bout with pneumonia this fall?  A few weeks ago, I had an instant 102 fever, cough, and I felt awful.  I didn't think I would ever be as sick as I was this fall.  Through many tears, I started the process of seeing doctors again trying to avoid pneumonia. Thankfully, the bronchitis didn't turn in to pneumonia!  But, there were a few scares.  God graciously walked with me through each one of those tests and they all turned out to be negative.  Praise the Lord!

8.  I felt better this weekend than I have in weeks!!! I tried not to overdo, but it felt so good to feel like myself again.  I even had time to get my eyebrows tamed.  And then I didn't feel so good after that.  I'm kidding!

9.  Did you see the movie Gravity?  I watched it while my family was at the State Basketball tournament this weekend.  Sandra Bullock did a fantastic job, I'm surprised she didn't win best actress.  I  have to admit, there were scenes in that movie that made me feel a bit claustrophobic.  As a computer teacher, I loved the graphics!

10.  My man is an incredible omelet maker.  They are seriously delicious and always turn out so perfectly.  Me?  Not so much!  I made myself an omelet Sunday morning while my family was still out of town.  It started off okay....and then quickly turned to hash.  Here is a very blurry iphone picture.  It may have looked yucky, but it tasted pretty good!

Spreading Love

Valentine's Day found our household filled to overflowing with love, as always, but also a breathing machine, heavy doses of antibiotics, and a romantic dinner at home.....I use the word romantic loosely. My sweetheart took really good care of me but I was terribly sick once again. I honestly thought after being so sick with pneumonia this fall that I wouldn't be that sick ever  again. Sigh! I was wrong, and on Valentine's Day! My sweetheart loved his gift and I was thrilled. It was quite a step up from the usual card that I give him. I missed Rachel and Carly, the Corgi, but it was sweet to talk to my college valentines and I am counting the days until they are home for a visit.

Our youngest Valentine is taking a CNA course through our school and loving it. Part of what they get to do is help take care of some very sweet patients in a retirement home. Hannah was determined to spread the Love of the Lord with them and to make some special Valentine's Day gifts. I helped her find a template via Skip to My Lou and we printed the butterfly pattern and then she began carefully cutting out each one.

Please, excuse the quality of these pictures.  I was doing a breathing treatment at the time and my Iphone was all that I had handy and didn't want to miss capturing the joy she had carefully putting together each Valentine.

I loved hearing her stories when she got home and seeing the joy in her eyes as she told them. A Valentine's Day to remember after all.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Where did January go? Seriously, we are nearly halfway through February already. My head is spinning! 2. My baby is 17 years old. 17! Be still my heart!

3. I was just 17 yesterday....okay it feels that way. The person in the mirror would disagree though.

4. I am pretty excited about my Valentine gift to my sweetheart this year!!! He will be so excited. Normally we don't do big gifts for Valentine's Day (okay, I don't give big gifts) but this year is exciting!

5. I have officially exercised 5 days a week for the past month! I am on week 5 and I am so proud of myself. I haven't stuck to an exercise plan like this since I played 5A basketball and volleyball in high school....a long time ago!

6. This is our weather forecast! Cold with a chance of ice and sleet, but look at Sunday's forecast! Wow!

7.  We are loving watching the Olympics from the comforts of our own home.  Have you read the stories about athletes getting locked in their rooms, bathrooms, and elevators.  Scary!

8.  Speaking of Olympics, every time the announcer shouts go, or begin, I always hear, "A La Cuisine!"  From Iron Chef.  My family laughs because you may just hear me hollering it.

9.  For the past 4 years, I have wanted our high school media students to participate in the annual Google Doodle Scholarship program. This year, I received an email asking if we would like to enter.  YES!!!!  All week long my media students are passionately searching for their answer to, "If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place...."  It's a big deal to enter the contest, and quite another to win. The winning school will receive a $50,000 technology grant and the winning student receives a $30,000 college scholarship.  Wow!  I cannot wait to see their finished projects!

10.  My dad's birthday was this past Thursday.  I think it is pretty special that he and Hannah have birthdays so close.  They are kindred spirits in so many ways!

Jewelry Cleaner via Facebook

I saw this on facebook and Pinterest and decided to give it a try! I am so glad that I did. It works better than toothpaste and a toothbrush, and much better than that red liquid jewelry cleaner that has something growing in it in the back of my cabinet. I may or may not have had that cleaner for a decade. Yikes! The recipe is simple and you probably have all of the ingredients already.

In a medium sized bowl or plastic container add: 2 tablespoons of salt 2 tablespoons of baking soda, 2 tablespoons of dish detergent 2 cups of water that was heated in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes 1 piece of aluminum foil that is larger than the bottom of the bowl (put it in the bottom of the bowl)

Then add your jewelry:

The solution bubbles a bit. I didn't leave my jewelry in there very long. It totally works!!!

Baylor Bowl Game Part 3 (Last One)

We met our sweet friends and their beautiful girls at the entrance and some random stranger snapped this image for us. We were full of excitement and determination that our Baylor Bears were going to pulverize that Florida team...bless our hearts!

It was so fun to be at an actual BCS Game. So exciting!

The flag was ginormous and the guy who sang the National Anthem.....well, let's just say, liked to add lots of runs to the song. {sigh}

It was cool to see RGIII walk on the field. The crowd went wild when they saw him!

Since it was the Tostito Bowl, each chair had a Tostito package taped to it. Inside we found two new kinds of Tostito's Chips and salsa. It was pretty cool to see fans watching the game while enjoying chips and salsa. It felt kind of like home....except without that little yellow line thing on the screen that tells you how many more yards they needed to make a first down. I missed that line. Ha!

Before the game, my man and I had tickets to the Tailgate Party....along with at least 30,000 of our closest friends. Oiy! There were people everywhere.

The best part of the Tailgate Party? The Queso Blanco....it was free! Well, maybe not free since we bought tickets to the Tailgate Party.

In the end, our Baylor Bears just couldn't get it together but we had an absolute blast! We loved reconnecting with friends from our Baylor days, loved wearing Green and Gold and being surrounded by others wearing our colors too (we live in the heart of Texas Tech colors), and loved getting away for a few days just the two of us....and the awesome sunny weather!!!

Baylor Bowl Game Part 2

We met our friends from our Baylor days for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory! Yum! We hadn't seen them in years but it felt like it was just yesterday. We LOVED getting caught up on their lives and hearing about their beautiful girls. We treasured every second! The next day was New Year's Eve. It was fun to wake up to seeing lots of Green and Gold everywhere. This was a special spa day treat from my sweetheart who decided to join me. Yay!!! I didn't really consider us "Spa" people but oh what a wonderful day!!!

We donned the robes that they gave us to wear and then waited in the "Whisper" room. It was dark and quiet...until we arrived. We tried to whisper but it was hard to whisper as we were both in robes, funny spa shoes, and sipping cucumber water. Imagine our giggles when we learned that at that time, we were the only people in the room. Ha! After that, we just waited out by the pool....no whispering required!

And I much preferred my water with lemon slices and lots of ice. The facial was incredible (Mr. Incredible would not agree with that last statement) and the hot stone massage was too, but the best part? Spending time by the pool with my handsome man!

We even had a little poolside lunch in our robes. It's the thing to do apparently!

After lunch I was tortured in the body rub chamber....never again for this modest chica! And then we headed back to our room for a little nap and the Baylor Pep Rally!

It was so much fun!!! After the fun of the Pep Rally and visiting with dear friends, it was time to get ready for dinner. My man arranged for a special New Year's Eve dinner! That may or may not have come with Champagne! (Which was a first for me!)

I loved celebrating the New Year with the love of my life! We were missing our girls, but thankful to have time to getaway just the two of us.

Baylor Bowl Game Trip Part 1

My sweetheart and I got to go to the Fiesta Bowl to watch our Baylor Bears.  We carefully circled the date on our calendar and counted down the days.  We could hardly wait!!!  It was the craziest time to try to take a little trip but we threw caution to the wind and worked our tails off to make it happen. Mr. Incredible worked long days and nights finalizing the inventories of our three stores, I wrapped up photography editing sessions, and took care of last minute tax expenditures, we celebrated Christmas, watched our baby girl in a basketball tournament, and tried to pack for sunny weather in the process.  Whew!

Once, we were on the plane, it was as if we could breathe again.  A few days together, just the two of us in sunny weather was just what the doctor ordered.  I could not wait!

We landed in beautiful Arizona and made our way to the hotel. Oh my goodness! What a surprise awaited us there. We were blessed to stay at the beautiful Montelucia. So beautiful!

Fruit trees were all around the property. As we made our way to our room, I stopped to pick an orange. I couldn't resist. The smell was incredible! While my man took care of the luggage, I peaked outside to see a huge lounge chair and the glorious sun! I was in my winter clothes complete with my black Frye boots and leggings....laying in the lawn chair on the patio. Yes!!! We left Texas with highs in the 30's and we were now in temperatures near 70. Delight!

  Realizing we had a little bit of time before we met our friends for dinner, I remembered the orange! Yay! I peeled that sweet smelling orange and popped a wedge in my mouth. It was the worst orange I had ever tasted! It was a yucky cross between a grapefruit, lemon, and an orange that was totally bitter. I managed to down one little wedge and then shared one with my man! Ha!

We quickly learned that if you see fruit on the tree, it's probably not the best fruit, but if you find a tree with very little fruit, that's the one to grab! Good to know if I ever plan to pick my fruit from a place other than the HEB! I'll share more from our trip soon!

Ten on Tuesday

Two Ten on Tuesday posts in a row, woo hoo!!!

1. I love to photograph lights and the bokeh that comes with it. Bokeh is the blurred or out of focus areas like you see above. That is our Christmas tree, but you can't tell because of the bokeh. Cool eh?

2. I rented a few lenses before Christmas. And this fish eye was one of them. While I thought it was a really cool lens, I can't see using it for portraits but it sure was fun to play with!

3. I did purchase the lens I have been dreaming about for two years and wow is it heavy on my camera! But, it takes amazingly clear pictures on the basketball court and I'm thinking on the football field this fall. Delight!!!

4. We were in Arizona this month and we will fly to Nevada for a few days next month. I'm liking this travel trend for 2014!

5. Our Bichon, Tinkerbell, hasn't been acting like herself. She is 15 (or will be this October) and we were starting to dread taking her to the vet for fear of what she might suggest. Turns out, Tink is having some lower back pain. Can you blame her, she is over 100 in dog years. Twice a day, she gets to take a little treat that makes the pain subside. We are thankful!!! In the process of trying to figure out what was wrong and why she would cry all night long, we discovered she adores Starbucks as much as we do! So we always get her a cup of water when we drive through. So fun!

6. I say this often! I am blessed with the BEST clients and friends! This was our surprise dinner delivery this week. It was delicious!!! And we are overwhelmed with gratitude for the sweet friends and clients God has blessed us with.

7. I am reading this book and loving it!!!  God loves you, He always has, He always will!!!

8.  It's been too long since I read a good book just because!  It seems I go from teaching high school to photo shoots, to editing pictures, to ordering sessions, to laundry, to.....  I'm thankful for a few stolen moments away with this book.  It is a treasure and a wonderfully incredible reminder that we are dearly loved!  One of my favorite parts from the book, and I have several, talks about God's love being the ocean, although it is even bigger than the ocean.  If we are a fish in His deep ocean of love, we are surrounded, filled, and covered over and over again with His love!  Glory!  I sobbed when I read, He loves us, and He already loves our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren. What a thought!

9.  Speaking of water, after my awful round of pneumonia this fall, I am determined to take better care of myself.  I can almost see my man's eyes rolling!  I was terribly sick this fall, sick enough to come face to face with the reality that I can't possibly take care of my home, my family, my students, and my clients if I am sick.  That is such a no-brainer thought, but for this people-pleaser who has a hard time saying no to good things and good people, taking care of myself is often on the back burner!  So, I am drinking more water than I thought possible which is really fun trying to find time to go to the bathroom in between classes!  There is a new app I bought for my phone that reminds me to drink my water.  It is called WaterMinder.  It drives me nuts throughout the day, but I really am doing better about drinking my water.  And my hair and my skin are so thankful.

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) (Official Music Video) from matt-redman on GodTube.

10.  I could listen to Matt Redman's, "10,000 Reasons" song 10,000 times a day and probably still tear up every time.  I adore this song....and don't we all have at least 10,0000 reasons to bless the Lord?!

Ten on Tuesday!

 

I know! Ten on Tuesday, it's been forever! So I'm going to try it...wish me luck! Ha!

1. Basketball Season is in full gear around here! In Tuesday night's game, Hannah had 12 points, a few slams, and several rebounds. Yay!!!

2. Rachel and Carly (the Corgi) are having a blast being back at college. Carly has adjusted well to being a college girl...wasn't she just a newborn puppy last week. Time flies. Ha!

3.  I am loving this new beauty sponge!  In the winter, my skin gets so dry and flakey.  Add water to the sponge and it not only makes putting on my  makeup so much easier, but my skin looks less dry.  YAY!!!  I purchased mine from Amazon but you can also get it here: 

4.  I bought a new candle for Christmas and it is so neat!  Normally, I use my Scentsy, but this candle is fabulous.  The crackling sound and the cool shape of the flame is very relaxing!  It is called a Glass Ribbonwick Candle by Woodwick Candles and you can find them by clicking here. 

5.  Speaking of candles, we have loved our fireplace.  We have had cold weather this year, not nearly as cold as you northerners, but cold nonetheless for our part of Texas.  And even though the high here was 60 Monday night, Hannah and I still lit a fire in the fireplace while we watched a little Dance Moms.

6.  Dance Moms, do you watch?  I'm really not sure why we like to watch this show, but we really do.

7.   The snowman above, is how Hannah wrapped gifts for her sister this year.  Pretty cute and totally creative!

8.  I love snowmen....just not looking like a snowman.  Ha!

9.  I hardly remember what coffee was like before my Keurig!  Can anyone relate?!  I was never really good at making coffee the old fashioned way (Just ask my Uncle Tony) so I am so thankful for a perfect cup of coffee every morning made by my Keurig.  My favorite flavors these days are Pumpkin Spice, Starbucks House Blend, and I like the Kalua.  My family thinks the last one is funny since I'm not really a "drinker."  And while there isn't any alcohol in this coffee, I like to pretend there is.   Ha!  I teach high school, remember?!

10.  I made it to 10!!!  I can't promise you will see 10 things on Tuesday every week, but I'm giving myself a gold star for today.  You get a gold star too if you made it to the end.  Yay!!!  Have a blessed day!