Paradise!!

I just love summer... Minus the heat! My favorite part of the summer so far has been Austin and my trip to Coronado Island, right outside San Diego. We went to celebrate the wedding of our wonderful friends Will and Katie! 

We headed out on the 4th of July!! When we arrived, it was overcast and chilly...felt amazing!!

We stopped for a quick Happy Hour...I had the best bloody mary of my life!!

 

 

We made it just in time for fireworks with the bride and groom! 

Dinner the 2nd night was my favorite! We ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant with a great view of downtown San Diego.

It was finally time to start the wedding festivities...Friday we began the day in the sunshine! Enjoyed some R&R on the beach!

We then headed to an amazing rehearsal dinner! Dinner was located downtown with an incredible view!

Saturday was a restful day for me on the beach, while Austin tended to his groomsmen duties until the wedding ceremony began! We enjoyed a beautiful ceremony at Hotel Del and then a fabulous party! 

We had a blast! I wish we were still there!

It's Already the End of June?!

This summer has been going too fast! I have been extremely busy with many wonderful trips and teaching 2 different camps, which has made the month of June fly by!

My summer started with a fabulous girls trip back to San Antonio! We ate delicious food, laid by the pool, relaxed, and chatted about life... great way to start off our summer vacation!

Next, was a road trip to Fox Creek Ranch with my moms side of the family to celebrate my Grandpa's birthday.  We had about 27 people and the AC was out in half of the house, but it was great to see everyone.  Needless to say, it was a crazy weekend, but we managed to get at least one pic of the Wills girls!

Once I got back from the ranch, it was camp time!  Kristen and I decided to teach 3 different camps this summer to kids from school.  Our first 2 camps were Writing for 4th graders and a Book Club for our 6th grade girls. (we have a math camp in August... so we get a break!)

Last but not least, I headed out of town again to visit all of my wonderful friends in Memphis.  We hung out in Memphis on Friday night and went to a fun dinner downtown.

Saturday, we headed to Oxford! We shopped around the square, had happy hour upstairs at Boure and ate a delicious meal at City Grocery! I was so happy to get in some Oxford time!

Sunday, we headed back to Memphis to celebrate Father's Day at the Poley house! 

This summer has been a blast so far, but is going WAY too fast! I cannot believe July is almost here.... I do not like it!  I still have some fun adventures ahead, but I need the summer to slow down!

Sunday Baking

Last weekend, as I was laying around in my pajamas, I decided to finally try a couple of recipes from Pinterest.  I had been wanting to cook zucchini chips and homemade Reese's cups and today was the day!

I started with the zucchini chips and while they did not turn out the way I had hoped, they still tasted great!  I am not sure they were worth the amount of time it took to cook, but I was glad I gave it a shot.

I ate a lot of them before I remembered to take the picture! :)  The problem I had with them was they were not crisping, like chips.  They were cooking for over 2 hours and still weren't the way I wanted!

 

Next task was homemade Reese's cups and they were delicious and super easy!! The recipe was very easy to follow and did not take much time at all! I HIGHLY recommend these! 

First, line your cupcake pan with paper liners.  I would recommend using the mini cupcake pan next time.  I think I would prefer to have bite size peanut butter cups.

Next, fill up the cups with peanut butter, butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Then, take the cups out of the fridge and add the chocolate to the top and sprinkle with sea salt. Chill for another 30 minutes.

 Finally, they are complete!! Keep them refrigerated!

Everyone should try them! I will be making them again soon!

Happy 1st Birthday Nuggets!

 Today is a special day! Today is William and Luke's 1st birthday!  This year has gone by so fast and I cannot believe they are already one!  I have been babysitting these sweet boys since they came home from the hospital.  They decided to enter the world a little early, so I met them while they were still in the hospital.

 

 My babysitting duties began when William came home from the Hospital.  Luke joined us a few weeks later and I had the blessing of watching these two grow so much this year.

 

Yesterday, we celebrated with a Breakfast Taco birthday party! 

The party was a success and the boys had a great time! I cannot believe they are already 1 and I can't wait for summer break when I get to spend more time with them!

Happy Birthday William and Luke!

My New Addictions

So I have found a new love for reading! I have NEVER been a big reader, even though I am a reading teacher.  In the past 3 weeks, I have managed to read 2 books and that is HUGE for me! I loved both of them and couldn't put either of them down.  I spent multiple days just reading and reading!

Book 1 - The Hunger Games

I had heard nothing but great things about this book from my friends and from my students.  I finally got around to reading it and I LOVED every second of it! I cant wait to read the 2nd and 3rd one.  I love that this book can be enjoyed by boys, girls, young teens, and adults.  It is definitely addicting!

Book 2 - Divergent

Oh man! This book was amazing and I almost think I liked it better than The Hunger Games. It was a great mix of adventure and romance! I literally read this in 3 days or so.  I could not put it down! It had many unexpected moments, never would have guessed the ending!  I could read it over and over again! 

I HIGHLY suggest both of these books!  Can't wait to see what I read next!

Happy Easter

Thanks to no snow days this year, we were lucky enough to have a 4 day weekend.  We had Good Friday and Great Monday off this year, so I had plenty of time to go out of town as well as get some great relaxation time at home.  Thursday, we left for Chris' ranch in Watervalley, Tx.

We stopped on our way at Perini Ranch Steakhouse and it was AMAZING! 

After our delicious meal, we finally made it out to the ranch.  We enjoyed some great weather, great food and a great get-a-way!

Austin and I drove back Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a great Easter Sunday with his family.  We luckily finished our Easter Egg Hunt before the rain came.

 And a little time playing in the mud! :)

Great Easter holiday! Sad its over, but thankful we only have 37 more days of school until summer break!

One of the Perks of Being a Teacher...

Spring Break is one of my favorite parts of being a teacher.  At the beginning of the break, Jeni, Kristen, Emily and I went to La Cantera, a resort in San Antonio.  It was the perfect little get a way!

On our drive, we made a quick lunch stop in Austin and ate at the food trucks.  Jeni and I chose the Short Bus, which had the perfect options for teachers.

Once we arrived, we had a little wine tasting and lounging outside by the pool.

That night, we ate Kristen's favorite pizza place called Fralo's.  It was a hole in the wall, sit outside restaurant with some of the best pizza I've ever had!

The next day was filled with plenty of sun time by the pool.  From breakfast until dinner, we lounged, read books and magazines, and sang songs! Great day!

For our last night, we ventured to the Riverwalk and ate at Paesano's.  It was delicious.  We also visited the Alamo... my first time that I can remember! 

Great trip with great friends! I loved every minute of it and can't wait to do this again soon!