Advice from a Domestic Diva...

(photo taken from Google Images)

I have been given lots of advice in my days! Some has helped me lots (some not so much)!

I was discussing the top two pieces of advice at school tonight and decided to share them with you.

#1 This piece of advice was given to me by my mentor at school right before I got married in 2010. She told me, "Do now what you want to be doing in ten or twenty years!" She said many wives start off trying to be "super wife!" They work full-time, do the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and everything else around the house. Then ten years later, they are wondering why they are the only ones that "ever" do anything around the house.

Unfortunately (for my husband), I took this advice a bit literal and realized in ten years I didn't want to do ANYTHING. Therefore, my house is always dusty, could use some vacuuming, definitely need to fold laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for days, and there are always dishes to be washed and put away.

The following is the BEST piece of advice I have ever received and it comes from my Nana Franda who knows how to give advice (or her blunt opinions):

#2 Always keep a "Get Well" card on your mantle.

- This way if anyone comes to your house, they think:

1) you have been sick and

2) that is why your house is not clean.

What good advice have you been given?

On a side note...I did decide to be a domestic diva yesterday (not sure what crazy pill I took) and after I got home from a long day of work, I vacuumed, dusted, did some laundry, and washed some dishes. I told Matt, "Wow! I should win the Housewife of the Year Award!!" His reply, "Let's not get crazy. I would say Housewife of the Week...maybe!" Thanks for the great advice Julia and Nana Franda!

Day 6...

Well today was the best day of school so far! I am not dreading the next 174.

At recess today, one of the cute girls came up to me acting like a robot (which was hilarious in itself). She then said something and I said 10-4. To which she replied (in a robot voice)..."Mrs. Currin, I am not made of tinfoil." I died laughing. I said, "I didn't say tinfoil. I said 10-4." Either way it was amusing.

While that was a funny part of today, the fact that Wisconsin is beating University of Nevada Las Vegas 51-3 is depressing. You may ask why I am depressed over a Wisconsin vs. UNLV game. As my husband just said, "That hurts my heart!" Russell Wilson (NCSU's former quarterback) is dominating this game. Why in the world did O'Brien send him packing??? I sure hope O'Brien has something up his sleeve otherwise he is going to find himself packing! Not only is Wilson not our quarterback this year, but he went to a team whose colors are Red and White and he still is number 16!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and SAFE Labor Day weekend! Please take a few moments and send my family up in your prayers as my amazing cousin, Ginny, (Lee's sister) is getting married! She is marrying an amazing man who Lee really approved of. I know Lee is sitting in Heaven and smiling big time for this one! Pray that Ginny finds peace and comfort during one of the happiest (and saddest) times of her life!

Day 2 Comments

Well Day 2 of school went pretty well until the last hour of the day. One of my students decided that he was not interested in doing ANYTHING that I asked and he did whatever he wanted. He then proceeded to tell me to "Shut up" and "You are so stupid!"

Wow!

He is a child with ADHD and a possible defiance disorder! It might be a very long year.

Well...only 178 more days.

Kids really do say the darndest things...

Today was the first day back for kids for the 2011-2012 school year. My principal brought bagels for the teachers. We were all gathered in the library and one of my former students walked by with his mom. He ran up to give his teacher from last year a hug and to give me a hug. His teacher for this year was also standing there and he gave her a hug.

A few seconds later, he looked up at me and had a very serious look on his face. Our conversation went like this:

Student: "Ms. Pike"
Me: "Yes, (insert student's name)"
Student: "I don't mean to be rude, but you kind of look like a witch."

Not sure if I really just heard that correctly. His teacher from last year was standing behind him just dying laughing. I was so confused...I had a pink dress on for crying out loud! Maybe he was thinking Glenda...the good witch?!?

Oh well, only 179 more days!

At least he learned honesty at school. (This is also the same student that asked me in Science Class two years ago if he could go sit next to the model of Saturn. I said, "yes" and he said, "Great, I just really like Saturn's rings."

Listening to Lee...

For those of you that don't know, my dear cousin, Lee, was killed last week in a car accident. It was shocking and horrible to say the least. Lee is one of the sweetest, kindest, and most gentle people I have ever met. He loved his life, horses, and his family and friends! And he was one hell of a real cowboy!

I have had a hard time understanding why and how something like this could happen to someone so amazing. I have tried hard to not get upset or angry with God for "letting" something like this happen. I am working to understand that this is part of a bigger and better plan. Lee is definitely in the most amazing place on Earth and he is smiling down on us every second of the day.

Some ways that God (and Lee) are telling me that we will all be fine:

His funeral was on Sunday, August 21 in the afternoon. The weather forecasters said there was a 60% chance of rain. The one thing his mom asked for was for it not to rain on that day. The church where the funeral was being held was small and most people would have to stay outside during the service. God said, "Yes" and held off on the rain.

Lee is buried in the most beautiful place overlooking pastures and horses in the countryside of Morganton. When we got outside to do the graveside service, the horses were across the pasture. As soon as the service was done, his mom looked up and several horses were lined up right at the fence and one was whinnying. I just know that was Lee saying, "hey!"

Matt and I had to leave pretty soon after the service to get back to Raleigh. Ten minutes down the road it poured rain! I mean poured! It was raining so hard that we were driving 40 mph on the Interstate. After the rain, the most beautiful and full rainbow was stretched clear across the sky! Another sign that Lee is okay!

It doesn't stop there. On Tuesday, we felt an Earthquake. What in the world?? After the news starting talking nonstop about this 5.9 Earthquake, I just had to smile. I couldn't help but smile and laugh. Lee has been in Heaven for 5 days and he is already riding horses hard enough to shake us all the way down here! I love that guy! God is taking great care of him. I also smile for Lee because he will probably never have to clean out a horse stall again. I can't imagine the horses/stalls are dirty in Heaven.

Then today, I was leaving work and as I walked out I ran into a parent and talked to her for about ten minutes. As soon as I got in my car and turned it on, a new song started. It was Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home." This song was sang at Lee's funeral. I drove home singing and smiling. As soon as I pulled in my driveway, the final part of the song played.

"This is my temporary home.

It's not where I belong.

Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.

This was just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.

I'm not afraid because I know...this was

My Temporary Home."

Had I not run in to that parent, I would have driven home and missed that song. Instead, it was perfectly timed to my two mile drive home. It was like Lee was carrying me home.

Some of you may question these "signs" as Lee talking to me. But, I know in this time of pain that he is telling me that he is good!

A few pictures of Lee...

"The Tree House"

Many of you are aware that I now live in a "Tree House." It is a rather nice tree house, if I do say so myself. We are living in Matt's parent's backyard above his dad's workshop. His parents own several acres of land in the woods (hence the term tree house). There are some pictures below of our home that several of my family members have been waiting patiently to see!

View of our deck from the front door

View from the front door/kitchen entrance of our Dining Room/Living Room/Den/Office/Family Room/etc...


Kitchen looking out towards main room

Another view of kitchen

Main room looking in to kitchen

View from fireplace looking towards front door/kitchen

Matt's favorite spot

From Matt's favorite spot looking towards dining room table and door

View looking in to the main room with our bedroom door in the corner

Hallway of our bedroom looking in to the main room. (Our closet is the door to the right.)

View from hallway in to our bedroom

View of our bedroom

View of our bedroom from our bathroom door

Bathroom entrance from our bedroom

Bathroom

On Sunday, June 19, 2011, Matt and I celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary! We spent the whole day together doing whatever we wanted. We decided to do a fancy dinner at home instead of going out to a nice restaurant. (Any dinner at home is fancy to us if it isn't thawed from the freezer or thrown on the grill.) Take a look below to see pictures and what we had for each course! Thanks for all the cards, calls, texts, and well wishes you sent us for our first anniversary. It is hard to believe it has already been a year!

Appetizer: Tomatoes Crostini (Marinated Tomatoes on Sourdough Bread)

Salad: Shrimp Ceviche

Shrimp Ceviche


Main Course: Beef Wellington and Grilled Corn and Chipotle Peppers

Inside the Beef Wellington

Dessert: Creme Brulee

Popping the Dom Perignon

The 2nd "Not So Good" Dessert

The flowers were still fresh a year later!

The cake on the Cake Plate that belonged to my grandparents.

I'm back...

Well a lot has happened since I last blogged in January. My apologies for not sticking to my New Year's Resolution (It's not the first one I have not stuck to.).

A quick recap of some of the highlights of the past few months:

January 15 - Went with some friends to the mountains for Martin Luther King Weekend
February 4 - Went with some other friends and the boys to the mountains for a great weekend
February 19 - Hosted a bridal shower for my almost sister-in-law
March 12 - Wedding Shower for another friend
March 25 - Outer Banks with the in-laws
April 1 - Bachelorette Weekend at Holden Beach
April 8 - Pony Mom Weekend at Holden Beach
April 18 - 22 - SPRING BREAK 2011

The next few weekends will also be really busy for us as we are out of town for the next three weekends for two weddings and my G'ma's 90th Birthday Party!

Through the eyes of an eight year old...

(For those that did not know...I taught Science last year as a specialist for Pre-K through 5th Grade.)

On Friday, I was sitting with a group of kids and we were discussing the phases of the moon. They had different pictures of the different stages and they were trying to put them in order starting with the "new moon." They would watch a short video clip and then make changes to their cards.

After several tries and still not getting it quite right, one boy looked at me and said, "Mrs. Currin, how do you remember all the phases?" Before I could answer another child said really enthusiastically, "Because she is a scientist!" Another child chimed in and said, "Yea, don't you remember she taught us all of that science stuff last year!"

In the eyes of a few eight year olds, I am right up their with Einstein!

(If only they knew that most Sundays last year Matt was explaining to me the science behind my experiments for the upcoming week!)

And while I have your attention, please join me in a "No Snow/No Ice Dance." I am not interested in having any ice or snow this week because I would really enjoy a spring break.

My New Year's Resolution for 2011...

is to blog more! I PROMISE!

And after lots of consideration and a great conversation with my super smart, Jeopardy Champion of an Aunt...I have also decided to eat my black-eyed peas and collards on New Year's Eve from now on.

Rewind to New Year's Eve and New Year's Day morning:

We had a great New Year's Eve with several of our best friends in Raleigh (Matt's never ending of a job and snow prevented us from going to the mountains). Pictures to come later!

I cooked a delicious New Year's Eve dinner and we pregamed at the house before going over to a friend's house and heading out to Glenwood Avenue. The ball came and dropped and it was time to head home.

Finding a taxi on New Year's Eve proved to be a difficult task. Well we found one (or so we thought). We made it from Solas to Mellow Mushroom (for those of you that don't live here...that is about two blocks) before getting kicked out of our first taxi. So here we all were again standing on the side of Glenwood. I was still having a blast though. We found another taxi and managed to make it back to our house where we all decided to have a slumber party and continuing bringing in the new year.

The next morning we all woke up and were reminiscing the previous evening. Then Matt came in from the other room and told me he couldn't find his wallet. I wasn't too worried because my tiny tree house isn't but so big so I knew we would find it. Well we looked everywhere. We looked all out in the yard, driveway, and street. We didn't find it.

I asked him to tell me what exactly was in his wallet and I went in to PANIC MODE. His response was: his license, my license, his credit card, our joint credit card, his debit card, our joint debit card, his corporate credit card, concealed weapons permit, about 100 dollars cash and his social security card! I was okay until we got to the social security card part. I am thinking, "SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LIVED UNDER A ROCK!" Me trying to not sound like a nagging mother nicely asked him if he was trying to get his identity stolen along with all of our money!

I tried calling every taxi company I could google asking if anyone had found a wallet. After having been kicked out of the first one and not knowing which one we got in the second time, I wasn't so sure we were getting this wallet back. I went back to lay down and he canceled all of his cards and we tried to put it behind us. Our friends left to go home for a little while before coming back over for our traditional New Year's Day dinner.

I got up, showered, and started getting ready to cook dinner for all of our guests that were coming over. I went to put on my clothes and opened up my underwear drawer (sorry if that is TMI but it is crucial for the story) and there it was! His wallet laying right there on top with his pack of gum, receipts from the previous evening, and our New Year's Eve tickets. I began screaming with joy! He had gone outside to take out the trash and I opened up the windows and yelled outside really loudly, "We still have our identity. I found your wallet!!!"

Of course, Matt said I stole his wallet and stashed it in that drawer. But of course I believe my thinking. What I believe to be the case is me opening the drawer up to get ready for bed and him not knowing what year it is emptying the contents of his pockets on what he thought was our dresser (like he does every night) only except this time, he placed in on top of my underwear and closed the drawer. He still likes to tell me that if I had gotten ready before 6:30 that evening, he wouldn't have had to cancel his cards.

So next year, I am eating my black-eyed peas for luck and collards for money before New Year's Eve happens!

Happy New Year's to everyone!