Busy, Busy!

The past few weeks have been so crazy busy. I started getting my classroom ready for the new school year during the first week of August, and since then I've pretty much been back to the normal routine. Our first day of school was last Monday and so far I have such a sweet class! They like to talk, but they are so funny and cute! Our numbers are low this year in K, so I started out with 14 kids...10 girls, 4 boys. It was HEAVEN I tell you! In the first week I gained 3 more kiddos, but luckily only one was a boy :) Of course I have nothing against boys, but everything is so much more peaceful and quiet this way! So now I have 17 kids, which is amazing compared to the 22 I could have...12 girls and 5 boys. I'll take it!

One day last week I was telling the kids about myself and showed them some pictures of my family, dog, and Kirby. I told them Kirby was my fiance and asked if they knew what that meant. They thought it meant boyfriend, so I said "Well, yes, he is my boyfriend, but we are getting married." Then one little girl with her southern twang said "Your daddy's not gonna be very happy 'bout that!" I laughed and told her he was okay with it :) Gotta love five year olds! I need to start writing down every funny thing they say! My favorite was from last year though when a little girl, A, was talking to a little boy, D. This is how the short conversation went:
A: D, are you black?
D: No, I'm brown, but you can call me black if you want.
So sweet! Not to mention, D was my absolute fav! I was so sad when he moved.

Another funny from last year:
J: I saw a picture of you.
Me: Oh, you did?
J: Yeah, it's you and a boy.
Me: A boy?
J: Yeah, on your desk! You and Mr. Neal!
Me: Mr. Neal? Is that his name?
J: Well, Mrs. G.'s husband's name is Mr. G., so he's Mr. Neal!
Haha, loved this kid too!

My owl classroom turned out super cute! I meant to take some pictures and post them, but I forgot. I'll try to do that tomorrow. At least take the pictures anyways. I may not post, sorry!

This past weekend was one of my besties' weddings! Kara married the love of her life on Saturday, and it was a beautiful wedding! Kara worked so hard on all of her decorations, and it looked awesome! I am definitely going to consult her for some wedding advice and help. She said I just have to give her a month off from her own :) I was going to upload some pictures, but for some reason they aren't working. Guess that will have to wait till next time too. And I promise next time won't be a month from now!

My wedding planning is going pretty well. On Sunday my mom, sister, and I went to the NWA Bridal Fair to get some ideas. I didn't really get any ideas besides even more photographers to choose from and some cake! Harp's and Rick's were both there...yummy! I feel like everything is coming along and I'm making some big decisions. I think I've finally decided on a photographer, and we are meeting with them tomorrow. We have our venues, florist, caterer, and menu figured out and booked! I feel like we are making more progress, and it's getting exciting! 289 more days to go!!!!

Talk to ya soon,
Janae

Weekly Randoms

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I actually posted last week, but for some reason it disappeared. I didn't feel like retyping the whole thing, so I just said forget it! Today I have a few pictures to share from the past couple of weeks.

• Cloudy day in Dallas-the only one I saw and it was still plenty hot!

• Kirby and I before going on our date to Toulouse

• Last Sunday we went to the lake with my aunt and uncle. They are so generous to let us come out to their lakehouse and take us out on their boat! We did a little tubing, saw two bald eagles, and enjoyed the sunshine! A storm moved in for a little while, so we sat on the dock until it passed. That evening we went to JJ's On the Lake for dinner. It was delicious!

• While driving home from the lake we saw these six deer standing in a field. We slowed down to look at them and as each one lifted its head, we saw that they were all big bucks! We thought it was pretty neat since you don't typically see a group of bucks together like that.

• This little guy has been staying with me since I've been home. I've missed him so much! Chip normally lives with my parents because I feel terrible leaving him home alone all day when I'm working. I'm sad to say that our days/nights are coming to an end as I have to go back to school next week. Summer has gone by way too fast!

• Chip loves Kara's blog at Facts of Kara's Life. He especially likes when she posts pictures of Nala and Baxter :)

• He loves to lay on the bench in the dining room. If I can't find him he is usually here or in one of the chairs...or under a bed licking the floor. Does anyone else's dog do that? He is obsessed with licking the floor! He knows he's not supposed to, so he hides under the bed, haha! Usually, I can see his little tail sticking out though...not so sneaky, Chipperoo!

Like I said earlier, I CANNOT believe summer is practically over. I am not really looking forward to going back to school, but then again I kinda am. I am getting excited about meeting my new group of kiddos and getting back into a routine except for waking up early. The thing I am the most excited about is my new classroom decor. Check it out...

OWLS! 

I think this is just the cutest thing I have ever seen! Now let's just hope it comes in in time. I saw it online at a teacher store in Dallas, so one day I went to get it and they didn't have it. They didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked about owl stuff. Apparently you can order it, but not get it at the store. Talk about depressed. Needless to say, I had to have it so I ordered it online about two weeks ago, but it's still not here. I'm also going to have to get some others borders to go with my owls. I'm thinking some paisley and polka dots. I'll show you pics when it's all put together!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Janae

The Dress

I found it!!! I am extremely excited, and I wish so badly I could post a picture of it because it is BEAUTIFUL! I love love love it! It is exactly what I've dreaming of the whole time! Actually, it's even better! I cannot wait till it comes in, and I can put it on again. I also ordered my veil, which goes perfectly with my dress. :)

We left around 8:00 Saturday morning for our 1:00 appointment in Brinkley. When we walked in I was in wedding dress heaven. There were so many gorgeous dresses everywhere! I got to pick out most of the dresses I tried on, which was nice. My consultant also pulled a few that she thought I would like too. I loved the first two I tried on down to the very end. No other dress could beat them out of the top two, and I tried on LOTS of dresses. Then, at the very end, I tried on two more that I really loved. So I tried on the first two again, then the last two again. I started ruling them out slowly for different reasons, and then I had picked my dress! I'm pretty sure my dress was the very first one my mom and I noticed when we walked in, but when we first went to pick a few to try on it was gone. Luckily, we found it later and it ended up being the very last dress I tried on!  I am so happy about the one I chose. Thinking about all of my options now, I know I made the best decision! I can't wait to wear it and see Kirby's face on June 9th!

How come when you cry your nose runs?

It was so hard leaving Dallas today. I was excited to come home, but after spending pretty much every day with Kirby for the last month, it was hard. Of course I cried and that's where the question "How come when you cry your nose runs?" came from. I was trying to lighten the mood :) I've always wondered how exactly the two are connected. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me! I wasn't sobbing or anything, just tears, but still my nose started to run. I'm sure the answer is a quick google search away, but for now I'll just think that that's what happens. We aren't sure when we will get to see each other again because we both have pretty busy schedules for the next few weeks. We are hoping it will be in a couple of weeks. We've discovered that going 3 weeks or more without seeing each other is pure torture, so we always try to see each other at least every other weekend. I'm glad we are just 5 hours apart and that we can make the drive fairly often. I don't know how couples do it that live across the country and have to fly to see each other. Plane tickets are so expensive! I would die! Let's just say I'm so thankful and counting down the days (322 after today)!

Since last night was my last night in the big D, Kirby and I had a little date night. We went to a new restaurant (as in, we'd never been there before) called Toulouse. It was a type of French restaurant, and it was so good! One of our very favorite restaurants in Dallas is an Italian restaurant called Taverna. The people that own Taverna also own several other restaurants, including Toulouse, so that's why we decided to try it out. We got an appetizer to start and Kirby chose frog legs. Random, I know, but they weren't too bad. For dinner I ordered one of the specials which was pan-seared sea scallops over tomato basil risotto with grilled asparagus. Oh my word, delicious! Kirby ordered the other special, and it was some sort of NY Strip with fried green beans. He said it was good, but I think he was a little jealous of my entree. :) After that we were debating on whether or not to get dessert. The waiter brought us both a dessert menu and as we were looking over them the guy next to us leaned over and asked us if we'd ever been there before. We told him that we hadn't, and then he said "Close your menus. You don't even need to look at them. Get the chocolate souffle. It's awesome!" He raved about it some more and pretty much left us with no choice but to order the chocolate souffle. We weren't disappointed! It was wonderful! I wish I would've taken a picture of our dinners and dessert. Maybe next time!

After dinner we drove around uptown and downtown a little and then decided to go home and watch a movie. We rented Lincoln Lawyer on-demand, but about an hour into the movie on-demand stopped working. Of course it was just getting to the good part too. We were so mad!!! Kirby still hasn't seen the rest of it, but I went to dinner with my parents tonight and then made them rent it so I could watch the rest with them.

Now that I'm home I have lots of catching up with friends to do. I haven't seen much of my besties, and that makes me so sad. Next week should be fun!

Tomorrow is a big day! Wedding dress shopping!!! Last weekend I looked at a few places around here and found a few that I liked, but I don't think any of them were 'the one.' Maybe I'll find my dress tomorrow! I'll let you know, but of course, no pictures! Wouldn't want Mr. V to see!

Happy Weekend!

Janae

First Time Blogger

I've finally given in and entered the blog world. I'm not sure why, but I love reading blogs. So, I figured it was only appropriate to start my own! I also think it will be a good way to document my wedding planning and keep my friends and family up-to-date on my life since there is a possibility I may be moving next year. 


That brings me to my next point. Kirby lives here...

And I live in Arkansas.

Long distance is no fun, but we make it work! The good news is Kirby and I are getting married next June! He currently lives in downtown Dallas, and I live in NW Arkansas. We aren't exactly sure where we will live after we say 'I do,' but my guess is I'll be making the big move to Dallas. Don't get me wrong, I really do love Dallas! I've been here visiting Kirby for almost a month (perks of being a teacher), and I think I know my way around pretty well! I can get to pretty much anywhere I want to go, and if I get a little lost I just consult my best friend iPhone. My biggest fear about moving is finding a job...and of course, missing my family and friends. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds! No matter where we live I'm sure we'll be happy!

Have a fabulous day!

Janae