Pumpkin Patch 2011

Ever since Ben was born, I have gone to the pumpkin patch in October with my sister and her family. We always take lots of pictures and enjoy the hay, animals, and atmosphere. 

Ben less than 1 year old. Our first time at the pumpkin patch together:

Me, my sister, and my nephew Ben

Ben 1 year old. Just learning to walk and explore:

So strong! 

The 3 of us

This little boy LOVES pumpkins

Practicing to be a regular farmer

Ben 2 years old: Becoming such a big boy!

Still loves his pumpkins :)

Looking so old. Miss my wee little pumpkin of the past but so proud of his growth!

This year I wasn't able to go with them since I have moved and I was having a really hard time with that. Matt and I talked about it and it turns out Matt hasn't been to a pumpkin patch in over a decade and really wanted to go with me! So after consulting Google we went out in search of a farm. After one disappointment in Mountain View we finally found what we were looking for in Morgan Hill. I may be missing my old traditions but a large part of marriage is starting our own traditions and I'm really looking forward to continuing this one and am so grateful for a husband who supports me and takes care of all of my needs- even if they're only silly little pumpkin ones. :)

80 degrees felt more like summer than fall but it was a beautiful day! 

They had a train ride and a hay ride

Our family of pumpkins (Big one is Matt's - he's quite proud)

Beautiful day with a Radio Flyer full of pumpkins

First year together at the pumpkin patch! (Matt needs to stop losing his sunglasses - haha!)

Daily Grind

I always like to envision what other people (who are close to me) do during their day to day life so I thought I would share a few pictures from my daily life.

My day starts with getting up and getting the house ready to get the dog up. After I get him up and take him out he gets breakfast. While he eats I go and get ready for work. Now, if Matt is home he is super good about doing all this so I can just get up and get ready right away. After I'm ready, Hunter gets locked up in the kitchen with his special snack and we walk out the door with a, "Be Back." Usually he doesn't bark and just devours his snack. I hop in my car and hit the surface streets until I come to 280 N where, if I'm lucky, I'll only sit in traffic like this:

Otherwise it's bumper to bumper and takes awhile. Thankfully with my work hours of 9:30-6:30 I can take the carpool lane for at least part of my time on 280. Once I exit I take a really long road into work. 

This road has at least six traffic lights, which no exaggeration, can each take 2-3 minutes each. This road connects to an equally long road with as many equally long lights. Over time I have found a nifty shortcut though. And it turns out it's really beautiful!

This road connects to Stanford Ave which is the edge of the campus and where I work. I didn't take pictures of it but it's full of BEAUTIFUL homes (for coaches and faculty to rent) and amazing trees that canopy the street. Typically the weather is sunny and warm with a bit of a breeze and I really enjoy it. 

Here are a few pictures of my classroom. I just redid my bulletin boards and we change them every few months. Every classroom has to have a Parent Information Board, Family Board, Birthday Board, and a Curriculum Board. (You can make all photos bigger by clicking on the image.)

Corner of my classroom. The babies love to play on this pillow turtle and look in the mirrors. 

Parent Information Board: Our daily schedule (not in this pic), our school calendar, our school philosophy, and our teacher bios. 

Curriculum Board: This is a board that I can post their artwork and pictures of them making it. The parents love this board. It also states our curriculum philosophy. 

Family Board: This board has each child's family picture and the names of the members in their family's, including their pets. To make the Family banner I printed the letters and used modge podge to glue them to construction paper. I used the same process on the family cards.

For confidentiality purposes I won't post pictures of this other project but I wish I could because it turned out so cute! I needed to make personalized signs to go over each of the baby's cribs so I took an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cream construction paper as my starting piece and added layers. I added their name at the top, cut out with cute scissors. I added a circular picture of the baby, which was also cut out with the same cute scissors. These were both bordered with colored construction paper cut with the same pattern. The picture was glued at the bottom of the page. In between I glued a color copy of their feet print (as can be seen in curriculum board pic). I love that it turned out so cute AND so personalized.

To wrap up my day I head back on the same roads and finally walk in my door where I get to greet Matt and a very excited puppy. We take a walk, come back to feed the pup, and then work on dinner for us (if Matt doesn't already have it ready). The evening is filled with getting ready for the next day, laundry, dishes, playing with Hunter, and hopefully a little down time before bed.

There you go. A day in the life of Staci.

Hunter Updates

Most people blog about their kids but since we don't have any, I thought I would blog about our puppy. It turns out that our miniature dachshund is not so miniature. He wasn't supposed to be bigger than 8-11 pounds and so far at 4 months he is 10 1/2 pounds. *Sigh* There go my hopes of a cute little lap dog. His personality is making up for his mammoth size though. He loves people, kids, babies, and other dogs. He is walking really well on his leash and is obeying simple commands. We still plan on taking him to puppy classes though. His potty training is going really well too! Here are some pictures of him (I hope I'm not turning into a crazy dog lady). 

Our dog is technologically savvy. 

He likes to snuggle. Score!

He even likes his baths!

We nap together. 

And he keeps me company, especially when I'm sick. 

He loves to make friends! 

Spilling the Beans

Sometimes I find I hold things in, telling myself that they'll get better, only to have them explode in my face later. Here I am in one of those moments, so I'm spilling the beans on life.

It's been a long time since I last blogged and it always feels like there's not enough time. I just got home from a long day at work. The dog won't stop barking. Matt is out of town. Dinner needs to be made. Shopping needs to be done. Trash needs to be taken out. More laundry needs to be done. I need a shower. Lunch needs to be made for tomorrow. Etc, etc, etc. I decided though that the dog will have to wait, along with the trash, dinner, laundry, and grocery shopping, because it's been too long since I've taken any me time and it's about time I did.

My job, as much as I love it, requires I take care of 8 other bodies all day. Along with my fellow staff members, of course. Being new at a job I constantly feel like I need to be on my very most A-game around the clock, which is exhausting when you also have 2 bodies to take care of at home. Those bodies would be a puppy (which let me say I now HATE puppies and would NEVER get one again. Seriously.) and of course Matt, whom makes life so much easier- when he's here that it.

I knew Matt would travel but I didn't expect to feel so isolated after moving up here and it's made it harder. It's been hard to make friends because everyone lives in other cities and already has busy lives. It's also hard because with Matt gone the puppy is my full responsibility and I have to always be home after work and on weekends to take care of him and train him. Which doesn't leave time to go out or even run errands. It's also been hard at work because the people I teach with all speak a different language all day, which makes it hard to get to know one another, get work done, and feel included in my new job. Granted, these are wonderfully kind people- we just don't speak the same language. So I feel alone all day and I come home to an empty house at night. I'm struggling to say the least.

I just feel overwhelmed with all of my life changes and responsibilities. Marriage, new city, new part of the state, far away from family, lack of friends, annoying puppy, new apartment, new job, etc, etc, etc. So many times I just find myself overwhelmed, lonely, unhappy, and in tears. I feel like I went from having time to myself at the gym, with family/friends, to read, to shop, to watch tv... to nothing for me and everything being spent on everyone else. I'm literally always taking care of someone else and I'm exhausted. And the fact that I'm exhausted makes me feel like a total failure at this new life.

I feel like I should be able to do this. It seems so simple after all. I've moved before. I've worked before. I've helped run a household before. I've known Matt for years. So why is this all so hard? I just want some peace and quiet and I don't remember the last time I had any. I'm so thankful for the few sweet friends I have at my new job because they have made that part easier, and I'm always hoping the future will be brighter, but for right now I seem to feel the future is so far away and of course I wonder, "What if it doesn't get better?" What if I always feel like a failure? I'm constantly feeling like I'm not good enough at work, in my marriage, in my home, as a friend, as an aunt, sister, daughter, as a puppy-mom. I feel pulled and needed in so many directions that I feel run down and overwhelmed. And did I mention the last month I've had a severe sinus infection?

I haven't felt this alone in life since my second year of college when I had a broken foot, no car, no way to drive, and no life. I never thought I would feel like this when I moved here. I thought I would make friends, the puppy would be easy, and I would be totally fine with Matt traveling. But I'm not. And I'm a mess. And I'm spilling the beans about it. Finally.

A Tisket, A Tasket, Everyone Needs Awesome Baskets

Laundry

Vases

 

Cleaning Supplies

I love how a basket can nicely store just about anything. It keeps everything in one spot. It looks good doing it. And it is easy to access. Looking at a neatly organized basket makes my heart happy.

I recently worked on tidying up my laundry closet. Matt thought I was nuts and it looked fine but I still saw room for improvement. So I added a few baskets. One was to hold an assortment of laundry supplies and another was to replace a cardboard box my vases were in. I also decided to keep our extra hangers in the closet, which makes it very easy to hang items up as they come out of the wash. I also like having a spot to hang my cleaning rags, which I use frequently to clean and polish our granite countertops.

Easy DIY Storage Update

Updated with frosted drawers

For several years now I have been using Sterilite Drawer Carts as storage solutions in many places, including nightside tables, but being that I am an anti-clutter freak, I never liked how you can see what is inside the clear drawers. So yesterday a light bulb went off in my mind and being the crafty woman that I am, I asked my husband to run to Home Depot (with one of our wedding gift cards) and pick up some Rustoleum Frosted Glass spray paint. I prepped the three carts we have and then spent the afternoon painting two of the three, following the instructions on the can. I wish that they would have been a little more frosted but I am still happy with the change. I still have one more to do but I will finish it next weekend. In the picture below you can see the cart on the left has been frosted and the cart on the right still needs to be finished. And yes, in my house GasX is a must. Having people be able to see these items is just one of the reasons I wanted to obscure the view! Haha!

One tip: cut paper and take it to the sides and bottoms of the drawer that you do not want paint on, otherwise the spray paint will blend onto those areas. If you don't care, then don't worry about prepping to that extent. 

DIY Scrapbook Project 2

DIY Cute Whiteboard

This was another idea I got from the amazing Pinterest. All you have to do is grab a picture frame, a piece of scrapbook paper, and a white board marker.

Step 1: On my trip to Michaels (as mentioned in the previous DIY post) I also spotted a white picture frame which was on sale for 50% off. I also grabbed a piece of scrapbook paper (3 for $1 sale) and I grabbed a package of white board markers (clearance bin for $1). Many of you probably have all of these things laying around your house but since I just moved I needed to restock.

Step 2: Put the piece of scrapbook paper in the frame. Easy enough.

Step 3: Hang the frame on the wall. Once again I used the Command hangers. All you have to do now is write on it with your white board markers.

I love how you can change out the paper to update the look and how much cuter it is than the typical white board. I hung mine by our calendar for an easy information area.