No Dreary Day in London!

4am EST came quickly after hardly being able to fall asleep!

I was so excited for the royal nuptials

Everything about the wedding was splendid! 

Kate looks stunning in her dress that is fit for a Princess!

Whispering, "You look beautiful.." to his bride. 
This part didn't make me cry at all, HA!

Introducing the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge! 

In love with this Royal couple!!

The balcony kiss :) 


I am so glad that I watched this moment in history
Wills & Kate will forever be the fairytale romance, and every little girl's dream


Whether marrying into royalty or not, 
every lady deserves her prince! 
So thankful I found mine :)
-Lady Amelia Gardenia-Larkhaven of Sycamore-


What's your 'royal' name?

Life in the High Country

Monday after Easter was the beginning of my (and mom's) much needed spring break from school. JB had to go to DC for a captain's trip to tour some stuff and meet some people, apparently(?). Supposedly a good time for the guys; but of course, that meant he was gone during the week I had off. Isn't that the way it always happens?! I am learning to deal! 
Learning to deal isn't too bad when you get to escape to the NC mountains for a few days with your mom! I dropped JB off Monday morning, came home got Bailey & I ready, picked up the motha and we were off to the high country! My parents have a townhouse between Boone & Banner Elk, and all of us have really enjoyed it and the area ever since they've had a place (since I was a freshman in high school). This trip was like all the others... cooler weather, relaxing, and refreshing. 


Monday night was a busy one! Dinner at our pizza-favorite... Mellow Mushroom! Their pizza is simply delish! Our city is getting a MM this summer and I CANNOT wait!! Find one around you, asap! 

After pizza, we went to the Blowing Rock outlets... basically to just go to J.Crew. We love the Crew. This shopping trip was a good one (and budget-friendly.... for the most part! ha). I was excited to find some good finds that are appropriate for both the warming temps and school... and I love that they are so colorful! Sometimes I get ill with myself because I always want to buy black... not this time! From the top left: purple dress, khaki skirt, flower-ball necklace, coral high-waist skirt, white tee with flowered embellishments. 

On the way home from the outlets, mom just had to stop and get some lilacs on the side of the road! ha. Apparently, they are one of her favorite flowers and they were just calling her name! They did look beautiful in this rustic looking vase when she brought them home!

It was so nice to sleep in on Tuesday morning! The fresh cool mountain air coming in the bedroom from the open windows made it almost impossible to get out of bed and take Bay out and feed her breakfast... luckily, she came in and went back to sleep afterward! We had a lazy morning, then went back to Blowing Rock to go to Monkee's; where of course I found a pair of shoes I had to have. (thanks babe!) After shoe shopping, mom & I went back through Boone to find some lunch. We stopped at a Japanese place which is like Toyamo or Ishi (Charlotte friends). NO place here in town has sweet carrots with their hibachi chicken and rice... I was SO happy to find this little place in Boone!! New staple for when we go there! 

Bailey was sure ready to get out and run around when we got home, which was perfect timing for her new friend, Molly, to come walking down the street. Molly belongs to a couple up in our neighborhood up there, Rick and Trish. She's a sweet lab and she and Bailey had a ball playing together... 

Meeting Molly

...and the playing begins!

...and continues!!

...and stops! B is a tired & happy pup!

The rest of Tuesday continued to be restful and relaxing... which was a perfect day to read all about The Royal Wedding and my new hobby, gardening! Both of which I will indulge in this weekend! I cannot wait to see Kate in her dress and even more so, how Prince Wills will adore her as she makes her way down the isle at Westminster Abbey! When my prince gets home he is going to help me start my garden box and get to work on things in the backyard! 

Any gardening tips for beginners!?! 

Please! 

Bay & I made our way back to the 'ville today and I just enjoyed a delightful dinner out with my sister and a couple friends for my friend Jackie's birthday. Looking forward to a couple more days off of school and another weekend with JB before spring break is over! 

More to come about my garden, the wedding, and everything in between! 

Happy Wordless Wednesday! 

Earth Day & Easter

Friday, Earth Day, was our last day before we got for Spring Break. It seemed like SB would never get here this year! Finally! :) Students & teachers both had a two-hour release and and we were thankful to have two teachers at our school to plan some fun Earth Day activities for the short school day! 

Everyone was also encouraged to wear blue or green... our class had no problem doing that since our new class t-shirts are light blue :) Our theme this year is Baker's Ball Players, which has become coined as TEAM BAKER. 

Earth Day 2011 at VHES

7:30-8:00am - students arrive at school and follow "Earth Day instructions!" 

8:15am- school met up on the blacktop & heard the meaning of Earth Day read by our principal

8:20am - School read the Earth Day Pledge & sang "Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse" song

8:30am - CAN STOMP - the obvious favorite by all the students

8:40-9:30am Earth Day activities in the classroom

9:30-10:00am Reed-Lallier Chevrolet in Fayetteville sent two employees to the school to give the students a presentation of the new Chevy Volt and how it is made from reused items and how it reduces the amount of gasoline it would need

Happy Earth Day!

Class t-shirt, "We're a Good Catch" :) 

cans ready to be stomped on!

can stomping = success

chevy's new volt - electric car + can get 93 mpg if filed with gas

 The week's leading up to spring break Earth Day wore me out! Friday night was a much needed R&R nigh for JB and myself. He hadn't had to work on Friday, so he was nice enough to give me the day off from cooking and grill the steaks and make the salad for dinner, then we rented The King's Speech, which we had been waiting to see together. I have to say... I truly did not expect it to be as good or better than Inception. I remembered it winning more awards than Inception and thought that it just could not be  as good! Well... the Academy did a fantastic job judging the movies, because The King's Speech was in fact better than Inception! I was blown away! It was one of the best movies I have ever seen and one that I will definitely be buying. I think the underlying theme of the movie is that we are all human and have our weaknesses. Something that everyone can connect with. If you haven't seen it, rent it or go ahead and buy it. You will not be disappointed either way!

Today has been another low-key day for the Bakers... slept in for once, ran a few errands together, napped, grilled out, and made some Easter Sunday goodies for lunch. I am responsible for brining my homemade three-cheese macaroni, and I also found another little treat from one of the amazing DIY blogs that I follow, she does/makes/creates the cutest things!! These were so easy and since my niece's nursery is done in a bird theme, they were perfect to go over there with :)

Rice Krispy Bird Nests

Recipe

1. follow the directions on the box to make rice krispys

2. spray muffin pans with pam

3. while still warm, use a spoon or ice cream scoop to fill each muffin insert

4. put a few jelly beans in the middle of each nest for the eggs! 

5. let them cool for an hour or overnight

6. ENJOY your Easter treats!

May you & your's be blessed during this Easter season. 

Celebrate Christ's life and remember His sacrifice for all of our sins. 

He IS risen and we will have eternal life because of our faith in Him!

Happy Easter! 

Recognition Day!

Today was full of awards in and out of school. We had our 3rd nine weeks awards assembly this afternoon, and I was so proud of Team Baker! All 20 of my students received at least one award- with many of the students receiving more than 1 or 2. The awards ranged from A Honor Roll, AB Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, meeting their AR reading goal (and AR+ goal), B.U.G. award (Bringing Up Grades, up in at least 2, down in none), and the Terrific Kid Award. I was one proud teacher for sure. I was also happy, as always, to see many of my students' parents. There is nothing better than having parental support, especially when celebrating successes. I will never forget my mom and dad always striving to be at my awards assemblies, choir/chorus concerts, basketball games to see me cheer, and parent weekends while in college. To this day, they are still loving and supportive of all that I do.

tonight being one of those nights...

Since August I have been the Girls in Action (GA) director at church. GAs meet each Wednesday night after the girls have choir. They go to their respective classes (1st/2nd, 3rd/4th, and 5th/6th) to learn about missionaries & what they do around our world, and they learn about how to live a mission-minded life. Last week was the final week of GAs and so tonight the GAs & RAs(boys' classes) were recognized for their commitment to coming to church each Wednesday night to learn about missions. I had the privilege to recognize all of the GA teachers and the young ladies 1st grade-6th grade on their year of learning about missions. It was very neat to be the director of GAs as I used to be a GA myself. Each girl left the service with a certificate of completion and a gold charm with their grade level on the charm. They were SO proud of that charm! I hope that when they look back on those charms when they're older that they remember the importance of missions and giving back to our community and world. It was also important to recognize the parents who brought them to church each week... without them the young children wouldn't have been able to learn about missions. As the parents stood so that the children could find them after they got their awards, I was proud to see my own father sitting among the rest of the parents who were there to show their support!

Today reminded me that we all like to be recognized for a job well-done; whether that be perfect attendance, A honor roll, or committing to learn about missions. Make sure to recognize someone in your life who has done something positive! Everyone loves a compliment, and you could be the one to make their day!! 

Happy Wednesday 

&

Thank you for all that you do! 

Bloggin' Bout Boston

About 2 years ago (April 2008) JB took me to one of his favorite cities, Boston. I quickly fell in love with everything about the northern city. JB and I have gone twice together now, and I am craving another visit... but there is not trip on the agenda (others are in line first!) planned to Boston at this point - so reminiscing in photo memories will have to do for now!

Boston Common 

Boston Harbor

Red Sox game with JB

1

Boston Duck Tour - being a tourist for my first time in the city!

Fourth of July, 2010 -- most amazing fireworks!

Lazy day @ the Aquarium

Freezing by the harbor!

Ready for my first game! 

I so thought JB was going to propose here... nope! Ha
He did a week later in Charlotte to my surprise

Until next time... I'll be missing you, Boston! 

Go Red Sox!

Thankful for...

answered prayers

quality time with my mom & sister

healthy baby niece

the sunset on the sound

sister's friends giving E a beautiful baby shower at the beach

the tornadoes not being in my direct path on my way home

cell phones while being away

the hall's fire department for a safe haven during the storms

making it home safely

john garth & kim's engagement

celebrating & catching up with friends

2 year 'engagiversary' with jb 

most of all

-God's Grace-

seeing the destruction across eastern nc was scary and horrifying

my heart hurt(s) for the families who lost everything

and for those who lost anything at all

unimaginable

looking forward to doing my part,

whatever that might be 

to helping those in our community 

who need it the most

it is in these times that we are forced to see

that the material belongings are not what is important

we must hold on to what we have in Jesus Christ

and the promises that we have in

Him

thankful that through everything we all still need to remain

thankful for the healthy momma and e-to-be!

thankful for God's beautiful creation
sunset on the sound at the spouter's inn, beaufort 

thankful for a niece to love on in a month!
adorable centerpiece at the shower 

thankful for love
john garth & kim - engagement party - botanical gardens in fayetteville

thankful for friends
ashley & i

THANKFUL 

Book Club!

Some friends and I are starting a book club here in the next month or so, and I could not be more excited... especially since summer is right around the corner for me and I'll have plenty of time to read by the water! 

I have already read the first book, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. It's first on our list so we can talk about the book then go see the movie together when it comes out. The movie trailer makes it seem like it is going to be a wonderful version of the book. Although books are usually hard to beat, I have a feeling that bringing Darcy, Rachel, Ethan, and Dex to the movie screen is going to be a big hit! Can't wait! If you haven't read this book... 

get. it. now! 

in. theaters. may. 6th!

I have also already read the partner book to Something Borrowed, naturally titled, Something Blue. The two books are from the two main female characters' points of view on the same issue. . . which makes for impossible-to-put-down-reads! Now I am reading Giffin's third book of this series, Love the One Your With. I've only just begun, but I am excited to see where it goes. 

I have not always liked to read, but since JB and I got the Barnes & Noble e-reader, the Nook, for our Christmas presents we both have been reading one book after another. A few others I have enjoyed lately are: 

The Big Bad Wolf  -  James Patterson

Safe Haven  -  Nicholas Sparks

Heart of the Matter  -  (also) Emily Giffin 

What books do you recommend? 

Any advice for a beginning book club?