Cobwebs and November Currently

Friends.  That October was really intense.  During October, we went to two weddings, took the babies on their first plane trip, had my parents in town, went home, went to a street festival, took the babies trick or treating, and hosted two parties in one weekend while hosting my best friend on our couch.  But, on the upside, we all made it through and we're on our way to enjoying a much more mellow November.  And now I have to get this Currently up quickly because I think these babies on the tail end of their naps.

Okay, are y'all watching The Voice, too?!  I really like it.  I sometimes pretend that I don't, but I finally just gave in and started DVRing it.  Now, I'm listening to it while also listening to the lovely sounds of construction as they renovate the apartment next to us.  #apartmentliving  So over it.  And baby #2 is up.  

I canNOT believe that it is already November.  I mean, I really love fall.  It's such a gorgeous time of year, and I love when it gets cooler outside, but where is the time going?  I mean, the babies are 7 months old.  What the what?!  They're teething and look like they're about to crawl any second.  Is this what it's like?  So fast all the time? 

I love Thanksgiving dinner.  Pie.  Mashed potatoes.  Green bean casserole.  Corn casserole.  I love a good casserole.  I assume it's because I grew up in the Midwest.  I mean, what are the downsides to a casserole?  Everything you already wanted combined into one handy dish.  So great.  

Okay, and last but not least, here's my gratuitous picture of the babies in their Halloween costumes.

Have a great week!

xoxo

September Currently

Twice in one day?!  This is what happens when the twinnies take marathon morning naps.  I'm taking a quick break from #TeacherWeek15 to post my September Currently.

Y'all.  The AC in our apartment runs SO LOUDLY!  Like when the hubs and I are watching shows in earnest we have to turn them up to hear them over the air.  We have to do it with the heat, too.  It's so crazy.  I don't know why it's a thing in this apartment because it's never been an issue before, but it's so loud.  

The twinnies are 5 months old.  What the what?!  How can that be?!  It's so crazy to believe, like when I think back to April 2nd it's totally surreal.  It was such a crazy week and a crazy day and it's completely unreal to me that the boys are growing so big, but they're regular baby sizes now and they can smile and hold stuff and they're starting to play.  I like to pretend that they like reading as much as I do because I make them read with me every day.  

If I'm going to commit to staying home then I need a plan.  Or at least some goals.  I can't just sit home with these boys.  As much as I love them that will drive me crazy.  

I don't know about you, but fall is a lovely time of year. I love when the seasons change and all the colors of fall.  And the pumpkin flavored everything.  (Which reminds me that I should probably start thinking about some costumes for the boys.)  But it is so DANG HOT that I really can't mentally prepare for fall.  It's going to be 96 today and it's been over 90 every day this week.  Summer just won't let go.  Which is mainly a bummer just because it makes it tricky to take out our pup and the babes for a walk.  

Apparently, I have lots of needs.  Who knew?  I swear, these boys plot against me.  When M was sleeping through the night, T always woke up and now that T is sleeping through the night M is waking up.  Ay, ay, ay.  I feel like this is just #twinlife.  Yes?  

So, clearly, we've got some twins.  And clearly, when you have babies you gain some weight.  I mean, I'd love to lose all of the weight that I gained whilst pregnant, but for the first time in my life (seriously) the number on the scale isn't the goal.  I know these guys are tiny now, but pretty soon they'll be moving, and before I know it they'll be all over the place all the time.  My personal goal is to be fit and healthy to be a model for these nuggets.  I never want to have to tell them that I can't do something (play a game, run a race, etc.) because I'm out of shape.  I would say it's currently going well (see what I did there.  Currently.  Haha), and I'm feeling optimistic that I'll stick with this.  Cutting down carbs wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I think it's really helped me stay on track.  If we talk numbers I gained 40 pounds while pregnant and I've lost 24 so far.  Like I said, I'm trying to not get too hung up on numbers.  

And last but not least, I'm trying to not get too hung up on planning.  Our lease is up this February and we're currently (there it is again) trying to decide what our next move is--buy a house, move back home, rent again (please, no).  I just hate when things are up in the air, but this isn't something that I have a ton of control over, so I'm trying to be inspired by Elsa and Anna to let it go.  I'll let you know how that goes.  

Thanks for stopping by my corner of the interwebs.  I gotta go feed these babies; they're rousing from their AM nap.  Have a great long weekend!

xoxo

It's August already?!

Y'all.

I need to stop the presses for a minute.  Today, August 2nd, the twinnies are FOUR MONTHS old!  Can you believe it?!  I sure as heck can't.  I can't believe that 4 months ago we were in the hospital and they told us that we couldn't go back and that we were going to have babies.  This has been such a crazy and overwhelming journey so far, and these boys have come so far in just 4 short months.  I can't wait to see where they go next.  #NICU #twinmom  Okay, enough sappy stuff.  Here's what's Currently happening in my apartment.

Currently, T is sleeping in his boppy, and M is making sweet baby sounds right next to me.  Baby sounds are the best.  Unless it's emergency hungry feed me baby sounds.  Those are NOT the best.

I don't know how the weather has been where you all live, but it's been so dang hot here that we haven't been able to participate in lots of outdoor activities because of the boys.  But this past week we've had a mini-break from the crazy heat and we've been able to do some fun outdoor activities.  On Friday, I took the boys and our pup out for a 5 mile walk.  It was so nice out we just kept walking.  And we went to a 90s cover band concert that night.  So fun.

If you read my blog on the reg, you know that this year is the first year in 6 years that I'm not going back to school.  I'm staying at home for at least half the year with the twinnies.  It was mostly a fiscal choice, but it still feels weird to not be in that hyped up back to school mode.  Even though I'm not going back to school, I still feel so busy.  I always have these really ambitious daily goals about blogging and creating TpT products, but these boys take up so much time!  I mean, I love them.  But I don't love the hit my productivity has taken.

Next Friday, we're taking our first trip with the boys.  Just heading home for a friend's wedding, but it will be busy because so many people want to see the boys.  But I really hate packing, and now I have to pack for 2 extra creatures.  Blarg.  It will be fun though.

One last quick plug--don't forget to give feedback on your TpT purchases so you can get credits for the back to school sale!

Happy back to school!
xoxo

Currently, I'm late everywhere for everything, all the time. Yikes.

Hey, y'all

I'm pretty sure there's no one left reading this sad little blog anymore.  I didn't really mean for it to dry up the way it did, but life definitely got in my way these last few months.  The short version of the story is that I ended up having our twins incredibly early, they spent 6 weeks in the NICU, and I've been living a crazy life as a twin mom ever since.  I don't know how many of you have twins, but man, this is not a joke.  Needless to say, when I was hustling back and forth to the NICU blogging was not at the top of my priority list.  And now that I'm home with the boys just finding the time to actually blog is the largest challenge.  Whenever they're sleeping I feel like I should put in a load of laundry, or clean up the kitchen, or pay attention to our lovely pup, or clean one of the many dirty things in our apartment.  But y'all didn't come here to read about the struggles of twin babies and maintaining some shred of cleanliness, so without any further ado here's my July Currently.  9 days late...

Right now, the hubs and I are in the middle of a serious Breaking Bad binge.  To be honest, it took me a really long time to get into this show.  I was super lukewarm on it for a really long time, but now I'm really into it.  And our course, in between the drug discussions and money laundering woes of Breaking Bad I can hear our tiny twinnies in our bedroom, sleeping.

I will say nothing quite alters the pace of your life like having two babies at once.  Now, I imagine that have just one regular baby could also really be a jolt, but I've never had just one baby.  With these two babies, I will not be teaching next year.  It's a really crazy reality, but living in DC with no family around childcare is just ludicrously expensive here and I feel pretty confident that I can net what I would have taken home after child care just staying home with the boys.  I'm still planning t blog about classroom ideas.  My next venture I think it going to be a series on organization for different parts of your classroom/teaching.  Stay tuned for that.  So now I need to come up with some professional and financial goals for myself to achieve within the next year, and then I just need 3 or 4 more extra hours every day to make it happen.  Sounds really reasonable, right?    Well, maybe with my all star skills of staying positive and solutions oriented will help me.  I like to live by Vanilla Ice's lyrical genius--if there's a problem, yo, I'll solve it.

And with that, sweet friends, I leave you.  If you're in Vegas, I hope you're having a great time.  If you're not in Vegas I hope you're still having a great time.  It's important to make sure you're always having fun.  =)

xoxo

April Currently

What a fail.  I seem to recall during a winter Currently stating that I as going to be kicking this blog's butt in the new year.  Clearly, that was a goal that I have not yet achieved.  However, I think that now I will be able to commit more time to it.  But I'm back in the saddle (on the saddle?) and ready to share new ideas.  So, hot off the presses, here's my April Currently.

I think that most of this Currently is pretty clear.  It's been so hard to focus on school, when really all I can think about is these babies.  I can't even imagine next year when I'll be trying to teach with two tiny babies at home!  Who's done this before, and how did you do it?!

Enjoy your spring weather, and happy early Easter!
xoxo

Well, hello, 2015!

Where did 2014 go?!  I can't believe that it's January 1st already.  But there are a lot of truths in my life that I can't believe right now.  We can just add that to the list.

The new job really stuck it to the blog in the latter half of 2014, but I'm hoping that now that I have my feet more underneath me that I'll be back in business more consistently here.  To kick off 2015, I'm joining up with one of my favorite monthly linky parties--Farley's Currently.

The other thing that really stuck it to the blog in the end of 2014 was finding out that Mr. Spouse and I are not only pregnant, but that we're expecting twins.  That's right--two babies at one time.  To be clear, that's twice as many babies as we have now.  I keep telling myself that the upside of going from zero to two is that we'll never know how having two at once is different from having just one.  Right??  Or maybe I'm just deluding myself?  Who knows?  Well, I guess I will after these babies join us.

I hope that your New Year was grand, and that 2015 is off to a great start for everyone.  I plan to be around here much more often sharing ideas, tips, and ridiculous anecdotes.  (Have you ever talked to a kindergartener?!)  My goal is two times a week.  You might even call it a resolution.  ;)  Have a great New Year's Day, y'all!
xoxo

August Currently

Y'all.  How can it be August?!  I literally feel like June 24th (my first day of summer break) was just a few days ago.  This summer was so busy, with a week long visit from our nephew and a 10 day trip back to the Midwest that I refuse to believe that it's almost over.  For the first time in I don't even know how long I have not been to a pool or a beach all summer long.  That's a shame.  A damn shame.  As I generally take up residence at the pool over the summer.  But, it just didn't work out that way this year.  C'est la vie.  Well, I don't want to spoiler alert anything, but I'm linking up with Farley for the August Currently.  The design this month is super cute.

We got a new puppy almost 2 weeks ago, and she's so dang adorable.  I just want to play with her all the time.  Except that puppies are like babies, so after like 2 minutes of activity she wants to sleep for like 20.  It's so nice that she's gotten along with basically every other creature she's met, and she loves kids.  She's just been such a love bug.  Tonight, I took her to a grill-out (the reason this is a evening post, and not an afternoon post) with a bunch of friends, and a few dogs.  It was great!  Everyone had a great time.  I definitely am putting off a few things until tomorrow that I had planned to do today, but I figure that I'm allowed to have a fun evening with friends, yes?  

One last thing, friends.  Tomorrow (well, technically I think in an hour and a half) starts the TpT Back to School sale!  I'll be back with a more detailed blog post tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know that I am participating and everything in my store will be 20% off, plus you can get an extra 10% off with the code BTS14.  I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Fundations bundle?  I don't have my units bundled now, and I know that not all of them are out, but I was thinking maybe bundling by 5s for now, and then I could also offer a 10 as well, once I complete more.  Is that interesting, or a waste of time?  

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the waning hours of summer.  =)

xoxo

Currently, it's July.

Y'all.  I am giving myself one big giant pat on the back right now because even though I still haven't gone to the gym or the grocery, I AM linking up with Farley for her July Currently on the actual first of the month!  Whoop, whoop!  We have to celebrate the small victories, right?!

I really can't believe that it's already July.  To be fair, I think that part of the problem is that we were in school until June 23rd, so even it's though it's already July my summer break just started.  I also think that's why I'm having these motivation problems today and decided to blog instead of going to the gym or grocery.  So without anymore rambling, here's my July Currently.

Guys, I have to make a real and honest confession:  when I was writing my Currently I was listening to the Today show, but now it's over.  Now I'm listening to/watching old re-runs of Real Housewives of New Jersey.  I'm so embarrassed to admit it, but not so embarrassed that I'm turning it off.

Y'all.  Are you into the World Cup, too?!  I'm SO JAZZED!  The hubs went into work early this morning, so that he could work a full day and still leave in time to watch the game.  We're heading downtown to watch the game at a bar with a bunch of friends who are also planning to leave work a little early.  I actually was hearing somewhere recently that DC has the highest World Cup viewership, which seems surprising when I think of larger cities, but when I look around at how many people are out during the day and how I know our friends who aren't out are watching at work I think "eh, maybe that's right".

I've had such a hard time getting motivated to work out this week.  I just keep crossing other things off my to-do list and then I realize I'm out of time and I didn't work out.  I guess it's good that I'm getting other things done, but it's sucky that I'm not working out.

I realize in the scheme of life that puppy adoption is not the most important thing, but the hubs and I went to an adoption event at a pet store and these puppies were SO CUTE.  I honestly wanted to just pick one up and take it out with me, but I'm pretty confident that's not how the actual adoption process works.  So we filled out an application and now we're just waiting for them to call us back.  Which I'm sure is taking a little longer because literally EVERYONE leaves DC for the 4th of July.  But if this is how anxious I get about adopting a puppy I don't think I would ever make it adopting an actual baby.

I absolutely LOVE the 4th of July; it's such a fun holiday and DC really makes it a big deal.  One thing that's super cool about DC is the Capitol fireworks, but what's even cooler is that if you can get yourself to a roof deck of some type you can see the Capitol fireworks and then afterwards you can see all sorts of other displays in Maryland and VA at country clubs and stuff like.  It's like almost an hour of panoramic fireworks.  Last year, we watched on our own roof and then went to the pool afterwards.  It was really amazing, but we've moved since then and we don't have access to a roof deck anymore, so I think we're heading over to some friends' house, with our nephew in tow.  We're hosting our nephew for 4th of July; we told him for Christmas we would fly him out to DC for some time over the summer and we thought he might like 4th of July.  I don't even know how many groceries to buy for a growing teenager, so that's going to be interesting.

I hope you all have a great 4th!!
xoxo

June Currently

Hold. The.  Phone.  It's June?!  What the heck happened to May?!  I really feel like I just celebrated my birthday.  But really that was almost 6 weeks ago.  So dang crazy.

Here in DC we still have THREE FULL WEEKS of school.  It's true.  My summer break doesn't start until June 24th, and then because I'm going to a new school and have new teacher orientation I go back August 6th.  We're also hosting one of our nephews for a week over the summer, and we have some family travel to do.  I know that every summer feels crazy, but I really think this one is going to zoom by.  Well, without any further ado, here is my June Currently.

I think all these things are pretty straightforward, so I'm going to leave you all here and take myself outside in the sunshine.  =)  Have a great Sunday, friends!

xoxox

May Currently...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

I canNOT believe that it's already May!  The Derby is already past and tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo.  How can that be?!  And while everyone else in the entire world is counting down until they are out of school I'll be in school all the way until JUNE 21ST!  Yikes.  Serenity now.

Anyway, I figure it's okay to be tardy to the party this month, considering how crazy my April was.  I mean, really, that month literally just zoomed by.  And every dang month I swear I'm going to blog more and then it's the next dang month's currently.  I really don't understand how this keeps happening to me!  =)  I'm going to try and blog once a week this month.  Without any further ado, here is my May currently.

Honestly, I think most everything in my Currently this month is pretty self-explanatory.  I would just like to encourage everyone to check out Fabulous in First.  It's the first blog I ever read, and I still love to check it out.  I also love her TpT store; she has so many incredibly helpful products.  

Happy Cinco de Mayo, y'all!  

xoxo

I am so late to the game.

Y'all.  I'm so late to the game and I've been so distracted by testing and report cards that I didn't even realize there was an April Currently up until this morning.  *So embarrassing!*  This is beyond fashionably late, but this past week was CAS for us and even though first grade doesn't take the test we still feel the effects--no specials, recess duty every day, and no Sp. Ed. support for the entire week.  Just me and my 26 love nuggets for 5 straight days.  Buuuuut we made it out the other side (Phew!  And also?  Just barely!) so now I can share my Currently.

I've set some very ambitious goals for myself today--do all the laundry, do the taxes, go to the grocery, AND get the lessons planned, so I'll be leaving you here, but you'll see me at least one more time before spring break.  It's a promise.  

Enjoy the springtime weather, friends!

xoxo

Sweet Mother of Pearl!

Friends--IT IS TIME FOR THE DECEMBER CURRENTLY.  How is that even possible?!  Can there really be only 25 days until Christmas?!  YIKES!

Well, since I love a good party, and have ridiculous FOMO I'm here to share my December Currently.

I think that generally everything on my Currently this month is pretty self-explanatory, but it was hard for me to pick my favorite tradition.  I really love the way that we celebrate Christmas with our family in the day time, and then all of our family friends or friends who don't necessarily have family in the area come over in the evening.  We usually end up with close to 30 people at my parents' house on Christmas day.  It's so fun.  But really, I think that my favorite tradition is the wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery.  The hubs and I have been doing it every year, since we started dating, so I think that I probably also like it for that reason.  It's one of the first Saturdays in December and tons of volunteers come out to Arlington and lay a wreath on every single grave at Arlington.  People travel huge distances for the event; there are active military members, foreign military members, veterans, ROTC, motorcycle groups, regular civilian schmoes, like me and Mr. Spouse...it's so inspiring to see so many people bundle up to honor our veterans who gave their lives for this country.  I'm so excited to read other people's favorite holiday traditions!  I'm such a nerd. 

Happy holidays, sweet friends!

xoxo

How is it time for another Currently again?!

Hello, friends!  I can't believe it, but somehow both my calendar and my Bloglovin' feed are telling me that it's time for another Currently, so here we go.

Listening:  my in-laws were in town visiting this weekend (hence the NASCAR), so I've been trying to balance being a good hostess and preparing for school.

Loving:  ah, fall!  Yesterday, for my MIL's birthday we went out to some VA wineries and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  Crisp sunny day, fire pits out to stay warm, gorgeous fall colors, and excellent company.

Thinking: even though yesterday was a great day I really neglected school this week/weekend.  I've been meaning to put a new Fundations product on TpT for almost a month.  :/

Wanting:  seriously.  Who does NOT always want a 3 day weekend?!  I mean, sometimes it feels more necessary than other times, but I feel like teaching is definitely one of those professions where you hardly ever feel caught up.  Or maybe that's just me?!?  (Please say it's not!)

Needing:  as I've been feeling a time crunch lately I've also been thinking a lot about this gem from my childhood.  God, Saved by the Bell--you were such a great show.  But really, I think the only better than this clip is that when I went to search YouTube for it as I was typing in "saved by the bell", You Tube auto supplied "saved by the bell i'm so excited".  What's even better is that the clip is titled "Jessie Spano Caffeine Pill Freakout".  Everything about this is completely awesome.  

A Yummy Pin: Y'all.  THIS pin is so flippin' delicious you won't be able to stand yourself.  It's so delicious you'll want to lick the pan.  And it will probably leave you leftovers as well.  Or maybe I just always end up with a mound of leftovers because it's just me and the hubs?  Either way.  Make it.  Love it.  

Happy Sunday, y'all.

xoxo

Rachel  

My FIRST EVER Currently!

Hello, sweet friends!  I'm feeling really tech savvy because I FINALLY figured out (with the assistance of some googles) how to link up for this month's Currently.  I'm a bit late, but it's a month long thing so hopefully I'm not so late that I get kicked out.  (Crossing my fingers here.)

Listening:  The hubs spent his formative years in Indianapolis, and while he loves the Colts he really LOOOOOVES Peyton Manning.  Honestly, I joke sometimes that if he had to choose between me and Petyon he might choose Peyton.  ;)  So we're watching the Broncos/Cowboys game right now, and every once in a while there's some shouting/advice giving/cheering/coaching coming from the couch.

Loving:  I'm going home for a family friend's wedding in 2 weeks and I could not BE any more excited. (If you just read that in a Chandler Bing voice you're after my own heart.)  I haven't been home since Christmas and I'm so excited to see my family, my friends from high school, and my sweet little baby niece--who's actually not really a baby anymore I guess since she turned 3 last month.

Thinking:  October is about to get aggressive!  This week is our first grade APTT meeting on Tuesday, our first data meetings are this week, and I'm going to a labsite on Friday!  And that's just this week.  Yikes!

Wanting:  An IV drip of coffee is really what I feel I need to get everything done before school tomorrow.  Or the moral fortitude to get over my FOMO and stop going to the bar on Sunday afternoons to watch football games.  I just looooooove football, but I don't care about the Redskins.  At all.

Needing:  Do I really need to say more about this one?  The goal is to drop 20 pounds before the big 3-0.  But it's not going to happen on its own.  Actually going to the gym is going to be a crucial part of achieving this goal.

And y'all, here's my treat:  put. this. in. your. mouth.  It is an extremely delicious smoothie that has a banana, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt in it and keeps me full all the way from 6:30 (when I usually eat breakfast) to 11:30ish (when I'm shoving lunch into my face while making photocopies, stapling, charting, etc.).  And don't freak out about the spinach.  It doesn't taste yucky.  It just turns your smoothie a pretty shade of green.  =)  Promise.

Okay, friends.  Thanks for reading my dissertation..I mean, Currently.  I'll be back sometime this week with more news from room 125.
xoxo,
Rachel