Keep rollin'

Lately life has been a whirlwind of adventures. I think it always is, but it just seems especially busy lately.

I'm house sitting this little guy a few days this week. He may look cute but he can bark all day.

I wandered around the state legislature building and found this neat Nevada shaped mirror!

More mirror. Skirt:Target, Shirt: Modcloth.com, Shoes:dsw

In other news, I adopted this tiny little ball of fur who is taking up so much of my time. But she's just so adorable. This is Hallow!

Date Night White

I adore summer whites! I am not one who wears white often, but it feels so perfect in summer. I am pretty clumsy and usually end up with food or coffee (usually coffee) down the front of whatever I'm wearing, especially when I wear white. Oh, well. That won't stop me from wearing it.

I had a date night with the boy and wanted  something fun and light so I put on this dress and brought out my newish shoes. Put the look together with some cute earrings and it's time for a nice dinner on an outside patio. Hooray for summer!

Dress: New York and Co. , Shoes: Seychelles via DSW, Earrings: Charming Charlie, Lipstick: Clinique

 Strange facial expression but closeup of my cute earrings!

Summer break

Summer is in full swing here. As a teacher that means lots of relaxing and enjoying the summer sun…NOT. I have been working on lesson plans, reading school books, and creating classroom décor for next year. Plus, I have already started having dreams about my next class! Ahhh. Well at least I can take lots of breaks and go outside and play with the dog or go down to the river.  Well today I took an actual break and went out to lunch with a friend. It is nice to be able to get out of the house and dress up a bit.

 Owl Necklace! - Gift

 Shirt: Old Navy, Skirt: Boden , Shoes: DSW

 My favorite summer heels. They are wedges and so comfy!

My life lately

Lately I have been working on classroom projects and ideas and creating all kinds of things for my classroom for next year. Who says teachers don't work in the summer? HA! I have been busy all over the internet looking up ideas and such (thanks Pinterest!). Here are some links and such I found this week and been loving.

Picture from my word wall in my classroom. The kids love zombies!

Great finds for the classroom that can be found at the local hardware store!

WHAT!? A crayon sharpener that is not in the back of a crayon box!? Exciting!

I'm thinking of an owl theme classroom for this coming up year. This classroom has some great ideas for how to make it cute and colorful. 

I'm also looking up home ideas on Design Sponge. We just cleaned and donated a bunch of old clothes and household items and now I need some ideas for color and design around the house.

Also while browsing the internet I found these heels and ordered them.

I have been watching Orphan Black in a marathon while working as well. What a crazy show.

We are also thinking about adopting a kitten! I am super excited about this idea. I have been wanting another cat since our family cat passed a few years ago.  How excited am I!

Link for picture

Have a lovely day everyone!

Night and day

Sometimes you need to be able to change your look quickly from day to night. For me, this often happens at work. I go to work with a more casual and easy look generally. It makes working with kids much easier. For my day look, I wore sandles and kept my hair down and makeup light. This look is more simple and I could run errands and go about my daytime business.

 Dress: JCpenny, Shoes: DSW, Earrings: Charming Charlie

THis is my "It is really sunny and bright out right now" look. Too much sun in my eyes and I think Luna back there would agree.

 The evening look. For evening, a quick shoe change to some cute heels, a little bit more makeup, and the hair in a ponytail. A fast switch for when you have a date or drinks after work/errands.

 Shoes: Target

What about you girls and guys? How do you take a look from day to night? Any new ideas?

Inside the caves...under the ground

One of my biggest fears is mines. In Nevada, we have a lot of them, both new and old. This fear stems from my 4th grade field trip. First we learned all about Nevada history, then we watched a video about mines called Stay Out and Stay Alive (may not be the exact video but similar). Let's just say the video scared the heck out of me. The next day after the video our class was going on a field trip to visit a (safe?) mine. I was up all night with nightmares and terrible thoughts about this trip. When our class finally got up to the mine, I refused to go in and sat outside the whole time and to this day I still do not like being underground, mines, or even replicas of mines.

When the boy and I decided to go on our trip to Great Basin, we researched all the amazing things to do and see. One of these things that everyone seemed to recommend was Lehman Caves. It looked neat, but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go. My fear stopped me. The night before we went I was once again having anxiety about the thought but as an adult I figured I could do this. Plus, caves are not man made like mines are, so there is a little bit more security there. Well, ladies and gents, I did it! I conquered my fear and went in. It was amazing and interesting and such a surreal experience. The pictures I have aren't great but we had to keep moving and I didn't have much time to set up. All I have to say is, conquer your fears. Go out and do something amazing.

  

Great Basin National Park!

I have a bucket list and part of it includes attempting to get to all the US National Parks. I love the wild, beautiful places of the world and it would be wonderful to get to them all. They are such important pieces of our nation and just amazingly beautiful. Plus, I have wanted to visit more since watching the Parks And Rec. last season and wishing I had Leslie Knopes job. haha.

Source for photo

The boy and I decided that we would pack up and take a road trip to our state's Great Basin National Park since we both were excited to see it! Of course it was better than we expected. Here are some wonderful pictures from the park. I'll try to let the pictures speak for themselves...

Bristlecone Pines are some of the oldest living organisms on earth. They grow in some of the harshest environments in the US. This one is at around 10,000ft. in elevation and just below a glacier. 

One of the southernmost glaciers in the US is in Great Basin but since we've been in such a drought, there isn't much left. 

 Wheeler Peak is the second highest peak in Nevada. 

Great Basin also has one of the darkest skies in the country. It is far away from most major cities so there is hardly any light pollution.

It was a wonderful trip (besides the flash flood warning) and I would love to go back again someday, I would highly recommend this park to anyone who wants to visit magical places with such rich wildlife and history. There are also caves inside the park, which I will post about next time. I just have far too many pictures for one post. 

Road Trip on The Loneliest Road in America

Highway 50 through Nevada has been called The Loneliest Road in America and was once the route traveled by Pony Express riders through the state to deliver mail (Pony Express History anyone?). It is an empty expanse and lovely salt flats, mountains, and valleys with hardly any towns or other people seen for miles. While most people might find this "lonely" as the the nickname states, I find it beautiful and enchanting, at least to visit. This is where the boy and I began our road trip from Carson City, NV all the way out to Great Basin National Park. Summer road trips are great and can be full of fun and interesting places. Here are a few photos from the road, or The Loneliest Road.

On the road to Great Basin.

Shoes: Teva

An old sign/road marker for the Lincoln Highway.

The Pony Express. Sign in Austin, NV about halfway through our journey.

The lovely open road. So much sky. 

Eureka, NV. Another small town along the way.

More signage marking the Lincoln Highway.

Yay! I survived.

Ward Charcoal Ovens outside Ely, NV. 

Cows on the open range!

Welcome to Ely, NV!

That was the end of Day 1 of our road trip. The next stop was Great Basin NAtional Park, where we camped for a few nights before driving home. Since this post is a bit picture heavy, the next post will be from inside the park. Enjoy!