adventures in babysitting...

Not only is Christmas time a great break from school, a time to shop and listen to fun music, time with family to celebrate the wonderful season, to watch Home Alone basically on repeat for a month straight, but it's a time for my fam to come in during the week and hang out with me!  Because I took so much time off for the wedding, I don't feel like I can miss school days this year just for the occasional trip out of town or day off to sleep in and shop, so I wanted to make this week worth while.  Matt left to go hunting Friday night, and I stayed in to catch up on TV shows and Christmas movies... I actually woke up at a decent hour Saturday morning, and literally cleaned out and organized for 5 hours straight - never stopped to eat breakfast or lunch because I was afraid I wouldn't get back up!  Late Saturday afternoon Abby and I went to try out the new Lupe Tortilla's on Shepherd - literally, we didn't even know the previous restaurant had closed and this was in the process of being built and changed around, and wham, it's open!  So we chowed down on some linner (lunch/dinner), and then I did some running around to Marshall's and TJ Maxx - my kind of fun!  Sunday morning I went to see my 'nephew' Mr. Mooch Mock get baptized at St. Luke's Methodist - it was so beautiful, and he did great!  After that my Mom headed in town and we went shopping all over the place that afternoon and Monday, it was a whirlwind!  Sunday night for dinner we went to Lola which is a great little place in the Heights if you've never been - they have a "day after thanksgiving sandwich" which is on a delicious bun with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy on the side... can you say YUMMY?  Plus, their fries are pretty awesome too, as is their side salad. 

After my Mom left yesterday, I had about a 2 hour break before Allison and the kids showed up - yikes!  We went to meet her friend Shannon for dinner at Lupe's again, then we were going to take the kids to look at Christmas lights and get hot chocolate, but they were too tired.  Early this morning I took them to McD's for breakfast - apparently Blake had woken up at 3:30 this morning and wouldn't go back to sleep, so Allison was ready to kill him, so we went out for a while to give her a break. :)  They pigged out on sausage biscuits, then we went to grab some Starbucks for me, and headed to the playground at Memorial Park for a little bit.  Allison found a bounce place that was opening at 10, so we came home to get her and headed there - it was super fun for them, and Allison and I!  Luckily there was no one else there when we showed up, so we could hog all the games... but then a large group of day care kids showed up, some much bigger than L & B, which we knew wouldn't turn out good, so luckily they gave us our money back and we headed to Memorial City to ice skate! 

I loooove ice skating, and was so excited to go.   The kids were pretty decent at it, especially when Allison started bribing them with Skittles if they would skate on their own - score!  We took a break for lunch, then actually went to skate more.  They just left to drive back to CS, and now I need to go food shopping, do laundry, and finish Christmas shopping tomorrow, before we head to Jacksonville Thursday afternoon!  We will stay there with Matt's family for 2 nights, then wake up Christmas morning and head to CS to see my family - we did the same thing last year and it worked out perfect!  It's about a 2 hour drive between Jacksonville and College Station, which obviously isn't short, but it's short enough to make it possible so we can see everyone and get to have family time with them all!

I'm always sad to see Christmas go knowing I'll have to wait a whoooole year to celebrate my favorite holiday again, but as I look back at this year I know it was a great one and I have SO much to be thankful for!  I hope each of you have had a wonderful year as well, and I hope you have a very very Merry Christmas filled with lots of friends, family, and love!

first turner family holiday card!

Joy & Peace New Year's Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

in a nut shell...

Well, the wedding and honeymoon are officially over, and it's back to work and reality tomorrow. I'm assuming most brides go through a bit of sadness at this point, all the planning and looking forward to the grand wedding weekend, and then boom, it's over before you know it! I'm trying to convince my Mom that we should throw a 1-year anniversary celebration because I want to re-live the whole weekend again, and she even sounds a bit interested in it! 

The whole weekend was absolutely perfect, and I honestly mean it when I say we are SO blessed with so many close friends and family who made the trip to College Station to celebrate with us.  We started off the weekend with our rehearsal dinner at the Benjamin Knox Art Gallery - it was the PERFECT venue, so neat and quaint, and Mrs. Turner did a GREAT job decorating it and planning everything!  She made huge containers of Sangria which were a big hit, and then had On The Border cater it, followed by super yummy dessert and coffee from a little shop in town called It's A Grind.  Our videographer had made a slideshow, which is always fun to watch, but all of the speeches from our parents and wedding party were the true hit of the night - not only were they hilarious, but they were so heartfelt and sincere, and it just made me so thankful to hear the sweet things they said about Matt and I. :)

After this, mostly everyone headed to the Corner Bar at Northgate, where Matt and I actually met about 6 years ago!  It was fun to return to the same spot, and it was also one of our favorite hang outs in college.  I believe everyone had quite a fun time :)

The next morning, Abby and her Mom, Jane, threw my bridal party and I a "Pedicures and Poinsettia's" shower, which was a perfect way to start off the morning!  They brought champagne to make Mimosa's and Poinsettia's, along with a table full of snacks - including sausage balls which I must have had about 14 of!

After this, we all sort of split ways to run errands and get dressed.  I was planning to just get my hair and make-up done alone because I knew the other girls would want to spend time with their husbands/dates and go eat a yummy lunch in CS, but luckily Jen was able to hang out with me all day because her husband Wes was out with Matt and all the guys, bowling and eating lunch at Wings N More, so it worked out perfect!  We headed to the church at 4:00 to begin pre-ceremony pics and hanging out!

The ceremony flew by, but it was perfect!  I've always loved Christmas :) especially the Christmas Cannon in D version, so I knew I HAD to have the bells and children's choir sing that intro before my Dad walked me down the aisle, and it turned out just as I had imagined... I cannot wait to see the video of the whole ceremony since it was a blur! 

We then headed to the reception in my parents neighborhood, Traditions.  Those who are close to us know that they JUST completed the clubhouse 2 weeks ago, and we were the first wedding they had- which could have been a huge disaster- but they pulled it off and made everything perfect!  I wanted it a wedding reception/christmas party, so the flowers and decorations were very simple white, golds and silvers, along with some christmas ornaments and pine cones.  The club also put up beautiful swags and decorations, and all though I never even made it outside, the fire pit looked wonderful!  We could not have been more pleased with the band, Texas Unlimited Band, they were a stinking blast and I highly reccommend them to anyone looking for a great time - they do country, typical wedding fun songs, and most importantly, rap!  I know everyone was in shock when they busted out the rap music, and also when they invited Matt up to sing Wanna Be A Baller with them, what a fun night!  We also had a photo booth that was such a success, and I will forever love looking at all the goofy pictures that our guests took - and might be able to use some of them as blackmail, hehe! 

When the reception was over, we moved the party to Matt and I's Casita - the neighborhood has GREAT little 2 bedroom houses that you can rent out, so most of our wedding party and a few friends stayed there, it was so convenient!  A bunch of friends came over and we danced, did sparklers, and just enjoyed having fun.  The  next morning I met my Mom at the club and of course started crying that it was all over - so sad!  But to make things better, some of our wonderful friends stayed around and met for brunch at one of our favorite places - La Bodega!  It was SO much fun to get together and laugh about all the funny things that happened over the weekend, and just how wonderful it was to celebrate with so many friends and family at once, I loved every second of it!

Well, now that I went on a writing/picture spree, I guess the title 'in a nut shell' isn't really appropriate for this post anymore, but I hope you enjoyed it! 

BIG thanks to my parents and Matt's parents for giving us such a wonderful weekend, that we will always remember and be so thankful for - y'all did an amazing job and we love you so much!

thankful.

This year, I am THANKFUL for...

-My amazing family - Mom, Dad, Allie, Brad, Lauren and Blake

-My Matty Pie that I get to marry in 11 days!

-My soon-to-be in-laws... I am so lucky to have them and enter their family!

-The kiddos I get to impact at school - they have made my year SO enjoyable and easy

-All of our dear friends and family who will be making the trek to CS in 11 days to celebrate Matt and I's wedding - we feel SO blessed!

-The special girlfriends in my life - some I've known 5 years, some over 15 years - and they grow more and more special each year that goes by, knowing how uncommon it is to be blessed with so many wonderful friends, and that we are able to have so much fun no matter where we are or what we are doing!

-Good health and a secure job

-The ability to still believe there is good in most people, despite all the horrible things we see on the news

-This wonderful holiday season we are about to begin, and all the christmas movies, music, and drinks from Starbucks I will be indulging in over the next month!

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

1 month to go!

Wow, where has the time gone?! I started this blog right when we got engaged, and here we are with 30 days left until the big day! We have had a very fun and busy last few months, which is why I have been slacking on my writing!

We had a couples shower during September in Jacksonville to kick off the festivities... then a few of my dear girlfriends in Houston threw us another couples shower 2 weeks ago which was a blast... and finally this weekend I will have yet another fabulous shower hosted by some of my favorite Mom's from Katy, then Saturday night us girls will hit the town for my Bachelorette party! I can honestly say Matt and I are feeling so completely spoiled by all of this, and also so thankful that we have such amazing friends and family to share it with!

Besides being a bride-to-be, I have been spending my time...

-Visiting all the new babies! Jackson, Piper, Preston, and Walker - I love them all! And of course Mr. Mooch Mock who isn't exactly new, but I still don't see him enough!

-Doing bootcamp 3 days a week which I LOVE and don't know how I was so lazy before, now that I'm back in the working out mode!

-Hanging out with Lauren and Blake, trying to get them to practice 'walking down the aisle' for the wedding- who knows how it will go off!

-Getting the house organized with all of Matt's stuff

-Enjoying my kids at school more than ever - they are the NICEST most polite children I've ever had! I may have had other classes that were more fun and quirky, but my kids this year are just so wonderful... it has really helped me be stress-free at work which is a huge plus when there are lots of wedding planning stresses that come up!

And that about sums up my last 2 months!

I made a quick trip to Target last night to return something, and did a quick run through, and was THRILLED to see all the Christmas decor is out! Hooray! I told Matt the other day that I will probably be bringing along about 10 Christmas movies to watch each day on the honeymoon, hope he doesn't mind! :)

back to school

Wow, where has my time gone?! Just a few weeks ago I was sleeping in, shopping around all day, going to starbucks to read or surf the net, and now I've done a total 180! We started school two weeks ago and I can honestly say I'm shocked at how easy it has been so far - my kids have been SO well behaved, and although I have more responsibility on my plate this year, I am so much less stressed. This is my 5th year and maybe I've finally got the hang of it, so if this continues all year, it would be great! I have a new math teacher on my team - he is this goofy guy from New Jersey who just graduated from Princeton, and is part of the Teach For America program. We have about 15 TFA teachers on campus this year - from colleges all over the United States - and I have SO much respect for them. If you're not familiar with it, they basically commit at least 2 years after they graduate, and move anywhere in the US to teach at inner city schools. They get the same pay as normal teachers, but most are also going thru alternative certification classes because education was not their major. They do recieve $5,000 for each year completed to help pay back student loans, but that is nothing compared to what they do! It is such a great organization, and they have really raised the bar as far as what is expected of all us 'normal' teachers at the school. I obviously have the same passion as them since I love teaching inner city kids, but doubt I could have even been accepted to TFA because it is very competitive and you need a near perfect GPA, which I clearly didn't have! :) It is also really fun to see how they are adapting to life in Houston - they obviously despise the heat and humidity, and think it is so weird how people wear cowboy boots on a daily basis! They are also enjoying all the mexican food and kolaches, which most had never heard of. :)

Besides that, I am excited that fall is almost here! Between Matt's hunting trips and all our wedding festivities, I think we have 1 weekend open between now and November 13th, where we don't have anything planned - yikes! It is going to be busy, but also super exciting! We went to CS this past weekend to see my family, and Matt's mom was also in town to work on some wedding stuff. We all met up for lunch and dinner, and it was fun to have both families in town hanging out together! My wedding dress also came in, so I got to try it on for them, which definately made things more real! We have a couples shower in Jacksonville this coming weekend that we are all looking forward to, and I have a feeling these next 3 months will just fly by!

wordle, what's that?!

I had a G/T training today at school, and found the coolest website! It is called Wordle and you basically enter in a list of words and it arranges them in all these crazy ways... and it enlarges a word the more frequently it appears! You can enter in certain websites and it pulls the words from there... this is how my blog turned out!



I'm going to make some with vocab words, and my class rosters once they are complete, and think it will be really visually appealing for my classroom!

I'm also loving www.dropio.com and www.dropbox.com - you basically save all your documents, links, etc. to one place so you can access them from everywhere, what a great concept!

Wedding Party!

Since I started this blog as an alternative to a wedding website, and really haven't put anything wedding related, I guess I'll start with a post about our wonderful wedding party! I have been in quite a few weddings over the years ;) and am excited now to have my closest friends be with me on my special day!


Matron of Honor - Allison Toler Wendler


Bridesmaid - Elizabeth Moses Caddell


Bridesmaid - Abby Jones


Bridesmaid - Jennifer Hicks Mock


Bridesmaid - Jennifer Judy Peliter


House Party - Kristen Conlon


House Party - Dani Dillard Cronauer


House Party - Lauren Joost


House Party - Lindsay Butler Netherton


Scripture Reader - Laura Turner Norwood
(Laura is the second one from the left, along with all my future in-laws, yiippeee!)


Ring Bearer & Flower Girl - Blake and Lauren Wendler

There we go!! Matt obviously has his groomsmen and ushers too, but putting all the pictures on here is a lot of work, so maybe I'll let him post on here later! I'm so lucky to have SOO many close girlfriends who mean the world to me, and I am so excited for all our wedding festivities to start!

where have I been?

Sooo, I started thinking, where have the last 2 weeks gone?! By looking at my house - I haven't been cleaning, by looking and my closet - I haven't been doing laundry, by looking at my blog - I haven't been blogging, and by looking at my wedding-to-do list - I haven't even been doing wedding stuff! So I consulted my trusty iPhone calendar and almost died, realizing all I've done for the last few weeks was EAT, EAT, EAT!!!

Here is a summary of all the places I've been/friends I've gotten to see....

*Cyclone Anaya's and Sprinkles Cupcakes with Amy and Abby
*Soma with Abby (then to see Sarah and check out Jackson's nursery!)
*Tony's with Matt
*Le Peep with Dani
*Collina's & Central Market with my Mom
*Canyon Creek with Lauren B.
*Pizza at Lauren L.'s
*Chuy's with Jen and Jeff
*El Tiempo with Matt
*Onion Creek with Hannah and Abby
*Empire Cafe with Jen and Lauren J.

Wow... I'm sure I missed a few others, and on top of that, I've been to the Frosted Betty AND What's Up Cupcake vans in the past few days, buying ridiculously expensive treats - am I trying to sabotage myself to where I won't fit in my wedding dress?! Did I get a parasite in Mexico that's causing me to eat double than what I used to?! Is it all the calories I'm burning working out at Crossfit?! Or maybe I'm just trying to see everyone as much as possible before school starts, and socializing usually involves eating out?! Who knows! All I can say is I'm pretty thankful that my jeans still fit after looking at this list, and I am definitely going for a loooong walk tomorrow... and if I happen to ask anyone reading this blog to meet me for lunch or dinner anytime soon, please tell me no or act like you already have plans. :)

is it bad to lie?

That's what I keep asking myself everyday, but it's the only thing that helps! Our family has been in Destin this week, and before we came we thought the biggest problem would be the possible oil spill ruining our fun... but that turned out okay with beautiful beaches and bright sun, and our real problem was a week with Lauren and Blake!!! AAAHHHHH! I've always known they were a handful, but I was not prepared to spend 7 days, 24 hours a day with them, being woken up before 7:00 every morning while they run around yelling "heeellllooooooooo!" in this new funny voice. Lauren has always been dramatic, and Blake a big whiner, so I've resorted to saying things like " L/B, the neighbors called and said if you don't stop doing xyz they are going to call the police and we will have to go to jail" or "L/B, Mr. Alan (the owner of the house we are staying in) said that if you mess anything up he is going to be very upset and will not let us ever come back here." Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but it's worth a try! Of course I love them so much and they are so precious that I can't stay away for long even when they are being super big pests. Our two saviours have been the pool and Finding Nemo. I really think Blake is part fish, and could swim for days. He loves jumping in, being thrown up in the air, and jumping off shoulders, or taking train rides - which means Lauren and Blake are both stacked on mine or my Dad's back, chugging around the pool! We went to Target mid-week and Allison bought them Finding Nemo, and now they have watched it about 27 times - thank God for that! We head back to Texas later today, and I am sad to leave the beach and hanging out with the family, but excited to get back to my house and Matty! Also, my friend Jen Mock and I are going to test the waters at an introduction class to Crossfit tomorrow - a workout program we've heard is reallllyyy hard, but we're really motivated to do it, so please say a pray we survive!

good ole fun

Well, we survived the first sleepover with Lauren and Blake! 24 hours of them definitely wore us out. Lauren slept the entire night, but Blake was up about every hour from 1:00 AM to 6:30 AM when they both got up, ugh. We had fun going to see Toy Story 3, eating McDonald's, taking a long bubble bath, getting Shipley's in the morning, going to the playground by my house, and eating way too many popsicles! Can you tell what their favorite thing to do is??













Yes, they love to bug Matt! They could attack him all day, jumping on the couch, and never get bored. I'm glad he is a good sport and puts up with it!


Before this, we also had our AWESOME trip to Cancun! Matt's brother Jay and his fiance Kristal decided to have a destination wedding, so we all packed up and headed to the Royal all-inclusive resort in Cancun last Saturday. The water in the ocean was a little rough, but luckily there was an amazing pool that stretched the length of the hotel, where we spent all of our time. They also had a great 24 hour lounge with ping pong and pool tables, snacks continuously coming out, and Dos XX beer on tap, which was heaven for Matt! The beautiful wedding was Monday night, with about 20 of their closest friends and family. There was a quick ceremony, then a fun mariachi band came to perform for us, before heading to a private area for dinner and dancing. I know my Mom was hoping Matt and I would jump in there and just get married too, but that didn't happen, sorry Mom!