So This is Life, as Husband & Wife.

Riv is on his way!

2011-11-22T16:34:00.004-06:00

It has been QUITE a while since the last post. I figure I'm going to have to get back in the swing of posting when little man Rivers shows up in the next 6 weeks or so!

For a warmup post, I thought I'd share a few pics of my first attempt at crafting Riv's little onesies :) enjoy!

Less Is More

2011-01-17T09:12:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! I have a question to pose... It's been so long since I've actually posted, I hope people actually stop to see this!

I was reading an online article last week about a family in California who "lives green". They have gotten it down to a "T". They literally do not have ANY trash. Only a little recycling each week when the trucks come by. It's insane (You can click the previous link to see the article/pics).

Now, this family is a little over the top, in my opinion, but to each his own. The one thing that I LOVED that this family did, was shopping at wholesale stores for groceries where they could literally bring in their glass containers for dry goods, and not take home any packaging...

The only catch is, I have NO idea what kinds of stores DO that! Do you?? If so, let me know how we can start doing this, please! :) I'd love to not have the flour/sugar/bean/etc. wrappers taking up garbage/recycling space around here if it's not needed.

Love,

Denise

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T20:16:00.004-05:00

Introducing our halloween characters: Deb and Dexter Morgan from the TV show Dexter. Brother and Sister. However, in real life, they are Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter - Husband and Wife! We love this show. Don't judge until you watch a season or 5. Seriously. It sounds deranged, but it's actually brilliant.

Enjoy the photos. :)

A little sneak peak before the party :)

Deborah Morgan from Dexter (i don't quite have the "Deb" scowl down...)

okie dokie! Now we're off to party like it's 1999!

delicious find!

2010-09-09T13:02:00.002-05:00

I just tossed together a few things for lunch today, and it was so delicious that I had to share it with you!

New Chicken Salad:

1 small red apple - chopped

1/2 chicken breast

salt/pepper to taste

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tsp sour cream

2 teaspoons lemon juice

cut away any fat from the chicken. Then boil to cook.

Shred chicken and toss with other ingredients.

You can chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes or you can just eat it right away (i ate it right away. I liked the mixture of the warm chicken and the cool apple).

try it! Enjoy :)

love, denise.

Who wants to dance?

2010-08-09T00:49:00.002-05:00

I do! After listening to computer generated music for some time, I thought, hey, why don't I take a stab at it? So, for anyone who is interested, here's a new jam I worked on today. I still feel bad for not going to work out...

Hope you love it!

http://www.purevolume.com/TheRedShoeMarchTeam

go there and listen to "To Sleep..."

Making My Own Sourdough Starter

2010-07-30T14:54:00.003-05:00

I have decided that I want to make homemade sourdough bread! For this, I will need a "starter" to...well, to get started... I could get one from a friend, but I like the idea of starting completely from scratch... SO I did a little Google-magic research and came across this website: http://www.breadtopia.com/
I watched the guy's video tutorial of making his own whole wheat sourdough starter, and I need to go buy some pineapple juice! :)

(this rye looks SOOOOOOOOOOO delicious!)

Videos of Love

2010-07-29T22:13:00.002-05:00

it has been a WHILE! yikes... sorry, guys! I've been painting the house, gardening, cooking, cleaning, blah blah blah. Lots more excuses up my sleeve if you need them. To tide you over until the next "real" post, I want to share with you ten of our current favorite YouTube videos. Enjoy!

(in no particular order)

1. Taylor the Latte Boy (I sometimes change the lyrics to "Darrel, the Latte Man" in my head as I drive away from or towards Starbucks...) - i cannot for the life of me find a better resolution video for this, but you'll be okay. :)

2. Cutie Little Doped Up David: Is this FOREVER?!

3. Latarian The Hoodrat: Oh, Latarian...

4. And You Know What He Did?!

5. ...Hide yo' Husbands!

6. I Can Do Anything Good -- Better Than ANYone! (is this Kristen Chenoweth as a wee lass?? haha)

7. Speakers on Bl...HI!!!

8. It's Time for Daddy to Make Some Funny!

9. World's Best Zombie Interview

10. 2010 Navo Middle School TEACHERS' STEP PERFORMANCE - what what!!! (if you can't tell, I'm the one in the front (left) in the black shirts.) - I'm not sure if this link will work since it's on Facebook, but we'll try it anyhow... :)

And I will leave you all with that. Hopefully this post brings you many joys. And laughs. And stomach aches from the laughs. :)

Love, Denise and Aaron.

A New Addition??

2010-06-12T10:16:00.003-05:00

No, folks, I am not pregnant, so just go ahead and get that idea out of your little heads... :)

BUT... we have been talking for a while about getting a PUPPY! And... yesterday we found her. She is not ours just yet...she's not available until Monday, but you can bet your sweet bottom that I will be the first one in line when they open to claim her as a POWER! :)

She is the sweetest thing EVER. No joke. She was in a cage with about 3 other dogs, who were all rowdy and play biting and all, but she just sat over in th
e little corner squished between the doggie bed and the fence. Her little tail was tucked so far between her legs, and she was trembling. I went over to pick her up, and she just snuggled right into the crook of my neck and didn't even move at all. It was definitely love at first sight - and for BOTH of us! Can you believe it?? :) I thought she would be too small for Aaron's taste, but he was the one that said she was perfect! We took her back to the Puppy Room to play with her for a few minutes, and she slowly became less frightened. She really seemed to like both of us - so snugly!!! She really just wanted to be close to one of us the whole time we were in there. She would investigate the room for about a minute, and make her way right back over to whoever was closest at that point. AND.... she didn't make a PEEP - even ONCE - the whole time we were there... definitely not a barker! :)

She is a 6 lb. Black, Brown, and White Chiuauah/Dachshund Mix, and is ADORABLE!!!! She's only about 6 months old. Here are a couple of little pics of her. We are trying to not get our hopes up for her, because there's always a chance that her owners might claim her or that someone else (please no, please no...) will also come to adopt her... If that happens, then they will just draw names from a hat... If that is the case, I don't have the same "luck" as Jeff does, so let's just hope it doesn't come to that... Oh, and as you can tell, I have definitely failed the "not getting my hopes up" part... :/ Praying that she is supposed to be ours!!! We love her already!!!

How much are you totally in love with her?! :)

white ninja = love.

2010-06-03T14:52:00.002-05:00

Bonus Laugh

2010-06-02T11:03:00.002-05:00

okay, first of all, I promise to get back on track with regular posts after this week is over (and SCHOOL is over! haha... weird!), but until then, I thought I'd share with you another story from the classroom.
This week is Finals Week for our Middle Schoolers. On their exam, I gave them a bonus question (which is so silly, I'm basically BEGGING them to get 3 extra points on their test...) was this: "What is your favorite new thing (OR the most memorable new thing) that you learned all year long in Mrs. Power's class?"
I would like to share with you the response that I got from the same child (8th grader) you are already familiar with due to his Blog Debut in A Day in the Life of a Middle School Teacher a few weeks ago. His response was this (his spelling, and all...):

"1. When MRs. Power steped in the talent show
2. When my phone ranged in MRs. Power's class
3. How easy Reading has gotten for me in MRs. Power's class"

It's hard to stay irritated at him for not really answering the question at all (and it was SO EASY!!!!) when he includes his #3, right?! I mean, who can blame me for going ahead and giving him those points??

:) Love, Mrs. Power - The almost not still a first year teacher - ;)
(i know that's probably grammatically atrocious, but let's just be thankful that I'm a READING teacher, and not a grammar teacher...)

Math Rap

2010-05-26T16:12:00.002-05:00

Check out this video that three of our Navo Students recorded today. Their math class with Mr. Hummel had a contest to see who could write the best Math Rap, and these are the three winners. The two boys in the video are two of my most fun students. Bright kids. I don't teach the girl, but I'm sure she's great, too. lol

Enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yx-y7O0_Po

Renig

2010-05-24T08:49:00.002-05:00

ok... sorry guys, but we will be postponing the house party. Aaron is a kind husband, and requested that we wait until school is over for me (only two more weeks!!! YEA!!!). He wants me to be able to focus on work while that's what I need to be doing, instead of party planning. I would much rather be planning the party, but I am thankful for his responsible mind in waiting. I don't need any help in procrastinating with my responsibilities! :) I wonder if I will go through "Senioritis" symptoms EVERY year... Probably.
My prayer this week is that I will be diligent in my work to prepare and stay on top of everything that I need to be doing this week (which is a LOT...). I told Aaron I have a feeling I will be here at the school for many late afternoons/evenings this week (hopefully not next week as well, but maybe...), and that's okay, but I want to be diligent and hardworking while I am here so that I'm not just wasting a lot of precious time...

Recap: Party is postponed, but we will let you know for sure when we get the final date set!

Beautiful Video

2010-05-21T12:11:00.001-05:00

Good Message. Good Video.

It is surprisingly cool...

Watch it Here.

A Day in the Life of a Middle School Teacher

2010-05-20T08:33:00.002-05:00

I must appologize for being so tardy in my posting. I have been thinking much about the post that is to come, but I lack the apropriate pictures to acompany it. Therefore, the blog has remained stagnant for many days. Sorry, friends!
To make up for the days of silence, I decided to give you a snipet of my life at a Middle School teacher. The following account is from yesterday. First class of the day. I emailed this to my husband yesterday afternoon, and he was so entertained by it that I felt you might be, as well...
As I am about to post this, I am wishing that it was a humorous story instead of infuriating, but hopefully I'll have the humor side by the end of the week... Let's see if we can take this full circle... :)

(I have changed the child's name for obvious reasons...):

Me: Joe, are you talking (during a quiz)?
Joe: yes
Me: why? What do you need?
Joe: (no response. Simply looks back at his quiz.)
Me: Joe, did you hear me?
Joe: yes
Me: okay. What do you need?
Joe: (no response. Ignores me completely)
Me: Joe, please do not ignore me. What do you need?
Joe: (completely enthralled in his quiz paper. Ignoring me completely – still).
Me: Joe, step out of the classroom.
Joe: (no response or movement)
Me: Joe.
Joe: (no response or movement)
Me: (I walk over to his desk to help him gather his notebook and open the door for him)
Joe: (snatches the notebook away) I AM!
Me: Joe, get outside. Now.
Joe: oKAY! (very sarcastically )

As Joe is walking out the door, I am holding the door open for him. I shut it after him, however, he decides to pause right in the doorway, so the door clips his shoe as it closes. He opens the door back up and for the entire class he says, “YOU CAN’T HIT ME WITH THE DOOR!”

I go out in the hallway after him and speak with him more. Every response from him is disrespectful, completely claiming innocence and oblivious to what actually happened. He tells me that all he was doing was asking what the last part of the question was. I ask him if that were the case, why didn’t he just tell me that the very first time I asked him what he needed. He does not have an answer.

He continues to have an attitude as we talk, and I tell him to go down to the office. As he is walking away he is muttering disrespectfully under his breath, so I tell him to stop. He ignores me AGAIN. I tell him to STOP. He stops and says, “WHAT?! You told me to go to the office!”

I tell him that it should not take me two times of speaking to him to get a response. He says, “I don’t care.”
I say, “You really don’t care?“
He says, “nope.”
I tell him that he can just go to the office and wait for someone to talk to him. He says again, “I don’t care.”

When the bell rang to let out 2nd period, he comes back to my classroom and asks me who he’s supposed to be talking to. I sent him back and again told him to wait for someone to talk to him.

Later that afternoon, "Joe" brought me a note folded up in the fashion we used to love in middle school (the fold with the little tab that you pull to begin unfolding...). It read:

"Joe's Apoligy Letter

Dear Mrs. Power,
I am truely sorry for my actions. I know that I deserve the concequinces that I have brought upon myself. I apoligize for treating you in such a way that you don't deserve. I promise that this kind of situation will never happen again. I apoligize that I'm disrespectful at times. I realize that you are trying to help me when you get on to me about my behavior. I promise you that my behavior will definately change over the remainder of the year. You are really a great teacher and I just wanted to let you know that I appriciate you always being there when I need help. I really hope that you accept my apoligy, Because I really meant what I said. OOOOh, and another thing that I forgot to mintion (you are a really really great stepper).

,Luv Joe Tyrone Jones.

Lol:)"

Yes. I know a lot of it is misspelled, but I wanted to give it to you the way I received it. :) Gotta love my eighth graders... haha.

Here's to hoping for a great day today. I'm going to do my best to make it fun for them. I'm praying they don't turn it into another "yesterday"... My seventh graders are going to do some fun things with The Brothers Grimm stories, so that should give me a good story or two.... right?! :)

...I'll do my best to get some good pictures of the garden/house by next week. PROMISE!

also: we are going to have a House Party next weekend! the 29th. We didn't want to call it a Housewarming Party because we don't want people to feel like they have to bring us gifts. We just want you with us!
It'll be the classis BYOMeat & bring a side (and drink(s) if you like) to share! LOVE this kind of party! It's to celebrate the many friendly gatherings to come in our new home. Having our friends (aka: family) over to our home is one of our MOST favorite things to do. We're really excited, so we hope you can make it! email me if you need the address/directions! denisecpower@gmail.com

When All You Need is Dr. Mario

2010-05-04T12:21:00.002-05:00

What goes on inside my brain would be hard to describe. I'll try, though, however, if you'd like to read something more interesting, I recommend www.relevantmagazine.com, becasue they always have interesting articles. For those of you who are from the DFW area, I'll put it like this: take the intersection of I-635 & 75, Woodall Rogers and I-35 near the AAC, and any road in Denton and pretend they all exist on top of each other. That's my brain. I would like to come to a conclusion, speak a well-crafted sentence, maybe even stop drooling, but I can't. It's a traffic jam, and I'm not even in school anymore. What can I do to clear this up? I think there are several things that I could do. I could stop caring about a lot of ancillary things. I could condition myself to filter out all things that don't improve the relationships in my life I care about, or I could stop talking so that I'd have time to think, arrange, and delete the thoughts I need/don't need.

OR I could wait patiently for the Lord to answer my prayer for patience and the never ending river of lava in my soul to cool. Yes, I have lava in my blood. It courses through me. Most people would call it anger but I call it lava...lava blood. The worst part is that when I'm pressed, squeezed, put on the defense, I start gushing. The aftermath of the eruption is nothing good. You see, when the book of James says that when sin is conceived it gives birth to death is true. If someone doesn't believe in God they should come hang out with me, because my lack of ability to be kind and loving would prove to these people that sin does run it's little old feet over to death and high-five it. And then there I am just chilling, going, "Well, I guess I'll go workout and be grouchy." What a tired game that is. At what point does the open-heart surgery come that I really need? When does the Dr. Mario-esque healing come? So many questions to be answered. However, if I were to step outside of myself and look at myself, I'd probably say something to the effect of, "Are you praying about this? How can I tell you're serious about squashing your sin? If you really are serious, why aren't you on your knees right now?"

Aren't those the questions I could be asking? Probably. I don't want to wreck my household and as we all know from both Tommy Lee Jones and Pierce Brosnan, volcanoes are no laughing matter and lava really does jack stuff up.

I can't end on a funny note. This is a real struggle for me. Impatience and anger. I really need help.

Cabin Fever

2010-04-27T14:09:00.005-05:00

Denise here.

Yes, I am at work this week, but other than that, I'm pretty much stuck at home because my poor little RAV4 has decided to die yet again. That is not my actual car, but mine is so old that when I tried to search for a picture of one... well, I didn't have many pictures to choose from... haha

It has been resurrected before, yes. And it is in the process of rising again... our dear friends Jeremy and Josh were a part of the first round... pushing my sweet, sad, little car up the ridiculous hill on Carroll Blvd... Oh, those were the days...back in 2005... I found this... boy, am I annoying... haha.
so... My dear, sweet sister in law will be picking me up from work today as my father in law comes to take my car away to be fixed. Again.

All of that to say, I have plenty of time (WAY too much since I'm also administering the TAKS this week. My 7th graders are "TAKSing" as we speak...write?... and 8th graders go on Thurs and Fri...) to daydream about how much I hope everything stays on schedule with the house so that we can actually move in on Saturday!!! CRAZY! We did the initial walk-through yesterday, and only found about 4 small yellow legal pad pages worth of small things to take care of... not too shabby considering most of it was paint platters and cabinetry dings that will be a cinch to fix! We go back today after work to check it all out again. They're being really great about trying to stick to the April 30 closing date as originally scheduled. :)

Along with dreaming of moving into our new home, I am dreaming about all of the delicious meals I will be able to cook again with our beautiful stainless appliances and all of my cookware that has been packed for about a week now... we are eating sandwiches, cereal, and frozen pizza until this weekend when we move in... I have this need to cook an amazing, impressive meal...probably because I can't... ;)

on another note, I am jonesing for a soft, delicious chocolate chip cookie like the ones I devoured at Alyssa's the other evening during Ladies Night 2010... ;)

HOUSE UPDATE!

2010-04-20T13:49:00.005-05:00

okay... so we got a call yesterday saying that we may be able to do the primary walk-through of the house sometime next week! woo! Basically, what that means, is that we will go through and pick apart every little bitty thing that is not right or needs to be fixed or tweaked before we sign off on the house :) We are really excited about it!

We went to see the house on Saturday since we had heard that they put in the tile and granite (we had to see it!). We're really happy with our choices. The colors all look great together (in our opinions!). I took a few photos to share with you, of course!

The granite is in!!! It is quite dusty, so it probably seems a lot lighter than it really is... we didn't have a rag or anything to wipe it away, though!

This shot shows the granite color a little better. The plumbing fixtures are all in, too! I'm super excited about having the spray nozzel and the 60/40 under-mounted sink :)

This next photo made my poor husband look like an alien... so rather than allow you all to be frightened by Alien Aaron, I "spray painted" him into the Smoke Monster via LOST. Not that that is any less frightening, though...

The kitchen having the granite countertops in already makes the house feel so much more like a home than a shell... it's pretty exciting :)

This is our tile that we picked out. We're really happy with our darker grout next to the other house colors.

TOILETS are in! woo! no more holes in the ground! haha

Another couple of shots with plumbing fixtures - bathroom style :)i LOVE this tub!!!! it is so deep I still can't believe it. I will be able to take a bath and actually have my entire lower body submerged at once!! First time in my entire life... :) crazy long-legged genes... thanks, mom ;)

Before I wrap it up, I have a few garden-ish pics for you (of course...):

We are not big cucumber eaters at our house for some reason, but we do love pickles... SO... I decided to try my hand at growing some of the smaller cucumbers to pickle this year! Aaron's grandmother (Nanny) is quite the master gardener, and I have heard many stories of her delicious pickled veggies, so she promised me yesterday that she will teach me to pickle these buggers this year! I am really excited about it!

...also, I think these cucumber sprouts are just adorable... :)

THIS little one is going to make some delicious sweet peppers for us! We might just have to pickle a few of these as well!I am SO excited about this plant. It's the tall skinny one with the long leaves. It's called a Lemon Verbena and I got it for ONE dollar at Calloway's the other day. They have a HUGE rolling cart (three teers high) of veggies and herbs that are only one dollar just because they are taller than they like to keep on hand. They got new shipments, so they are trying to get rid of some of the older plants. Basically, they're ready to go in the ground, so they're UBER cheap! You should go by if there are any that you are needing. I think I remember them having lots of tomatoes and peppers, and I'm pretty sure there were some eggplants and a few other great plants.

The picture above this (the sweet pepper) is one that I got for the same deal along with a cayenne pepper plant and a couple more mature tomatoe plants than our little sprouts so that we can have some fruit a little earlier in the season than we would otherwise get. Next year we'll have a cold frame so that our OWN will be more mature! I love how gardening is a constant learning game. It is completely trial and error and learn as you go. :)

One last thing to leave you with: I got this book in the mail today from Amazon. I'm really enjoying it so far! I hope you all are having a fantastic week so far. Be encouraged... It's almost halfway over if you're not... ;)

love, denise

Welcome Home

2010-04-19T12:49:00.003-05:00

Aurora "Buddy" Perez

November 3rd 1926 - April 15, 2010

My grandmother set a legacy in her Christ-like example of self-sacrificial loving, giving, and helping.

She was known as "Buddy" by most everyone her entire life. We are thankful to have had such an amazing grandmother.

Welcome home, Mamaw!

Sweet Whispers

2010-04-18T08:28:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting in Starbucks as my husband faithfully serves by playing bass for a church in the Garland/Mesquite area. In a few hours, we will be alongside the rest of his family at the viewing of his sweet grandmother who went to be with the Lord Thursday evening.
As I take a short break from wrapping up some work emails/planning/etc. since I will be absent tomorrow for the funeral and to support our family in this time, I am encouraged by my dear friends and their wise, struggling, persevering, submissive hearts and words. The Lord is wooing me. He is drawing me closer to Himself through these Godly women He has, in His eternal wisdom, placed in my life. I hear him whispering sweet comfort to my heart and mind as my flesh struggles with the stress of work (and not being there to catch up), with the inability to shield my husband's heart from breaking each time he thinks about how much he misses his grandmother, who had a significant part in raising him to be the man who he is today, and with my feelings of imposition in this time of grief as I am still somewhat of a "new" member of the family since we have not even been married for 2 years yet. I only shared such a minuscule part of this self-sacrificial woman's life.
Through all of this, though, the point of this post is that I can feel the Lord's gentle tug at my heart.

"Cast your burdens on me for my yolk is light..."

Sherry encouraged me to memorize that verse over a year ago. The Lord is gracious to have it in the forefront of my mind today.

It May Get Better But It May Not

2010-04-15T09:47:00.004-05:00

Denise said, "Death happens so that we don't grow to love this world." What a wise thing to say. It's like the Lord put those words right in her mouth.

We left the hospital in more emotional pain than I have ever experienced. It's a weird thing...almost impossible to describe. The fact that it's done. You have said what's going to be said and you've heard what you've heard. There will be no more conversations, no more laughter, no more wisdom, no more homemade dinners, no more grandmother and grandfather, no more pain.

no more pain.

no.

more.

pain.

and with those words a wave of hope crashes over me. I hope that in writing this, and letting you people in on a little personal moment, you might be encouraged:

-enter the hospital, nurses are talking, laughing, smiling, death and decay surround us, enter the hospital room, the lights are off, the sun is setting, my dear sweet grandmother lay in the bed, staring blankly, gasping for breath, hanging on to life, my grandfather doesn't speak, I hug him, mom and Jordan, then proceed to speak to my unconscious Mamaw... "mamaw, I'm here to see you, i know you can't hear me, and I'm sorry you're sick, but don't be afraid and don't worry, you don't have to hang on for us, we know that you're about to see Jesus, and we are happy for you, it's just hard to let you go." And then we waited, and waited, and waited, and as the machines continued to pump oxygen to my frail bodied grandmother, we could only sit and discuss the one thing that mattered, the hope we have in Jesus, how it's hard but we who know and trust Jesus can mourn in a way that is simultaneously painful and hopeful. As we left the hospital we said goodbye to my grandfather, he hugged us and simply said, "you all take care of each other."

hope, baby. we've got it.

so we ended the night by laughing, talking of the milestones that my Mamaw has taken us through, fun stories, our wedding date, etc... still a sad time, the literal darkness (lack of a lamp) in the room was almost too appropriate. But we cling to the Light. We have a high priest who can sympathize with us. It's just hard to say goodbye, that's all.

So anyways, that's what's been going on.

I find this encouraging during this painful season of life:

Trip Lee - Cling to You

(click the plus sign then click the play button at the bottom to hear this blessing to you)

Classroom Love

2010-04-14T13:47:00.004-05:00

I thought I would share with you guys a picture of the new "reading spot" in the class. I got this fantastic chair from a local thrift store (Friends of the Family) a few weeks ago. After a good wiping down from SEVERAL clorox wipes, the chair was good to go for the classroom! I got several lamps from the same store (same trip, actually), and spray painted them so that it wouldn't be SO gaudy and busy looking in the room. I need some extra side tables for the lamps (and extention cords...), so I just decided to use the stool for the time being...

Anyhow, here is one of my favorite students modeling the Reading Spot for you (i went ahead and blacked out his face and id just for safety/privacy reasons).

Happy Reading! :)

****hahaha - my husband looked at this post and said, "man... he looks depressed!" after looking at it again, I suppose he's right... the facial expression is necessary for this pic to work! just picture a really suave look on his face. He's trying to look "gangsta". hahaha :)***

As Promised

2010-04-13T08:44:00.006-05:00

I snapped some quick shots on my way into the house yesterday as I promised! Here they are (again, sorry for the poor quality of my poor little iPhone!):

Morning Glories shooting up in less than a week:

Arugula - same time frame!

Zinnias:

Last year was my first attempt at growing any type of potatoes. I tried sweet potatoes (I try to cook with those more often for health reasons...), and it worked BEAUTIFULLY!!! I just soaked some pieces that has started to sprout "eyes"/roots on them in cups of water in the windowsill, then when the roots had grown significantly, I just dug a hole in the ground and tossed them in! The plants got HUGE! Unfortunately, I don't think I ever snapped a picture of those plants... ALSO unfortunate: The winter frost murdered them before we got any potatoes from it :( THIS year I'm starting WAY earlier with hopes of Homegrown Spuds! I haven't planted any Sweets yet, but these are the Small Red Potatoes that I tossed in a couple of weeks ago - they are growing at an incredible rate! They are already so much more developed this morning from this picture (taken yesterday afternoon)!

In this second Potato shot, you can see the Butternut Squash seedlings that I mentioned a few posts ago - still UBER excited about those showing up this year!!!! :)

I feel like I almost lived at IKEA Frisco this past weekend (NOT complaining... i LOVE that place...) - I went on Saturday with Kelley after we attended a "Make Your Own Rain Barrel" class there in Frisco (we were so close! how could we NOT have stopped by?! haha). I'll definitely have to post about the class sometime in the near future. We took a picture next to our barrell after we finished making it, and I want to get one more when she and Jer get it all set up at their place - sort of a before and after thing! So be on the lookout for that post! :)

Anyhow... All that just to tell you that I got several houseplants for our new home while I was there on Saturday, and I got some great ceramic pots for them to live in while I was there with Jen again on Sunday (she needed to go, and what kind of a friend would I be to allow here to go all the way to IKEA alone?!) :) I'll post pictures of the plants IN the pots (you can sort of see them stacked up together at the bottom of the shot) whenever I get a chance to go pick up some more potting soil... Somehow I've managed to go through a HUGE bag in less than a week and a half... haha. I can't wait to be in the new house and figure out exactly where these little babies will park themselves (have i mentioned before how anxious I am for the new house to be ready for us??). :)

Also in the picture above, you may notice a little sprout shooting up from the hunter green pot in the top right corner of the shot. THAT little bugger (we think it's a squash?? there's another one in there, too...) was some sort of accidental sprout that developed in Kel and Jer's garden just from recycled soil from last year's garden! HAHA They are finding TONS of those in all of the starter pots in which she's reusing soil... lots of tomatoes, squashes, etc. Next year she may not have to even BUY seeds if it happens again... :)

After we visited IKEA on Saturday, we spend a good 30 minutes or so attempting to dig out some blackberry and raspberry vines that grow wild in their front yard. We wanted to see if we could transplant them into some pots... I'm pretty sure we did a great job of FAILING... They all died in a matter of 1 day... DANG! I should Google "how to transplant blackberries" before our second attempt...

Quick Sprouts!

2010-04-12T08:43:00.003-05:00

Oh, you guys... I have such awesome pictures I need to take for you! I went out to water my little seeds that I planted last week (the ones I posted pictures of in the post before last), and to my surprise, there are TONS of little seedlings! It's amazing! Most of them weren't supposed to germinate/sprout for at least a week! BUT... here we are, only about 4-5 days later, and they are popping up EVERYWHERE to say hello! It's so funny how they are doing it, too... I didn't have time to take a picture this morning, but if more are doing it tomorrow, I'll snap one for you. The Morning Glories and the Zinnias all basically lifted up the top layer of soil that was over the seeds, so there was a layer of soil, the strong bench-pressing seedlings, and then about an inch of more soil hoovering above the seedlings! So strange! It was a fun surprise to find this morning, though :)

Sorry for the lack of photos today, but I'll see what I can do about that this afternoon before homegroup. Hopefully I'll have some good ones to post for you tomorrow morning! Happy Monday!

p.s. Until the next post, here are some pictures of what they should look like when they are in bloom!

Blue Morning Glories:

Zinnias:

p.s.

2010-04-09T12:40:00.003-05:00

I know I already posted (and a LONG post at that... sorry!), but I thought I would also share... I came across this book that I would LOVE to get before the summer is over. I want to try preserving a lot of our produce this summer so that we can lessen our grocery bills this next year! GO GREEN, BABY! :)

PLANT-ies!

2010-04-08T15:58:00.008-05:00

As promised, I come bearing new pictures of greenery! I have really enjoyed several days in the past week, sitting out on the front porch, digging in potting soil, and dreaming of our future garden at our new (FIRST!) house.

OH! we have an official closing date: APRIL 30! Crazy, right?? It's still not really "real"... I think they told Aaron that the granite countertops should be in by either yesterday or today?! Based on the time frame the guy at the design center gave us, I don't see how that is possible, but I'm very okay with it! :) I think we may go by tonight to take a look at the house just to see if anything has been done since we picked everything out at the center about a week ago :) If things have changed, rest assured, I will share pictures!

These first couple of pictures are preparing for my Planting Fest that I had the other day. I had some herbs, bulbs, and seeds that I wanted to get started, as well as some bean sprouts that I needed to transplant so that I could bury their stems a little deeper. I'm starting a LOT earlier this year than I did last year, but I still feel like I'm late! Luckily Spring was late this year, too. LOL:

Our dear friend Anna Davis (Jen's Mom!) sent some Purple Bearded Lilly bulbs to us the last time the Holms went back to Lindale. I took some time to plant them, temporarily, into a couple of pots so that they can start rooting before transplanting them at the new place in a few weeks. This picture is before I got them planted. They are still a tangled mess of bulbs, here... I'm so excited to see them bloom!!

-Pots of dirt ready to be the new home to beautiful flowers/veggies:

My sweet mother-in-law sent some seeds home with Aaron the other day, so I was able to get those started this week (morning glories, zinnias, and petunias!):The middle three containers have some daisy seeds that should be a beautiful white color (also from the "Mother-in-Law Seed Collection" :)
This is something I am actually VERY excited about: Last year, I attempted to grow some Butternut Squash from seed. I am sad to report that they never even sprouted. I was SO dissapointed, because I think it was about a year and a half ago when I first TRIED butternut squash and FELL IN LOVE with it. It is SO DELICIOUS!!!

Well... THIS year, I decided that "Maybe those seeds were just bad... I should at least TRY for some this year!" and, Ladies and Gents, I am proud to say that we now have about FIVE Butternut Squash sprouts!!!! Here are the first two, poking their little heads out to say, "HELLO!"

I recently read in a magazine (maybe Martha Stewart Living?? I honestly can't remember...) about some really great homemade teas made with a French Press (which I conveniently got as a Christmas Present from my sister-in-law this past Christmas!!!). Homemade teas were one of the original reasons that I wanted to grow a lot of my herbs, and I'm very excited to try it soon. I'll have to post about it when I do! Maybe this weekend... :)

Here are some of the herbs that will be featured when I DO make those teas:
Peppermint, Grapefruit Mint, and Chocolate Mint. I need to get another Chammomile plant... my first one, last year, did not fare too well... Oh, and you may have noticed one of our three different Lavender plants in the "dirt pots" picture above:

I have also come to a conclusion this week: I will definitely need some sort of gardening center/countertop/workspace/greenhouse when it comes time to start our seeds next year...our poor front porch has gotten a little out of control! :) It does make me really happy to come out and see them all just growing away as I leave for work in the mornings and come home to them in the evenings.

And, last but certainly not least... I thought I would share this with you... I was in the kitchen the other day, and noticed something swaying in the window... I went out to find that the asparagus plot (bucket?) that we got from the in-laws' garden about a year and a half ago (and that I thought was completely DEAD) is actually NOT dead, but THRIVING!!! that is an asparagus that I didn't realize had grown (obviously...since I thought it was just dried up remnaints of asparagus root in a bunch of dirt...). It is HUGE! I've let several of them grow up and go to seed before, but we've never had one so tall or THICK! I put my size 8 Crocs shoe in the pot so that you could see just how huge the thing is! I was shocked to find it!! Can't wait to have a whole plot of asparagus at the house :)

p.s. don't mind all the dead plants next to that pot... consider that the Power Plant Graveyard... (lol) Poor Aloe...

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! WOOOOO!!!! :)

love, denisie

Baby Berry!

2010-04-01T09:24:00.003-05:00

Everyone?

Get ready to meet our very first ready-to-eat, grown in our own garden (well, flower pot on the front porch...) STRAWBERRY! She's adorable (and aparently delicious!)!!

The critic (my beloved husband, AP!) says that she was perfectly sweet (not bitter OR tart!). I'm so excited to see these plants flourish through the summer!

My husband agreed to "model" the eating of the first strawberry for all of you, our beloved Blog Followers. He's such a great sport!! Thanks, BABY!!!

This pic's my favorite. I think it's hilarious. Paul Martinez agrees with me (don't you Paul?!)!

the results???

HE LOVED IT! WOO!!!

Happy Gardening/fabulous North Texas weather today!

P.S. We both get to take off early from work today so that we can pick our the flooring and countertops for our new house!! The place doesn't make appointments on the weekends OR after 3pm...in DALLAS... so... we were both forced to use vacation time... oh well...our HOUSE is getting completed!! TOTALLY worth a half day of vacay, right?? After this, they just have to put those things in, and we get to MOVE in! Shouldn't be more than a few weeks, now!! YEA!!! Don't worry...you know I'll keep you in the loop!!

Affections = Stirred

2010-03-31T09:10:00.006-05:00

Last night, as AP and I drove to our dear friends' house to get our weekly dose of LOST, we were discussing the fact that gardening truly stirs my affection for the Lord. I know I've mentioned it before, but it's one of those things that I pray never ceases to amaze me. I don't think that I will ever get to a point where I know everything there is to know about the plants that I will plant, and I like it that way. I have been amazed, over the last few weeks, to watch our broccoli go to seed, which basically means I've watched as our broccoli plants have exploded skyward to a height of about 4-feet with an amazing number of BEAUTIFUL yellow flowers covering them. This weekend I (sort of) weeded the garden. It was a half-hearted attempt because I know we will be demolishing the plot in a matter of days/weeks because we will be moving into our new home as soon as it is finished (we go to pick our counter tops and flooring tomorrow! yea!). I think it was mostly just a therapeutic effort on my part this weekend. :) Anyhow, while I was uprooting the remnants of long-dead tomato, pepper, marigold, zinnia, and bush bean plants, I came across a few pods that were never picked from the bean bush before winter. I crumbled away the pod to find about 3-4 perfect little bush beans (SEEDS!). Aaron and I talked about how awesome it is that GARDENING (of all things!) is such a mirror of the Cross. From death (my poor bean bush) comes the promise of new life (the bean - seed)! How amazing is that?! I can claim NOTHING of that by my hand. I let the garden go to the winter (i HATE being cold...) winds, and still the Lord brings the promise of life from my catastrophic mess of a garden. :)

It's an amazing thing.

Ok, so are you ready for pictures?! I promised them, so here I am, ready to fulfil that promise! Enjoy!

Strawberry plant

second set of strawberry plants! Don't they look delicious?! I think one should be ready to pluck today when I get home!

This is the best looking of the seeds I planted a few weeks ago. It's a pole bean. I'm thinking it's doing so much better (as far as leaf development) because I transplanted it to that bigger "pot". I should spend some time this weekend giving my other sprouts some extra room...

Lantanas are some of my favorite flowers. My mom always had the yellow ones around our house, but the multi-colored ones (on the right) are my favorites. They're not looking great right now - I don't think my plants are liking all the weather changes recently, but you can get an idea, at least...

This is our garlic - still just growing away! You can also see some of the Cabbage behind it.

better shot of the beautiful cabbages!Shallots are so cool looking! :) I love the "spiky" look of the greenery. Reminds me of a boy's terrible buzz haircut from Jr. High School back in the day...

Well, friends, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Sorry they're not the greatest in quality. One day (Lord willing!) we will have a great camera (like Kelley and Alyssa!), but until then, thank you for being okay with my little iPhone photos! :)

Love you all, Denise.

P.S. My eighth grade students have completely lost their minds today. I am dangerously close to needing about 24 of these (just be glad that I don't need 140 of them):

Rainbow Waffles are for Lovers.

2010-03-30T14:12:00.004-05:00

There is so much to share with you all in the way of cooking, gardening, and living these days...

Unfortunately, I have been slacking in the area of photography, and that is the reason for my delay in posting. I promise to have photos (therefore a good post) very soon, though!! I do!

The garden is going to seed, and strawberries are ripening, and new recipes are being devoured!

For now, my friends, I revert back to an old photo that I took quite a few months ago, but is now more relevant, seeing as it is Easter Weekend this weekend!

My sister in law, Jordan, decided to make waffles one night. To make them more fun, we decided she should play with food coloring, so she made Rainbow Waffles! She made a regular batch of waffle mix, then separated it into four small dishes to make four different colored waffles. We ended up with Turquoise, Pink, Purple and Blue. They were phenomenal. Not only in looks, but also in TASTE!

Way to go, Jordan!

Morning #9490: Thumbs Up.

2010-03-24T09:12:00.009-05:00

This morning, the day that marks the 26th year the Lord has chosen to keep me here on Earth, I noticed that my husband woke up EXTREMELY early... and then I proceeded to go back to sleep :) I figured he just went in to work early since he went in a little late yesterday. no biggie.

THEN... just about 2 minutes before my alarm was to go off, i hear the door to the bedroom open, smell a delicious scent that can awaken even the grumpiest NON-morning person, and heard my sweet, handsome (i LOVE the way he looks in his work clothes - even if he hates wearing them! MUY CALIENTE! lol) husband singing "Happy Birthday" to me! When my eyes adjusted to reality, I notice he has gone to Starbucks to get me the travel mug that I've wanted so badly! Well... that was his intention... he actually came back with a different one* because they were sold out of the one i really wanted** (of all days, right?!)! :)

*Exibit A: totally just realized that it is not, in fact, a travel mug. it is just a coffee mug. non-travel type :) i thought that I was just not able to locate the lid that Aaron had (for some reason) not left on the mug... hahaha - now it all makes sense... :)

**Exhibit B: i can't find a picture of it ANYWHERE! even on the starbucks website!! what the heck?! anyways... it's a stainless travel mug that looks like it has hail damage. ;) there are little dents all over the mug that sort of look like polkadot dents...

Anyhow, this post has two purposes: to share another sweet story about my husband, AND to let you all know that you are invited to attend a "Grill and Chill" at our house on Friday evening to celebrate said birthday (yet ANOTHER thing my sweet husband has organized all on his own!). It will be BYOMeat, and bring your favorite beverage and a side to share. These truly are the best kinds of food parties, in my opinion! And it doesn't hurt that our friends are pretty much some of the best cooks in all the land... :)

If you plan to attend, please let one of us know so that we know how many bodies to expect!

Have a Fantastic "hump" day! The week is coming to a close already!

p.s. visit Calloway's Gardening Club page to see the blog's shout out :) that's pretty cool :) I guess I'm going to have to get on the ball with taking more pictures of the plants! That's one way to kick-start me! :) Check back later this week for garden updates. I promise I'll post some new pictures! There's definitely a lot happening on that front.

p.p.s. I TOTALLY wish that I would have time to make THESE little puppies for our Friday shindig. MAN! now THAT is way better than a birthday "cake" :) That's what I'm talking about. i LOVE IT! :)

A Hard Job for a Soft Heart

2010-03-22T08:59:00.002-05:00

I can see how as a teacher it would be easier to skate through the years easily in one respect by not really investing in your students anymore than you have to...
What I mean is that I realized today something that I already knew in my head, but it became reality because this morning, one of my students came by to tell me he was leaving. His family is moving to Midland. He told me he wished he could at least come to my class before he left. His family is originally from Mexico, and as an English as a Second Language learner, he struggles in his classes (though, in all honestly, most of his struggle is that he would rather be goofing off than learning... lol). He's been a student that I have seen behavioral and emotional successes with. I actually fought back tears after we said goodbye, after he promised me that he would make good decisions - especially when it comes to the friends that he chooses to hang out with, and as he waved at me as he walked down the hallway towards the front office.
I love my students - all of them. Even the ones that make me want to quit sometimes... haha. I want the best for my students, and I want them to make good decisions and to not have to learn things the hard way like I did (and still do...), even though it is inevitable. I guess this is the closest to understanding parenthood that I will get until, Lord willing, we do have our own children one day. Man, I'm going to be a mess of a Mom...
No. No, I won't. I now understand my mother in ways I never did before. My mom was always a bucket of tears at times of transition, like going to college, etc. BUT... she always said that she did not turn into a mess of a mom at those points because she knew that I was the Lord's. Not hers.
There are some things I'd rather take people's word for instead of experiencing. Instead, I am tearful on the first day back after spring break. ;) What the heck am I going to do at the end of the year?!?!?! YIKES!

Wrap It Up

2010-03-15T15:21:00.005-05:00

Ok. so I just realized that I never posted the lyrics to our songs like I had said I would! AND... I had a picture (those of you who read the Irwins' blog will just have to deal with seeing the same one again. so ha.) to post for you...which I did not do.

So i will post some lyrics from our PowerJams collection and the aforementioned picture. As you read the lyrics, you may not be impressed. In fact, you WON'T be impressed. Just know that if you ever experienced them in real time alongside the melody and the dances... your brain would implode from the amount of awesome. :)

Ghost Kitty: "Ghost Kitty runs around in her underwear!"

Dexter: "All I wanna do is lay in my bed and watch Dexter...wikawikawa...DEXTER!"

Wheat: "If it looks like wheat and it smells like wheat, then it must be wheat for me!"

Date Night Cooking Class @ Sur La Table

(We love these Irwins!)

A Tribute of Sorts

2010-03-13T15:50:00.000-06:00

I thought I would take a moment to brag on my sweet husband for a minute. I never want to be the kind of wife who takes the little things for granted - especially since I have a fantastic husband, and I really do have so many things to be thankful for. Since it is 4:00 right now, I think I will just list four things that I love about my husband very quickly before I move on to my next Spring Break Activity - Shopping for flower seeds to start for our garden. I started veggies, but now i need to start my flowers!! it's SO much cheaper this way!!!! :)

A Short List of Reasons Why My Husband is Neat

(in no particular order, and DEFINITELY not all-inclusive):

1. Song - My husband is the most goofy, impromptu, and creative musician I have ever met. We have signature Power Family songs that have originated from nothing but my creative husband's brain including the hit singles "Wheat", "Ghost Kitty", "Dexter", "Gimme That Chocolate" and many more. I'll post the lyrics to these hits later in the post.

2. Order - In our marriage, we are almost always complete opposites of our close friends (and most normal couples, i think...). I (a woman) am the messy one. I am cluttery. I am a hoarder. I am a compulsive shopper/collector. I am the one that wants everything that I see. My husband (a man) is the clean one. He is a minimalist to the utmost degree. He wants to get rid of everything in our house. He could live with nothing but a panini press, cereal bowl and refrigerator. :)

The first time I saw his bedroom before we were even dating in college, I walked in to find a desk with nothing on it but a lamp and a pen, a bed, a nightstand with a lamp and alarm clock, a rug, a t.v. on a stand, a stereo and a CD Tower. That is all. My first words, "WHERE IS ALL OF YOUR STUFF?!" I then proceeded to make him curtains at least to warm up the place a bit. It was all over after that. The poor guy never stood a chance... I had already put a crack in his wall of Minimalistic Living.

I am constantly fighting against my nature for the simple reason that I love my husband and I know that if I leave my dishes until I get home with more time, or leave the bed unmade because we're just going to get in it and mess it up again, or leave my clean laundry stacked up in piles in the laundry room or the closet instead of taking the 5 minutes it takes to put it away because I would rather be doing anything else and I'm just going to wear the stuff again and have to wash it and put it away ALL OVER AGAIN...My sweet, clean, orderly minded husband might just have an aneurism from things being so unruly. His brain can't handle these things.

I am not very good at them STILL after almost two years of marriage, but I PROMISE that I am constantly trying (i do get lazy sometimes, and for that i am ashamed and so utterly sorry...) to mold my mind to thinking more like his in these areas because i REALLY DO love a clean, orderly home...i just don't like MAKING/KEEPING it that way...

...that was long... sorry!

3. Laughter - I have always heard that one of the most important things in marriage is to have fun together. It is impossible to not laugh with my husband at least 5 times a day - even if we hardly see each other during our crazy work weeks. From the aforementioned songs, to kitchen booty-dances, to his "Monstie" drawings on the steamy mirror/shower door, to his "stupid" quotes from The Ticket or any movie he has seen lately, to him making fun of me for totally not being funny at all and yet still trying hopelessly... There is never a dull moment in the Power house. Literally. I love it. I would hate it if these were ever missing from my life.

4. Adventure - Aaron is always up for almost anything. We both love to travel. When we got married, from day one our finances included three different savings accounts. House, Emergency Savings, and Vacation. This way, we always (well, within reason...) have the ability to at least take a mini vacation or trip if the time becomes available to us. We love trying new things (from food to sporting activities (skiing for me... still scared...haha) to new countries or new cities closer by). We love our friends, and finding new things we can try WITH our friends. I can't wait to look back on all of our adventures together in five, ten, twenty, fifty years (as long as the Lord blesses us with life on the earth).

yes, i know... i said four, but I will give you a bonus one.

5. Provision - Our provision is and always has been, from the Lord. However, as far as working to provide for his family, my husband is a stud of all studs. He is a hard worker, and he is extremely good at what he does. Everyone he works with loves him (naturally!), and he is continually exceeding expectations by his superiors. He makes me so proud.

Aaron (unlike almost every other teenage boy-man) decided his college major simply because between all of the majors he considered, this one (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) was sure to provide for the wife and family that he one day hoped the Lord would bless him with. He knew that as the head of a household it would be his responsibility to provide for those in his care, and he planned accordingly. This still blows my mind.

I truly have been blessed by my husband in many many many ways. I just wanted to share those few with you.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend (and for those others of you who are also enjoying the first day of your Spring Break, i hope you are enjoying the knowledge that there is no work next week!), and I hope you take a moment to thank God for the little things that he has blessed you with in the people he has surrounded you with.

Love, Denise (MRS. Aaron Lane Power. :) ).

Early Morning Thievery

2010-03-12T08:52:00.003-06:00

I am totally reposting this straight from this FANTASTIC site. If you do not already read it, I suggest you start... it's phoenomenal...

...

ok.

nevermind.

it doesn't copy over the pictures, so i'll just give you the link to the post that I want you to see. It's DIY planters! Best way i've seen to start seeds! i need some newspapers! :)

CLICK HERE for the link to the DIY seed starters post!

Here's a quick peek:

ENJOY!!!

love, denise.

Beanie Babies & Mini 'Maters

2010-03-11T14:15:00.004-06:00

Our little beanies are growing like CRAZY! yesterday (only two days after the last sprouts picture post) i took another pic of the seedlings that are sprouting up in our living room/kitchen. I thought I'd share the pictures as well as some wisdom I gained from my Garden Expert Father-in-law last night.

The sprouts are shooting up so tall and skinny so quickly because they aren't getting enough sunlight. They are deficient of that wonderful vitamin D! I have been afraid to put them outside because of the weather changing and raining and wind-ing and being so cold, but he suggested that Ii put them out this morning before heading to work so that they can soak up some rays and begin growing the way they should. I think I'll pull them in tonight just to be safe since it was about 34 degrees F when I left for work this morning...

I'm SO looking forward to the weather staying warm enough for them to live outside for good. I love that we can already see the little leaves poking out from the top of the biggest ones! I also am constantly amazed at how QUICKLY they grow! I LOVE gardening :) It is a constant miracle. well, I think so, anyways...

Happy Growing :)

Plano Impromptu

2010-03-11T08:46:00.002-06:00

Last night was eventful.
About 5 minutes after I got home from work, we got a call from Aaron's mother saying that his Mamaw (pronounced like "Ma'am-maw") was in the hospital and that we should get there right away. So we immediately piled into the Focus and headed to Plano.
Mamaw has been feeling ill for about 3 weeks now, but yesterday it became a lot worse. Mello (short for Romellio, and what Jordan and Aaron call their grandfather) took her to the hospital, and after running many tests, they found from a gastro-intestinal test that there is a mass, and that she was hemorrhaging in her stomach. We got to spend about 20 or 30 minutes with her last night and pray with her and the family. She is scheduled to have surgery in about one hour (10:00am central time).
Please pray with us that Mamaw will get through the surgery well, and that she will have a quick recovery and not be in any pain. She is one tough woman - if i only had the time to tell you the stories that I have been told. She truly is a warrior of a woman (always has been), and it was extremely difficult to see her so weak and uncomfortable last night. If it was difficult for me, I can't even imagine how hard it was on her daughter (Joannie, my mother-in-law) and Mello - let alone Aaron and Jordan.
There were tears last night as we (Audie, Joannie, Mello, Jordan, Aaron and I) waited in the waiting room until they would let us see her. It was an extremely eye-opening experience to see the people in the rooms as we passed by on the way in and out of the hospital - so frail and with so many tubes running in and out of them. It was an emotionally draining night to say the least. It's a hard sight to see an old man unable to stop flowing tears as he worries for his sweet wife and hugs his grandchildren like he doesn't want to let go.
Aaron and I both have to work today, so we are not able to be at the hospital (obviously). We will try to head out there as soon as we get home today. Please join us in praying for her as she undergoes the surgery and as she (Lord willing) recovers well.
We love you all. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers.

John Mayer in Dallas

2010-03-10T08:21:00.003-06:00

Last night Aaron and I went to see John Mayer perform at the AAC with our dear friends Kelley and Jeremy Irwin. This is a big deal, since John did not even come on stage until our normal bedtime, and it was a TUESDAY!! ;)
I want to share a few things with you that I realized last night:

1. John no longer has just the one tatoo on his left arm. He now sports a sleeve that, in my opinion, looks pretty silly on him. He definitely should have left well enough alone with the original tat.

2. There is a reason Michael Franti and Spearhead (the opening act) have only had one hit single in the last 10 years... It's the only good one.

3. I really like the AAC for concerts.

4. I love how there was NEVER a line for the bathroom - not even once :)

5. I always thought that John Mayer was an amazing song writer, and knew from hearsay that he was a great guitarist... but HOLY MOLY! He really is a phoenomenal musician. I am definitely going to the next show he puts on. DEFINITELY worth the money. FANTASTIC show.

6. Last, but not least: John is one of the goofiest looking singers I've ever seen. LOL - his mouth pulls down and to the right, and I couldn't stop staring at it the whole time. haha :) case in point:

So, John, even though you look totally goofy when you sing, I must speak nothing but respect for your talent. No matter how arrogant you might be... you are a freaking amazing musician. Can't wait for the next album/show.

Little Baby Greenies

2010-03-09T10:43:00.005-06:00

If we're friends on Facebook, I apologize for showing you the same picture twice :) But I wanted to share:

About a week or two ago, I hit up Calloway's to get some seeds started for our spring/summer garden! I want to have them ready to go in the ground when we get moved into the new place so that we can get veggies growing ASAP! I want to be able to gather more of the harvest this year before the frosts set in. We lost WAY too many delicious, huge tomatoes this past year!

When I got home yesterday, these little boogers (ok. not boogers... just string beans) were sprouting up to say "HELLO!" I love them already!

love, denise.

*****************
Edit to previous post:

This is pretty cool :) I was contacted this afternoon by Kimberly from Calloway's Nursery. She wants to link up my blog to the Calloway's email that they will be sending out soon! She loved the photos that I found in my previous post about square foot gardening, and asked if it would be okay if they referenced the blog! How fun (crazy!?)! :)
So, if you all want to see us featured, register for their garden club here so that you can see the email! SO FUN!
She's going to be keeping up with future posts, so when we finally get our garden set up at the new house, maybe there will be even more future features! :) Alliteration is neat.

p.s. i would recomend signing up for the garden club, anyways, if you aren't already (even if you don't care to see the feature - lol)!

Overwhelmed II

2010-03-05T15:53:00.003-06:00

I am overwhelmed...with LIFE, it seems. Jen just wrote a blog about being the good kind of overwhelmed. I wish that were my case. I'll be the pessimest today.

Aaron and I woke up this morning, and the first thing he said was, "how do you feel?"

my response?

"tired. not good. I don't like life right now."

What is my problem??? I am in a funk this week, and I am ready for it to end. I like being a teacher. I love it, actually, but this week, I do not like it... at the same time. does that make sense??

I have woken up this week dreading the day. Not looking forward to it. Not excited about it. I have gone to bed at night in somewhat of a bad mood simply because i have known that in a number of hours i was just going to have to wake up and do it all over again.

what is my problem??

It is the weekend. I should feel better, right? well, i don't. why don't i feel better? no clue.

Praying for clarity and for peace and satisfaction. It will only be in Him. I get that.

But, do I really get it?? Maybe not.

still praying.

uno mas

2010-03-03T13:06:00.001-06:00

i love this site. the current post includes a contest that you can win some goodies. She references several Etsy sites, and most are really great. :)

Alyssa, if you don't already know about this site, I'm sure you'll love it.

A little bit of this...

2010-03-02T16:19:00.009-06:00

A little bit of that...

I seriously have the gardening bug. It flared up again (it's a semi anual thing, usually) last week or so. I was looking at sites on Square Foot Gardening (which is what we've had this past year. just one 8x4 plot), and found some fantastic photos that make me want to be in our new home NOW... oh, and for the weather to be warm enough to support my gardening addiction already :)

I cannot WAIT for our kitchen to look like this because of our tomato plants... hahaha:

and i love the idea of a long, skinny plot for pole beans! why do I love this design so much??

love this little herb garden. i like the stone perimeter.just a few more pictures of square foot gardens I found:so, anyhow, if you know any secrets to making spring show up earlier, please share. otherwise, i'll be checking on my 100 little seedlings that i planted last week as seeds, and praying that they actually sprout into little seedling plants instead of just turning to mush because of lack of sunshine...

************************

on another note, I came across The Pioneer Woman's blog about homeschooling her children. I love this section on her site! I've always been intrigued by/interested in homeschooling, and to be honest, it will probably be a serious consideration for our children in the future, but her site is great AND greatly entertaining, as well. If the subject is even mildly interesting to you, you should check her out.

We have boxen galore (yes, i did just say "boxen". if you don't understand, please listen to Brian Regan's comedy. Thank you.) in our home right now. it is a "reminder for us that we have lots of work to do if we plan on moving in a month..."

***************

that's all for now. WHY IS IT STILL SO FREAKING COLD OUTSIDE?! nothing good can come of it being this cold.

come quickly, spring, COME! ;)

...aaaaaand on that note, I'm off to start packing/setting aside "boxen" of things for our upcoming Garage Sale/Moving Sale. Stay tuned for that info... ;)

New House!

2010-02-27T10:21:00.008-06:00

Okay, so as you know, we signed the initial contract for our very first house this past week! I went by the house on Thursday right after work to take some pictures in the daylight, and many people have been asking to see them, so here you go! Sorry they're not very high quality... in fact, they're pretty awful looking, but they are from my phone, so you can't expect too much, right?? Can't wait for you to come over once we're in! :)

HERE IT IS:

it actually has a front porch! It's sad how uncommon front porches have become in the past decade...

that's the front door while standing in the entryway. Also the formal dining room/office. this will definitely be an office/library (and maybe sewing room??) :) WOO!

this is the master bedroom at the back of the house. we'll have a great morning view of the garden/flower beds!!! :)

Master Closet (left side) it's actually off of the master bath! This will make getting ready in the mornings SO much easier when the other person is still asleep!!! :)

Master Closet (right side)

Master Bath - the doors from right to left are: separate toilet room, linen closet (SO excited about actually having this!! haha), master closet. between the linnen closet and master closet (across from the tub) is the oversized standing shower.

I'm not sure if you can tell how deep that tub is, but it's SOO deep! I took a bath last night, and let me tell you I cannot wait to bathe in THIS tub where my knees will actually stay underwater!! :) I also love the frame for the mirror above the double vanity.

the view from the living room into the kitchen/hallway (that's the front door at the very end of the hallway in the middle of the pic):

I LOVE THIS KITCHEN! :)

we will have all stainless appliances to match our pretty refrigerator :)

The pantry doesn't look huge from this picture, but it's surprisingly big!

skylight above the island in the kitchen! it's HUGE! say "hello" to natural light and "goodbye" to higher energy bills!!!!

This is a shot of the guest bathroom, another linen closet, and one of the 2 guest rooms. the other guest room is on the other side of the bathroom (mirrors this room that you can see). I love the miniature linen closet door :) it's so cute!

guest bathroom

from inside one of the guest bedrooms. the left door is the door to the hallway. right set of doors is the closet.

both guest closets look like this. i like the double doors on them, as well as the extra hanging space. Jordan will definitely appreciate this! :)

and one last shot from the back yard which will soon be filled with flowers and fruits and veggies galore. And yes, Alyssa, you may definitely water our plants whenever you like. :) AND you can use the kitchen as long as your fryer stays far, far away. :) haha

Okie Dokie... Hope you all enjoyed that quick runthrough of our soon to be new casa! Love you all!

Now: help us figure out how to decorate/paint this sucker! :)

Why I Advocate Gardening

2010-02-24T20:12:00.003-06:00

Tonight I ate a carrot that I planted a few months ago as a seed.

As I stood at the counter, chopping up my carrot to go into my delicious shrimp salad, I felt such pride alongside an even stronger emotion of awe. God spoke vegetables into existence. I know that sounds elementary and almost silly, in a way, but think about that for a second...

I had a seed that was about the size of the point of an ink pen. I planted it, watered it, and left it alone for months... Through sunshine, rain, freezing winds and snow days, God turned that little seed into a carrot that I am eating as I write this. It is truly amazing to me.

Yesterday I went to Calloway's Nursery to check out their seeds/seed starting inventory since I won a gift card from them at their Christmas Open House. I stocked up. The rest I will get from my "Bad-A" Padre-in-Law. He has so many seeds, I'm surprised they haven't taken over their home! haha :) When we move into our home (for which we actually just signed our initial contract papers TONIGHT!!), we will have so many vegetables growing in our back yard! I seriously cannot wait. I will be out of the classroom for about two months, and you can bet that a large chunk of that time will be spent tending to our garden(s). I cannot wait to eat from the ground we live on and share that food with the people around us. We are going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears this year (if the Lord wills it!), so get ready to try some homegrown Power Maters this summer! :)

I love when God's creation and omnipotence just strikes me speechless. Tonight was one such moment. Love you all, and if the Lord wills us to actually end up with this house, we can't wait to have you over to our home to share many meals there for years to come.

p.s. I'll leave you with two terrible pictures I tried to get with my iPhone as we left the contract signing tonight. With headlights as our only lighting, it leaves much to be desired, but you'll get the general idea until I can get better ones with sunlight ;)

"You are who you live with"

2010-02-19T10:54:00.003-06:00

My husband's cleanliness tendencies are rubbing off on me, ever so slowly. To the naked eye, you may not agree, but it's true. My brain has been slowly transforming over the last year and a half that we have been married. I am actually QUITE a bit more tidy than I used to be. You can verify that with any of my poor former roomies. My room was always ridiculous. There were always better, more fun things to be doing with my time than organizing my bedroom! haha.

However... I just walked back into my classroom with the weight of the "end of the six weeks grades/makeup tests/late work/etc" hanging over my head, and I saw my desk for the pit of despair that it has become in the past week. Believe it or not, my desk area has always stayed pretty neat, clean, and organized (and not just by MY standards! haha). This week has destroyed any realization of that clean, orderly fantasy here... :( sad day.

I really just wish that I could sort through paperwork/graded papers and find my order again, instead of grading more papers that need to be handed back in a matter of hours... 2, to be exact. So, on that note, I will be signing off here and using the rest of my conference period to grade 7th grade quizzes! WOOT!

I'll leave you with a sad picture...

My little, disorganized home away from home ;)

love, denise.

Watch this right now.

2010-02-17T13:02:00.000-06:00

THIS IS HILLARIOUS!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rsEnwKrsvc

snow and love

2010-02-14T21:33:00.003-06:00

We actually had over a foot of snow in DFW this past week. HOLLA! :)

Here are a few quick pictures from our fun in the snow, and a few from our Valentine's Day celebration.

We were able to continue our Holm-Power Valentine's Dinner Date tradition this year (which RULED!), and we're looking forward to continuing that for many years to come. Hopefully Jen will upload the pics from dinner because we forgot our camera! Whoops! enjoy :)

Darling Eliana

2010-02-09T08:49:00.002-06:00

This message is for all of my fellow BlogStalking friends out there (you know who you are!!):

You have got to check out this ADORABLE chica. I came across her blog from her mother's educational blog, and it is the greatest things I've seen all morning! This darling little girl, Eliana, has started her very own cooking show (with the help of her mother, of course). She calls it "Eliana Cooks", and she posts video blogs to share some of her favorite recipes with the world!
Alyssa! You should try out a video blog (at least once)!

ok. here's the link: http://www.elianacooks.com/

check it out, and enjoy! It's definitely a homemade video blog, but I feel like it could be the begining of something awesome! Let me know what you think!

Love, Denise

Navo's "Pennies for Leukemia"

2010-02-05T15:43:00.004-06:00

Navo is having a competition between homeroom classes to raise money for Leukemia research. I love that we are getting our students involved in things like this (not just things that benefit themselves). I know that a lot of us really love hearing about great opportunities to give to/help others, so I thought I would share this one with you.

Please let me know if you would like to donate to the cause (and at the same time help my homeroom win the contest! They're actually some of my good kids... haha). Anything would help - not us, but the cause. Pennies to dollars to checks, if you really feel the calling! :)

If you would like to donate, you can text me and let me know if I can meet you somewhere or get it from you at church or something. The last day to collect the money for this will be next Friday. Just let me know.

Thanks, all!

p.s. just incase you're not really familiar with Leukemia, here's some info:

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells.

p.p.s. how adorable are these sweet babies?! I just love them.

Leftover Chinese Food Just Isn't The Same Without Chopsticks.

2010-02-05T12:22:00.002-06:00

The lesson I am teaching today is about tone vs. mood. I love it. The students are responding well, and that makes my life MUCH easier! :)

I thought I'd share something with you that I found when looking for a good "hook" for the lesson... Enjoy!

Unique Marry Poppins Trailer

Memoirs of a First Year Middle School Reading Teacher

2010-01-29T08:38:00.004-06:00

Today, all of the 8th grade teachers are gone to the PDC (the Profesional Development Center) downtown for a training day. That is, all of the 8th grade teachers except the 3 reading teachers. This means one thing: chaos. Substitutes are great, but the kids think (know) that they can get away with murder with some subs... this will be an eventful day, to say the least.

SO... instead of dwelling on the fact that today might just be a repeat of the end of yesterday (NOT a good rerun), I thought I would share some things about a GOOD day this week...
On Tuesday of this week, I was able to go and observe two other reading teachers in Denton ISD. One was an 8th grade teacher from McMath Middle School, and the other was from Harpool Middle School. Both were really great to experience. I very much respect the classroom management they have.
The second classroom was almost dreamlike for me. I have shared in a previous post that Nancy Atwell's aproach (along with many of others) is my desire for my classroom. The focus being the act of reading. There are mini-lessons taught at the beginning of the class, but they don't last more than about 15 minutes. The rest of the classtime is spent with the students reading THEIR choice of book. They are given this time so that they can actually get into the "reading zone", that place when you lose yourself in the book that you are reading.
I already implement a little bit of this approach, when I can, in my classroom, and yesterday my heart was so full when my 2nd period class (with many students who have been sent to the office before for falling asleep multiple times as we read in class) literally BEGGED me for more time in their own books before I made them take a few notes on genres. :) It was truly a time of joy for me, as a reading teacher, to see their passion for their books. One girl was so engaged in her book, that she kept gasping, and looking up at me as if to say, "WHAT?! I CANNOT believe that just happened!!!!".
I have had a handful of students who I NEVER would have guessed, come up to me and say, "Mrs. Power! I finished this book that you let me borrow yesterday! I read the whole thing last night, and it was really good!" One of the students that told me that just 10 minutes ago was the one who told me that he didn't get to read the chapters I had assigned to him to read over the weekend, because he was too busy working on his dirt bike. "I can't very well read while I'm lying under a dirt bike, Miss!" I guess he found something worth taking a break for? :) I love that.
The classroom that I plan to model my class after showed me that I can actually make it happen! She had her desks in groups of four around the perimeter of the classroom, and she had 2 large rugs in the center of the room. On one rug, she had a low-sitting beach chair, which all of the students recognized as the teacher's spot, and on the other, she had a HUGE pile of oversized pillows, beanbags, and chair cushions. The pillows were just old couch throw pillows and cushions that she had roughly sewn covers for in brightly covered thrift fabric. I LOVED it. I cannot wait to transform my own room. The only problem is that I need to find the means of getting rugs and more pillows and fabric and beanbags, etc. I have had a little success at garage sales, but rugs and beanbags get expensive, so all I really have so far are two cushions, two little foot rugs, and a runner-type rug that really just stays back behind my desk... I'm in the market for a lot more.
Since my biggest need is in the book area, I have been spending the money that I can on them instead of the decor-type things...but... eh, I have such high expectations for my classroom, and it's just frustrating for it not to be there yet. I know we all feel that way with things sometimes, and I'm still learning how to be patient, and live NOW instead of waiting for the future. What a waste to just always look forward to that future instead of enjoying the time the Lord has given me right now...
well, that's all for now, friends. If you do run across anyone who wants to get rid of rugs, lamps, beanbags, cushions, fabric, bookshelves, books, etc. please let me know? I'll gladly take them off of their hands. :)

Love,
your local first year middle school reading teacher.

p.s. sorry, that is probably completely scatterbrained writing. I hope you will forgive me :)

Churros y Chocolate

2010-01-27T16:02:00.003-06:00

As I was browsing a lovely new blog called Cannelle et Vanille (well, new for me!), I noticed a recipe for Churros and Chocolate. This imediately transported my mind to Madrid:

Set the scene: Caitlin, Katie, and myself strolling through the streets of El Rastro (a GIANT street sale they hold every sunday morning in Madrid, Spain) until we are dead tired and SO HUNGRY. We decide to check another "Thing we must do while we're in spain" off of our list. We must try the traditional Churros y Chocolate. Super rich, thick, thick, thick hot chocolate to dip your donut-ish pastry in.

Lesson Learned: Don't fill an empty stomach with Churros and Chocolate. They are super rich and thick and sweeeeeeet and filling - especially on an empty stomach... ;)

Anyhow, I felt the need to share the recipe with all of you in case you have the need for a Spanish experience anytime soon (or not so soon!). This is the recipe straight off of the aforementioned website. ENJOY!

***********

The traditional hot chocolate served in Spain doesn't contain eggs. It is a thick chocolate cream usually thickened with a bit of cornstarch or made with a special kind of chocolate that contains thickeners. This recipe is a bit like a creme anglaise flavored with dark chocolate, coffee, orange, fresh ginger, cinnamon and vanilla bean. It can be served warm or even cold, but I really like the churros dipped in a warm custard.

Churros125 ml water

125ml whole milk

110 grams butter

pinch salt

large pinch sugar

150 grams flour

3 eggs

Canola oil for frying

Cinnamon sugar for coating

Place the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring this to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a smooth ball.Transfer this mass to the bowl of an electric mixer (or can do it by hand) and start mixing with a paddle attachment. When most of the steam has evaporated, add the eggs one at a time. Mix until it comes together to a smooth thick mass.Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip (#5). In a wide pan that has tall sides, pour about 3" deep of canola oil. Heat it to 350F. When it reaches the temperature, pipe the batter into the oil and cut with scissors. Fry them until golden brown. Remove the churros from the oil and roll them in cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately.

Spiced Chocolate Bisque

500 ml heavy cream

200 ml whole milk

100 grams sugar

1 vanilla bean, split

1 star anise

1 stick of cinnamon

Zest of 1 orange

3 slices of fresh ginger

5 grams cocoa powder

3 grams instant coffee powder

6 egg yolks

135 grams dark chocolate, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla bean, star anise, cinnamon, orange zest and fresh ginger. Bring it to a boil. Turn the heat off and let it steep for about 10 minutes. Return the mixture to a boil and add the cocoa powder and instant coffee powder. Whisk well.Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and temper the milk mixture into them while whisking. Return this mixture to the sauce pan and cook for a couple of minutes while constantly stirring until lightly thickens.Place the finely chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Place a fine sieve over the bowl and pour the custard over the chocolate. Mix until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth cream.Can be served warm, room temperature or cold. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It will thicken when it cools.

Self Deception Revealed

2010-01-27T08:23:00.002-06:00

As I sat, attempting to clear some of the space at my desk this morning, I came across a poem I wrote a while back. I thought I'd share it with you:

"Self Deception Revealed"

My dreams to betray
the ugly heart within.
Thoughts that I allow not
to the prominence of concious mind.
Awaking to reality
where from my dreams stem.
To recognize this truth
is to realize my blood of Eve.

Repentance Requires Action.

So I move.

love, denise.

Memories

2010-01-15T11:19:00.007-06:00

I want to post a real post after last night (my sister's birthday/moving away dinner/visit), but for now, I don't have enough time for all that I'd like to say, so instead, I will just leave you with some old favorite photos that I just ran across on an old Myspace page. Remember that place?! ;) enjoy!Kelley Irwin and I (oh, and don't forget Sneaky Brent Bell!!) at the annual Gooch Family 4th of July celebration about 3 or 4 years ago i think!

Roomie Jen Holm and I (oh, and Slick Aaron in the back, of course!) about 3 years ago?

Lynnie and I (sister!) at Jennifer's 21st birthday party (GIRLS' NIGHT!!) in Dallas. When was that, Jen...3-4 years ago?

My hubby and I (back in our dating days... about 2-3 years ago) at Reiku Sushi at Mockingbird Station (LOVE THAT DRAGON ROLL!!!). YUM!! why can't I get my bangs (fringe) to do that anymore?! :)

Kelley Irwin and I at a Village Church gathering of some sort... I can't even remember what it was for... I think it was about 4 years ago?? Gotta love the Supersugar Red Icing Lipstick!!

Jen and I. Clearly hard at work managing Davanti Salon & Spa about 3-4 yrs. ago.

Lynnie and I at a random outing to The Cheesecake Factory

Me, Kelley, Jen
Yes. We are awesome. And Yes, this may be the most frightening picture I've ever taken. :)
Roomies 2007-2008

Rebecca Smith, Me, Jen Holm
Roomies (3 out of the 5 of us!) 2005-2006 (PEARL GIRLS!)
though, I think this picture was taken in 2007... this was Jordan Gooch's 21st birthday celebration night at the Ghost Bar in Dallas.

Anyhow, I hope you've enjoyed this trip back down Memory Lane. It was fun to see these photos pop up again, and I just had to share them with you :)

One Simple (yet not so minimalist-friendly) Love

2010-01-04T19:15:00.008-06:00

There are things that we all love in this world. One of my loves is Book. Well, books. plural. The bigger the plural, the better. I adore bookstores. I covet the expansive collections in libraries. I could spend hours upon days upon years just browsing and sniffing and touching (followed by a good douse of Purel, of course) all of the books that are in used/half-price/thrift stores.
For the past few months, I have been compiling my Summer Reading List. Now that I have summers again, I plan to spend the majority of that time in the sun while devouring delightful book after page-turning adventure-keeper. Don't worry, it's mostly in preparation for work... so, technically, it IS work... and many of these books will be middle-school level-early high school level reads, but it just so happens that I am really excited to have an excuse to read all of the classic pieces of literature that I was never forced to (or took the opportunity to) as I progressed through school. I'm also extremely excited about re-living the adventures that I remember (or have forgotten) that I was so intrigued by when I was in middle school. For example, starting tomorrow, my students will be beginning units on Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Both great novels, and I've got some really fun (I hope/think?!) projects planned for my kiddos for the six weeks.

ANYhow...so, this Summer Reading List. My goal for the summer was originally to read 100 books. However, once I ran the numbers, I figured I'll have about 10 weeks of no school from the end of this semester to the beginning of staff development for the next semester, so if I stuck with the 100 books in a summer goal, I'd have to be able to crank out about 1.5 books a day to accomplish it... Not realistic. Not with a whole new school year of lesson plans to tweak/write/find, a new home (hopefully!) to finish putting together, a garden to tend to (I plan to spend many joyous hours there!!), and a kitchen to continually dirty just to re-clean (all for the sake of delicious edibles that will TOTALLY be worth it). :)

So I adjust... I am trying to decide whether I want to stick with the 100 books goal, and just start now, or if I want to lower the goal number... I'm open to suggestions.

So, I leave you with a book that Aaron and I found as we browsed the books section of a local shop in Cape Coral, Florida just before Christmas. It caught our attention for being awesome, and we stood in the aisle and read it, in its entirety, together because it continued to be awesome. It's called Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. I plan to own this book when we start having little ones. Count on it. If you have little ones, you need to be heading to the store to get your copy. :) P.S. You can click the picture of the book to see a YouTube video of the author reading the book :) i love it. :)

Happy Book Hunting!

love, denise

A Finals Week Disaster

2009-12-17T08:53:00.004-06:00

So, as many of you already know, I am a middle school reading teacher. I love it. It is the most challenging job I have ever had, and had no idea the extent of hard work required of a teacher before I was thrown into the classroom (just one of the things that I missed out on by doing alternate certification instead of student teaching).

Well, today is the third day of final exams for our little darlings here. It is an early release day (my first ever as a teacher! woo!). It is also Staff Potluck day, AND I was able to leave the house early enough to spend a little of my well-hoarded "frivolus spending allowance" at St. Arbucks this morning on the way into school for a surprisingly delicious cup of steaming hot, toffee flavored joe. So, all in all, this was shaping up to be a FANTASTIC day!

Enter my mistake:

I had my arms more than full as I loaded them down with all the goodies to take in for the potluck later this afternoon, and did not have a hand to spare for my delicious coffee, so instead of unloading my arms again to put the cup back in the cupholder until i could come out and get it in about 5 minutes, I opted to simply leave it on the roof of the car. "No one will mess with my coffee! I'll be right back!" I told myself, foolishly.

On my way back out (less than 5 minutes later) to the car (AKA: temporary coffee haven), I mention what I'm doing to one of my fellow teachers. He tells me that another teacher grabbed it off my roof and was asking around to see who's it was. "OH! awesome! I'll just go get it from him, " I think as I head for the stairwell. When I get to his room, I am happy and perky, and excited to have my coffee back (that I had only had about 4 sips of so far). I walk in and say, "I'm hear to claim my long lost coffee!"

He had thrown it away.

Ultimate waste of $3.00. Ultimate fail.

Moral of This Sad Tale:

Don't throw away someone's coffee if you do want to be nice by picking it up off of their car for them! If it's hot, they probably still want it!

Happy Thursday! ;)

2009-12-14T21:02:00.007-06:00

As I put the finishing touches on my first Semester Exam that I will be giving tomorrow to my lucky 2nd period class, and I finish reading the new Christmas cards we received in the mail today, I think I will further my multi-tasking abilities to add a third thing to my plate: I'll update with some lovely pictures :) ALWAYS FUN!

I'm totally stealing this first picture from my friend Alyssa's blog and the others from our dear friends the Irwins because we didn't bring our camera to the wassail fest this year! BUMMER!

Kelley, Me, and Alyssa (Can you tell how happy we were to be at Wassail Fest!?)

It wouldn't really be us without some odd picture like that one, right?!

Okay, that's a little better!

Wassail fest is one of the things we look forward to every year! Last year, we were unable to attend, however, because Aaron had a last minute work trip to the lovely Lufkin, TX... but this year we made it a point to be there!
One of the things i LOVE about Denton is that we have small-town celebrations. I was talking with someone the other day about how it's almost a Stars Hollow feel (for all you Gilmore Girls fans - you know who you are!!), and I LOVE that. I LOVE that we have an anual Lighting of the Christmas Tree on the square coupled with a Wassail fest which means that the streets around the square are shut down and blocked off for pedestrians to run hog-wild as we go from shop to shop to shop around the square to taste and vote for the best wassail in town! For those of you who do not know what wassail is... the best and easiest way to describe it is to say that it's like apple cider...but different. Google it :)

aaaaand, of course, another goofy picture... :)

Next, we have Denton Family Christmas. We were able to share a meal with some of our closest friends recently. Christmas is a great excuse to get everyone together. With so many newlyweds and busybodies among us, it's just plain hard to do... EVER, but we were glad to have a group together on this particular evening to celebrate friendship, love, and the grace of our King who allows and created it all. We drew names to participate in a gift exchange, too, so I'll share some of the fun with you now:

Potluck and "bring your favorite beverage to share" is the best way to do any party! :)

There were DEFINITELY many laughs this night. I keep many of the laughter pictures at bay simply because laughter is not necessarily the most attractive facial position that most of us want to be captured and remembered (at least, not when things are REALLY funny...).

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff and Jen Holm share a sweet moment after the gift exchange :)

Nels is VERY excited about his new lighter!! can't you tell??
(we missed his wife at the party! She was out of town, many states away, at the time)

Jeremy already knows he's getting an iPhone, so his gift was iTunes Gift Card and an iPhone case!

Ryan got two DVD's of his favorite director's movies. Very great movies... however, for the life of me I cannot think of the director's name. I will have a head (at least one) shaken in my direction for admitting this, and Ryan? I'm okay with it. Just get it over with.

Alyssa's gift was definitely one of the most creative and most personalized! Great Job, Jen! Her logo for Pink Antler Cakes (her delicious bakery business) was printed on personalized recipe cards and now she has an official Pink Antler Cakes Recipe Book!!

she was so excited about it!!!

Kelley's a bit more prepared for next semesters many late night class days with her new Crock Pot recipe box (i think that face means she likes it? haha)!

and, anyone who knows Kel, knows that she LOVES her rubber gloves! Now she's got some stylish rubbers (um, gloves, that is...)!

Aaron was lucky enough that his video game playing partner drew his name, so he got a... GAMESTOP gift card! woo! now... what to get?! the world is your oyster!!!

Jeff got some great fishing gear! I'm sure they will be put to use at the very first opportunity! :)

Jen got some great earings and a great houndstooth scarf! Perfect gift!

Alyssa has been roped into helping me decorate and redecorate too many times to know that I need nothing more than great art to hang on our walls!!!

So, what's the solution?! Well, she painted me a canvas, of course!! Such a creative woman! It's perfect. We both love the colors she used, and I can't wait to find the perfect place for it in our home that we buy in the spring (Lord willing!!).

Another thing that I cannot go without mentioning is the delicious homemade Hot Chocolate with ...wait for it... HOMEMADE marshmallows courtesy of our very own Alyssa of Pink Antler Cakes. Her recipe is actually her most recent post, I believe! BUT... just in case she has been able to sneak another post in since this post, here is a direct link do that delicious bit of blog.

Okay, it is officially WAY past my bedtime, and I'm sure you're a little more than tired of my novel of a post, so I need to wrap this up.

The last thing that I will share is how one of my very favorite things about this time of year is opening the mailbox to find letters and PICTURES of our friends and family in the form of Christmas cards/postcards. We got three more today, and it was all I could do to keep from letting out a giggle of glee as I sat, alone in my car, in the garage opening christmas cards because I couldn't even wait long enough to get to the kitchen table. :)

We'll get ours out...eventually :/ haha

Video from Matt

2009-12-07T08:50:00.003-06:00

I'm providing a link to view the video Matt made on Thursday before going into surgery on Friday to have a 2"x1" brain tumor removed. I know many people are asking for updates, and I think this is probably the best way for you to get them! :)
Warning: It's only about 5 min long, but you may want a tissue handy...

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/

Yum!

2009-12-04T17:42:00.003-06:00

If i owned this:

I would make THIS recipe and THIS recipe.
If you didn't catch it, this was merely an excuse to both advertise Alyssa's site and to share some delicious recipes :)

love, denise.

2009-12-02T21:17:00.004-06:00

this is a very short and to the point update.

while i was sitting in a professional development meeting this evening, i received a text from my mom that simply said,
"pray for mawmaw. on her way to the hospital. says her heart is "doing funny things". I'll keep you posted"

please please please pray for my grandmother. she is the greatest grandmother on the planet (no offense to your gmaws...), and we are to visit her and my grandfather at their home in Cape Coral, FL for the christmas holiday, in just a few weeks. please please keep her in your prayers. I need her to be okay.

well, need... obviously not like i need Jesus, but i do - i need her to be okay.

please pray.

thank you, and i'll keep you posted. I love you all, and I covet your prayers in these moments.

My beautiful grandmother and me at my little brother's HS graduation about a year and a half ago.

Much Needed Addition to Every Coffee Table

2009-11-23T15:56:00.002-06:00

Today I have written two office referrals (and very close to a third)...
One was for a particular student sleeping in my class EVERY time we read our novel aloud in class, and showing no remorse. On the contrary, the response to me when I question why this is a constant struggle (sometimes there are legit issues at home!) is, "MAN! It's so BORING!!!". This response gains zero sympathy from me. Suck it up. You won't enjoy everything you learn (I don't say that, of course...). Today, he/she fell asleep 8 different times. During one of these instances, there was drool spilling over lips into his/her lap... nice.
The second was a student from whom I have personally collected at least 4-5 notes from and seen writing notes at least 10 times... After today's addition to my collection, this student will be visiting the office.

All of this to share my sweet, hilarious husband's ingenious idea with you. He is encouraging me to keep all of the funny notes that I pick up over the years and to publish a collection of hilarious notes by middle schoolers when I have a significant number of them...Names will have to be changed, of course, but the beauty is NOT in the names. I assure you.

so, if you teach middle school (or other grades, too...) please lend me your hilarious notes. I would like to recognize these students for their phenomenal dedication to their education.

love, THE Mrs. Power
;)

p.s. my favorite note still stands as the first note I ever took up in my classroom. It is actually from the aforementioned student, believe it or not...

from a 7th grade female written to 8th grade male.
My favorite line: "I love it when you be wearin' them skinny jeans, yo booty be lookin' extra big!"

wow. i love my job. :)

LA FITNESS

2009-11-17T15:31:00.001-06:00

Thought i'd share with you: maybe you work for DISD or know someone who does? :)

Attention D.I.S.D. Employees:

L.A. Fitness International, LLC is now offering all Denton ISD employees a discounted membership program.

Denton ISD employee only discount:
Enrollment Monthly

Employee: $25 $29.99
Family Add-Ons: $0 $29.99

Regular Rates: $149 enrollment (savings of $125); $49.99 monthly (savings of $20 per month)

Amenities and terms of membership

LA Fitness offers a 25 yard heated lap pool, hot tub, dry sauna, full locker room facilities w/ private showers, full court basketball, 5 racquetball courts, group fitness classes including- yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, boxing, hip hop, body pump, step, cycling, water aerobics and more. We also carry over 200 pieces of the most state of the cardiovascular machines, resistance training equipment and free weights to meet all your fitness needs. Also included w/ your membership is one complimentary orientation w/ a certified personal trainer. Kids club is available for a nominal fee. This plan will give you access to every LA Fitness location excluding Signature clubs.
Membership is monthly w/ no long term contract. First and last months dues must be paid at time of enrollment and electronic draft is required for ongoing monthly payment. Other terms and conditions apply. See club for details.

This offer is only available at the Denton location (1350 S. Loop 288, Denton, Tx 76208). The deadline for this offer is November 30th, 2009. This is the last day you will be able to take advantage of these unbelievable rates so don’t miss out! We look forward to helping you achieve all your fitness goals.

Ask for Matt or Allison
(940) 380-2904

Synonym for Torture = Christmas Music

2009-11-12T13:07:00.004-06:00

November is here, which means that Thanksgiving is almost here, which means that Christmas is in that petri dish at our major retailers and is currently growing like the Cloverfield Monster (or Godzilla, in case you didn't catch Cloverfield) into what will be a full grown monster. Think about it, nobody panics when the monster is small. It's fun, it's cute, it can be ignored. When it gets big though, you'll see the panic. You go about your normal day, enjoying November to it's fullest glory until that inevitable day of pandemonium...Black Friday. They call it Black Friday because people act like blindfolded 12 year old children hopped up on Mountain Dew and Pixie Sticks. The blindfold implies darkness...black...darkness...are you following me yet?

So where were we? Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Just you wait, you can ignore that monster until December gets here. But at that point this monster gets harder and harder to fight. The panic level goes up, up, up. Don't even think of waiting until the week of to start shopping, because at that point the monster is huge, out of control, and the city has turned to havoc induced frenziness. I made that last word up for dramatic effect.

So why title this blog about the torture that is Christmas music? The reason is that it plays everywhere you go 24/7. Chic-Fil-A is notorious for this, which is why I won't go there during the holidays. I wouldn't create a playlist of 50 or so songs and distribute them to every major restaurant and retailer and ask them to put it on repeat for 1 month, but for some reason this idea is OK during the Holidays.

Hear me out...there is a point to this.

I don't hate Christmas music, I just am quite picky about my Christmas music. I made some friends a Christmas Mix CD last year and quite honestly, it's really good. I mean just ask Darrell. It's good. Especially Relient K's rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas". They make a great point when singing the self-written/inserted chorus line discussing the weirdness of these presents. They round out said chorus by saying "...but I can bet those are terrible gifts today".

That's hilarious.

So this Christmas I'll try not to get grumpy. I'll try not to feed, ignore, or even complain anymore about the X-Mas Beast. This year we plan on enjoying a little Secret Santa to cut down on Christmas spending. We plan on investing our time and effort into one present for one person. It's fun and easy. Sure, we'll spend on our immediate family as well, because let's face it, our grandparents always need new pictures of us, my mom always needs some sort of house decorating thing, my sister needs money.

And yes, my dad will never avoid getting socks.

see you next week.

All Things Go!

2009-11-06T11:13:00.002-06:00

I woke up at 5:30 AM this morning in a bed all by myself because Denise is staying at my parent's house. She has a conference in Richardson so Allen to Richardson is much less of a beat-down commute than Denton to Richardson. So, as the John Mayer Village Sessions EP is playing on the oh so handy iPod alarm clock I begin to get ready for the day. I know it's going to be a good day, just like all other Corporate America does, when it's Casual Friday. I leave the house, stop by St. Arbucks, and head on into work.

My wife will tell you that I have musical A.D.D. I can't ever just let the stereo do it's thing, I have to find the right song for the right time. This can be difficult on the way to work at 6 in the morning. Sometimes I need some wake-up tunes, so I'll blast something upbeat and catchy, maybe a little MuteMath, maybe some Cobra Starship, or maybe some Bruce Hornsby. This morning was a little different, I was awake and not in the mood for anything loud and fast. I decided to go with some Sufjan. Illinoise was the choice for this morning. That CD has everything: Great harmonies, great musicianship, and well-crafted lyrics.

When the song Chicago came on I felt something. I started singing this song and really thinking about the words and it really moved me. I mean, I was somehow worshiping to this song. The chorus (in bold if you're unfamiliar) is a really great picture of what Christ as done for us and our relationship with him. I don't really know why these songs get me like they do. I just know that I've never heard this song like I heard it today. It's really cool that God uses song and music to reach down to us. It's a really great way to start off the day. All things go.

I fell in love again
all things go, all things go
drove to Chicago
all things know, all things know
we sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

I drove to New York
in the van, with my friend
we slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the place
in my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things know, all things know
(I made a lot of mistakes)
you had to find it
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things go, all things go
(I made a lot of mistakes)

I just need to say...

2009-11-04T11:04:00.002-06:00

"Thank you" to my sweet, wonderful, amazing, patient, loving, understanding, helpful servant of a husband...

I would not make it through this year of my life without him.

The Lord was/is gracious and merciful to allow me to spend my life with this man.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

A thousand times thank you.

love, wifey.

Cleaning Shop?!

2009-10-28T11:16:00.003-05:00

just a quick plug/reminder for all:

if you have (or know anyone who has) rugs, beanbag type chairs, lamps, bookshelves, a couch or armchair that they are trying to rid themselves (or their spouse?) of... :) I WANT IT ALL :)

trying to transform my classroom, so if you want it gone, i'll take it (well, probably...) :)

LOVE, denise

p.s. and, as always, if you have any books you are trying to get rid of to make shelf space, i'll take those, too! :)

The Truth is...

2009-10-26T12:37:00.002-05:00

The truth of the matter is that it is too easy to feel overwhelmed. It is all too natural for my flesh to scream out in panic instead of listening to my heart that says, "Slow down. Take a deep breath, and listen to your Father who wants to bear these burdens FOR YOU!"
Why is it that we allow so many minor things of this life to rise up and take over the thrown of our hearts and to consume our thoughts? Why is it second nature for me to become irritated at my students for not understanding such "simple" ideas, or to think to myself, "How am I supposed to work from 7-5, attend countless meetings and trainings, cook dinner, be HOME for dinner, grade mounds and mounds of papers and still have enough time and energy to give my husband the attention and encouragement and love that I truly desire to show him all before bedtime (which is SUPPOSED to be 9:30 f0r us old, early risers... yeah right...)?!"
Why can I not just be still for 30 minutes to spend time in the presence of my Father who can put these things into perspective for me and take the irrational panic out of my day?
Why, in the times that I am NOT diligent and consistant in my time with the Lord, do I feel that I "cannot possibly spare another moment in the day even to read The Word" when if I DO make the time and I DO spend it with Him, it seems ridiculous to think anything contrary.
This life is short, this world is sinful, and I am a daughter of the King of it all.
Maybe it's time I start acting like it... Or maybe that time was many years ago...

Words of Beauty.

2009-10-14T12:46:00.004-05:00

Oh, to have the gift of writing like those whom I admire...

To have the ability to paint pictures of beauty and sorrow and laughter in someone's mind's eye just by penning words onto a page...

Thanks, to all who stir my heart with their words.

Love, Denise.

Classroom Deco

2009-10-08T08:44:00.002-05:00

So, a few weeks ago i sent out an email to the few contacts i had onhand at the moment. that was not a lot of people... ;) so... i just realized that i should just post the email here! it's pretty lengthy, but the attached article is so great, i really hope you're intrigued enough to read it.
love you all, denise.

Hello All! Just wanted to drop you all a note to say “Hello” and to let you know a need I’ve come across in my classroom. Well, I say a “need”, but honestly it’s a desire… I have always wanted my classroom to be a comfortable place where my students WANT to be (as much as you can WANT to be in a classroom, I suppose).
I was sent an article/video yesterday that absolutely made me green with envy (in a good way?) because this woman’s 7th and 8th grade classroom (which is EXACTLY what I teach…) is my dream class. No joke… I’m attaching the article/video if you want to read/watch it at all. I found it fascinating, but maybe it’s just because it’s what I do? Anyways, to the point: I am brainstorming every possible way that I can transform my classroom (SLOWLY…) into this dream room that I have in my fantastical imagination, and one way that I can start is to just let people know some of the basic needs for the “look” of the room:
The big need there will come in the form of beanbags (or other type seats beanbag-ish), lamps (table OR floor lamps), and RUGS (big and small). I'd also LOVE to have at least one love seat or couch and one arm chair. I know this sounds silly, and I know that if I go to yard sales and thrift stores I’ll find some, but the reality of it is that it will take me years and years to have the time to find them and, more realistically, have the money to purchase them (even if I do find them at thrift stores or yard sales).
SO… I’m not asking for money!!! Please don’t think that. All I’m asking for is for you to please tell anyone you know who is trying to get rid of these things that I WANT THEM! I don’t care HOW ugly or old they are, I’ll transform them if I need to and clean them up the best I can. I just need things to work with.
Sorry…that was TOTALLY long… I tend to be long winded, no? anyways. I love you all and you’re great. Thanks so much, in advance, for your help with this!! Hope to see you soon!

Mrs. Denise Power
7th/8th Reading
Navo Middle School

Has is been that long?!

2009-10-07T15:47:00.004-05:00

WOW!!!
ok, so i'm just now realizing that the last time i posted... i was still at Fidelity Investments, we were planning our trip to Annapolis, and our friends Sarah and Ben were still living in the US... man. that was a while ago, eh?
ok, so to run through just a FEW things that have gone on:

- I am now a middle school reading teacher in Denton ISD! Praise Jesus! Aaron and I have been praying for an opportunity for me to teach since before we were married. The Lord was more than faithful to bring that about. What's even better than just getting hired on to any school is that one of my Assistant Principals here is actually half of our Pre-Marital Mentor Couple from just before we were married last year! It's been such a blessing and releif to know an administrator and to feel comfortable enough to ask questions that i may have otherwise kept to myself...as silly as that may seem.
- My sister, Lynn, and her husband, Luke, just received Luke's acceptance letter to SouthEastern Seminary in North Carolina! This is bittersweet news for us. They live in the south part of Fort Worth right now, so we hardly ever see them anyways... but in mid-January, the Henderson Duo will be making their big move to (just outside Raleigh, i think...?) North Carolina for Luke to persue his Masters. Such a great opportunity though :)
-Aaron and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on August 30 of this year... so... that's neat :) We took our trip to Annapolis, MD to stay with my Aunt and her family and it was SUCH a blast. We really did have a great time. i'll post pictures sometime soon... hopefully ;)
-i really want to go home...

sorry for the intterupt. just realized that i CAN go home. so i am.
:) more later.

Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Sarah Long

2009-08-10T14:56:00.004-05:00

So our dear friends, Ben and Sarah, are off to Cairo, Egypt for two years... they leave next Tuesday. There was a going away party at the ever hospitable Clay and Emily's casa last night for our sweet friends. We will miss them SO MUCH!! But we're all so excited for the amazing opportunity they have to preach the gospel of Christ with their lives in the city God is placing them in! Please be praying for Ben and Sarah as they prepare to leave all that they know to live in Egypt for the next two years. THANK YOU!!

Annapolis, MD!

2009-08-06T13:32:00.004-05:00

We are going to Annapolis, MD for our one year anniversary at the beginning of September!! My Aunt Karen and family live right on the Chesapeake Bay so we will be boating/kayaking/sailing/crabbing/maybe a jog or 2 through the Naval Academy grounds, etc. for 4.5 days! We have to introduce AP to life on the East Coast! He's never been! i'm so excited that we're able to do this! I thought i'd gather a little preview of what we get to look forward to! unfortunately the site is not cooperating today, so i'm unable to label each picture, so i'll post some from the Naval Academy, some from downtown Annapolis and just some random photos to give you an idea of what we'll be seeing! Enjoy! :)

Power House

2009-06-30T18:33:00.002-05:00

Well, we are all moved in to the new place. We will drop off the keys to the apartment (our very first home together! aww!) tonight. Hot water should be waiting for us at the house tonight (very exciting!!!), and internet will be hooked up tomorrow morn. :) it's coming together -slowly, but surely... we are really just swimming in boxes at this point!
it's amazing how it seems that we have NO furniture now that we're in the house as opposed to the apartment! haha.
I'll post pictures soon. we'll do a before/after scene. :)
We're hosting 2 wedding showers in the next 2-3 weeks, so hopefully i can pull this off!!! YIKES! any tips on pulling the place together fast would be much appreciated!! :)

more soon.

Chair Heaven

2009-06-11T08:34:00.002-05:00

Hello, all :)

I need to do a real update, and that will be coming shortly, but first, i'd like to share with you a little piece of love: from the Power home to yours... the current domestic obsession of mine... my vintage rocker that i picked up for FIVE DOLLARS at a yard sale saturday. I removed the YUCK-UGLY fabric that it had, and am in the process of reupholstering it as we speak! I got the new fabric for 50% off at JoAnn's Sunday. i just finished the back cushion, as i had a bit of time before work this morning, and actually found my staple gun! WOO! i wanted to share a few pics of the almost finished work! :) enjoy!

love, denisie.

p.s. staple guns make my right pinkie numb... haha.

New Picture Post! Woo!

2009-05-17T15:22:00.014-05:00

Ok... recap of the past few weeks? But of course! Here goes:

Work is going well for both Aaron and myself. Memorial Day is about a week away and we're really looking forward to the day off to go hang with the Power fam out at the In-Laws' place! Hello free veggies!! ;) man... i don't think i'll ever get over their garden! haha

Audie and Joannie (AP's parents)
This was their garden back at Easter. I can't wait to see it next weekend!

We are still in the process of looking for a house to rent this next year starting at the end of June. We are actually leaving in just a few minutes to go look at a handful of houses before church tonight.

Aaron's sister Jordan will be living with us this coming year, which is exciting! So if anyone knows of any great homegroups for freshman ladies, please let us know, because we really would love to see her get involved and have some fabulous women around her this year! Jordie's will be graduating from Allen High on June 2! WOO!

Our dear friends Ben and Sarah got hitched Friday evening, and the wedding was beautiful and perfect. :) Here are a few great shots from that night:

Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Sarah Long!

Mr. and Mrs. Aaron and Denise Power ;)

The Men

Miss Kelley Howard and myself striking a pose on the dance floor...

Jeremy and AP

"Was there dancing?!" Are you kidding me?! This woman was a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader for goodness sake! OF COURSE THERE WAS DANCING!!!
We showed those cheerleaders how to bust a move Denton-Style... ;) hahaha

And speaking of graduation... my baby sister, Lynn (whose wedding is in less than TWO WEEKS now!!!!) graduated yesterday from University of North Texas with a degree in Finance! Way to go, Lynnie! Here are a few shots from the day:

Family Love

Aaron made me do it... ;)
Also, I'm pretty sure this was just after I managed to slam a full cup of punch into Aaron's arm, soaking and embarassing myself in front of everyone... Goob.

We are somewhat lopsided siblings... don't judge us.

After some mild coaching, we straightened up again...

AP and my dad on the way to Lynn's grad ceremony in the rain

Lynn and the man she will marry in T-minus13 days and counting! The Mr. Jerry (Luke) Henderson :)

Also, I know many of you have been praying with us that I might be able to find a teaching job this fall, and I actually had an interview this past week with the school that I would REALLY like to teach. The interview went well, and I am praying to get a call for a second interview. They want to have all of their teachers for next year in place by the end of the month, so please keep praying! I really appreciate it!! Thanks!!

And last, but not least... Random updates!

*our tomato plants are SO HUGE now! it's unreal! they were both only about 8 inches tall when i bought them! I'm excited for them to ripen so that we can eat our homegrown tomatoes!! :)

*I planted some seeds to start a few string bean bushes, and they have sprouted up so quickly! I am about to transplant them into a few more containers to give them growing room :) beans will be exciting to have, too!

*the asparagus is strange... i keep thinking its done...(it doesnt produce much...), but then i'll find another one random stalk growing! haha. so strange...

*I have located the recipe for Chili's Honey Mustard recipe, and it is fantastic! :) it's so delicious on chicken sandwiches or pita paninis (lovingly referred to as Panitas). It is equal parts mayo, dijon mustard, and honey. add a few sprinkles of paprika, and mix together well! Presto! you're done:

I'm really hoping that wherever we rent this year, they will allow me to use a small bit of the backyard to have a real garden! maybe i'll just do a raised garden that we can move with us :) that would be cool... Let me know any ideas you all may have!

Oh! I know several of you lovely ladies are sewers, so if anyone knows of someone that is wanting to get rid of a sewing machine (that works...) tell them i'll take it! Or even if you know someone who has one and just never uses it, so they would like me to babysit it for a while! :) i've been itching to make things lately, but my sewing machine is SUPER old and keeps knotting up on the back stitch and/or not stitching at all... one day i'll have a real sewing machine that was not once someone's junk they needed to get rid of!! one day... ;)

Happy Beautiful Sunday, all!

Love, Denisie Power.

Shower, Food, and Changing the World

2009-04-04T17:33:00.007-05:00

Well, my lovely sister had her first Bridal Shower this past weekend! I finally had a chance to upload some of our pictures from the day. Thought I'd share a few of my favorites. :)

Our mom makes the most AWESOME lollipops EVER!!! so she made some for the shower!!

****
Also, one of our new favorite meals is what we like to call "Buffalo Balls"... now, now... easy there. they really are balls... just probably not the kind you were thinking when first reading the name. :) Aaron and I decided it was time to make them again this week, so we documented the process to share with all of you lovely folks out there in blog-land! I thought I would share the recipe since it is SO easy and would be a fun "Family" dinner if everyone wanted to be a part of making dinner!
ready?
ok. You'll need:

2 rotisserie cooked chickens
Shredded cheddar cheese
Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce
Flour
2 Eggs
Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil

*shred the rotisserie chicken.
*Then add your desired amount of cheese.
*Add enough Frank's Sauce to allow the mixture to stick together.
*Mix Well!
*heat up olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
*Pack the chicken mixture into small balls in the palm of your hands

*in 3 separate shallow bowls (we use pasta bowls) have your 2 beaten eggs, flour, and bread crumbs ready for the assembly line :)

*dip each of the buffalo balls into the bowls (covering completely) in this order: flour (make sure you pat the excess off of them. they only need to be lightly dusted with the flour), egg, then bread crumbs.
*place the buffalo balls into the olive oil turning as necessary to fry them up to delicious tastiness!

*once they are browned all over, let them cool on a plate with a napkin (or if you're an Earth hater, i guess you could use paper towels!! ;) ) to let some of the olive oil drain off onto the napkin (or evil paper towels...).

ENJOY!!!! They're super tasty dipped in Ranch dressing or if you really like the spice, you could just dip them in extra Buffalo sauce like my crazy hubby!

As you can see we really enjoy making these together. Aaron has officially been dubbed the "Fry Master"... so you can be sure to call him by his title the next time you see him. :)

*****
One last thing: before i sign off, my darling husband, AP, wanted me to share a few paragraphs from his favorite magazine, "Relevant". So here they are, from a piece titled, "Reject Apathy" by Cameron Strang about how our generation is big on trying to change the world, but taking a look at if our approaches are working or not:

The problems are so big it'd be easy to say there's nothing that can really be done about them. But that's not true, according to Warren. The problem has simply been our approach. The Western "quick-fix" mentality is wrong.
For such enormous turnaround to happen, we not only have to break through destructive generational cycles in Africa, but also our own Western mindset that says we have all the answers.
Many Western solutions simply don't work in every culture. Likewise, the Americanized version of the Gospel, which many times emphasizes me-centered faith, doesn't translate outside of U.S. borders either. "American principles only wor in America," Warren says. French messages only work in France. But if a principle is biblical, it's trans cultural. It'll work everywhere. All we have to do is be biblical."

PICTURE POST! WOO!

2009-03-31T21:14:00.006-05:00

Ok, so i REALLY do want to get better at updating this thing!!! so much has been/will be going on!!

TONS of weddings this summer! Just to list the FEW that i'll get to be a part of:

1. My sister, Lynn, and her fiance, Luke Henderson are getting married on May 30! I'll be Matron of Honor and am PUMPED! we love lynn and luke and are excited for luke to officially be a part of the fam :) Their wedding site, if you're interested:

www.mywedding.com/lukeandlynnhenderson.

2. Former roomie A (Jennifer Davis) will be married to her fiance, Aaron's former roomie A (Jeff Holm) on July 25! Dude. it's about freakin time :) I'll be matron on honor here, too and am PUMPED, yet again! Love these two.

3. Former roomie B (Kelley Howard) will be married to her fiance, Aaron's former roomie B (Jeremy Irwin) on August 15! Super excited about being in this wedding party as well! It's so fun to have so many of our closest friends who even feel like (or actually are...) family getting married in the same summer!! crazy!

... I'm not sure why people always complain about being bridesmaids so often... other than the fact that you're BROKE at the end of it, it's TOTALLY FUN!!!!! Seriously.

ALSO....

I've gotten a ton of new plants lately! It's almost warm enough consistently for me to put plants outside again without killing them! I got some new herbs for cooking and making our own tea with, and I'm sprouting some red potatoes to use as tubers to grow our own reds! Now i just have to find a cute squatty barrell to use for them! Help?
Can't wait to have a house where we can actually have a REAL GARDEN and grow our own fruits and veggies!!!

Some iphone shots from while i planted some of them yesterday:

tomatoes!

chamomile, zinnias, and marigolds

Sweet basil, parsley, oregano, and rosemary...

And some African Daisies just because i thought they were gorgeous, i wanted them, and it was my birthday, so i bought them for myself ;)

SO... hopefully i'm back on the wagon of updating again... we'll see. ;)

i have discovered a new love...

2009-03-15T17:45:00.004-05:00

YUP! you guessed it. that love is of Butternut Squash. if you have never tried it, i suggest you get your cooking on soon. get on it. if anyone has any recipes that use butternut squash, you should share with me! it's so delicious! the one i tried today used Butternut squash, shallots, mascarpone cheese, and extra wide noodles.... delicious!!!
seriously, though. if you have others, do share! :)

p.s. i cooked with/bought shallots for the first time this week! didn't even know where to look for them at the store and had to google them to find out what they were... haha.

i love cooking :) i always welcome new recipes by the way! :)

Wow...

2009-02-12T10:06:00.002-06:00

So I am definitely out of the loop when it comes to current events, other than the financial world (since I'm floating in the middle of that at work), so I may be incredibly behind and the last one to see this, but I am still shocked by it... I shouldn't be, really, but it is... wow... so blatant.

From some random blog:

The My Life on the D List star took home a creative arts Emmy on Saturday for best reality program.

“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this,” Griffin said in her acceptance speech. “Suck it, Jesus. This award is my God now.”

Hello, World!

2009-01-25T16:29:00.003-06:00

Have no fear, we ARE still here! :) sorry for the intense hiatus from blog world. I'll attempt a very brief update for now.

I believe the last post was just before I began my job with Fidelity Investments. That feels like SO long ago! :) i went through their 8 week training course and "graduated" with the top of the "class" :) It has been SO interesting learning the "financial world". Google a Roth IRA if you don't know what that is. BOOYAH. TOTALLY getting in on that stuff. TAX FREE????? heck yes. nothing in this world is free anymore... except this amazing little booger called the ROTH... :) love it. there are, of course, stipulations, but STILL...

So the late schedule (getting home near 8pm) is getting a bit old, but we're doing well. I almost had a schedule change for an hour earlier, but there was one person ahead of me to get it... so i'll get the change next go around. I'm just praying that that next opportunity is soon. :)

We stay pretty busy in our weeks with Homegroup (Both of us), Mentoring (both), Step Studies (AP), Bible Study Group (DP), Teaching the ninos on sunday mornings (both), church, etc.

Aaron's job is going well. He was hired on permanantly into his fulltime position, and he is enjoying the team he works with. He does a great job, and they definitely appreciate all of his hard work! He has had a few trips down to the Lufkin plant which has been good. He may be headed down there for another trip sometime soon. He has really enjoyed meeting the people that he gets to work with down there.

We've really enjoyed having people over to the apartment when we get the chance. We'll be starting to look for a rent house in Denton soon, to move in begining of July. We decided to wait on the house purchase for a couple of years. We were looking for a foreclosure to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but we decided to save for a much larger down payment in a couple years. For now, we're getting excited to get completely out of debt (car payment, student loan, parental loan...). There is a light at the end of the tunnel, ladies and gents. ;)

I should go get ready for dinner/church. We're meeting the Powers and the soon to be Hendersons (Luke and Lynn!) for dinner at Mr. Chopstix before church this evening. Should be a good time. Speaking of Lynn and Luke, their wedding is quickly approaching! May is so close! Definitely close compared to last April, right Lynn?? man, 13 month engagement... yuk. totally feel for you.

ok. I'll try to be better at this. no promises, though...

OH... and i got my hair chopped this weekend... about 11 inches from the back i think...

Here goes nothin!

2008-10-24T20:45:00.003-05:00

In just three days (well about two and a half now...) my life is going to get quite a bit more....hectic.

I would covet your prayers if you think about it ever... for my sanity and ability to learn the art of juggling:

*working until 730pm every weeknight in Westlake for Fidelity Investments
*cooking dinner for my husband and I to eat before midnight
*spending quality time with my husband before we go to bed at about 930pm since he has to wake up at 530am... yuk!
*being able to stay on top of my school work to get my teaching certification WHILE at the same time... i'll only have 10 days per section...
*being able to stay on top of my studies for work... I'll be in a two month training program to basically teach me everything there is to know about finance....
*keeping our apartment from becoming an absolute mess hole
and
*having a life...haha yeah right.

and that's just the brunt of it. haha :)

totally not complaining. please don't take it as that. I have just been praying about that this week. I want to be able to be the wife that I have a picture of myself being in my head (like my mom)...but i'm pretty sure that's a HUGE pair of shoes to fill...and i've only been at this thing for 8 weeks, tomorrow...

wow. we've been married for two months :) that is neat. ;)

Spiritual Battle

2008-10-22T11:33:00.005-05:00

I don't usually dream... well, I don't usually dream dreams that I remember when I wake up... I VERY rarely, if ever, have nightmares... I really can't remember the last time that I did...

But last night, I had a terrifying nightmare about demon oppression. I don't remember the whole thing, but the main part I remember is that I was talking on the phone with my grandmother, Mom-Maw, and in the middle of our conversation I began feeling extremely uneasy, oppressed, and afraid. I cut into the conversation and just told her she had to pray with me. We began praying at the same time, and all I know is that I was repeating things such as, "In the name of Jesus Christ you are NOT welcome here and you MUST leave. God, I ask that you remove any unclean spirits that are here in this place, and bind them away from here. Please allow the Holy Spirit to be here, and, Lord, please just protect your children in this place." I kept just praying those things over and over and I remember in one instant I felt a HUGE chill-like shaking thing happening to my body, and then it just stopped. Then my dream flipped over to me staring into a medicine cabinet mirror and realizing that about 6 of my front teeth were being moved around and falling out of my mouth. It didnt really hurt, but I was watching my teeth come loose from my gums and I had no way to stop it. For some reason, in my dream I knew that it had something to do with the demon... I don't really understand why I would know/think that now...

Anyways... such a terrible dream. It felt so real... I have only had one experience similar to the oppression part of the dream and it was almost exactly a year ago.

I did come to a realization a few weeks ago, however. I have told some of my close friends about this already... When I had the encounter/experience/whatever you want to call it, about a year ago, it was during a time that the Lord really had my attention. I was studying and praying in a genuine, desperate way that just made my soul feel so close to the Lord. I can't really explain it. After it happened (this was not something that I did on purpose...it just happened), I can see now that my relationship with the Lord began to suffer. Whatever Satan's reasoning for the attack, I would NOT be surprised if it were to discourage my chasing after the Lord with such fervor as I was, because that is exactly what happened. I realize now, looking back, that after that happened, I would get to a certain point in my studying and in my prayers, etc, and then i would just coast for a while... I would never dig in past a certain point... I did not see this then, but I see it so clearly now. I was afraid, subconsciously, I think, to dig in any deeper because I was terrified that something like that would happen again. For the past few weeks (since i realized this), I have been making it a point to go past my comfort level in this sense. That may seem silly, but I can tell when I am being honest and raw with the Lord in my heart, and when I am that way... I get a little frightened... but I am pushing past that right now in my pursuit of the Lord because I am sick of being frightened of something that is less powerful than my God. That is just silly.
Along the same lines as this, something that I have recently been struggling with is speaking about these things and about my walk with the Lord with people and even with writing these things in my journal or blog or anything... I know that Satan and his demons cannot read my thoughts, so I almost feel as if they are safe if i keep them inside... I have been struggling with keeping them there just so that he cannot access my innermost thoughts... However, as I type this out, I am realizing that that is simply one more way that gives him power over me. It just signifies that I fear him and whatever he may do with those thoughts. So, here they are. I'm laying them out. They are no longer only in my head, safe from whatever I think they are safe from there...
I want to believe with my ACTIONS, not only my words, that the Lord is more mighty than anyone or anything else. It means nothing if I say these things and still keep things inside from fear of an inferior being...

So... here we go... another day in which to make it a point to press into the Lord regardless of my flesh (fear).

He IS better, and He IS mighty to save. Amen.

Update List: Your FAVorite!!

2008-10-19T19:07:00.003-05:00

Lots to speak of right now, i suppose...

i start my new position at Fidelity Investments a week from tomorrow. i cannot wait to be done with chilis... again...

i had my fingerprinting and security badge-making appointment in westlake (where i will be working) yesterday and the man forgot to give me back my social security card and drivers license. thankfully my temporary paper drivers license is still valid until mid-november or so from when i had my legal name change due to...marriage. :) holla!

i have come to terms with the fact that i will forever forget how to spell "license" correctly. apparently that word was never on any spelling tests i had in school. also "raspberry". learned how to spell that the other day. i guess i've never tried to write it down before? who knew that there was a friggin "P" in RASPBERRY!? ha. the things we learn at 24... hmmm...

school is killer right now. for those of you who are confused and thinking, "i thought you graduated a year and a half ago..." you are correct. HOWEVER... i am getting my teaching certificate...so i'm back in school. the good and bad thing is that all of my courses are online, so i can access them whenever/wherever i can login to a computer... there is so much work to be done. the lessons are rather unclear a lot of the time, so i don't feel extremely confidant when submiting the completed lessons... hopefully that will get better?

i need to be doing that homework right now. i wanted to finish the lesson that i was on yesterday... didnt happen. you can only study for so many hours before you just want to punch yourself in the head 14 times consecutively.... i opted out of that and stopped....

so here i am, blogging instead of homeworking... really responsible, denisie...

ok. here i go. being responsible, and (mom...remember this less than perfect mark from every report card i ever got??) using my time wisely....

and...she's off.

oh, p.s. aaron decided that he wants to drive out to his parents' house friday after this coming one to pick up the puppy that his parents are keeping for us until we get a house (his parents' dog, Ol' Babes, had puppies not too long ago... one of them is for us), and bring it back to our apartment for the weekend... so... if anyone has a kennel that we could borrow for the weekend?? i would very much appreciate not having all of our things chewed up over the coming few days... also i would say, "thank you".

i know i've already posted today...

2008-10-10T14:32:00.001-05:00

so, i saw in a friend's blog that they came across this website that is basically a website meant for married people who want to have an affair... it helps them do it... hooks up married people to others who are married and wanting to cheat on their spouses...

WHAT?!?!?!?!

i mean, it's bound to have happened sooner or later the way the world is now, but it still shocked me, and it is so hard for me to grasp how loosely some people view the covenant of marriage!

i dont know. it hurts me so much to think about the people who's spouses are a part of this...

i looked at the site for a moment to see what it really was, and there was a "comments" page, so i read a few of them... one of them really struck me...

the comment was from a lady who "found her soul mate" through this website... and is now marrying them...

WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE YOU DESIRE TO MARRY SOMEONE YOU MET ON A FREAKING "CHEAT ON YOUR 'WIFE'" WEBSITE?!

i just dont GET IT!!!

i don't understand, and i am not even going to think about the pain that must be associated with this website... and even more of it that people mistake for joy... such fleeting joy...

man... i dont know how to end this one, so i'm just going to end. please pray with me for these people. it is so heavy on my heart to pray for the mess so many of our neighbors have most likely been a part of... :(

...how do you destroy a website? is that possible? can i accidentaly erase any trace of it? ok i will... as soon as i learn... :(

dP

Intro to twins mentioned below: The Big Reveal

2008-10-10T13:12:00.004-05:00

Here they are, ladies and gents... You've been waiting ever so patiently, and was not in vain!

Let me personally introduce you to:

Mr. Cleary Martinez, aka: the big man!

Fish Face:

Boo!

And next up we have the one and only Mr. Cline Martinez!!
(i finally learned how to keep their names straight yesterday thanks to anyah! She said that "klein" in German means "small"... and Cline is the smaller twin! YEA! got it! :) haha):

He's so goofy! :)

Okay, now for the fun part...

Yesterday (when i watched the boys) was my Dad's 53rd birthday! WOOT!! :)
so, naturally, we would make him a birthday sign celebration for Cleary to enjoy and Cline to fall asleep during! DUH!

I'm not sure if you can read the sign that Cleary is most handsomely attempting to chomp on, but it says, "Happy Birthday, Mr. B!! Love, Cleary, Cline, and Denisie!"

MAN those kiddos are adorable.... SO CUTE! :)

Just a thought...

2008-10-09T09:30:00.004-05:00

...as i get ready to head out to watch two of the most ADORABLE twin one-yr-old boys on earth... Cleary and Cline Martinez (their padres, Paul and Anyah were our pre-marital counseling mentor couple).

I was shuffling about the kitchen this morning, pouring a glass of cranberry juice and mixing up some delicious raspberry yogurt for breakfast, when i noticed the clean glasses in the dish drain... not that there is anything unusual about them being there, but as i put them away (since they were now dry...) i just thought...
there has not been one day since we've been married, that Aaron has NOT helped me in the kitchen. i cook dinner for us every night that that's possible, and every night, when we're finished eating, we clean the kitchen together. it takes SO MUCH LESS TIME when we do it together! i always loved cooking, but hated the cleaning up part until now! haha. it's always fun to have a friend! :) ...especially when they're helping you clean... haha.

yeah. my husband cleans the kitchen. OH yeah, it's definitely sexy.

Eat your heart out. ;)

dP

Here Goes Nothin'

2008-10-08T00:25:00.003-05:00

well, hello there, blogworld... long time no see...

it's strange to think that the last time i had a blog was when i lived across the atlantic in a country speaking another language with a family not my own...

and now i have a whole new family to speak of! My husband and i are now officially a part of this "married blogging" thing... let's see if we can remember to update...

it is so late right now, i can't believe i'm still awake. sleep comes next... Aaron was asleep long ago while i stayed up to finish a few school-ish things... I'm working on my teaching certification through iTeachTexas, so this will probably be a normal thing for the next few months, unfortunately. I'm ready for this stage to be over... this different schedules stage.

I start my new position with Fidelity Investments on the 27th. I'm really looking forward to having a steady income again. i haven't had that since i left for spain in january... waiting tables isn't as great as it was back when i was a single college student sharing an apartment bedroom (and rent...).

Being married has been great lately. It was hard for a while - for both of us. i can honestly say, though, that just a few days past five weeks in, it's been a great week. I love my husband, and I am definitely a blessed woman to have him.

I can't believe we've been married for almost six weeks!!! SO strange.... i love it :)