students, start your engines!

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. 

 ~Sydney J. Harris

Tomorrow I go back to school.  It seems strange to say that again as I was not planning on saying it for the rest of my life after I finished my undergrad.  I am nervous, excited, and ready to be on my way towards getting certified as a Missouri educator and becoming a Music Teacher.

I am getting a Masters in Education with Specialization in Vocal Music.  In other words, I want to become a music teacher in a grade school much like the school I attended when I was young.  My music teacher inspired my love of music and helped shape the voice I was gifted by God.  I cannot wait to step foot in my own classroom with eager, young voices ready to learn and love music in their individual ways.

After a hectic week and many, MANY phone calls from Grandmama & Opa directing us what to do in light of the disasters and snow I am ready for things to calm down.  My poor husband has been putting up with my high stress levels and I am sure at one point or another I looked much like the woman below.

But, as he always does, he calmed me down and helped me relax.  I am a worrier and am working on living in the moment and not stressing about events the next hour or day or week.  As always, I am grateful for my patient and loving husband's comforting presence even in the most stressful moments.

So wish me luck as I embark upon this journey of education and continue to follow my ever-changing dreams.  Thanks be to God for helping me see my true calling.

aches & pains

“If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.”

-Swami Vivekananda

It has been an eventful few days to say the least.  Starting on Friday we began housesitting for Grandmama & Opa.  We love being in charge of their beautiful home and cuddling and caring for their cute pup Buffy.  I had a quick snip and highlight with my fave hair gal Cherie and ran a few errands.  

The weekend was off to a great start and Sydney came over to hang out with us.  We had a yummy dinner (Chinese food from P.F. Chang's) and sat in front of the fire and watched a scary movie.  Well, the movie was pretty terrible, but it was scary in the dark house with the flickering fire in the backdrop.  It was a very relaxing night and we all went to bed early.


I got up early, to take care of the pup, and see Sydney off.  I am happy to say I enjoy playing housewife at Grandmama & Opa's house and I spent the rest of the day doing dishes and laundry.

Youth Mass, as usual, was attended by the Weirs and the Delicaths that evening at 5 o'clock and once again I got to lector.  I also discovered that I have the privilege of cantering at next week's 5 o'clock Mass.  Even I am a little nervous, performing onstage is much different than cantering at a Mass that I grew up listening to my mom sing at.  I hope I live up to expectations.

My husband is a little skeptical, but I am excited to be a part of something I, with twinkling eyes, marveled at my mother doing since age 4.


Cassie came and spent the night and we watched, my new obsession, Grey's Anatomy together.  She was less than thrilled, but she's a good sissy and she watched it with me.  


Sunday was, as usual, football Sunday and we watched the games and ate steak fresh from Grandmama's freezer.  My hubby even complimented the steaks, pointing out that they were better than the last tim I cooked them, which is a task when you are frying them in a pan on the stove.  The butter helped, as Julia pointed out it always does.

The next day was work-filled, I have discovered that once you become an adult you don't get all the days off you did in school.  I am very proud of my husband who is working very hard and discovering new and exciting methods of getting the Better Life products out there.  


Then came Tuesday...the day from hell (pardon the use of the word hell, but you will realize why.)


The day started off great, I was sore from my first training session at the gym we joined to get healthy and push out the winter blues and Aaron was full of energy.  I decided to take a warm shower to relax my muscles and Aaron went to take the dogs for a long walk.  If you've been sore from a workout you know how good a hot shower (or bath) feels.  


So I am relaxed and I step out of the shower and hear this high-pitched alarm sound.  My first thought is, oh no I am getting a migraine so I dry out my ears and use a q-tip.  Nope, the sound is still there.  So I follow the sound down to the basement and see water on the floor, lots and lots of water, flooding the basement.  Not a catastrophic amount, but this is not my house and there is a corner filled with boxes of mine and my husband's things.


I panic...my husband, where is my husband??  I call....AND call....AND call, and he is NOT picking up.  I call my Grandparents, no answer.  I call my Mom, no answer.  Oh wait, she's at work.  Who can I call.....DAD!  So I frantically call my Dad and ask him what to do.  He calmly tells me to call the plumber or pump mechanic as this problem has happened before.  So I find the number and call.  They are coming.  Ok, what next.  The water.  So I find every rag in the house and throw them on the floor to soak up the water, but there's too much.  So I put on a coat and boots, and wrap my hair in a purple towel and run out of the house to look for my husband.  Thankfully, he was right there, about to walk in the door so I didn't have to humiliate myself in front of my Grandparent's affluent neighbors.  Whew, my husband is here and everything is going to be ok.

My grandfather calls me, we explain what we are doing, the pump guy comes, fixes the pump and we clean up all the water.  We also bleach the floor to disinfect it.  Great, good, everything is cleaned up.  Put the dirty rug in the washer and fix myself a snack.  I walk into the room where my husband is patiently waiting to relax with me and we hear it.....the alarm.....AGAIN!


No, no, no, no, not again.  The exclamation that my husband shouted as he re-discovered the water, flooding the basement, AGAIN.  After we cleaned it up, mopped it, swept it, bleached it, got mud and who knows what else all over ourselves the mess is BACK!


Well, after helping my husband, who was rightfully cranky and upset clean up the mess once I couldn't do it again.  I discovered while cleaning up the mess that part of being married means if your husband is cranky and yelling about cleaning up a huge mess, you, as his wife, are the one who is patient, calm, supportive, and positive.  And that's what I did.  And then the water came back.  No.  Not again.

So, we called Opa, decided to turn off all the water in the house and call the plumber in the morning.  That was it.  We didn't clean it up and we couldn't turn the alarm off and it was driving us crazy.


Then my husband learned something about me.  I'm stubborn.  And I decided we were finished dealing with this disaster and I wanted to pack up all our stuff, clean up our mess, and put the house back as it was and leave.  So I did it.  I packed it all into the car and we left.  Never mind I have very sore muscles and am tired from cleaning up yuck and breathing in fumes.  And we got back home and I was exhausted.  However, it was my fault, I am stubborn.  And you want to know what my husband did, he helped me.  Pack it up, unload it, and put it away.  He put me on the couch, gave me water, the heating pad, and let me watch my show.  He was perfect.  Despite my flaw, being stubborn, he supported me, loved me, cared for me.  Aaron Weir is a wonderful husband.  He loves me and he showed me how much.  I am a lucky girl.  And I love my husband.

And now, today, after a day from hell that ended up being just the opposite because of the man who promised to love me forever, the plumber has fixed the clogged pipe and the house is back to normal.  Well, we haven't finished cleaning up the mess and are no longer staying at the house in lieue of a snowstorm, but the problem is fixed.  So after writing this blog I am feeling very grateful for my husband and our marriage and our life.  Thank you Lord for blessing me with this man and this marriage.  I am so grateful.

for better or worse...

Some people think football is a matter of life and death.  I assure you, it's much more serious than that.

-Bill Shankley

As I was reminded by my wonderful husband, I forgot to write about one very important event and one sad one.  We, my husband and I both, were overjoyed when the KC Chiefs became the AFC West Champions.  It was a very exciting moment for our team.  Then, when they played the Baltimore Ravens, they were, VERY unfortunately, defeated.  My husband was devastated, as was I, but we were so grateful for the wonderful season.

Anyway, my husband WAS the champion of his fantasy football for the second year in a row! (Fourth year total)  Guess having me in his life is a good luck charm:)

I know that this very minute has history in it, we're here!

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.  ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

Happy New Year!  It's funny because New Year's Eve used to be a night I looked forward to when I was young because it meant I got to stay up REALLY late (well, midnight WAS late compared to my 8:30 bedtime), eat junk food all night, and have friends over.  The funny part is that now that I am married and settled I could barely stay awake until midnight.

See that champagne label, that's what happens when I send my husband to pick up the champagne.  Yummy right?  

Aaron and I decided that because neither or us have ever liked the whole New Year's Eve party thing (and because I had to work coat check all night at one last year) that a low key evening and  his sister Jill's house would be a perfect way to ring in the New Year.  Not to mention being entertained by our adorable niece Jordan promised lots of laughter.

Jordan was a little shy when she got home to find us there, but she warmed up to us soon and after helping rearrange the furniture in her room (we made her new dollhouse fit), Jordan decided we should watch Alice in Wonderland.

I hadn't watched the movie in years and it was as cute as ever.  Jordan snuggled with her mommy in her Ariel jammies and we all relaxed and caught up on everyone's plans for the New Year.

Aaron riled Jordan up right before bedtime, typical boy, so she didn't quite go to bed at her normal bedtime.

Jill and I could barely keep our eyes open, but we made it to midnight and I officially popped the cork on the New Year.  Aaron had a great time teasing Jill about how awful the pizza we ate was (she had been dying to try it and had heard it was good) and me about how giggly champagne makes me.  We went to bed soon after the countdown, Aaron and I slept over because I was not driving home worried about whether or not the drunk drivers around us were going to cause an accident, and we woken up by Jordan, who insisted we watch Dora at 8 AM.

Tad got home from a visit to his girlfriend Veronica's (a day later than expected) and we had a few days to spend with him before he left for school.  Originally Aaron and I were going to drive him up, but because of football and my Mom's desire to spend some alone time with Tad, we stayed home while my Mom drove him back to Cincinnati.

During that week we went to Becky, Aaron's sister's house, to celebrate New Year's with the girls, play some Wii, and most importantly enjoy taco night with Aaron's brother Josh; who recently moved to Columbia, MO with his best friend Jesse Hopkins.

We had a blast!  Not only were the tacos delicious, but Riley, Taia, and Jordan adored spending time with Uncle Aaron & Aunt Viki.

Taia was the most energetic.  She wanted Uncle Aaron to chase her around the house, tickle her, and even wanted me to help her balance between the basement door and pantry door in mid air. She is one tough gal and I am sure when she grows up this will make her an even lovelier, more wonderful young lady than she already is.

Riley and Jordan were perfect princesses and colored lots of beautiful pictures for us, in addition to being chased around and tickled by Uncle Aaron and Uncle Josh.  They were doing such a wonderful job coloring that Taia joined too, drawing a picture of Josh's wedding, in which he will wear the bridal gown.  Kids, they're so funny sometimes.

Taia showed off her bowling and archery skills on the Wii too!  She was one busy bee that night.  Her Dad, Brian, got a little jealous when she kicked his butt in bowling.  That was a sight to see!

Uncle Aaron is the most fun, that's for sure!

He was so much fun this is how he looked at the end of the night :)

While my Mom was in Cincinnati and on the road, Cassie got 3rd Place in her volleyball tournament and we went to Grandmama's for some delicious Seafood Newburg.  We had a wonderful evening at Grandmama & Opa's house, no surprise there, and got to catch up with Tommy, Susie, Sydney, and Trey too.

My Mom arrived late Sunday afternoon and my Dad, luckily, caught the only flight from Atlanta to St. Louis Sunday evening on his way back from a residency.  Everyone made it home just in time for another SNOW DAY!

Cassie and I went out in the beginning of the snowfall to enjoy what turned out to be a lot of snow.  Penny enjoyed it too, especially because it earns her a lot of attention, and the nickname "snow dog" for a few days.  Cassie even caught a few snowflakes the old-fashioned style!

The rest of the week, I have to admit, was pretty boring.  Aaron was at the office boxing up 1,000 Better Life starter kits for their appearance on HSN next month and I was on Furminator patrol.  


The Mister and I are now gearing up for another long stay at Grandmama and Opa's house watching little Buffy.  We will be there for nearly two weeks.


I promised some pictures of our snow adventures at Grandma & Grandpa's house so here they are:


The snow fort,

And the snow man.

I am so thankful for the first few weeks of 2011 and all the family and friends I have already been surrounded by this year.  My husband was very thoughtful and we celebrated our 7 month-aversary with dinner and watching the wedding video.  7 months may not be a traditionally celebrated milestone, but it was special to watch the wedding video again.  Remembering how much I loved my dress, the music, and the entire day will never get old.

So here's to a fantastic family-filled 2011!