Back to School...Back to Work

Well, I am happy to say the first week of school is under our belts...thank goodness! There is something to say about the smell of new erasers, the brand new box of Crayola crayons, and shoving the Kleenex box (which doesn't really fit) into the book bag for the journey to the first day of school. Here's a family update...Jordyn is a big jr. high schooler this year. Where did the time go? Kye's in 5th grade, right across the hall from me. I'll be in his classroom from time to time...so that will be kind of neat.

Yep, I took this on the REAL, first day of school. Sometimes I forget and a few days later we pretend it's the first day just so I can get the picture. Jordyn wasn't going to smile until I told her I was posting this on our blog. This was the best she could do. Kye's smiling because we weren't going to be late. He has some issues about being places on time and not a minute late. Unfortunately, he inherited a mother who is ALWAYS 7 minutes late to everything.

Since this was my first week back, I thought I'd better show you my school bag. Nope, this was not taken on the first day of school. If I would have known the first week of school was going to be...well...um....you know...a bit stressful, I would have been prepared last Monday. But this is what's in my school bag...125 pieces of fun size chocolates. I was feeling thatI needed a little bit of positive reinforcement, so here ya have it. Oh and by the way...to my fellow co-workers. Yes, I will share.

Camera Straps

I've been searching for a new, funky camera strap since this summer. I found this cute little shop on Etsy.com called Cotton Candy by Natalie. She makes the cutest camera straps. This is the one I keep going back to. What do you all think? Is it me?

On a Mission...

Click here for details.

Welcome Back to School

Outer Banks Vacation (Part III)

I would give anything to be sitting on the beach, slathered with ooey-gooey sunscreen, picking sand out of my teeth and not worrying about starting work in 2 days.

Outer Banks Vacation (Part II)

A few days into our trip, it was decided that we drive an hour north of where we were staying to a little place called Corolla. Upon arriving we would be taking a nice, leisurely tour (so we thought) in a retro, open-top jeep to see the wild Mustangs (I think) that roam this area. I guess we underestimated the "adventure" in the Corolla Outback Adventure tour that we were to embark on! I knew it was going to be interesting when the blacktop ended and the sand road began. Please allow me to share our adventure.

Ahhhh...so scenic.

These houses are basically out in the boondocks!

I'm going to live here someday...that is when I win the lottery.

So you're probably thinking what's the big adventure. A little bit of sand, a few scattered houses, and a couple of horses (which by the way were quite interesting!)

I tried to get this horse to turn around so I didn't have to photograph her backside. Darn thing had no shame! These horses just roam this area. This horse was feeding in someones yard. I think I read somewhere were there are 60 acres of wild horse reserve in this area.

Now we're talking. Here's one of the retro jeeps we rode in. They were quite um...what's the word...dangerous. Driving down the beach in these big sand ruts at 60 mph! Brandon's jeep's brakes didn't work too swell. Mindy's speedometer was broken and her seat belt was rigged with a rope! Have I mentioned how bumpy the ride was? Thank goodness for the makeshift seat belts in these buggies.
Hey, that's Mindy driving. She was the best driver in the bunch and I'm not joking!
Remember a little while back I mentioned that the ride was quite bumpy? Well I was trying to snap a picture of the two jeeps behind us and, well, I was bumping all around in my seat and this was the best I could do.
Look real close at this picture. See that car between the red jeep and the red truck? They were incredibly stuck in the sand. It was like 90 degrees and they were digging (!) their car out. I'm still sweating just thinking about it.

Outer Banks Vacation 2008 (Part I)

I am sad to say that we are back in Illinois and our vacation is over. We have been looking forward to and planning for this vacation for well over a year now. It's amazing how fast it goes when you are there. The only remnants of vacation are a bit of sand in the truck, a pile of laundry in the basement and the faint smell of sunscreen on our swimsuits. So I have a lot to write about and lots of pictures to sort through. I did want to share this picture with you. To most, it's just a picture of a beach...but this is probably my favorite picture of the whole trip. Why, you ask? This picture was taken from inside our bedroom. This is what I woke up to each morning. How can you not like that? It's absolutely beautiful where we stayed. I told Brandon we were just going to come home, load up a U-Haul and move back there. He just laughed. I was serious though.

I think my next post will have something to do with an off-road adventure. Come back in a day or so to see what that's all about!