A Sharper Focus Blog is now at: www.asharperfocusblog.com
That’s right, I’m moving! Last fall I took a web design class so that I could customize my blog more and expand my web capabilities. After a summer of working on the new blog, I’ve moved the blog from a wordpress.com site to a wordpress.org site and am ready for you to join me. Come on over and don’t forget to press the Follow button on the bottom right to stay connected!
This past April I got to go visit my friend and “neighbor for life,” as we call it, Allie, in Chicago! She was my next door neighbor for almost 20 years and is like the awesome little sister I never had.
I had never been to Chicago before and really liked it. I was only there for an extended weekend and definitely need to go back and see more. We spent some time in Millennium Park and it snowed big wet fluffy flakes on us.
Since it was cold and kind of wet there weren’t too many people at the park. Here’s the middle of Cloud Gate looking up from underneath.
Can you tell we we’re chilly!
In other news, I decided to see if I could find myself an art teaching position a little closer to home… and I did! After six years of teaching at Burchett, I will be moving to a school about ten minutes from my home. I’m really going to miss my kiddos and awesome teammates and co-workers at Burchett, but I’m also excited for a new adventure.
Stay Tuned!
I was able to spend a lot of great time with my family this past March. One of my nephews, Corwin, had his 6th Birthday Party! It was at The Little Gym.
If you’ve never been to a Little Gym, they are pretty cool. There’s gymnastics equipment, everything is padded so the kids can bounce around, and for parties they get to play lots of fun games. I’m pretty sure Ian had a blast too.
In March by brother also got married! Weston and Danielle had the wedding in Baton Rouge at Mt. Hope Plantation. It was built in 1850 and was a beautiful backdrop for their wedding.
It was a wonderful wedding and a great time with family and friends.
And what’s a wedding without an awesome dancing nephew,
And, cake (and/or) cheesecake!
Check back soon for an April update!
It has been too long, I will admit. I have neglected to update, with the end of the school year, me finding and getting a new job (!!!) … the list could go on. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about you though. I have some big plans for you this summer. But, before that, we need to work on catching up. I have a March, April and May update in the works and some fun new crafts and recipes to share!
First things first though: this weekend is Father’s Day! A few weeks ago I decided to start doing #tbt (Throw Back Thursday) on Instagram. I love looking through old pictures, so this has really just been an excuse to spend lots of time perusing old photo albums.
I realized a few years ago I posted quite a few pictures of my mom and me for Mother’s Day, but hadn’t done the same for my Dad. So, here are a few I’ve rediscovered.
Thanks Dad for all of the great memories! I love you!
After school got out the rest of the Holiday was full of mostly family and baking. My idea of a great time! Before Christmas my parents (and Oscar) came down from Oklahoma and Weston, Danielle, and her brother Marcel came down from Dallas. I was busy baking cookies, my usual Holiday gift to my family, as well as trying some new recipes like BBQ Scramble and my own version of Ranch flavored Oyster Crackers. (Look out for the recipe soon!)
On Christmas day we had a full house with the addition of my oldest brother’s family and friends Bob and Nancy.
Christmas morning a strong storm rolled through the area and just as we were about to put our standing rib roast in the oven our power went out! Luckily my parents house has a built in generator that powers most of the kitchen and the living room so we weren’t totally in the dark, but it does not power the oven. So, we moved over to plan B and in a combined effort Danielle, Marcel, and my dad got the grill up and running. Note that the poor thing hadn’t been used in a few years, so this was no easy feat, but on a happier note it is now nice and clean and ready to use so I might be grilling more often!
The roast turned out great and pretty much the rest of the meal I was able to be cooked on the stove, and in one of the two working outlets I plugged in my toaster over to bake rolls in small batches. Our lack of power made Christmas dinner a little more adventurous and may have started a new grilling tradition!
After dinner we ventured outside to get a group picture, but during the hour we had been inside eating the temperature seemed to have dropped at least ten degrees and chilly wind had developed. Can you tell we’re all a little cold?
Right after New Years my Uncle Bill and Ms. Betty came over for a visit too! It was great to see them, it had been too long. He brought us cream cheese filled donuts from a local shop in Lafayette and a big bag full of Satsumas from his backyard tree that were delicious. Just the picture of these donuts is making my mouth water.
I hope you had a chance spend time with the ones you love this past month. Purposing to spend more time with my friends and family is definitely one of my goals for the new year.
A Sharper Focus 