Oh, hello there.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's been about a bajillion days (months?) since I've updated. I could say I've been busy, which wouldn't be a lie. But I also just haven't been able to muster it up. I'm just not getting that love from blogging that I used to. But perhaps I'm over the hump (my humps, my humps, my humps). We'll see how it goes. For the meantime, here's a list:

• Internship has been going amazingly well. I love the Conway schools. I would LOVE to stay here and work when I am licensed, but we'll just see. Lots o' cooks in this kitchen, you know?
• I have been doing some assessments with kiddoes, attending (and occasionally, like today, LEADING!) conferences with parents and teachers discussing what would be the best placement for kiddoes with disabilities.
• Fridays are my counseling days. I don't do a lot of one-on-one counseling- that's what the counselor is for. But when there's a certain population that would benefit from some group counseling, we often step in. I'm doing some sensory groups for kids with autism/Asperger's (I love these kids!) and some social skills lessons with self-contained special education classes. I love this part of the job.
• Jeremy and I got a Wii, and I've been working out with the Wii Active on a semi-regular basis. I love it, and I'm feeling much better actually being active (it's been too long, stupid broken leg).
• I recently found out that I have to take my licensure exam for the state of AR (it's the Praxis for School Psychology) THIS semester, when I thought I had till NEXT summer. That means time to start studying. Soon. Ish.
• I am over-the-moon-excited about Melissa and Greg having twins. I can hardly contain myself. I'm officially predicting it's going to be a boy and girl. What do you think? Head over to her preggo blog and wish her well. And demand pictures and blog updates. ;) She needs some encouragement.
• I get to go see Dave Matthews tonight, thanks to Melissa being too preggers to enjoy general admission tickets. ;) She got some seats from one of her friends, so Jeremy and I get to now go and enjoy the gorgeous weather and a band that I used to love dearly.
• The pictures above are from the Toltec Mounds over the weekend. J and I attended their Fall Equinox Celebration. There was a weapons demonstration, crafts, fry bread, a tour of the mounds, and a sunset viewing. Amazingly, the mounds were built around the solstices and the equinoxes, and the sun sets behind certain mounds on these dates when you are standing on this one particular mound. Blows your mind, eh?
• Also interesting: everything at the mounds were measured in increments of 47.5 meters. Whoa.
• Keep reading. I have more pictures of other things I have been doing.

Other things the Spanns have done...

... Attended the Hope Watermelon Festival (what was that, July?).

I love these pics, though. That might have been the hottest day ever. Truly. It was sick. And those watermelons were ohhhhh so tasty.

(Read on... one more!)

And said farewell to a dear friend...

Once upon a time, way back in about 2002, Chandle and I lived in some crappy little college apartments near campus. It was my very first apartment, and I didn't care one little bit that the carpet was about 50 years old and had survived many college students that came and went. It also had a "dishwasher" that we were so excited to have. Turns out, it was really a salad spinner that was loaded into our counter tops. You took the lid off, put your dishes in, and it spun them clean... we never used it. This apartment holds many many fond memories for me. We always had friends over, and something was always happening. I loved it. This is also the time when Jeremy started to really catch my eye. I had met him a couple of years before, but he had only been an acquaintance that I had seen at parties (perhaps at David and Adrian's apartment...) and that I knew played Frisbee with some of my friends.

Right around this time, we started to like each other and started to hang out more and more. Also at this time, Jeremy drove the scooter pictured above all around town. I would see him driving to class or to the coffee shop or to a friend's house. He would ride the scooter to parties and occasionally offer me a ride home (the block away that I typically had to go). One of my favorite memories of Mansard apartments, however, involves the scooter in that I could always hear Jeremy coming when he would visit. We'd hear the little putter of the scooter and know he was around the corner. And he always drove the scooter RIGHT up to our sliding glass door. And he'd ask me if I wanted to go get dinner. Or any other excuse he could think of so that we could hang out.

Many years later... here we are. He still asks me to go on dates with him. But the scooter is no longer functional. :( A couple weekends ago, Jeremy made the decision to give it away, so he put a sign on it and put it in our driveway. Not long after, a kid around the age of 13 or 14 knocked on our door and asked, "Uhh, so is that scooter really free?" His parents were waiting outside with their truck, ready to load it up if it was really ok. So Jeremy passed on the legendary scooter to another generation of a boy who will undoubtedly make some girl's heartbeat just a little faster when he drives up. ;)

ANNOUNCING....!

Very very big news in the family... Head on over to With Six You Get Eggroll to learn more!!!

Where's the Beef??

Sooo... I ate a burger. Yes, that's correct. A burger. And, might I add, it was delicious. It was also the following:
*provided free choice hay and clean water during its happy little life
*not fed with animal byproducts (eew)
*not given growth hormones, steroids, or antibiotics to make it the Incredible Cow Hulk
*no preservatives were used in the processing
*not raised in a small pen, but allowed to run in a pasture. Where it was in the sunshine and could turn around.
*bought straight from a farmer, who was very friendly
*from the River Market, which I love to support when possible

Therefore, it agreed with all of my reasons for avoiding meat altogether. So I ate it. And I might have another pound in the freezer, awaiting the time when I am ready to eat more. It does not mean that I'm starting to eat meat again. Perhaps I would if I could afford to eat this way all the time, but really- who can do that? Therefore, I will remain a non-meat-eater, but I will occasionally allow myself a tasty burger when it comes from the right place. ;)
www.allnaturalmeatandmore.com

PS, I have a pic with me enjoying the juiciness, but blogger won't let me upload. For the past 2 hours I've tried it. Grrrrrrrrr.

Ten Years ALREADY?

Helloooooo, friends and family! So sorry for my absence. It was not intentional. The truth is, I haven't really felt like working on the bloggity these days (there seems to be a lot of that going on!), but I am back. Friday was my LAST DAY OF WORK (no more dealing with daily poo!) and our ten year reunion. I only took a few pics, but there are some excellent ones out there on the interspace. Here are a few of my favorites.
Friday night was mucho fun-o, and very very surreal. We hung out at school and Sister Deb took us on a tour around. Turns out it looks completely different, and it was really strange trying to orient ourselves to where we were standing vs. what used to be there... After the tour and the appetizers and the hilarious slide show (I swear to you I didn't recognize MYSELF several times: "Oh look! There's Liza/Kristen/Megan/Leah/Brooke, etc... OH WAIT, that's me too!"), quite a few of the girlies came over to the hizzy. Helloooooo to you ladies who silently watch over the bloggity (you know who you are!)! Then we went to Crazee's to catch up with the fellas. It was so good for everyone to get together and hang out. We seriously should see each other more often, yes? Saturday was not quite as fun... a bit of a different vibe, but I'm still glad that I went. Here's to the next 10, right?

The Spanns have returned

... from Webb Lake, Wisconsin, for the 4th of July blowout with the fam. I have many many cousins on my mom's side who live all over the country, er... world: Canada, Japan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Massachusetts... We have always talked about having a cousins reunion because we only get together every 4 years or so. This year we actually pulled through with it and all met up in St. Paul and drove to a lake in Wisconsin (despite the name of the town, it was actually Des Moines Lake). Seven of the cousins were able to make it this year, plus one hubby (mine) and a boyfriend (Paige's). It was an awesome weekend, full of lots of catching up, Porch Slammers (ask me about it soon... I shall show you. You will like it), fireworks, boat parades, and patio time. It's pretty amazing to me that a group of cousins can not see each other in such a long time (in some cases over 15 years), and we catch up and have a great time right away. I guess that's family, right?
Jeremy and I started the drive on Thursday after we got off work, around 6:00, and drove to Kansas City to stay in an awesome room that Kristen hooked us up with, courtesy of her brother. We stayed there a whole maybe 5 hours then hit the road again in the morning. Friday was complete with windmills in Iowa, meeting up with the fam in St. Paul, driving to Wisconsin, and grilling out. Saturday we hung out by the lake all day in the GORGEOUS 70 degree weather. It's pretty sweet to be in the sun all day and not feel like you have to get in the water because you're not DYING. We watched the fireworks that night on a party barge, then we shot off our own (see the above pic, courtesy of Adrianne). Makes you want to break out in the national anthem, doesn't it? Doesn't it?
For more pictures, scroll on!

Adrianne & Paige
Part of the 4th boat parade. Question of the day... Who's driving that thing?

The back of the beauuuutiful cabin that my aunt and her hubby let us borrow
That's my hubby out there!




The aforementioned windmills (turbines?) in Iowa. Pretty amazing.

The front of the cabin...

My camera has a fireworks setting that I played with. A lot. "Oooooh! That's a pretty one!" Click. Click. Click clickity click.

















Jealous yet...?
















Oh yeah, did I mention I CHOPPED my hair?











Caroline and Julia
Rob & Colin

The Good, the bad... and the occasionally peed upon

Let's start with The Good, shall we?:

1. My job. I am "head teacher" in the 2 year-old classroom.
2. #1 leads to many hugs, kisses, and babies sitting in my lap. All day. They're really very sweet.
3. They call me Miff Izzabuff. It's flippin darling.
4. I have recently recalled all the lyrics to "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" (choo choo! Whoa back! Hi, babe! Yum, Yum! Zzzzzzz!).
5. I have also learned (or relearned) every single song to sing with two year-olds (Chicka Chicka BOOOOOM BOOOOOOM!).
6. Baby and I celebrated our big ol' six month anniversary. My, how time flies when you're having fun!
7. We are leaving on Thursday to head to Wisconsin to visit my cousins. Most of them. Cannot wait.
8. It's going to be dang near twenty degrees cooler when we go up there.
9. (This one should be must higher on the list, but...) The jetcat is AMAZING. Photos to come. My husband is brilliant. There will be a separate post so that I can elaborate on the amazingness.
10. I set up a Twitter account. I have resisted too long. So long, in fact, that the hubby had one before me. That just ain't right.
11. We recently harvested a CRAAAAZY amount of rosemary and oregano from the garden. Currently drying. Mmmmmm.
12. The garden is looking great. Tomatoes, okra, peppers, rosemary, oregano, basil.... Ahhhh summer!
13. I signed my contract for my internship, starting in August. Can't wait to start. Seriously. I'm ready. I actually MISS it.
    
14. PAID MY CAR OFF! Whoot, seriously.
15. Overall having a fantabulous summer... getting to see friends, grill out, go to the lake ;)

Now The Bad:

1. I do, in fact, occassionally get peed on at work. Actually, it's happened three times. Narrowly avoided it more times than that. There may or may not have been poo on my shoe at some point as well.
2. The babies are supposed to go outside every day for an hour and a half, total. It has been waaaaaaaaaaaay too hot lately, so we have to entertain them indoors. This means that I lead the class in either Mousercise or the "Get Funky" physical CD. It's exhausting trying to get babies to move for 45 minutes in organized chaos. And sometimes they look at me like I have lost my dang mind.
   
3. Did I mention it's real hot?
4. Ummmmmm.... I think that's it. This list is much shorter. Yay.

I will take pics in WI! Sorry I have been so quiet lately. ;)

More things

My mama and I went to go see Kris Allen at the Riverfront when he was here. Have I mentioned how much I love "American Idol?" Chandle, Cody, and I would always watch it in Conway. Now one of our own won. Whoot! Yes, I am a dork, and I am well aware of it. ;)




Gertrude's little babies have flown the coop. Or the nest. Here they are, along with their dialogue:
-You go first.
-No, you go.
-Ok, we'll go at the same time.
-On the count of three?
-One, two...
-You didn't go!
-YOU didn't either.
-Ok, this time we'll go for sure.
-Liar.




We also went to the Kris Allen watch party in Conway (see aforementioned admission of dorkitude). Jeremy met a big version of Zoey. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Have a good weekend, all!

How I've Spent My Summer Vaca (week 1)

• I wake up every day to have coffee with my hubby
• Pilates, yo (I'm getting better, but I still kind of suck at it- you will never EVER see me do it cause it's pretty embarrassing). But I'm sore, and I like it.
• I have applied for THREE jobs (I will only be taking one): one at a day care and two at the library. I'm really hoping for a library job. How much fun would that be?
• Season finales on all my shows! Having an Idol watch party at my folks' casa. Complete with Skeezers. They heard that's the way to do it. Word.
• STRAIGHT A's. Booyakah. I am in disbelief. I turned in three papers over 20 pages at the end of the semester, which is why many of you have not heard a peep from me in a while. DONE and DONE. ThanktheLord.
• I may or not DVR "The O.C." every day. I have never seen seasons 3 and 4. So I had some catching up to do. Thank you, Soap Opera channel.
• Ummmm, maybe DVR-ing "Angel" every day too. I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor.
• READING for entertainment finally. Just finished the third Twilight (oh, yes indeed), and currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife for our book club. That's right, I said book club. Whatcha gonna say? We're awesome.
• Trying to plan a way to get up to Wisconsin to see my cousins this summer. There is talk of a cousin's reunion at a cabin on a lake there (ahhh, that sounds so nice). Workin' on it.
• 2 days till our 5 month anniversary. I recently realized that since we got married in December (month 12), it's really easy to figure out how long we've been hitched. January= 1 month, October= 10 months. It baffles the mind. ;) Have I mentioned I'm easily amused these days?
• Planning lunch dates and evenings with friends and family. I love being done with school.
• Zoey's staples are out. She is a much happier doggy now. Poor baby.
  
• Let's hang out, yes?
  

Updates from the Spanns

Sweet little Zoey Spann had a little incident a week ago. :( We took her and Pooty for an after work romp in the woods, and she came out of the woods with a big ol' gash on her shoulder. It was pretty deep and yucko, so we rushed her to the vet to get stitches. Long and very frustrating story short, this sweet lady had to endure FOUR (yes FOUR) re-stitches and anaesthesias. Don't get me started. Anyway, she now has 6 staples, and she's pretty ticked at us. And mad at the world because of this cone (they call it an Elizabethan collar, ha, get it?). Hopefully she'll get the staples out Monday and she can return to her normal bouncy self. It's pretty sad watching her run into things with that cone, and a little hilarious to see her chase Pooty with it (Pooty doesn't likey...). ;)


Gertrude and babies are doing quite well. She has endured some CRAZY storms in that nest. She's a champ.

Snoop Dogg was A.MA.ZING. I can't even tell you. We had such a good time. It was an excellent way to celebrate being done with school. I may or may not have dislocated my knee while there and had to miss work the next day because I couldn't walk, but you know what? TOTALLY worth it. He performed every song you can think of. Even his parts on Dre songs.
I was flowin' and goin' that night, you heard?

So I am OFFICIALLY OFFICIALLY done with school. No more school. No more papers. No more work (well until I get that summer job... anyone hiring?). And I got A's on my final ginormo papers. Booyakah. I mean, seriously. This semester truly almost killed me, but I have survived. AND I got my internship for next year all lined up. I will be working for Conway schools, which makes me really happy. Their school psych department is amazing, and I will get to do some really cool things. So hooray! Summer vaca 2009 has begun! And I went out with a bang. I can't believe it. WHOOOOT!

Tonight, my sister and I are taking our mama on a surprise trip for her birthday (which was yesterday- happy birthday, Ma!)! Speaking of birthdays, a very happy belated birthday to Chandleous and Kat! :)

My plans for the evening

Did I mention this?

Anyone who knew me back in the day is not at all surprised about it. I only know Snoop's parts by heart in the songs. This is going to be amazing. I shall report back. Don't be jealous.

Don't worry, I'm alive...

Check it: $5 Cover got an article written about it
And it starts MONDAY at midnight (I shall DVR and have a watchparty if you'd like, because...)
Also, Cory Branan is playing Friday. You know where (the WWT, of course).

And I'll be done with school. (Un)Officially.

Just turned in a huge paper, and my hands are sweating. Kicked some serious booty on a GINORMO presentation I gave this a.m.
2 giant things done. 1 more to go...

Update time...

*Here are some pictures of Pooty & Zoey running around in the garden... which will have beautiful veggies and herbs very soon!
*EIGHT DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT. Holy goodness, I cannot wait.
*Much like Leah, the majority of my semester has been "on your own time" assignments. Which I have none of (my own time, I mean). We have had to do a trillion assessments (thank you to all my guinea pigs) which has taken a gazillion hours.
*In addition to these said assessments, I have to write ginormous papers (aren't you loving these descriptive words I'm using?). My current paper (ONE OF THEM) is 33 pages. And I'm about 2/3 done. Shoot me.
*Eight days left. I can do this.
*Looking for an internship for next year... I have some pretty awesome leads... Fingers crossed.
*Lots of pictures today- keep scrolling!
*Got to see Melissa and fam last night- yay!
*Eight days.

Spring has sprung at the Spann house

... and Jeremy has been workin' hard! We bought some beauuuuutiful azaleas for the front flower bed. They are the Encore kind, so that means they'll come back (hopefully) in the summer and fall. If the AR heat doesn't get them too bad... YAY!

Here's what we've got in the flower bed by the front door. Starting at 1:00: a plant called fireworks-something-or-other, then I don't know what the yellow and pink ones are (anyone?? I love them though!!), and some amethyst-something-or-other. Ok, so I'm not so good with plant names, but it sure is looking good! Way to go, hubby-o-mine!

GORGEOUS, aren't they??

Meet Gertrude

Meet our new friend, Gertrude! Jeremy and I were going to grill some shrimp Friday night (mmmmm)... and I noticed this little lady sitting in one of our potted plants on the deck. On the grill, to be more specific. It appears that she has built a nest and will be having babies quite soon, I believe.
We obviously couldn't leave her there, so Jeremy ducked down, picked her up (she didn't move!), and carried her oh-so-slowly to a new location, on the wine rack on the deck. She's still in the middle of the action, but not on top of the grill... She doesn't seem to be bothered by Pooty and Zoey running around the deck and barking. She didn't seem to be bothered by the days of rain over the weekend. She HAS been getting fatter... and seems quite content in her new home. Fingers crossed! Happy Earth Day!

I'm the Mary, and you're the Rhoda.

Michele: Did you lose weight?

Romy: Actually, I have been trying this new fat free diet I invented. All I've had to eat for the past six days are gummy bears, jelly beans, and candy corns.

Michele: God, I wish I had your discipline.

Apparently, 10 years somehow passed, and it's happening. Oh, Lord, that can't be right. Are we going? Let's discuss the pros and cons of high school reunions. Go.

Ch-check it out, yo

MTV Shows

I'm tellin' ya, our boy's going to be FAMOUS. Very soon. MTV- whoot! The show premieres May 1, supposedly. So keep your eyes (and your DVRs) out, and let me know if you hear anything. Go see the website here, and be sure to click on artists to read more.

Austin!

Hey kids-
The Spanns are officially back. In AR. And at work (boo). We had an awesome Spring Break '09 in Austin, packed with tons o' fun. Austin is a really really cool city- we never had a lack of things to do there.
On the way down, we camped at Inks Lake State Park, which is about an hour outside of Austin. It was a really neat campsite- really close to the water with a lot of rock and cacti all around (watch out for those man-eating jackrabbits and killer cacti.... heyyyy dude...).
The next day, we went to Longhorn Cavern, a cave really near the campground that you could tour. It's been a while since I took a tour of a cave, and I'm really glad we did. Saw a bat. Experienced total darkness (creeeeeeepy).
The rest of the trip was full of 6th Street, Mexican food, Mexican martinis (mmmm... who knew?), going to the Alamo Drafthouse to watch a movie, discussed later, shopping, doing homework (ick), and sightseeing. It was really nice to get away for a week. Enjoy the pics! Go see more here if you'd like!

Entrance to the cave...