Curtains are up!

Before we get to the curtains, here's PJ Joey actually behaving and laying in her little bed- I think we're ready for a transition into a Big Girl Bed!

On to the curtains... I spent so much time on them, and for the past month, they have just been in a heap in the corner of the Pink Room. I finally got the rods, and then Caleb very generously gave up a studying hour to drill in the screws for the rods today. Whether they look good or bad, I'm just glad to finally have them hanging!
This is our room- the walls look really yellow in this picture, but the paint is actually green... weird how it does that. The curtains in this room are very sheer. The fabric was on clearance for $5 a yard- STEAL!
A closer look at the bedroom curtains. Please ignore the Terrible side tables. There used to be cute covers for them, but when 007 came the first time to spray for fleas, he said that the side table skirts were "Ground Zero" for the fleas, so I immediately threw them away. Even though the flea epidemic is long gone (Thanks be to God!) I still have naked side tables. My goal is to get mini-bookshelf type things. I have in my head what I want to get, I just haven't seen them yet....
Breakfast room curtains. I think these are really going to help cool the house down during the day, actually. They really keep out natural light.
And finally, the Pink Room curtains. I put a little flair into this curtain. The idea is to draw the eye to the curtains so that the mind isn't so blown away by the pinkness of it all.

Items PJ Joey has chewed on:

Items Belonging to Caleb:
1. costa del mar sunglasses (his pride and joy)
2. driver's license
3. Chemistry textbook from college
4. plenty of JAMA's (Med School journal magazine thing)
5. A hardback book I had bought him for his birthday

Items Belonging to Me:
NOTHING!

hahhahahahhahahhah! (evil laugh)

What we've been up to....

So school is in full swing for the both of us, and I thought I would sum everything up really quick, since I haven't been the best blogger of late.

As far as I can gather about the second year of Med School, there is a TON more work, but the material is more interesting, relevant, and applicable. I don't know how it's possible to study more than he did last year, but everyone says that you just have to make it happen. CRAZY! Caleb is really studying hard, yet he is still maintaining some good balance. I'm so glad I'm not the one in Med School! (as is any future patient I might possibly have...). So basically, he is studying all the time, and that is the summary! He's also CMDA co-president and he does a lot with it.

Teaching school again is keeping me so much busier than I used to be, but I didn't do much of ANYTHING at my old job, so that isn't saying much. This semester I have 1st block off, then English 11 (which is for Juniors) and 3rd and 4th blocks are Drama I. I happen to LOVE the block schedule. I only teach three classes a day, meaning I only have to keep up with about 90 students, versus 160. It's so much easier! Plus, I have an hour and 45 minute planning period. NICE! It still is incredibly time consuming to put together lesson plans. I spend my entire planning period grading and making copies, and I do lesson plans on the weekends. My goal is to try to get about two weeks ahead since I have a few weddings coming up on the weekends pretty soon.

PJ Joey is growing like a big dirt-covered weed. We have to leave her outside all day long while we're gone, but she seems to be doing ok. I feel like I am constantly vacuuming all the dirt she drags in, but that is just all part of being a pet owner, I suppose.

Anyway, this is a super boring post. Sorry. I would love to hear what everyone is up to these days, so feel free to leave a comment and let me know how life is!

Things that are Awesome

1. Blue Bell White Chocolate ice cream- currently my favorite, surpassing cookies and cream
2. Having enough textbooks and chairs for every student.
3. The iTouch- I don't get all a-flutter over gadgets, but this little thing is uh-MAZE-ing!
4. Febreeze- if not for this, our entire house would permanently smell like a wet, dirty PJ Joey
5. TV on DVD.
6. My friend's babies- they are cuter than average children
7. National Public Radio- I have gradually joined the NPR cult and now prefer it ALMOST to watching TV. Does this mean I am old, or just suddenly very cultured? But seriously, listen to "The Story" every night at 7pm. I have sat in my car in the driveway at 7:45-8:00 JUST to hear the end. It never disappoints!
8. Receiving mail from POTUS- I'm still glowing from it.

Not Awesome:
1. making lesson plans.....
2. Miami Vice, the movie- it's playing on USA right now and it blows.
3. Weekends are only two days-I propose we make Friday a weekend, thus only having a four-day work week.
4. Having to clock-in at 7:00am. That. Is. So. Early.
5. This one thing PJ Joey does where when she is wet or dirty, she rubs the wall as she walks down the hall, and there is already a dirt streak appearing on the wall.
6. Ice cream moratoriums- sometimes Caleb says we can't go get another thing of ice cream until the carton we already have is eaten. I like to pick all the good parts out and not eat the rest, so this rule really stunts my ice cream purchases.

That's all for now. I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

Oh to be three again...

Here are the pics of the one and only Katie Ruth. Click here for more.

Canoeing Adventure!

For my mom's birthday, McRae planned a canoe adventure for the whole family and signed us up for the 6 hour route. Most people stop at 3 hours, but not the Hopper Clan! (and Butts). All in all, I think we paddled about 14 miles. As you can see from the picture above, I actually did very little paddling, as I prefered that Caleb do the dirty work. I think in that picture, he is paddling me into the branches.
This next pic is all of us at the Victory Line. I am very proud of us. We did it!
McRae looks like a Wilderness Man. Mom looking sassy as always.
This is Molly and Dad. They tipped a lot and I laughed.

My first Wedding!

I hope to only get married once, so technically THAT is my first wedding, but I got to be the Photographer at an actual wedding and it was so much fun!! (and tiring).

Here is one of my faves and you can click here to go to my photo website if you want to see more! Thanks for all the visits to the website, by the way, because I think that's what is keeping me so high on the google business list!

You will NEVER guess what I got in the MAIL today!

A letter from the President of the United States! Or as I fondly call him, POTUS.

Oh yes, my friends. Barack and I are now corresponding.

This all began when he angered me with his overspending and crazy bail-out plans. So I wrote him a letter telling him how I felt about it. This was in January I guess?

Well today in the mail is a formal envelope with the return address simply reading:

The White House
Washington, DC 20500

They don't even have to put 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They just put The White House. It looks pretty good, I must say. My favorite part is that his letter back to me cost the American Taxpayers 44 cents.

In case you're wondering, it is a form letter focusing on how the Housing Bubble burst and started this whole recession, which has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote him about, so I'm pretty sure he didn't personally read my letter.

It's ok, Barry. I will probably still send you a Christmas Card. Especially since I know you'll write back!

Quick Update

School is going great! The kids are.... behaved! (GASP!) I love it! I have about three boogers so far that I will have to squash here pretty soon, but even they are pretty nice kids! I'm very relieved.

Caleb has also returned to school. Med School is even harder the second year, so they say. ug. He has a short white coat with his name monogrammed on it which is very fun, and I think he gets to wear it to the hospital for this thing they do once a week. So that is exciting. He's a 1/4th doctor!

That's really all I have to report. Oh, PJ Joey is doing good too. Well, she tried to eat a squished, dead bird during our walk today and it absolutely disgusted me. Other than that, we're good.

Mrs. Butts' Classroom looks pretty hodge podge

You can walk into other teachers classrooms and you think, yep this looks like a place where there is learning. Not mine. I have so much to do!

Sorry for having a boring blog here of late. A lot is going on between Caleb being involved with seemingly every student organization known to man and I am having epic failure decorating my room at school. I won't bore you even more with a long boring post about it, but when I get some updated pics of everyday life, that should liven things up a bit.

And for my mom's birthday last weekend, my whole family canoed 14 miles down the Okatoma River. Fun had by all. I've been waiting to really blog hard about it until the pictures come back. I know you are all on pins and needles.

I leave my computer unoccupied for TWO seconds....

...and this is the background I come back to!

New pics, New curtains!

I updated the photography blog... if you want to see the rest, click here. And please pray for me next Saturday- I'm doing my first wedding! I'm excited but VERY nervous.

Meanwhile, ever since we've moved into the house, I've put off a ton of stuff. Ever since everything with teaching has been finalized, however, I've been working non-stop to get everything situated before school starts, one project of which is CURTAINS. For some reason, I thought, "Hey Trish! You have a sewing machine, you're wanting to put curtains up, Nana offered to buy all the material.... why not just do them yourself?"

EPIC FAIL.

Curtains take more time than I originally thought. There is a lot of MEASURING involved, and I think I've made it quite clear that I avoid using numbers at all costs. I have one of seven panels complete. Honestly, I thought it would take about three hours to do them ALL. Pysch! It takes me three hours to do one panel!

I will post pics when I'm through in two years.