2012

...Blessed

with sweet friends and family
new jobs
Birthdays
becoming a Tait and marrying my best friend
being a part of special weddings
Adam becoming licensed to preach and preaching for the first time in DWBC sanctuary
KidsWay worship
honeymoon in Charleston
1st Christmas at The Taits

...oh we have much to be thankful for. 2012 was a great year. I can't imagine what 2013 holds for us!

Happy New Year

Christmas Recap!

Christmas was fantastic. We had the best time celebrating with our families.

We started our first Christmas together by participating in the Carpe Diem annual Santa Fun Run! We had a blast. Our good friends, the Tims, did it with us. It was a perfect way to start the holiday fun!


We then spent the day doing some last minute things around the house (aka me finishing up some last minute wrapping)! I loved spending some time at our house on Christmas Eve.

The Christmas Eve service was next on our agenda. I have never been to the service at DWBC so I loved starting this tradition with my husband. We couldn't wait to get to Adam's parents house on Christmas Eve. We spent the rest of the night at their house. We had such a great time. Adam and I love being at their house. We always have so much fun with them and Adam's sister!!

Our original plan was to stay at our house Christmas Eve night and then head to my mom's house Christmas Day...well that didn't work. We decided to sneak to Toxey Christmas Eve night. We love going to the country and we were excited to get to spend a few days there.

My mom had the house decorated so cute! We loved spending time with my family and sweet friends.

The Tims found their way to Toxey and stayed with us a couple of days. We loved having them in Toxey.

I snapped some pictures throughout our holiday adventures! Enjoy:) Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas to You!

We have had a great Christmas! I can't wait to fill you in on all the details. We have spent time with all of our family and have loved every minute of it.

I hope Santa was good to you! He was very good to JAT and me.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Long Time...No Blog.

Long Time....No Blog...Seriously.

I recently have really been missing my blog time. I love to blog but just have not seemed to have the time. I have been spending most of my nights at school and by the time I get home it is dinner time and then more school work!

School is going great! I love everything about it. My kids, classroom, school, coworkers, planning..I think it is safe to say I was born to teach! Nothing excites me more than being with my 18 kiddos everyday. I mean how can you not love someone who writes you letters like this! (btw this little one is in the class next door)

 

Now of course I have my days. It was really hard going back to school after Thanksgiving break but once I was there I was hooked right back in! I can't post pictures of my kids on here (due to MCPSS rules) but I can show you some of the fun things we have been doing!

Cause and Effect activity with one of my favorite Read Alouds ever!

 

We of course had a huge unit on the election. Each week leading up to the election we did some sort of activity. We wrote letters to the future president, we mad a prediction on who would win, and we also did a election day glyph! My kids were so excited to "vote" on the day of the election! I set up a polling place right outside my classroom so the other third grade classes could also participate. We wore our "I Voted" necklaces around the school the rest of the day. They were so proud.

 

 

I can hardly believe it is almost mid year and I have a half of a year teaching under my belt! Crazy how time flies!

In other news, my sweet husband preached his first sermon in the sanctuary at DWBC a few weeks ago. I was so proud. This of course is not the first time he has preached, he preaches every Sunday in KidsWay Worship, but I was especially nervous for this one. I had no reason to be..He did great!! So incredibly proud!!

 

I am LOVING being a newlywed and all the fun "first" that comes with the title!! JAT and I have had a great holiday season so far. After Mrs. Tait's "Not So Traditional" Thanksgiving lunch at school, (I celebrated Thanksgiving with my class by having turkey sandwiches, popcorn, and cranberry juice) we headed straight for Toxey to celebrate Thanksgiving. My mom had the house in full Thanksgiving decor. We were totally lazy and loved every minute of it.

I could not wait to get back to Mobile and put up our Christmas decorations. I have never had a live tree growing up so that was the one thing I knew I wanted to start with my family. We picked up our tree on Sunday and came straight home to decorate. Another tradition we wanted to start is our ornaments. I love all of the gorgeous Christmas tree decorations but I wanted only ornaments that we have collected over the years. Well you can only imagine what our tree looks like this year!! We have about 10 ornaments on the tree and I LOVE IT! Those 10 ornaments are so special to me. They represent the things and places we have went in our first 6 months of marriage. I love starting Christmas traditions with JAT!

 

 

 

This past weekend started our month FULL of Christmas parties! On Friday night I had my ERD Christmas party and Saturday we had some friends from church over for a fun little Christmas party!



I hope your holiday season is in full swing and you are loving every minute of it!!

October was spent...

JAT and I have spent A LOT of time on the road during the month of October. I-65 knows us well. I love getting out of Mobile on the weekends to visit friends and family but I will say this weekend has been simply wonderful and we have been right here in Mobile, Alabama.

Our roadtrip adventure started out with a Saturday trip to Auburn, Alabama. Now I am in no way an Auburn fan but my sweet husband is so I went along for a little football fun! (Don't worry Bama fans, I am loyal..I wore a white shirt and never did I once yell "War Eagle"). I will say I did enjoy downtown Auburn. I loved going in all the fun shops and I got to see a sweet highschool friend while we were there!

 



 

Our next weekend adventure was to Gadsden, Alabama. Our sweet friends, Mat and Whitney Alexander, live there and we could not wait to go for a visit. They invited John aka Paperboy to come and rap at their Fall Fest so of course Adam and I decided to tag along..I don't think they cared:) I got to visit with sweet AWA all weekend. She is absolutely adorable and her momma is such a sweet Godly friend to me!

Paperboy did a great job and the people of FBC Gadsden loved him!

 

 

I was without my husband for the next trip on I-65 but I had sweet friends with me. The weekend after Gadsden I headed to Prattville, Alabama to a baby shower for a sweet college friend. Prattville is a half way point for most of us and it was nice to get to visit with college friends and celebrate the upcoming birth of baby Oliver..I can't wait to meet you!

 

Thank you Jill for making these AMAZING cookies! Everyone LOVED them!

 

 

One last final roadtrip was to Tupelo, Mississippi. I left the husband in Mobile and headed to Tupelo on Thursday afternoon to help my mom with her Christmas Show! I loved spending time with her and my Yvonne for a couple of days. I always look forward to the annual Christmas shows that my mom does! It was a great few days that went by way too fast.

 

 

My mom will be at the Christmas Jubilee show here in Mobile in a couple of weeks. If you are in the area stop by and see her! Her store is the cutest! (If I do say so myself)

 

October was crazy busy but I loved it..bring it on November! 

 

 





 





It's Fall Y'all..

Ok well maybe it is not "technically" fall but this girl will pretend.
Seeing that it is 88 degrees in Mobile it does not feel like fall outside but inside my house it sure does.

College football has been playing in the background all day, a fall candle is burning, my house is clean and Alabama football is just a few hours away. We have a few friends from the college group at our church coming to our house tonight to watch the games. Football finger foods will be cooked and enjoyed. There is just something about this time of year. I am obsessed with it.

I have been so busy with the start of a new school year and I will have to admit that my little house projects were the first to take the back burner. Last week we were out of school for three days because of Hurricane Isaac (thankfully we never lost power and the weather wasn't that bad). I was so excited for a small break to catch up on the never ending fun "To Do" list.

The first thing I tackled was a gallery of pictures in our hallway. I had already found on pinterest how to create cheap matted frames. I headed to the Dollar Tree and bought poster board, and a few dollar frames. I created the matted part of the frame out of the poster board then put the black and white pictures with it. I will say it turned out pretty good and was incredibly cheap! I made some pictures in Charleston with the frame wall in mind. We had such a great time that I want a little piece of Charleston and our honeymoon somewhere captured in our house.

Another thing that I had already bought supplies for but never got around to doing were coasters. My friend Emily had made coasters for her house and they turned out so cute that I had to try it myself. We have a Habit for Humanity store here in Mobile that is open to the public. Everything is so cheap!(side note: I got a gallon of the prettest light blue paint there for $1) I found my tiles here for .35 cents a piece. I then picked up some mod podge and a glaze..I already had pictures from the wedding that would be going on the coasters. I think they turned out pretty neat. That would be the perfect happy for someone!

Ok this project I did a while back (not during Hurricane Isaac) but while I am sharing I might as well show you this one! Our stove had an awful looking vent above it and I had to change it. I thought about replacing it with a new one but then had the bright idea of chalkboard paint. It is so popular right now and I couldn't wait to get my hands on some. I am eventually going to paint the back also but the vent will have to do for now! I love it!

Now go enjoy some football.
ROLL TIDE!

 

 

Exciting News

I have been so bad about blogging lately. I would say that it won't happen again and I promise to do better but...I just can't make that promise:)

I did want to share some exciting news that is happening in the Tait family.

I will be teaching 3rd grade this coming up school year at ER Dickson Elementary!! I am just thrilled. God has been so so good to Adam and me. God saw fit to give me a job and I couldn't be more thankful. God is so good.

I could not understand why in the world I did not get a job last year...little did I know God had a way bigger plan. I had no idea I would be getting engaged, doing a couple of interims and landing a job actually at ERD in the office and getting married! Just a prime example of God at work in my life. He saw the big picture and I only saw the moment.

School starts tomorrow for me with new teacher orientation and the students come back Monday the 20th! I can't wait to meet my 3rd graders. I have been taking some pictures of my room progress so hopefully there will be a blog coming soon about my classroom. We have been working so hard. (Shout out to my awesome mom and my sweet husband for helping me!)

I will leave you with this picture! This cute thing was made by my talented friend Trystan. It is currently hanging outside my classroom

        

Cooking with Pinterest

I have to admit that I am probably the worlds worst when it comes to "pinning" a recipe on Pinterest and never actually going through with making it. I love the idea of cooking something that I find but to tell you the truth I just can't get away from my cookbooks and family recipes!
This past Saturday night I made something I found from Pinterest and it was a total hit with my husband!
It was probably one of the easiest things I have ever made. Let me introduce you to Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread..

This of course is the picture from Pinterest but it was definetly a success and my version looked almost the same. The recipe calls for very few ingredients (chicken, olive oil, ranch or blue cheese dressing, pizza dough, cheese, and buffalo sauce) which I love!
Go find it on my recipe board and make this easy thing. You won't regret it!
JAT and I are of course house sitting again this week...think we should go into the business?
Have a great 4th of July! What will you be cooking?

One Month

Can you believe JAT and I have been married a WHOLE month! I know we can't. It seriously has been the fastest month of our lives. I don't think we have stopped since getting back from Charleston, which I miss everyday, if you have a chance please go to this city!

Marriage is wonderful and let me tell you we have had some fun.

Adam and I got back from our honeymoon and went straight to housesitting for a family. We were there from Saturday to Thursday. We then headed to Toxey for a wedding (Jessie you were BEAUTIFUL and your wedding was amazing) and a sweet visit with my family.

We of course headed back to Mobile Saturday night after the wedding to be with our church family on Sunday morning. We missed Kids Way Worship while we were gone on the honeymoon. 

I snapped this picture before things got started on Sunday morning. James Holston thought it was so fun that he "matched" Adam! If you look close you will notice that he even put a pencil behind his ear just like Adam. We love JHL and the whole Lewis crew! 

VBS was next on the agenda. I was so sad I did not get to participate. I am babysitting this summer and was not able to teach this year. We did have a sneak peak on Wednesday and the kids were having a blast. Family night was Friday night so I got to join in on that fun too! 

This my friend is Vivie. I love her and am slightly obsessed.

She is very much so enjoying a cupcake in this picture.

We were over at her house for a youth event one week night during VBS. 

We had friends over for a little grilling night. John and Emily Bass are such sweet friends. We love getting to spend time with them. I am sad I didn't get more pictures from the night. Our friend Kylie also came over and Emily and I got to help her with some last minute wedding planning. 

I picked these beautiful hydrangeas from our backyard. I am loving our backyard. 

Adam was exhausted after finishing up VBS week. We crashed Friday night after Family night then got up and headed out on the river Saturday morning. The Tims family invited us to go out on their boat. We were literally on the water all day Saturday..I enjoyed every minute of it! We tubed and knee boarded. The day was just perfect.

 If you didn't notice..this is Vivie, she is the youngest of the Tims family! 

Just enjoying her day on Dog River.

We rode into the bay. I LOVE this picture of downtown Mobile. 

I don't think I could love another. 

You are probably thinking at this point how much more can I pack in this blog. Don't give up reading yet. We also celebrated my birthday during our first month of marriage. 

JAT treated me so well. He bought me a sewing class that I got to take with my friend Emily. He also treated my to a new iPhone cover. We met for lunch at one of our favorite spots, Ashland Midtown Pub. 

This is their bread pudding. We have Whit to thank for introducing us to this masterpiece. 

It is delicious and served as my birthday cake! Best one yet. 

We then celebrated my birthday with a flag football game and dinner with one of our favorite families.

She scored a touchdown. SO PROUD.

Farmer's Market was visited. This might be the best watermelon we have ever had.

We also scored some of the famous "Pickle Princess" pickles, salsa, homemade bread and 

farm fresh eggs!

This past weekend was wedding weekend for my friend Kylie. I met Kylie in college, she is also a teacher, and we lived together a few months this past year. I was honored to stand beside her on her wedding day.

My sweet mother-in-law made sure I got to celebrate my birthday with family. She invited everyone for lunch after church on Sunday for a birthday lunch. I am blessed to have married in such a sweet family.  

How yummy is this? 

This cookie is from a local bakery here in Mobile and a favorite of the Tait family!

I don't think we celebrate a birthday without something from Pollman's.

We had a chill night at home last night and boy am I thankful. Adam cooked this yummy dinner on the grill!

Happy One Month Anniversary JAT! Love you.