June -- where are you?!?!

Holy cow, how is it already July? Summertime is flying by and just one month from today, I will be back at work. 2011 has been a great year, but has flown by. It seems like just yesterday we were ringing in the New Year with our Fort Worth friends, Luke and Molly were born, we skied in Whistler and then school was out. I know the fall will zoom by with football and holidays and we'll be ringing in 2012 before we know it!

June was full of good times and some pretty important events in the Buckmaster household. Below is a recap:

New Job - I accepted a new job as a kindergarten teacher at Arlington Classics Academy. Leaving Mambrino and Granbury is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do professionally. I loved my school and loved, loved my first grade team. I cried when I resigned and cried when I told each of the teachers. Everyone was very understanding, as I had driven an hour each way (and 50 miles) for two years. My new school is 15 miles from my house, which I am so excited about. I had lunch with my new team and they seem great as well. I am really excited about teaching kindergarten again. I had such a fun time with that grade the first year I taught. Plus the campus where I will be teaching is brand new and the center of it is a castle. How cool is that?!? I am really excited about teaching at a new school!

Traveling - George did quite a bit of traveling in the second half of June. He traveled to Stanton, Virgina for three days for a factory test and then to Vancouver, British Columbia for training. He had a great time with his co-workers in Vancouver and thoroughly enjoyed the 65 degrees (compared to 105 here). As many people know, I am a big baby and miss George immensely every time he travels. Yes, I'm that "crazy" (I like to think of it as "sweet") wife that cries each time I drop him at the airport. While George traveled, the puppies and I held down the fort in Fort Worth. :)
 
A Visit From Mom - My mom spent three days with me the last week of June while George was traveling. We did lots of shopping, decorating and even painted a red accent wall in our master bedroom. I love it and am just trying to convince George to love it, too (and it IS red babe, not pink). It was so great to spend some time with my mom and not be rushed and have so much to do. We had lunch with my mother-in-law one of the days, which was great. I am so thankful that my parents and George's parents get along just like they've always been family. We are so blessed.
 
 
 
Now that June is over, we are ready for July. It's going to be another busy, but fun month with visits from my aunt and uncle and parents, time with friends and Kellye's baby shower. I can't wait for all of the fun! Some teachers may not get super excited about going back to work, but I know back-to-school means college football is just around the corner! I desperately miss starting my Saturday with Game Day and watching games all weekend long. Just eight more weekends without college football! YAY!
 
 
xoxo,
 
Linds

Summer Fun

Last weekend was a wonderful, relaxing weekend but of course I took zero pictures! I am so disappointed in myself. Oh well, maybe next time!

Friday started off with playtime at the Amerson house with Ely. Stacy took the twins to get their four month pictures taken (I cannot believe they are four months already!) and Ely and I had fun playing games, reading books and watching a little TV. After pictures and getting the twins down for a nap, Stacy and I got to visit for a bit about a little of everything which is always a treat. Even thought she'd disagree, Stacy has figured out how to function so well with a 4-year old and infant twins! I hope when we have our first baby that I have it half as together as she does!

Friday evening George and I met some friends downtown at a sports bar, Frankies, for dinner and a little Rangers game action. We had fun visiting with everyone and I know George enjoyed unwinding after a long week. Saturday was a lazy day for me! I never sleep past about 8:00a.m. during the summertime and Saturday, I broke that tradition. I got up for a bit and then went back to sleep until almost 11! Then I napped again that afternoon. It was bliss! Saturday night we tried Fireside Pies in West 7th and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was craving jalapenos so I just had their "Good Pepperoni" pizza with jalapenos and George had the "White Pizza" with chicken sausage. Afterwards, we walked over to Lucky Strike to check it out and had dessert and drinks out on the patio. We were really impressed with the atmosphere and hope to go back soon to watch one of the many sporting events we follow.

Sunday we ventured out to Eagle Mountain Lake with the Amersons. Stacy was the tubing champion of the day, but everyone (except our Captain Safety) enjoyed rides on the tube, even Ely. We had lots of laughs and fun before having lunch and then getting off the water. George and vegged around the house before watching the Mavs game with Colleen and Van. It was so much fun watching the Mavs win their first ever championship. Being the sap that I am, I started crying this morning watching the recap and interviews from last night.

We had a great weekend and are ready for another hot, Texas summer week!

The PERFECT Anniversary

George and I celebrated our third anniversary yesterday. I seriously do not know where the time has gone! While I cannot imagine life without him (and honestly it seems like he has always been in my life), our wedding seems like it was just yesterday. On our anniversary, I like to think about what I was doing at that time on our wedding day. It was such a special day and there isn't one thing I would change except maybe have the reception venue a little cooler, but hey, it was June in Galveston. What do you expect? I am forever grateful to my wonderful parents who didn't bat an eye as I kept adding more flowers, linens, everything and did everything they could to give me my fairytale wedding. George's parents were great, too, in planning a wonderful rehearsal dinner and helping us have a fabulous honeymoon in France. We are just so blessed!

June 7, 2008

The last three years have been so wonderful, and honesty each year just keeps getting better. I have always felt like George was my best friend but I feel like we just keep getting closer. I am so thankful that he is who God chose for me to spend my life with. There is never a day that goes by that I would rather spend my life with anyone else. I love living my "happy ever after!"


The third wedding anniversary gift is leather and George had told me not to get him anything because his gift was really for both of us (and it was pretty pricey). I ended up exchanging boots that I had gotten him for his birthday and then got him a card (I'm a big card person) and a baby bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes (yumm-o, if you haven't tried it). We went to dinner at Ruth Chris and that is when George gave me my gift -- a wedding album!

I love my wedding album!!!

For those of you that don't know, our photographer/picture/wedding album situation was a nightmare. I wish I could sugar-coat it in some way, but I can't. I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version of the story. Basically throughout the planning process, our photographer was hard to get in touch with, slow to respond to emails, etc. Why I didn't fire him is beyond me. He created the most beautiful art story books and I had to have his, because they were that good. I was keeping my eye on the finished product. Needless to say, it took him over six months to get me a DVD with our wedding prints (which were not edited and had several events missing) and a year and a half to get our art story book. When I opened it, my name was misspelled on the cover. Then, it was one of those cheap Kodak books that anyone can order. It was pretty terrible! This has been a sore subject since our wedding. I just feel so bad that my parents spent thousands of dollars and we had nothing. To this day, I still don't even have my bridal portrait images!


For George to take the time to get the album made is the sweetest, most thoughtful thing in the world. It took everything I had not to start my "no-breathing" crying at the restaurant (my dad and George know just what this sounds like!). So my three tears shed as I looked at it was me being really tough, babe! I emailed the photographer to thank her for designing it and doing such a wonderful job. In her reply to the email, she said, " I loved that a man thought to work so hard on making a special gift for someone he loved.  You are very lucky and I wish you both the happiest of lives together."


I am so lucky and blessed! I love you babe! Cheers to many more anniversaries!

I love dessert!

I love you babe!

 



June 7, 2011

Lazy Weekend at the Lake

The first weekend in June, we went to my in law's lake house in Granbury for a weekend of R&R. What's so great about their lake house is that Granbury is only about 45 minutes from Fort Worth, yet you feel like you are hours away. They were so sweet to go out of town the entire month of June so their kiddos could have the house to ourselves. Rachel, Dom, the Sudbecks and Matt joined us at the lake house. We missed Cort, but she just started a new job in Houston and with the move and all, it was just too much for her to come.

Friday, everyone took off of work and we enjoyed a day on the lake and then ordered pizza. We chatted and played The Game of Things (hilarious!) and then retired for the evening. On Saturday, Joanna and I went shopping on the Square and got fabulous beach bags. They are so cute and perfect for taking on the boat! We met everyone for lunch and then Jo and Ava went back to the house (so Ava could nap) and everyone else went tubing. Then we floated and swam in the cove near the house before grilling steaks and making corn, cornbread and baked potatoes. YUM! It was a great dinner. Apparently the sun wore everyone out because we all dozed while watching Tangled (adorable movie) that evening. Everyone headed back pretty early on Sunday but we had such a great, relaxing weekend. I did not take nearly enough pictures! I am so disappointed in myself!!

Ready for sun, drinks but not SNAKES!

There isn't another little girl cuter than this one!

Mommy and Ava posing.

Husband love.

She's an Iowa girl at heart :)

Presh!

Busy, Busy May

Our lives did not slow down one bit in the month of May! Besides birthdays, baby showers, engagement parties and friends, school was also winding down. The month zoomed by thanks to every weekend being occupied and having so much to do during the week. Before I knew it, I was hugging my little bumblebees goodbye and wishing them a safe summer and a great year in second grade. As those close to me know, this past school year was a difficult one for me. I definitely did a lot of soul-searching and praying as to how to handle certain situations. As tough as some days were, I know that God put each one of my students in my life for a reason. They need me and I need them. I can only hope that I made an impact on their lives in the 175 days we had together and that they will remember some of the things I taught them (beyond reading and math) and will turn out to be great people. Something I love about teaching is that each August, you get to start over. You get a whole other shot at making a difference and molding some little lives. You get to correct all of your mistakes and better those things you did right. I can't wait to meet my next batch of bumblebees and hope we have a fabulous year!

May Happenings...

- More Birthdays : We celebrated JoAnna's, Van's and Colleen's birthdays.
- Megan and Gracie's Baby Shower in West Columbia
- Rachel and Dom's Engagement Party in Henderson
- The Last Day of School

My lovely Fort Worth friends celebrating one of many birthdays.

All the hostesses at Gracie's Par-Tea.

Some of the decor at Gracie's Par-Tea.

My beautiful pregnant friends - Megan, Kellye and Taryn.

Jenna and precious Baby Blayne.

We love you already, Gracie!

Congrats to the soon-to-be Falbos!

Rachel and Dom with their parents.

The whole Buckmaster family.

Rachel and Dom's entire families.

My big second graders - I can't believe it!

April - the month of birthdays!

April is filled with birthdays in our families. Just in the month of April, we have five birthdays (out of 9 people total in our family). Pretty much we are celebrating all month long! I can't believe I turned 26 this year. I still feel like I could be in college sometimes! It's hard to fathom that I am only four birthdays away from being 30. I guess time flies when you are having fun! I hope 26 is a great year for me! Cheers to another great year spent with the ones I love!

April Happenings:

• Birthdays: My birthday (8th), Laura's birthday (13th), Matt's birthday (15th), Taylor's birthday (15th) and Rachel's birthday (30th) -- Holy birthdays!
• Zoo 10K Run
• Easter

Joe T's for my birthday -- yumm-o!

My beautiful white chocolate/raspberry bundt cake.

Happy Birthday, Laura! She is posing with her red velvet bundt cake.

We love midweek dinners with George's parents :)

Zoo 10K -- It was cold, early and very hilly.

Adorable Sudbecks on Easter Sunday.

What a cute family of five.

Happy Easter from the Buckmasters!

Ely is a boy on a mission!

Ava loves hunting for eggs.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!!

I love my sister-in-law!

The End of March

Fun happenings:

- My father-in-law's surprise 60th birthday
- Our awesome ski trip to Whistler

Billy's delicious German chocolate birthday cake. YUM!

What would a birthday party be without decorations?

Apparently denim jackets were part of the dresscode.

To say Billy was surprised is an understatement.

Billy and Laura and their beautiful kids.

Good morning, Whistler! You are gorgeous.

George and I at the top of Whistler Mountain.

Gorgeous views from the top of Blackcomb.

Our magician at dinner was very entertaining.

What a great group of people.

Love my husband! So glad we were able to go on this trip together.

I had so much fun with these girls!

Where has the time gone?

Oh my laundry! How has it been almost three months since I have posted anything? I am so disappointed in myself! So many great, fun things have been happening that I most definitely want to document! Life has been so busy but so wonderful. I feel truly blessed to have so many great people in our lives and to be "on the go" as much as we are. I know one day, I will yearn for a baby or wedding shower to plan (or attend) and friends' birthdays. So right now, I'm just trying to live in the moment. Thankfully, my summer vacation is just beginning and it should offer a little bit of down time. Look for month recaps in pictures and hopefully a new post or two per week now that I am off.

Cheers to getting back on track (again)!

Love,

Linds

My Husband Rocks

My husband rocks...for so many reasons! I don't want to be that mushy, gushy wife that goes on and on about how wonderful her husband is. And trust me - there aren't enough hours in the day for me to list all of the great things about George and why I love him more and more every day. He is wonderful. Fabulous. My best friend. Every day, I thank God that he chose him for me. Holy cow, I am incredibly lucky.

Just a SMALL example of how great my husband is...

I am on spring break this week. On Monday, I got up later than him. I cleaned house just a little bit. I had lunch with my sweet friend, Stacy and her precious twins. We shopped at an adorable baby boutique by the house. And then I took a TWO HOUR nap. Yes -- two hours! I skipped Oprah, boot camp and the rest of my house cleaning.

My sweet husband tells me not to worry about dinner. He goes to Central Market after work and picks up bread, tomato basil rice, fresh shrimp and flowers. We had shrimp bisque at home. He mixes oil and vinegar (for dipping the bread), pours red wine in the decanter and cooks the rice and shrimp. We then had a wonderful dinner and I left the kitchen just the way it was. We watched The Event and relaxed.

It was bliss! He is fabulous and I love him more and more every day :)

Babe -- you rock!!!

We're ready for your arrival, Baby Lincoln!

The second weekend in March, I drove home again to host Taryn and Lincoln's baby shower. George stayed in town and attended the St. Patty's Day party in Dallas with some of our great friends from FW. I drove down Saturday afternoon (after many little obstacles...so fun) and got home just in time to go to Cortney's to decorate for the shower. Taryn is decorating the nursery in a Cowboy theme so we incorporated that theme into the shower but tried to make it a little more western chic. I think the decorations and food were perfect. After decorating, my dad grilled fresh salmon and shrimp and holy cow, it was de-li-sh! It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I love being at home and having dinner cooked for me and not having to worry about what to have or what ingredients we need. I love cooking but sometimes it's nice just to sit down at the table and eat!

The food table all ready for the shower.

The dessert and drink table all decorated.

The adorable letters (Thanks Meg!) and clothesline with outfits.

Yes, please! Yumm-o salmon.

The delicious shrimp.....mmmmm!

The shower was great on Saturday. It was so good to see so many old friends. Taryn looked beautiful and was so grateful. I am so blessed to have her in my life and definitely count her as one of my many blessings. I just cannot believe that friends of mine from elementary school are becoming moms! I love it! I cannot wait to shower their babies with love and hope to be a supportive, loving friend to them as well as they finish their pregnancies and become moms. I loved seeing Meg's baby bump, too. She looks so cute! I hope I look half as cute as my sweet pregnant friends when I have a bump :) Taryn and Linc got so many great things that I don't think Taryn will have to buy him anything for a long time. "Have to" are the key words....let's be honest - baby clothes are too cute to pass up! I seriously think I have a problem sometimes and we don't even have kids yet! George is going to be in trouble when we do!

Taryn and the hostesses.

The Fab 4! I love these girls so much!

After the shower, I packed up quickly and went to see sweet Jenna and Blayne in the hospital. Jenna had Blayne on Friday and is the first of my high school girlfriends to give birth. She seriously looked so wonderful and Blayne was just perfect. There isn't any other word better to describe him that perfect! I cannot wait to watch him (as well as the other babies) grow and hopefully ours won't be too many years behind them!

Baby Blayne...so adorable!

It was great to get back to Fort Worth and see my sweet husband. Another great part - spring break this week! It's much easier to go to sleep when you know that you don't have to work the next day!

YAY for family, girlfriends, salmon, babies-to-be, newborns and spring break!


XOXO,

Linds