Harry Potter Month

This month is Harry Potter month. I was invited by other HP fans to join in a Harry Potter month competition (this is where my true nerdiness comes out). There are 50 members - all joining together through a facebook group/email in order to compete in the competition. Each person is sorted into a house, and then as a group, your house competes for the House Cup. To earn points you meet weekly challenges and goals.

This last week's challenge was to create a music video. Videos are voted for by the house prefects to receive points. Since my dance moves are not quite up to par, I submitted my video to try and win the "most amusing" award. If you don't know who Lavender Brown is, then you can spare yourself. But if you are a true HP fan, then I hope you can enjoy our amateur dancing/videography efforts.

52 Date Nights

Brodie and I have decided we are going to go on a date once a week, every week, for an entire year.

We kicked it off by making a fort in our living room and brainstorming as many date ideas as possible. This resulted in the date jar! Each Sunday night we pull from the jar, and then choose which day of the week will work best for our date. There is only one rule for the date jar . . . no changing the date! Unless of course the date doesn't match the season (like ice skating in summer etc.)

Date #1: Sunrise/Sunset

Our first date was to watch the sunset. While we were at the beach house this weekend, we scheduled a date to snuggle up in the trunk of our car and watch the sunset. I've seen lots of sunsets in many different places. But there's something different about scheduling a time to purposefully watch it. It's soothing to watch the sun sink lower and lower, until it dips below the horizon. It only takes a few minutes, but my favorite part is when you can watch the sun literally disappear.

"We just watched the earth spin. . ." - Brodie

Hello, Fall

September means the start of school. Literally! September 2nd was the first day of school.

everyone loves picture day, right?

The start of school comes with its ups and downs. Ups? I love connecting with a new group of kiddos and working hard to make my teaching practices even better than the year before. Downs? Grading papers!!! Seriously, if I had a personal secretary to grade papers for me, life would be 100x better. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But seriously, grading is such a time sucker.

But Brodie made the first day of school a breeze! I came home to a bouquet of flowers and a "menu" of our evening's activities. He had it all set up with my favorite dinner (spaghetti!), favorite ice cream, favorite movie, and even complete with a back massage. Living with your best friend that understands you inside and out definitely has it's perks!

Now that we are in a new house, we have been working on house projects on the weekends. We love spending a Saturday to make the house our own (or even just make it clean enough to live in!!) The best part is these projects can get us a reduction on our monthly rent. I took on a shower caulking project, while Brodie tackled the yard. I think both turned out better than I thought!

BEFORE

yeah. . . so gross, I can't even talk about it

DURING

I had to cut out all of the old caulk which took foreverrrr

AFTER

yay!!! no more mildew stains

BEFORE

 not terrible, but the path was falling apart and why is there a bush in the middle of the arbor??

the weed tarp was coming up through the bark dust

there were just as many dead patches as there was grass

DURING 

Brodie dug up the yard & leveled it in order to lay new sod.

I'm probably not using the correct "yard terms", but it went something like that

AFTER

Isn't he a miracle worker?? He used the pavers from the old path to make a patio, created 2 gravel flower beds on each side of the yard, centered the arbor, relocated the lavender bush and rhododendron, and then laid new sod for the final touch!

We love our little home! :) We are settled in, have everything set up, and have completed all of our projects on our to-do list. At least for now! I'm sure more pictures will end up here sometime soon. 

Happy Fall Y'all!

So Long, Sweet Summer

Summer is over and I already miss it. Is that bad? As much as I love the beginning of the school year, there's nothing that can beat warm summer nights, long walks, days at the river, and trips to Seattle. And that's exactly what we did this summer! It was definitely a warm summer and we spent almost all of our days outside. And since I refuse to miss anything too important, now matter how far behind I get with blogging, here are some summer highlights.


1. moving into our new rental house :):):):)

2. trips to Seattle -  time with family, boating, & Ragnar

3. Taylor came to visit - Wicked and hiking in the Gorge

4. Oregon coast with the Fish Fam

5. Hiking near St. Helens and Ape Caves with the Mellor Family. One of my students  was visiting all the way from Utah. So of course we had to meet up and spend the day together!!

Camping + 4th of July

Summer is going by wayyy too fast! I can't believe that my time off school is already half way over :( Last summer I spent all my time setting up my classroom and sorting through curriculum. This summer I haven't worked on anything school related which feels awesome :) Although I did have my first "school nightmare" this week, which shows that fall is right around the corner! 

July 1st we moved into our new house, which we are OBSESSED with! We feel so lucky that God blessed us with this wonderful home. We are officially moved in with just a few home projects left to finish (.i.e kill ants, hang curtains, and spread new bark). Our home is tiny (only 650 sq. ft.), but it is honestly the perfect home for us. I will be sharing all about its wonderfulness + pictures next time!

For now we are enjoying July. Our first trip of the summer was a camping trip at Belfair State Park. Brodie and I love this park because it's the same park we went camping at 3 years ago when we had just met (summer 2012).  That summer Brodie invited me to go camping with his family for a weekend, and of course I said yes! In fact, I cancelled multiple plans with friends in order to go (sorry I missed your bridal shower, Andrea!) But that camping trip is one of my top 5 favorite weekends ever. This is the park where we first held hands, talked for hours as we floated down the river, and snuggled at the drive-in movie theater. It was a perfect weekend!

Remember this picture?? It's one of my favorites!

Summer 2012 - Belfair State Park

A lot has changed since then! This time around we had Cohan, Emily, Danner, and Durant with us! And we brought Luna too :) We relaxed in the hammock, went swimming, read books, played games, and revisited that same drive-in theater. This time we saw Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect 2.

our mini backpacking tent

we hit 100 degrees!!

hammock time with Danner

Fish Boys

Fish Girls (we are so white!!!)

Drive- In Movies 

And of course the month of July is not complete without celebrating the 4th!! Just like last year, we went down to the coast and watched all the fireworks at Long Beach. It's amazing! Every direction for miles and miles, fireworks explode up and down the beach. And the best part is the price - it's free! :)

my lifelong lover

haha our attempt at a "flag pole" patriotic pose

That's it for now! More to come with updates on our new house, trip to Seattle, and wedding anniversary. Our 3rd year of marriage begins tomorrow!! Wahoo!