Random Thoughts, our Thankful List and a Friday Favorite !

TGIF! I'm so glad that it is Friday! My mom, brother and sister-in-law will be here tonight and i'm so excited. I absolutely love having company and it will be so fun to have them in town. Not sure what our plans are but I am counting on some shopping and laying floors for sure!

We are making more and more progress with our flooring each night. The living room is a little more than half way finished and it looks amazing. I haven't been taking any pictures the past couple of nights because i've been hard at work helping Johnny. (There will soon be pictures to come though of me using the saw, just so I have evidence for all those non-believers that women can't run saws! It is totally do-able.) We are so happy with how it is turning out and there have only been a afew "hiccups" which helps us stay motivated. We were really hoping to have at least the living and dining room done by this weekend, but Johnny has been extremely busy at work so we haven't been getting started until about 7 each night. We have been able to start putting a few pieces of furniture back, which is really nice. Our fingers are crossed that we finish up this weekend.

When you work in the agriculture business, moving throughout the course of your career is very likely, if you choose. This is happening to a few of our friends right now. Our friends Russ and Selena moved last weekend and we were/are very sad to see them go. They have the cutest 2 little boys and they are some of the most genuine people we have ever met. We truly miss them, but the good news is that they are moving to Columbia, MO, AND into the same neighborhood as my friend Samantha!! So they aren't real far away and we hope to visit them soon, once their lives are "back to normal" from the move.

Our friends Jon and Kim also just recently decided to relocate. They will be heading to MN which is pretty far from Evansville, but will allow us some nice ski vacations i'm sure. Jon is Johnny's boss. He and his wife Kim have 2 children who I absolutely adore. They are so well mannered and always have great stories to tell. They are such great people, and again, we hate to see them go. But we understand, as I am sure that moving will be in our near future as well.

I am currently on day 5 of my "No sweets November" and doing great. I still have not had a single piece of halloween candy or baked good. I did have a small sliver of ice cream cake on Wednesday, but I was still somewhat hungry after dinner, so I didn't feel so bad about it. I will weigh myself on Monday and am really hoping for some good results. I can already tell that my clothes are starting to fit better and I have a lot more energy. Plus, i'm not really craving the sweets as much either, which is nice!

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I thought I would start compiling a list of things that I (& Johnny) am thankful for. My intentions are to find something I am thankful for, for each of the 30 days in November. I just feel it is so important to reflect on and express how truly thankful and appreciative we are for all the things we have and not take them for granted. So, here's the list for today (and the past 4 days):

1. My husband--without him, i'm not really sure what I would do. I don't really know how I was able to go 23 years without him because he is so amazing. He supports me in my decisions, gives me advice, comforts me, makes me laugh....I could go on and on. He's such a genuine, honest man and I am so thankful for him every day. I'm seriously the luckiest girl in the world!
2. My family--I am surround by the most amazing family who would do almost anything for me and I am so truly thankful for them.
3. My friends--I just love my friends. They are always there for me/us even if it is to vent about what went on at work....I couldn't ask for a better group!  
4. Bo--Even though Bo was Johnny's dog before we started dating, I feel like he is my own. Even though he's just a dog, he has truly taught me a lot about patience and happiness. He's such a gentle dog who is always happy and I couldn't ask for a better pet. We just love our Bo Bo! :-)
5. Employment--I have always been thankful to have a job, rough economy or not, but I absolutely love what I do and am so glad that the opportunity has come open for me to teach the subject that I love. I know that Johnny absolutely loves his job too and both of us feel that it makes us feel "useful" in this huge world.....like we are making a difference.

Lots more to come on the thankful list.....

My "friday favorite" for today is Thank You Cards. I absolutely love thank you's and I thought it fitting since it was the "Thankful month"! There's not a whole lot of things in life that are better than a hand written note thanking someone or having someone thank you. We are in the middle of writing our wedding thank you's and I find it really hard to fit everything in. It is just always so nice to make someone feel appreciated. Two of my favorite places to get thank you cards are Target and Hallmark. My friend Samantha has seriously rubbed off on me in this department because that girl always has boxes and boxes of thank you cards and well, now I do too. "They are just so handy" she always says, and I have to agree. It is always nice thank someone and let them know they are appreciated. I even have my students write thank you cards when we have guest speakers or when people do something nice for our class in general. I feel writing thank you's is a "lost art" and it shouldn't be.

I've included 2 pictures of thank you cards that I found on Hallmark's website (http://www.hallmark.com/) that I think are really cute. Sometimes the cards I have will include my initial or just "thank you". Eventually someday I think it would be neat to start putting together my own thank you cards, but we've got wood floors to finish right now. :-)



Happy Friday!

No Sweets November!

I've debated on whether or not to write about this, but i've decided that if I do, I'll have more accountability so.....I've decided that starting November 1, I will be eating no sweets.

The holiday season is approaching and after receiving some motivation from our wellness guy at the high school, I've decided that instead of waiting until the holidays are over to decide to lose weight and become fit....i'm doing it now; i'm getting ahead of the game. After many discussions with Johnny about the weight you gain after becoming married and why working out just isn't cutting it for me, I decided that cutting out sweets was my best option (in addition to continuing my workouts). And it has worked!!!! Since Monday morning, i've already lost 2 pounds and haven't had ANY sweets! (I know that weighing myself daily is not good either, so I'm only doing that on mondays from now on.) I've also only drank water, so no swelling from pop and sweet tea. I have however, allowed myself one exception....ice cream cake. Johnny got me the cake for my birthday so no more than twice a week, I am allowing myself to have a small sliver of it. But so far, I haven't even really been hungry for a piece after dinner....which is awesome!

This is extremely hard for me because I love sweets! I usually have something chocolate/sweet after lunch and dinner. After the first 2 days, I realized that I eat a ton of "filler" foods that are bad. Instead of going for the apple or banana, I head straight for the halloween candy or baked goods that have been sitting on our counter. I would have to say that Monday was the roughest day. I literally had to lock myself in our bedroom in-between meals because I couldn't stand being around the candy....I wanted candy so bad! So, the halloween candy was bagged up and sent to Johnny's office and the baked goods are wrapped up and put out of sight. I've eaten more apples and regular food and have actually found that i'm craving them more often versus the chocolate.

I've also cut down my portion sizes on the food that I do eat. I am usually really good at this, but lately it had gotten out of control. I was basically eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and didn't really think about if I was really hungry for it or not, I just ate whatever was on my plate. And I felt miserable. Again, this is pretty difficult, but is getting much easier to do. I just put the actual serving size on my plate and that's all I eat. I've realized that after eating the smaller portion than what i'm used to, I am actually full! It's amazing how much I was overeating.

I am feeling so much better already and can't wait to see what the rest of the month(s) bring(s). Thanksgiving and Christmas will be tough I know, but I have allowed myself 1 dessert as compared to the 2 or 3 throughout the day. I know I can do this and I realize that it is so important to always be healthy versus a month or two here and there throughout the years. So i'm not only hoping for a temporary fix, but a lifestyle change! We can't have our future children living off of "mommy's cakes and cookies"..... :-)

If you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans!

This has been a huge theme in the Barrett household lately! The past week has been extremely eventful and forces me yet again, to play some catch-up in getting our blog "up to speed". It seems as though nothing that we plan, goes the way we plan it!

After receiving word that our wood flooring had been backordered and then the order completely lost, we got the phone call telling us that it was in! (3 1/2 weeks later) THANK GOODNESS!!! But, they were supposed to deliver it to our house and not the store where we bought it, which is exactly what happened....ugh!!! So Johnny's boss and friend, Jon, graciously offered to help us get it. On Saturday he picked it up for us and we unloaded it into our garage! (We didn't actually get to start laying the floor until Sunday because we were in New Harmony for my birthday!) Actually putting in the wood floor is not that bad. Getting started is the biggest challenge and after a few shed tears (from me-realizing that I HATE living on plywood floors without a dishwasher and furniture and not being able to do laundry), 2 ripped boards and a thrown hammer later, we are making some serious progress. Now when I say we, I mostly mean Johnny. He has experience in putting in this type of flooring as well as table saw experience. I took my turn at sawing boards and putting the boards into the floor....but I think i'm best just watching or being his gopher.... All in all, it is totally worth it. What we have finished looks so good. I truly have the best husband in the world who can really do anything he sets his mind to....I can't say enough good things about him!

Yep, i'm halfway to 50! I can't even believe it. Right now, Johnny would tell me to "quit my whining because when I think i'm old, he's always 6 years older"....but, I must say that this year, I do feel older. There's just something about 25....saying it, writing it, seeing it....that makes me feel older for sure! Needless to say, besides being a little scared of 25, I had a fantastic day! I celebrated on Thursday with a manicure and pedicure after work then a little shopping and eating at Olive Garden with Johnny. My students wanted to celebrate my birthday (and what they thought was supposed to be my last day of subbing) and since I was showing a film anyway, it seemed fitting to allow it. And oh my gosh, i'm so glad I did. It was so much fun! I contributed pumpkin bars, donuts and sugar cookies and they did the rest.....I've never had so many birthday cakes and treats in my life!! These kids are some of the most generous students i've ever been around. I even got a couple of gifts and multiple cards! I couldn't even believe it!!! I was definitely humbled! I also received birthday cards, some phone calls and text messages and many birthday wishes on facebook from family and friends. I truly believe that I have the best friends and family around....they are so amazing!

My first birthday cake of the morning from 2 of my advanced early childhood education students. 

My second birthday cake of the day from a child development student. She made it herself! 

And our birthday tradition....DQ ice cream cake....mmmmm...!! 

After work we headed to New Harmony, IN which is about 30 minutes from Evansville. Johnny reserved us 2 nights at the New Harmony Inn (where i've been wanting to stay since I heard about the town) and it was amazing!!!! The town is known for it's harmonist aura and is truly very calming. We shopped at antique/gift shops, had ice cream and tiramisu at the local parlor, walked through the town's labrynth and roofless church and had pizza and drinks at the Yellow Tavern. It was such an amazing experience that I feel everyone should have. The town is small and quiet and everyone rides around on golf carts! There are walking and bike trails as well as a small movie theatre. I think Johnny and I are both in agreement that we will go back before we move somewhere else. If you want to check out the town for yourself you can go to http://www.newharmony.biz/ It is a great weekend getaway that's not that expensive!

Our afternoon dessert pitstop.

Downtown New Harmony.....all of these buildings are hundreds of years old and renovated. The inside of the buildings is amazing! 

Our dessert pit stop: Samuel's Place....excellent choice.

The Labyrinth

Showing just how perfect the bushes were cut.

Johnny trying to hide from the people standing in their driveway and walking at the same time.....so glad I got this shot.....too funny! 

 On our drive to the old dam.....so pretty

The cabins at the old dam are on stilts.

I had to take a picture of the gas pumps. I haven't seen any like this in a long time. 

The roofless church

 The bridge that takes you into New Harmony

The Visitor's Center. I don't think this building "belongs" in the town with all the other old buildings, but it is still amazing! 

And i'm still subbing.......I received word on Wednesday of last week that my long term sub position would be extended. The regular teacher is not allowed to return now until at least the end of January. So I had to take out all the items I had packed up and get items to the copy center. I was very worried about telling the students because I had been preparing them for the regular teacher to come back. But when I did tell them, the majority were ecstatic....which was a huge relief. I was a little aprehensive at first in staying, but I'm very glad i'm still here and thankful to have a steady job, especially through the holidays.

At the same time I am subbing, i'm trying to renew my IN teaching license. The state is requiring me to take 3 Praxis tests (at a very expensive price no less) in order to renew. I had scheduled this for yesterday so I had to schedule a sub to take over my classes. After 3 hours of sitting at a computer, I think I missed 2 of the 3 tests by 2 points.....GRRR!!! Which means, I will need to retake. AND this is a test almost exactly like the one I took in Missouri called the C-Base......which I took my Sophomore year of college and passed with flying colors. So, i'm a little bummed, but I can take them again in 30 days. The 3rd test I will find out my scores on, in about 2 weeks.....i'm hoping they are better.

This week will be no different when it comes to being eventful. We have lots of things on our honey-do list like enrolling in insurance benefits, writing wedding thank you's, mowing our yard (hopefully for the last time) and continuing to lay our floors. My mom, brother and sister-in-law are coming to visit this weekend and hopefully our disaster of a home will be in some kind of order when they arrive.

Wedding Pictures

Our wedding pictures are finished and I thought that our blog readers might like to look through them!! They have turned out amazing! If anyone is interested in ordering them, you can do that 1 of 2 ways....either let me know or you can contact our photographer, Penny, directly (the latter might be better so there's no chance of it getting lost through me..). Here is the contact information for her:
 

Penny Copeland
Twin Springs Photography
7580 SE Apache Rd.
Cowgill, MO 64637
660-255-4315

The website to go to is www.twinspringsphoto.com  We have three different session ID's: Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3. The passwords for each of them are Barrett. There will be an additional ID sometime today most likely and the ID for it is Extras and the password is Barrett, as well.

Enjoy!!

A Friday Favorite!

In high school and college I hated reading. It was one of those things that I did only when forced to and sometimes not even then. Once I graduated college and joined the staff at Liberty High School in Liberty, MO I was introduced to SSR: Silent Sustained Reading. The Liberty School District has a "policy" where all buildings will read (anything they want) sometime during the school day for 20 minutes; teachers, administrators, students-everyone. It was tough at first to get used to, but eventually I LOVED it! And I helped some of my students love it to. I found that reading a book is a lot like watching a movie.....if you find the style you like, you'll love it!

During that time, my friend Samantha introduced me to an author one of her friends loved, Emily Giffin. So Samantha and I each bought 2 of her books and then traded off.....she is now an absolute favorite of mine! She's an amazing writer and her books are so easy to read. Emily has written 5 books: "Something Borrowed", "Something Blue", "Baby Proof", "Love the one you're with", and "Heart of the Matter". I just finished reading "Heart of the Matter" and I couldn't put it down.....actually, I couldn't put any of her books down. They are the kind of reads where you can't stop reading, but you don't want to finish it because you want it to keep going and going.....

"Something Borrowed" will be released on the big screen in summer 2011 and "Something Blue" will come out sometime after that .....and I can't wait! The cast includes Kate Hudson and Colin Farrel and one of the producers is Hilary Swank! Granted most of the time the book is always better, but I still want to see it....i'm sure Johnny is just as ecstatic as me.... ;-)

You can visit her website at http://www.emilygiffin.com/

Happy Friday!

OUR WEDDING VIDEO!!!

Here is a link to our wedding video "teaser". I am so excited to be able to share this! It is so amazing! Tim Seley is our videographer and you can visit his website by clicking on the link as well. His work is FANTASTIC! I cannot wait to get the rest of the footage! Pictures to come soon too!

http://www.timseleystudios.com/2010/10/rachele-and-jonny-teaser/

What did the papa tomato say to the baby tomato?...Ketchup! :-)

Johnny has said this to me many times, lol, as i'm a huge "gawker" and love to just watch people while we are out and about, so he's always ahead of me......but it has been a while since i've written and we've had a lot going on....so it is time to play some "catch-up".....


Last Thursday Johnny took Bo to the animal dermatologist to get some answers about why he is itching so bad! Turns out, he's not sure. It could be an environmental allergy or a food allergy. Bo has 3 different medications to take right now and we have a different kind of food to pick up today to start giving him. The medications have kind of given him some relief but it's still pretty bad.....so i'm thinking it is a food allergy.

It is my birthday month!! I received my first birthday gift last week from Virginia. She ordered and shipped a mirror that opens up to a jewelry box. I would highly recommend this to anyone who doesn't have a jewelry box. For me, it is so nice because now, I don't have a gazillion jewelry boxes and a wall hanger holding my bracelets and necklaces. I also don't have to stand on the side of our bathtub to look into the mirror! YAY! Such a great gift and i'm so thankful! (The pictures show it empty, but since taking the pictures, it is VERY full!)

I spent this past weekend in KC for my friend Marla's wedding. Marla and I met while teaching FACS at Liberty HS. She teaches Fashion & Textiles. We both went to Mizzou and joined sororities and found that we had quite a bit in common. She and her fiance were engaged not too long after Johnny and I so it was pretty fun being able to bounce ideas off one another during the planning process. Her wedding was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't be more happy for her and Joey!!

(L-R) Megan, Me, Jody, Marla, Beth, Nikki......All Liberty FACS teachers, well, except me now....these ladies are so amazing to work with....I had so much fun with them! 

 This picture is better, but Megan's eyes are closed.......but it shows Marla's dress detail better

The Sawyer Room where she had her reception. This used to be the old Playboy Club. We toured this when we were looking for wedding venues and it is just beautiful! 

While I was away, Johnny worked on his major project for work which is starting to wrap up the planning stages. I'm so excited (and I know he is as well) to see the actual production of the project he's been working on for so long. Johnny also sealed the drive, mowed the yard, etc. etc. Such a great husband! He even had dinner ready for me when I got home on Sunday.

Wednesday night we decided that we needed a date night, so we headed to Applebee's to use one of our wedding gift cards. We filled our bellies with drinks, steaks and yes, even dessert. It was so nice after the days we had. I had scheduled presentations for my child development classes that didn't go as I had planned, got an "assignment" "dumped" on me at work and it was just one of those days where the students didn't really want to cooperate. I then headed to the grocery store, which doesn't make my day any better. I really do not like going to get groceries, especially when Johnny can't come with me. Even though it makes more sense for me to go while he's at work, I just don't like going. I would gladly pay someone to get my groceries if we could fit that into the budget! After such a long day, I was pumped to sit down and have a nice dinner with my husband and have someone cater to us!

Johnny is heading to Indianapolis today for the National FFA Convention! Cargill is a major supporter of the convention and Johnny was one of 3 who volunteered from this area to attend the sponsor's dinner and help judge an event. I was also asked to judge but can't due to my sub commitment--I am SO jealous! He'll be there through Friday and Bo & I are going to miss him. I've been to the national convention twice, once as a Freshman in high school and once as a Freshman in college to receive my American FFA Degree. It is such a cool experience. They even have a concert during the convention and guess who is performing this year....Lady A! I could have gone to that too!! Such a bummer! Oh well, Johnny assures me that there will be many other opportuntities. :-)



A little bit of old school.....my dad and I when I got my American FFA Degree....October 2005. There's nothing like those blue cordorouy jackets!

This weekend we thought would be filled with laying wood floor, but Johnny received a phone call yesterday that our order was lost! LOST!!! AH! I know and completely understand that accidents happen, but that's not to say that I don't want a little $ knocked off of what we paid. We have been walking around on plywood for 2 1/2 weeks now, our couches are in our dining room and the entire house is a mess because we were told we would get our order in a little less than a week after placing it. Well, it was then on backorder and now it is completely lost! So it looks like late nights of laying floor are in our future! We're both getting very annoyed with our house being completely rearranged, but like i've said before, it will totally be worth it!

On a positive note, our car is fixed!!!! I recently had a minor incident with a small fire hydrant, Johnny had been rear-ended and there was a chip in the windshield--so we decided to get it all fixed. We got the car back yesterday after haivng it in the shop for a week and it looks brand new! They did such a great job. But.... this morning, Johnny went to put stuff in the back seat and noticed that the lever to put down the  driver seat is gone! So, it looks like we get to take it back and get that put back on, for free! I just sometimes don't understand people. If I were working on something and broke something off, I would fix it! Now we have to take the car back, etc. etc. And chances are pretty good that when Johnny calls them today, and the collision center asks the employee, he/she will say, "nope that was already broken". At that point, the collision center will have 2 very ANGRY Barrett's on their hands! So, i'm hoping for the best! We'll see!

Another positive note.....MIZZOU football! ESPN College Gameday will be in Columbia, MO for the first time ever AND it is homecoming weekend AND the tigers are currently 6-0, one of 10 teams left with an undefeated record! It is so fitting, because the homecoming tradition began at Mizzou when Coach Brewer decided that he wanted to encourage everyone to "come home" for their game against kU (yes, I know the "K" is not capitalized....that is because only a proper noun is capitalized and kU is not a proper name, place or thing) haha.....I believe the year was 1911, but I would have to check on that for sure. The homecoming festivities are HUGE in Columbia and it is such a great atmosphere to be in. I haven't been back for homecoming yet since I graduated, but plan to in the next few years! MIZZOU-RAH!!

A little more old school.....My brother Brad and I at the Homecoming Football game 2005.

Last old school pic for now.....this is at our "Theta Block Party" after our homecoming skit with Farmhouse 2005. We won first place overall.....(skit, float, house decorations, royalty, blood drive)

(L-R) Jess, Sierra, Samantha, Me

Yesterday, I received an email with a video that I feel I just have to share. It is such a powerful message. It is somewhat long, but so great it almost made me cry. It definitely helps make any bad day better!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQeNop7Y-c


Happy Wednesday!