...it's off to work I go

67 days. 

That is the magic number of days I have savored summer.

 ....and tomorrow it will all come to an end. 

I will miss spending days without makeup, watching marathons of Friends, completing house projects, and doing laundry at my leisure. (but who am I kidding...I don't always wear makeup to school anyway) 

And while I'm sad for the fun of summer to be over, I'm excited to begin a new school year. I can't wait to see those 22 little faces that will be mine for the year and hope that the 180 days I spend with them will be full of crayons, singing, laughter on the playground, and memories that they will always cherish. 

So on my last official summer night, I though we'd see what all I was up to during those 67 days of sweetness! 

a little organizin'

 family lovin'

 

 first anniversary celebratin'

kitchen redecoratin'

yard workin' 

(side note: we still have not won yard of the month. my patience is running thin with our HOA! ;) )

friend vistitin'

a.c. breakin'

although that's one I wish we could forget...

impulse fedora buyin'

SUMMERTIME!

It was 67 days of awesomeness and there are only 187 more school days until I can start the next one! :)

Praying Circles

This summer I began a book called "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson. I had heard several people mention it and I was interested to see what all the fuss about. I expected to learn a few things and enjoy the read, but what I didn't expect was for it to completely change the way I pray. 

Prayer is an everyday part of my life. I usually send up prayers throughout the day (a lot of time for patience in my class) and always end the day with prayer, but after reading "The Circle Maker" I realized that my prayers had been less than fabulous. When I'd pray at night I'd ask God for protection, favor at work, blessings, and so on and so forth. But I never BOLDY asked God for anything. Like mentioned in the book, perhaps I had never asked boldly for specific prayers because I was worried that God might not come through. I mean, who am I to ask for such things from the Creator. 

I am His child. 

And that is why God not only wants us to ask Him for things, but he YEARNS for us to present our deepest desires, goals, dreams and hopes to Him.

One particular paragraph really struck me:

"The more faith you have, the more specific our prayers will be. The more specific your prayers are, the more glory God receives. When we pray for specific things, God has an opportunity to reveal more shades of His sovereignty. But, when our prayers aren't specific, God gets robbed of the glory He deserves because we second guess whether or not He actually as answered them. We never know if the answers were the result of specific prayer or general coincidences that would have happened anyway."

Good stuff, right?

The book of Matthew tells of two blind men who approached Jesus when he was leaving the city. "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" they shouted. Jesus stopped and asked the two men, "What do you want me to do for you?" (Matthew 20:32) Of course, He already knew. He knew that they men were blind and wanted healing, but Jesus asked them to spell out exactly what it was that they wanted.

Ironically, shortly after I began reading "The Circle Maker" our church started a series on the book and also encouraged members to purchase the devotional that goes along and commit to a 40 day prayer challenge. Ryan and I started the devotional and began trying to decide what it was that we wanted to circle in prayer.

"Most of us don't get what we want because we quit circling. We give up too easily; we give up too soon; we quit praying right before the miracle happens."

This is certainly not a "name it and claim it" type of thing, but more of a prayer that if it is according to God's will it will happen.

Two big things we began circling in prayer were our future children and Ryan's job.

Ryan has a great job and enjoys the people he works with, but after several years he still hadn't received a promotion. Repeatedly his bosses promised he was first on the list, but with budget cuts it just wasn't coming. I knew he was discouraged and so we began praying for favor. Favor with his bosses; for God to open doors and for us to have the discernment to know when He did.

Two weeks ago Ryan got an email from a girl in another program. She said that a friend had mentioned his name as someone who might be interested in a new job and asked if he might want to send her his resume which she would then give to her boss. {Enter God}

We thought about it and decided to go ahead. The next day the manager contacted Ryan and asked if he would come in for an interview. I wish I could say we both immediately knew he should, but it was a struggle for us. Would Ryan's current boss be upset? Was this new job going to be as secure as his current? Would he like his coworkers?

After praying about it we realized that this was exactly what we had been asking God for. Had we not repeatedly prayed for Him to open doors? Were we going to tell God, "No, thanks" and ignore this simply because we were afraid to take a risk?

Ryan went for the interview and a week later got the job offer. Not only was it a promotion, but it is about 3 miles from my school and it cuts his drive time in half.

What a mighty God we serve. I fail daily. I sin. I want my way and not His.
But, every single day He loves me. He is so, so faithful and I am immeasurably grateful that I don't have to live this life without Him.

Keep praying. Keep circling those things that God has placed on your heart. He hears you. Maybe He hasn't answered yet, but His timing is so much better than ours anyway. 

"Darling" Destination: San Francisco Part II

I'm back! Sorry for my little hiatus, I know all 3 of you that read this really missed me! :)

Since our second day in San Francisco was also our last, we had lots of things planned! After getting dressed and grabbing some breakfast from Starbucks (where I pouted because I don't drink coffee and wanted a Diet Coke-feel free to call me high maintenance) we headed over to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. I will admit that I was not super excited about this tour, but after getting one look at this beautiful stadium I quickly changed my mind!

There is not a bad seat in the place and we learned lots of interesting info! 

Ryan and I started a (Pinterest inspired!) tradition of taking a picture of our feet during each vacation  while on our honeymoon. I can't wait to look back one day at all of these pictures and hopefully see more feetsies added along the way too! :)

After our tour ended, we grabbed some lunch at a Mexican restaurant (nothing beats Tex-Mex, y'all) and did a little more walking around the city.

That evening it was time for one of the highlights of our trip-a catamaran tour around the bay! There were about 30 people on the tour and it was the perfect amount. Not too crowded, but not awkward like it can be with a really small group of strangers. Because, I mean, who doesn't want to be on a boat miles from shore with foreigners.

It was a beautiful evening, although once we got away from shore the wind picked up and it got chilly!

Sailing under the Golden Gate!

San Francisco shoreline.

That's Alcatraz in the background...unfortunately, that's the closest we got.

Love this guy!

Our Darling Destination 2013 came to an end the next day, but I'm so thankful for the wonderful memories we made and the even better company I got to make them with. 

"Darling" Destination: San Francisco Part I

Do y'all remember Full House? Of course you do, only one of the very best shows of the 90's! Every time I watched the intro to that show I would marvel at the Golden Gate Bridge, the beautiful row houses and imagine jumping on one of those old trolleys with Uncle Jessie and D.J. hanging on right beside me! Sixteen years later, my dream of seeing the Tanner's old stomping ground of San Francisco came true. :) 

We decided to take a more scenic route from Napa to San Francisco in order to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. The drive took us through Sonoma which was beautiful! There are no longer any toll booths on the bridge, so if you want to drive over you must call ahead to pre-pay. I think it was around $6, but definitely worth it! 

  

It really is true how the fog just seems to rise up around the bridge. There is a company that allows you to rent bikes and ride over the bridge, but we decided against that. Ever since I got t-boned on my bike by an uncontrollable biker on campus my freshman year of college, I haven't been a big fan of highly congested bike areas. Don't worry, I walked away unscathed! 

We drove through downtown San Francisco in order to return our rental car and those might have been some of the most stressful moments of my life. Between worrying that we were going to total our rental car, Ryan's minor case of road rage, and my navigational skills, it was an absolute nightmare  amazing ride! We managed to return the car and then had to decide the best route to get back to our hotel. Ryan wanted to rent a taxi, but there was no way I was about to get back in a car after the fiasco we had just encountered. I demanded that we walk.

6 blocks.

With our bags.

{flash back to my sarcastic comment last post about only taking carry on that was stuffed to the brim in duffels. I mean, why would I use some hideous luggage with wheels when I can use my stylish and cute Vera Bradley duffel}

You see where I'm going, right?

We finally made it to the hotel, dropped off our bags in the room and headed back out to see the sights! In order to get the best feel for the city we decide to walk (yet again. what is wrong with us!?) from the hotel to the Fisherman's Wharf area. Let me just say that if I lived in San Francisco my legs would be looking awesome. Everything is an uphill climb!

We walked through China Town which was quite an experience. The concierge at our hotel told us that the China Town area in San Fran is the largest concentrated population of Chinese Americans in the United States.

We then ventured to one of my favorite sights! Lombard Street! If you are ever in San Fran you must stop by. This is a street that has these crazy sharp turns through the most beautiful hydrangeas.

We continued on our way to Fisherman's Wharf which is right on the bay. From there you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. One of the big things on my list I wanted to do while in San Fran was go on a tour of Alcatraz. Unfortunately, I missed the memo that during the summer you have to book months in advance for a tour. whomp whomp.

Ryan tried to convince me to do a segway tour around town. Umm...no thanks. While I appreciate the stylish neon vests and helmets, I can just imagine myself losing control and flying down a hill. I prefer to return home with both my arms and my dignity!

Once we got to the bay, we stopped for some dinner and walked around a bit more.

There is Alcatraz. Can you imagine how creepy that place is at night??

After dinner, we had to get some ice cream from Ghirardelli Square. It was yummy, but Blue Bell rivals it any day.

By this time we were both pretty tired and done with the walking so we decided to catch a trolley back to the hotel. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea too. We waited FOR-EVER to get on and it was quiet chilly right on the water. An hour later, it was finally our turn...along with about 60 other people. We were packed in there like cattle, and my trolley experience wasn't quiet what I had envisioned. My advice? If you want to do a trolley take one during the day!

We finally made it back to the hotel and hit the sack to get ready for our last day in the city by the bay!

"Darling" Destination: Napa

I love to travel. Granted, I could count the places I've been on one hand, but I have big plans to see lots of places eventually! (which would be much easier if I made about 3x more money...dang teacher salary) Around March, Ryan and I started talking about where we might want to go this summer. Mr. World Traveler has been lots of places, but I have not. In fact, I didn't even get a passport until before we went on our honeymoon. San Francisco and Napa were two places that neither of us had ever been and thus a "Darling" Destination 2013 was planned!

Sleepy eyes all boarded and ready to take off! I would also like to mention that we did not check any bags. Only did carry on. My bag wasn't heavy at all though. Sike.

We landed around lunchtime in California, got our rental car, and drove about an hour and a half to Napa. Since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3, we decided to go ahead and visit a winery.

I was amazed at the miles upon miles of vineyards.

And we had to stop for a touristy picture!

We visited Rombauer Vineyard where we sampled several wines, and then went to dinner at a place suggested by many called Mustard's. Of course, we had more wine there! As an extra treat, there was also a 70 year old woman eating at the table next to us with her boyfriend and she was absolutely snockered. It. was. hilarious.

The next day we scheduled a tour of a winery and got a lesson on wine and food pairings. I was surprised at how much food could have an affect on the way wine tastes! The grounds at the winery were so beautiful. Everything was blooming and manicured perfectly. This probably would not have phased me 2 years ago, but somewhere between last July and this past March I became obsessed with plants. Basically, I have become my mother. 

Since we had only planned on staying in Napa one night, we finished up our tour (where Ryan refused to let me join the Beringer wine club...so rude) and headed to our next leg of the trip-San Francisco! 

Midweek Mash Up

Happy Wednesday! 

I was going to say Hump Day, but then all I can think about is that GEICO camel commercial...who is the genius who came up with that!?

Why is it that during the school year I feel like it takes AGES to get to the middle of the week (by Wednesday I can't even count how many times I've had to remind children to take their finger from their nose, their hand from their pants, and occasionally give a lesson on why singing the verse "hey, sexy lady" from Gangnam style is not appropriate while gyrating your hips), but when I'm off if feels like it literally flies by! Here is what we've got going on at Casa de Dudley (if you speak Spanish, sorry for slaughtering your language amigo):

-We leave Saturday for Florida, so I am making lists upon list of things to pack, remember, etc...I live for lists! 

-Usually, I try to go to the grocery store twice a month. So, to prevent random trips and buying chocolate donuts on impulse  I plan our menu for those two weeks. Since I go back to school in a few weeks, I decided I would go ahead and plan for the month. I'm also gonna try some power cooking with a few recipes from Katy! 

-This is probably not news to anyones, but there is nothing on TV in the middle of the day! So, I've watched Friends for the 6,567th time. For a while I was on a Netflix kick, but after watching 4 seasons of Pretty Little Liars (I'm still a 15 year old at heart), I decided I couldn't stand to start any new shows. True story...I spent 2 weeks watching that show from the time I woke up until Ryan got home in the evening and made me turn it off. Even still, I was so obsessed I sometimes turned it on when he was in the shower. I obviously have a very pressing schedule. 

-I have big plans tomorrow to do laundry and sell some books at HPB. Just livin' the American dream, folks! ;)

Hope y'all have a darling rest of the week! 

Annie, get your brush!

When Ryan and I were looking for a house a year ago, one thing important to us was a home that wouldn't require a lot of updating. I am here to tell you that unless you build a brand spankin' new house...THERE IS NO SUCH THING!

One of the things we knew definitely needed to be changed was our kitchen cabinets. Enter Annie Sloan. If you have never heard of AS Chalk Paint prepare to have your world rocked. This paint is ah-mazing. There is no priming or sanding involved (which is reason enough to love it), but it also makes distressing and achieving a shabby chic look so easy!

 Here are our cabinets before:

                                                     

 Please note that I got this picture off of Zillow when our house was on the market from the previous owners. Plaid        curtains aren't really my style. ;)

And here they are after:

We decided to paint the cabinets an off white and the island charcoal. For the white, I did three coats of paint (two coats regular and one coat paint diluted with water)  with a clear wax on top. I also did some of the dark wax around the corners and parts that I distressed with sandpaper. After all painting was done I still had about a quarter can of paint left!...and the paint is only sold in quarts. Needless to say, this paint covers so well! Overall, we were so happy with the result. Especially considering it only cost us about $150 instead of the thousands we would have paid for a professional! 

But don't worry...the chalk paint fun didn't stop there. This past weekend I snagged this beauty from Goodwill! 

Ryan doubted my ability to transform this walnut colored, mouse dropping filled piece, but by the time I was done he was singing my praise! 

Now y'all go grab a brush and a can of ASCP and get to painting!