Out on a School Night

Thanks to my type a, routine loving, super consistent personality- I hardly ever make it out during the week. I love to be at home and do things at home like clean my house, laundry, cook, piddle, you know just be at home...I'm not even kidding. However, if you came to my house this week you would not believe me!! It is a wreck because this week has been beyond busy with lots of fun things! Tuesday night, Jim and I headed out on the town to enjoy the Elton John concert. Let me tell you- the Wednesday morning blues were SO worth it. He was FANTASTIC! Everything I thought he would be. Some of my favorite performances were: Yellowbrick Road, Crocodile Rock, and Candle in the Wind!

The Legend himself!! 

Waiting for the concert to begin! 

Well I can cross seeing Elton John off my bucket list. Now if only Rod Stewart would make his way to Jackson... 

Tonight, I went to the JA-Mag Heights JR. high game to see my sweet Taylor cheer. 

I am so proud of her! She did such a great job. I can't believe my first "babysitting" baby is so old! Seems like just yesterday we were having sleepovers- oh the days! 

Well I have had an eventful week all leading up to an eventful weekend- Ole Miss vs. Texas! It's going to be a lot of fun. It's ten o'clock and past my bedtime! I'm off to sleep- Have a great weekend everyone!! 

Labor Day Weekend Fun

On Friday after school, we headed north to see the REBELS play!! I was also excited to see my family and spend time with them. Of course, little Annie was along for the trip. She was so excited to see her Ne-ne.

Annie normally is in her kennel in the backseat, but as you can tell she was not up for that on this trip. She stayed in my lap for the trip, which did not help me get my papers graded!!

Saturday morning, I woke up and headed to Memphis with Meme! We had to go to the Oak Court Mall to see the latest Alfred Dunner collection for fall. If you don't know what that is then you have obviously never shopped in the "older" section of Macy's :-) haha. We had a lot a great fun and I love helping Meme build her wardrobe. Afterwards, we headed to Marshall's (my favorite!) to find some bargains for me. I think we had a pretty successful day. I love getting to shop with me, not just for the clothes, but for the company!:-)

Later in the day, we headed to Oxford....

Yes- my parents (or grandparents, really) have a cat door! How funny is Annie? She always wants to follow us outside but can't fit through the door. Poor thing.

I was so nervous for the rebels. I love football and everything about Ole Miss. I so want Coach Freeze to be successful and bring our school back to life!

All ready for the white-out! Had to get there early for my BBQ nachos.(And cotton candy..I love food!)

Our view for the next couple of months!! Well- I won't actually be at every game. For example next week I plan to sit the UTEP game out. Of course we'll be at the Texas game and will be in New Orleans the next week for the Tulane game. Being away from home 4 weeks in a row totally stresses me out. It just doesn't mesh with my routine- ha! I was so excited to see the rebels play though! I thought they did such a good job.

I always get so sad on the way back to Jackson after a weekend at home. Not because I don't love our life here, but because I so badly miss being near family. Today has been good for me. I ran errands and did things around the house. And even though I know if we lived closer to home we could have spent the holiday with our family, I am trying to make the best of it-Breakfast for dinner!:-) Off to finish cooking...!

Home for the Hurricane

Or better yet...the tropical storm! We are out of school for the bad weather we are experiencing here in cental Mississippi. I was pleasantly suprised to hear that we would be out of school today. However, weather has been pretty rough (lots of wind and rain!) Is it enough to be at home and not at work? That's probably a question for the birds:) Oh well, I'll take a day off.

As soon as we heard that there would be no school today, I immediately started to construct a mental list of all the things I could do today! I always feel very guilty when I stay at home and don't accomplish anything productive. So my list for today is as follows: laundry, laundry, and more laundry, dust, mop, clean windows, bath the dog, school work, pack for the weekend, clean out the refrigerator, and update my blog. Let's hope I get to cross those projects off at the end of today! Big Brother comes on at 8 and I must be ready. If you are an avid fan of the show, such as I, this season is epic! Last night's episode was one for the books. I can't wait to see what happens tonight!!

Look at my little sidekick for today:

Annie is terrified of this storm. She tries to go outside to use the bathroom and then runs back in. She is afraid of all the rain too! There is also a nice flood forming in our yard which doesn't help the matter. Needless to say, we have resorted back to puppy pads for the next couple of days. Which make my mopping chore a little more difficult.

Some updates from the month of August:::

We finally got Annie a collar since we are going to work on transitioning her to being outside more:-)

Naturally, it's pink! She is such a big girl now. 

We have been making the most of our outdoor cooking area! Last Sunday, we cooked out and used our fire pit to make yummy smores! It was quite fun. 

...and last but not least. August brings hope of a new football season! The Simpson house is all ready for a new year. Obviously this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago! Our front porch and yard look like a diaster area now with all the limbs down! 

We are excited about heading north for the Labor Day weekend to cheer on the rebels!! I am also excited about staying at my parent's house, seeing my grandmother, doing some shopping, and playing with Eleanor! There's no place like home!!! 

Visiting Becca!

On Saturday, I met my mom and Ms. Hudson in Starkville to visit baby Becca!! The first stop was to the Kappa Delta house to watch their mock rush. They were so cute and fun! I know they will have a great rush this week :-) 

Becca and some of her cute KD friends!! 

Mom, Becca, and Hudson after skit! 

The Whole Gang!! 

Poe girls! 

After hanging out at the mock rush, we went to see Becca's new dorm room and to eat dinner at Stromboli's. It is important to note that Becca is the ONLY reason I will ever go to Starkville:) With that being said, we had a great visit! Mom and Hudson came back to Jackson with me afterwards which was even more fun!! Hudson was the first official guest in the newly furnished guest bedroom! It was also nice having them here to help me do some things around the house.  It has been an eventful weekend and I think I am going to need a nap to be rested for Monday! :-) 

I also had another visitor this weekend. Riley (julie's dog) came to play with us! Her and Annie are BFF (well kind of- Annie makes about 4 of Riley!) 

Have a great week!!

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!