Dreams of Summer

We have been getting quite a few warm spells the past couple weeks which make me only long for everything Spring and Summer will bring! Okay, not everything. I could do without bugs, and humidity, but I will pretty much take everything else.

I can't wait for float trips with family and friends I can't wait to buy fresh fruits and veggies every Saturday morning from the local farmers market. I can't wait to get the grill started up and have the hubby start grilling chicken, steaks, kabobs, fish, veggies, pizza, etc! I can't wait to start a little outdoor oasis on our back deck with flower boxes and planters. I can't wait for possible outdoor concerts, weekend trips, hiking, and maybe a vacation!

As much as I can't wait for these things, I am really trying to live in the present and enjoy current happenings!

So, this weekend, I can't wait to see my sister's science experiment and a Science Olympiad, the Missouri state FIRST Robotics competition hosted by Missouri S&T, going to the lake for some shopping on Sunday with my mom and sister, and watching the Oscars!

Spring and Summer will be here soon enough and I am sure when the end of July rolls around, I will be ready for fall!

Until then, I have posted some pictures that make me think of summer or are some favorite summer memories!

My birthday pizza that my roommate made for me when I turned 21! That was an awesome summer!

Farmers Market! I can't wait!

Me in Germany with my mug of beer from the Hofbrauhaus!

Me mom and me hiking in Germany. Hands down, best vacation EVER! I can never say thank-you enough to my mom for such a wonderful trip!

Yummm! Grilling! I want to get the Weber grilling cookbook that has everything from meats to veggies to pizzas to desserts!

This will always be my favorite summer destination! Door County brings me so much peace and relaxation!

Awesome roomies my junior year of college! This was the start of the summer!

Best summer memory to date, our beautiful wedding last May!

What are your favorite summer memories? What are you looking forward to most about spring and summer?

It will all be worth it!

As many of you know, I currently have a job that is not favorable by any means and still continue to look for work. The difference between this year and last year when I was job searching was that I was looking all over the country for work, while, now, my search is more localized to the Midwest. I try not to get frustrated with my current job as I know, with the current economic climate, I should be lucky that I even have a job.

While I want to find a job so very badly, I also have Adam to think about. Right now, he is going back to school and is hoping to be full-time in the fall depending on what kind of financial aid we receive. He wants to go to school for Electrical Engineering, and, let's face it, he will make more money than I ever will working in education. We are married now and I have to think of his needs and goals in life as well. He is so supportive and tells me to keep applying for other jobs, but in the back of my mind I am always thinking, "Will this be the right move for us? Should I just wait it out here until Adam is done with school?" I hate making big girl decisions!

My personal take on Valentines Day

While I know there was much celebrating yesterday for Valentines' Day, I just can't get excited about it. I think it is great for the people who get nice things and go out to dinner and really show their love towards their significant other, however, my attitude is, shouldn't you want to show your love throughout the rest of the year? I also think some of it is a waste of money. The cost of the bouquet of flowers my husband could get me on Valenetine's, could buy me two of the same bouquet any other time of the year. I also feel like too many peole put too much pressure on what will happen on this holiday that they end up being let-down in the long run. That is no fun for anyone!

I don't want to be a Debbie-downer regarding this holiday and I am happy for everyone who had a FABULOUS holiday, but this is my blog and I feel as though I can speak my mind freely.

With that said, however, my husband and I did have a quite night at home. I made a new pasta sauce that I have been wanting to try, we ate used our crystal stemware and china that we started getting for our wedding, and I made a special dessert as well. When dinner was almost done, I went to change my clothes and I came out to a candle-lit apartment with my favorite songs playing. It was perfect and not overdone. There was no pressure.

These are the little guys I made for dessert! They were the perfect size. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the ones I made but they looked very similar to these!

Pictures of the apartment when I came from changing my clothes!

Am I being a hypocrite? What did you and the love of your life do for Valentine's Day?



To review, or not to review?

"Great people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about other people." This is a quote that I am going to try to keep in mind more often as I go on with my daily life. Lately, I feel as though more of my conversations have been circling around individual people and I don't like that about myself. In order to remedy this, I started thinking about doing an article review/discussion with my husband. This was something I enjoyed doing in while in graduate school, and, while we only discussed higher education "hot topics," it was a great way to exchange ideas and thought as well as challenge my thinking.

There are a couple reasons why I would like to start this with the hubby. First, Adam and I don't have cable (which is no excuse to not keep up with happenings) but I think this would be a great to stay well-versed with current events. Second, since I am not in school anymore, I feel as though my mind is turning into mush. I would have never said this a few years ago when I first started college, but I want to be a life-long learner. If I am able to learn, why let that ability go to waist? I don't have to be enrolled in classes to learn but can easily learn through article review and discussion.

I still need to present this idea to Adam but I was thinking we both pick one article a week for both of us to read and discuss them over dinner. What do you think? Should article reviews be reserved primarily for classes and work? Or, can husbands and wives partake in this activity?

Snowzilla, Snowmageddon, Snocopalypse, whatver you want to call the Great Blizzard for 2011

In my last post I mentioned how we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful, 60 degree weather we had last weekend; especially since the Midwest we were supposed to get slammed with a major winter storm. As each day approached, the storm sounded worse and worse. The paranoid folk of Rolla, MO hit the stores to stock-up for this "never-seen-before" weather. The storm stretched about 800 miles. Rolla got hit with more ice than anything and probably, by the middle of Tuesday (02/01) we had about an inch of pure ice-then the snow started to fall, and fall, and fall. While this weather did call for a lot of school cancellations (including Missouri S&T for two days in a row), the weather wasn't as bad as what I was expecting. Now, my friends in the Kansas City area, for example, REALLY got slammed and from what I heard, we got more ice; they got my snow!

Here are some pictures from the weather. I wish I had gotten some better ones and some pictures of us sledding and playing in the snow, but these will have to do!

The family dog having a good time. This was taken on Tuesday, before we got a lot of snow!

Our little back deck off of our apartment!