March Goals

Happy March!

I am so excited for this month! First, because it is the month in which winter is NO more. I like all the seasons but winter just sticks around for waaaaay too long in these parts. And most likely even when it is officially spring, I am sure it will still look and feel like winter. But somehow, "the first day of spring" helps me mentally start getting over the freezing cold and never ending snow.

Second--this month ends with the start of spring break! Unfortunately that also means another set of report cards to get done. But this month, I will have loads of motivation! Two days after the quarter ends, we are headed to

 IRELAND!!!

Isn't that beautiful?!?!

Those are the Cliffs of Moher and I will be there!!! I am preparing myself to be wet and cold but taking tons of pictures and soaking up all the amazing landscapes. This will also be my first time to Europe so I'm pretty excited to add another continent (and country) to my (very short) list.

Here were my February goals:

1. Go to the gym 5 times
2. Read 2 books kinda
3. Blog 2 times
4. Cook 1 new recipe
5. Get my Project Life out of the closet and start working on it again
6. Narrow down an idea for the curtains for my living room

While basketball and report cards were not an issue this month, I had so many sick/absent students that it created lots of extra work for me to keep them on top of their work and then I got sick too and lost all energy and motivation to do anything. I did make it to the gym 5 times but my workouts were pretty mild as it would wipe me of all my energy. I finished 1 book and am currently reading 2 different books "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth and "Love Does" by Bob Goff so that kinds counts as read 2 books since I didn't say "finish". :) I blogged once and have another post 90% done but it just didn't get finished before March. I did cook something new and it was very yummy. I made Balsamic Glazed Lamb Chops. Thanks to Kayley at "The Kitchen McCabe" for the recipe. Sadly, I never did get my Project Life out. I planned to do it last night after Wyldlife but we decided to hang out with some friends and I'm glad we did. Depending on your definition of narrow, I have narrowed down my ideas for curtains. It's actually the blog post in progress so you will hear and see more about it soon! So not amazing but not terrible! And hey, in my defense....February shorted me by 2 days!

Here are my March Goals:
1. Go to the gym 6 times
2. Finish "Allegiant" and "Love Does"
3. Brush up on my photography skills and how to use my camera beyond Auto so that I can fully capture Ireland with awesome picutres
4. Get my Project Life out and start working on it again
5. Make a March Madness Bracket
6. Blog 2 times other than this post
7. Make 1 new recipe
8. Really narrow down curtain options and buy some--or the fabric to make some.
9. Do 1 crafty thing! March is National Craft Month and I feel like I should partake even if it's in a small way.
10. Decorate my house for spring!

Wow, way more goals than previously. But I'm feeling motivated and 80% of my lesson planning is already done for the next 6 weeks since I'll be out of the country for all of break and don't want to come home and write lesson plans. We'll see how I do!

Any tips for international travel? 

What to pack? (I HATE packing and tend to over-pack every trip) 

How to survive the looooong overnight flight? (I will NOT be watching the new movie "Nonstop" despite how much my husband wants to see it!)
Do you have any goals for this month?
Do you decorate your house for spring?
Do you watch March Madness at all?
Will you be crafting at all for National Craft Month?

Green Bluff Fall Fun!

My parents had been to Green Bluff before and I heard all about it so this year I decided for sure we needed to go! I created this idea that I wanted to pick my own apples, make my own crockpot applesauce and then can it! It was ambitious, but I wanted to do it for several reasons: to celebrate fall, to try something new, to take pictures, to take a break from work.

So we put it on the calendar and my parents joined us for a great day! Following are some fotos of our festive, fall frolicking featuring fresh farm food! :)

Pumpkin Donut!

My husband doesn't like sweets, but he usually doesn't make this much of a face haha

Driving through orchards

My wonderful parents!

Picking our own pears!

Pumpkin Cannon. It shoots pumpkins 1500-1800 feet!

Racing through a straw maze.

We picked our own pumpkin right off the vine!

Picking raspberries

Apple tree. Each apple has the name of a different variety on it.

I think we make a great pear! :)

Even though the weather was more like summer than fall, we had a great day with my parents picking our own produce and perusing the pretty prairie places.

Artistic Updates

To follow up from my last post, I used the leftover meat, dough, and onions to make calzones! I made cole slaw again but this time had honey to add and I liked the dressing much better. One of my good friends was over for dinner and as I was cooking, I realized she's been my guinea pig all year long as I try out new recipes. She keeps coming back though :) Here's a picture of last night's dinner before and after:


Also, I've been out taking lots of pictures lately. For Christmas, I got a Cannon Rebel t2i and I have loved learning how to use it and snapping shots of everything. I had some extra time today to do some editing and uploading of a bunch of new pictures. For some odd reason, the little slideshow gadget over there ---> will only rotate through a handful of pictures from my Flikr. So here is the link for my photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahjezak/

8 days until I am done with this quarter and get to go home!