Santa Barbara Girls Trip

This past weekend my Mom and I went to Santa Barbara. We were able to use a family members beach house, which was so nice because it was a lot more comfortable than a hotel. This was the first time my Mom and I have taken a vacation just the two of us and now we are planning to do this annually.

Day 1- We were able to get an early start on leaving for Santa Barbara. We got there around 3, unpacked, and quickly hit the beach. There was a great dog beach that was a few blocks from the house called Arroyo Burro Beach (Hendry's Beach) that I fell in love with!

Day 2- We drove back up the coast and visited Summerland Beach and Carpenteria. We shopped in both places, but had a difficult time finding stores that weren't so touristy and expensive.

It was sad to visit Summerland Beach because the oil spill was more evident there than the other beaches. It smelled like a gas station and the waves were brown. We walked along the beach looking for shells and sea glass but didn't go in the water obviously.

My Mom was thrilled to find a quilt shop in Carpenteria!

Lemon drop and chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake from Crushcakes Cupcakery 

in downtown Santa Barbara. The chocolate frosting was delicious!

 We had an amazing Italian dinner at Palazzio's in downtown Santa Barbara! We shared a large order of Spaghetti and their Baked Macaroni Pie! It was so delicious, plus we had left overs for dinner the next night. I can't wait to go back and eat there again!

 Day 3- This day was supposed to be an all day beach day but Mother Nature wasn't cooperating. It started it out as a cloudy day but quickly turned into rain and then thunder and lightening. By noon we were back home and decided to head to Solvang for a few hours. On the way back from Solvang we drove through UCSB and stopped at a beach that had a peir.

 See those clouds!

 We thought that they were having a paddle board race, but we weren't sure.

Solvang Bakery

Scary looking clouds in Solvang!

Beach view from the pier. In the distance you could see UCSB!

We also completed a puzzle together during the trip.

Day 4- We had breakfast at The Boat House while watching dolphins play in the ocean. Then we walked along Arroyo Beach one last time and watched the dogs play in the water. We probably saw around 20 Golden Retrievers within the four days we were there! I so enjoyed watching the dogs play in the water and on the beach. After the walk we had to pack up and get back home. I was happy to find a Starbucks that day too and had not one but two tea drinks, which made for a lot of bathroom stops on the way home! The drive home was also difficult because we hit a rain storm so there were a lot of accidents and flooding to get through. It was an awesome trip though and I'm looking forward to our next girls trip!

 The Boat House Restaurant on Arroyo Burro Beach

Breakfast

 Lobster anyone?

Life Journey List

I turned 35 years old a couple of weeks ago and while it wasn't a big birthday to most people, it kinda was to me. The week before this birthday I started to think about how long I have left on this earth. Most people live well into their 70's and 80's, so I feel like this birthday was the half way mark for me in life. Now this doesn't mean that I'm going through some silly mid-life crisis. It's nothing like that. But I started to really think about how I want to live the rest of my life, things I want to accomplish and places I want to go. Most people create a bucket list of some sort but I think of this more as a life journey list. So here are 20 goals on my life journey list that I hope to accomplish!

1.  Read the bible

2.  Get baptized


3.  Visit all 50 states

4.  Watch my future nieces and/or nephews grow up and be a part of their lives

5.  Make my Grandmother's homemade macaroni and cheese just the way she does and have it taste just like hers

6.  Buy a home

7.  Grow old with Kyle

8.  Go on a cruise to Alaska (and port to take the train inland)

9.  Learn to play the cello

10.  Feed the homeless

11.  Adopt a dog from a shelter

12.  Travel to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower

13.  Be healthy and happy

14.  Help my parents and Kyle's parents as they get older

15.  Write a children's book

16.  Move to a state that has less traffic and cooler weather

17.  Celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square

18.  Scuba dive with sea turtles
 
19.  Learn to go with the flow and accept things the way they are

20.  Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity

What are some goals on your life journey (bucket) list?

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!

1. Kyle had a gig last Saturday with his new cover band Ghostpepper. It was great to see him play again! His band rocked! It was a full night of Van Halen, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Waylon Jennings, Edgar Winter, Credence Clearwater Revival and much more. Unfortunately, it made for a late night and I have been trying to catch up on sleep all week because of it. It was worth it though. If you're interested, check out their Facebook page for upcoming gigs.

2.My Mom had surgery last week and she got out of the hospital on Tuesday. We are really close, so it has been hard to watch her go through so much pain. I can't wait until she is back to feeling like herself!

3. I had three warts removed on my hand this week by a torture device liquid nitrogen. Painful doesn't even begin to describe this horrendous procedure. It was nice to be bandaged up at work a couple of times this week to help me heal. 

4. This week I have been pretty grumpy at times with some of my students. Long story short- the honeymoon is over! Yet I still hear "you're the bestest teacher ever" from some of them. They are just trying to butter me up, which of course is working. I love teaching first grade!

5. I'm so happy that Fall is finally in the air and at the grocery stores! Yay for pumpkin spice kisses and Starbucks drinks!

High Five for Friday and August

Happy Friday! This Friday is extra happy for me.  I took the day off so we could head to the Disneyland area to get ready for the Disney half marathon this Sunday. 

This month has been so busy since I have gone back to work, so I'm going to wrap up August in this High Five for Friday post.

1. My birthday this year was awesome! Every year it seems to get better. This year included lots of sweets, family love and time with friends! I even got love from my students who had only known me three days! I have to share this really cute necklace and bracelet set I got from my husband. I love Skippyjon Jones! If you don't know who he is then you're missing out and you need to google him ASAP!

2. I worked my tush off in my classroom before my students arrived this year. I can be kind of a perfectionist when it comes to getting my bulletin boards and classroom set up. This year wasn't any different. I am so proud of this bulletin board I made (with the help of my first grade team members) to use while my students read stories.

I also made this classroom rewards chart based off another teacher's idea I saw on Pinterest. So long treasure box and tons of money spent on junk! Hello cheap rewards! Check out the link if you are curious to see how this rewards poster works.

So far I'm loving my class. I only have 22 students right now and it's been really nice with a class size that small. Last year I had 32 at the most and it was just constant crowd control. I hope I can continue to have a small class size this year.

3. This weekend is the Disney half marathon that I was supposed to train for all Summer. I trained a little, but nearly what I had planned. Long story short, I'm not a runner, I'm a swimmer. I will finish the half though. I will! I will! I will! i hope.

4.We celebrated my brother's birthday a week early because of the run this weekend. I put together a bag of bacon items for him because he is crazy about bacon. He loved it! I just hope he doesn't torment his vegetarian girlfriend with all of this items.

Just a few items that I bought for him along with a bacon gift bag and even a bacon card!

5. It has been so hot and humid here that I haven't taken Banner for any long walks since I have been back to work. Instead, we have been keeping him occupied with silly games and lots of play time.

Yes, he has a shirt on.

Have a great weekend!

High Five for Friday- Goodbye Summer, Hello Classroom

This is the last Friday (and last day) of Summer break. I'm sad, but this Summer has really been pretty good to me, so I'm kinda OK with going back to work. For this week's High Five for Friday I'm giving you my top five memories of this summer.

1. Pennsylvania trip with my hubby- Gettysburg Civil War reenactments, Amish farmland and quilts and some pretty yummy food.

2. Grand Canyon trip with my family- three day trip with a train ride to the Grand Canyon and back.

3. Beach days- I only managed to get two beach days in so far this Summer, but they were pretty great beach days.

4. Eating junk food- Recently I have eaten way too many of these and they are incredibly addicting! I highly recommend that you make them and then share them with others eat all of them!

5. Relaxation time- I had a good amount of time to relax this Summer. I was able to visit with family, friends and also enjoy some quiet time alone. 

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday! I'm back to share my week and to link up again with Lauren Elizabeth. 

1. The highlight of my week was swimming at the gym. I know this doesn't sound all that wonderful, but this is a huge thing for me.  I have been wanting to do it for at least a year now, but didn't have the cojones to do it. Now I'm hooked! I'm a swimmer at heart and I am dying to go again. I'm even thinking of trying the aqua aerobics classes.

2. A friend and I went to Crystal Cove beach. Perfect weather, beautiful waves and dolphins! It was a great day!

Seeing the dolphins was so exciting!

3. Scrumptious macaroons from the Sweet and Saucy Shop. I'm in love with macaroons! So. Freakin'. Good.

4. I'm a swinger! No, not that kind of swinger! I love to sit outside in my new porch swing and watch the hummingbirds.

My pup chillin' with me while I'm on the swing.

5. Summer break is over in 9 days (boooo!) so I took some time this week to start preparing for the new school year. I usually get excited about going back to work, but the excitement hasn't hit me yet this Summer.

What was the highlight of your week?

High Five for Friday

I have been wanting to do a weekly blog post for a while now as a way to blog more often. I was recently introduced to High Five for Friday posts by a friend (the idea is originally from Lauren Elizabeth's blog) and I decided to jump on the idea. So, here goes nothin'!

1. I came back from a Grand Canyon trip with my family (minus my brother and hubby). It was a quick trip and I can't wait to get back to do some more hiking there. This trip plus the trip to Pennsylvania this month makes it a totally of 12 days of being gone on vacation this month. I'm so excited to be home for a while. Now if I could just get time to slow down before school starts again.

2. We went to the Redlands Theater Festival with some friends this week. I was shocked that there was this cute outdoor theater in the middle of the park that we had our wedding reception. Who knew that was hiding there?! It was nice to reminisce about our wedding and the play was pretty awesome as well.

 

3. As soon as I got back from the family trip, I had to finish this puzzle I started before I left. I haven't done a puzzle in a really long time and it was a nice time waster way to relax.

4. I got in a really good run/walk on the treadmill to keep the training going for my half marathon in September. 34 more days to go! EEEEKKK!

5. A friend and I had a really good lunch at Luna's and then went swimming at her house. Her dogs are so much fun. They love to swim and chase after the Frisbee for hours!