I LOVE SUMMER: lazy mornings, organization, and new paint

This has been the first summer since I began my teaching career that I have not worked. For the past several years I babysat for a family with four kids all summer, and although that job had its fun moments (and I got paid for taking kids to the pool and to movies), it's been so nice to actually sleep in and relax all summer long. I've gone to the pool a lot, read some good books, visited the lake a few times, and spent loooonnnggg mornings in bed with multiple cups of coffee. As simple as it is, one of my all-time favorite things about summer is waking up late, making coffee, watching the Today Show, and reading before ever getting dressed! I look forward to these late mornings all year, and I have taken full advantage of them this summer.

I've also had the time to do some deep cleaning around the house and get more organized. Because our kitchen's pantry and cabinets are so small, we have a large metal shelving unit in our laundry room that houses the microwave, pots and pans, and lots of other odds and ends. I finally got the chance to buy some pretty storage bins that were on sale and get it looking less chaotic! Isn't it crazy how clearing clutter in your house helps clear your brain, too?

Before:

After: 

 

 

My big goal this summer was to paint our dark picture-frame paneling cream (part of the reason I opted out of the nannying job). However, once I talked to some painters and realized that I was going to have to sand and caulk and apply multiple coats of primer and paint, I decided to get some estimates for hiring the job out! Thankfully, we got an affordable estimate so I got to sit back and relax even more while the crew worked. Best decision we have made in a while! Although I will say that it can be incredibly frustrating working with self-employed workers...that's a whole other post. Peyton was hesitant at first because he liked the dark wood (as do all other guys who walk into our house), but he does like the finished product. I feel like we live in a new house! Here is a before and after shot of the kitchen:

 

 

Pretty drastic, huh?!?! We still need to get some fabric to make valances for the two big windows in this room (after our hiatus from spending for a while), but for now I am content to bask in the calming, cheery new paint job! I chose a pale robin's egg blue for the sheet rock (Martha Stewart's Spring Melt), and I'm really happy with the color.

 

I still need to hang some things in the living room (including our drapes) and move all of the lamps and accessories back,  but here's a mini before and after of the room:

 

 

No more living in the dark ages!!!!!! One of my favorite parts of the whole thing is the woodwork around the fireplace all in cream. I will post more pics soon. For now, we are off to the beach with my family for one last hurrah before reality (school) returns!









Paris

Peyton and I had long anticipated our week-long trip to France, and we are both so sad that it is over! However, we could not have asked for a better trip. We were blessed with perfect weather, an awesome hotel, and so many wonderful meals! (Not to mention that we didn't have to deal with any "hiccups," like lost baggage or subway strikes.) Usually when I travel with my family or with the school we try to see as much as we can of a country in a short amount of time, so we jump from hotel to hotel and drive a lot. For this trip, I wanted to stay in the same city/hotel, and get to soak it in in a way that was a bit more relaxing. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches to travel, but I'm so glad that we chose the latter for this trip. We visited TONS of museums and historic sites in the city of Paris, but we also ate leisurely meals, slept in everyday, and took afternoon breaks at nearby cafes. Neither of us wanted to return home! Peyton kept saying that he was ready to move there. I like a traveling companion who loves a new place that much. :) We took day trips to Versailles, Louis XIV's famous chateau and gardens, and Giverny, Claude Monet's home and gardens. For both of us the highlight of the entire trip was our jaunt to Giverny. After our train ride, we rented bikes and rode the 4 kilometers to the house and gardens, and got to ride through beautiful French countryside and a quaint town. It was a dream! We are itching to get back to Europe already, but don't know when that will realistically happen. For now, we have the memories and photos from our favorite trip so far:

 Luxembourg Gardens was just a short walk from our hotel

 

 Cherry clafoutis: my fave French dessert

 

 Musee Rodin

 

 Inside the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

 

 Peyton freaked out about French glace (ice cream)

 

 Monet's house at Giverny

 

 

 

Au revoir, Paris...

Never a dull moment...

Yesterday, as some of you may know, was Mardi Gras. Because of the France/Catholic connection of the holiday we study the history of the holiday and what it all means in French class, and then we always eat King's Cake. The students always get super excited when they find the plastic baby Jesus in the cake. Seriously, you would think they had just won the lottery! This year, a certain student of mine from last year (French 1) was celebrating Mardi Gras in the other French classroom across the hall from mine. He got the baby Jesus this year, and wanted to run across the hall to tell me the crazy exciting news, and his teacher allowed him to leave the class. The problem was that he weighs about 250 pounds (he's a starting linemen), and he ran over to my room with a little bit too much enthusiasm:

 

The glass window in my classroom door shattered! I was in shock, and as you can tell from the picture, he was in shock as well. We were both able to laugh about it together later, but in that first 15 seconds, there was sheer terror on his face (for fear of getting in trouble), and on mine (18 students in the classroom and there is glass everywhere!). It was a moment that I will truly never forget.

The maintenance crew came to clean up the glass yesterday, but there is still a gaping hole in my door. For those of you who have worked with high school students, you can imagine the distraction that is! Every time someone walks by they have to make a silly comment or stick their hand through the "invisible" glass. I'll be glad when it's fixed. Ironically, finding the baby in the cake means good luck for a year. After he broke the door my class proceeded to have a discussion about chance vs. the sovereignty of God. Gotta snag every possible teaching moment! Happy belated Mardi Gras everyone!!!

Updates

Happy New Year everyone!

I start school again tomorrow (J-Term, though, which is an easy transition before "real" school starts on the 17th), and it's always hard to believe that the holidays are over. This year was especially unusual with a terrible ice/snow storm that devastated Little Rock. Everyone in the South always dreams of a white Christmas, but I'll think twice before I pray for one of those again! We were at my parents' Christmas day when we lost power, and stayed the next five nights at Peyton's parents house. We were thankful for a warm house and time with family (Peyton's brother was in from Dallas, and my brother and fam were in from Virginia), but we became tired of living out of a suitcase in our own town! It sounds silly to say after not truly traveling for the holidays, but it is good to be HOME.

Over the past couple of days I've been getting ready for my J-Term class, Intro to Italian, and am re-watching the first two seasons of Downton Abbey before the third season premiers on Sunday. Is anyone else as obsessed with this show as me?!?!

On a completely different note, I realized recently that I have not put up any updates that have happened around our house, so here are a couple of more recent ones:

1. New drapes for the front living room

Before:

 



 

After:

 

 

2. Guest room details

 

Before:

 

 

 

After:

(I still need to iron and stuff those shams, I just got them for Christmas!)

 

3. Entryway

 

Before:

 



 

 

After:

I found these old Antique shutters at an estate sale, and when I realized they were from France I couldn't resist! Still need something to tuck underneath the table...

 

4. Valances for the den

 

Before:

 



 

 

After:

 

 

 

My goals this year are to put wallpaper in the breakfast room/kitchen, paint that dark paneling, and get curtains in the guest room. We'll see how much of that happens! I never quite understood why my mom spent so much time agonizing over fabric and changing things in our house over the years, but now I do. I admit it: I love nesting!



thanks

It's typical in November, with Thanksgiving and all, to make lists of things we are thankful for, but I especially need to focus on the things I'm thankful for right now because it's been an overwhelming past couple of weeks. This time of year at school always seems to get crazy...in the winding down of first semester there are lots of school events, special assemblies, cumulative tests and projects, extra requirements from the administration, deadlines, and it's National French Week next week. We start basketball season next week, too, with two games a week on top of practice with the cheer squad. Last night I had a bit of a meltdown, mainly because I am weary. Exhausted. Burned out. Thank goodness for the light at the end of a swirling tunnel: Thanksgiving and Christmas break. It's in times like these that I have to force myself to focus on the good...on God's grace and sovereignty and purpose for my life...because it's easy to become negative. Making lists of thankfulness gives the right perspective, immediately. It's like magic. Today, at the end of a regular old Thursday at school, I am thankful for the small things:

1. watching my French Club students pour over National French Week decorations to be hung this Saturday
2. a birthday dinner with family two nights ago
3. Netflix at the end of a long day
4. peppermint coffee this morning
5. an encouraging email from a cheer parent
6. a birthday card from a fellow teacher
7. Peyton's morning cheerfulness
8. Chick-fil-a for lunch
9. a re-organized desk
10. a messy costume closet in my classroom...messy from lots of use
11. a hard conversation with one of my cheerleaders
12. hot tea for a sore throat
13. a quiet off-period

It's way too easy for me to write off a difficult day as a "bad" one. But look at all that good.

at long last...

This past spring break (yep, end of March), I decided to paint and refinish our "dining room" table. A good week-long project, I thought. Hah! I just finished this week! It's October. I definitely could have finished it before now, but with a nanny job this summer and my full-time job starting at the beginning of August, I didn't have many full days to work on it. Plus, using oil paint in 100+ degree heat didn't speed up the process. Here's what the table looked like before:

 

The table was a hand-me-down from my sister, and it had a hard, light maple finish. Here are the steps I had to take to get it to what it is now:

1) Sand it all down

2) Prime everything

3) Paint two coats of white oil paint (I called Uncle Phil a lot during this process!)

4) Strip and sand the table top with an electric sander

5) Stain the table top

6) Paint two coats of polyurethane on the table top

7) Sand it all again 

8) Paint on a gel stain and rub it all off (my mom helped with this)

I know you probably could care less about all of the steps, but I'm just trying to justify why it took me so darn long! Here's the final product:

 

I think that Peyton's favorite part about it being done is the fact that he can park his car in the garage again. He has been patient!