Sunday, August 17, 2008

School Has Officially Started!!!

Can you believe the time has arrived for the students to return to school?  I can't.  Once I finished graduate school I felt as if my summer had just started.  Then six days later I am back to work. 

I am teaching second grade this year.  I am super excited about this new position.  I no longer have to deal with ranging hormones and smart mouths.  My second graders seem to love me and appreciate anything I do.  They also get upset if you don't assign them homework and they love school.  So far this year I have 23 students on roll.  That is a lot, but not as many as the kindergarten and first grade teachers.  They are up to 26-27 students a piece.  Crazy!!!  Fultondale is growing so fast and so many families are moving to the area. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of my classroom. 

Aug 08 009Me on the first day of school standing outside my classroom.

Aug 08 011  A view from the back.

Aug 08 012 Another angle

Aug 08 013

So, that's my classroom.  I noticed I forgot to take a picture of the student cubbies.  The are located on the back wall. 

Hopefully, once I get in the routine of school again I will be able to blog more frequently.  I am off to a great school year.  Stay tuned to see what Spencer and I get into in the near future.  

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Do You See Twins???

Today, Joycie (my grandmother), Vicki (my mom), and Katie (my sister), and myself went on an outing.  We went to Madison to shop at the new Bridge Street Town Center.  We met at Joycie's house at 7:00 this morning.  I arrived first and my mom and sister arrived about 10 minutes later.  When Katie got out of the car and walked through the carport I noticed we had on the same shirt.  How crazy is that?  We don't even live in the same town nor do we talk to each other on a daily basis, much less did we discuss what we were going to wear on this outing.  This was very strange and not the first time something like this has happened. It happened at Easter when we both wore a black top with a white embroidered skirt.  However, Dougie Boy (my grandfather), Joycie, and my mom thought this was quiet hilarious.  At least we don't have on the same color pants.  :)

Girls Day Out 001

I'll update more about our adventures to Madison once I receive pictures from my mom and sister.  They took more than I did. 

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Our Adventurous Weekend...

So... it all started when Spencer's dad found out he needed to go and pick up some of his trucks in Houston, Texas.  He needed three drivers.  I, of course did not want to drive back, but I thought about going.  Needless to say...I bought myself a plane ticket and off I went with Spencer, his dad, and Mike (Lauren's dad) to Houston.  I haven't been anywhere all summer because of graduate school so I was ready to go somewhere, even if it meant driving a truck back, or actually riding. 

We arrive at the airport and pick up our boarding passes and proceed through security.  For some reason on Saturday the security level was "high."  This made me nervous.  Especially considering this is only my fourth time (in my life) to fly.  As we are going through security I place my purse in the plastic container and it goes down the conveyer belt.  Well.....then I notice the security guard is looking at me very peculiar.  He takes my bag from the container and asks if this belongs to me.  Of course I say, "Yes," and he asks me to come with him.  This is where I begin to get very nervous.  He repeats some memorized phrase about going through my belongings and I am not to touch anything as he pulls them out and yada, yada, yada....He pulls out my Pepto Bismol bottle and tells me that it is supposed to be in a plastic Ziploc bag, and I should have pulled it out of my purse and laid it in the bucket beside it and there wouldn't have been any question.  I apologize and get my purse and head down the concourse to meet everyone else. You better believe I learned my lesson though.  I had no idea it was even in there.  It's just there.  Oh well, LESSON LEARNED!!! 

So...we board the plane and off we go to Houston.

These are pictures of us circling Houston preparing to land:

Houston Adventures 005 Aren't  the clouds beautiful?

Houston Adventures 001 

Houston Adventures 008

Houston Adventures 012  Me, once we arrived at Hobby.

We also ate lunch at this place called Jack in the Box.  The name itself should tell you not to eat there, but my opinion did not really matter.  Let's just say, it will be the first and last time I ever eat at a Jack in the Box!

Houston Adventures 015

Once we picked up the trucks, we proceeded the 650 miles back to Alabama.  However, Spencer and I decided we would detour a little before coming home.  We stayed straight on Interstate 10 to Mobile.  Originally we thought we would stay in Gulfport or Biloxi, Mississippi, but there really wasn't anything available.  So we drove the next 35 miles to Mobile.  We found this really nice Renaissance Hotel in the Bay.  We stayed in a king suite with a corner view on the 23rd floor.  It was awesome.  The bed slept so well!!

Houston Adventures 024 The view of the shipyard from our hotel room.

Houston Adventures 027Same room, different angle.

So, we got up on Sunday morning and proceeded with our adventure.  My dad went to Mobile College now the University of Mobile so I wanted to have a see for myself what it looked like.  My mother says I have been there, but I was only 6 months old, so I do not remember.  Check it out:

Houston Adventures 056 

Houston Adventures 054 Houston Adventures 047Houston Adventures 052  This is the housing similar to what my dad lived in when he was there, if not the same one. 

Then, we proceed up Hwy 43 to come home.  We like to travel two lane roads.  It gives us the opportunity to see things we otherwise might not have seen. Houston Adventures 065

We were going to try to visit Gees Bend, but we got lost and it ended up being out of the way.  That will be another one of our many Alabama adventures this fall.  So, instead of visiting Camden and Gees Bend we decided to get onto Hwy 5 and visit Marion Military Institute and Judson College  where Spencer's grandfather and great aunt attended school. 

This weekend was quiet an adventure for both of us.  We saw many things we have never seen before and traveled many roads we have never traveled.  This fall we plan to take small excursions on Saturdays and visit our lovely state.  Stay tuned for our next adventure. 

Friday, August 1, 2008

Happy Birthday Spencer!!!

Okay, well I am out of order just a little, but that is because I am way too excited about finishing school.  So...now I am going to go back and post some photos from Spencer's family birthday get-together on Tuesday, July 29th.

Spencer's 27th Birthday 019 Linz and Spence posing for a "Sony" moment in the kitchen.

Spencer's 27th Birthday 031 Okay, so there is a little history as to why this picture was taken.  Eleven years ago Spencer and I stood in the same spot in front of his license birthday cake for his 16th birthday.  We even stood behind the same kitchen table.  I don't have a scanner or else I would have scanned the other picture so everyone could see. 

Spencer's 27th Birthday 097 Spencer opening his birthday cards.  Is that money I see in that card???

Spencer's 27th Birthday 017 Buddy was Spencer's birthday gift 11 years ago.  How precious is it that he is still around to celebrate with us??  We love you Buddy!

Spencer's 27th Birthday 063 Owen enjoying his spaghetti supper.

Spencer's 27th Birthday 131 April, Lindsay, Lauren, and Katie smiling for the camera!  Say "Cheese" ladies!

Happy 27th Birthday Spencer!!! 

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Graduate School is over...

So... it's official, I have taken my last class for my master's degree at UAB.  However, it will not be official to me until I receive that pay raise and a diploma in the mail.  UAB does not offer commencement ceremonies in August, therefore I must wait until December to walk.  I do not have a problem with this, because I will already be there since my sister, Katie ,graduates in December.  I might as well get credit, so I am going to walk. 

I'm very curious as to what I am going to do with my time now that I do not have to focus on school work.  I am not going to know what to do with myself.  I am trying to talk Spencer into buying me a monogramming machine.  (Hint Hint)  Anyway...I really need to post some pictures of Spencer's birthday, but I thought I would update everyone with my school status first. 

Check back for Spence's birthday pictures. 

Monday, July 28, 2008

Our New House on Laredo Drive

Okay, so I have been promising to show some pictures of what we have done.  I took a few today so I am going to share what I have. 

Misc 101

This is the front of the house (obviously)

Misc 102  This is our wonderful 40ft. back porch that Spencer built about three years ago. 

Misc 099 This is the view from up near the street.

Misc 094 Here's Buddy sunning in his new backyard.  I love being able to let him out and not have to watch him.  It's fenced in so he can't go too far.

Misc 108 Piper taking it easy in the shade on the porch.

Misc 113 Bella dug herself a hole to lay in.  Apparently it's hot outside.

Misc 097 This is all the brush, Spencer, my parents, and myself pilled up for the city of Hoover to pick up.  We just did a "little" cleaning up. 

Misc 103 A view from on the deck.  It is quiet massive.  Great for entertaining. 

Misc 115 Our family room.

Misc 114The view of the family room from the kitchen.

Misc 117  The dining room.  I love the blue walls.  Normally I am not a big fan of blue, but this particular shade turned out to be fabulous!!!

Misc 119 Another view.

Okay, so that about sums up what we have done so far.  We still have some pictures and mirrors to hang, but we are definitely in the house.  

Sunday, July 27, 2008

We've Moved In

Now, of course not everything is its place, but we are in!!!  Today was completely exhausting once again.  My parents came over and thought they would help tidy up the yard.  It was major destruction.  They trimmed tree branches, cut down trees, used the weed eater, mowed grass, etc.  Needless to say the yard looks great.  But, we weren't finished here. Since my dad brought all of his tools, Spencer thought we should go down to the Deo Dara house and spruce it up as well.  That was a lot of work too!  We cut the grass, edged the sidewalks, blew the driveway, sidewalks, and patio, trimmed the bushes and Dad killed all the weeds and stuff he didn't like with this magic concoction he came up with.

Spencer and I then came back home and unloaded the truck with a few of the things we had left.  (We have still yet to bring the stuff in the garage) We also attempted to set up the washer and dryer.  It's set up, but now I think the washer is broken.  I am going to have to look into that tomorrow.  Then...Spencer and I took cold showers (the gas still has not been turned on) and sat down to watch some cable, now that we have it.  But, it doesn't work at all.  We are thinking we have a bad cable line.  Last night the cable sparked, Spencer said cable lines are not supposed to spark.  So this another issue Lindsay is going to have to look into.  If it is not one thing it is another.  But, I have access to the Internet so I can work on my school work and finish graduate school on Thursday, so I can't complain too much.  Once I get things a little more organized I will take pictures and post them.  Check back soon!

Shout out to Mom and Dad:  Thanks a million for your help in the yard!  It looks great, and you can see the front door!