Under the Texan Sun

Thankful for family

2011-12-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving at my parent's house in Central Texas was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! A chance for family, young and old, to get together and enjoy each other. We stayed up late at night, talking, telling stories, playing spoons, laughing, and eating!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous! We had plenty of time to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine and the view of the lake. Erin and my mom enjoy each other's company and both like to clown around in front of a camera. I love this picture!

Mom was SO happy with all of her family home. All of my cousins have lost both of their parents and mom has become the matriarch and the glue holding all of us together. How wonderful that their lake home holds all of us AND that we all enjoy spending time together.

I'm truly thankful for my family!

~Allie

Time for a new perspective...........

2011-11-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

My 30 year high school reunion was recently held and I had the opportunity to fly back to Virginia and participate in all of the festivities. Traveling on my own, being with old friends, catching up with people I haven't seen in 30 years..........wow! On the flight home, the 3 hour trip allowed me some reflective time. In fact, the trip home seemed to happen in a blink of an eye! What I came away with was the knowledge that there needs to be more reflective time, a re-evaluation of priorities, and a more concerted effort to stay close to the things that make my heart fill with joy and love. I've let work and the noise of life drive my "bus" for the past couple of years and that is going to need to change. How? I don't know......but I'm going to figure it out.

Wish me luck..........

~Allie

Feed Your Soul............

2011-07-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Do you know about this very cool site?

Feed Your Soul is a free art project. Each month artists are invited to participate and to contribute a print which is totally free and available for download.

This project is coordinated by Jen Wallace of Indie Fixx to help art lovers feed their souls with art in these difficult economic times and to help artists promote their work.

New prints are added on Mondays as they become available.

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Peace, love, art and happiness......

~Allie

Hangin' in there............

2011-07-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

So I'm 3 and a half weeks into the Atkins, low-carb diet. Have lost 10 pounds. That's good. Still craving carbs. That's bad. Have fought through the cravings. That's good. So I guess, all things considered, I'm hangin' in there. HOWEVER, August 1st, I have a date with Carmine's pizza! One dinner, eating pizza that has been verboten for 7 weeks, will not take me under.

Only 2 more weeks of summer vacation and it's back to school for the principals. Gonna make EVERY day count!!

What have you been doing this summer?

Hugs,

~Allie

2011-06-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Finishing day 3 of our Atkins, low-carb diet.........I am a carb addict. There's no doubt about it. Just keep moving on......day by day......change is never easy......hang in there....and all that stuff! Thank heavens for iced tea and that I don't like it sweetened. Thank you, Patrick, for doing this with me!

Have you ever had to kick the carb habit? How did you do it?

~Allie

Summer's Coming!

2011-05-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Renaissance Festival time again. May birthdays. My sweet cupcake turned 20! School's out in one more week. Cousin's Weekend at the lake is just around the corner. Yes, indeed...........summer's coming! I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!! The time to refocus and get centered is almost here........finally!!!

Are you looking forward to this summer?

~Allie

Dreaming of.................

2011-04-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Spring Break memories of drinking Toffee Coffee on the balcony of our apartment in Port Aransas. Feeling the warm breezes, listening to the songs from the seagulls, talking about the future with the best husband ever........aaaaagh......if only there was a Spring Break every month!

~Allie

New shoes are good for the soul..........

2011-03-22T17:52:00.001-07:00

Today was one of those days that started out bad and just got worse as time went by. So I decided to drop in at the PayLess Shoes on the way home for a little shoe shopping therapy. Bought these sandals and two other pairs of shoes. While I'm still ready for today to be over, I look forward to a better day tomorrow...wearing my new shoes!

What do you do to lift your spirits?

Here's to a better day tomorrow.......

~Allie

9 school days

2011-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Only 9 more school days until Spring Break. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...............

~Allie

Just a dusting?

2011-02-06T07:18:00.001-08:00

The weathermen all said we'd just get a "dusting"....nothing more than an inch or so. Boy were they wrong! I've been out of school for 6 days!! We ended up with a bottom layer of thick ice and then about 6 inches of snow!! Does this look like a light dusting to you? Don't get me wrong......we had a FABULOUS time playing in the snow, watching movies, crafting, playing on the computer, making cookies, and napping. And when I say "we", it was just me and Big Daddy and Pippen. No children. But a snow day is a snow day! Pancakes and bacon for everyone!!!

But now, Monday is close by and there's lots of work to make up. I've been the grasshopper playing all this time.........it's about to catch up with me. I'm ok with that, though. Usually I'm the ant, always working.

Did you have a "light dusting" where you are? What fun things did you do?

~Allie

Day 4 and counting............

2011-02-03T18:58:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow will be our 4th day off from school this week due to "inclement weather". Unbelievable!! Ice is everywhere and temperatures are barely going over 20 degrees today. A "warm spell" compared to previous days!

All of those "snow days" in Spring have flown away now. Spring Fever will be even harder this year since we won't have any breaks. The big question still remains.........how far into June will we be in school? When you start school in August, that makes for a short summer.

And time keeps ticking away.............

~Allie

P.S. I just love clocks. My parents bought this one for my grandfather when they were newlyweds, stationed in Berlin in the '50's. Don't know why I'm so attracted to old clocks.......especially when I don't like being a "slave" to time. Hmmmmmm........way too many random thoughts today. Interesting.........

Arctic weather........brrrrr!

2011-02-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Arctic weather came blowin' through last night. With the wind chill it was 0 degrees in Dallas today. Ice everywhere........no school!!! And they've cancelled school for tomorrow, too!! Since I did all of my chores today, I think tomorrow will be a creative day. I just bought a bunch of new card making "stuff", stamps, glitter, etc. Think I'll turn up the music and PLAY!!
Hope everyone is staying warm! It's definitely is going be a two dog night. I need another scottie!!!!

~Allie

I'm SO proud!!!

2011-01-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

This is my second year of being in education administration and I think that this is one of the most proud moments I've had yet! Our student council was at the North Texas Food bank on MLK day, a day off from school when they could just be hanging out with friends, etc. Out of the clear blue, FOX 4, came in to do a MLK story and our students were included in it. These kids are AWESOME!!!

Texas Celebrates MLK Holiday: MyFoxDFW.com

Fancy Nancy Fish

2011-01-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

A few posts previous, there's a post of me dressed as Fancy Nancy, a storybook character. It was storybook character day at my school. My dear daughter and husband purchased this ornament when we were in New Orleans this summer because they said it looked just like me. When the Fancy Nancy picture was taken they burst out laughing and said, "She looks just the fish!" What do you think? Scroll down just a few posts to see what they mean! My goodness!!! I think they're right!!!

~Allie

Great Deal from Shutterfly!

2011-01-07T08:23:00.001-08:00

Spring Mums Thank You Card

Thank you cards and notes at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

I got these cards for free using this code. Check it out!!

HC4C-6MU3-J4G9-J2MPAE

~Allie

The Cupcake Princess is home!

2010-12-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

My sweet girl is home for the holidays! Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday with those you love.

~Allie

I LOVE these candles!

2010-12-21T07:47:00.001-08:00

Remember me telling you about my friend, Patricia? She owns her own company called Agape & Zoe Naturals. About two weeks ago, she made a batch of her wonderful, soy candles.

They are 22-ounce phthalate-free. These candles are made with :

-phthalate-free oils

-cotton, lead-free wicks that burn clean with no black soot

-a glass container that can be re-used again and again

She made them in 5 fantastic scents......

-White Spice (seasonal)

-Chestnuts & Brown Sugar (seasonal)

-Clean Linen

-Wild Fig

-White Magnolia

I bought the Chestnuts & Brown Sugar for me. It smells like delicious cookies. Then I bought the Holiday Spice for my best friend. But after smelling the Holiday Spice in my office for two days (it was never lit...the oils just fill the room), I bought a Holiday Spice for me, too. There's an underlying orange scent in it.....I LOVE it!!!

These are GREAT gifts!!! You can order the candles from Patricia's website and she'll ship around the world. If you decide to get one, you will NOT be disappointed. I was invited to one of those home parties where they sell all different kinds of candles about a month ago. If you look at their prices and what you get, Agape & Zoe Naturals is a far better value......plus, they're all natural. No soot.....they burn clean and have a wonderful aroma that doesn't fade. This will be the only place I'll buy my candles from now on.

Happy Tuesday!

~Allie

Answer

2010-12-05T06:31:00.001-08:00

This is why I never seem to have time to clean my house, do my laundry, put up Christmas decorations, go to the grocery store, beautify my yard........and it's ok......making a difference, one child at a time. I am not Superwoman, but I CAN be Fancy Nancy!

~Allie

Question

2010-12-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

I'm seeing many of my friends posting on Facebook saying they've got their tree up, the lights and decorations on, and the house is twinkling with holiday cheer. I haven't gotten to any of that yet. In fact, I have purchased one present and it was bought on line. I haven't been in a mall since the summer. Why can't I find time to have my house all decorated for the holidays like everyone else? All week my time is spent at school and then home to take on my other job as wife and mother. On the weekend, I try to get my weekly chores done, grandma's groceries and medicine picked up, grandma's weekly to-do list done, etc. Hmmmm............time to re-evaluate my schedule.

How do you get it all done?

~Allie

Blessings and Thankfulness

2010-11-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Finally......a moment to breathe, to reflect, to rest, to regroup. As a second year Assistant Principal, the roller coaster ride hasn't slowed down. No time for creative moments and reflective thinking. But Thanksgiving has brought me 5 days to do just that. And so......I head to the lake in Central Texas. Time with family. Enjoying the big, Texas sky. Watching the sun sparkle on the lake. Who needs a spa retreat when you can just go home?

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving full of blessings for peace and prosperity in the holiday months to come.

~Allison

Meet my friend, Patricia!

2010-10-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

Since I transferred to a new school with my new position a year or so ago, I've made many new friends. However, you've just got to meet Patricia. She's been teaching over 10 years now, but she started her own small business on the side and I'm just so impressed with her products.

Agape & Zoe Naturals was founded when the owner/founder, Patricia Malemes, realized there were no natural perfumes or scents that pleased her and none that created and evoked the kind of emotion and feelings that her old perfumes did. Ahhh...toxic memories...She had thrown her designer perfumes out months earlier and was now in need of a natural, safe, non-toxic, but most importantly "phthalate-free" perfume. Inspiration struck and today Agape & Zoe Naturals has six pleasing scents, sure to inspire and delight the senses.

While I'm not a tree-hugging, all-natural kind of gal, I must say that the longer I know Patricia, the more she turns me on to wonderful, all-natural products. What I love the most about Patricia, is that if she can't find the product on the market at a reasonable price, she starts working on developing her own product at a much better price. I bought her Sampler Set of 5 rollerballs it was only $22!! Each rollerball secent is only $5! Great Gifts!!!!!
She also sells her fragrances in 2 oz. spray bottles for $20. The coolest thing about these liquid parfumes is that they have only TWO INGREDIENTS......100% organic, grain alcohol and essential oils and plant extracts. The fragrance lasts all day, too!

And now..........I just found out that she has put together a line of solid perfumes with her signature fragrances! These are made with only THREE INGREDIENTS .....organic beeswax, organic almond oil, and 100% essential oils and she's selling them for $15 a piece. The only problem is that I can't decide what fragrance to purchase.

Today, Green is the fragrance I wanted to wear. While I don't really like cucumber types of fragrances, Green has a fresh and clean scent. It has the cool, crispness of cucumber with an energizing touch of mint and the sweet tartness of mandarin orange.
But there are other days when Faith is my favorite fragrance. It has the sweet scent of Vanilla and a little tang of grapefruit. Sounds odd, but smells GREAT!! Her other fragrances have equally transcendental names such as Botanica, Peace, and Pure Innocence. Check out her website and you can find her on Facebook, too. Sometimes she has specials and giveaways on her Facebook page. You can order product off of her website and she'll ship it to you. If you visit Agape and Zoe Naturals and try her product, let me know what you think. I think you'll be pleasantly pleased!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

~Allie

Perception and Thankfulness

2010-09-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Is the glass half full or half empty?

It all has to do with perception.

I'm learning that how I look at things can make a big difference in my level of happiness. Does that mean that I'm aging? Like a fine wine, I hope!!

I'm thankful I have to pay taxes.

It means I have a job.

I'm thankful I have to get up at 5:45 am Monday through Friday.

It means I have a job and can provide insurance for my family.

I'm thankful I have to fight my grey hair and color it every 6 weeks.

It means my hair isn't falling out.

I'm thankful I have to worry about my bank account.

It means that my daughter is going to college and continuing her education.

I'm thankful for my over $300 electricity bill in August.

It means we were able to stay cool during the weeks of 100+ degree weather in Texas.

I'm thankful for the mounds of laundry I have to do each week.

It means I have plenty of choices to clothe myself.

I'm thankful for muddy paw prints in my house on a rainy day.

It means I have my sweet scottie, Pippen, to make me smile every day.

Is a dandelion a weed or a flower? It's all in your perception.

Finding time to quiet my mind and center my thoughts this week was priceless. Even if the only quiet time is driving home from work, it's made a difference in how I get through some pretty stressful days. I've already had to suspend a second grader and we've only been in school for 4 weeks. The long hours aren't helping either. Just have to put it into the proper perspective.......half full? half empty?
~Allie

23 years ago today..........

2010-09-05T11:58:00.001-07:00

I married my soul mate, my one true love. Happy Anniversary, Patrick. Here's to many more wonderful years together.

Hopefully we'll be as blessed as my mom and dad who've been together for more than 50 years.

I love this picture of me and my dad. That penny in my shoe has brought us good luck so far!

I love you, Patrick.

~Allison

Things that make me smile............

2010-09-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

No school for 3 days......time to play on the computer!

Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend, too!

~Allie

Question..........

2010-08-30T18:51:00.001-07:00

How does one go about living a creative life in the chaos of every day life?
~Allie

And it starts again....................

2010-08-22T09:10:00.001-07:00

The beginning of another school year starts tomorrow. We had Howdy Night this past Friday night, cooking hot dog dinners for everyone who joined PTA (even though it was over 100 degrees!), teachers meeting their students, school supplies being purchased and brought to the classroom, laughing, and just trying to enjoy the fact that school starts on Monday. I feel just like one of the kids.....have my first day of school outfit picked out, ironed, and hanging on the back of the closet door. Hopefully I'll sleep tonight! Do you remember those back-to-school jitters?

~Allie

(and no.....that's not me in the dancing dolphin get-up. It's one of my teachers who has more energy than the energizer bunny!!!)

The tastes of summer..........

2010-08-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

It may be the 3rd week for me to be back at school, but I can still drift off into "memory land" and taste all of the flavors of our New Orleans summer vacation...........

Boiled crawfish and shrimp.
The best shrimp po-boys ever!

A bowl of gumbo. The roux is the perfect carmel brown color.

Don't forget the hot sauce, cher!!

And a little piece of fudge to end the day!

It don't get any betta' than this, y'all!!

~Allie

The Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-01T08:40:00.001-07:00

Summer in Texas is always HOT! This year is no exception with 100+ degrees hitting the thermometer every day. And poor Prince Pippen just loves being outside, even with all that fur!

While at my parents house at the lake, we are outside alot and Pippen kept trying to "swim" in his water bowl. We didn't have a doggie pool for him so the next closest thing we could find for him was a roasting pan. He LOVED it!!

He became our summer "roasting turkey". He was SO happy with his "pool" that on a a return visit this summer, he knew exactly what to do when he got hot. Momma's got to buy him a swimming pool next year.

You just gotta love him!!

~Allie

Summer Vacation

2010-07-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

We took a week off and headed to the Big Easy for a week of vacation and fun. I took a ton of pictures and have all kinds of ideas for posts on my blog but am struggling to get the time and the creative muse to be happening at the same time. One day at a time, right?

Gators are so ugly that they can be cute, no? This charming little man just looked liked he was in need of a hug from another sweaty tourist.

And chocolate gators are so tasty. With 3 styles of chocolates to choose from, what's a girl to do? Why.....try all 3 of course! Visions of the my favorite movie, Chocolat, came to mind.

What a fantastic way to earn a living......being creative with the delicious flavors of chocolate. Mmmmmm!

Gotta run take care of every day life expectations, but have so much more to share. Back soon!

~Allie

Sisters in the Bloggerette Sorority and more..........

2010-07-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

So this past year, I've been WAY too busy with my new position as an Assistant Principal at an elementary school. Too busy that I don't think I took care of myself either physically or spiritually. In February, I came down with what they thought was a bad case of bronchitis, but as I am just now getting rid of the last of whatever it was (now they think it might have been Whooping Cough!), I am beginning to think that I let my body down by not being at it's full strength to fight off whatever it was I had. Stress, no exercise, no sunshine on my body, and not a lot of sleep, I'm sure, lowered my defenses.

That's the physical part, but there's also a spiritual part, a part that I never really paid much attention to until recently. The part of you that needs some quiet meditation, some time for silence and deep thought, some time to let the creative side of you rise to the surface. This past year I did nothing but work, eat, and sleep.......oh, and clean the house, do the laundry, get the groceries for my mother-in-law (whenever she wasn't in the hospital with heart issues and then a broken hip from falling.....that's another story all-together!), and take care of my other job of being wife and mom (not that the mom job was constant since my one and only went to college for her first year and did "swimmingly".......that's another post, too!).

Anyway, back to the Sisters In The Bloggerette Sorority..............Karen, over at Some Days Are Diamonds , has started a wonderful group that anyone can join. Realizing that I haven't done much at all this past year on my blog but use it as a lame attempt at journaling, I think that this is a fantastic idea and it has ignited my creative spirit to try to take my blog up a notch, meet more people, not only be inspired by others but try to be an inspiration as well. Not being one who usually joins things too quickly, thinking that I don't have what it takes to be a part of some things, I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and give it a try!

Since I began my blog, I have developed some new friendships with some wonderful people. People like Alisa from Life Is A Beautiful Place To Be, who actually lives about 30 minutes away from me. Not only is she a creator of beautiful things, she is warm, friendly and helpful. She gave me a quick tutorial on how to make links on my blog site through an email! Alisa is a wonderful photographer and has a talent for needlework which has inspired me to give it a try this summer. And then there's Merisi from Merisi's Vienna For Beginners, who lives in Vienna, Austria, a VERY special place for my husband and me (that's ANOTHER post for later!). She is the most FANTASTIC photographer I've ever seen!! Everyday her blog is a little photo essay of her excursions around her town of Vienna. Her speciality seems to be photos of coffee and coffee houses, but there are plenty of photos from all over town to the country side all the way to Venice, where she visits regularly. I call her the Queen of Roses because she takes the most BEAUTIFUL photos of roses almost all year round. The rose photo in this post is one of hers. And then there's the beautiful Constance of Rochambeau. When I "met" her through her blog a few years ago, she was living on the East Coast. She has since moved to East Texas to be near her mother. She is probably one of the most artistic and loving souls I have ever met! ONE OF THESE DAYS, I'm going to drive over to her town and have lunch with her!!! I have trouble choosing the right words to describe her blog site. Constance is an intelectual, romantic, joyous, TRUE creative spririt. Just know that I go there every day to just escape, get centered for a moment, and enjoy the beauty that she shares. She throws the best parties and always shares her photos and memories. She's also a FABULOUS seamstress! The handbags, the jackets, the dolls she makes........oh my! These dolls are called Floralinas and they are one of a kind works of art! There's so much more I could add, but that might make for an additional post as well.

There are many more people who have touched my life through blogging. I guess I should save that for another post, too. :D So.......to wrap up this rambling of a post, I've joined the Sisters in the Bloggerette Sorority. Check it out. Join us. Maybe it's something that you might be interested in, too. I'm looking forward to stretching my horizons, enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded souls, and trying to take part in some of the events instead of sitting back on the "side lines" and watching. This next school year is going to be different. I plan to nourish my body, my soul, and my creative spirit that has been buried deep for a while.

If you made it all the way to here, thank you for sticking with my ramblings. Being on vacation has allowed me to slow down and reflect. Wishing you quiet moments for reflection........it's good for your soul.

~Allie

Lunch Date Fun

2010-06-28T18:44:00.001-07:00

This handsome, little man was my lunch date today! He's the 9 month old son of one of my former team mates. She left teaching to have this sweet, little man and today we met up for lunch with our dear friend, Kelsey. What a great time we had catching up. But I must admit, I was so enamored with little Caden. He is a charming, happy little boy. Good times with old friends. I should do that more often. Hope you take the time to catch up with some of your dear friends, too. You won't be sorry.

~Allie

Any man can be a father.........

2010-06-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

But it takes someone special to be a Dad!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. While raising a daughter is a completely new and foreign experience for him, he is a wonderful father to our daughter. Armed with a sense of humor and a desire to always have fun, he has survived the terrible two's and the terrible teen's. His relationship with our daughter is a wonderful thing to see.

And my Dad, well......words can't describe the love I have for him. The opening sentence to this post suits our relationship to a "T". I was adopted when I was just 6 days old. Watching home movies last weekend, I realized how special mom and dad thought I was. And today, I know they feel the same way. I love my father as the stars - he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.

Happy Father's Day to my husband and my dad. I love you both so much.

~Allie

Diamonds on the water.............

2010-06-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it look like diamonds shimmering across the lake? This is my little piece of heaven that I sneak away to when I need to get centered and re-energized. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us run away to the heart of Texas and the heart of our family.

Memorial Day weekend arrived and we headed to Central Texas to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It felt GREAT to get away from end of year activities at school. Allowed me to re-energize to make it through the last 2 weeks of school. This Friday, it will OFFICIALLY be summer vacation for me and I'm heading right back to the lake for a girl's weekend with all of my wonderful cousins......can't wait! It's already 100 degrees in Dallas....Summer is HERE!! Hope you're staying cool where you are.

~Allie

Bellydancing in Denton

2010-05-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, the Cupcake Princess had a belly dancing recital. Sounds weird, doesn't it? She joined a belly dancing class that was held 0ff-campus at a coffee bar and fell in love with it. What a fun afternoon we had out in the Springtime weather, watching all of the classes dance! And it was a nice break for the girls since it was right before finals. That's her in the red and black.

And now she's home for the summer break. Four more weeks and I can join her......I can't WAIT! We've got lots of fun stuff planned for this summer. Hope you're planning a fun summer, too!

~Allie

Another musical family member!

2010-04-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

That's my nephew in the striped shirt, singing with the Soundbytes at Carnegie Mellon University. What a musical family we have. It would be wonderful to hear Danny and the Cupcake Princess "jam" a bit........EVERYONE would have a blast! Young people make me smile :D Enjoy!

~Allie

My first Principal Appreciation Day

2010-04-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a VERY busy and trying week. We're now 1 week out from state testing of all of our kids and I'm one of the testing co-ordinators in our building. There's way too many things to stay up on with all of the secure documents, checking every code assigned to a child (ie. economically disadvantaged, ESL, bilingual, race, special ed, immigrant status, etc.), and assigning correctly every student to the correct test within their specific testing group. At the same time, I've been completing my teacher's yearly evaluations. And of course, Spring Fever has hit the students. LOTS of office referrals! I've been spending about 12 hours a day at school lately. AAAghhh! And then came Principal Appreciation Day, right in the middle of the madness!

Our wonderful staff set up the office for my principal and me to have a lovely, homemade, Mexican lunch. Chicken Mole, rice, beans, chocolate and flan cake, iced tea.........it was delightful! It's nice to feel appreciated.

Hope someone has appreciated you this week.........
~Allie

MY ALARM CLOCK THIS MORNING!!!

2010-04-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sleeping SO soundly this morning. Then continuous thunder noises. Am I waking up back home near Ft. Hood? Wait, I'm in Dallas!

We live about 20 miles from the site. Wow!!!!

Easter Fun

2010-04-04T07:10:00.001-07:00

Look who came for the Easter weekend!

It's become an annual event with our family and friends....egg dying night.

Each year we get together with boiled eggs and an egg dying kit, have an easy meal before hand (usually KFC flavored wings and a tossed salad), eat homemade desserts (brownies, cookies, etc.), listen to music in the background (this time it was Rod Stewart's greatest hits), and do lots of laughing and story telling!

This is Jim and Julie. Julie has ALWAYS been into egg dying, but when Jim came along, he thought it was silly and we had to twist his arm. But he had so much fun the first time that now he asks when we're going to do it each year..........he loves it!

My husband is such a boy.......his goal every year is to make an ugly egg. Above is this year's contribution. We all think it looks like a dinosaur egg.........he calls it a booger egg. Boys!

I just love it when the Cupcake Princess comes home! She baked brownies on Friday night and carrot cake (Big Daddy's favorite!) cupcakes with cream cheese icing on Saturday night. This house is so alive when she's home! Hope your home is full of joy and life this Easter weekend.

~Allie

Don't need it.........but sure love it!

2010-03-28T08:34:00.001-07:00

With the release of the new Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland, there has been an explosion of Alice products on the market. I'm 47 years old. Why am I so in-love with this new Alice? Maybe it's something in my subconscience from when I was a kid. You know how kids like to tease other people about their names.....the only thing silly boys could come up with for me was Alice in Wonderland.

I saw this add in a Ulta mailer over a month ago and I can't get this product out of my mind! Don't need it.....but sure LOVE it!!! Has anything ever grabbed you like this?

~Allie

Spring Break

2010-03-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

The Cupcake Princess is home for Spring Break. Luckily, it's Spring Break for me, too. Have we been very productive? Nope! Just enjoying hanging out with each other. I'm still recovering from this bad case of bronchitis so I'm not pushing it. We stayed in our p.j.s until 1:00 the other day.........whee!!! Best of all...........the CP likes to bake. The house has smelled like fabulous cookies!!! Love is.........spending time with your wonderful daughter.

~Allie

Making a change.........

2010-03-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm still coughing and not sleeping through the night, the seventh week of this bronchitis mess is better than the previous 6 weeks. So.........I decided to head on over to Weight Watchers yesterday and joined up. It's going to be a long ride, but there's no time like the present. These last 6 weeks have made me realize that it's time to focus on my health a bit.
Here's to embracing changes.....
~Allie

2010-02-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

From this in January..........To this at the end of February....................
Four weeks of battling a cold that turned in to bronchitis. Coughing like I've never coughed before. 3 Cortisone shots, 5 days of steroids, 10 days of antibiotics, an inhaler prescribed, cough medicine with codeine...........and I have yet to sleep through the night. Took off 2 weeks from work........went back for the last 3 days.......had to take today off.......the coughing won't stop! To the point of gasping for air, gagging, etc.

Now this has entered the picture.....................

They are called Tessalon Perles. I called my doctor yesterday afternoon and begged for something else to get relief from the coughing. Target finally filled the prescription at lunchtime today and I took my first dose and within 20 minutes, the cough had subsided! So I went on the internet to research this medicine a little further. Apparently they work by reducing the reflex in the lungs that causes the urge to cough. It "numbs" the stretch sensors in the lungs. Quite a few side effects associated with the medicine but the pharmacist said the best thing to do with this medication is drink lots of fluid. No problem! Have been a little light headed and have got a bit of a headache going on, but I can take Tylenol and deal with it if the coughing continues to stay at bay.
Here's hoping that I look like this kitten tonight!!!

~Allie

A Great Giveaway in Dallas!

2010-02-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

"Nest has been a destination for unique gifts and home accents for over a decade. The original store had two locations in Dallas before its owners moved it to University Park's Snider Plaza, where it currently lives. Two years after the move to Snider Plaza, Nest was ready to be sold.
Enter: Scott Alexander and Heather Wiese-Alexander, budding entrepreneurs, and soon-to-be new owners of The Nest. Nearly four years later, Nest has undergone a full transformation. Although the merchandise assortment is dramatically different, the heart of the original store is still quite alive. The original art concept inspired a full gallery in the upstairs catwalk surrounding the entire store. The hand-made crafts blossomed into hand-made categories in every "department" from gifts to linens, to home accents, to furniture. The merchandise assortment still has a very high percentage of exclusive musings, making Nest a destination for an array of unequivocally clever findings." excerpted from nestdallas.com

Have yet to visit this store, but it's on my bucket list for this spring! I went to college with Donald Fowler, their buyer and store manager, and his eye for style has been nothing but fascinating since the day I met him!! Check out the Nest Interior Design blog site........it's got great style and wonderful photos that inspires every persons inner decorator!!!

~Allie

23 years ago today..........

2010-02-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

23 years ago today, my sweet Patrick, asked me to marry him. Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you are sharing the day with someone you love.
~Allie

Mardi Gras Disappointment.........

2010-02-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

I am SO disappointed! I was selected to host a Zatarain's Mardi Gras House Party through this really cool site. I registered , answered a questionaire and was selected. Having lived in New Orleans for the first years of our married life, my husband and I were so EXCITED to have been selected. We had big plans!The party in a box arrived with so much great stuff! Beads, masks, coins, awesome Zatarain's products, recipes, party ideas, Mardi Gras trivia, coupons, a Zatarian's apron, my own party website to do all of my party planning and inviting.....the party planning had begun! Let's see.......Earl's shrimp dip to start off the night, some gumbo, some jambalya, some red beans and rice, some crusty, french bread.............and this!!!...............

Big Daddy LOVES himself some king cake and especially the one's from Meche's Donut King in Lousianna. They will ship these decadent, bad boys to you. His favorite is the raspberry and cream cheese filled king cake that weighs in around 10 POUNDS!!!! Yes, Ma'am!!! One of these was coming to MY house!!! The Cupcake Princess was set to bring a car load of college friends down for a Mardi Gras celebration. Her British exchange student friend really excited and the guys just happy to have free food. Friends had RSVP'd. Mardi Gras music was selected.......lesse le bon temps roulez...................
And then.....bronchitis hit! I haven't stopped coughing in 9 days. Steroids, cough medicine with codeine, antibiotics, a cortisone shot............my abs are KILLING ME!!!

So the big question is this...........is it possible to reschedule a Mardi Gras party during Lent? Hmmmmm.........what would you do?

~Allie

Snow, bronchitis.....it must still be winter!

2010-02-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Mother Nature paid the DFW area an arctic visit this past Thursday and Friday. Around 7 inches of beautiful snow, power outages, and phone outages.

Wish I wasn't under the weather (ha!ha!) with stupid bronchitis. Have been down with it for a week. Antibiotics, steroid pack, prescription cough medicine, and a follow up cortisone shot that finally opened up the airways and I'm still coughing my head off and don't feel any better. Back to the doctor's office on Monday, I guess. I really can't miss any more work, but don't want this to get worse.

Anybody have any home remedies for the relief of bronchitis symptoms? I feel like I've tried them all. I'm making a pot of chicken tortilla soup right now. Stay warm and healthy.......

~Allie

A great movie to "get away from it all"!

2010-01-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

My birthday fell on MLK day and I had the day off, however, I spent a good deal of it going back and forth to the hospital twice to visit my mother-in-law who's health just doesn't seem to be getting any better. After her procedure that day, she had to lay flat on her back for 5 hours, so my husband whisked me away to a movie and dinner. What a big surprise and a great escape! You'd think that it was more of a chick flick but my husband and I laughed through out the whole movie!! Maybe we're the right age and target group, I don't know, but I love him for sneeking the two of us off to the movies. Have you seen any good movies lately?

The word of the week...........BALANCE.

~Allie

Christmas Memories

2010-01-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

After spending the last 11 days helping my husband care for his mother who was in the hospital with atrial fibrulation, we left for my parent's home on Christmas Eve, leaving my mother-in-law in the hands of my husband's siblings. Opening the door into my parent's house after the 3 hour drive in unusually cold and snowy weather, this is what greeted us! Aaaaaaghhhhhh.........it's good to be home!!

We walked into the family room and THIS is what greeted us. A warm, roaring fire. A dog sleeping peacefully by the fire. Christmas presents under a sparkling tree. Christmas music softly playing in the background. Hugs from my parents. Aaaaghhhh......it's good to be home!

After unloading a jam-packed car trunk and getting the dogs to all settle down, we all sat around the fire and enjoyed cocktails and wonderful treats that my mother had prepared. It was great to just sit back and visit. No place to have to be. No place to check in on. Just existing in the here and now. Aaaaghhhh.......I love being home!

It was unseasonably cold, below freezing on the first few days, and the dogs wanted to be in our laps more than ever. These are only a few of the pictures I took of all of the dogs wanting to snuggle. This is my mom with their little, chihuahua mix, Couger. She's about 10 pounds of fierceness, but she loves to snuggle with my mom.

This is my husband with our scottie, Pippen. My two mustached "boys". If my mom's dogs were going to snuggle in someone's lap, so was Pippen! He just doesn't realize that he's not a little 10 pound lap dog.

This is Justa in my lap. She's named Justa because my dad always said that their next dog was going to be named Justa because he wanted my mom to remember that she was Just A Dog. Justa is in love with my dad and he with her!

Now that we're back home, my mother-in-law's health continues to give her trouble. She's back in the hospital for congestive heart failure and they are planning to do an angiogram tomorrow to see what they can do to help her. As we go through these next few days of unknown with her, I keep the warm memories of Christmas at home close.........memories of my happy place.

Hope you have warm memories of the holidays as well.

~Allie

Images of Christmas Past.......

2009-12-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's just two weeks until Christmas and everything is still in my garage. No tree is up, no Santas from around the world are on the fireplace mantel, and no reindeer ears have been put on the dog!

I've just been trying to learn to live with my new job and without my Cupcake Princess. Maybe next weekend, when school is out and the Cupcake comes home from college, we'll FINALLY decorate for Christmas.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy decorated trees in lovely shops. I took these photos last winter in some cute shops in Salado, Texas.......a lovely artist town in central Texas. Hoping that you are further ahead than me this holiday season..........

Warm hugs,

~Allie

Stepping away from work for a moment......

2009-11-16T14:59:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday, I decided to just step away from any kind of work.....house work, school work, etc. and just enjoy the day as it unfolded. The weather was still warm, in the mid 70's, and the sun came out every once in a while. I took the camera on a little walk with me around my house........stopping to smell the roses....no the mums.....and look what I found. Bees hard at work!

Berries on the front bushes are beginning to turn red......colors of the holiday soon to be here.

And the sweetest Scottie ever.......who just wanted to play. Simple pleasures sure to be missed if one doesn't slow down every once in a while. Hope you have an opportunity to slow down and enjoy the world around you this week.

~Allie

2009-11-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

The second 6 weeks is over. I am one sleepy, new assistant principal but we're having lots of fun. Everyone had their "red carpet" photo taken with their "award" for being an "award winning staff". Looking forward to the Thanksgiving break. Happy November to everyone!
~Allie

What? October is almost over?

2009-10-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

So my last post was made back in August? Holy Cow!!! My new position as Assistant Principal has been keeping me quite busy, but it's been wonderful as well. Two weekends ago, I went to the Dallas Gem and Jewelry show and bought some cool pieces and some beads. Last weekend, I actually had time, no......actually MADE time to sit down and put together this necklace. It has kind of an Ed Hardy look to it.
With the Cupcake Princess off at college (only 45 minutes away!), Big Daddy and I have been having Sunday brunches and going to movies with good friends. Lots of fun! Have been up to see the Cupcake Princess twice armed with snack bags and warmer sweaters, as fall is slowing arriving in the Dallas area. College seems to be agreeing with her. But I do hate saying goodbye to her. It just seems like she should be getting in the car and coming home with me........hmmmmmm.........

I haven't even been carrying my camera around with me. Have got to get back into the habit of that. I've been running with my "nose close to the ground", just trying to stay afloat everyday at my new school. Time to stop and smell the roses a little bit I think........AND......time to visit all of my favorite blog sights, too!!!

Happy Autumn!!!!
~Allie

Time marches on....

2009-08-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

August.....a time to get ready to go back to school. This year, it was also a time to finally pick up that Master's degree. It was a whirlwind weekend driving to Beaumont, Texas on Friday night, graduation ceremonies beginning at 9:30 the following morning, and then another 4 hour drive back to my parents house at the lake. The following day, we drove another 3 hours back to Dallas.

Back home just in time to meet the new staff I joined at a new school as their new Assistant Principal. A weeks worth of meetings, trainings, and preparations, ending with Howdy Night........a meet the teacher night with the leadership team cooking and serving hot dogs to everyone after they met their new teachers. Thank goodness for the "cold front".....it only got up to about 92 degrees on Friday!!

And now, today..........it was time for this little "lion cub"........

to say goodbye to all of her friends.............

And move into her dorm! The place was swarming with incoming freshman!!! Five hours later, her room was set, we had met her roommate, had taken a drive around the town, ate a late lunch, and then.......

.....time to say goodbye. It was a quiet drive home. And now, my heart feels heavy and the house seems different without her energy. A growing time for all of us..........

~Allie

A new chapter begins......

2009-08-08T15:38:00.001-07:00

This past week, I've been working with my new principal and Instructional Leadership Team. We've been feverishly working on getting plans together for when all of the teachers return in the next two weeks and then for Howdy Night. Being new to this building, being new to the position of Assistant Principal, and knowing no one until two weeks ago, I was a little anxious but we finished out the week at South Fork and had a great day. This photo was taken by one of the tac houses behind the big, white house at South Fork. (We never saw J.R. Ewing though!)

So now I have WAY too many chores to attend to this weekend. However, I'll keep dreaming of earlier days this summer spent looking at the lake and eating ice cream treats that my dad made for us. Opa LOVES himself some ice cream!!

And so does Pippen!!

Hugs........

~Allie

Celebrating BIG TIME!!

2009-07-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yahoooooo! I passed the principal's certification exam!!

Now the only thing left is to go pick up my master's diploma at graduation next month.

I start my new job as Assistant Principal next week......an exciting new chapter in my life is about to begin. Gotta hang on tight.....it's sure to be a roller coaster of a ride!!

Happy Monday!

~Allie

http://www.freefoto.com/imagelink/?ffid=11-07-58&s=s

Summertime.......

2009-07-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

Finally, a real get-away! It has been the busiest of summers. Other than getting to sleep late and stay up late, it's almost felt like it wasn't summer vacation time. We headed to central Texas to visit my parents on the lake. This picture is from last year, but it sums up the relaxing time we had!

Another hot day, 103 degrees +.......a perfect time to have lunch on the house boat in the center of the lake! My husband LOVES being on the water as much as I do.

My dad has been an army tanker all of his life, but he sure mans his big housboat as if he was a "navy boy". He looks happy, doesn't he? He's the best host on land and on "sea"!

It was too hot to cook and we had a house full of people.....dinner at the Dead Fish Grill was an awesome idea! The frozen margaritas were DELICIOUS!!

And we ended the night playing Rock Band 2......lots of fun for ALL the ages. The youngsters got a good laugh when the adults gave it a try. You're never too old to play!!! Hope you're having a chance to play, too. :D

~Allie

2009-07-03T19:55:00.001-07:00

Celebrate America! Happy July 4th!!

Hurray!

2009-07-02T07:45:00.001-07:00

The Cupcake Princess has been gone for the past 2 weeks, celebrating her graduation from high school at Disney World. She comes home tonight!! I can't wait to see her!! I'm glad she had a wonderful trip with her friend, but I'm looking forward to spending some mommy/daughter time with her before she goes off to college next month.

~Allie

If you're happy and you know it......

2009-06-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a week! I've been studying to take the Texas Certification Exam for principals this Saturday...staying focused, making a plan on how to handle the 110 question exam. And then the phone rings. My school district just promoted me to assistant principal in an elementary school about 15 minutes from my home!! You'd think that would be incentive to get back to studying.......but NO! The phone's been ringing with congratulations as the announcement went out on the district website and I've been answering emails all day! This is SO exciting!

I went to my "new" school on Wednesday and met my new principal and toured the school. It's going to be a great place to work! This evening, they've invited me to a Hail and Farewell get together at our favorite neighborhood mexican restaurant. I'll have an opportunity to meet some of the people I'll be working with.

WOW! Two years of sticking with the Master's Degree program is about to pay off. There's a lot of new learning ahead for me this fall, but I'm SO excited to give it my best!!!

Never give up on your dreams......they CAN come true!!

~Allie

phot from google image search http://www.bestofbreedgifts.co.uk/scottish-terrier-art-print-happy-meter-from-barko-p-266.html

Cupcakes!

2009-06-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Are these some awesome cupcakes or what?!! My local Kroger made two dozen of these for our graduation party for my daughter. The icing was a mixture of butter cream and whipped cream. They were OUT OF THIS WORLD DELICIOUS and beautiful, too!! And best of all, they were $5.99 a dozen. Such little things bring such big joy! What little thing brings you joy?

~Allie

Senior Dedication 2009

2009-06-03T19:14:00.001-07:00

An afternoon of celebrating all of the accomplishments of the seniors. I'm so proud of you, Cupcake!! This Sunday's graduation will be a big day for everyone!!

The joy of being 18!

2009-05-31T06:59:00.001-07:00

18 with a lifetime of adventures ahead of them..........these are faces of pure joy. Happy Birthday, cupcake. I'm glad it was a wonderful weekend with lots of good memories to keep with you always. I love you.
~Mom

Summer is coming!

2009-05-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

An extra day off from school.....Memorial Day. A laid back kind of day. The neighborhood smells like EVERYONE is grilling! Big Daddy grilled some bratwursts and hot dogs today......boy did they smell great!! I think the neighbors on either side of us were cooking ribs all day.....yum!! Now that the weather is so delightful, there will be much more grilling around our house.....portabella mushrooms, hamburgers, shrimp, shish-ka-bob, chicken, fresh vegetables....mmmmmmm. Just bought some sweet corn on the cob today and the tomatoes are starting to ripen.....watermelon....ooooh I just love summer produce!!!

And now, we have 8 more days of school with the students and then summer REALLY begins. Today made me realize that I am READY for summer break. While it will be a somewhat busy summer, at least it will be a nice change of pace.....and more opportunities to head back to the lake.

Random thoughts, yes.......the signs of summer's arrival has addled my brain! What do you love about summer?

Enjoy the here and now......

~Allie

Something that makes me smile......

2009-05-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

My Cupcake Princess.......how can it be that she turns 18 this Friday?

~Allie

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T07:08:00.001-07:00

This sweet face is my mother as a little girl. She loved to dance, she loved music, she loved to fish, and she LOVED her big brothers.

In the mid 1950's, she married my dad. He and his family had been back-door neighbors since the two of them were in 6th grade, but they never dated until after college. Her mother made her wedding dress. Isn't it beautiful?!!They spent their first anniversary in Berlin, Germany as that was where my father had been assigned with the military. Mom was the perfect wife and mother. She made a home that was warm and inviting. She gave lots of dinner parties and was a fabulous cook. She sewed many beautiful dresses for me as I grew up, to include my awesome prom dress from a Nina Ricci Vogue pattern. She and dad made me and my brother feel like we were special and encouraged us in the many things that we tried to accomplish, to include soccer, softball, t-ball, band, choir, football, cheerleading and twirling.

Now she has a wonderful home in Central Texas that is just a piece of paradise. Everyone loves to come "home" to Oma's house because when you're there, you feel like you're special. The grandkids love to visit their Oma because it is the land of no "no's". There's a never ending supply of ice cream and you can swim any time that you want to.

This is the reason that I get to celebrate Mother's Day. My cupcake. She turns 18 in two weeks and has turned into a beautiful, bright, sweet, and articulate young lady. It will be fun to watch her future unfold in these next four years as she heads off to college.

Wishing you and yours a lovely Mother's Day full of love and fond memories.

~Allie

Prince Pippen's Birthday!

2009-04-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Ok.....I know I'm a little crazy about my scotty, but he sure is sweet and he always makes me smile! Today is his third birthday and I'll be making him something special for dinner tonight. Pippen has requested something made with chicken. Last year he got Chicken Parmigana......he appreciates good Italian food. :D I know I'm not the only one crazy about their dog or dogs. So give it up....what crazy things do you do for your pet?

Cheers!

~Allie

Random thoughts.....

2009-04-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

What a busy month! Seems there's been hardly any time to spend on my site. I sneak in a few visits to some of my favorite sights but that's about it. The local Kroger has been making some awesome cupcakes lately. I should have taken a picture of the cupcake tree when it was still full on Easter Eve. Just LOVE this cupcake tree! It was a Christmas gift from my team mates at school.

Have been spending time with friends and family. Work at school is at full speed as our kids are beginning to take state exams to meet No Child Left Behind expectations. My 87 year old mother-in-law had colon surgery and my husband and I have been there for her through her recovery. How do you tell an 87 year old that she shouldn't be driving anymore? That's her on the right, in the red, and my sweet mother sitting to the left of her. This photo was taken in January of this year.

Colored eggs with good friends. Julie's parents came down from Kansas and added to the egg coloring party.

Big Daddy is lots of fun on Easter Eve. Just one big kid!!

High school graduation is but 6 weeks away for the Cupcake Princess. The social calendar is spinning in a frenzy. She turns 18 in a month as well. Geeeezzzzz!

This appears to be more of a journal entry than an interesting blog post. Creativity has taken a vacation for while I guess.

Looking forward to summer break in June......
~Allie

Good Friday.....a much needed day off!

2009-04-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

My friend, Maria, took this lovely photo at the Dallas Arboretum. Spring has certainly sprung in Texas!

Spring is a time for rebirth, new beginnings, and sunny days. Kinda feels like that is going on in our household as well. This sweet, little, cupcake princess.........

Has turned into this high school senior. Graduation is just around the corner and then she leaves for college in four months! A new beginning for all of us!!
I just found out that my interview was good enough to put me in the assistant principal job pool for my school district. Next fall, I may be an assitant principal........holy cow!!! Never DREAMED that would ever happen. And it probably means I will have to leave the school I've been at for 8 years. I work with SUCH a great group of people!!
With spring, however, the days get closer to summer break. I'm looking forward to that! More time to spend on my blog and finally getting some time this summer to do "creative" things, not just college work.

Wishing you and yours a delightful Easter weekend. May the sun shine where you are today.

~Allie

Joy!!!

2009-03-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

I just submitted everything for my final grad school class! The portfolio and it's 55 internship logs with almost 300 hours of internship experience and a 25 page final report among other things. What a weight off of my shoulders! I am done, done, done, done, DONE! with grad school. I can't believe I just earned a Master's Degree in Educational Administration!! Wow!!

It's time to celebrate!!

~Allie

Sadness....

2009-03-20T09:33:00.001-07:00

For many reasons today.

"Sadness" by Rasmus Lindersson
photo.net

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.....

2009-03-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Or so I've been told. I certainly feel like I'm testing this theory this month. I'm within about 2 more weeks of being finished with grad school and this last course is a doozy. Teaching school isn't as easy as one might think. Besides the every day duties, I'm coaching our Lone Star Challenge team (it's kind of like an Academic Decathalon team for elementary kids) and I've taken over a group of 12 5th graders to try to get them prepared for our state exam in math. My poor house is a wreck, I have a guest room/office/craft room that MUST be cleaned up, I have lots of great magazines to get caught up on, I've started reading a new book, my best friend gave me some cool stamps with cupcakes on them and lots of fun glitter and different ink pads to try, I've got some snail mail correspondence to catch up on, and the list can go on and on and on....... Spring Break is less than 24 hours away........YES!!!

Here's what we do as teachers to keep our sanity before spring break, in the midst of all of the state testing and federal accountability nonsense.

This is an inspiration board that I made last fall to help me stay focused on why I'm working on completing my master's degree in Educational Administration. One day, I would like to live and work in Germany, Italy, or Austria. I'm hoping that with the degree and the experience of being an elementary teacher and eventually a principal, I'll be able to make that dream come true one day. I've been looking at this board a LOT this month.

When times get tough, what inspires you to keep moving forward?

~Allie

My vacume cleaner is lonely......

2009-03-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm up to my ears with "stuff"......school stuff, work stuff, housework stuff, getting the Cupcake Princess finalized for college stuff. I need a maid!Spring break is just a few weeks away......I think it will be a true Spring Cleaning taking place. AAAAGH! Any advice?

~Allie

A Day With My Valentine

2009-02-15T19:48:00.001-08:00

I got to spend the whole day with my Valentine today! We went to brunch at a great Mexican restaurant with some friends.

Guess who doesn't care for his picture to be taken!

I felt bad for him because he's battling an eye infection

and has had to wear his glasses for the last

couple of days. Guess I wouldn't want my

picture taken either if I had to wear my

stupid glasses!

After lunch, we all headed to the IMAX theatre to see the latest 3-D movie called "Under the Sea". It was narrated by Jim Carrey and just absolutely fantastic!

These glasses make us look like old people after having our eyes dilated. What a cool couple! And what a fun time!!!!

Hope you had a wonderful day with your Valentine, too!

~Allie

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!Just finished taking the practice principal's exam all morning and got to come home long enough to have some lunch and then go back for some tutoring and study sessions. Whee! What a lovely way to spend Valentine's Day. HOWEVER, tomorrow I'll be having brunch with family and friends and can celebrate then. Wishing you lots of chocolate, flowers, hearts and love today!! Off to try to get smarter.....

Love~

~Allie

Celebrating the little things....

2009-02-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

It's Big Daddy's birthday and I took the day off from school to celebrate with him. It's a sunny day, temperatures in the 60's, and we're looking for a movie to go see and a place to have lunch. It was hard to find a present for him, so I decided that one of my gifts to him would be a gift of my time. Should be a fun day. Hope you're having a fun day, too!
~Allie

Ice Day Fun

2009-01-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Too much ice on the roads this morning......NO SCHOOL TODAY! YEA! So what do I do with myself and this free time? Play on the computer, of course!! Went out to Flickr and played around with some photos.

If you've never been out to this site, you should check it out! These are two photos of my sweet, scottie.....Pippen. I love him dearly!!

Finding time to play is a "good thing" (thanks, Martha Stewart). Hope you find some time to play today, too!

~Allie

Photos by Jessica Watkins

2009-01-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Cupcake Princess has a VERY talented friend who took some photos for her art class. Some of the photos were of my CP. Not the usual smiling, sweet face that I used to photograph.................

Instead, a little more dark....maybe it's the lack of color in the photo, I don't know.

Get a load of that WILD hair! Wish mine was that full of body!!

Why does this photo bring to mind Wuthering Heights?

However, I know that the true Cupcake Princess shines bright with smiles.......

Jess, you capture my sweet one's inner light so well!!

~Allie

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

2009-01-18T12:59:00.001-08:00

The sun is shining, the temperature is in the upper 60's, the sliding glass door is open and a cool breeze blows through the house, the Christmas tree is still up, and it's MY BIRTHDAY! My 26 page grad school assignment was completed last night and sent to the university. We head out with friends and family for an early evening, Italian dinner in just a little while. What a great day! 46 looks GOOD today!! :D

~Allie

Trying Something New.....

2009-01-15T08:50:00.001-08:00

OK......so it's a new year and I've decided to try something new....to keep pushing myself to do things I've never done before. I've been a scrapbooker for years but have never made cards, tags, etc. and have been SO inspired by all of the beautiful work I've seen so many of you create. In November, my best friend and I went to Salado....a small, art town in central Texas and I decided to buy some stamps, glitter, etc. to give cardmaking a try. The lady in the shop was even nice enough to let me photograph samples that they had of completed cards so that I could refer back to them later. To make a long story short, the Saturday before school started back up in January, my best friend Julie, and I spent the whole day making cards and playing with our new "toys" of stamps, inks, glitters, papers, etc........and the photos show my first attempt at card and tag making. Alisa at Life Is A Beautiful Place To Be, actually was kind of enough to say that she'd like to see what I had done........so Alisa, I'm ready for your thoughts! :D I've still got to work on the settings of my camera to get better photos.

Julie and I had a great time on our "Girl's Day".....listened to some great classic rock, ordered our favorite white pizza from Venezia's (a locally owned Italian restaurant), and chatted the day away.

This weekend is my birthday and Julie and I are going to a scrapbook convention....have never been to one before, but I'm excited about going. I just started my next grad school course and have a BIG assignment due on Sunday, but I'm going to burn the midnight oil to be done with all of that by Saturday. All kinds of vendors are supposed to be at the convention and there are supposed to be lots of "make and take" opportunities as well. Another fun "Girl's Day"! I want to GO!!! Maybe we'll have Mexican food this time.....yum!! Aren't best friends just the BEST!?!!!

Wishing you good times with your good friends!
~Allie

A Rockin' Weekend!

2009-01-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

So the Cupcake Princess had a friend over Saturday night and she brought her XBox and all of the stuff to play Rock Band 2. They asked if I wanted to play bass. Seeing as I really didn't want to fold laundry, I said, "Sure". That's all it took! We played Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday night.......and I now officially have Rock Band wrist.....ouch! Guess I was holding the guitar the wrong way or something. Trying to hang with the teenagers..........but WHAT FUN!!! Needless to say, I got very few of my chores done this past weekend. When we weren't playing Rock Band, we were playing dominoes with friends. Oh well, there's always next weekend to get caught up. :D Hope you had a fun weekend, too!!
~Allie

Christmas 2008 in Central Texas

2009-01-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Too much time on my hands playing on the computer today when I should be doing more important things.....oh well.....I'm having fun! Made this mosaic here. Click on a photo to enlarge the mosaic. It pays to hang out with teenagers :D
Thanks for the tech support, Jess!!
~Allie

Chic Flics with the Cupcake Princess...

2009-01-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

What a great holiday break we've had. The Cupcake Princess and I watched a fun Chic Flic called The Holiday. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it the next time the weather is cold and dreary where you are. Cuddle up on the couch, pop some popcorn and enjoy! The soundtrack is wonderful!! I will miss "Girl's Night" when the CP goes to college....I know we'll still have them but not as often.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T08:58:00.001-08:00

It's January 1, 2009 and we have two more parties left. One tonight at our house and one tomorrow night.......and then we breathe!! Where did my 2 weeks off go? I got nothing done that I had planned to....will just have to roll that list over to spring break :D

This past year I have been blessed with making new friends through this amazing blog world. Creating a blog was a complete mystery to me this time last year.....I can't wait to see what the new year will bring!! Wishing you and yours a New Year full of joy, prosperity, love, health, and inspiration.

Peace to all,
~Allie

'Twas the night before Christmas.......

2008-12-24T16:35:00.001-08:00

And all through the house......we wrapped last minute presents and vacummed the house.

Another college acceptance letter came for the CP today......it's hard to believe she's going away!

As early evening comes creeping in.........it's time for our holidays to finally begin.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends, joy and love.

~Allie

'Tis the Season....

2008-12-15T06:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! December just BLEW into my world and it's been run, run, run ever since! Here it is December 15 and I just put my tree up yesterday BUT it's not decorated....that may not happen until Friday night. Seemed strange pulling out the tree yesterday when it was nearly 80 degrees.....not complaining mind you, it was nice having the doors and windows open. This morning we awoke to 31 degrees with the high only being 36 but they say by Friday it may reach 70....gotta love the Texas winters!

In the past month, we've taken the Cupcake Princess to two universities for a visit. One of the universities was UNT, my alma mater. Boy, was that a strange feeling!! Walking around campus, wondering what had happened to all of the frat houses, reminiscing about 10 cent beer night....how could my one and only be old enough for that kind of fun?! She also got her first college acceptance letter a few days ago. What a joyous time it is for her!!

Tonight we head over to the high school for their annual Christmas choir concert. Such a talented group of kids! That's the Cupcake Princess on the front row (one of the benefits of being short :D !) sporting the shades.

Busy times can be happy times. May this holiday season be busy and happy for you, too. More soon.........

~Allie

Feeling blue....

2008-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Although the sun was shining brightly today, in my heart, it felt like it was cloudy, cold, and rainy. A very dear friend of mine lost her husband the morning after Thanksgiving. She went in to wake him up for breakfast and he was no longer with us. He was buried yesterday. I think what rattles me so is that he was only 34 years old and had no health problems that anyone knew of. Scott leaves behind a beautiful wife, my dear friend Katy, and a sweet little boy, Max.

It's hard not to wonder why something like this could happen.....tests your faith a little. Hug your loved ones and let them know how special they are to you every day.

Lovingly,
~Allie

pictures from publicdomainpictures.net

Visions of Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T06:34:00.000-08:00

Was running to the vacuum store yesterday afternoon because the belt broke on the vacuum cleaner (something always breaks right before the holidays) and heard the strangest sound. When I looked up in the sky, this is what I saw.........

A blimp! It used to be called the Goodyear blimp but now it's the DIRECTV blimp.......on it's way to Dallas Stadium for the Thanksgiving Cowboy football game. It was the strangest sound and so weird to see in our skies!

So, I've been trying to get ahead for the Thanksgiving celebration at our house this year. The table has been set since Tuesday night. I lit the candles last night and took some pictures. Nothing fancy, but wanted to have a nice place for the six of us to eat before we settle in for some football watching and napping.Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, love, and joy.

~Allie

This is what morning looks like!

2008-11-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

"This is what morning looks like!" my dad would always say in a bright voice to me when I was younger. He got such a kick out of me grumbling about being awake so early in the morning and this would just make me grumble even more. I had an opportunity to tell my dad the same thing last weekend while we were staying at my mom and dad's home.

I have a simple, digital camera, so I wasn't really able to capture the beauty of the sunrise over the lake at my parents house last weekend......but I think you can tell that it was truely amazing. While I'm not a morning person at all, I was still awake enough to appreciate the spendor of the sun peeking over the cliffs. The air was cool and the only sounds you could hear were leaves scooting across the ground and trees gently whispering. I think my dad and my husband got a good laugh from me running out the back door in my p.j.s saying...."Oh! I've GOT to get a picture of this!".....at 6 in the morning.......especially because I'm still such a big grump early in the morning. Merisi, you created the new monster running around with a camera all of the time......I really am trying to see the beautiful little things in my world around me. What a gift! Happy Friday, everyone! :D

`~Allie

Birthday Wishes

2008-11-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

"Mother is the name of God on the lips and in the hearts of children."

~William Makepeace Thackeray

Today is my sweet mother's birthday.

I'm glad we got to celebrate with you this past weekend.

As always, you were the Hostess with the Mostess!!

Hope today was a wonderful day with friends and family.

You are MY yellow rose of Texas!

I love you......

~Allison

Do you remember?

2008-11-09T13:20:00.001-08:00

Do you remember your senior year of high school? Boy, I sure do! And now, my Cupcake Princess is enjoying her senior year. This is part of the group of 24 that went to Homecoming together last weekend. The CP is wearing the bright, sea blue dress. What a wonderful group of kids she hangs out with. They are all part of the Theatre Magnet at her high school, make good grades, and really don't get into trouble.....they just like hanging out with each other.

These are just the girls, minus one who was running late. Don't they look beautiful? It was November 1, around 6 pm......notice......no wraps, no jackets...and no, they weren't freezing. It was around 70 degrees and just a wonderful evening.

These are two of the Cupcake Princess's best friends in the whole world. They've been friends since 7th grade and just take such good care of each other. Being theatre students, they LOVE to "mug" for the camera! No shyness with this bunch!

This is another of the CP's best friends. The two of them just crack me up! They look like Mutt and Jeff!! Tracy is 6 feet tall and the CP is only 5'2"......but they wear the same size dress.......go figure!What a lucky young man to be surrounded by such beautiful young ladies!

I love my Cupcake Princess!

~Allie

Did you vote?

2008-11-04T04:14:00.001-08:00

image courtesy of sprinklescupcakes.com

Dogs just don't get it!

2008-11-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

I was SO looking forward to sleeping in and getting that extra hour of sleep this morning. But NOOOOO! Not only does Pippen not get weekend schedules, he REALLY doesn't understand FALLING BACK with daylight savings time! I must have been pounced a dozen times this morning in my bed and he was quite vocal....letting me know that this sleeping late business was just unacceptable to him. He wasn't happy being off his schedule!! Guess I'll be napping on the couch while the Cowboys play this afternoon. He's lucky I find him so cute!!
~Allie

Celebrating & Some Silliness....

2008-10-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'm celebrating having just finished my final exam for my ninth grad school course. Only two more courses and the internship to go.....and the internship hours are already done. Whee!

Anyway, I'm spending waaay too much time playing around on the internet, waiting for the Cupcake Princess to get home from the homecoming football game. I found this cool little site. Now, I'm not much into Halloween, but thought this could be my little Halloween posting. Go out to this site and put in your name and it will give you your fairy name. My fairy name sounded perfect for Halloween. (I think I need some sleep!)

Your fairy is called Gossamer Willowglow

She is a caster of weird dreams.

She lives in spiderwebbed wonderlands and insect grottos.

She is only seen in the light of a full moon.

art courtesy of http://www.fotosearch/ .com

I LOVE the pink hair!

Happy Halloween!

~Allie

Treasures in the mail........

2008-10-26T17:40:00.001-07:00

Look what treasures came in the mail this week! I had entered a giveaway over at Aged Vintage Papier back in July but didn't win. However, I got an email about two weeks ago saying the person who won never contacted them with a mailing address. SO..............they pulled another number.....AND IT WAS MINE! The gift tags are so feminine and sparkly. It doesn't show up in my poor photo though. Julie from Fabulous Finds was the contributing artist and the one who made all of these lovely things. They are so beautiful that I really don't want to use them as gift tags. I'd rather keep them and just look at them for inspiration. ~Allie

House & Garden

2008-10-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

Just got home from seeing the Cupcake Princess in another high school theatre production. This one is called House and Garden. It's a British comedy, kind of a funny Upstairs/Downstairs kind of thing but it's quite unique. There are two shows going on at the same time. One is in the auditorium, that's the Garden, and the other one is going on in the Black Box theatre across the hall, that's the House. The characters travel from set to set. So you have to go to two nights of shows to find out the whole story. We went to Garden tonight and we'll go to House on Saturday night. What fun! I'm so proud of her! ~Allie

Racing through October

2008-10-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

What a BUSY month this has been so far! I've hardly had time to spend reading my favorite blogs or posting anything of my own. Had a girl's weekend last weekend with my best friend, Julie. We headed down to my parent's house on the lake Friday night after work. Stayed up until midnight visiting and slept in late on Saturday morning. But not too late that we were out of the house by noon to head to a holiday craft show at the Belton Expo Center. After tasting every dip and soup and seeing some ideas for Christmas, we continued down the highway three exits to Salado, Texas.

Salado is a sleepy little art town in Central Texas. It's old time Main street is dotted with lots of antique shops, dress shops, art galleries, crafts, collectibles and so much more. The weekend we were there, they were having their Christmas in October Christmas Market that coincided with their Chocolate & Art Festival. There's SO much to tell that I'll have to break it up into a couple of posts.Christmas was EVERYWHERE! This is Julie checking out a sparkling, silver and crystal tree which I couldn't capture on my camera very well. There were SO many beautifully decorated trees. I guess that's why I'm having a hard time getting into Halloween and Thanksgiving. I saw a Christmas wonderland and I'm ready to celebrate the season now!I realy like these tall, skinny trees. Maybe this is the year to get a new tree. HMMMMM.......Big Daddy may not like that idea. But they are SO stunning! All of these trees had the coolest tops to them. A spray of sparkling, whispy "things" making the trees look like there were 4th of July sparklers bursting from them.

I love this tree top! Wish someone would come and decorate my tree like this for me........I'm not sure I can do it on my own. The picture is kind of dark but I think you can get the idea.

This tree with the feathers was also stunning. It would look great in my parent's house on the lake. We saw a lot of pheasant feathers everywhere we went on Saturday. I even found a darling cupcake ornament. Had intended to go back and buy it after I had finished looking through the whole store and then got so wrapped up in the holiday-ness that I walked out without buying it. Can you tell I was just a little overwhelmed. It was a fantastic day!

There's more to share from our girl's weekend but I haven't the luxury of time this weekend. More soon! Are you feeling in the holiday spirit yet? ~Allie

Show & Tell Sunday

2008-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

So here's another way to get rid of "Bloggers Block"......Show and Tell Sunday. What a great prompt! Think I'll try it!! Today's offering is the art of

Thierry Poncelet.

I came across this print about 10 years ago and fell in love with it. Never had I seen anything like it before. And while he's not a Scottish Terrier (we'll save that subject for another Sunday) this gentleman's handsome, bearded face and elegant pose just captured my heart. Big Daddy even liked him! We bought a wooden easel to display this dapper chap in our home and lovingly named him "Dogman".

One day, I stumbled on some photos in a catalog of other prints that were done in the same theme.....classic paintings with canine heads instead of human heads. The artist responsible for these canine aristocrats is Thierry Poncelet.

Thierry Poncelet was born in Brussels in 1946. He studied Fine Arts at the St. Luc Academy and then joined Max Masot's workshop to learn the art of painting in the traditional way and restoration. However, his love of painting soon outgrew his interest in restoration, and he decided to become a full time oil painter, specializing in whimsical dog portraits. Mr. Poncelet calls his portraits "aristochiens".This morning, I decided to look around the internet to see if there was anything new about Thierry Poncelet since I last researched him. What is this?! There's a book with a collection of his art work and a humorous, biographical sketch of each of the portrait "sitters" is written by Bruce McCall. On the back of the book cover it says, "The fetching result is a vision of a society gone to the dogs.". Santa, I would like this book! (Thank you Alisa, for the tutorial on using links in my posts. I think it worked!)

Mr. Poncelet's art suits me to a "T". And thank you to my friends and Big Daddy for indulging me and contributing to two of my passions.......dogs and laughing. This was a LONG show and tell......thanks for staying with me to the end.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

~Allie

Celebrating 21 Years!

2008-09-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

So the teenager came over and worked on my scanner but didn't get it up and running. Being as relentless as my scottie, I spent three hours today working on that blasted scanner and voila! Old Mom did it!! So NOW I can share wedding photos. 21 years ago this month I married my soul mate.

"Love is not a matter of counting the years; it is making the years count."~William Smith

While every day hasn't been a "piece of cake", we've managed to survive lots of lifes ups and downs. From a bouncing baby girl to losing a job, from earning Masters Degrees to fighting cancer, we're still facing the world together and meeting every challenge that presents itself.

"A happy family is but an earlier heaven"~George Bernard Shaw

Every step of the way, my family has been there to support me, my husband, and my daughter. When my world went flying out of control one Christmas with my husband battling cancer and surgery, they dropped everything to come be by my side.

"As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." ~Winnie the Pooh

I love you, Patrick...........

Rounding Up Random Thoughts........

2008-09-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Downtown Dallas September 2008

It's been 14 days since posting......hmmmm.....partly because it's been a busy time and partly because I think I can safely say I've experienced my first spell of "bloggers block". Lots of random thoughts running through my mind.....but in no clear direction. How about a bulleted list? Let's see how that works :)

Texas has made it through a terrible storm.....hurricane Ike. All of the evacuation centers in the DFW area are full but everyone seems to be taken care of well and there have been no major events of trouble. Why did so many people decide to ride the storm out in Galveston? It doesn't make sense.
Would really like to get the scanner working. Asked one of the Cupcake Princess's friends if she'd set it up for me and happily I may be scanning by tonight :) Bringing in more pictures might break the blogger's block.
Just celebrated 21 years of being married. Wow! I can't be that old!!
Sarah Palin sure is getting a lot of press.
One of the Cupcake Princess's friends from elementary school just turned 18 last week and this past Friday night we got a midnight call that she had been in an accident. She was driving her vespa home Friday evening and somebody hit her. Chipped teeth, road rash, stitches in her cheek, and surgery yesterday to put two plates into her leg. Horrible. She is like our adopted daughter. Couldn't sleep after the phone call. Was like the floor had just been pulled out from under me. She just called from her hospital room and sounds good. We're all going to see her this evening. It's scary when your kids go off for their first day of school and you think that when you get through that, things are good and you won't be experiencing that feeling again. WRONG! Now they are 18, driving, and your heart skips a beat every night that they are out and you don't relax your shoulders until they are home safe and sound. When does THAT feeling go away?
Have been enjoying the new episodes of Gossip Girl. Am I too old to be watching this?
Why does it always rain right after you give the dog a bath?
Downtown Dallas is actually beautiful.