The shower invitations turned out so cute! I used white cardstock with baby footprints on it. I typed up a cute little saying on to vellum and then attached the two using blue satin ribbon. I'm impressed. I need to get Mrs. Miller's approval then they will be put in the mail....

I went to Julie's house today. We watched Intolerable cruelty and had Quiznos for lunch. That was only my 2nd time to have Quiznos. I was a little uncertain about going there because the last time I went I remember I didn't like it- but that was years ago back in Austin. Today I had a much better experience- I ordered the turkey swiss melt. YUM!

Anyway, I'm off to workout. Trying to get back into a routine. Have a wonderful FRIDAY!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation
by Tara Johnson

Monday kicked off my first real day of summer! It feels weird to be off but I imagine I'll get used to it. Here is a little about my weekend. Travis and I went up to my grandma's ranch out in Hye, Tx. A little place barely on the map. We met my parents, grandma and aunt up there for a little bit of spring cleaning. After that we all headed back to Fredericksburg and got cleaned up. Travis and I went to this trendy little place called, Lincoln Street Bistro. It's a fine wine and cigar bar with an European Atmosphere located on Lincoln St. We only stayed for a bit because we were looking for food, rather than drinks but we both decided that it's definitely a place worth going back to! Sunday we took a scenic drive through Willow, Tx. It was absolutely beautiful- hills, flowers...ROCKS! Travis wanted to check out an outcrop of Serpentinite that he knew was out there. He tried to get a sample of it but decided against it when we saw the NO TRESPASSING sign. So we drove around for awhile longer and then headed back to Houston and then on to Conroe.
Travis and I spent Monday and Tuesday running around town with Lucy in tow. Now I'm finally back at my place about to head out to Michael's to get paper for invitations! I spent some time online the other day looking up wording shower invitations and I found these cool sites!

chelseapaper.com
katespaperie.com
invitationconsultants.com
noteworthynotes.com
gladdisdesign.com


I'm off to find the perfect paper to make the perfect invitations. ;)

2.5 days left of school! I told Travis my name should be The Packing Queen! I have emptied out a couple of shelves and a cabinet and moved all of my teacher crap into my new classroom. I have to admit that I am much more productive in the morning than in the afternoon. Tomorrow I will have to recruit extra help from my kids to help this process along.

About my weekend...
Travis and I postponed our camping trip for another time. It was probably a good idea we did anyway because we wouldn't have been able to fully enjoy ourselves and the great outdoors in only one day! So instead of camping we went up to Austin on Saturday to see Maxie's first dance recital. Talk about cute! Maxie was in 2 dances with a dress change in between.

The first was a ballet to Edelwiess.



And the second was a tap to Peppermint Twist.


After the second dance we all went out to dinner to Mamacita's to celebrate! We headed back to Conroe after dinner, getting home around 11:30 that night. Sunday was spent cleaning out the car, running errands, and taking it easy! And by taking it easy I mean swinging in the hammock. If you've never had the chance to swing in one you should definitely try it! I give it 5 stars!

Yesterday evening Travis and I prepared a fajita dinner for his parents. I have decided that cooking for someone is nice, but cooking with someone is even better! (especially when it's Travis)!

Tuesday night was Kindergarten Farewell, which is just another name for Kindergarten graduation without really calling it that. We have to call it something other than a graduation because Fort Bend says that children should only graduate once and that it should be at grade 12.

Anywho....The kids showed up at 6:45 all decked out in tuxes, suites and ties, and ball gowns. Just about every single kid dressed up- it's always a sight to see. The kids did a great job and from what I can tell the audience enjoyed the show too. My parents and Travis came for the evening and said that the program was really cute!

5 days to go until the bell rings for the last time this school year. I'm taking a half day on Friday because Travis and I are going camping this weekend at McKinney Falls. It should be a great weekend for it and I'm so excited because I haven't been camping in forever! Saturday we will drive into Buda to freshen up and then head to Maxie's 1st dance recital.

I will be sure to take my camera because this weekend holds many photo/scrapbook opportunities!

It's almost the end of the school year...12 days to go and YES I'm counting!
This last month has just flown by for me and that's a good thing because I'm ready for a break!
Next week is our big Kindergarten Farewell program. It's going to be really cute the night of but all the practices leading up to it would have you fooled. Today was the first day to practice on the stage and behind the curtain. Imagine trying to control 135, five year olds. It's almost impossible but you have to keep telling yourself 12 more days...Just 12 more days.

After those 12 days I'm not sure what I'll have going on. I definitely want to go on a roadtrip- somewhere sunny! I am also considering getting a second job to help pay bills and so I can start stashing more money away!I've considered working at LoneStar Paper Company out in The Woodlands or waiting tables. Waiting tables is fast money and offers a flexible schedule and it might be my best bet.

But all of that still needs to be decided on and I'm not going to worry if I don't find anything because it will be nice to just do nothing for awhile.

As an added BONUS I have included pictures from this past weekend taken at the farm

OK- so most of you know that I grew up spending my summers at my Grandparent's farm. I grew to LOVE cows and even had one of my own named Lillybelle. I had no fear about cows up until now. One day I was home alone up at the farm- Travis had gone into town for something and I was scrapbooking at the kitchen table. I had the front and back doors open allowing a cool breeze to pass through and while I was working I heard this loud "moo" off in the distance. I get up and go out to the patio and do a cow call that my Papa did when he wanted the cows to come. I waited and waited. Then finally I hear the "moo" again and this time it's closer and louder and more frequent. I see the cows coming and run inside and shut all the doors. I was so scared! Especially of the black one. I don't know what her deal was but she would not stop mooing!!

That happend a few weeks ago but I tried the cow call again this past weekend on some innocent baby cows that live on the place across from The Millers.

When I did the cow call on these guys I got many stares and stomps out of them!



Here is my cowboy fresh off the tractor!

Happy Birthday Travis!

This past weekend was the big birthday bash in Keechi. Travis and I drove out Friday night to his parents farm, stopping in Willis to load up on groceries. We made it up there around 10:30. It was about to storm when we pulled up, we quickly unloaded things and then hit the sack.

Our day started off nice. Made breakfast, had a cup of coffee, watched a show on the game show Network called- CRAM and then took a shower. Seems pretty typical- nothing unusual.
UNTIL. . . I hear the words, "If you're going to take a shower you probably want to get in now!"
Apparently the handle to turn off the water had been striped and in order to turn off the water in the shower we had to turn the water off completely. So I quickly hopped in and rub-a-dub dubbed.

To make a long story short, we had to make a trip into town. Little did we know that the rain we had the night before caused major flooding down the dirt road. We must have sat at the floodline for 20 minutes. After some discussion, we drove through it, and went into town. We bought some parts and headed home, over the river, and through the woods....

Travis worked so hard on the shower but decided to just plug up the opening and save the work for the next day because it was time to PARTY.

Travis' buddies came up to the farm to help celebrate his birthday. I had made a brisket, greenbean casserole, queso and corn. For dessert, his mom sent along a carrot cake and I had picked up some slice and bake cookies when we were in town. The meal was a hit and the desserts were delicious! And here a pictures from the first party in Keechi!

Travis is in his fancy pearl snap shirt.



"Happy birthday"



Charlie, Travis' friend, bought this huge, inflatable water slide for hours of fun!




I'm so happy that his friends could make it, it really meant a lot to Travis and I both. Travis had a great time and we are working on plans for the next big thing in KEECHI. I'll keep you posted!

I hope he likes ducks and airplanes! --Mark

Julie had her baby today!

Andrew James Witten
12:36pm
7 lbs 6oz
18in

He is one precious little redhead!

So I've been told once or twice that I'm an organized person but for some reason I can't seem to get my closet organized. I have piles of clothes waiting to be hung up. I have a basket overflowing with dirty clothes and boxes of stuff on the top shelf. It's a mess and it's making me nuts!

Yesterday I made an attempt to organize the top shelf. Travis told me to go from top to bottom. I went through every box and got rid of things that I didn't need and hadn't looked at in a long time.

I got rid of one bag of trash but you really couldn't even tell.

Just ask Travis.

I told him not to look any lower than the top shelf. He stood there wide eyed with a puzzled look on his face. It was like he thought I was joking about cleaning the closet out. LOL

Maybe he couldn't tell but I had one heaping bag of trash to prove that I had done something. . . .

So, today I'm going to make another attempt to get things hung up and make the space clutter free.

I have the latest issue of Real Simple magazine which has some great tips on how to organize yourself and simplify your life. The article, The Organizer, was a great source of inspiration for making my living space clutter free!

Clutter is that stuff you don't notice, use, or care about until it's time to get rid of it. Yet at that precise moment, although you know better, letting go of your Riverdance instructional video or those 25 blank notepads feels like smothering a piece of your soul. You are plagued with concerns: What if you need it someday? Why did you buy it? What would Antique Rooadshow say....

...Time to kiss the clutter good-bye!

The time has come for me to update!

Talk about a relaxing day for me!
First of all I'm off today. Actually I have been off since last Friday! I love being a teacher!

So this past weekend Travis and I went up to the farm for some alone time. It was a great weekend for us! Travis worked on tearing down a wall and putting up new paneling and I worked on my scrapbook. His mom sent us up there with a project to complete: paint the coffee table red! So we did and it turned out really cute! We headed back to Conroe on Sunday for Easter lunch with his parents and his brother Scott. His mom is the best cook! The rest of the day we spent unpacking his room and getting him organized. I think we have a little more work to do but it's almost done! Yesterday I spent the day at home and rented some movies. Travis has been wanting me to see All the Pretty Horses and I have been wanting to see Something's Gotta Give. I watched the second one with my mom last night when I went over there. I decided I'd go ahead and spend the night there since I had to take Lucy to the vet this morning for her third round of shots and for her watery eyes and itchy ears. So this morning I woke up and took her in and she cried and cried after being poked 3 times and having drops put down her ears but luckily the vet had doggy treats readily available to calm her down!

After that mess I went back to my apartment and dropped her off. Then I went to Houston Plant and Garden Center and bought 6 potted plants, a new pair of gardening gloves and a bag of potting soil. I found that HPGC has the lowest prices on plants, flowers and gardening essentials. From there I went to HEB to stock up on fresh vegetables and other healthy foods. If you have access to an HEB in your neck of the woods you have to try the Hill Country Fair Lime Water! It's the best flavored water out there and its' sugar free!

NICE.

From there I went back home and unloaded my groceries and transplanted my flowers into new pots. Now I have the prettiest balcony in the complex!
See for yourself:
an assortment of flowers


some more flowers


and a few more.

. . . And just for kicks, here is an updated picture of Lucy!

Well this was quite the week at school. We had our annual fieldtrip to the Oil Ranch out in Hockley, Texas.
It was the perfect weather for a field trip- extreme clear and breezy! The kids had a great time running around all day! I had 7 parents who chaperoned and because of them I was able to float around and do my own thing, like go on a hay-ride! Yee-Haw!







It's true kids do say the darndest things. For example we traveled over 50 miles and one child shouted "Hey! Miss Johnson, we're not in Townewest any more!" Then upon arrival back at school (keep in mind that it's 2:20) I heard, "so now do we eat lunch?" and "We aren't doing any work today?"

Silly kids but you gotta love 'em!

The day after the fieldtrips are the longest because you're still tired from the day before and the kids are still talking about the trip and excited that it's the last day of the week, etc. I didn't think the day would ever end but it did and now I'm home! I'm thinking about heading to my favorite store to get Julie a shower gift! Please tell me you know what my favorite store is? If you guessed Target you advance to go and collect $200!
Her baby could be coming any day within the next 2 weeks! How exciting!

Tomorrow is the shower and afterwards I'm heading to Conroe to meet Travis' dad to drive up to the farm with him. Travis is already up there with his mom but Mr. Miller said he'd wait on me and take me up there! Should be a fun weekend! Oh and I'm getting Lucy's picture taken with the Easter Bunny at Petco!
So that'll be fun! I'll post pictures soon! Have a wonderful weekend!

So I've been hinted at to update my blog. So without hesitation here is the scoop.
Travis and I have been working at packing up his apartment. Finally on Saturday we were able to get everything out of the apartment and either to storage or to his parent's place. You never realize how much stuff you have until it comes time to move.

That afternoon we drove down to Austin for Maxie's birthday party on Sunday.

Here are a few pics of the Big Barbie Bash!


A pre-party shot



Before we cut the cake- not just any cake- a Barbie cake



Macey, Maxie and Bubba wearing Barbie hats in the latest spring colors!



Maxie was so lucky! She got a Barbie moonwalk

I just finished my six hour defensive driving course that took me 3 days to complete. I passed with a 95, cutting it close indeed.

I am so glad it's done! Now I can enjoy the last few days of my spring break!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Well the week is almost to an end. I'm finishing up my defensive driving course online today. I recommend doing it online because it allows you to go at your own pace instead of being trapped at one of those sit down courses. I have done that before and if you know me I hate being inside for too long. Defensive Driving lets you log on and off as many times as you want. It's a lot of reading and watching videos but definitely worth it. Hopefully I'll finish that today and then spend the rest of the day at Barnes and Noble or something relaxing like that. Sometimes it feels great just to do nothing so that's always an option.

Well today was day number 2 of my spring break. This morning I went to Petsmart to purchase a leash for Lucy. I never realized how expensive leashes were until today. I spent $19 on a retractable leash as opposed to the $12 for a standard leash. The good thing about this leash (besides the fact that it's retractable and that it matches her collar) is that it is suitable for dogs up to 26lbs. We are anticipating Lucy weighing 10-15lbs so this leash should work out for us. I took Lucy to the Vet this afternoon and found out that she weighs 5.8lbs. That would be 2.4lbs more than last time- chubby little puppy.
I also got my haircut since it was driving me crazy. I thinned out my layers and trimmed my bangs and now my hair feels a lot better. I spent the remainder of my day at my parents house. Now I'm home, listening to Jim Brickman and just about ready for bed. But first, as promised here are some photos taken over the past weekend.


Painting the crown molding




One more wall to go

Just when I thought that the BRAVO network couldn't get any better they came up with a show called Significant Others It's a comedy with no scripts...so the actors say whatever the #&!@* they want! How cool does that sound? Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

.

Have you ever noticed how on Trading Spaces they can paint a 12x12 room in no time at all? Maybe it's the catchy jingle they play while they speed everything up or maybe it's the just the design team themselves busting their ass to get the job done. I haven't quite figured it out but I wish I would have known their technique this past weekend. Travis is moving back to Conroe later this month and on Saturday the two of us painted his bedroom in his parents house. We decided on a mossy shade of green. We used a dry brush technique that makes the dried paint look like linen. The room turned out awesome. I took some before and after pictures so you can see the effect for yourself.
(will post later)
Many of you know that I can't stand to go to stores that are "super sized" like Wal-Mart, Sam's or Costco. I don't buy anything in bulk and therefore don't go there. I thought the same of Home Depot and Lowes until Saturday when we went to get the paint. I never realized all the things Lowes has. It has EVERYTHING you could ever think of for home improvement and it's affordable. If you or someone you know is into design or home improvement you should definitely scan the aisles at Lowes! I will definetly be a repeat costumer. . .Wal-Mart is still out of the question.
Just when you thought this entry couldn't get anymore interesting I found this awesome duvet cover that would go great with the room and Travis' furniture. I hope he can eventually get the cover and the other linens that go along with it.
Anyway the big move takes place at the end of the month so let the joy of packing begin!

The Personality Test

1) Who is the first person you think of.
2) You are walking along and meet an animal in the forest. What kind of
animal is it?
2.5) How do you react to the animal?
3) You continue in the forest and you come across a house. What type of
house is it.
4) Is there a fence around the house?
5) You go in to the house and there is a glass or cup on the table. What is
it made of?
6) There is some thing on the table next to it. What is it?
7) You walk out of the house and there is a body of water. How big is it?
8) You want to get across the body of water how do you get across it.

- 1-This is the most important person in your life.
- 2-This is the size of your problems with that person.
- 2.5-This is how you deal with problems with that person.
- 3-The size of the house shows your ambition to solve problems with the person.
- 4-If there is a fence you are closed and less trusting
- 5-This is the strength of your relationship with that person.
- 6-If food or flowers you are happy.
-7-The size of the romantic interest in that person.
-8-How wet you get shows how involved you want to be with the person.

Here are some pictures as promised of the wedding this past weekend in Nacodoches or Naconowhere as Travis and Donny like to call it.



A kiss is just a kiss, unless it's from these guys. From left to right: Charlie, Jeff, Donny, and Travis. I tried 3 times to get this shot and everytime I was ready to take it someone would walk right in front of me. The nerve of some people. ;) But luckily these are some of the nicest boys around and they were willing to try one more time.



This is one of my favorite pictures of Travis and I. I love the hats that Charlie and Jeff made. I know. I know. You're probably thinking I'm on drugs but really they are pretty cool. Each groomsmen wore a traditional straw hat that was hand painted electric blue with canary yellow flames on the brim.



Here are Donny, Travis and Jeff. Donny and Travis have been friends for 22 years. They happen to be two of the nicest men I have ever met- and they are funny as hell. So, did you hear the one about. . . .Jeff was the best man in the wedding. He had the important roll of handling the ring and making a toast. Both of which he exceeded expectations~ snaps to Jeff!



Well excuse me, but I think you've got my chair. No that ones not taken, that'd be fine if you sit here. I'll be glad to share..... In this picture Robert, Chad, Travis, Charlie, and Donny are singing George Strait's, The Chair to Samantha. There is nothing I like more than someone singing to me. . . even if they intentionally sound like a dying cow- it's still going to melt my heart. =)

Hello all.

I just got in from one of the longest days ever. I left work at 4 which is 30 minutes later than normal. I'm usually out the door right at 3:30 and usually at 3:31 I make a call to Travis but not today. He ended up calling me at 4 wondering where I was.
I had to get some things taken care of at work, input some test scores into the computer and conference with a parent. As soon as that was done I decided to take the short cut home which ended up being the long way due to a stalled bus. Grrr.

Things got better once I met up with Kristine. I was on a big mission tonight to find an outfit for the wedding I am going to on Saturday. I thought I had found the perfect dress in Spring but I wanted to check out what Houston had to offer. So I met up with Krissy and we headed to Foley's. I found the cutest skirt- it's pink and black, A-line cut and really flattering! Then after trying on 10 different pairs of shoes I finally decided on some black strapy, high heeled shoes- very sexy. I sent Kristine on a personal mission while I made my decisions- her mission to find the perfect purse to go with the perfect skirt and the perfect shoes!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in under 5 minutes- in fact she made it to the cashier before I even handed the man my card. SNAPS for KRISSY all around.

So, now I'm going to pack my bag and shower and the head to my Travis' house. Today he had puppy duty- Lucy left him a big (actually small but just as smelly) surprise! How lucky!

While surfing the net I found an IQ test. I hate taking tests but since I metTravis he has opened my eyes to the wonderful world of riddles and thinking out of the box. I'm by no means the best at figuring out his brain-busters but I can usually figure out the easy ones.

Here is a sample question:

Walter is taller than Scott,
and Scott's little brother is taller than Roger.
Since Walter is not the tallest one of the four,
then Scott's little brother must be tallest.
True False

Post your answers on my TAG board located to the left of this blog!


My IQ score was 136. A person whose IQ score falls in the range of 129-143 is considered to be "highly intelligent".

My IQ score was based on my scores across 12 distinct aspects of intelligence. Like everyone, I have a unique intellectual makeup, with strengths and weaknesses that affect my methods of understanding, communication and relating to others. According to my results, my greatest intellectual strength is Processing Speed- is that a good thing?