Spring Break 2014

Happy spring (almost)!!

You all know how I feel about skirts and flip-flops...so, you can imagine how I feel about switching out my wardrobe in the near future.  ☺

I feel so spoiled to even be writing a post with this title, much less be able to say I had a break from work for almost an entire week.  Praise the Lord for working around the school schedule and setting my own hours (and being able to answer emails remotely).

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few highlights from my week with you all!

The break kicked off with my favorite guy and I visiting my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We all prepared and enjoyed a delicious supper together, followed by a couple rousing games of Sequence.

Salad with homemade ginger dressing, spring rolls, and Pad Thai! Not pictured: Mango Pudding
So delicious!

These were on the dresser in the room I stayed.
Gotta love fresh flowers...and super thoughtful family members. ☺

This little guy greeted me on Monday morning. ♥

That same favorite guy and I made supper for my parents Monday afternoon/evening.  The menu included "Fried" Pickles, Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds, Pan-Seared Steak, fruit salad, and Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  What a perfect way to spend time together. ☺

Tuesday was spent in with my BFF in her first grade classroom.  I got to help the kiddos with a special math project that day: Two Dimensional Shape Creatures!

Her awesome example.

I actually got to be a part of this project with her class last year, too, and made a sign to hang in the hallway with their finished creatures.  Conveniently, I was back this year in time to amend the sign to include her new last name.  ☺

Before...

...after!

Not pictured:
shopping/browsing trip
Chick-Fil-A
painted toenails

Wednesday morning was spent on the road to Wichita to see my favorite brother.  We met for lunch at Spear's Restaurant and Pie Shop and enjoyed some good-down-home-cookin'...and pie, of course.  ☺

This is what greeted me at my quarters for the day/evening.
Q lives with some thoughtful and talented guys. ☺

An evening of pizza-making and cake-decorating was preceded by a (very welcome) quiet afternoon on the couch with ample time to catch up on emails (work and otherwise), Facebook, and Pinterest.

Homemade supreme pizza...yum!!

Q was asked to make a friend's wedding cake in a few months.  This was his practice cake.
It tasted as great as it looks!

After meeting Q at work and getting a tour of his office and the plant (so cool!), I stopped in to see some family in Lindsborg before completing my loop back to Lincoln.

I'm so very thankful to have had the time to see and spend quality time with so many important people in my life...and the week isn't over!  Looking forward to a productive day at work before heading to a good friend's house-warming/St. Patrick's Day party!

In other news, my students filled out teachers evaluations a few weeks ago.  There were many kind words, lots of positive feedback, and some funny comments.  Thought I'd share one of them:

You are a great teacher and you're teaching me so well that my mom can't play whatever I can now.

Enjoy the weekend, dear readers!

-Kensy

P.S. Happy Pi Day!

Favorites of the day:

warm sunshine

having time to unpack and settle back in

audio books

wake-up calls ☺

I clicked my heels three times, and...

Hello, all!

I hope you are having a wonderful day!  It's soooo beautiful here!  Don't worry - I've been out to enjoy it.  Charlie and I just came in from a "walk."  Then, we played fetch.  Now, this is what he's doing:

Also, thought I'd share this picture from last night:

Anyway, I want to tell you about my weekend last weekend:
I went back home to hang out with my parents and brother (and BFF) for a little bit, then went to visit some relatives near Kansas City.  Being at home was great!  Went to my brother's favorite thrift store, played the newly refurbished (don't know if that's the right word...seems like an understatement) player piano (thanks, Dad!), and just hung out.  I also got to meet this little guy:

I'd really like to share more about my time spent with some great relatives near KC!  Here are some of the things we did:

• cooked Thai food (links to recipes similar to the ones we used: shrimp spring rolls, thai salad with cucumber and jicama, and chicken pad thai)  Jicama is on sale at HyVee right now, btw.
• chatted...a lot  : )
• visited various ethic markets and specialty cooking shops (including The Tasteful Olive - who knew sampling various olive oils and balsamic vinegars could be so fun/delicious/intriguing!  I was gifted a sampler pack and am so excited to put them to use!)
• cooked Ethiopian food - a first for me...and it was sooooo yummy!  (links to recipes similar to the ones we used: doro wat and atakilt wat - both served with injera from The Blue Nile Cafe)
• ate at Chick-fil-a (per my request - yummmm)
• took a yoga class (may have inspired me to join a gym...)
• went to The Chocolate Store - yep, it's as perfect as you think...they have samples!

Those are the highlights.  It was also nice to just hang out and spend quality time together!  Also - I borrowed something to maximize my time in the car from another awesome relative: Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University CD series.  Most of what I've listened to so far is just affirming things I already know/do, but it's very enjoyable to listen to!  I've found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions.  I'd recommend it, even if you don't think you need "financial peace"...or already have it.  :-)


I'll leave it at that.  Thanks for reading!


Until next time,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

sunshine and warm weather

trees budding and flowers blooming!

Nutella

music