The District

The weekend before Thanksgiving, hubs took me to D.C.! This was both of our first time to go to the national capital. We were there for a full five days and packed in as much as we possibly could. It was a blast!

We left the Friday before Thanksgiving after work and arrived late Friday night. So, we went straight to bed and were ready for a very full day on Saturday. We saw the Smithsonian--Natural History and American History museums.

Natural History Museum Rotunda

Matt's new friend

My favorite.

Another fave--Abigail's White House China Pattern

Those museums took us the whole morning, so after leaving, we went to our first recommended restaurant (and my personal favorite on the whole trip), Founding Farmers. It was delicious and a great atmosphere. There was a two hour wait, but after about 2 minutes of waiting, we scored two seats at the bar and ate there. Matt made friends with the bartender, of course, and we really enjoyed ourselves. After lunch, we made our way over to the Washington Monument and White House.

                

      


That last picture was taken by Matt, and to me, looks like what I like to call a "postcard pic." And then, there was the White House. I mean, wow. I don't care who you are--standing outside of the White House is powerful. So many incredible people have walked in that house. Pretty neat!

That night, we went to Georgetown for dinner at Clyde's. First of all, I LOVED Georgetown. I could have spent the whole five days hanging out there. After dinner, we thought it would be a genius idea to WALK back to the monuments to see them at night. Yes, brilliant idea!

        

     












But, I mean, WOW. Absolutely incredible and completely worth every blister step.
     
     















At the end of the day, just as you are feeling after getting to this point in the post, we were exhausted. So, needless to say, Sunday was a tiny bit lazy for us. We decided to sleep in a little and tackle only the Arlington Cemetery. We saw the changing of the guard, where JFK and Taft are buried, and many of our nation's heroes.

JFK's grave

Taft's grave

That night, we made our way back to Georgetown for dinner at Filomena. Holy moly, it was yummy. Homemade pasta right in the front window of the restaurant and to end the meal, Amaretto. I'll take it. And as if that wasn't enough, we HAD to get cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes. Also delicious.

               

The next day, we saw the National Archives, the Holocaust Museum, the Capital building, and the Supreme Court. We didn't spend a ton of time at the National Archives, but we got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. You can hardly see the writing on the documents anymore, but it is still makes you very awestruck to think about their past--where they've been, who has touched them, etc. We didn't take any pictures at the Holocaust Museum, but enjoyed walking through it very much, seeing all of the pictures and reading all of the stories from that time. We also toured the Capital Building. I think that was Matt's favorite part of the trip. The top of it is undergoing a two-year reconstruction project, so we hope to get a better picture one day. I guess we will have to go back! And after taking the tour of the Capital, we walked across the street to see the Supreme Court, probably his second favorite part.

Supreme Court

On our last night in D.C., we went to Chinatown for dinner at Matchbox. It was such a fun restaurant for our last night. After dinner, we walked across town to get pie at Dangerously Delicious Pies.

We found out that they recently opened one in Austin, so if you are anywhere close to ATX, definitely worth a trip! On our way to get pie, we walked right by a group of people, about 1,000 in number, protesting the decision in the Michael Brown case. They were heading to the Supreme Court steps. It was crazy to see and to think about how often there are protests in D.C.

We had an incredible time on our trip, and we loved coming home to part of our family for Thanksgiving. We are now getting to enjoy this special season between Thanksgiving and Christmas with decorations, time together, and sweet smells of cinnamon--getting anxiously excited about all of our Christmas plans with family.

{Clean} Chicken Salad

I have about eight drafts of blog posts just sitting, half-written, waiting to be finished and posted. We are well into Fall now, in the middle of November as a matter of fact. And that is pretty incredible to think about. When I look back to a year ago on the blog, there was also a month-ish where there were no new posts. Why? I've been trying to figure that out myself. School, maybe? But, that's neither here nor there.

With the holidays literally around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite CLEAN recipes, because I know many of us will be enjoying some not-so-clean ones very soon and may be looking to offset the overeating by some clean eating. One thing I love to do is to take recipes and meals that I enjoy eating and changing a few things to make them (1) still edible and (2) cleaner. I grew up eating chicken salad. My mom made the BEST chicken salad. Hubby also LOVES chicken salad, but unfortunately, just because something has chicken in it doesn't make it healthy. However, I want to share a SIMPLE, and guilt-free, chicken salad recipe with you.

{Clean} Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded with fork

1 cup plain greek yogurt

½ cup grapes, halved

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash’s Original Seasoning (or other seasoning)

Dash of salt

¼ cup walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together, and serve over a bed of lettuce or on whole grain bread with a side of fruit.

Enjoy!

Fall Favorites | Shoes

Fall Favorites | Shoe Style by hnbormann

Fall Favorites | Decorations

It may still be hot and humid, however, it IS Fall. I am hoping that the weather will soon follow suit, but we can only hope, right? Have you decorated your house, yet? Do you plan to? Here are some of my favorite decorations this season!

Fall Decorations by hnbormann featuring an autumn wreath

Fall Favorites | Aggie Game Day

It's that time again! Aggie Football is here and now in full swing! The players are looking good, so why shouldn't we? Here are a few of my favorite game day pieces that are out there! 

Fall Favorites | Gameday Style by hnbormann

THEORY SLEEVELESS TOP | MAROON SLEEVELESS TOP

PATTERNED SHORTS | SCALLOPED SHORTS | SUEDE BALLET FLATS

LEOPARD FLATS | MAROON PURSE | BROWN LEATHER TOTE

OVAL EARRINGS | GOLD PENDANT NECKLACE | MAROON BRACELET

MAROON STUD EARRINGS | LEOPARD SCARF

Highlights of Summer + First Weeks of School

Why the month of no posting? You probably could have guessed. School started. And may I say TGIF?! The first few weeks are hard. New students, new expectations, new curriculum, new year. Before I get too far into the start to school, I want to share some highlights from the summer.

We spent time in Galveston, in Dallas, going out with friends, having reunions, celebrating weddings, serving the inner-city, playing/watching softball, and spent lots of time with family. It was really a great summer. But, as all summers do, it came to an end far too quickly.

The end of the summer brought the beginning of school. The first week back was full of setting up my classroom and attending staff development and planning for the year. I had told myself that I didn't need to make any changes to my classroom decor, but once I stepped foot in there, I couldn't help myself. I started by updating my bulletin boards to keep up with the constantly-updating apps.

One for birthdays, one for studying tips, one for reminders, and one for housing those dear iPhones (that all the middle schoolers have) and graphing calculators.

A few other new things were added this year, because once I started, I just couldn't stop. So, a few more pictures to pull it all together for you!

 For two weeks now, those empty desks have been full. Oh so full. Full of life and laughter and energy--teenagers. And this bright-eyed, year-3 teacher is exhausted. These teenagers are hard work sometimes. They are thirteen going on thirty, so impressionable, and it's wonderful and scary all at the same time. They can so easily fall for temptation. I pray every day that they don't. I pray that they stay young and pure and use their youth to set an example for others.

I pray 1 Timothy 4:12 over them every day. I pray that they enjoy their time in middle school and don't look back one day with regret. I am so thankful for my job and for the kids I get to teach each day.

Happy beginning of school!

Hello, August!

How in the world is it already August? I feel like I was JUST locking up my classroom door for the last time before the summer started. Wasn't the 4th of July like yesterday?! Obviously not. So, hello August! While I am not quite ready to go back to school, I am definitely ready for routine. I thrive off of having a routine, a schedule. Because of this, I am SO EXCITED about a little something that came in the mail this week, BUT you'll have to wait until the end of this post to find out what it is ;) ...don't scroll down, silly! Patience...

The end of the summer brought us some fun events and activities. There has been LOTS of summer softball. Aside from being out on the field, there's nowhere else I'd rather be in the summertime than watching hubs play ball with my main gal.

We have also had the chance to enjoy some fun time with good friends. We went to see an outdoor play with a few of our favorites and our furry chicas.

                  

We've celebrated a few birthdays and had birthday parties for old(er) friends and new(er) ones :)

You can find these two lovely ladies at Caitlyn's Blog and Steph's Website and Blog--both with huge hearts for the Lord and oh so talented!

We got to witness two wonderful people promise to be together forever at their wedding, and unfortunately, I did not snap a picture of them, but snapped a few others.

Sorry ladies, he's taken!

We call this our #selfiesession

We still have a few more fun things planned, and we are going to soak up every minute. For now, I will leave you with my newest purchase... 

That's right, my 2014-2015 Erin Condren planner came in!!!!! EIGHTEEN months of organized awesomeness. They made a few changes for the '14-'15 planner that I really like am obsessed with. If you like keeping a paper calendar/agenda book, this is for you. It is worth the money spent, I promise. AND if you are a first-timer with Erin Condren, by using my referral code, you will receive $10 off of your first purchase! Just click the link above, and once you sign up, it will send you a code via e-mail to use toward your first purchase. Okay I'm finished. 

Enjoy your last few days of summer! Hope you are doing something fun to celebrate while you can!!!