feliz halloween.

Husband and I cry on Monday nights. I mean c-r-y, cry. Okay, let's be honest, no one is hurt or sad, we are just watching Ridiculousness. It's like Funniest Home Videos except everyone gets hurt {how sick are we?!} We just cannot help ourselves - the tears come and it's game over. 30 minutes straight of an ab workout and tear duct cleanser. Plus, I like the way his lip curves when he smiles, so it's like a triple win for me.

We have gotten ZERO trick-or-treaters at our house {bummer}, but we aren't TOO sad because husband decided to get the kind of sweet treats that we like. I'm sure we will find a way to mash them up into ice cream and other yummy goodness.

Speaking of "sweet treats", here is a story from 3rd grade today...
Me: "Sweetie, don't chase him, he has food in his mouth." {Imagine a student running around outside with an open bag of hot chips and an ENTIRE zebra cake shoved into his mouth.}
Student: "I ain't chasing him, Mrs. Dismuke! I'm his BODYGUARD. He needs one with goods like these!"

HEB, thanks for keeping us festive with our bath loofas. It will be Halloween in our bathtub/shower for the next few weeks.

Shrimp Remoulade + Colin's cooking skills = deliciousness. I've been fighting to get my appetite back after being sick for what seems like for-ev-er. This might have just fixed it. Thanks love. Looking forward to our Starbucks date tonight.

Love,
Me

practically NOVEMBER?!

Oh, sweet husband...already the end of October? Time flies when you are a teacher. Seriously, blink my eyes and a month has passed since I have nurtured this little blog. {For the 4 of you that actually read this} I took my first day off of school today because I felt like I was going to, well, DIE, this weekend. Irony, I was supposed to get my flu shot today. Sweet.

Confession: I did sneak up to school at 6:30 this morning because...
A. couldn't sleep and was wide awake at 4:47
B. wanted to write dry erase hearts on my littles' desks and sharpen them a special pencil
C. am a complete CONTROL FREAK and couldn't bear having a sub come with no plans or materials laid out and my room left a wreck because I bolted Friday to go to Hannah's soccer game
OR
D. all of the above.

Pinky-finger drumroll......D. D for DUH. Especially the control freak part. I did my best to plan at home and delegate, but there's only so much you can do when you're trapped under blankets and between couch cushions contemplating what the least painful position is to lay in. My clothes hurt, my knees hurt, my teeth hurt, my hair hurt. I was pretty pitiful.

During these weeks that just seem to fly by, you always have a way of making me smile. Like presenting our dinner like you were persuading a Chopped panel of judges of the tastiness of your dish.

I just love life with you. Even though I work a LOT and work even harder to find a way to get it all done any possible way faster, have not been good at extending grace, crave Cinnamon Toast Crunch ((still can't believe you went out to get that and Jell-O for me)), and haven't pursued you diligently. You stay. You are the Greek to my Yogurt {let me know how that Pomegranate one is, kay?}

sammiches.

{7:14 am}
waking up to sunshine. {always a bad sign if it is a school day}.
realizing One {back-up alarm clock number one} and my husband {back-up alarm clock number two} are still sleeping. no, not just sleeping, SNORING.

rush to the bathroom to complete the essentials: sweeping over a face towelette, brushing my teeth, and applying mascara.
crap, it's picture day. good thing I showered last night. and have a dress that isn't wrinkled.
did i mention school starts at 7:30?

{7:37}
arrive at school.
take that back....RUN into school.
grab my kids from a sweet friend who covered for me.
"mrs. dismuke, you look different. are you going to fix your eyebrows?"
{for some reason i have 3 students who have either shaved, Nair-ed, or waxed part or all of their eyebrows off. seriously, don't ask.}

{8:25}
math.
i have a sweet little friend {let's call him g} who struggles to pay attention. highly intelligent, but quite the falling-out-of-the-chair kind of attention span because we are looking at things all around the room.
i have to call on him to make sure he is with me constantly. {4th week of school, people}

me: g, when i compare 4-digit numbers what place value do i start comparing first?
{another sweet friend, j, is quite the jokester}
j: (whispers to g) "seven"
g: SEVEN!
j: PSYCH!

((apparently you had to be there)).

{11:10}
since i didn't put my burrito in the freezer, i overcooked it in the microwave.
burnt myself with black beans.

{11:43}
recess.

t: mrs. dismuke, i got "tazered" at recess.
me: you got "tazered? really? and you're still standing? how did this happen?
t: you know, when you go down the slides...my fingers got "tazered".
me: wait, SHOCKED?!
t: well, yeah mrs. dismuke, "TAZERED"! (duh.)

{11:57}
dancing raising experiment.

"what is a raisin? they look like rabbit poop." hmmm yummmm....

{fast forward to 9:46 pm}
making "sammiches" for my 14 littles who are going to the Baylor vs. A&M soccer game tomorrow night with me to watch their hannah play.

holy moly i love them.

grill pan lovin'.

We ate {quite possibly} my most favorite meal tonight. Maybe because it involves pineapple, mango, avocado, organic sweet baby leaf lettuce, red onions {which are finally good at the grocery store again after having a hard summer}, limes, OH, and the grill pan (go here, here, and here if you have forgotten my LOVE for this kitchen fixture). Seriously, don't TELL me you haven't bought one yet. You're breaking my heart! Just a few of my FAVORITE things...

Props to Cooking Light for this bombshell recipe. Here you go!

Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Salad

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp {recruit your husband or significant other for this task}
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup finely chopped celery (I nixed the celery because me no likey)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion (added a bit more of this)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise (I used Olive Oil Mayo)
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 Boston lettuce leaves (OR the Central Market Sweet Baby Leaf Salad - we are using this later in the week. Two birds with one stone, you know?)

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and black pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove shrimp from pan; repeat procedure with remaining shrimp. Cool shrimp for 5 minutes.

Place shrimp in a medium bowl; stir in celery and next 6 ingredients (through cumin). Arrange 2 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 3/4 cup shrimp mixture.

For the grilled fruit salad:

1 cup mango, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup pineapple, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large avocado, cut into pieces

Cut fruit. Grill mango and pineapple on grill pan until light brown marks appear, usually 2-3 minutes. Divide fruit and avocado on plates.

Mix 2 Tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp honey, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle over fruit.

We were "house-sitters" and "doggie-sitters" this weekend for Colin's parents while they were out of town. We also got to spend time with family {and friends} and had a really restoring weekend in our marriage. It's so easy to excuse time with each other and chalk it up to my "job". The beginning of the year is always busy, but we really felt the disconnect starting to happen. This weekend was a time of rest, joy, and fun. We even had the freedom to visit our favorite restaurant, The Grove, which is also where Colin's parents hosted an incredible Rehearsal Dinner for us over a year ago {time flies}. We left completely full of an incredible 3-course meal and refreshed from the time with each other.

Excited to see all of my littles tomorrow and keep learning with them. They are so special to me!

r&r.

"This weekend was full of R&R at the Dismuke household. I am attempting to get over the annual "Back to School" cold, and Colin became severely dehydrated after riding 40 miles in the heat of the day training for his IronMan. Which led us to the ER. All is well, but I guess these nasty stickers were his payback for riding in the middle of a Texas heatwave. "Band-Aid" method it was to get these off!

Fingers crossed for a low-key week.

Pup pup usually encourages us in this....

r&r.

Pup pup usually encourages us in this....

lately.

{LATELY I...}

built an entire pantry accessory/bookshelf/multipurpose shelving unit for my classroom from Ikea without my husband or a glass of wine.

resisted the urge to eat Cheetos Hot Chips with Limon even though I have been passing the corner store at the corner of our schoolyard everyday for 2 weeks {I gave in today. two words: worth. it.}

called my husband paranoid about a random car parked entirely too close to my car, lights on, windows down with a crunched up license plate and no driver to be found. he came home from work and check to make sure no bad guys were going to steal puppy and I.

have been getting back in shape. and rewarding myself with spoons froyo and sonic iced green tea. it doesn't really count if you are working out, right?

can't stop looking at my class list full of littles for next year so excited for the year to just start already. {and at the same time continually reminded of the Lord's provision to take care of HIS children.}

have been cherishing the full night's of sleep and promising myself I will continue this trend during the year.


speaking of which.........

San Francisco: Days 3 & 4

{SUNDAY}

Let's be honest. We had every intention of going running Sunday morning. In fact, we laid our clothes out Saturday night and pinky promised before we went to sleep that it would. be. happening. Well the morning came and we both woke up with tight calves and spasms. Teach US to walk 13.7 miles in one day!

Plan B. Put on those running clothes {and God's gift to San Francisco-ians...tennis shoes} and walk to breakfast. We went to Sweet Maple, a cute little breakfast nook about 2.5 miles away from home. I was craving pancakes and eggs so I opted for an egg-white omelette and a SINGLE blueberry pancake. Holy moly, it was HUGE.

Short and sweet, this was our breakfast. Finding enough room on our table was our main worry. FYI when you are walking 5 miles for breakfast, you can eat just about whatever you want! {Forget lunch.}

We spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy. Okay, we were resting up for our 6 mile journey to dinner. Two words: WORTH. IT.

We decided to have dinner at an all organic, local, sustainable Mexican food restaurant, Nopalito, but not before we had ice cream at Smitten, an ice cream trailer that makes single servings of ice cream using liquid nitrogen. DELICIOUS. Dessert before dinner is always a positive idea.

Alright, dinner at Nopalito was divine. Everything was so fresh, drinks were amazing, and these spicy, crunchy Garbanzo bean appetizers in the place of chips was such a good idea.

{MONDAY}

Monday we promised ourselves we would go running again. Fail. But we don't feel bad about it. We worked off all of our meals before we got there and experienced the unforgiving hills while walking. We had a yummy breakfast on the pier at Pepples Vegan Donuts, explored the city a bit more, packed up, and ate some pizza on our way our way out.

We love you, San Fran! Over and out.

Love,
Colin and Christina

handyman.

Husband....because THIS seems like a super safe idea. You finally figured out the light {and know we cannot find the bulbs}. Thanks for taking care of things around the house - fixing lightbulbs, dusting where I cannot reach, and re-screwing in doorknobs. I almost had to pull a "Law and Order SVU" and kick in the bathroom door this afternoon. The crystal knob came out when I was trying to get in and it wouldn't open. A large Sonic Diet Green Tea does not understand "hold on just a second while I fix this doorknob" well.

Nie, I stumbled across your blog today and couldn't stop reading. You are so inspiring - keep choosing joy.

Love, you fight off the cold, scary sounds, and bad dreams in the middle of the night. Thanks for walking me to the bathroom and making sure no bad guys were in there waiting to wrap me in a brown nonslip rug, throw me in the bathtub, and stab me with a capped pen {seriously, WHAT the heck am I watching to make me dream this?!}

Oh, and a VERY happy birthday to my precious mother-in-love who I do not know what I would do without. Thanks for sharing your clothes, healthy recipes, and love. Your life and marriage blesses us immensely. Excited for this weekend!

((San Francisco Day 3&4 coming later tonight. Colin kidnapped the good computer and is still at work. Check back soon!))

San Francisco: Days 1 & 2

Here is the well-documented first half of our trip. We are currently resting from walking 3 miles for breakfast this morning before walking {again} to the Golden Gate Bridge {we are determined to NOT pay for a taxi so that we can eat yummy food}. No one can say we are not staying in shape here.

{FRIDAY}

We had a wonderful flight AND packed lightly so we could carry on. Two points for being female and being able to to this.

We had barely gotten here when I proclaimed to Colin that he needed to feed me. Now.

He quickly bought tickets for BART {public transportation train} to take us to Union Square. I love traveling with this boy. Nothing scares him and he can read a map like it is nobody's business. So we immediately began our aerobic workout once in San Fran and climbed hills comparable to those in New Zealand with our suitcases up to the apartment. Luckily we will only have to go down the next time we have our bags. We love our little place, but as anyone can tell you if they know me well, I am a total smell-person. This place smelled fine, just a spicy smell I wasn't a fan of. No worries, nothing a little Febreeze and fresh flowers couldn't fix.

After a quick lunch at a corner cafe that served both turkey sandwiches and Bento Boxes, we decided to go exploring by running. Duh. HOLY HILLS! I swear I am going to go up an entire pant size because of the size of my aheeemmm {toned} legs by the time we get home.

We later had drinks and crispy potato fingerlings at Thermador and waited to eat late for our belated anniversary dinner {that we didn't have reservations for so we took a 9:45 pm slot} Sons and Daughters. We likey.

Both delish. Hilghly recommended. We finished eating dinner at close to 2 am College Station time so we passed out when we got home.

{SATURDAY}

We woke up early to walk down to the Pier and partake in the infamous Farmer's Market. Oh my gosh, this is what heaven is like, we are SURE of it.

We ate our weight in samples and then headed to breakfast at The Plant, a completely organic cafe that was incredible.

Colin had a Breakfast Burrito with Fennel Apple juice and I had a juice blend of carrots, oranges, beets, apples, and lemons with granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit.

We then found ourselves BACK at the Farmer's Market picking up some fruit we absolutely could not live without and headed to Sightglass Coffee - a place so legit they only used whole milk and I didn't even need sugar in my cappuccino.

((we also took my favorite picture to date))

After visiting a few more places on our to-do list {WALKING} of course, we stopped at Tartine Bakery {which Colin is obsessed with} for lunch.

((Pick your jaw up off the floor and stop drooling.))

We also stopped in to Samovar, a nice tea cafe to rest our legs and feet on the way back to our apartment.

It was a DELICIOUS as it looks.

THEN we showered and headed back to The Plant's Lunch/Dinner Cafe (another building next door) since we loved breakfast so much and wanted to eat on the Pier.

I got the Grilled King Salmon.

Colin got the BBQ Chicken Pizza with Apple Chicken Sausage.

AND we concluded Saturday's treks with a grand total of.........

13.7 miles.

dream cookies.

Husband, yesterday I finally got around to making your cloud cookies. And they were pretty stinkin' good. Even better using this precious, handmade cookie cutter and this recipe. You are working so hard on your thesis and I figured you needed a little boost. How about you come home on the early side so we can go to SanFran?

Pup pup will be packing his bags and heading to "Grandmommy Camp" this weekend. I can tell he is pumped. This morning he has already rolled in the dirt, tracked it in the {clean} house, and gotten out every.single.toy. he owns and put them by my suitcase. I have no doubt he will come back 4 Sonic corndogs heavier, exhausted, and whining when we pick him up to take him come. He is so spoiled over there.

Happy San Francisco Weekend! {finally}

thankful.

colin and I have been reminded over the weekend of how thankful we are for all of the provisions and incredible blessings in our life.

((family))

((able bodies))

((each other))

((silly texts))

((healthy dinners))

((and an awesome place to stay in san francisco for a long weekend this coming weekend))

so thankful.

new imogen.

Imogen Heap - Propeller Seeds from Imogen Heap on Vimeo.

Pretty stinkin' sure this is going to be my wake up song from now on. The colors, ideas, creativity, and videography are hands down amazing.

{propeller seeds are seeds that look like they have "propellers" which causes them to spin as they fall during wind dispersal. because of this design, they can be carried far away from the parent plant. thanks horticulture class.}

chalk love.

Because sometimes things are just better said when they are written with colorful chalk on the sidewalk.

Thankful for you, husband.

ketchup.

This post is entitled ketchup because growing up, it was one of those words I just mistook for other words. I would say "ketchup" instead of "catch up" or " Water Burger" instead of "What-a-burger". I had quite a few of those. Well we are playing "ketchup" through pictures today. While listening to Colbie Caillat's new CD. It's all about getting inspired.

Let's be honest, my in-loves have great legs. All of them. Fingers crossed our kiddos get their legs and my teeth ((except I found out I have my first CAVITY today. Tragic)) Anyways, I have been attempting to get back in shape. Best advice I have about getting back in shape...DON'T get out of if. Holy moly, Texas heat is not kind to the out-of-shapers. Oh, and the fact that my husband is a super-athlete and has signed up for the NYC IRONMAN next summer does not help.

I believe the conversation we had before I got this GASH on my leg went something like this.

Me: (I am on the couch reading The Help {BUY THIS!}
Colin: (walks past in his biking onesie) Well, I'm going on a bike ride, dear (cue the long pause and the feeling of eyes burning into me).
Me: Is this an invitation?
Colin: Uhhh, YEAH.
ME: SUPER DUPER.

Hence the biking injury. I havent quite mastered the pedals just yet. And yes, blood was flowing and I was not allowed to go back and lick my wounds. I think he forgets I am a girl sometimes. But I love it.

Speaking of in-loves, we had breakfast at Revival Market in Houston with them. Check it out if you are in the area. Good coffee and fresh, local food.

We have also enjoyed being a part of some very special days of some very special friends getting married! We are big fans of marriage if you don't already know, so weddings are especially exciting for us. Cannot believe it has been over a YEAR! Time flies when you are having F-U-N!

Colin even matched Meredith's sweet momma with their stylish glasses.

And another on their actual day. We love you Mike and Meredith DeFrees!

So thankful to see this friend at another wedding. Can you believe that we have known each other for half of our lives?! I LOVE THIS!

Have fun playing "ketchup" with whatever you need to!