As school time increases, cooking and blogging time decreases

It's a simple formula, really. The more time I spend at school (aka, my job) the less time I spend cooking and blogging. "Directionally proportional" is the math term, I think. As one goes up, the other goes down.

Well, and less reading.

And relaxing.

And having a life.

Oh wait. Those days are done.

It's fall. I don't care what the calendar says about the first official day of fall being at the end of September. Summer ends when school begins. For me, it ended when I got my classroom assignment. All those precious few last days of sunny, warm summer.... I spent in a classroom...inside... with no AC... cleaning & organizing. Blech.

Don't get me wrong, I do love fall - the cooler nights and mornings make it irresistible to stay under the covers in bed. The process of leaves changing from summer's lush green to crunchy reds, yellows, and oranges is quite a sight to behold.

A few quick updates.

We finally got a move-in date to our next rental home: October 1st. It's the cutest little blue house surrounded by a cornfield. The best part is that the owners gave us a key so we can start moving boxes over a few loads at a time until we actually move in in October! Whew! No massive moving trip this time! At least this way it will be easier to get in the swing of full time teaching on my own AND packing up a whole house. Oooooh my. I don't want to think about it right now.

My yucky smashed fingernail has started to detach. But just in the smashed bottom right corner. I can now lift up the nail and peel it back. Sounds gross, and it is. But it's still hanging on by the tiny portion that is still alive, attached, and flesh colored. Regretfully, I do not have a photo of it at this point. You're probly glad. :)

The garden is probably about to burst with tomatoes. I see canned tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce in my future... Also, we will be canning peaches from the local farmer's market on Saturday. (28 qts. here we come!)

Back to School Night is TONIGHT! Actually, it starts in about 30 minutes but I just had to get out of the building for a few minutes so I'm sitting in the one coffee shop in Big Rapids to escape. My classroom is finally done ---I think. For the most part. At least for tonight it looks good enough. (Pictures to come, later) I made a little scavenger hunt for the students to do while I chat with their parents. PTO is cooking out hotdogs (right in front of my classroom! Another reason I didn't want to stay there and get saturated with barbeque smell!) and the school is clean and waiting. Overall, I'm eager for the year to begin and so happy with the other two 1st grade teachers with whom I'll be teaching.

Ferris Students are back so BR seems extra busy. The streets are now super busy at rush hours... okay, well I guess busy is a relative term depending upon where you live.... There's students walking everywhere, tons of new faces in church, and extra long waits for everything around town. BR population must double when Ferris students come back.... that's what it feels like anyways.

We had a bonfire with our small group out at our house on Saturday night. First bonfire in our backyard was a success! We cooked out burgers for dinner then sat around the campfire and ate DELICIOUS cake balls made by one of the wives. I'll make those and post the recipe at some point because I could've eaten the whole platter! Here's a few pics of their cute kids! (I should probably preface these by saying that the kids picked up some cucumbers I had thrown out into the woods...)

So the pictures didn't upload fast enough so I had to bail. Now I'm home and can post them leisurely and with captions. :)

Ethan, sitting in his Cars chair, eating his 3rd or 4th cake ball

Sydnie, with a cucumber on a stick

Landrie, with a GIANT cucumber on a GIANT branch!

Gavin found one just right for roasting....

Sisters: Sydnie & Landrie with Ethan

Alaina, poking at the fire (I don't think she's roasting a cuke!)

our backyard of activity

Love,

Sarah

Pizza

Friday night I made pizzas for a bunch of hungry boys ---Zach, Jared, and Travis. They had just got done baling and unloading straw at the farm so I fed them when they were done.

meat lovers' supreme: pepperoni, sausage, ham, green pepper

meat lovers': pepperoni, sausage, ham

veggie: green pepper and mushroom

my favorite -- BBQ chicken!: BBQ sauce, chicken, onion

They enjoyed the pizza, oh yeah, and homemade chocolate chip cookies then went their separate ways. Jared had to drive back to GR and Zach took my brother Travis home. Travis fell asleep before they were halfway there. After a 4-way scrimmage that morning and an evening of farm work, I'd be tuckered out too!

Here's a few shots from Travis' scrimmage:

Travis making a run on the QB keeper

Travis looking for the pass

So school is just around the corner and I am not a morning person. This is an unfortunate dilemma because teaching elementary school requires you to get up early every day. It's my job. Ugh. Oh well. I'm thankful for summers off! Anyways, instead of dragging myself through the first few weeks of school because my body is used to sleeping in, I decided to get myself back into the "wake up early" routine last week by going to bed at 11PM and waking up at 7:30AM. That worked fine. My body can handle that. I got up every day without a problem.

Well, this week I moved the bedtime back to 10PM and wake up time to 6:30AM... 10PM bedtime? Check. Get up at 6:30AM? Ummmm, okay, maybe it's more like the "alarm goes off but Sarah doesn't get up" time... I have failed to wake up at 6:30AM the past two mornings. It doesn't help that Zach doesn't have to be anywhere early this week so he wants to just stay in bed and snuggle, plus our bed is SUPER comfortable, plus the cool morning temperature this time of year is perfect for staying in a cozy warm bed with the covers up to my chin. It's really a wonderful time to sleep! However, I've got to get better at it the rest of the week.

Yesterday I didn't go in to my classroom.... I stayed home and made some sweet pickle relish. Which was quite easy. I'm getting in to this "canning" thing. It's so easy and the food lasts much longer. I can't wait to can some peaches in the next few weeks and then make applesauce in the coming months. Fall in Michigan is a wonderful time of year!

Okay. I'm going in to my classroom. It's still quite a wreck. And back to school night is next week. When I meet my students. And they see the classroom. And their parents see the classroom. I've got some work to do!

Love,

Sarah

Candace's Berry Brownies

And nowwwww the moment you've all been waiting for ------ Candace's berry brownie recipe! I don't know why it's taken me so long to post this, but it's here now. Hope you enjoy this easy summer dessert!

Candace's Berry Brownies

Ingredients:

1 box of brownie mix (I use Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Family Size - for 13x9 pans)

1 row of oreos (or any knockoff brand works too)

1 can vanilla frosting

1 container blueberries

1 container strawberries

1 container blackberries

Directions:

Mix up the brownies according to the package directions. Zach always makes the brownies in our household so he did all this part. I don't even remember the last time I made brownies...

Open the package of oreos and take out one row of cookies. Use a cookie sheet & cup to crush into tiny pieces. Well, I suppose you could use a blender or food processor.

Add crushed oreos to brownie mix.

Bake brownies according to the package directions.

When brownies are COMPLETELY COOL, frost with lots and lots of frosting. Use the whole can, pretty much.

Wash the berries and cut the strawberries. Top the frosted brownies with the berries. I didn't really have any rhyme or reason to my berry placement. Trust me, it will look great no matter what you do.

EAT!

Love,

Sarah

Short & Random

Random Thought #1:

I love stuffing. The kind of stuffing you make at Thanksgiving when your family is all around - straight from the box is usually best. Homemade stuff has to be just right and it takes a long time to prepare, blah, blah, blah. 15 minutes and you're enjoying a plate full of the boxed mix.

I don't know if it's the smells or memories associated with it but I love it. Well, I guess it tastes pretty good too.

Good enough for me to make a box of it for dinner last night....

Yep. A whole box. Don't worry, I made Zach some salsa chicken!

Random Thought #2:

This is my cat, Simba. Don't ask me why I named him after a lion when he has stripes like a tiger... apparently I wasn't thinking that day.

He lives at my parents' house and is about the only normal cat out of the bunch. Seriously. He does normal things like catch mice & bats, he's quiet and sleeps all day, purrs when you pet him, poops in the litter box... not all the other cats at my parents' house do these things. Another post on another day about my parents' cats and their strange personalities.

That is all.

Love,

Sarah

Welcome to Room 12!

Last Thursday I finally received my room assignment and began moving in on Friday! I have been in there ever since trying to get things moved in, organized, and set up. It's been a long weekend and beginning to the week --and it's only Tuesday. Oh boy.

The room is a "Farm" theme and thanks to some very generous friends and family searching through their closets, attics, and checking out thrift stores, it's looking wonderful! And it helps that the custodians at our school are wonderful too! They've been a huge help painting walls and mounting white boards.

I wish I would have taken more "before" pictures, but I don't ever want to remember that giant mess... so here's some of the "almost done" pictures. :)

bulletin board in the hall outside my room - Room 12.

curtains to hide all the distracting things (made by my mother)

valence - also made by my mother :)

Thanks, mom!

calendar wall partially put together & more curtains by mom

other half of the calendar wall

Front of the room "Before" - like how they painted around the bulletin boards?!

Wall? Painted. Board? Centered and hung.

Oh yeah. I'm in business now!

Reading/Rug Teaching Area

Job chart - jobs are listed in the field and students' tractors are placed by their assigned job

It's amazing I got anything done with these three cuties around! I just wanted to play with them instead of cut, clean, and organize. Thanks for your help today, Nicki!

After all that, I'm not sure I'm going in tomorrow... for my own sanity's sake.

Love,
Sarah

Happy Anniversary, Farmerboy!

Today marks two years of marriage for Farmerboy and me.

First of all, it's hard to believe we've been married two years already! It seems like just yesterday we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get the wedding day all pulled together, the great rehearsal dinner out at the farm,

the ceremony,

the vows,

the TRACTOR (which I think will be talked about forever in our home),

oh yeah, and the wagon tipping over and throwing our bridal party into a terrified pile of arms and legs....

the reception speeches,

the family,

the friends,

the dancing.

It seems so close yet already two years in the past.

Secondly, it's also weird that we've been together for just about nine years! Yep. Nine years. That's a long time for a couple of people who are only 23 and 24 years old. I was 14 and he was 15 when he asked me to be his "girlfriend" back in 10th grade! (Somehow I've got to get a picture of that on here...) I don't know how he put up with me back then because I was NOT the nicest, most kind-hearted, soft-spoken girl back then... there's some things in life that I am GLAD that they have changed. Namely my rotten attitude, horribly rough personality, and knack for speaking things before thinking. So glad the Lord has worked on my heart to be mostly rid of those things!

Zach's 17th Birthday

12th grade Senior High Youth Group trip to Chicago

Football game before leaving for freshman year of college

Zach on the other hand has been the picture of consistency and security for the past nine years. Seriously. If you know Zach, he's so easy going and laid back and never complains about anything. He works hard but he'll drop everything to help a friend or family member. He's such a good listener and encourager and he makes friends feel welcome and comfortable so quickly. He's so thoughtful and caring but also a man's man and can fix, shoot, and drive just about anything!

He's changed a lot too over the year but in all the best ways. Mostly growing as a leader and speaking up and taking charge when necessary. He's grown so much and I'd follow him anywhere.

Happy Anniversary, Farmerboy!

At David & Catherine O'Neill's wedding, 8.5.11

Love,

Sarah

Mini-Vacation in Canada

Well, well. I finally make it back to the computer and sit still long enough to post! The whole story for the delay is that we got back from Canada late Tuesday night then I FINALLY found out which classroom is mine and was able to start moving things in on Friday! Woot woot! Pretty much the room was a wreck when I got in there Friday morning because the previous teacher cleaned out NOTHING when she left. Oh joy.... I am so thankful for one of the kindergarten teachers who took out 5 big garbage bags of trash before I got there! I spent all day Friday cleaning and sorting and dusting and arranging. The old kindergarten cubbies got moved out and I got a teacher's desk. My mom has been a big help getting things organized & cleaned up. Today we were in there for a few hours -me, making a sweet bulletin board - and my mom, sewing red gingham curtains! My room is a "Farm" theme and I'll post pictures sometime once it doesn't look like 20 7-year-old trashed the place. :)

Our mini vacation in Canada at G & G O'Neill's cottage was great. We drove up on Saturday after David & Catherine O'Neill's wedding on Friday. We spent time at the beach, laying in the SUN! (which I was very thankful for since the weatherman had forecasted blasted rain the whole time we were scheduled to be there!) We read books, took naps, grilled out, and spent lots of quality time together which was just what I needed, my love language being "Quality Time."

On Sunday afternoon we drove to "Canada's Prettiest Town," Goderich, for dinner. (And to get a new key cut for the cottage since ours didn't work and we got locked out and had to ask the neighbors for their spare key. Haha!) Not much was open on Sunday so we took a little drive around the Square downtown then went for a walk across a big bridge whose name I can't remember. :)

Oh yes! And Zach got us an anniversary present which he made me open on the first day as soon as we got there (he even wrapped it all up in wrapping paper! Isn't he great!) and it was a new camera! More specifically, a Canon Rebel T3! We had been talking about getting that puppy for awhile and it was a great surprise! We played around with the different settings all weekend and tried to read the manual, but we're more trial and error type folks. Well, trial and error until there's more errors than successes and I get mad and finally look in the manual. :)

On Monday we returned to Goderich bright and early to get some delicious donuts from Culbert's Bakery. Zach LOVES them so we got 2 dozen. I think we ate almost a whole dozen between Monday & Tuesday when we left! Seriously, they're so good and you have to eat the fresh - like same day or day after fresh- or else they start to lose they're delicious qualities. Okay, I might be exaggerating. But they don't taste very good today, that's for sure. I ate one and it was not the same...

Well, I hate to cut things short since it's been awhile, but we are off to Battle Creek for a leadership seminar and we have to leave in about 15 minutes... and it usually takes me that long to get ready... sometimes longer... and Zach sits on the couch waiting for me...and then we leave 10 minutes late.

Oh well.

Love,

Sarah

Here's a few more photos:

On the shore of Lake Huron

Candace's berry brownie recipe!

The Michael Jordan Tongue Sticking Out Jump

How do we actually work this thing?!

Glad to be together for 4 whole days!

On the bridge

On the bridge

sunning myself and reading!

Zach & his Canadian donuts

The infamous Culbert's Bakery