New Car!

This post is long overdue...


The lease was up for my Saturn in March, which meant it was new car time!  I decided to lease again because I like to know a change will come eventually.  Plus, David has a friend in the leasing business.  I also decided that I would like another small SUV because I loved the size/style of my Saturn.  We decided on a BMW X3 and I am absolutely in love with it.  It was a great upgrade for me and is lots of fun to drive.  I do not have any good pictures, but what I do have is below!

David is awful at taking pictures...but this is me returning my Saturn on a rainy night after a workout!

And..the new gorgeous car!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Classroom Blog.

In the past few weeks, I have created a classroom blog for my first-graders.  We have had a lot of fun updating it and reading the comments.  If you would like to check out the blog click here and feel free to leave us a comment!  To my teacher friends - my class would love if your classes viewed the blog!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Morning Run.

As we are nearing the end of the school year (ya-hoo!) times have been getting very busy.  It is always typical around this time of year.  I like it, because it makes weeks go by even faster!  To go along with these busy times, I have had to adapt my work-out schedule a little to make sure I fit it all in.  This included a morning run that I took very early on Thursday. 


I loved running before school last year and frequently went to my gym early in the morning.  This year, that has changed because I no longer belong to a typical gym (I go to a one-on-one training gym 2x a week) and the gym in my apartment does not open until 7.  That does not give me enough time before school, so I have just gotten used to running after school.  However, with the warming weather and sunshine in the morning, I decided to go outside for my run to get it done before school.


I took a typical path and was so happy I went out as soon as I left.  The morning weather felt wonderful and I loved seeing everything "wake-up".  There was one part of my run that was wonderful, and that is why I am writing this post.  There is a cemetery along the route and something made me want to run through it.  I am so glad that I did, because it was so serene and totally took my mind off the run and to another place.  It made me want to "veer" of my path more and I hope you decide to do that also.  In your run, or in any other aspect of your life!


Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Crazy Times!

Phew...have we been busy!  We had plans on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this weekend.  It was crazy, but fun!  Time is flying by, and with summer nearing I do not mind!  One thing I do mind is the weather still being yucky, but that is a whole different story...

I need to think about getting in bed and falling asleep with a busy week full of conferences, but wanted to blog about one thing.  I recently read a book by Kristin Armstrong (Lance's ex-wife!) titled Mile Markers - 26.2 Reasons Why Women Run.  It was recommended to me by a co-worker and it is hard to explain how much I could relate to the book and how so many parts have stayed with me.  Two quotes that I keep hearing over and over in my mind are "run your own race" and "you will keep getting the same results if you keep doing the same things".  I have been able to relate these to many parts of my life and it has caused me to do some thinking.  There were soo many more quotes throughout the book...but my brain is little fried right now!

Lesson of the day - If you are a runner, READ THIS BOOK!!

Mrs. Barnett : )

A Race a Month - April.

Today, I continued my goal for running a race month by completing the Shamrock Shuffle 8k.  The race just happened to be on the first day Chicago decided to hit 80+ degrees (or really anything over 60), but more on that later...


David and I decided to stay at the designated race hotel, The Hilton on Michigan Ave., which was a great decision.  We had to go to Navy Pier on Saturday to pick up my race packet which would mean driving back and forth, plus an early wake up for the race!  We enjoyed our stay in the city; ate at David's favorite deli, Manny's, walked around Navy Pier and Michigan Ave, and ordered Little Fockers (terrible!) while eating room service.  It was also a super easy walk to the race in the morning which was the best part.


I was a little nervous about the heat and decided not to push it and instead listen to my body and walk if I felt like I needed to...and I did just that!  My overall goal was not to go over an hour and I accomplished that, so I am kinda happy with my time.  The race went through the streets of downtown so it was very scenic and fun to run through.  There were tons of other runners though...40,000!  It was the largest 8k in the world.


One other fun parts of the race was that David's brother, Phil, ran also!  We met up with him, his girlfriend Melissa, and my mother-in-law Leslie afterwards for brunch.  All in all it was a fun run!

Before the race.

Phil and I.

Me with my race get-up in the hotel!

My time from the website...

23227

Sarah

Barnett

Glenview

IL

USA

28

F

58:06

1:19:32

24555

12608

3817

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Lucky Returns!

You may remember my post about Lucky the Leprechaun visiting our classroom.  My class has not stopped talking about Lucky and often insists that they have seen him out and about.  One of my students wrote a letter to Lucky and then asked me, very seriously, to send it to him.  How could I say no?!

After reading the letter, I knew that I had to write back!  I found fun paper to write on, and searched for gold coins (both plastic and chocolate!).  I then put it all together and sent this to my students...

Needless to say, I was excited for it to arrive in the mail, but also did not want to show any hint of something to my students.  When it arrived, they were beyond excited.  They loved that he had written them and it only affirmed that there really is a Lucky the Leprechaun.  What a fun experience to be a part of!

Mrs. Barnett : ) 

Staycation.

This past week I was on spring break from school.  With already two trips to Florida in 2011 and David in Costa Rica last week, we decided not to go away.  I loved having the week to enjoy my life here and get things done at school and home.  To have a little fun, we decided to take a "staycation" for two days downtown.  We stayed at The James Hotel, which was super sleek and cool.  The first night we were there, we went to see The Blue Man Group and had a blast.  The theater was really interesting inside and we sat in the front row so we literally saw everything.  I was also given a poster that they made! 

There were tubes like this hanging everywhere!


After we went to the show, we went out to one of David's favorite places to eat, Japonais.  Yum!!


The next day, we decided to be tourists around the city.  First, David left early to go to work for a little while I slept/worked out.  On his way out, he saw one of our favorite reality celebs, Benthenny Frankel!  I was super jealous that I did not get up early enough for that : (  He was told that there were Bravo celebs in the hotel for a Top Chef party, so we had our eyes opened for them!  For lunch we found The Southern Mac and Cheese Truck through Facebook.  I follow them, but have never had their food.  They go to different places around the city each day and serve gourmet mac and cheese from their truck.  It was soo soo soo good!!

Next, we went to go check out The French Market.  It is this cute building that has rows of food and different objects to buy.  It was both fun and yummy!

After our time at The French Market, we took a little rest and went shopping on Michicgan Ave.  We ended the day with eating dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, we were too spent to walk anywhere else! It was a great dinner though.  While waiting for dinner, we saw another Top Chef contestant, Tiffany (with red hair...don't know her last name!)


We had to leave early on Friday so that David could go to opening day of The Cubs.  However, he was lucky enough to see Carla (our favorite!) from Top Chef in the lobby before I woke up.  Lesson learned from the trip...wake up earlier!  


All in all, it was a great staycation!


Mrs. Barnett : )