Reaching our goal! ...by default

Well we did it - we reached the goal for our house savings! And even before the end of the year! I must admit though, we kind of reached the goal by default. I had a small account at a brokerage firm that's been there for a long time and really hasn't done much of anything - one way or the other. It's money that I received from a former employer years ago and I just kind of plopped it in this account. With everything losing so much money over the past months, we decided that it might be a good idea to cash out this account and have some extra cash on hand should we need it.

Since we don't need it, and the plan is to save as much money as we can for the house, we went ahead and put the lump sum into our house account. I must say...I just love looking at the amount in that account! Even before we put this extra cash in there, we both had an enormous sense of accomplishment at how much we were able to save...especially considering circumstances were less than optimal. Since I've been giving percentages of where we're at, here's the latest: 106.16% of our goal. YAHOO!!!

Now...on to set a new savings goal!

Bistro Meal

Mmmm...beef bourginon! Nothing says fall like a big crock-pot of bubbling beef stew! That's what we're having for dinner tonight and I just love how wonderfully 'homey' it makes the house smell. We're trying to be good and cut down on a lot of the fat in our diet, so this dish is kind of a new one ... with reduced fat. I reduced the amount of meat in the dish and used 99% fat free beef broth. There is a touch of butter in there, but only one tablespoon to make the roux - much less than has been used in the past. I even found reduced fat bacon! And, as you can see, there are lots and lots of delicious veggies in there! Oh, and I thought I'd add some sun-dried tomatoes, too. They add a wonderful richness. Tonight's menu: crock-pot beef bourginon, red leaf lettuce salad with tomatoes, persian cucumbers and red peppers, and asiago cheese bread. For dessert: fresh sliced strawberries over chocolate angel food cake and a dollop of light whipped cream. YUM! I can hardly wait for dinner!

Fall Breakfast Spread

This morning we had a small gathering at our home and we provided some goodies for breakfast. By the time we finished setting everything out, it looked - to me at least - like the perfect fall breakfast spread! We had strawberries/blueberries/kiwi, bananas, scones, freshly baked pumpkin bread with a lightly sweetened cream cheese spread, crustless quiche, hard boiled eggs, pomegranate juice and lots of fresh, hot, strong coffee. Mmmmmm. Now that's a spread worth waking up early on a Saturday morning for!

And here's Slippers...just hoping that something might fall on the ground!

Workin' for a Livin'

YAHOOOOO!!! Kevin is now back among the fully employed! We are both so excited!

He'd interviewed earlier in the summer for SGUSD; he did not get that job, but we remained hopeful. About three weeks ago we saw another posting for a position at SGUSD; he applied and they called him in to test for the job. Since he'd already tested there earlier for the other position, he called to say that, if they still needed him to test, he'd be happy to do so, but he reminded them that he'd already tested there in June. They pulled the results and told him he was definitely qualified and they'd call him when interviews were being scheduled. This last Wednesday, he interviewed for the job. Friday morning they called and asked if he could come in for a second interview with the principal - which he did. They hit it off and had a great interview! She asked him to 'sound surprised when they call and offer you the job.' Sure enough, about two hours later they phoned from the district and offered him the job - which he gladly accepted. YAY!

Tomorrow morning he will go in to the district office and get all of the paperwork started. We're guessing he'll be starting the position by the end of the week. It's a middle school position similar to mine, but his position is a ten month position whereas mine is eleven. This is wonderful news! It means that we'll both be off all of the same holidays, 2 weeks for the winter break, a week in the spring, and we'll overlap for our summers off. There will be no worries if we can get this time off for vacation, or that time off for a weekend away -- we'll both be off at the same time!! While the pay is a bit less than what he was making before, it's definitely something we can live with -- especially since he'll have wonderful benefits and retirement.

It's been a long few months, and we're so grateful the dry spell is over!! Go Bulldogs!!

Operation: Bucket 'o' Oatmeal

Kevin and I have been on an oatmeal kick recently. We both love it and, while not *terribly* time consuming to make in the morning, it does take a bit of time. The solution came one day when we were talking about making a batch in advance. That went over so well that Kevin decided to do it on an even grander scale; he called it "Operation: Bucket 'o' Oatmeal".

This particular operation yeilded no less than 12 sandwich sized baggies of oatmeal. YUM! Add a little brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans, and some 1% milk. Mmmmm. Now *that's* a good breakfast!

Mom and Dad's Kitchen Update

After 6 long weeks...it's finally finished! Mom and dad's kitchen has been completely remodeled. You've seen the 'before' pictures. You've seen the 'during' pictures. And now...the 'after' pictures! Here they are:




Isn't it just beautiful? I absolutely love it! I know mom and dad do, too. Moreover, I know they're glad it's finally finished and they can have their kitchen back - sans work men!

Just a little update...

With all of the hoopla going on in the financial sector, we've not figured out yet where we stand with our own housing situation. The landlord still has our house up for sale and, until recently, it's not bothered me at all. However, within the last month, he's lowered the price three times (!) - which leads me to believe he's having financial difficulties. We're still not sure what will happen yet, but we've been putting little dribs and drabs of money into our house fund. With only 2 1/2 months to go, it seems unlikely that we'll reach our one year goal by December. That said, we're not going to miss it by too far!! We are currently sitting at 70.30% of goal so my guess is that we'll reach probably 85 to 88% of our goal. Not bad at all! Especially considering we doubled the amount we first thought of as a goal. So, in one respect, I guess you could say we met our goal and went far beyond. In the end, though, I'm glad we doubled the original amount; because we set our sights higher, we worked really hard at increasing our house savings every month. If we hadn't, we would have reached the initial goal, but probably wouldn't have made as much progress on furthering the amount we saved.

Sweeeeeeeeeet Caroline!!!

A few months ago for our anniversary, Kevin bought us tickets for the upcoming Neil Diamond concert at Staples Center. Well, last night was the concert. It was SO much FUN!! Kevin teased me about singing every song, but don't let him fool you...he was singing right along with me! Staples was packed to the gills - a fact that didn't escape Neil who asked to have the lights brought up so that he could see how many people were there. With the exception of a few seats that were blocked off because their would be no stage visibility, the arena was completely sold out.

It was great fun singing along to all of my favorite Neil Diamond songs. Well, me and 18,300 of our closest friends! Kevin commented before we left that we'd probably be the youngest people in the crowd. Again, don't be fooled. Every age group was represented in that large crowd - from grandmas all the way down to young children. And while the grandmas certainly recognized more Neil tunes than the younger crowd, there was definitely something for everyone...including 'I'm a Believer' which the younger crowd no doubt recognized from the movie 'Shrek'. (By the way - Joe, if you're reading this...because he thinks you look so much like Neil Diamond, Kevin said we went to see *you* in concert last night!)

Before heading off to the concert, we stopped first at the Original Pantry Cafe for bite to eat. Nothing fancy, just good comfort food...and lots of it. However, I didn't want Wii to have a Fit, so I was good and had coleslaw, bread and soup. Not exactly lo-cal, but certainly much better than other options on the menu. The result this morning: didn't lose anything, but didn't gain anything either. It was exactly the same as the day before. You can call me steady-Eddie. Kevin called me a brat =)

Me and the Wii

I'm happy to report that Wii Fit and I are getting along much better these days. Our relationship is still new - today was our eleventh day together - so we're still learning about each other. But I must say, it looks like our relationship will be a long and happy one. Yes, it still says 'OH!' when I step on the balance board, but, as with any relationship, there are things you just have to learn to overlook; this unfortunate trait is one. No matter. I've discovered many wonderful things about Wii Fit, and I'd prefer to dwell on these.

One thing, though, if you're considering a Wii Fit relationship of your own - don't be too thin skinned. You must remember, when it chastises you for not working out for a day, it only has your best interest at heart. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Free Museum Day

This past Saturday was Free Museum Day courtesy of Smithsonian. Kevin and I used this opportunity to visit two local museums for the price of one! The first stop of the day was The Pasadena Museum of California Art. What fun! They had a wonderful exhibit of plein air paintings of the California Missions - though only one etching of my favorite mission - San Juan Bautista (even, with my limited artistic ability, I drew a sketch of the bell tower!). They also had a photography exhibit of Greene and Greene architechture. The museum was nice, but a bit small. I'm glad it was free because the $7.00 per person admission is a bit steep in my opinion for such a small museum.

Next stop was the Norton Simon Museum. I love that place! If you've ever watched the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, you've seen the Norton Simon.

Recognize it? Anyway - if you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend you take advantage of it! Especially if you're a fan of 19th Century art - Degas, van Gogh, Pissaro, Cezanne, etc.
I loved so many of the things we saw it would be very difficult to choose my favorite. I loved van Gogh's Mulberry Tree, and the Degas bronze casts among other things. However, if I were pressed to choose a favorite, this would be it. Both Kevin and I just fell in love with the colors. So much so, in fact, that we bought a print of it to take home. We need to have it framed and then we will hang it over the piano. It matches the colors in our home perfectly!

All in all it was a wonderful adventure. I can hardly wait until next year's Free Museum Day!

Wii Fit, Me Not

After several unsuccessful attempts to purchase a Wii Fit, yesterday we finally had success! I looked through the Sunday ads and, lo and behold, the Toys'R'Us flyer listed the Wii Fit for sale. Kevin rushed out to buy it; there were exactly five to be sold...he was third in line. YAHOO!!

He brought home this precious cargo and got it all set up. We could hardly wait to try it! For those of you who are not familiar with Wii Fit, it's a type of exercise/fitness 'game' which involves standing on a small plastic balance board. Inside the board there is a small, militant drill seargent err...computer that, when you step on the darn thing, GROANS! Look, I know I need to lose weight, but that's going a bit far don't you think?! In addition to the audible groan, it does supply useful information about fitness and the importance of daily exercise. Both of us tried our hand at yoga. It's a blast! But don't be fooled - it's definitely exercise. I had sure-fire proof of that this morning when trying to get out of bed.

Suffice it to say that Kevin and I will both be giving this thing a good workout...and vice versa I'm afraid!

The end of an era...

Last night was the final game at Yankee Stadium; it is truly the end of an era. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the decision was made to tear down this historical landmark and build another stadium. Last summer, Kevin and I had both the pleasure and honor of attending a game at Yankee Stadium. We knew that this year would be the last and we had to see 'the house that Ruth built' before it was demolished. We're so thankful we went.

It strikes me that there is a lack of the sense of historical value for places and things. Not just Yankee Stadium, certainly, but many other things as well. For instance the great city of L.A. thought it perfectly acceptable to demolish the old Ambassador Hotel. You may remember it...it's the site where Robert Kennedy was shot.

I realize that time marches on and things change, but...how are we to impress upon future generations that there is historical value in places and things if we tear them all down? How are we to give them a sense of permanence if none exists? Did they melt down the Liberty Bell simply because it was cracked? Did they sink the Statue of Liberty when she needed repair? Of course not! Imagine if we based our keep/don't keep decisions solely on being in need of repair - nothing would be exempt! ...and nothing would be left.

Anyway -- all of this to say that there is a palpable sense of sadness and loss this morning.
...and I wish Derek Jeter had hit that final home run!

Dodgers Win!

Last night was our final Dodger game of the season. What a way to go out! The Dodgers beat the (archenemy) Giants 10-7; Manny hit two home runs! Go blue!! Before the game, they celebrated Tommy Lasorda's 81st birthday and everyone sang to him -- how could they not win?

To make it even more of an adventure, Kevin and I decided to take the free Dodger Trolley from Union Station to the stadium. What fun! We took the Gold Line from Pasadena to Union Station. From Union Station, you pick up the FREE trolley and it takes you right to the stadium. It drops you off in back of the Centerfield Pavilion so, if you're in the 'cheap seats' (which we are!), it's a bit of a hoof up all of the steps, but still... Taking the train & shuttle to/from the stadium is definitely the way to go. An added bonus: round trip rail passage (total for both of us) = $5.00; parking at the stadium = $15.00; piece of mind not having to maneuver out of the stadium parking lot after a sold out Dodgers v Giants game = priceless!

Jazz at the Depot

Friday night we went to the Depot Jazz Series. This is the third or fourth year we've been going to the concerts. It's a wonderful way to start a weekend: fun venue - the Claremont train station (very cool!), great music - this weekend it was Swing4Sale, and a relaxed ambience - on-lookers of all ages picnicking on the lawn - all of the ingredients needed to kick-off a fun weekend!

Kevin, my mother-in-law, Vicky, and I all had a great time. The series runs for about a month. We don't usually make it to all of the concerts, but most of them. For the first concert, the weather is still generally pretty warm. In other words, we take jackets and blankets, but typically don't end up needing them. By the last concert of the series, we're fairly well bundled up! It's a fun way for me to signal 'fall is definitely here!'.

Fun Fun Fun...All Summer Long

Last night was our season finale concert at the Hollywood Bowl. What a way to go! What better way to end your summer than watching Brian Wilson and his magnificent band sing all of your favorite Beach Boy tunes? It was perfect. Everyone had such a good time - laughing, singing, dancing. Wonderful atmosphere, great company, delicious food, and great music. What more could one ask? Fireworks? Yep, they had those, too. See, I told ya - perfect. We did, indeed, have fun, fun, fun all summer long.

(Photo by Elise Thompson for LAist)

Pumpkin Centerpiece

With the cooler weather we've had this past week, I've definitely been in the mood for fall.

This morning I decided that it was time to do a little spruce-up around the house. Kevin and I went to Kirkland's and picked up a few candles and such. A few years ago we'd bought two sets of wall sconces at Kirkland's and a while back, one of them fell and broke. I've been checking back from time to time, but they've not had them again. Today we decided just to go ahead and get a new set of wall sconces and take the others down. Doing this required a bit of spackle and some paint touch-ups as well. By the time we finished, Kevin had touched up paint on the walls here and there, we'd hung the new wall sconces and found places in other rooms for the three we removed from the living room, done a bit of rearranging with the dining table and chairs, replaced candles and potpourri throughout the living room and I'd created a cute pumpkin centerpiece for the table. The whole spruce-up took about two hours total - including the trip to Kirkland's. Not bad! And definitely well worth it. Here's the centerpiece...

If you're looking for health food, don't go to a burger joint...

Maybe it's just me, but it drives me crazy when people go to burger places (or any other restaurant that's clearly not a 'health food' restaurant) and try to make their food "healthy".

Tonight Kevin and I went to Chili's to grab a bite for dinner. We chose this particular restaurant because I wanted a burger and Kevin will, hands down, always order the chicken crispers. It's Chili's; we go in knowing full well that whatever we decide to order for dinner will probably not qualify as something your doctor would recommend for a healthy diet.

That said, we can hear the waiter talking to the couple in the booth behind us. They're obviously debating about what to order - understandable - Chili's has many taste-tempting choices. Finally I hear the waiter say 'you can order the black bean patty for any of the burgers listed on the menu.' Choices such as a triple bacon cheeseburger. Yep, that black bean patty is going to make that dish muuuuch healthier. If you want to make a healthy choice, order a salad.

I'm just sayin'.

Rememberance

In honor of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001:

"When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart..." — Frederick Buechner

We will never forget.

Sixty Five Percent

That's where we currently stand on our savings goal for the house. It's not a huge gain from the last posting on this subject, but definitely progress. Especially when you consider I don't receive a paycheck over the summer and, (with the surprise of losing his job) Kevin has been looking for work since the end of June. We figure that progress in the right direction, no matter how small it may seem, is definitely a success!

Now that my paychecks have resumed and Kevin is (keep your fingers crossed!) on the verge of returning to the work force, we feel confident about reaching our savings goal by the end of the year. Quite an accomplishment considering the setbacks we've had here and there!

Routines

Being back at work means going back to routines. Whereas some people hate routines, I actually enjoy them. There is something very comforting about slipping back into a routine that you enjoy. For me, one of those routines is preparing meals. I just love it! I don't, however, enjoy it when I don't have things planned out and I'm rushing around at the last minute searching for ingredients I may or may not have on hand. That doesn't happen too often as I keep a pretty well stocked pantry and freezer, but it does happen from time to time.

This weekend I decided to make soup. We love soup! A hearty soup with crusty bread is one of our favorite meals. It's very cozy and satisfying. I had all of the ingredients on hand to make a big pot of vegetable beef barley soup. YUM! It's finished now and I've packed it away to have for dinner a bit later this week. I can hardly wait! Here's the recipe:

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, cut into coins
2 stalks of celery, chopped - including tops
1 pound beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
seasonings to taste
1 cup pearl barley
1 seared beef soup bone (optional)

In a stock pot over medium high heat, saute onions and carrots in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the onions begin to brown, add celery and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove veggie mixture to a bowl and set aside. Add beef to the pan and let it caramelize. In one corner of the pan, add remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir beef to coat in flour mixture. Add seasoning to taste (I use Montreal steak seasoning). Slowly pour in beef broth; mix well. When mixture begins to bubble, add sauteed veggies back to the pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add barley and allow the mixture to return to a boil; cook about 25 (+/-) minutes.

Chuckwagon Chili, Cowboy Cookies and Movies on the Beach

Last night Manhattan Beach hosted a "Movie on the Beach" night. On the marquee: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. We decided that this would be a perfect way to bid farewell to summer, so we invited some friends to join us.

We made a big batch of chili and cornbread to take with us and cowboy cookies for dessert. I'm so glad we went - we had a blast! It was a beautiful evening and it was fun to watch the sunset before the movie started.


We weren't quite sure how they were going to show the movie...until the inflatable movie screen went up!

It was a wonderful evening at the beach - cool, but not cold; a bit breezy, but not too windy. All in all we decided this was a perfect way to spend a late summer evening and we'd definitely do this again in the future. Here's the recipe for the cookies:

(this is a recipe from Family Circle Magazine for First Lady, Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies. They are Delish!)

Cowboy Cookies

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Bake Time: 17 to 20 minutes
Yield: About 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon. baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened flake coconut
2 cups chopped pecans (8 ounces)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl.
3. In 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla.
5. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.
6. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
7. Bake in 350 F oven 17 to 29 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies to rack to cool.


(Copyright 2000, Laura Bush)

Pave the way

In addition to having their kitchen remodeled, mom and dad decided to have the driveway and front walkway to the house remodeled, too. Previously, the driveway had been asphalt and the walkway was concrete. Both had some pretty significant cracks and were badly in need of repair. For the remodel they chose brick pavers -- they're just beautiful! Take a look:

Before...




During...



After...

Speaking of the kitchen remodel...

Here are a few 'before' and 'during' pictures of mom and dad's kitchen remodel; I can hardly wait to see the 'after'!

Before...




Just getting started...



Closer to being done, but still a long way to go...

Mmmmm - Sunday Dinner...on Saturday!

My parents are in the process of having their kitchen remodeled. It's going to look fantastic! ...but in the meantime, it means their kitchen is something of a disaster area. We thought they might be getting a bit weary of eating fast food for dinner, so we invited them to join us for dinner tonight. Though it's only Saturday, we all agreed that tonight's feast felt more like a good old fashioned Sunday dinner.

When I was thinking of a menu for tonight's dinner, I thought it might be kind of fun to include potato pancakes. When Kevin and I stayed at the Apple Farm over the summer, we were reminded of just how much we LOVE them, so we thought we'd give them a try. While the pancakes are not difficult to make, they are somewhat time consuming. Therefore, if you're ever contemplating making them, I'd advise that you might want to do so on the weekend when you'd have a bit more time to make them. Next time I'd probably tweak the buttermilk pancake batter a bit - add a little less liquid, but overall, they were delicious!

Tonight's menu: marinated grilled pork chops, potato pancakes with sour cream and apple sauce, green beans and a fresh peach crisp for dessert. YUM!! (these aren't mine, but they look very similar...)

08.18.01

What, you may be asking yourselves, is the significance of that particular sequence of numbers. Well, I'm glad you asked. The particular glorious sequence of numbers indicates the most wonderful day of my life: the day that Kevin and I got married. Our story is kind of like Goldilocks and the three bears. How so? Well, we met 9 years ago - but it wasn't right. We re-met 8 years ago - and that was pretty good, but still...not quite right. But... We got married 7 years ago and that was juuuuust right. Perfect in fact!

Thank you, Kevin, for seven wonderful, blissful years of marriage. I am so happy and proud to be your wife! Thank you for loving me the most when I deserve it the least. Thank you for looking beyond the surface and finding the treasure hidden within. Thank you for sharing my life and allowing me to share yours. You're the most wonderful soulmate, partner, lover and friend I could have ever hoped for. I love you very much. Happy anniversary!! I can hardly wait to see what the next '43 years' has in store for us!

Lemon Ice Cream - YUM!

Tomorrow night Kevin and I are going to have dinner with some friends at their home. They're providing steak and artichokes and we were asked to bring dessert. A month or so ago we'd found a recipe in a magazine that sounded so delicious we knew we had to give it a try. This seems like the perfect occasion! The recipe is for homemade lemon ice cream with blackberry sauce. YUM! It's a bit labor intensive, but not enough to scare us off =) It's delicious! It's a bit on the rich side, so you can't eat a lot of it in one sitting. The blackberry sauce in the recipe called for using blackberry jam, but we've opted to use fresh blackberries instead. Since the ice cream is a bit heavy, I think the fresh fruit sauce will lighten it up a bit. We're going to make fresh raspberry sauce, too. After all, variety is the spice of life!

Cowboys and Presidents

We've talked about it all summer and today we finally made it. Kevin and I went to the Gene Autry Museum of the American West. There's an exhibit there we wanted to see called 'Cowboys and Presidents'. It's an interesting commentary on how cowboys - or more specifically, 'the cowboy way' - have influenced American presidents throughout history. From Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Rider days, to LBJ, to Reagan and beyond. What a fun exhibit! They had all sorts of interesting paraphernalia, but unfortunately, they didn't allow photography.

There was another incredibly interesting exhibit at the museum entitled 'All the Saints of the City of Angels'. Interesting concept: it's a look at all of the streets of the city of Los Angeles that are named for saints - for example: San Vicente, San Pasqual, San Fernando, etc. Basically the artist divided the city into sections and researched each of the "Saint" streets and those for whom they were named. Then, he took faces of folks that he met in and around L.A. and painted them into the artwork to depict the Saint. Though some of the subject matter was a bit darker than we'd imagined, it certainly was a compelling exhibit. All in all, a very fun adventure!

Yep, it's that time already...

I can't believe that it's August already. Where did the summer go? Today was technically my last day of vacation - I start back to work on Monday. This school year should be interesting on many fronts. It will be the first time in the 12 years that I've been there that Bev and I won't have our 'first day back, how was your summer, do you have any photos' chat; we have a new principal this year so I have no idea what's in store. He seems like a nice guy and it feels like he will be a good fit at FA - but it will still just be 'different'. For 12 years, Bev, Rod, Linda and I have worked together like a well oiled machine; we can - and do - finish each others' sentences. I sure hope Jeff catches the wave and joins in on our jovial banter and enjoyable work atmosphere; I'm sure he will.

Additionally, we will have construction going on all this year. Blech! I know the reality of it is, when it's all finished, our school will look phenomenal; however, it's the process of getting there that I'm not really looking forward to! The front of our lovely FA now has dead grass and uninviting portable classrooms on it's once beautiful front lawn.

What will be the same, however, is the excitement of starting a brand new school year! Though it involves a great deal of preparation, it's always my favorite time of the school year. There are so many possibilities! New experiences around every corner! I can't wait to see what this school year will hold.