Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from The Barnetts!

With Love,

David, Sarah, Paige, Chili, Froggie, and Frogette 

Bulls Game.

Last Monday, David and I went to the Bulls game.  They were playing the Pacers, therefore it was definitely fitting for me!  The best part was that we sat on the court!  It was one of those "bucket list" experiences...so much fun!  

Our tickets...do not worry we did not pay for them!!

Me at our seats!

Our back and forth view for the night.

David!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Sick.

This past week I have been super sick.  My condition is called...The Winter Blues.  Have you heard of them??


Some of the symptoms include...
-Pasty White Skin
-Tired all Day Long and Ready for Bed at 5:00
-Freezing Cold ALL the Time
-No Recollection of what the Sun looks like
-No Desire to Drive Anywhere because of the Snow


What is sad about my condition, is that it is looking like I will be sick for a long time!  I am reminded daily in my first grade classroom that the season is still FALL!  I would be much happier if I could just see the sun and feel some warmth!  Hopefully the winter goes by fast...

Mrs. Barnett : )

Here I Go Again!

Well, believe it or not, I started training for another half marathon this week!  I may be crazy, but I think it is a good type of crazy!  I am getting ready to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon again.  I am going down with my long-time friends Jennifer and Kathy.  I am looking forward to improving my time again and having a lot of fun.  Below are some pictures from last year.

Mrs. Barnett : )

Crazy Cats.

I live with two very sweet cats, Paige and Chili.  They are well behaved for the most part, but often scream and scream when they are hungry!  Yesterday, I came home to a mess from them which is very unusual!  I accidentally left the lid off of my q-tip jar and they had a q-tip party!  I am not quite sure how they put their paws in the jar to dig out all of the q-tips, but they managed to take out every last one!  They were laid out all over my apartment, even in their food bowls!  Some q-tips still had their cotton end, but many did not.  I would have loved to seen a video of their day!  Below are two pictures.

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Daylight Savings.

I just have to put it out there that Daylight Savings in Chicago is awful.  I thought it was bad in Indiana but it is definitely worse here!  It officially starts getting dark when I take my kids to the buses (3:15!).   By the time it is 5:00 it is pitch black.  I can only imagine what it will be like in December.  Boo to Daylight Savings!!


Mrs. Barnett : ) 

I love my job.

I have received many notes/drawings/letters throughout my teaching career.  There are a few that stand out as adorable.  Today, I received one of those!  One of my favorite little guys gave me these post-it notes along with this paper of math problems.  For those of you that are not fluent in reading first grade writing, it says... "I did extra homework it is in my backpack its math and please give me a grade on my extra homework and do it in letters like an A+".  Needless to say...I needed to take a picture before I gave him back his A+ graded homework.

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Cashew.

David and I ran into Target the other day (which we frequently do) to pick up just a few things.  While shopping, we found this new toy for the girls (our cats, Paige and Chili).

We decided to get them their first Hanukkah toy!  When I was young, we often celebrated a little bit of Hanukkah along with Christmas.  My parents made up the nickname "Cashews" (Catholic - Jews). We are not sure how we will raise our own children, but I think it will be a little bit of both!  For now, we will start with our fur babies.

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

YEA!!!

I finished the race!!  It actually went by fast and I felt really good doing it.  I beat a goal time for myself and ended up doing it in 2 hours and 23 minutes.  My first race, Disney Princess in 2009, I ran in 2 hours and 39 minutes.  My second race, Indy Mini Marathon, I ran in 2 hours 31 minutes.  I am signed up to run the Disney Princess race again in February.  I hope for a time in the 2 hours and teen-somethings!  We will see!  For now, here are some pictures from the day...by the way - I wasn't even sore!!

Jennifer and I after the race...we finished at the same time and didn't even know we were running by eachother!

Margaret and my Dad at breakfast.  My Dad ran the half and Margaret ran the full...she came in first in her age division!

David and I at breakfast.  We went to the same place after I ran the Mini!

Me at my Mom's house ready to shower!  (Can you tell the photographer was David??)

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Done.

I am officially done training for my half-marathon!!  Ya-hoo!!!  Unfortunately, David has been sick with a stomach something (I keep telling myself it started as food poisoning).  Therefore, I have spent my week washing my hands constantly.  Keep your fingers crossed that I do not get it and make it through Saturday!!


Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Mrs. Barnett's First Grade Class!!

Post Weekend Recap 2.

The second weekend I wanted to recap was last weekend!  I flew down to Nashville (music city!) for the night to celebrate Jeni and her upcoming wedding!  I had never been to Nashville and had honestly never thought about visiting.  However, I had so much fun and would love to go back again!

We went from bar to bar because there were so many fun ones to choose from.  The best part was that all of the bars had live bands playing.  This made it even more entertaining!

We had a GREAT group of girls!

Another fun part of the weekend was staying at the Timothy Demonbreun House which was a Bed & Breakfast.  It was such a great idea to have a whole house to ourselves.  However, the owner was another whole story... : ) 

The weekend made me that much more excited for Jeni's big day on New Years Eve!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Post Weekend Recap Number 1.

Wow!  Days and weeks go by too fast!  I have been wanting to post about some of the fun weekends we have had lately.  I need to date this post all the way back to October 9 - 11.  Better late than never, right?!

I went home to Indy because my school had Monday off for Columbus Day.  David stayed in Chicago to watch his cousin run the Chicago Marathon.  The weekend started out great because I made such great time while driving down!  I was able to meet up with my friend for almost 20 years, Jennifer!  She helped me to pick up a bridesmaid dress and we had a great lunch.  It was wonderful to catch up with her.

After visiting with Jen, I went to get my hair done by my favorite stylist Jaron.  That night, my mom and I had a nice dinner out together!

I spent my day Sunday with my Dad and Margaret.  One of the highlights was dressing their dog Bella up in her Halloween tutu.  I thought she looked great!

Finally, on Monday I went to visit Durbin (my old school).  It was soo great seeing all the kids and staff again.  My favorite comment was, "Miss Pinkus, I liked it better when you were single!"  I have so many great memories at the school, especially with two of my favorite girls, Lauren and Jeni!

All in all it was a great weekend!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Our Home!

I have been meaning to post pictures of our apartment on here for awhile now.  We love it, but are looking forward to finally being completely settled in a home!  That will come in the spring.  For now, please enjoy our "hotel" in our "shopping mall"!

The entrance to our lobby and to our floor!

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom (all of David's pink input!)

Our TINY kitchen!  At least I have this pantry...

Our Living/Dining Room

The pretty view from our window.  There is a lake/park behind the buildings.

Our Bedroom.

My Bathroom!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Mrs. Barnett : )