Blogger Awards!!!

I have to cheat and steal this idea from Kelly. I saw it on her blog (that she saw on someone else's blog) and thought it was cute. Here's how it works:


1. Thank & link back to the person who awarded you.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 10 great bloggers.

4. Contact those bloggers & tell them about the award.



About me:

1. I love my hubby......Travis!!!
It was a God thing that we met!!  We both went to Fort Hays State University.  I went there because my first choice was an out of state/private school (which = big $$$) and he went there to byed his time before applying to the Highway Patrol.  The rest of the long story short: he was my best guy friend and after a couple not so hot relationships, he had the guts to ask me out and the rest (as they say) is history.  If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be where I am now........literally (I had planned on moving to the Ozarks and teaching there)!!  I would have also missed out on one of my favorite sports to watch now....wrestling!!  I thought that he was crazy when I first met him and he loved the sport so much!! 


2. I have two to the best & beautiful little girls in the world!!! 
Alta is almost 3 years old!!  I can't believe how fast the time flies!!  I remember like it was yesterday wrapping the pregnancy test for Travis' birthday.  I also remember how horrified I was when he walked into the house and asked (before he opened his gift) why his brother and cousin had called asking him when we were due!!  KayLynn just turned one a couple weeks ago!!!  I don't know if I like this whole having two little ones around......they are a handful!! 


3.  My sister is also my inspiration!!!
Kylie is an amazing person!!!  She is our family's self proclaimed nerd/geek/goober.....but she is one of my best friends and always will be!!!  My girls call her Aunt Tuff.....long story......ask my husband!!!  She is such a dedicated, hard working student!!  She is gifted with many talents!!  She was made captain of color guard her freshman year of high school (I am going to take credit for that talent :P)......She has been captain of her Relay for Life team for the last three years......I could go on and on about her, but I don't have that much time tonight (maybe I will dedicate one whole blog post to her!)!!!


4. My heart will always belong to color guard!!!
I spent 7 years on color guard (3 years in high school and 4 years in college).  Out of those 7 years, I was captain 5 years.  If I would have known more about the sport when I was younger, I would have tried out for drum & bugle corps!!!  I coach cheerleading right now, but if Minneapolis would ever have a bigger marching band and add color guard, I would help with that in a HEARTBEAT!!


5. I love to read!!!
I don't have much time to read for fun, but I love to read romantic mysteries.......notice I didn't say romantic novels!!!  I love a great mystery that throws you for a loop with a little bit of romance.  One of my favorite authors (right now) is Karen Kingsbury!  My goal is to eventually read all of her books!!! 


6. My goal right now is to fit back into my wedding dress......
I have not been happy with my weight/tone for awhile now.  I think I knew I wanted to have two children, so I didn't really do much between the girls to get fit.  The weight seemed to melt away right after KayLynn and then all of a sudden it has all seemed to come back.  I have never been one to really have a New Year's resolution, but I do this year.......get back into my wedding dress!!!

7. Cosmetologist/Photographer
If I wasn't a teacher, I would want to be a cosmetologist or a photographer!!!  When I was little, I said I wanted to be a cosmetologist because it was a really long title (and I was a pretty little girl......if you couldn't have guessed :P)!!!  I still like to do hair and nails!!  I have helped my sister with homecoming hairstyles in the past.  I can't wait until my girls get big enough for me to really do their hair and nails!!!  I have always liked to play around with pictures!!  I love looking at really neat photos.  I need to invest in a program to help me do neat effects to my pictures though......so if you have any ideas.....let me know!


And now on to the awards!

1.  Kelly Marsh
She is married to Travis' cousin, Courtney.  I always love to look at her blog and see what is going on with Mr. Cael....my most adorable 'nephew' in the world!!!  (Our girls call them Aunt Kelly & Uncle Tourtney)  Alta thinks all pictures of little boys that are about Cael's age has to be him.  I don't know how many times that I have had to tell her, "No....that's not Cael...."  :D  I really enjoy hanging out with her.....I am also glad that she enjoys wrestling too.  I would not have started a blog if it wasn't for her!!!  When she started her blog so we could keep up with her and Courtney in Puerto Rico, I thought it was really neat!!!  I just aspire to have a blog as neat as her's one day!


2. Tricia Daniels
She is Travis' cousin that lives in Texas.  I love looking at all the pictures & videos on her blog of her beautiful family!!!  Her daughter, Daisy, is just a month or so younger than Alta.  I always enjoy it when they can make it to family gatherings!!  Zeke is just adorable also!!!  I can't wait to meet Elijah (who just made his appearance not that long ago)!!!



3. Lindsey George
She is one of the greatest people I have ever met!!  I met her at Hays while in college.  Some of my favorite past times from Hays include her, popcorn and Grey's......I still miss those Thursday nights!!!  She is a WONDERFUL photographer!!!  Click on the link to see her photography blog!  If you live in the Omaha area.....check her out!!!



4. Shauna Nelson
I have spent a couple New Year's evenings with Shauna.....but other than that, I don't know her very well....but she does hang out with some pretty neat people.....and not to forget: her blog is really neat!!!  I love her goal of putting a flip video up for every day of the year!!! 



5. I, unfortunately, do not have awards for numbers 5-10!!! People! Please work with me! Someone, anyone, start blogging!


 
6. See number 5........



7. See number 6......


8. See number 7.......


9. See number 8........



10. See number 9.............PLEASE HELP!!!!

Snow Days

Okay.....so I really have no excuse for not having updated sooner than this.....we are on our #6 snow day this year!!  I am so ready to be done with snow!!!  And to clarify:  I have ENJOYED my time with the girls and my husband (he has had scheduled days off on at least 4 of the 6 snow days, if not all of them), but I am a week behind in one of my reading units for first graders.  It is amazing how your prospective changes when you are an adult!!  We have let Alta go outside for a couple of the days, but the others were too cold for her to go out.  During the first time that we had a snow day, Daddy and Papa went to Salina for a part for Papa's work truck and ended up bringing back a sled!!  She had such a BLAST on the sled!!!  At one point, Daddy and Papa both were pulling Mommy and Alta around the yard!  They also have a small hill on the front/side of their house that is just big enough for her right now (eventually she will realize that bigger hills means a faster sled).  Today she went out with Daddy again.  He pulled her around on the sled and they made snow angels (which she said both of hers were for Mommy :D).  I only stayed out for a few minutes to take pictures because it was really cold on any part that wasn't covered (ie...hands and face). 

Another reason I really don't like snow days as an adult is that it really hits my diet hard.....I mean HARD!!!  I have joined our program at work called Worksite Wellness.  We track our fruits and veggies along with our exercise minutes.  We just started our program on Monday.  It is helping keep me more accountable, but I tend to snack and eat more junk on snow days!!! 

I am also going to apologize for the way the pictures look!!!  I have never had SO much trouble adding pictures and moving them around my blog to where I want them!!!

 Travis and I went to Salina to finish up our taxes yesterday (our first snow day this week) and I picked up a cake mix to make with Alta.....I guess while we were gone she told Grammie that she wanted to make cupcakes!!  Grammie and Alta made the cupcakes and then Mommy and Alta frosted them.  She picked out yellow and pink frosting!!

Daddy and Alta making tracks around the house.........

Trying to get on the sled by myself...........

 

...........Need a little help from Daddy..........

...okay.....now I am ready to go for some more sliding (as she calls it :P)!!!

These are pictures from inside the house......didn't turn out too bad if I do say so myself.....plus it was MUCH warmer that way!!!

Then they decided to come up to the window....so the flash glared a little.....then they threw snow balls at us!!!!!

  

KayLynn, Jaqu Von Kitty Kitty (who knows how you spell the darn cat's name!!!) and Grammie

 

KayLynn said "CHEESE" for this picture.......and I have an eye witness too!!!

Beloit 2-Day

I was able to go to the Beloit 2-Day wrestling tourny as the cheerleading sponsor.  I had a lot of fun with the girls that went.....even if they have to pee and miss matches (you know who you are).......  I think it will be fun helping with the high-school cheerleading next year.  Our boys did okay.  Our heavy weight got 6th place, the 135 lb. got 4th place and our 189 lb. got 2nd place.  I am somewhat disappointed with the Minneapolis turnout.  When I started going to wrestling with Travis, there were no seats available if you didn't get there on time!  Now, the girls saved three rows of seats, and they weren't full.  This was Alta's first all day at a tourny......she did pretty well considering.  She wasn't really into the wrestling part of it.....she was into playing with all the little girls from Chanute and Plainville that had Barbies, princesses, and snacks. 

I am getting kind of anxious.....KayLynn's first birthday is coming up FAST!!!  We are having her party in just over a week, and I am NOT ready!!!  I think I had everything for Alta's first party at least a month in advance!  My babies are growing up WAY TOO fast! 

Trying this again

We will see if I am able to keep up with this!!  This school year has been really busy!!  Trying to teach and coach jr. high cheerleading.....it's hard to keep up!!  I just was playing around with the format.....let me know what you think!!