mona

back to the rope swing!!!!

brandon and i spent a day in mona last week with 2 of my sisters, brother in-law, and my neice. it was a day of laughs and relaxation.

we love the new raft. thanks again millie & jacob. we missed you and hope you can come before school starts up again!

24th of July!

To celebrate Brandon's birthday we busted out the dutch oven, tent, and sleeping bags. We headed up AF canyon on Wednesday night and found a perfect campsite tucked in the pines above Silver Lake Flats. Besides the obnoxious drunks who made themselves comfy next door, it ended up being the BEST CAMPING TRIP EVER!

We spend our first day relaxing, exploring, and playing in some streams. On Friday, B-don's birthday, we hiked to Silver Lake. We spent a few hours hiking around the area and playing in the water. That night we had dutch oven pizza and peach cobbler. mmm scrumptious!

Sadly we had to head home on Saturday. We easily could have stayed another week. I loved not having a schedule and having no idea what time it was.


Brandon was finally able to use his truck tent. It worked better than we expected.

there is nothing better than a campfire.

On Sunday Brandon opened some presents at my parents house. He was SO excited to get a BBQ!!! I guess this means I need to learn how to grill ribs.

Since my birthday is next month Millie & Jacob combined our presents... smart. As you can see I was super excited... they gave us a blow-up raft/boat. So excited!!! THANKS MJ!

Brandon requested a transformer cake this year. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try fondant. I found a marshmallow recipe online and spent most of Saturday and Sunday experimenting, stressing, and cursing. But in the end I figured it out and think the cake turned out pretty good. Now that I kind of know what i'm doing I'm excited to try another.

The transformer party was finished up with some pretty awesome transformer tattoos.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON!!! I love you and hope you had a fun birthday!

suMMer naPs

summer is the BEST time of the year!!!!!! the other day i waited until 12:30 to go to the gym... because i can. i got home and read for an hour, then took a 2 hour nap... because i can. i couldn't sleep that night (dang nap) so i got up and read until 2am... but no biggie, it's summer!! this morning i got up and made brandon's lunch. by 10:30 i was out cold. i love summer naps!!!

there are days i can't help but feel lazy and selfish and i know i won't have these summer days all to myself forever. but then i remind myself... i went through 9 months of dealing with 9 and 10 year-olds all day... everyday. i've earned this!

San Francisco

Brandon and I spent the past week in San Francisco to celebrate ONE YEAR of marriage. It was a trip of ups and downs... literally. We arrived on Friday night and checked into our hotel. It was a nice room but no air conditioning. no air = open windows. open windows + sirens/horns/drunkards = no sleep. Nothing earplugs couldn't fix.

We spent our first day at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was a gorgeous place but was insanely windy and cold. We biked to the shore and walked along the beach. Did I mention the wind was blowing? Holy Monkey! We were pelted with sand... ouch. so was our camera. Camera + sand = bad new bears! It's going to need a visit to the doctor. Luckily we brought a backup.

The rest of the week was fun. We went to several museums, and saw Wicked. We biked the golden gate bridge and some trails on Angel Island, visited Muir Woods, and ate some amazing food. Oh, and of course countless hours driving up and down the steep hills looking for a place to park.

BaY cRuiSE

oaKLanD TEmPle
exPLOratoriUM -- mucho fun




aNGeL isLanD


ggb

MuiR wOOd forest

Cheap bike lock + big city = bye bye bike


Brandon's (my parent's) bike was stolen. Dang cheap bike lock!!! The bike was a PIECE with squeaky breaks and rusty gears. For some weird reason my bike was left behind. I LOVE my bike so I was beyond grateful it wasn't stolen.

Oh well... it was our last night and b-don really needed a new bike. if anyone visits San Francisco in the near future, look for a homeless man on a squeaky bike... can't miss it.

Greetings from Coin!

My mom's sister passed away last week after battling cancer. My parents, sister, niece and myself packed up the car and took the long 15 hour drive to itty-bitty, tiny-winy Coin, Iowa. I love this place. Old farm land, abandoned homes, old barns and cracked sidewalks. I love it!
Abbie and i explored and took pictures. There are all sorts of treasures in this town.

The Month Of May

The month of May is one of my favorites. I love the anticipation of school ending and long summer days approaching. I watch the tree outside my classroom window change through the seasons. It is now covered with big dark leaves. It's a ticking clock telling me that summer is here!!!

ONE MAN'S JUNK IS ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE...
a couple of weeks ago my mom's extended family organized a benefit garage sale for my Aunt Joy, who is suffering from cancer. The proceeds all went to help with her medical bills.
All I can say is wow, people love junk. They'll buy anything.... as long as the price is right.Did I mention I love warm weather? It has been gorgeous!!!! Brandon and I took the truck up AF canyon and had some fun in the mud. FUN! He was pretty excited about how dirty it got.

Today was the LAST day of school. Isn't the last day of school the best???? This is why I love my job!

teaching moments

Here's my favorite school moment of the day...

"Mrs. O'Neil, can I go to the bathroom?"
When I give him the are-you-kidding-me-we've-been-in-class-for-5-minutes-look, he says,
"I forgot I put my pants on backwards this morning."

Classic.