Project 365

Celebrating our engagement in Boston.
New Years Eve/Day - 2009

I am not generally one to make New Years resolutions. Probably because (1) I can never come up with anything exciting, (2) I can't do anything related to exercise, and (3) as a lifelong student turned teacher, the "new year" for me begins in August.

The more I think about 2010, the more I realize that this is going to be a BIG year. The wedding will obviously be huge, but I will also be finishing my first year of teaching and Christopher and I are thinking about buying a home this summer. A few years back, Project 365 was all the craze. The basic idea is that you take one picture, every day, for an entire year. The photo does not need to be beautiful or professional, but solely a snapshot of an event from the day. Now that I have my D60, I figure the more practice the better! I'm sure to many people my Project 365 may be a little mundane (as my life tends to be a bit boring), but I think it is a wonderful way to capture the day-to-day events that are so often forgotten.

I will need to remember to keep A camera with me at all times. Along with my Nikon, I also have a smaller Canon point-and-shoot that fits easily in my purse. Bubby Claus also bought me a Flip Cam for Christmas so that can travel easily as well.

I'm still deciding on where/how to post the photos. I may create another blog so that they don't overtake the day-to-day happenings and wedding events on here. I'm debating on making it password protected for security reasons. The really hard part is the fact that my kindergartners are the source behind so many of my memories and I cannot post photos of them on an unsecure site. I may, come to think of it, start a new picasaweb site. Hm... food for thought.

Anyone started (or better yet, actually accomplished) Project 365? What are YOUR resolutions for the new year??

(PS. I resolve to get married).

Engagement Anniversary

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the day Christopher and I got engaged. Just like Christmas this year, we had spent a few days at my parents' house in Pennsylvania and returned home on the 27th. Unfortunately this year I didn't come home to a huge diamond, but instead Christopher scrambling to get to work on time! :)

Feel free to waste your vacation time reading our engagement story here. The clock is ticking away - only about 100 more days until the wedding. Hooray!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

A very happy 24th birthday to one of my favorite people in the entire world, my honorary sister and maid-of-honor Morgan. Morgan is a Christmas baby and loves everything about it. She shares my affinity for Kate Spade and present-giving. We live in Ralph Lauren and pearls. And we've known each other basically forever.

The photo above is from a few years ago when Burk, Morgan and me drove to Boston to visit Seth for literally 6 hours. The four of us went to a Sox game that I had gotten tickets for - it was Morgan's very first visit to Fenway. :-) Now she lives in Beacon Hill and can see the Sox whenever the urge strikes (yes, I am VERY jealous).

Here are some more random pictures that I came across on my laptop. :-) Happy birthday, Morgan! I LOVE YOU!!

Out in the 'burg for Morgan's 21st.

One of my favorite pictures of all time. I *think* this was her 22nd birthday.

Showing off her super sweet dancing skills.

Just before running off to Europe with Lise.

Seth and I's kindergarten circus.
Seth is the HUGE tiger head in front (his big head still blocks out most photos).
Morgan is the toddler with the blond mullet in the top left.

I am the kindergartner with the dark brown mullet to the right.
Yes I am sporting a leotard and a hair bow.

I LOVE YOU, MORGAN! Happy happy birthday and I am SO glad we outgrew our mullets. ;-)

Merry Christmas!

We are having a FANTASTIC Christmas in Dauphin. Barry and Minky-Claus were overly generous to us and we're having a great time lying around doing nothing! Last night we went to church (the secret to getting Christopher in a sweater vest) and this morning we opened presents from Santa. Christopher received a GPS and a bunch of clothes, I received a new Lilly Pulitzer datebook, a Flipcam from my brother, and we got a brand new set of pots and pans (Hm... good thing Christopher knows how to cook!)

I also just HAPPENED to get myself a new Kate Spade tote earlier in the week (oops!) and Morgan got me giraffe slippers (amazing), KS notecards, a Lilly pocket notepad and a golf tee Diet Coke coozy (with a pop included!) FABULOUS.

More to come later. Merry Christmas to all!!

Tunnel O' Snow

Our "driveway"/bike path

One thing I love about living in the south is the fact that I rarely have to shovel snow. And when we do shovel, it's never more than three inches. So when Christopher and I were looking for a house, the long, steep driveway that accompanied this one wasn't a concern.

Good night - that thing is long as SIN.

I just got back in from shoveling a path from the front door up to the road. We've been walking through the yard and Christopher had to wear jeans and take a change of clothes to work tonight. Our roads still haven't been touched; a coworker came and picked him up tonight. And wouldn't you know, it's the one time of year the Jeep is in the shop. YOU SHOULDN'T NEED FOUR WHEEL DRIVE IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA.

After shoveling my tunnel, I covered it with an entire box of Kosher salt and a can of sea salt. We've got a little bit of traction out there but keep your fingers crossed that CGH doesn't bust his butt trying to get down the driveway tonight!! :)

I have cabin fever already. Two feet of snow is just plain ridiculous...

Used in their entirety, just to cover the bike path I made...

It's like an ice luge!

SO LONG. I had to bat the trees because the snow was so heavy they were touching the driveway.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

It has now been snowing in Charlottesville for almost 24 hours. For those readers who don't live in the south, this is a HUGE deal down here. Virginia doesn't have the manpower nor the equipment to handle this amount of snow, so Christopher and I are pretty much "snowed in." We currently have around two feet and it hasn't stopped yet!

We tried to go outside and make a ghetto sled out of a plastic wreath box but it turned out to be a giant FAIL. There's just too much snow and it's the light powdery kind that doesn't pack well. So much for that. It is beautiful out though, and quiet and peaceful.

I am a little tiffed that this is the first day of winter vacation for the elementary schools and the snow waited until now. I could have really used a snow day about two weeks ago when my kids were going CRAZY. I am really happy that we read and gave each kid a copy of Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day. I hope they are all outside enjoying the massive amounts of precipitation - especially my refugees that have probably never seen snow.

So, since we are locked in, I thought I would post a few pictures of the Minsterman-Hartwell household as my winter vacation begins!

Last night as the snow begins to fall, I attempt to put on the most amazing Christmas album of all time. Mariah Carey. Empty case = another fail.

I came home to find the best presents under the tree. Six 2L bottles of Diet Coke. Now that's what I call Christmas. THANK YOU CHRISTOPHER CLAUS!

Now it is officially our 2nd Christmas, but here's a shot of our cheapo ornament that my ring was attached to last year. Tear... ;-)

As the snow began to really pick up last night...

Out the front door when we woke up.

This is as far as we can get the back door open.

Christopher managed to squeeze out to put down the umbrella on the patio table. His feet aren't even close to hitting the deck.

There may not be milk in any of the stores in town, but trust me - we're prepared. (At least for now, if Chris keeps going like this we'll be out by tonight!)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

CORRECTION

Holy cow! It's not five months until the wedding - it's FOUR. Uh oh - I better get to work!

T Minus Five Months and ANSTY Kindergartners

I cannot believe the wedding is less than five months away. It still feels like yesterday that I met Christopher and then eleven months later he proposed. Time flies.

We got our Christmas tree earlier this week and finally have the lights up and the ornaments out. The rest of the house has been decorated since Thanksgiving but with only having one vehicle and completely opposite work schedules, it's hard to arrange things like picking out a tree. Last night I was sitting on the floor unwrapping all the ornaments when I came across the cheap little "Our First Christmas" ornament I bought as a joke last year. Christopher laughed at me when I bought it, but it didn't stop him from hanging my engagement ring off it last December. I have suddenly become extremely protective of my little snowman sled. :)

On the wedding front, we got the updated menu from the caterer (holy cow, it is NOT cheap to feed that many people...) and I think we're almost settled on the food. She did leave out the coffee which is a HUGE no-no with our guest list (Christopher and myself included). We'll be sure to remedy that as soon as possible.

I have five more days of work and then a TWO WEEK BREAK. Boy oh boy do I need it. I love my kids... really I do. But they are exhausting this time of year. They know the holidays are approaching and it's like some type of drug for them. Even my most well-behaved are bouncing off the walls. Last week we did a gingerbread man theme. We had a blast measuring the room with gingerbread men and reading all the different versions of the story and even creating our own! And then I had this wonderful idea to make gingerbread men. Thursday we made the dough, which really wasn't that bad at all. The kids stood around two tables pushed together and I let them help me measure out the ingredients and put them in the bowl etc. They were so excited to smell the vanilla extract and cinnamon, even the ginger and nutmeg. One little girl said, "Oh Miss Minsterman, I do not prefer this smell" when the nutmeg came around. (That's what I make them say instead of "ew, yuck" to foods they don't like). It was the perfect activity because we are working on measurement right now in math.

Now Friday was a different story. Janet (my assistant) and I decided to let them have a free-for-all with dough, flour, rolling pins, and cookie cutters. They had a BLAST but my room was a disaster. It took me my entire lunch break/planning period to clean up. And then we had issues with reserving the oven and were in a MAD rush as the end of the day to get the cookies packaged up to go home. A few kids were complaining that they didn't receive the cookies that they made etc. Next year we will definitely be allowing them to choose ONE cookie to take home, no matter how many they make!

I had the video camera in the room and interviewed them as they were rolling and cutting. Their answers are hysterical - I think they'll be broadcast on the morning news this coming week. We have no HUGE projects planned for the upcoming week - just a Jan Brett author study so hopefully they'll be a little more tame (ha - yeah right). I can't wait to give them their holiday presents; Janet and I bought them each a copy of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (God love the $1 books from Scholastic) and snowman pencils and erasers. For kids who don't have a ton of books at home, this is a fantastic addition to their library. Hooray!

And now just a few more days of work to push through and then I get to see my Mama and Daddy and Bubby and Morgan and Seth and...and...and... I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Belated Birthday, CGH!

Christopher's birthday was last Tuesday - he turned the big 3-4. :-) You would never know to look at him; I swear he still looks 25. My parents and I went together to get him an iPhone and some accessories to go along with it. He is REALLY excited and although he has been wanting one forever, he is still very in awe of all the features.

In honor of Christopher's 34th birthday, here are thirty-four reasons I love my fiance: (gag)

1. He is really funny (at least to me).
2. He makes me a sandwich each night for work the next day.
3. He is forgetful.
4. He's soooo darn cute.
5. I'm taller than him (only by like 1/2 inch).
6. He asked my dad AND brother if he could marry me (while in a vehicle loaded with guns and ammo).
7. He wakes me up each day with coffee, even though he doesn't have to get up until hours afterward.
8. He is impulsive yet indecisive.
9. He tries to eat healthy but gorges on ice cream and cake.
10. He gives good hugs.
11. Everytime he gets annoyed with me he tries to take my engagement ring off.
12. He's perfectly content sitting on the couch watching Law and Order with me.
13. He works REALLY hard at everything he does.
14. He loves me even though I am so odd sometimes.
15. He is an incredible designer and can make the most beautiful works of art.
16. He loves all my friends.
17. He lets me ramble on about the kids in my classroom and all the funny things that happen in kindergarten throughout the day.
18. He is wonderful with kids (I can't WAIT to see him with Suzie's baby boy - woohoo!)
19. He uses the dryer as his dresser (actually I want to kill him for this).
20. He tucks me in at night.
21. He is generous.
22. He is SOOO darn cute (that deserves to be listed twice).
23. He's Catholic (cradle, but better than nothing) and is allowing me to have a wedding with a full Catholic Mass.
24. He completely surprised me when proposing, which I didn't think was possible.
25. He takes care of me.
26. He has a great last name for a teacher. Come on - Mrs. Hartwell is a super cute teacher name. Although I will definitely miss hearing the kids say "Miss Minsterman" and attempting to spell it.
27. He loves coffee ALMOST as much as I do.
28. No matter how many times I ask, he always responds with, "I promise I will never leave you."
29. He has a great family.
30. My family loves him and vice versa.
31. He loves books and reading.
32. He thinks I'm funny - which I am - but still.
33. He tries to talk me out of eating pure starch for dinner EVERY NIGHT, although he is always unsuccessful.
34. HE IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!

I love you, Christopher.

Happy belated last-birthday-as-a-bachelor!

Being Sick is the Pits

Today I am home sick from work. I woke up feeling really sick to my stomach and have a headache and just generally feel as if I am running on empty. Thank goodness my assistant Janet is back so we won't have two substitutes in a kindergarten classroom. Yesterday I had a really nice substitute for Janet. An older gentleman who had been a teacher for years. I don't think he had ANY idea what kindergarten was like. He looked at me and said, "Whatever they pay you, it's not enough." Amen, brother. I also just found out I'm getting a new student on Monday. That will take my total back up to 19. At least it's a girl - I can't take any more rowdy boys!! :-)

I cannot believe it is December already. Where has fall gone? Maybe it's because of the warmer southern temperatures but I'm just not ready for Christmas. I decorated over the weekend while Christopher was at work so all we need is a tree (there is a large empty spot in the corner of our living room). It was fun to put up my nativity scene though because it is finally complete. I got the creche last year for Christmas and was assembling it when CGH proposed. Now Baby Jesus has even MORE fond memories. :-)