A relaxing Spring Break

Hooray, it's my Spring Break (I couldn't hardly wait!) and Chris took off a few days to hang out with me too! We made it an adventure of eating a few new places and just enjoying our time without working. It has been the best. I still have two more weekdays plus the weekend before I go back and hit the ground running. So far, so good. 

Chris and I have our favorite Chinese restaurant in Tulsa. It's a cute little place called Wang Wang. One of the silly things I love about Wang Wang are their little take-out containers. They make for great leftover storage. They are the perfect size and they come in round and rectangle! So, we love Chinese. One of my friends has been telling me about this other place that's a little bit out of the way, but she had heard good things about it. So, I convinced Chris we should try it. I can't even remember the name of it now. Here's the story... 

We walked in and it was about 12:30 on a Saturday. I thought there would be more people there, but nope..we were the only ones. We ordered some dumplings and our dinners. It was alright, but we both still prefer our favorite Chinese place. I loved the ticket though, it was written in Chinese! How cool is that. It was pretty legit....it wasn't bad, it just wasn't our favorite. 

Beef and Broccoli with Fried Rice

Cool Chinese Characters

So, we tried to go see Oz, but Cinemark crashed their system and they couldn't do credit cards or gift cards. We didn't have enough time to get cash and come back so we just skipped it for the day. We'll go back again. 

We always take B'Elanna with us when we go places, and she's just adorable. Since Chris got the new car we've banished her to the back back of the car. Poor thing, I think she misses being up by us in the backseat. She loves to go. As soon as she hears the keys picked up off the desk she goes running down the stairs! 

Riding in the car...

Saturday night was another adventure. We couldn't decide on dinner. I had been trying to convince Chris to try Weber's Root Beer in Tulsa on Brookside. However, he wasn't totally sold on it. So, we agreed to Panera, it's a fave. However, as soon as we got there he decided it didn't sound good so he thought Weber's sounded good. We drove all the way over there to pull into the parking lot and bam... it was closed. apparently they close at 5:00 on Saturday. Are you kidding me? So, we ended up with Elmer's BBQ, which is a good place too, and we've both wanted to go there as well. It was a win-win situation, but I am determined to make it to Weber's before Spring Break is over, even if it's just for a Root Beer float!

Panera, our first almost stop...

And, it was closed...

 

Thank goodness, it was so good. 

We've been to the dog park, ran errands, ate out, cooked in, baked cookies, cleaned house, did laundry, relaxed, and just enjoyed being with each other. It's been the best. I treated myself to a pedicure and manicure today, which was wonderful. Tomorrow I'm having brunch with my mom, and I'm super excited about that. Should be good times. I've got a few things to do for school, and I've become quite technologically organized over the last few days too. I've downloaded google drive and placed all my documents on there, as well as updating my Chrome Folders with all my blogs. Ironically, the minute after I finished doing that I found Feedly, which will replace Google Reader, so I then imported all 87 blogs that I read to it and I LOVE it. It's been fun finding new apps for my iPad that I can use with kids as well as organize myself.... such a good Spring Break. And then, only 8 weeks left..... oh man, it went by so fast! 

My Valentine...

Happy Valentine's Day 2013
It's our 1st Valentine's Day together!

We had made reservations at the Melting Pot in January so I knew we were going there for dinner. Before dinner we exchanged our gifts at home. It was fun. He surprised me with a new Vintage Pearl necklace that I love. He got me the secret love message heart. It's adorable. It has a secret message on the inside of the heart. He gave me a beautiful necklace for Christmas that was a longer one, made up of charms representing our love. I love it, but it was hard to wear everyday. I wanted something I could wear everyday, and this is perfect. I made him an "Alphabet Book of our Love" that I created off of a Pinterest idea. It was cute and he loved it. He also was super excited about his own copy of Battleship. After we did our little gifts we headed to dinner.

The funniest thing. As I got into the car I noticed something different. The music started playing. Chris's music plays through his iPhone in his car. It's bluetooth. It's always the same music and I recognize most everything. This time it was different. I knew this song. It was Donna Lewis' song, "I Love You Always Forever". I started singing it. As we were pulling out of the garage I looked over at Chris, smiled, and said..."Um, that's funny. This is a new song. Did you plan that or something?"
He just smiled at me and said, "Maybe." It was the cutest thing ever. He had made a playlist for our drive to dinner! Too cute. Too creative. I love him so.

We had been to the Melting Pot one time before, with a special Teacher Discount event. This evening was much different, but totally wonderful. It was a fantastic meal and we loved every bit of it. It was a special time with just the two of us for our First Valentine's Day together. We finished our lovely dinner, headed home and relaxed for the evening.

Happy Valentine's Day, Chris. I love you.

Pre-Valentine Dinner -- It's an iPhone front camera picture...so it's a little blurry.
But, it's us. I think we're cute. 

YUM. 

I heart him. So cute. He accidentally picked out the pink fondue fork for dessert.
I ended up with the black one. I thought it was funny.
His favorite was strawberries.
My favorite were bananas. 

School Valentine's Day...

Most of you know that I teach school. I am a Special Education teacher for upper elementary, er...middle elementary kiddos. I teach 3rd and 4th grade kids this year. I love them. Apparently, they love me. I was showered with love on Valentine's Day. I didn't even expect it, so it was a nice little surprise for me! Here are a few pictures from the day. 

I brought these for my assistant and her sidekick. He loves donuts.
I wanted one, and I thought it would be a special treat for Valentine's Day. 

This was the 4th grade Language Arts Conversation Hearts  love story.
They all had conversation hearts and each  kid had to use one of their hearts in a sentence.
The story built up over time. It was cute.
I hope you can read it. 

Here is some of my loot from my kids.
Chocolate, ring pop, necklace, fresh cookie from home (brought in a tissue), & a coffee mug and stuffed puppy!

Wow! Flowers. I have no idea what kind these are.... but they smelled amazing.
However, the smell was so strong they gave me a headache! :) 

Fantastic Saturday...

We had the best time one Saturday in February. Our math specialist, Mrs. H., has an Annual Mother-Daughter Cupcake Cookie Party around Valentine's Day. I saw the invitation in the Teacher's Lounge earlier in the week and thought it was too cute. I was trying to figure out how I could show up to the party. It sounded too fun. Clearly, I don't have a daughter. I am a daughter, so I thought about my mom. But, I also thought about taking my only niece, Kate. So, I grabbed Kate that morning and my mom met us at the house. 

I can't even begin to do it justice by describing it here. I should have taken better pictures, but I just didn't do a good job with that. Her house was decorated all out for Valentine's Day. Pink, Red, Hearts, and everything you can imagine. She had baked hundreds of cupcakes and cookies. She had made all the icing you could imagine. She had all the decorations you would ever find at Hobby Lobby. There were boxes for the desserts and crafts to decorate the boxes too. It was just too much. We had the BEST time ever. It was a nice slow morning of eating a great little breakfast snack that she had prepared, mingling with school (old) friends and meeting new friends. Kate had a lovely time, my mom had a fabulous time, and I'm dying to go back next year! Here are a few pictures of our adventure. 

Mom, Kate, & Myself 

Kate modeling her cupcake decorating skills with her cupcakes she had already designed!

My mom entertained herself by decorating one of the cupcake boxes. She loved it! <3

I had a hair appointment that afternoon to get my hair chopped off. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I had a few images pinned to my Pinterest board. I was going to a new lady at a new salon and was hoping for the best. Turned out, she was amazing and I loved it! Here I am, the new Emily! I'm such a short hair girl. I don't know why I was growing it out. I was CRAZY to think I could do long hair. This girl needs a bob. 

And, this is me...post haircut. Ah, soooooooo much better.
 I don't know why I thought I would grow it out.
I am just a short hair kind of gal. It's super cute and I LOVE IT! 

Christmas 2012

I love Christmas. I love the holidays and spending time with friends and family. It was fun for Chris and I to start new traditions. We built a gingerbread house together. He wasn't so sure about it, but he loved it and really enjoyed using his design interests and building abilities to help us make the most beautiful gingerbread house ever! 

Gingerbread Fun 2012

Four Christmases. We had to pack everything up and get organized for the next three days of fun. We spent part of the time in Bartlesville with Chris' parents. We spent time with his Dad and Glenda, while staying at the Price Tower, but we also made time to see his mom, Glenda, to do our little Christmas with her. It was a whirlwind few days, which we also had B'Elanna with us too. Wally isn't behaved enough to travel with us and stay in a hotel, so we left him with the kennel (whom he loves).

Packing up for the trip. B'Elanna is peeking at you here!

Standing outside of the Price Tower in Bartlesville

Inside, warm and cozy!

I haven't told you yet, but Chris is a Star Trek fan. He's modeling his new oven mitt!

After Bartlesville we headed back home to switch presents, drop off bags and the dog, and headed to my dad's for Christmas morning. We ate a nice breakfast, opened presents, and then relaxed a little before we went to my mom's for the afternoon and evening. It was a wonderful day and we were exhausted when we got home.