We Made It

     Tomorrow, July 26th, is Eric's LAST DAY EVER of his rotation, or free labor as we refer to it.  =)  I honestly can't believe that we have made it.  We made it!  Funny thing, exactly 3 years ago on July 26, 2008 we moved into our first apartment as a married couple.  Our first chance to make it on our own, pay rent and and start this life that was so unfamiliar to us.  All we knew was that Eric would be at UTMB for the next 3 years and I would be teaching 2nd grade at Greene Elementary knowing only my AP who was a family friend from Katy, and my new team leader I had met a couple times, Leslie (who I now talk to about 8 times a day and is my right hand lady!)  Oh how life changed through the past 3 years!  The only way to describe the past 3 years is that WE MADE IT!

• we made it through Hurricane Ike after being in school for 10 days
• we made it through our first year of marriage
• we made it through Eric's first year of school and my first year teaching at a new school
• we made it through our first summer both being in summer school
• we made it through Eric having to move to Wichita Falls for 8 weeks
• we made it through my unexpected, relentless anxiety attacks for 8 weeks
• we made it through our second year of marriage
• we made it through me moving to a new grade level
• we made it through me driving to Katy once a week until 11pm for class
• we made it through Eric's 2nd rotation in Baytown and his 3rd rotation at St. Luke's
• we made it through our third year of marriage
• we made it through my Master's degree from UHCL

We never doubted that we would make it to this point, but we sometimes wondered when we would get here and what it would feel like.  As with the other major points along the way, we have made here and it doesn't feel any different.  I don't think it will hit us until Eric walks across the stage at graduation. I can tell the emotions are coming forward now that the day is getting closer.  I could not be more proud of Eric for all his has accomplished these past 3 years.  He has worked hard, made amazing friends, supported me and learned balance in his life.  Next week he will be back at UTMB for 4 days for wrap-up week.  Let the celebrations begin!

Funny story...my parents came to visit a few weeks ago on a week day when Eric was at work.  My dad pointed out that there is something wrong with the fact that I was getting paid through the summer and staying home, while Eric was at work not getting paid.  Good point!  

 

Week in Review #7

I have been battling with feeling like summer is almost over yet also realizing that I have 4 more weeks until my new kiddos start in my 4th grade class.  I think the fact that our vacation isn't until the end of the summer is part of the issue.  Last week was my last "official" week of pure freedom.  This week I started teaching summer school at my campus.  The summer school is only from 8-12, Monday-Thursday, so it will still give me time in the afternoon to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer and get my class ready.  Here is a little glimpse of most of my week last week:

• met my mom and Mrs. Miller is Sugarland for shopping
• stayed at home being a homebody
• went to Hobby Lobby and HEB
• stayed at home being a homebody
• got some pretty new shoes at Macy's
• stayed at home being a homebody
• made a wreath while being a homebody
• went to the eye doctor
• stayed at home being a homebody
• went to the dentist
• stayed at home being a home body

     Anyone noticing a trend here?  I REALLY tried to enjoy as much time at home as I could.  I have never been one to enjoy staying home for a long time, but this summer has totally changed that feeling!  I am sure next summer will be much of the same when we have a new house to decorate. 

    My weekend was a little more eventful, I promise!  Friday afternoon Leslie and I went to Katy to stay at my parents house for the night.  She was needing a break from being a mommy for the night.  We went to dinner, got frozen yogurt, stayed up late watching Say Yes to the Dress and went shopping the next day.  We had a wonderful time!  Sunday was a very relaxing day.  Eric and I went to The Spot for lunch and did our usual drive around Galveston.  We went to see the Carnival Conquest, where we will set sail from in a few weeks!  Can't wait for some rest, relaxation and celebrating with my wonderful hubby.  Can't wait to officially call him Dr. Konesheck, DPT. =)

Week In Review: Week 6

       I'm still trying to get caught up on my summer, but I am almost there!  I am very thankful that I chose to these posts this summer so I can remember what a wonderful summer it has been.  The week after Tegan and Cainan came to visit, my mom and I went to Dallas to visit my Aunt Donna, Uncle Mike and Meme. 
      On the way to Dallas, we went through College Station.  I love that place!  We stopped by the bookstore to get some souvenirs and went to Sweet Eugene's, a favorite coffee shop of mine when I went to Texas A&M.  We got a couple cute shirts for my friend Megan's baby, Camden.  They were so cute!
      We had a wonderful time in Dallas and it was very nice to have time to visit and relax.  We got to meet my aunt's boss and his wife, who we had heard so much about.  They came to drop off their dog, Hula, to stay while they went out of town.  We did a little shopping, got pedicures and tried to stay cool.  After being out for a little while each day, we were happy to be home in the air conditioning and cook dinner at home each night.  I never would have thought coming back to Houston would be a break from the heat!  It was around 105 each day and the heat was almost unbearable!  They are still having an incredible heat wave in Dallas and I am very thankful for our 97 degree temperatures!  Hopefully they will get some relief from the heat soon. 
   I also went to visit my college friend Megan one afternoon and meet her new baby boy, Camden.  He was too cute!  It has been a while since I held a little baby.  He was a few days short of 2 months and so good!  I held him forever and got to feed him a bottle.  It was so good to see Megan and catch-up on her life as a new mommy.
   

My Attempt to be Crafty

I have become addicted to a new website this summer called Pinterest.  It is basically a online bulletin/Facebook page for crafting, cooking, decorating, etc.  You can "pin" different things you find on the Internet onto bulletin boards to save for future reference.  It is so cool!  You can also become friends with people you know and see their ideas also.  Eric doesn't even know what he is in for when we get a house...the decorating juices are flowing!  Since this week was my last official week of summer before I start teaching summer school, I decided to make a couple wreaths that I have been wanting to make all summer.  I made a wreath for our front door out of a dried stick like wreath, fake flowers and a wooden letter.  I also made one for my class that is made out of ribbons and has cute bunting with my last name on it.  I get to hang it up tomorrow when I go to my class for summer school.  Here are some pictures to document my attempt at creativity!

Materials...the before

The finished product...I was pretty proud of myself!

Close-up of my name...so cute!

The finished product for my class. 

On a side note...I have never been much of a fan of Halloween.  Not sure why, but never enjoyed dressing up, scary stuff, ghosts, etc.  I never saw any cute Halloween stuff that wasn't cheesy.  Last year, I discovered how cute Halloween decorations can be!  I fell in love with purple mixed in with orange and black.  Looking forward to creating some cute decorations for my class this year that aren't too "Halloweenish" but still give the feel of the holiday.  Pinterest here I come!

Cainan Come to Visit!

     After Tegan came to visit us for a few days, it was Cainan's turn!  He had told me that he wanted to come visit "all by himself" but I was still a little worried about how he would be without Tegan.  Before he came to our house, we spent the day in Katy going to gymnastics for Tegan and swimming lessons for Cainan.  He was cracking me up because he spent the whole day asking to be reassured that we were still going to my house, still going to eat pizza for dinner and still going to see Eric.  He asked me over...and over...and over!  He was JUST making sure.  He cracks me up! 
     We finally headed to Clear Lake, picked up pizza on the way home and ate dinner with Eric.  In true Cainan fashion, the first thing he asked was if he could go play putt putt that night.  It is his favorite thing to do!  We went to play putt putt and got frozen yogurt. 

We realized that Cainan forgot Mo, his sock monkey so we were a little worried about night time.  He did wonderful though and didn't have any trouble sleeping!  The next day Eric had to go to work, so we went to Chik-fil-a for breakfast with Eric. I had mentioned going to get Cainan a cheap stuffed animal to have so Eric said we should go to Target to get a new Mo.  Cainan was so cute because as soon as he saw the sock monkeys, he picked on up and said "I love him!" Melt my heart...

    That day while Eric was at work we went to the pool.  Cainan showed off his new swimming skills.  Within a month, he went from not getting in the water to jumping in and swimming all around with his floaties on.  I was so proud of him!  We met Eric for lunch and took naps.  I have a new found love for nap time!  That night we met my parents for dinner after they got back from Vegas.  It was great to see them and Cainan always enjoys seeing them. 

He felt the need to wear his Green Lantern glasses during nap time.  Too cute!

    Saturday we went to do a little shopping in the morning and met Michael, Heather and Tegan in Pearland to shop, eat lunch and give back Cainan.  I was not ready for him to go!  Both of those kiddos are so sweet and I miss them so much!

     How can you not love him?!

Tegan Comes to Visit

   Eric and I always look forward to the kids coming to visit, but this time was different because they came alone.  This all came about Memorial Day weekend when Cainan couldn't understand why I still had school and he couldn't come stay with us the next week.  He decided then that he wanted to come visit us this summer by himself, without Tegan.

   Tegan came back with us the night of 4th of July.  The next day, we went to get pedicures at this place that has the cutest little spa pedicure chairs for kids.  They look like rabbits and the water bowl looks like a flower.  She had the best time and felt very special getting spoiled!  She asked why I wasn't getting a pedicure and I told her I was going the next week with my aunt.  She was very amazed that I had an aunt, just like her! Tegan was so cute the whole time and they gave her the works!  I guess she was pretty relaxed because she started falling asleep in the middle of her pedicure.

After pedicures, we went to Panera Bread, her favorite, for lunch.  We also got to see where Uncle Eric works when we brought him lunch.  Somehow she came up with the idea of making name cards and place mats for the table for dinner that night.  She made place settings and put out coasters and mints.  She was very proud of her work!  After dinner we went to meet Uncle Darren for frozen yogurt.  It was yummy!

The next day we went swimming at Leslie's mom's house.  Tegan always likes seeing Hayden and Adyson.  The girls had a great time swimming.  That afternoon we went to visit the Naked Cupcake and she had a wonderful time decorating her cupcake.  She choose red velvet and the lady said she had never seen a kid order red velvet.  She has very refined tastes =)  After eating dinner with Uncle Eric at Pappasitos, it was time to head back to Katy. 

We had a great time together! One funny morning was the first day when her and Eric were watching Good Morning America and their was a guy that proposed to his girlfriend.  Tegan asked what was going on and it was so cute to hear Eric explain to her what it means to get engaged and married. I can't believe that Tegan is already 5 1/2 and is going into kindergarten.  Obviously this is how life works, but when she was born, I never could have imagined her being in school.  I am so proud of the little lady she has become! Michael and Heather have done a wonderful job with her and she is such a sweet girl.  

Fourth of July

    

Happy 4th of July!

                                                  

   Fourth of July has been a favorite holiday of mine for many years...13 to be exact =)  On July 4, 1998 Eric and I started dating!  It has been a long time and we are more happy now than I cold have ever imagined!  13 years ago we went to The Miller's house and went to watch fireworks.  That's how we spent our first date that summer.  I wish I had the first picture of us, but it is somewhere at my parents house.  I sill remember it though; we were sitting on the back porch at Mrs. Miller's blowing bubbles. 
    13 years later, we have been through Katy High School, Texas A&M, UHCL and UTMB!  It has been an amazing 13 years and does not seem that long at all.  I can't wait to see what the next 13 years will bring for us!

    On another note, July 4th also celebrates 1 year ago that Leslie and I left to go to New York for Teacher's College at Columbia University.  That was the only 4th of July that I haven't been with Eric, but it was an amazing 4th getting to celebrate in New York City!  Leslie and I did what all good Americans do on 4th of July, we went shopping in Harold Square to the big Macys!  We spent hours in H&M, Old Navy and walking around town.  After a long day of travel and shopping, we opted out of going to watch fireworks.  Instead, we went back to our hotel, ate cupcakes and watched the fireworks on tv.  It was amazing!

(Sorry Leslie, since we took pictures of each other, I don't have one of me!)

We spent this 4th of July driving back from the lake house.  At the last minute, we decided to stop in Katy and bring Tegan back to our house for a few days.  We stayed in Katy to watch fireworks with Michael, Heather, Tegan and Cainan at Katy Mills Mall.  It was SO hot!  After many hours, fireworks were over, traffic had cleared out and we headed back to Clear Lake with Tegan.  It was another wonderful 4th of July!

P.S.  Pictures are to come, but they are being slow emailing from my phone.

Week in Review: Week 4

I have been a bad blogger...or I have been having too much fun this summer.  We will go with the second!  So, I am 3 weeks behind with my summer updates, but they have been fun filled weeks and I haven't had much time to sit down and write.  So, here it goes!

Monday and Tuesday I went to a class with the Two Chics, Becky Koesel and Elizabeth Martin.  I LOVE these ladies!  They are gurus on Readers and Writers Workshop.  We have been fortunate enough to have both ladies comes to our school many times this year and I have learned so much from them.  After teaching for 5 years, it is nice to be able to refine certain parts of my teaching and continue to improve and challenge my kiddos.  I think I secretly like these ladies so much because they always have cute handouts, fonts, school supplies and the give us colored handouts!  The best part of the workshop was that I went with some of my favorite teacher friends from school.  That made it even better!

Wednesday was my weekly swimming outing to my pool with Leslie, Hayden and Adyson.  Always a fun day!

Thursday Leslie, the girls and I went to try a new cupcake place we had heard of, The Naked Cupcake.  Eric thinks the name is just hilarious!  The concept is that you pick your flavor of cupcake and frosting, then decorate it yourself with sprinkles.  So much fun!  That afternoon, my parents come out to got o dinner before they left for Las Vegas that weekend.  We went to Sudies, one of my dad's favorite seafood restaurants in our area. 

Friday was spent getting ready to go to the lake house.  We had not planned to go to the lake, but at the last minute Eric decided to go since his Nana was going to be there.  I stayed around the house, did some laundry, made cake balls that failed but made up for it by making some tasty sangria!  When Eric got home, we left for the long, 4.5 hour drive to Lake LBJ in Austin.  When we arrived to the lake, the air conditioner was broken!  It was too miserable to sleep. so we stayed outside until 3am while the repairman fixed the air.  Long night!

Saturday and Sunday were spent sunning, swimming, relaxing and boating.  It was wonderful!  Eric cooked all weekend and did a great job!

The event of next week was the real reason why I haven't blogged in a few weeks...Tegan and Cainan each came to spend a few days with us. =)