WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHS!

Okay so I really need to go to bed. But first- a few wedding photos.

:)

A regular ol' Tuesday

Working on getting my new passport....may have to wait awhile though to send in all the info since it requires a large check $$$ to go with it.  Should probably make sure we can pay rent before we make plans to travel the world ;)

So far my name changing process has gone smoothly. Social Security card, check. New driver's license, check.

Now it is just the banks, school, etc. that yet to know my new name. It is hard to get these things done since they all require me to do them during "normal business hours" aka when I am in the classroom. Someday....

But for now, Bed. My coffee has worn off and I am exhausted.

Leaves beneath our feet.

First off, we needed Coffee.... raspberry mochas to be exact.

Ben and I



The river was flowing swiftly with all the rain we have gotten recently

pumpkins for sale...but due to a lack of cash on hand we settled for a few of these little ones

 



The leaves that crunched beneath our feet.



A lovely fall day. The End.

Sunday Goodness.

I love Sundays.

It's a day to relax and regroup, and refocus on what is good in life. ( a lot of r's I know)

Ben worked this morning so Ellie and I went to early service at church. It was nice to be up early and worshiping God. There is something so beautiful about morning praises; it sets the tone for the rest of the day. I am currently sitting at home in my now tidy apartment. (I spent awhile cleaning up upon returning home)

I hope to plan a week's worth of math lessons today but I am not quite motivated enough to do that.  I did just find out however that my friend Bekah is in town today, so I need to get my work done so I can see her tonight. So thank you Bekah for being my source of inspiration today.

Buttermilk please.

This is what we had for breakfast this morning. Mmmmmm

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 egg beaten

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup sugar.

 

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In seperate bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk. Add to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

Blend in the melted butter and sugar.

Cook on medium-hot lightly greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake (mine got a little bigger)

Cook until pancakes are brown on one side and around the edges then flip and brown the other side.

**You can replace the the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour if you'd like

My Chair.

A few summers ago I purchased a chair at Goodwill for $1. Yes one dollar. How could you pass that up? It was not the prettiest thing as you can see in the "before" picture...

I painted the wood part black, but then the summer flew by and I never got a chance to recover the cushions. Well a few years passed and I finally decided to cover the cushions. The chair now sits in our living room and has worked out nicely for extra seating. It was nice to finally have this project done. I know it took way too long to accomplish this but things always get busy it seems. I am rather proud of my one dollar chair now.

BEFORE                              AFTER               

First Day of Fall (and silly bandz)

Today is the first day of Fall. (the.....autumn equinox to be exact) Did I even spell that right? I should probably make sure I can spell the words that I am trying to impress you with.

I wish I could say I celebrated with a pumpkin spice latte, but I did not. I did however find a CAN OF PUMPKIN at the grocery store the other day. It was actually pretty humorous that there was this one lonely can on the empty shelf. That can was waiting for me. Seriously. I have never been so excited to see a can of pumpkin in my life. But now I am torn, because I am not willing to crack open and use it. But I will, eventually.

I am not sure if you are aware of the new exciting things in schools (at least my school).

Silly Bandz = Bracelets that are shaped like animals and every other random thing you can imagine. (see picture below)



My students have these lining their arms. Boys and girls...and then they "trade" them. We had to have the talk today about how they will not be allowed in the classroom if they are a distraction (I know what you are thinking...what a mean teacher....sorry guys haha) It had to be done.

Well enough about silly bandz (oh and don't just call them bracelets because you will be corrected. Trust me. I guess it's the new Furbi or Giga-pet....ha.

Goodnight (I'm off to bed early) mmmm sleep.

Speaking of bicycles...

Today was a lovely day that began with sleeping in and spending some quality time with Ben. We had some delicious buttermilk pancakes (Ellie I owe you buttermilk since I used some of yours). Then we ran a few errands and did some shopping for Ben since he starts his new job on Monday. It kind of felt like we were going school shopping for him. Then a quick walmart run to get a few supplies for my sewing station...(I will post pics once it is finished). We then completed a few projects around the apartment such as hanging a few last pictures and organizing our garage. Before nightfall we also went on a nice bike ride (okay I may have complained a little since it was pretty chilly at this point in the day). Here is a picture of my much loved bicycle that I purchased last year. There is currently something wrong with the break pad on the front wheel so that will prevent any future rides for the time being. Sunday (today) was also another lazy day of planning lessons and doing some laundry. I also must guiltily add that I had two Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes this weekend. The first one B surprised me with after school on Friday, and the second one was a reward for the chilly bike ride. The shortage of pumpkin pie filling has prevented me from making anymore homemade ones so Starbucks may be seeing more of me over the next few weeks. Well I'm off to fold the last batch of laundry. Goodnight!

Bicycle.

Good Morning Beautiful Friday

Hello Hello!

So I am currently a little under the weather...a little tickle in my throat and a bit stuffy but not even an annoying cold can get in the way of my Friday. I woke up this morning already ready for the weekend. It is not that I hate my weeks or anything because I truly am enjoying the classroom. I will just always love my weekends. Two days to relax and get things accomplished for myself. Unfortunately Ben will most likely start working on the weekends so that will be one downside, but I am hoping to get a lot of leseon planning done when he is working so that when he gets home we can be together and not worry about other things.

Did I mention that my coffee tastes aabsolutely delectible this morning. Because it does ;)

On another topic...I am not sure when I will get my new license with my new name. It is close to impossible to make it to the DMV before 4:30. I can't get my passport until I get my license, and I couldn't get my license until I got my ss card. After the license I can also do all the other changes with my college, bank, etc.

Ok enough of my scatter brained thoughts this morning. I have to get my mind and things together in the next fifteen minutes. I hope everyone has a wonderful friday. God is Good :)

My coffee

Every morning my coffee maker goes off at 6am (it is rather loud so it serves as my back-up alarm). As I hear the beans grinding I crawl out of bed and slowly wake up as I get ready for the day. By the time I get on the interstate to my school the sun is up and my coffee (2nd cup of the morning) is in my travel mug ready to go. I wouldn't go as far as to say I wake up in the morning for my coffee, but it certainly is an incentive. It's thursday tomorrow people. Live it up!

Off to the wilderness

{picture from my family's cabin}

Off to a wildlife park with my class tomorrow! Thankfully the weather is promising and my lunch is all packed. Oh the excitement of field trips isn't lessened with age, trust me! There are whispers of Ben starting a blog. I will keep you updated ;)

My weekend briefly

My weekend was filled with...

-Sleeping in
-drinking coffee
-planning spelling lessons
-trivial pursuit
-thrift store shopping
-loud cover bands
-eating pasta
-brunch with friends (see photo above)
-organizing
-breaking our the scarves
-caribou with friends
-Soccer game

I think that this list equates to a weekend well spent. It did go by faster than I would have liked however. Back to school again this week with a field trip and all :)

Returning to 5th Grade

I start student teaching tomorow. Wish me luck! My peanut butter and jelly sandwhich is made and ready(with homemade strawberry-rhubard jam to be exact) *See Pic above
Off to bed now...

(well I'm at least attempting to go to bed early so that the morning doesn't hit me too hard.)

XO,

Mrs. Zimmer

Where did summer go?

The temperature slipped down into cooler temps this weekend. We had grown accustomed to the humidity that comes along with high eighties so when it hardly reached sixty degrees these last few days I suddenly found myself thrown into autumn cravings. Hence the reason for this post… Spiced Pumpkin Latte. It’s autumn in a cup. Seriously. I also crave Starbuck’s pumpkin latte when they bring it out every fall, so when a happened upon this recipe last autumn I had to try it. I honestly think it lives up to the Starbucks drink, and it costs a lot less to make when you consider how many you can make at home once you buy the ingredients. Let me warn you however, if you don’t like pumpkin this drink is not for you. This drink will not make you suddenly like pumpkin, so stay away pumpkin haters. (Ben falls into this category so don’t feel too bad) I have played around with the recipe a bit since receiving my espresso machine. The recipe only calls for strong coffee but if you have an espresso machine feel free to substitute a shot of espresso…either tastes about the same to me. This could be because I make my coffee rather strong however, ha.
The funny this about this recipe is that I believe there is a nationwide shortage on canned pumpkin right now. You may laugh but I am being completely serious. It is hard to find because I guess 1/3 of the pumpkin crop went bad last harvest so there is a shortage on grocery store shelves. I happened to get a can from my brother and sister-in-law who unknowingly possessed the scarce item in their pantry. So on a side note, if you cannot imagine a thanksgiving without pumpkin pie you may want to start searching for it now. I suppose you could go the all-natural route and buy whole pumpkins…but that is even a little too ambitious for my love of baking. Or maybe my love of pumpkin doesn’t go that deep? Who knows?

(this recipe makes two 8oz servings, which really means only one large mug if you drink your coffee like I do, but you can pretty much multiply this recipe as needed for groups) Don’t do any precise measuring either because I am pretty sure I use different amounts each time. Those of you that demand precise measurements may have a problem with this….so do as you wish.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

1 cup strong coffee
2/3 cup evaporated milk
¼ cup Pure Pumpkin
1 tablespoon sugar (add more to taste if you want it sweeter)
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (can use ground cinnamon too)

Combine everything in a sauce pan and heat over stove until very hot (stir occasionally). Or you can combine it in a microwave safe bowl/mug and heat it in the microwave.

To make a foamy top you can prepare as above and then carefully transfer the hot mixture into a blender and then blend for a minute, OR you can steam up some milk in your espresso machine ;) I have personally never tried the blender method. It just seemed a little messy for me, so I usually just steam some milk or take out the good ol’ can of whip cream and spray some on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon on top and sit back and watch autumn roll in.

I fully realize that the eighty degree weather may return this week, so you may need to save this recipe for later.


ONE LAST THING!
For all the leftover pumpkin you will have left, please consider making pumpkin waffles. Here is the recipe I have used for these.