New House!

Okay, so as you know, we signed the initial contract for our very first house this past week! I went by the house on Thursday right after work to take some pictures in the daylight, and many people have been asking to see them, so here you go! Sorry they're not very high quality... in fact, they're pretty awful looking, but they are from my phone, so you can't expect too much, right?? Can't wait for you to come over once we're in! :)

HERE IT IS:

it actually has a front porch! It's sad how uncommon front porches have become in the past decade...

that's the front door while standing in the entryway. Also the formal dining room/office. this will definitely be an office/library (and maybe sewing room??) :) WOO!

this is the master bedroom at the back of the house. we'll have a great morning view of the garden/flower beds!!! :)

Master Closet (left side) it's actually off of the master bath! This will make getting ready in the mornings SO much easier when the other person is still asleep!!! :)

Master Closet (right side)

Master Bath - the doors from right to left are: separate toilet room, linen closet (SO excited about actually having this!! haha), master closet. between the linnen closet and master closet (across from the tub) is the oversized standing shower.

I'm not sure if you can tell how deep that tub is, but it's SOO deep! I took a bath last night, and let me tell you I cannot wait to bathe in THIS tub where my knees will actually stay underwater!! :) I also love the frame for the mirror above the double vanity.

the view from the living room into the kitchen/hallway (that's the front door at the very end of the hallway in the middle of the pic):

I LOVE THIS KITCHEN! :)

we will have all stainless appliances to match our pretty refrigerator :)

The pantry doesn't look huge from this picture, but it's surprisingly big!

skylight above the island in the kitchen! it's HUGE! say "hello" to natural light and "goodbye" to higher energy bills!!!!

This is a shot of the guest bathroom, another linen closet, and one of the 2 guest rooms. the other guest room is on the other side of the bathroom (mirrors this room that you can see). I love the miniature linen closet door :) it's so cute!

guest bathroom

from inside one of the guest bedrooms. the left door is the door to the hallway. right set of doors is the closet.

both guest closets look like this. i like the double doors on them, as well as the extra hanging space. Jordan will definitely appreciate this! :)

and one last shot from the back yard which will soon be filled with flowers and fruits and veggies galore. And yes, Alyssa, you may definitely water our plants whenever you like. :) AND you can use the kitchen as long as your fryer stays far, far away. :) haha

Okie Dokie... Hope you all enjoyed that quick runthrough of our soon to be new casa! Love you all!

Now: help us figure out how to decorate/paint this sucker! :)

Why I Advocate Gardening

Tonight I ate a carrot that I planted a few months ago as a seed.

As I stood at the counter, chopping up my carrot to go into my delicious shrimp salad, I felt such pride alongside an even stronger emotion of awe. God spoke vegetables into existence. I know that sounds elementary and almost silly, in a way, but think about that for a second...

I had a seed that was about the size of the point of an ink pen. I planted it, watered it, and left it alone for months... Through sunshine, rain, freezing winds and snow days, God turned that little seed into a carrot that I am eating as I write this. It is truly amazing to me.

Yesterday I went to Calloway's Nursery to check out their seeds/seed starting inventory since I won a gift card from them at their Christmas Open House. I stocked up. The rest I will get from my "Bad-A" Padre-in-Law. He has so many seeds, I'm surprised they haven't taken over their home! haha :) When we move into our home (for which we actually just signed our initial contract papers TONIGHT!!), we will have so many vegetables growing in our back yard! I seriously cannot wait. I will be out of the classroom for about two months, and you can bet that a large chunk of that time will be spent tending to our garden(s). I cannot wait to eat from the ground we live on and share that food with the people around us. We are going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears this year (if the Lord wills it!), so get ready to try some homegrown Power Maters this summer! :)

I love when God's creation and omnipotence just strikes me speechless. Tonight was one such moment. Love you all, and if the Lord wills us to actually end up with this house, we can't wait to have you over to our home to share many meals there for years to come.

p.s. I'll leave you with two terrible pictures I tried to get with my iPhone as we left the contract signing tonight. With headlights as our only lighting, it leaves much to be desired, but you'll get the general idea until I can get better ones with sunlight ;)

"You are who you live with"

My husband's cleanliness tendencies are rubbing off on me, ever so slowly. To the naked eye, you may not agree, but it's true. My brain has been slowly transforming over the last year and a half that we have been married. I am actually QUITE a bit more tidy than I used to be. You can verify that with any of my poor former roomies. My room was always ridiculous. There were always better, more fun things to be doing with my time than organizing my bedroom! haha.


However... I just walked back into my classroom with the weight of the "end of the six weeks grades/makeup tests/late work/etc" hanging over my head, and I saw my desk for the pit of despair that it has become in the past week. Believe it or not, my desk area has always stayed pretty neat, clean, and organized (and not just by MY standards! haha). This week has destroyed any realization of that clean, orderly fantasy here... :( sad day.


I really just wish that I could sort through paperwork/graded papers and find my order again, instead of grading more papers that need to be handed back in a matter of hours... 2, to be exact. So, on that note, I will be signing off here and using the rest of my conference period to grade 7th grade quizzes! WOOT!


I'll leave you with a sad picture...

My little, disorganized home away from home ;)

love, denise.

Watch this right now.

THIS IS HILLARIOUS!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rsEnwKrsvc

snow and love

We actually had over a foot of snow in DFW this past week. HOLLA! :)

Here are a few quick pictures from our fun in the snow, and a few from our Valentine's Day celebration.

We were able to continue our Holm-Power Valentine's Dinner Date tradition this year (which RULED!), and we're looking forward to continuing that for many years to come. Hopefully Jen will upload the pics from dinner because we forgot our camera! Whoops! enjoy :)

Darling Eliana

This message is for all of my fellow BlogStalking friends out there (you know who you are!!):

You have got to check out this ADORABLE chica. I came across her blog from her mother's educational blog, and it is the greatest things I've seen all morning! This darling little girl, Eliana, has started her very own cooking show (with the help of her mother, of course). She calls it "Eliana Cooks", and she posts video blogs to share some of her favorite recipes with the world!
Alyssa! You should try out a video blog (at least once)!

ok. here's the link: http://www.elianacooks.com/

check it out, and enjoy! It's definitely a homemade video blog, but I feel like it could be the begining of something awesome! Let me know what you think!

Love, Denise

Navo's "Pennies for Leukemia"

Navo is having a competition between homeroom classes to raise money for Leukemia research. I love that we are getting our students involved in things like this (not just things that benefit themselves). I know that a lot of us really love hearing about great opportunities to give to/help others, so I thought I would share this one with you.

Please let me know if you would like to donate to the cause (and at the same time help my homeroom win the contest! They're actually some of my good kids... haha). Anything would help - not us, but the cause. Pennies to dollars to checks, if you really feel the calling! :)

If you would like to donate, you can text me and let me know if I can meet you somewhere or get it from you at church or something. The last day to collect the money for this will be next Friday. Just let me know.

Thanks, all!

p.s. just incase you're not really familiar with Leukemia, here's some info:

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells.

p.p.s. how adorable are these sweet babies?! I just love them.

Leftover Chinese Food Just Isn't The Same Without Chopsticks.

The lesson I am teaching today is about tone vs. mood. I love it. The students are responding well, and that makes my life MUCH easier! :)

I thought I'd share something with you that I found when looking for a good "hook" for the lesson... Enjoy!

Unique Marry Poppins Trailer