Back to School!

Tomorrow is the first day of school. No matter how old you are-it's still exciting. I wish I could have scanned a picture of me from one of my first days of school on the hill. Probably tired after staying up too late at our annual back to school sleepover at Julie's! I wish we still had those:) Anyway here are some pictures from my classroom this school year:

You may think I would be super frilly when it comes to my classroom, however I am the opposite. I like to keep it simple as you can tell. 

This podium is super special. It was a gift from my talented friend, Jacob Warren (the BEST construction guru in north mississippi!) He made it for me my first year of teaching. It is a replica of our English teacher's podium from high school that I loved, haha. It made the trip to Brandon last summer per the chuck poe trailer! I love it, it reminds me of home and all my good friends there. 

I told you I was simple!! I really am excited for this school year, I think it will be there best one yet! I met most of my students today and they are PRECIOUS. Not to mention I love love my school, principals, and the people I work with. I am very blessed to have the job that I do. 

A sweet prayer for all those going back to school: 

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."

Psalm 32:8 

Happy Back to School, Everyone! 

Summer Days Drifting Away

Well tomorrow I meet my new students and parents for the 2012-2013 school year. I guess this marks the official end to Summer 2012! And what a great one it has been...We've taken lots of trips, spent lots of time with family and friends, I finished my masters degree and did lots of projects for our house. I am grateful for a job that allows some time off. However, I am ready to get back to work. I really love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything. Here are some moments of how I've spent the last few days of summer:

Mani/Pedi with Mom, one of my favorites. 

Spent some quality time with Eleanor in her new home (my parents moved to my grandparent's house this summer too.) I so enjoyed getting to spend lots of time at home with my family & Eleanor! 

 I also had lots of quality snuggling time with Annie this summer. She has been adjusting better than I thought with me going back to school. She's still such a baby!! 

This is Annie hanging out at Nene's house where she spent almost 2 weeks this summer. Mom loves Annie and everytime I say, "Annie, do you want to go see nene?" her ears perk up, haha. I am very thankful that mom helps us with her. We wouldn't be able to have a dog if we didn't have her to dogsit every now and then! And since we make trips home often, we love getting to bring Annie. 

And I can't have summer end without spending some quality time with my two favorite girls, Taylor and Emilee. They are growing up so fast and it kind of makes me sad-but they tell me they still love their favorite babysitter...haha

Well here's to another wonderful summer! Bring on fall, football, and cooler weather!:-) 

Vacation 2012

Jim and I decided to celebrate our anniversary by taking a cruise around the Caribbean. We stopped in Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico. I was afraid a cruise would be a little much for my "type a" personality, but overall I thought it was a fun experience! I think that we will take another one in the future. Some of my favorite pictures from vacation:

Eating dinner with a view 

Dinner-This was my favorite dessert. I ate it everyday literally. No wonder I've put some pounds on this summer, ha. 

Jamaica 

The Cayman Islands. THis was by far my favorite part of the cruise. I looved it here, Jim promised me we could return one day for a whole week!!! 

Doing a little sightseeing 

Another reason to love the Cayman's, they're British!! 

Hanging out in Georgetown 

Playing in Cozumel 

Dinner on the last night. It was a great way to celebrate our first anniversary! 

Lelia's Wedding Weekend!

Recently, our sweet friend Lelia Burkhalter became MRS. FERGUSON on a lovely Oxford weekend! Lelia and I have been best buds since high school, despite her being a green wave and me a chief :-) I was happy to be a part of her special day. 

We started the day off in Batesville at the bridesmaids luncheon. We also had a champage and chocolate party where we got manicures, so fun!! 

Look at my pretty friends!!! 

After manicures, we headed to Oxford for the weekend. Friday evening, we had a fantastic dinner at Old Taylor Grocery! 

Fran, Julie, Lauran and I at dinner. Afterwards, we went to the library- yes I went out! Shocking I know. It was pretty fun....however not so much that I miss it :-) 

On Saturday morning, I had a special breakfast date- Jill Bell! (or emerson-haha.) We went to bottletree which was super fun. I was so excited to catch up with her and hear all about the Bell babies. Afterwards, I got ready for the big wedding!! 

Some pictures from the day: 

Look at that sweet little momma! 

Bridesmaids! 

Me and LB! 

With jim on the double decker bus! 

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Ferguson

Congratulations, we love y'all!!!! 

Fourth of July!

I am slowly getting caught up on all of our July fun! We had a wonderful fourth of July! Jim was off work so I had someone to hang out with. We started the day at BEST BUY!! Bet you can guess what we did there, buy a new camera!!!! Thanks to some birthday money from family, I was able to get the one I really had been eyeing. This was my first picture:

Annie girl! 

That evening, we headed to the Milners for a cookout. I was excited to try my new camera out on Adam and Carlin's sweet boys. 

Sam helping his daddy grill! 

Jim and Sam hanging out

So sweet! 

On another note, I am almost done with my classroom. Yay! I can't believe another school year is upon us. Maybe I'll finish updating the month of July before it begins:) 

Welcome to 25!!!

On July 3rd, I celebrated my 25th birthday! I can't believe I am a quarter of a century old, ha! I actually still feel really young like I should be in college or something. Sometimes I still think I'm 21-22ish. I felt like I was that age for a long time. 23 and 24 has flooown by! I'm sure it doesn't slow down from here.

This was the first birthday that I was away from my family. That may not sound like a huge deal, but for me it is. I mean not seeing my mother on my birthday??! Depressing. Luckily, I have some great friends here that made my day very special.

First, I met my best bud/teacher friend/adopted older sister, Kelli. and her children for lunch at our favorite spot, NEWKS! She always says she is old enough to be my mom (so not true, only 12 years older than me!) but I refer to her as my big sister! She has been an answer to prayer! Not only does she keep me sane at school, but she takes good care of me :)

We did some hobby lobby shopping for our classroom afterwards and met up with Jules!! The one person, other than my family, who has probably been with me every birthday! That night, Ginny, Julie, and our husbands went to a mexican restaurant to eat. We had a great time and I loved spending my birthday with 2 of my oldest and most dearest friends in the entire world (and the husbands, too haha!) I am so thankful we all live in the same town again.

And to top it off...Jim suprised me with ELTON JOHN concert tickets!! I am so pumped. It was the most exciting birthday present ever. He is coming to Jackson in September and I cannot wait for this date, best husband ever!!!!

Here's to year 25! It is going to be a great year! 

New York New York!!!

I have been way out of the blog loop because we have been out of town therefore I have many many blog posts to catch up on! I know everyone is dying of excitement, haha yeah right!!!

The day after our anniversary, I ventured to tobie en route to NYC!! I was soo thrilled. I had always always wanted to visit the city but had never had the opportunity. I was beyond excited when my mom, sister, and I decided to take a girls trip there. The city was everything I'd hoped it would be.  Most of you know that I am a huge planner. Naturally, I wanted to make sure our time in New York was spent wisely. My fab friend, Margaret is amazing at planning trips. She knows all the secrets and places to see. She created an itinerary for us to go by. It was great! I am so thankful she helped make our trip so smooth. Some of my favorite things about the trip were:

1. NBC studios!! I am a HUGE news nerd. My favorite is the Today Show. We went to Rockefeller plaza twice. I love it that much!! 

2. Mamma Mia on Broadway. I was excited to see this play because I loved the storyline. The show was even better than I expected. The acting was out of this world. So much talent, I enjoyed it so!! 

3. Shopping in SOHO. I love small stores and businesses. SOHO had it going on! I could have shopped there the entire trip. 

4. Ground Zero/ St. Paul's Church. I was very interested to see ground zero. A friend had recommended that I walk across to St. Paul's church. The church served as a place for the nypd and other relief workers to sleep and rest during the clean-up post 9/11. The church also serves as a memorial and tribute to the lives lost, survivors, and those who helped to bring relief. One of the neatest places I've ever seen. 

These are just a few of my favorite highlights, but honestly I enjoyed everything about the city. I can't wait to return! Hopefully sooner rather than later. Pictures from our girls vacay: 

I love that you can buy fresh flowers on the street corner. Why can't we have this in MS?!

At a store in SOHO. Some of the best tabletop displays I've ever seen and I have been to market! Nothing like NYC! 

Mom and I eating fantastic pizza at Lombardi's in SOHO 

Of course the accounting teacher wanted to see Wall Street! 

Hey Matt and Savannah! 

Love NBC studios. 

A view from Central Park, another favorite spot in the city. 

Times Square, lots of people and chaos.

Rock Center! I looked for Brian Williams, no luck. 

The Poe girls on Broadway

I recommend everyone take a girl's trip to NYC!! It was amazing, the perfect way to celebrate the ending of graduate school!)