"I Would Die for That"

I found this video tonight while I was randomly browsing through Kellie Coffey's videos on YouTube. I listened to it and was so moved! I had tears in my eyes while watching all of the women and reading their signs. It's so beautiful! You have to watch it! Make sure you click the full screen button to get the full effect! ;)

Wir gehen nach Deutschland!

Well, folks it's true! Wir gehen nach Deutschland! If your German's not that great, that means we are going to Germany! Bryan and I officially bought our tickets this afternoon. It turned out to be a big blessing after a not so good night!

We (Bryan) had posponed us getting our tickets longer than we should have because he was trying to wait until the prices went down. Well, last night when we went to buy our tickets, we ended up finding out that prices had sky rocketed! We were hoping to get tickets in the $600 range, but they were around $800 and had been for several weeks. We just decided to bite the bullet and go for it. So, we found some tickets that worked, went to buy them, and then it told us, "We're sorry, but our ticket prices have just changed. The correct price is listed below." We looked and holy crap! They had risen a couple hundred dollars! It kept changing around on us, and we were having trouble finding the right times, and flights, etc. At one time, the total ticket price rose several THOUSAND dollars! Yep, we couldn't believe our eyes! We looked online for several HOURS and just didn't feel right about it. We were getting so frusterated and just decided to wait until today to buy them. We prayed about it, and decided to just put it into God's hands. DUH! :)

MAN am I ever glad we did! God always provides! When we got home, we were so glad to find that prices had DROPPED and we were able to get tickets in the $700 range! We got the exact times, flights, seats, ect. that we wanted! It's P-E-R-F-E-CT! We couldn't be happier. We were doing happy dances after we bought them (or at least Bryan was :).

It's just now hitting us that we're actually going! I can't wait! Oh and by the way, the pictures in this post are pictures that I borrowed from my SIL, that she took herself in Germany! Aren't they just gorgeous?!!!!

I can't wait. I just can't wait! :)

Germany questions!

Well, hopefully you've caught on by now that Bryan and I will be headed to Stuggart, Germany during our spring break (which is only about 7 more weeks away :). We should hopefully be buying our tickets today~I'll update when we officially do!

So the point of this post is to ask you readers out there, if you've been to Germany or the surrounding area, what are the "must do's" or "must visit" places that you know of? Or you could also answer the question of if you had the chance to go to Germany or the surrounding areas, what would you choose to see?

The reason that I'm asking is because this is Bryan's second time to go to Germany and visit his brother, but it's my first time. I'm trying to brainstorm what I want to do/places I want to go see while we're there. I want to make the most of my trip. I told Bryan that this is a once in a lifetime trip for me, to which he insisted that it's NOT..we'll go again. However, I know that chances of that happening any time in the next few years are slim, and even slimmer when we have kids!

SO, help me by answering my questions and telling me what you think! Thanks guys!

*Kelly, I've read your posts about when you went to see Chad. Do you have any other tips for a first time European traveler? :)

If I could take a picture...

I'd take a picture of several moments that happened today in my classsroom that I'd like to freeze in my memory forever.

I'd take a picture of what the friendship of R and B looked like in 1st grade.

You see, these are two boys who are BEST friends. If you looked up the word in the dictionary, you'd find their pictures there (together of course). They are OBSESSED with the Texas Longhorns and sports (particularly baseball) in general. They are incredibly well mannered, smart, sweet, kind, helpful, respectful, and FUNNY! They pretty much have never been parted since they met in my classroom the first day of school and I'm sure will try their best to always keep it that way. They are always together, arms around the other's shoulders, patting each other's backs, (and shhhh sometimes even holding hands!) wrestling, laughing, and just having fun. They are born leaders and great at what they do, which is be a positive role model for other students. I'm not afraid to admit that they have completely stolen my heart.

I'd take a picture of today when I was grading a paper and I looked up and saw R literally dancing around the room doing these poses that made me laugh out loud.

I'd also take a picture of when I was grading that paper and B strutted up to my desk and boldly announced that he'd forgotten something. When I asked him what he'd forgotten, he said, " MY DIGNITY!" with his arms spread wide. I of course began cracking up! After I stopped laughing I asked him where he had heard that and he told me some show. I then asked if he knew what that word meant, and he said no. So I sat him and R down and we looked it up in the dictionary. I informed him that it was probably a good idea not to go around spouting out words that he didn't know the meaning of...but it was a good thing for him that dignity was an ok word!

The last thing I'd take a picture of would be today when we were playing the game Sparkle. Sparkle is a spelling game that my kids absolutely love! You all get around in a circle and the teacher calls out spelling words. Each child says a letter and you go around in the circle until the word is spelled correctly. After the word is spelled correctly, the next person will say "sparkle" and the person to their right is out. You would not believe how obsessed my kids are with this game! I swear they ask me every day to play it!

Anyways, the words had been spelled and the students had all been "sparkled" except for R and B. They were the last ones standing..waiting to see who would be the Sparkle King! Haha..

Since R and B are extremely smart, I decided to give them one of our harder spelling words because I knew they could do it. The word that I gave them was "parakeet" and it went a little something like this.

R: "p"
B: "a"
R: "r"
B: "a"
R: looks confused and says "what was the word again?" So I told him "parakeet" and reminded him where B had left off
R: "c" (side note, when you say the wrong letter in the word, you get skipped. R should have said "k" instead of "c" so I just looked at B. B was following along and realized R's mistake).
B: "k"
R: now R is really confused..he got this really funny look on his face like "oh man, there's no way I'm going to win this thing..to heck with it!" then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ok..now I'm just going to throw a letter out there! "I"!

And that's where I lost it along with everyone else and was laughing my head off! I mean, hilarious, belly laughing. I can just remember thinking "why don't I do this more often? why don't I really, truly, laugh with my kids?" Maybe there aren't that many opportunities where the situation arises, but today I learned that when they do, I need to drink them in, and always remember them. If I could take a picture of today, I'd take a picture of my student's smiling faces, in mid laughter, when we were all -including me-having the time of our lives.

Oh yeah, R and B finished their game where B became the rightful "Sparkle King". But don't worry..R wasn't upset. He just laughed it off, tackled B and gave him a big hug.

Friends forever..yep...I'm certain they'll be friends forever. :)

Chicken and Dumplings..mmm mmm good!

I can remember years ago when I went to visit my best friend Kyrbie that that night, her mom was making Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. I can remember being a bit hesitant about staying for dinner that night because I really wasn't a fan of C&D. Nope, not a fan. However, I decided to be polite and just eat it anyways. So I tried a little and to my surprise I discovered that not only was it not bad, but it was pretty dang good!

After that I even tried to get the recipe from Kyrbie's mom because it was so good, but never was able to. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and somebody mentioned C&D. It sparked my memory about that recipe and so I e-mailed Kyrbie to see about trying to get it again. Well, she e-mailed me back and sent me her grandmother's e-mail address and told me to try e-mailing her b/c it was actually Mer's mother's recipe. So, I did, and I'm happy to report that I finally got the recipe! WHOO HOO! You guys have no idea how excited I was to get this recipe!

Hubby and I went to the store and got all the ingredients last weekend, and made the famous C& D this past Monday. I am happy to report that it's still as delicious as I remembered it! Bryan loved it and we have a ton left over, so we'll be eating good for a while! We left some out, but froze the rest. Hopefully it will freeze well....this is my first time to experiment with it!

This recipe was so good that I can't help but post it for all of my friends to enjoy along with me! This recipe is exactly how I got it from Mer, so if you have any questions of how I did anything, just let me know!


Mer’s Chicken and Dumpling Recipe

One whole chicken cut up in pieces.

Cover chicken with water and salt to taste in a large pot. Cook until chicken is tender and done. Remove from liquid to cool. You should have no more than enough liquid left to have about half a pot. If you have more, pour some out. If you don't have enough, add milk to being it up to half full then add 4 cups of whole milk (not 2%) and 1 stick of margarine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat to almost a boiling point. (Have your dumplings ready to add when the liquid is hot and steaming but before it starts boiling.)

Dumplings:

2 eggs
l-1/4 C. milk
3-1/2 C. flour
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 T. shortening (not oil)

Roll out dumplings on a floured cutting board (use plenty of flour because this is what will thicken the liquid) as thin as cookies and cut into approximately 2 inch x 3/4 inch. (A pizza cutter works real well). Don't worry about the dumplings being covered with flour when you drop them in. Drop one at a time into hot (almost boiling) liquid, pushing them all down as you add dumplings. Cook until dumplings are puffy and well done. Be sure and gently stir them often and push them down as they cook. They will stick to the bottom if you don't. Check them when you think they are getting done, because you really can't tell just by looking at them. Keep the liquid hot but try not to let it boil too much. A little won't hurt but you don't want a rolling boil or it will boil over fast.

Have the chicken cut off the bone and ready to put back in with dumplings long enough to heat thoroughly. Enjoy. (and this is my favorite part) It really isn't hard after you make them the first time. Just relax and don't be afraid of them.

Isn't she just a hoot!

Thanks so much Mer!

Yes, it's true!

I have the most adorable nephew in the world!

This little guy is my one and only nephew, Everett! He was born last May and currently lives with his Mommy and Daddy in Germany. My brother in law Jason is stationed there, so we don't get to see them often. They flew in from Germany over Thanksgiving and we got to meet Everett for the first time. We had so much fun and I absolutely love my baby nephew! I think the feeling is mutual too! ;)

Jason and Whitney won't be in Germany for much longer, so Bryan and I are taking advantage of it while we can, and going to see them in March during our spring break!

Don't worry Everett! Your Aunt Chelsey is coming soon to smother you with hugs and kisses!
I love you!

This is my confession..

Well, I'm not afraid to tell you that I am afraid of writing this post because I fear the reactions that may come from this post and that it will change how you see (or read) me. Disclaimer: This has nothing at all to do with anyone that I'm friends with or who's blog I read. It is in no way written to offend or hurt any of your feelings. It's just me, telling you how I feel.

*clears throat* Well, this is my confession. I don't like dogs.

Yes, I know, some of you who just read that probably hate me now, but it's true. Well, it's mostly true. Let me back up and explain.

It's not that I don't like dogs period, I just have many certain things that I don't like about them. I actually had several dogs and cats when I was growing up, so it's not like I'm a dog hater, I just don't want one right now, or at all in the forseeable future.

This does cause a small problem though seeing how my husband LOVES dogs and BEGS me for one every day. However, I have put my foot down about the issue, and very strongly in fact! :) Even though Bryan wants one, I do not for the reasons listed below:

• they stink
• they shed
• they cost too much
• they make too much noise
• you can't control them
• they have minds of their own
• they're too much responsibility
• they slobber
• they jump on you when you don't want them to
• they pee and poop all over the place
• they destroy everything

Now, you're probably saying "My dog doesn't do that" or "My dog never did that!" or "Yeah, so what? Children do the same thing too!" Blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know, but at least it would be my child, something that I literally bore from my own body, part of my flesh and blood, my child. People are always telling me that I should get a dog, but I can honestly say that I would prefer to get pregnant and have a child before I would ever get a dog.

I just can't stand that they drool all over you and shed and stink and jump and scratch you and get you muddy and dirty! I just think it's gross. Sorry, that's just how I feel. Hate me if you must!

However, I will admit that while some dogs are butt ugly, there are some dogs that I think are SO CUTE! Yep, cutie patooties for sure, especially when they're puppies. I think that's another part of the problem, I absolutely love and gush over puppies, but that's the problem. They don't stay puppies! I do know that they are great with kids and old people and I know that it's good for them to have a compainion. I just can't stand the thought of some dog peeing/pooping all over my house and ruining everything. NO THANK YOU! I also enjoy getting a full night's sleep without any interruptions!

I know you say, "But they're man's best friend!" Yes, that might be true for some of you, but for myself, I prefer to have a best friend that's...well, human.

You might also say, "They're great for protecting the family and watching out for you!" Yes, that might also be true, but I also believe that's what Jesus, my husband, and the pink baseball bat that sits beside my bed are for! ;)

Now, I am trying to prepare myself for down the road. I'm sure we'll end up getting a dog when the kids are older and we need to teach them all about responsibility. Hehe..However, we will never have animals that stay inside our house, I'm putting my foot down on that one. If we get a dog, it WILL be an outside dog. But, not for many, many years!

Now, to all my friends who have dogs and your dogs are part of your life and are your family, and are your children, I still love you and am so happy that you have your dogs and that they make you so happy! That's all that matters. Also, please don't assume that "Well, Chelsey doesn't like dogs, we can't be friends anymore" or "Well, she doesn't like dogs so I can never ask her over to my house." No, no, no. I only ask that you don't let your dog lick me, jump on me, slobber on me, or shed on me. Hehe..

I love you and hopefully, you'll still love me. Even after reading my confession!

1-11-10

Well, sadly I don't have much to say tonight. That's why I could only title my title with the date..I know, lots of thought went into that one!

My day was ok..not too eventful, just glad to say that it's another Monday under my belt! I'm counting down the days until Spring Break! I.CAN'T.WAIT!

I had a good day with my kids today. I love how things that you didn't plan on happening just sort of evolve into something great. We were brainstorming words for our new word families and they kept coming up with words that would fit, but we'd have to change the spelling to fit into the family. For example, we were doing the -ain family and someone said "plain" and we had to talk about which "plain" it was etc.

We kept having that come up, so I ended up teaching a lesson on homonyms. I also couldn't remember if it was a homonym, or antonym, or which right one it is, so I just looked it up in the dictionary. Insert: I'm on a big kick as of recently to teach the kids about using the dictionary..I'll double check things, and look up spellings (not that I need them), and much more just so hopefully they will. I also believe that it's important for my kids to know that as their teacher, I don't know everything (shocker, I know)! I also believe that they need to see me double checking my work, and looking in other sources so they'll do the same.

I'm really tired today. Fixing to go take a shower and go to bed soon.

I browsed youtube and itunes tonight for new music. I got some itunes gift cards for Christmas and am trying to find some new music. Have any suggestions for me?

Well I guess that's all I have. Sorry it's so boring, but I guess better than nothing at all right?

Classy

You know, I never thought I'd call a man classy, and especially not Colt McCoy. However, I thought that was the best way to describe him, especially after seeing this video. Colt McCoy truly is a class act and and I really respect him!

Here's a great article I found that you should all check out!

Better day!

Well, thank you for all of your comments yesterday about my fall! Ya'll are so sweet! I'm glad to report that I don't have too much damage from yesterday..just really sore in my back/shoulders/left arm..but I'll live! I was just glad it wasn't anything too major!

The other good news was that I took my computer to my lab tech and she dropped it off yesterday afternoon to be fixed and gave me a loaner until I get mine back. Yay! I'm glad it's all getting fixed. I don't think I could have handled having to buy a broken, district laptop! :)

Other than my crazy activities yesterday, not much else is going on. My husband joined everyone else in the world last night to watch the UT vs. Bama game, but I'm not a big fan of either so I didn't watch much. I cleaned the kitchen and then went to bed while Bryan finished watching the game! I will say that I would have really liked to have seen how the game would have turned out if Colt McCoy hadn't gotten hurt. ;) However, congrats Bama..good game.

I'm very excited that today is Friday~whoo! Looking forward to a date tonight with my hubby at our favorite, Texas Roadhouse!! Can't wait. Other weekend plans include the movies, taking down Christmas decorations (I know, we're bad..we've been lazy), and relaxing as much as possible!

Hope you have a warm, safe, weekend!

Ouch!

Well just like everyone else, we're having the really cold, icy weather this morning in Rockwall. It wasn't bad when I was driving to school, but my sweet husband still called to check on me and make sure I was ok and the roads weren't too icy. I got to school and started to get everything out of my car. Another co-worker was trying to back into the parking space right beside me, so I grabbed all of my stuff and tried to hurry and get out of the way. I grabbed all of my stuff, took a step. and completely busted. Yep, found myself suddenly on the ground. Can you say OUCH?!

At least I was fully padded with my coat and everything so my side didn't get hurt too bad. What is really hurting is my left palm. I fell on it when I tried to catch myself, and it REALLY hurts now.

I picked myself up and got into the school and my morning got even better (said in a sarcastic voice). I was already late to school and so I was trying to hurry and get into my class before my kids did. I had all my stuff in my hand and was trying to unlock my door when I DROPPED MY LAPTOP. Yep, dropped it, and dropped it hard too.

I got into my room and put everything up. When I took out my laptop, I saw that I completely knocked a whole chunk off of my laptop at the bottom corner. I looked in my bag and the "chunk" is in little pieces. GREAT. JUST GREAT.

Hopefully the rest of my day does not turn out like my morning! :(

I just don't get it!

Ok, people. Do I have cooties or something? I've been noticing the lack of comments for some time now. I know that I haven't been commenting as much as I should, but come on. I think I'm doing a good job of commenting on most of yours (I think)? I could just use a little more blog love people!

Ok, done with rant! :)

New Year's 2010!

We spent New Year's in Shreveport this year with Bryan's family! Mom and Dad celebrated their anniversary earlier in December, but hadn't yet gotten the chance to go out and celebrate it, so Dad had the great idea to go somewhere special on New Year's Eve! Since Bryan and I were planning on being in town, we decided to make it a double date.

Dad had heard about this great restaurant that literally overlooked the lake and was having a special for New Year's. They offered this great menu with steak and seafood, provided complimentary champagne, and had a live band with dancing! It all sounded like a great idea, so Dad called and made reservations for 4, for an upstairs table, ONE MONTH in advance. Fast forward to New Year's Eve. Here we are below, looking all snazzy, can't wait to go out on the town!

me and my gorgeous SIL!

me and my handsome hubby!

Now, moving on with our evening! Our reservations were for 9:30 so we headed over to the restaurant. When we got there, the first thing I noticed were that there were a lot of people, and the hostesses were runnning (or limping..one of the hostessses actually told us she was limping because she had really bad blisters from her shoes and they were bleeding..can you say TMI??!!) around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was very chaotic to say the least!

We told her that we had reservations for Moss, party of 4 and she told us it would be just a few minutes. Well those "few" minutes turned into about 15, and then when we inquired again, they said they were clearing off our table and it would just be a "few" more minutes. Well, you know how that goes, so we waited about 20-30 minutes before they came back and told us that unfortunately our table upstairs (you know the one we reserved a month a head of time) wasn't available yet, but would we like to eat downstairs? We finally were sick of waiting so long that we said sure, and ate downstairs. Ms. Limping hostess escorted us to our table, which wasn't bad. They had a cute little lady playing her guitar and singing for us, so at least she eased our pain a little! The hostess said that our waiter would be over soon to get our drink orders and she limped away. Yeah right!

We waited, and waited, and no waiter/waitress shows up. We noticed that they had all the food out in the buffet/catered style, so we just got up, grabbed a plate and went and got our own food. We eventually asked the man at the meat carving station to get us some drinks and he did. When we finally sat down and started to talk, we all just had to laugh at the situation! It was absolutely the WORST service we had EVER had! We had fun though and said that this was one New Year's that we'd never forget!

The best part was at the end when we went to pay and Dad and Bryan went to talk to the manager. See everyone was so mad because for our whole fancy evening out, it was going to cost us each $42.00. Yep, you should have seen my jaw drop when Bryan told me, and I said there's no freakin way we're paying that for the service, or lack of I should say, that we received that night! Bryan and Dad told the manager about our delightful evening and needless to say that he refunded us half of our dinner (even though we still overpaid). The manager said that he took 250 reservations (which was his capacity) but ended up serving 400 people that night! HELLO! He said that he just became the new manager about 3 days ago..I think it's safe to say that he probably won't be staying for much longer!

Anyways, we said let's get out of here so we can make it home and at least get to watch the ball drop and ring in our own new year! Thank goodness, earlier that afternoon I made a pecan pie, so we ate pecan pie, toasted with our Dr. Pepper's, and danced around the living room! New Year's definitely wasn't what we all expected, but we still had a great time!

I thought this picture was just precious of the two of them!

Happy New Year's 2010 from the Moss Family!