monday gratitudes

view of the Atlantic from a castle in my hometown

Today I am grateful for....

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  having the craziness of last week behind me.
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  feeling rested today after a nap and going to bed early yesterday.
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  teaching my last class of the semester today. My 3rd year teaching is complete. Now for grading!
• 
  
  having learned how to explain myself in a confident manner and stick by my words.
• 
  
  being taught to work hard and follow directions.
• 
  
  the opportunity to host some of my guy's friends overnight and show them where I am from.
• 
  
  time spent near the ocean this weekend.
• 
  
  bad, reality television allowing me to escape for awhile.
• 
  
  Cashew caramel cookies from Trader Joe's.
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  the Iris bouquet on my coffee table.
• 
  
  my education.
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  money to pay my bills.
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  confidence.

I'll post some more pictures this week from my weekend....walked on the beach, went to my friend's husband's 40th birthday (yikes!), looked around a castle (played tourist in my hometown) and tried to catch up on some sleep after an exhausting week at both jobs. This week will continue to be hectic and busy...hoping for some time to start slowing down later this next weekend...

Happy Monday!

monday gratitudes

Today I am grateful for...

• the sun finally being out!
• "In Memory" at the Vietnam wall....thinking of the year Uncle Lauri was honored at that ceremony.
• help at the yarn shop yesterday with my sweater
• sock knitting class
• laughter
• my plants
• coffee
• having a home to decorate
• knitting

I haven't been doing any scrapbooking or cardmaking. I've been knitting. I go in spurts. And I always feel guilty about it! It is a challenge having so many hobbies. But I have found I do just go back-and-forth depending on what I am itching to work on. Lately it has been my sweater I'm knitting and a new challenge - a magic loop sock class which I'm loving!

Today we have a holiday here in MA. Patriot's Day...aka Marathon Monday. I miss going to the Marathon. Since I was a baby we went every year. My mom grew up going because her aunts lived on the route. After they both passed away a few years ago the house was sold and that tradition came to an end. But now I can just relax...and catch up on grading since school is winding down!

Happy Monday!

i love...

...getting my Cocoa Daisy kit's in the mail! It is like a little box of suprises. I am like a little kid! I have been subscribing since my birthday last September and love them. But sadly I haven't used last months yet...so now I must play with that kit and my newest that I got today. Things have been busy. But I am hoping to break out my supplies tonight or tomorrow...

...and in the kit they had these from K&Co...

 I really love them! Thinking they would be very cute on some cards too...

Went to see Date Night with my mom and sister this morning before we went food shopping. Very funny movie. My guy has his drill weekend so I'm on my own and having fun. I have a netflix for tonight. The Notebook. I could never get away with making my guy sit through what I am sure is very much a chick flick! So I will enjoy it myself. It is approaching the busiest three weeks for me with the Spring semester winding down, graduation, reading theses papers and my little brother's upcoming college graduation. Bring it on!

That's it for now...

monday gratitude

Easter Cupcakes

I haven't been taking the time to do my monday gratitude list and I need to get back into that practice. It puts me in a better place to start the week. So...

Today I am grateful for:

1. the sun coming in my window..my open window! The weather is so warm here that I am grateful for warm Spring days.
2. Easter dinner with my family.
3. finding the edible, candy grass at Target so I could make the Easter cupcakes I saw years ago online somewhere. They are so cute and very good.
4. being caught up with the work I needed to do for today. It will make for a much smoother day.
5. netflix.
6. internet.
7. strawberries.
8. the final knit-a-thon group I have tomorrow night. I am nowhere done with the sweater but it has been fun and I'll continue.
9. the close proximity of an excellent scrapbook store and several yarn shops.
10. my car.
11. the flowers my guy is going to buy me to put in the large flower pot he got me this weekend. I can't wait to get planting.

That's my list for today. I have to finish getting ready to go to work on this beautiful sunny day!
Happy Monday!

birthdays, spring cleaning and Easter

Celebrated my guy's birthday on Friday. We opened gifts, saw Clash of the Titans (which he was looking forward to so much), and a late lunch. When we got home I frosted his strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Yes. My man's man had a pink on pink birthday cake and loved it!

These past few days have a been a nice break from a hectic schedule. This is the busiest time of the year for me with school stuff. I cannot wait until May and summer break when I have short work weeks.

Anyhow I made some very cute cupcakes last night for Easter today. I'll post them later. I got the idea awhile ago somewhere online and happened to come across the right ingredients while shopping for Easter candy on Friday. They are super cute. I'm bringing some over to my Mom's today where we are having dinner in awhile.

Yesterday I was able to put away my winter sweaters. SpaceBags are magic! I was able to fit them under my bed. That way I wont' have to store them in my parent's shed which isn't the best spot to store clothes. But it works in a pinch. Today when we go over there for dinner I'm planning on taking the rest of my Spring/Summer clothes out of the shed. It is almost like shopping when I take them out of storage. I forget some of the things I have so it's a treat. On Thursday I picked up a few new cute Spring things at NY & Co. which was had everything in the store 50% off! What a deal. Not the best quality stuff but at that price I found some nice things. Now with sweaters away and Spring clothes out...Murphy's Law....it will snow :) But in all seriousness I think we are probably out of the woods in terms of winter. We'll still have cool weather but probably not snow. Though it has happened. In college I remember an April Fool's Day snowstorm.

Hopefully the weather will continue looking up. I cleaned out my flower pots on the balcony and prepped them for new flowers. I cannot wait! But I will hold off for a bit until I can plant petunias and other flowers I love having. I might try tomatos again and possibly peppers. I would like to find one other veggie to plant in a container as well. We'll see! I love Spring...

Happy Easter!