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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Happy Now-Oct. 9

10 Things I am Grateful for This Week:

1.  Beautiful, blustery fall weather--I had to give a disapproving frown only once when it decided to snow earlier this week, but the snow quickly melted and we were just left with wonderful, crisp fall weather, magnificent thunder storms, and a wind strong enough to kick up the dry leaves on the sidewalks.

2.  Orange Cinnamon Lampe Berge oil and other holiday scents--My sister-in-law, Angie, bought us a Lampe Berge this summer while we were visiting in Idaho.  You fill the lampe with a scented oil of your choice and burn the wick for about three minutes.  After that the room is quickly filled with a lovely fragrance.  This week I started burning the Orange Cinnamon oil I had bought over the summer.  The scent is so delicious and fills our little apartment with a great holiday aroma.  It's burning right now and I just love it.  Also, the mother of one of my students gave me some marshmallow-scented hand soap from Bath & Body Works this week.  It's so fun to have all of these seasonal smells in the home!

3.  Teacher Appreciation Days--This one is kind of funny.  On Wednesday, during my students' recess time, I was working at a back table with some students who needed to catch up on an essay.  I looked up from the table to see my school secretary walk in holding two beautiful bouquets of flowers.  I was absolutely stunned and had no idea what the occasion was.  I read the cards--one bouquet was from my parents and the other was from my husband, both wishing me a happy Teacher Appreciation Day.  I'm not sure where they received their information (the only Teacher Appreciation Day I'm aware of is in May), but I certainly wasn't complaining and definitely felt appreciated!  They also gave my room a great floral scent right in time for parent-teacher conferences. :)

This is the bouquet from my parents that I chose to bring home to enjoy. 

Here are the flowers from Darren that I decided to leave on my desk at school. 
4.  E-mail updates from friends--As much as I love being a wife, I often miss the girl talk I got so often from the roommates I had while I was single.  I hate feeling like I'm missing out on the important, or even not-so-important, details in the lives of my friends.  For that reason, my whole week was brightened when I received four e-mails with updates from some of my favorite gals!

5.  Jackets--That one word sums up so much of what I love about this season.  I love shopping for and wearing jackets.  The fifth grade teachers had outdoor pick-up duty after school this week and, for the first time this school year, I got to break out my favorite jackets to wear while we waited for all of the students to go home.  Joy!

6.  Students who share an enthusiasm for reading--I am teaching a group of students in reading this year who love to read.  My reading class is my favorite 45 minutes of the school day.  I have started having my students write me letters once a week in their Reading Notebooks about the thinking they're doing while they read in class.  Their letters are filled with such wonderful insights and excitement that I LOVE reading and responding to them.  My students become so animated in our class discussions about the books they love.  My heart thrills talking to them every morning.

7.  Zumba--A group of teachers at my school and I have started an after-school fitness club.  This week we hired a Zumba instructor to teach us 3 times a week after school.  I have never smiled so much during a workout!  I'm definitely hooked.

8.  Making Christmas plans--This morning I talked to my mom about when Darren and I will be able to to start driving home for Christmas this year and how long we we will be able to stay.  Just talking about it makes me SO excited!

9.  Buying (Darren's) Christmas presents early--I may have come across a gift that I think Darren is going to really like and got it for him for Christmas.  Now I just have to keep it a secret for about 2 1/2 more months.

10.  Cheesy romance from an adorable husband--Darren took a long weekend this weekend to drive from Idaho to CA and back to help his parents move.  When I returned home Wednesday night after teaching I began to find little notes that Darren left hidden around the apartment.  It's something my dad did for us kids and my mom whenever we were going to be separated while I was growing up (leaving notes in suitcases, etc. for us to find later).  I even found a new note from Darren today in our Primary Manual since he wouldn't be home in time to teach our Primary kids with me.  Below are some pictures of the notes and where I found them:

On my pillow
As a total side-note, I took this zoomed-out picture of the note to show the canvas print of one of our wedding pictures we recently received.  The canvas print was included in our photo package and I wasn't sure how I felt about a huge picture of us on canvas somewhere in our home, but I love how it turned out!
I found this Thursday morning under the peanut butter on the counter where Darren knew I would go to make my usual peanut butter toast breakfast.



In my scripture journal
Hidden under my brush in the bathroom
In my school gym bag--"Have a great time at Zumba"
In our Primary Lesson Manual




I realize that in future weeks I might have to look a little harder for the little things that make me happy, but this week it wasn't too difficult. :)


4 comments:

  1. I'm like getting emotional...that was SO sweet of Darren!! And, as for the email updates...it feels good to be missed, because it means I'm not the only one :-).

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  2. P.S. I loved number 5...reminded me of the good old days when we would have to do interventions at the mall!

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  3. WOW, that darren... what a sweetie! will i ever meet him?? glad you had such a good week! i miss you!

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  4. kate,
    what a wonderful and inspirational list! i love seeing the weaving of your parent's and husband's kindhearted and loving tributes to the beauty of you. i understand...
    much love, karen

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