Now I Know Why All The Leaves Change in the Fall

Fall is finally here!!! For the most part anyway. Us Texans get to do this see-saw weather in the months of September and October, but it seems like fall might finally be sticking around. This makes me happy in a lot of ways but here are the top 10 reasons I’m excited fall is upon us.

10. Fall jackets. I have a slight obsession with coats. It’s not good. While coat weather really is more of a winter thing, fall ushers in the fall coat. This would be a light jacket that might be used on a cool fall evening. Yes it is probably sad that this excites me, but it does. Also, fall is when they put out the cute winter coats that give me so much joy.

9. The NFL has begun. While I rarely get to do it, I enjoy the idea of sitting around in comfy clothes on Sunday afternoons and watching games, especially the Cowboys.

8. All things pumpkin. Pumpkins, pumpkin candles, pumpkin flavored drinks, carving pumpkins. Love it all. Strangely enough, I don’t like pumpkin pie.

7. Thanksgiving. It’s a little far away but it is still in the fall and I really enjoy this holiday. What’s not to like? The day always starts with the Turkey Trot for my family and I love that tradition. Then, we eat a wonderful meal and watch the Cowboys with the other Jakus fam. Food, family, and football…3 of my favorite things in life. Also, everyday I am appreciative of the ways the Lord has blessed me, but I like that there is a day where everyone sits down and reflects on that.

6. Cooler weather. I HATE the TX heat of summer. HATE IT! So, when the temperatures finally drop I am a happy lady.

5. Open windows. One of the reasons cooler weather makes me so happy is because I can turn off my air conditioning and just have my windows open at home. Saves money and I like the fresh air. Also enjoy the open car windows.

4. Outside running at any time of the day. There is nothing that affects my running like the heat. Seriously. My pace is a good 2 minutes slower in the summer. If you aren’t really a runner, that’s a big deal. Also, since I can no longer run inside my running is really affected during the summer months. I can only run SUPER early or late or not at all. Really loving being able to go out whenever and hit up the trail.

3. Texas State Fair. Grew up going to the thing. SO many happy memories come from good times on the Love Bug, riding the swings, checking out the cars at the car show, fair food, the blender demonstration, pictures booths and so on. It’s a sad year when I don’t get to visit the fair.

2. College Football. Being my second favorite sport it is pretty exciting when it starts up. Doesn’t matter who is playing - I LOVE watching college football. Even better is going to the games. Every fall it is exciting to see if my Frogs can be BCS busters.

1. HOCKEY!!! Shouldn’t be a surprise here. Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows I’m obsessed with it. Fall = the start of hockey season. I cry whenever the season ends and I get so freaking excited about the season starting I tear up about that too. I think I have problems. Although I think if you continue to read my blogs on why hockey is so great maybe it will make a little more sense. Plus it takes that much time to explain why it is my number 1. :) Thank goodness this is a sport that spans all seasons!

Enjoy the fall! Christmas (my favorite holiday) will be here before we know it!

Free Music Friday 2

Recently I have been to some "once-in-a-lifetime" concerts (which will be feautured in a blog to come) but one person I still really want to see is Taylor Swift. She's in town tonight but I don't have tickets. Sad face. I'm still waiting to see which amazing friend of mine is going to surprise me with tickets at the last minute! :) I've looked with no luck so I guess I'll just wait until next time. In honor of Miss Swift's visit to DFW I will feature my current favorites (picked 3 but really they are all good) on today's free music Friday. Enjoy and have a great weekend. PS - One of TCU's toughest games (Clemson) will be tomorrow, but I think they can do it! Go Frogs!

Breathe w/ Colbie Calliat


Two Is Better Than One - Really a Boys Like Girls song with Taylor. Too new to have a video yet...sorry...listen to it anyway!


The Best Day - Sweet song for her mom. Heard this on the way to work one day and had to go home and buy it b/c it reminds me of my sweet, wonderful, amazing mom whom I have had many, many "best days" with.

Case of the Tuesdays?

I know two blogs in one day? Who is this girl? Just had to share this and it will only work on a Tuesday.

My friend Laura shared this on facebook today and I found it quite hilarious. Enjoy if you have the time.

Only Tuesday?

The City of Lights

For a while I have wanted to go back and write some of the blogs I intended on writing and never got around to. What better time to do that than when I am home sick coughing up my right lung?

Since I really want an account of my Europe trip this summer that I can always have to look back on, I figure that’s the best place to start. Also, lately I have been thinking A LOT about Europe and missing it A LOT and aching to go back A LOT. Writing about my wonderful experience brings back so many happy memories! So, here’s how Paris went as best as I can recall. Ashley can let me know if I left anything out. This is why I’m doing this now so I can’t forget anything else. In advance I want to apologize for how long it is. Remember I am long winded and that Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. There are also some really funny stories that I wanted to share and the more I write the better memories I have for myself years from now. Anyway here it is…

So we flew into Paris from London. Everything with the flight went smoothly and we got into Paris and, according to our hotel website, had to catch a train to one of the main metro stations. Well, after a 45-minute hike around the airport, we finally found the place to buy our train tickets. This wouldn’t be a big deal normally, but with a 40 pound pack that wasn’t sitting right, I was in a little bit of misery by the time we got on the train. Story doesn’t end there. We get our seats on the train and I am just relived to have my pack off. Then as we start traveling this man, whom we now affectionately refer to as the Water Snatcher, comes and sits down next to us. He proceeds to start up a conversation with Ashley that went like this:
WS: Can I have your water?
Ash: No
WS: Why not?
Ash: B/c it’s my water
The WS kept trying but Ash wouldn’t have any of it. While this is going on, I am getting terrified we are about to get our stuff taken so I am making sure I’m clinging on to my purse and my pack while trying not to have a heart attack. Finally WS moves on down the train to see what else he can find and shortly after we arrive at the metro station. We have directions from the hotel to get on a specific metro so we go to buy our tickets. When we go up to the machines we can’t get our credit cards to work. Keep in mind we had been in London and Scotland prior to this so we had been using pounds and had not yet converted to Euros. So no cash and no cards, excellent. We try finding someone to help us but the information desk is apparently closed too…awesome. Finally, I realize I have Euros leftover from my last trip to Europe and we are able to get ourselves tickets. Next, we get on the metro and get to the stop our hotel tells us to get off at. That’s where the directions end. Always good. We get up to the street and have no clue where to go. So, we start wondering around trying to find the street name for our hotel. After about 20 minutes of this with no success, we walk into another hotel and ask them if they know where our hotel is. The man working the counter just starts talking in French and pointing. Being the smart girls we are we go the direction he was pointing. At this point I am about in tears because my pack is bothering me so much and I hate being lost. Not a good combination. Finally, about another 20 minutes later we stumble across the hotel. We get up to our room and call home to check in with everyone and let them know we are okay. I explain our rough ordeal and get laughed at. This being the low point of the trip, at that time I did not see the humor at all. However, now it is quite hilarious...quite the start to our Paris adventure!

Anyway, we hadn’t eaten in about 10 hours at this point either so we hit up a McDonald’s that’s right by our hotel, great French food. We then decide to go check out Champs Elysees. Fitting right in with the rest of the day we got lost trying to find it, but eventually made it there. We walked up and down and did a little shopping. Also took a nice photomontage in front of the Arch De Triumph. Finally, we found a restaurant to grab some dinner. About the time we sat down was about the time a torrential downpour started. Luckily we were undercover so we just watched all the other people get soaked. The one thing that went right that day! The rain eventually stopped and we were able to go up to the top of the Arch De Triumph and take pictures of the city at night. Just beautiful! Finally, we went back to the hotel and crashed.

The next day started early with a visit to the Eiffel Tower. We knew we would have a bit of a wait so we wanted to allow ourselves plenty of time. After about an hour in line watching men trying to sell little Eiffel Towers, we made it up for a daytime view of Paris. Also quite beautiful. The last time I was up there it was snowing and this time it was gorgeous and sunny. I feel so blessed to have been able to see it both ways! We grabbed a bite to eat at a little café on the second level of the tower and then made our way down to the Seine River that runs by the Eiffel Tower and got some crepes! There are several boating companies that stop by the base of the tower there, and since we had such a wonderful experience with our boat tour in London, we decided to hop on and do one again. Sadly we did not pick as well this time. We ended up on a boat that is basically transportation to the main spots of Paris, not a tour with any information about those spots. Oh well, live and learn. We let it take us to the Louvre and got off there since it was where we had planned to spend the afternoon anyway. While waiting to get our tickets here Ashley asks what they have at the Louvre besides the Mona Lisa. I tell her that they have some statue (thinking of the Venus de Milo, but I couldn’t remember the name at the time). She proceeds to give me crap the rest of the day, (and sill now) about how I said “museums have statues and stuff”. We explored the Louvre and all of its “statues and stuff” for a few hours. Then we ended the day back at the Champs Elysees for another dinner and some more shopping. We also got a coffee and dessert at this adorable little pastry place. Finally, we hit up Moulin Rouge. The tickets are out of control expensive so we just took pictures outside and went home to bed.

Our final day in Paris started with a trip to Sacre Cure. It is a beautiful church on a hill in Paris. When I went there last time there was nobody around, and I guess this time being tourist season it was just covered in people. We made our way up the one million stairs to go check out the inside only to find out they won’t let us in because we don’t have sleeves on. Apparently wearing sleeveless dresses isn’t allowed. We are such hookers. Since we couldn’t look around in there we walked on down to the little shopping area right by Sacre Cure. They also have outdoor artists and restaurants there. It’s all very Paris. We did a little shopping for people back home and grabbed some lunch. Then we headed on to go visit Notre Dame. On our way to the metro I had a total Carrie moment. There’s a spot where you catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower so I decided I wanted a picture. As I’m trying to find the best spot to get a good shot I miss a step and totally bite it and fall flat on my face in front of a large group of tourists. I’m so graceful. Anyway, we eventually made it to Notre Dame only to find out it is closed for the day for a special event. Typical. So we take some pictures outside and walk over to Sainte-Chapelle. This is a church near Notre Dame that has gorgeous stain glass windows. They tell all the stories of the bible and the life of Christ. It’s really just too hard to describe. Hopefully one day I’ll get some pictures on here, even though they don’t capture the real beauty. Guess you will just have to go see it in person! We head out of Sainte-Chapelle and see a little area that appears as if it might have some cute shopping so we walk that direction. While roaming around we stumble across a Starbucks and decide to stop in. We take a little break here and while sitting there I see a drag queen Marilyn Monroe come in. Thought this was a little odd but didn’t give it much thought until we go back outside and find more drag queens, men walking around in butt chaps (with the bare butt hanging out, don’t worry) and lots of rainbow flags. Yep, the Gay Pride Parade was in Paris that day. LOTS of interesting sights. After watching this for a bit we walk down to the Metro to head back to our hotel. We get down into the Metro and realize we can’t get on a train b/c they are so packed. We couldn’t get a cab either b/c of the Gay Pride event blocking all the streets so we are starting to feel a little stuck. Ashley is about to have a panic attack too, so we finally get on the Metro going the other direction just so we can get a spot on a train. About an hour later we make it back to our hotel and decide we are too tired to do much of anything that night. We grabbed one last wonderful dinner at McDonalds and went to bed early because we had a 4:30am cab ride to get us to our flight to Barcelona. You would think that’s where the story of Paris ends but, no, there are even good stories at 4:30 in the morning.

We get up VERY early on our last morning in Paris to get ourselves to the bus that is taking us to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. We are half asleep waiting for our cab in the lobby with the concierge when we see two men stop in front of the door to the hotel. They had clearly been having a good night as they proceed to make out against the door to the hotel. The best part of it was that we all just stand there, nobody saying anything, I think perhaps all a little shocked by what we are witnessing. The happy couple eventually moved on and our cab showed up getting us to the bus just in time. We made it safely to the airport and headed off to Barcelona. That story will get written one of these days. Figure this is long enough to last you until then!

Free Music Friday

Have a new idea for Friday blogs...

I love music and I like sharing music, thus Free Music Friays.

I read this blog where this guy used to give away itunes gift cards. While my Free Music Friday will not include any such gifts, b/c lets face it I'm a teacher with an Anthropologie addiction, it will include music...that is free...to you.

Here's a couple for today.

1. Got in my car after my run yesterday and this was on the radio...decided it was super fun but feel a little wrong for liking it. Oh well, makes me ready for the weekend!



2. I've really been wanting to share this one too and can't wait until next Friday. The orginal version of this song is great and my current favorite running song, but this accoustic cover is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Enjoy!



Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Be sure and watch my Horned Frogs kick some TX State booty as they make their climb higher and higher up those rankings!

The Good Old Hockey Game, It's The Best Game You Can Name

I have decided to use my blog to better the world. By that I DO mean that I will help others fall in love with hockey. This is attempt 1. I know this is going to be a hard fought battle, especially considering most of the people who read this are from TX where football is king (don't get me wrong, I LOVE football too) but I like a challenge.

I'm going to pretend whoever is reading this knows nothing about hockey, so bare with me. In hockey there's this thing called a hat trick. It is when a player scores three goals in one game. Tradition has it, that when a player performs said hat trick, the crowd will throw their hats on the ice in honor of the accomplishment. Hat tricks are pretty rare, but playoff hat tricks are practially unheard of. Especially in a conference final game.

Here is a video of my favorite hat trick this last year. The Pittsburgh Penguins (eventually 2009 Stanley Cup Champs) were playing the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals. Evgeni Malkin (who I believe is only 19) scored three amazing goals to lead his team to an eventual win. What I want everyone to pay close attention to is the last goal he scores without even looking at the net. It's sick. If you can't appreciate that then you are just crazy.



Yep, it's that good. I will find more to help you fall in love with this game that has captured my heart. Maybe eventually I will even have another person in my life who can tear up with excitement about an impending season. A girl can dream right?

Two weeks and 3 days....but who's counting?

Month 2 of 12 – “Say You Gotta Put The Good With the Bad, Happy and the Sad”

Overall month 2 has been somewhat calmer than month 1. School started, I moved into the apartment a little bit more (although there is still much work to be done), I’ve been surprised by life happenings quite a bit, SAW FREAKIN’ PAUL MCCARTNEY, I’ve laughed a lot, taken 3 trips, watched a best friend get married and slept very little! I don’t think anyone really wants to know every detail of my boring little life, but I will say this: Month 1 of year 26 was one of the most challenging of my life. I had a lot thrown at me at once, had a lot of tears (and I am not a crier), and A LOT of stress. However, through those trials I learned a lot (hence the blog idea) and that month influenced every second of this month. God was in control every step of the way. I am still learning what exactly that means, and I’m okay with that. This is a big deal for me! As with last month, some of my things are silly and others serious, some only mean something to those who were a part of it, and others I’m sure you all can understand. One more thing…I think it is important to know that I try and sit down every few days and write what I am learning. That being said, some are repeated without really realizing it, but I decided to leave it because that must mean it’s important. Anyway…here it is:

*Planning is important to some people and not to others, when these people are mixed in a group on a trip it can cause some friction
*Two of my friends dating brings me a lot of joy
*Zumba has helped me not care quite so much what others think of me
*Friendships can go in waves and it’s neat to see them mended over time
*Always hope
*Take a smaller cooler on the river
*Julie Roberts has some great songs…check them out
*I LOVE Texas country.
*Breakfast with one of my best friends is the perfect way to start a new school year
*Working with laid back people who also know how to be sarcastic is a blessing
*I don’t trust God enough, sometimes at all
*God has crazy timing
*Paul McCartney still has it and I am blessed to have seen him live.
*I should have started teaching third grade a long time ago
*I miss the love you get from Kindergarten kids
*I’ve always thought I was a really intuitive person, and most times I am, but sometimes things can be right in front of your face without you realizing them.
*Big fancy weddings are absolutely beautiful and I love them, but I don’t see myself having one. I think if I get married it will be small. This surprises me.
*Sometimes a bed does not need a box spring
*City Streets can actually be totally fun
*I am not meant to wear heels
*Friendships can become stronger after having gone through bumps along the way.
*On that note...I believe that all friendships/relationships are fixable. Both parties just need to be willing to forgive and work at it.
*I love the concept of forgiveness.
*It makes me sad that nobody understands why I tear up with excitement when thinking about hockey starting.
*There is something to appreciate in EVERY person. Focus on that. It makes life a lot more enjoyable.
*I'm a star! According to my kids anyway.
*Texas is the way to describe a "perfect" town. Also, according to my kids.
*Horses can also be spelled hores. Kids again.
*I am SO SO SO lucky to do what I do everyday.
*There isn't a Taylor Swift song that I don't like.
*The faculty at my school is awesome and hilarious.
*I can survive a month where I only run once, but it is definitely the thing missing from my life.
*When I don’t run in that long I literally smile the entire time when I finally get back out on the trail.
*I love how you go without seeing someone for 2 years but pick right back up where you left off.
*It's possible to feel two completely opposite things at one time, which is also confusing.
*Weekends away to the country make me happy
*I’m a Plano girl but I can still chunk watermelon rhines over the fence into the pasture with the best of ‘em.
*I can see myself having the life of a country girl…gasp!
*I can dive off of a roof into a pool, an accomplishment for someone afraid of heights
*I love family, mine and other peoples, my heart is happy when surrounded by that kind of love.
*All your problems can be solved on the front porch swing, or so I’ve been told, no wonder I’ve always wanted one.
*I say that the way to my heart is pedicures and iced coffee (which is true) but I am learning that holding my hand and praying with me is a good way to it as well.
*I need Dad time and Mom time (separate things) every now and then.
*Eric Church’s “Love Your Love the Most” has found a special place in my heart b/c the lyrics are kinda perfect
*Itunes genius is my favorite discovery this month, followed closely by Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes
*I can fall asleep on the phone while someone is in mid conversation..oops
*No, it won't all go the way, it should, But I know the heart of life is good…borrowed from John Mayer

I Love Sleeping In On Saturdays

In honor of the weekend, I am sharing my favorite song at the moment. Hope everyone has a good one! College football has started, how could you NOT???

PS - I couldn't post the actual video for copywrite reasons (or I'm just not smart enough to figure out how). I'm a little sad about that b/c the actual version is even better, but here's this: