Soooooo, it's been FOREVER since I blogged ... and not that I have anything important to say, but it's a good place to "journal".  I read my past entrees and they all brought back sweet memories ... so for 2015, I have a plan ... if I actually keep to it all year long, only time will tell, but at least I will start off on the right foot.  :)

I was cleaning out one of my cupboards and ran across this book, which I believe I found at a garage sale and probably got for 25-50 cents.  I love the idea of organization - at times, I'm sure I over analyze how to organize, that I don't ever commit to anything.  So when I refound this book, I just did a quick flip through, and realized this book is organized in 52 weeks ... and we are still in week one of 2015, so I thought ... why not start now! Sooooo, that's what I'm doing.  :)

And ... to tie these two things together, blogging and organizing, I will try to blog about what I learn and/or do from this book each week. :)

Trying to Make Cents of it All

Okay People ... I admit, I'm not very good at staying up to date on my blog ... but, I think, I am slowly making some progress - slowly!  :)

Usually our loose change finds a home in one of the following containers:  an old car piggy bank (that Doug painted when he was a child), a small keepsake memory/jewelry box type thing, old barrels of monkeys barrels (we have two of these), or a bailey's irish creme tin.  I'm really not sure where any of these containers came from, but as long as we have been married, those containers have been the homes of our loose change.  Every once in awhile, we'll empty them, roll them, and turn them into the bank.  The last time we used our loose change was probably a year or two ago - when Doug accidentally washed our iPod in the washing machine.  We used the change to replace it.  :)

Well, last week I decided to roll up all of our change - yet again. 

This time, we have no particular plan with the money.  I have a couple of ideas ... to go away on a small overnight trip with my hubby, to buy new running shoes and the Nike + Sportband, to save it up for our 6th anniversary, or .... the possibilities seem endless.  I'd like to see how far I can make the money go ... I consider it my cents challenge!  :)  As of right now our cents total is .... (drum roll please) ... ??? .... here's a hint ... one of the digits is an 8.  (Afterall, my blog theme is 8 ... so of course there has to be an 8 in the total).  :)

Yosemite ... Here We Come

Today is the 28th ... and I'm blogging ... look at that!  :)  It's only been 8 days since my last entry ... I'm impressed.  :) 

Well, in 24 hours we will be taking off to our second home ... Yosemite.  This year we are taking about 40 other people with us - about half are returnees and the other half are newbies!  The perfect combination.  It's going to be an absolute blast!  Doug and I look forward to this trip every year!  It truly is our joy to take friends and fellow brothers and sisters camping in Yosemite!  :)

Believe it or not ... the trailer is already packed and tied down.  (The earliest that has ever happened!)  The only thing left is all the food - which is also packed (minus the cold stuff).  All the food will go in the bed of the truck this afternoon.  :)  The Lord has been so good to us ... we had plenty of time last weekend to get ahead start on our packing - since we're both working we've had to plan, shop, and pack a little differently this year.  :)  I actually feel ahead of the game - which is nice ... since we usually run into a hiccup here or there!  :)

If you think about it ... please pray for us - pray for safety in travel, pray for good weather (there is a 20% chance of snow/rain tomorrow on our travel day), pray for awesome fellowship, and pray that God will be honored in all we do!  Thank you ... look for my next post (probably on the 8th) with pics and stories from our trip!  :)

8: My Blog Theme Number

Okay, my apologies ... it's been FOREVER since my last blog!  I really need to be more faithful at keeping it up to date - I won't make any promises, but I will certainly try!  :)  As most of you know, (who really know me), know that I LOVE numbers ... so I thought if I made a number theme with my blog, that maybe - just maybe - that would motivate me to blog more ... so I came up with my blog theme number: 8.

Why 8 you ask?  Well ... I've got 8 good reasons ...
1. My maiden name, Alderman, is 8 letters long.
2. My first soccer jersey number was 8.
3. My first soccer team, Snuggles, was 8 letters long.
4. I was born in August, the 8th month of the year.
5. Doug, my husband, was also born in the 8th month of the year.
6. I originally started this blog in '08.
7. Up until this entry, I only had 8 blog posts.
8. The product of the two digits of my classroom room number, 24, is 8.

And to stay with the 8-theme ... I thought I would post my top 8 pics since my last blog.  Here they are ...

September 9, 2008 - My first nephew, Daniel Nathan Reyes, was born.

April 29, 2009 - A camel was randomly spotted outside my classroom window.  We ran out to see it!

June 17, 2009 - Our annual Yosemite trip!  As always, we had an absolute blast!

October 10, 2009 - Our first college football game.  We were blessed with free tickets from a dear friend, and we had a lot of fun cheering for the Oregon Ducks.

November 30, 2009 - My niece turned 4 and I made her an apron, hair piece, and oven-mits (all with my mom's help and guidance.)

January 8, 2010 - Over Winter Break we went to Illinois to visit the Tobins!  We loved the ALL of the snow!  Doug really is part Polar Bear!  :)

January 8, 2010 - Lake Michigan at night.  This is the first and only time I've been so close to the Great Lakes ... so I just had to take a picture.

January 26, 2010 - My second nephew, Jakob Adler Luciano, was born.  He's my little ninja!






Now, my goal is to try and blog on dates that end with 8.  Depending on my resource of time, sometimes my blogs might just be a short tidbit, whereas, other times, they might be novels.  But, I will try, I will definitely try to keep my blog more up to date.  :)  Thanks for reading about my 8s.

Summer Comes to a Surpriseful End!

Well, school is back into full swing ... two weeks done, 38 more to go! :) The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful class. This year I have a 2/3 combination ... which means I am responsible for teaching two grades (instead of just one.) It's more work on my end, however, I also get a great bunch of students. The school days seem to fly by, for I am constantly busy ... teaching one grade or the other. :) Plus, the kids are great. I have one little guy who thanks me daily for teaching him. :) And another little guy who is reading the Bible non-stop because it's my favorite book. They are too cute! I love my class!!! :)

My summer ended wonderfully! Doug kidnapped me! It was a Sunday and we were on our way to Sunday School, so I thought. :) But instead of driving to Sunday School, Doug turned the other way and told me he was kidnapping me. I had no idea! My first thought was "fun, a day away with my hubby, maybe we're going to the beach, or somewhere else close by." But as we continued to drive, he told me that he had everything packed in the back of the car, and that we would not be back until Tuesday. I then started to make guesses of where we were going. We ended up in Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear. ;) It was wonderful. The weather was only in the 70s (our favorite summer weather), and we even encountered a thunderstorm while we were there. We had a relaxful time! It was the perfect weekend getaway and the perfect way to end the summer. Doug sure knows how to spoil me! :)

The picture above is us in front of Lake Arrowhead. :)

It's August ...

Well, here it is the first of August! August is one of my favorite months. Why? Because both of our birthdays fall in August ... and they are both fun to say: Doug's bday is 8/8 and mine is 8/28. :) But this year, August is extraly FUN because of the summer Olympics ... they start on 8/8/08! (and those of you who know me, know that I LOVE numbers!) :) So it'll be a special day in TADAville. :)

August is also a bitter-sweet month. For me, it means summer is over and school is right around the corner. I enjoy getting my classroom ready and getting ready for the new school year (organizing, decorating, and planning), it's just once the first day of school comes, summer is officially done! :( and :)

The Lord has been so good to us this summer! He tried us in a way we were not expecting. Doug and I thought it would be a good idea to use the summer for me to take a few classes (to help move me over on the pay-scale.) We just didn't expect how much time it would take. I spent most of my summer days working on the 10 grad units. Which in a sense, was a bummer, because Doug knows how much I work during the school year, that he likes my summers to be light. But taking the courses during the summer was much better than trying to juggle them while teaching. :) God grew us in new ways ... especially realizing that things are not always as we wish. The Lord taught me to rely on Him more. There were times when I tried to get my school work done on my own, however, during those times my school work became a trial because I was relying on my own strength, instead of His. And when I relied on God, my course work was a joy and went much smoother. :) He is amazing that way! Our God is a great God!

The above pic was taken at the end of June. I had just gotten my hair cut. It's now a little longer and in need of being cut again. (Maybe before school starts.) :)

Well, I guess that's the latest and greatest from TADAville. I will try to keep up-to-date on the blog! I love hearing how all my friends are doing through their blogs, that I'm sure (at least) some of you would like to hear how we're doing. I'll do my best! Many hugs to you all!

Red, White, and Blue

It's summer and for any teacher that means ... FREEDOM! :) My dear co-worker and friend, Gina, gave me a gift certificate to Nails Forum for my 30th birthday ... however, I finally got around to using it this past weekend. While waiting for my turn, I decided to have a little fun with my digits and have them painted with the classic red, white, and blue for the 4th of July.