Matchbox Twenty and IKEA

Back to school season is upon us.  

I've been very busy the past couple of weeks getting my room ready and attending workshops.  I will be coteaching this year which means I will have another teacher in my classroom with me.  I'll admit I was a little anxious about that at first, but I LOVE my coteacher.  She has lots of experience and is so sweet.  Plus we seem to have a lot in common.  I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot from her.  

Open House

Andrew and I were able to sneak away yesterday afternoon for a night in Southhaven, Mississippi for a concert.

But not before grabbing dinner at one of our favorite places.

We saw Matchbox Twenty and let me just say it was best concert we've been to in a long time.  GREAT show.


This morning we drove over to Memphis so that I could go to IKEA.  I've been wanting to go ever since they opened the Memphis store.

I found the things I wanted for my classroom along with a few other fun things.

I could have stayed in there all day but we had to get home to pick up Liberty & Lincoln from the kennel.  According to their report card they had a good time.

We all the perfect little get away before school starts.  

Memphis in May

Awhile back I woke up to a text message from my husband.

That actually happens more often than you would think.

He is a night owl and is often up much later than me.

So sometimes after I'm long asleep he will send me a text.  Most of the time they are links to something he has found that he wants to buy or do.

Anyway, a couple of months ago I woke up to a text message saying I need to plan to take a personal day because we were going to Memphis in May.

After looking at the line up, I had mixed emotions.

I was super pumped to see a few certain performers, but I do not do well with crowds.

As we got closer to this past weekend it began to look like we were going to have to cancel our plans.

Andrew had to go out of town for work.

He ended up coming home early and we were able to go to Memphis for the weekend.

We left right after work Friday and headed to the Beale Street Musical Festival.

We made it just in time to grab some yummy food truck food and watch the first show of the weekend.

Friday night we saw Gin Blossoms, Grace Potter, and Weezer.

Saturday morning we slept in and were pretty lazy all day.

We were preparing for another late night of concerts..

John Mayall, Better Than Ezra, Barenaked Ladies, and my personal favorite of the weekend...Meghan Trainor.

In between shows we left the park to grab some dinner.

Gus's Fried Chicken....This is a MUST if you are in Memphis!!

Sunday we saw Blackberry Smoke (I was not a fan), Paul Simon, and Beck. 

There was also more good food on Sunday.

Central BBQ...

Andrew was excited to share a slab of ribs with me.  

It was a first for our relationship. :)

When in Memphis...

It was such a fun weekend.  Lots of good music and delicious food.

But the best part of the weekend, the part that I want to always remember...

was the way Andrew loved me and served me.

I want to remember how he thought to bring my duck boots that I didn't pack for myself because he knew we would be walking in a pool of mud all weekend.

I want to remember how he would check to make the sure the porta-potty was clean (or at least as clean as one can be) before I went in.  

I want to remember the way he helped me take my boots off so I could put rain pants on without getting all muddy.

I want to remember the tickle fight that made me laugh until I cried.

I want to remember how he searched for the perfect spot to stand in the crowd - a spot where I would be able to see but wouldn't feel claustrophobic.  

He loves me well.

He is my best friend and I'm loving this season of life where we can just pick up and get away for the weekend.

All the Countdowns

March Madness tournament starts in three days.

Y'all this is the only time of year I really watch college basketball but I LOVE it.  If you've been around since last March you know our family has a little bracket competition each year.  

The smack talking is a little intense, but oh so much fun.

I have two goals each year....don't come in dead last and beat Andrew.  

This year there will be a trophy so maybe I'll have three goals this year.

I'm taking it a step further this year and creating a little competition with some of my students.  I can totally make this a little math lesson right?

This is the last week before Spring Break.  

No big plans other than an orthodontist appoint, an eye doctor appoint, and sleeping in every day.

Oh and lots of cleaning and organizing.

Getting ready for a fun party.

Our Masters Watching/Joint Birthday Party.

We are going to celebrate Andrew's birthday along with our nephew Cody's birthdays.

The guys will play golf and then we will lunch and watch the Masters.

I'm having fun planning and learning about the Masters.

Andrew bought us tickets for Memphis in May.

I may be just a little excited to see Megan Trainor.

And last but not least the planner in me is looking forward to summer and days of workshops.  My mind is already thinking about next year and ideas I want to try and themes for my classroom. 

A Date Night in Boots

Last Friday evening Andrew and I got all dressed up in our boots. 

Because that's what you do when you are going to see Garth Brooks.  

It was such a fun date night.

Garth puts on a great show!

There were 17,000 people in attendance singing along with EVERY SINGLE SONG!

After the concert we spent the night with Andrew's mom and dad.  

Thanks again for having us, Big Man and Momma.  

We planned to go straight home and do some work around the house, but ended up spending all day in Little Rock shopping.  It was well worth it when at the end of the day we had finished our Christmas shopping.

Overnight dates are the best.

I was soaking up the moments with my husband and trying not to take them for granted.  I love that we have dates from time to time.  Dating each other keeps some fun in our marriage.  I hope that we will still make time for dates when we have a house full of kiddos.  I think it so important.

Our Weekend

I've always wanted to go see Trans Siberian Orchestra.  I've heard it was amazing and the band geek in me just knew I was missing out on something.  I was more than a little excited when Andrew told me he bought us tickets several months ago.  I have been looking forward to it for months.

The day finally came yesterday.  We went to the afternoon show and just made a day out of it.  We had the best day talking about our adoption and dreaming about how many kids God has waiting for us.

Andrew and I have been to a lot of concerts and yesterday was the first time we've ever seen such technical difficulties.  After the first little intro they stopped the show and left us sitting in the dark for a few minutes while they worked on their screens.  They were sending the wrong picture to the wrong screen.  It was pretty comical.

There were more problems toward the end of the show when a light caught on fire and a fire extinguisher had to brought out.

TSO has some very talented musicians but Andrew and I are not going to be those people who go see them every year.

Let's just say it didn't make our TOP TEN list of concerts.

After the show we headed to the mall for a little shopping.  

How festive is this red jacket?

Today we started getting our Christmas decorations out.  I had planned to decorate last week but I spent four days sick so it didn't happen.

I made some Christmas cookies I found on Pinterest.  They were a complete fail.  My pans are old and have seen much better days so I'm going to blame it on that.  The cookies weren't stuck when I first pulled them out of the oven, but by the time I added the kiss to the top they had all cemented themselves to the cookie sheet.   

So I did the only reasonable thing.  I threw away two cookie sheets with cookies still attached, snapped a picture of the five cookies that were made on a different cookie sheet, and posted said picture to social media making me look like a holiday Martha Stewart.

Only two more weeks until Christmas break.

This teacher is ready.

James Taylor

First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for the classroom love.  My classroom is my home away from home so I like for it to be a happy colorful place.  I can't believe school starts a week from today.  It's just crazy.


Andrew and I saw James Taylor in concert Friday night.  This was our second time seeing him, but this time we had front row seats.  We were pretty excited.

Andrew bought an album to have signed and he scored the first autograph of the night.

It was a great show.  He is a funny guy.  And so nice.  He signs autographs during intermission until the band pulls him away to sing again.

We hung out at the end of the show and got a picture with him.

Not the most flattering picture of Andrew and me but we're with James Taylor so who cares!

Our Busy Family

We are still waiting for life to slow down here at The Weaver House.  We seem to just go go go all the time. I say that as I'm home from work today.  Ha!

Last weekend we went to the Razorback game in Little Rock.  We had a good time despite how bad the game went.  I'm glad we decided to leave at the end of the third quarter and we weren't there to witness the horrible ending.

The main reason we left early was to drive north to help with the launch of Verge Church.  Andrew's brother, Cary, and his wife, Sara, along with a couple of friends are planting a church.  We had the blessing of going up and being there for their first service.  Andrew helped set up and run sound.  They are renting part of a theater which means they turn it into a church every Sunday and then take it all back down after service.

They had a great turnout.  I'm excited to see how God uses them to reach people for His kingdom.


Last night we were able to drive to Memphis for a concert.  We saw Andy Grammer, Mat Kearney, and Train.  It was such a great show!  We had so much fun.  I don't have any pics because all I had with me was my phone and it just wasn't getting any good pics.

That's why I'm home today.  I knew it would be late when we got back so i decided to take the day off.  We spent the night in Memphis last night and then drove home this morning so Andrew could go to work.  I'm using the day to get caught up on planning and grading for school, or at least that how I'm supposed to be using the day.

This weekend we are heading north again to attend Verge Church.  We are also going to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday.  It should be a fun weekend.

On top of all that I'm helping my mom plan my little brother's wedding.  I cannot believe he will be married in less than a month.  I'm so happy for them.  They are thrilled.  I'm having fun designing invitation and planning decor.  They are also giving me the HUGE honor of being their photographer.  I am so excited about it.  I've been pinning tons of ideas on pinterest.

Do you have a "MUST GET" wedding shot?

Girls Night Out

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to see Mandisa, Britt Nicole, and Laura Story in concert.  They called it Girls Night Out.  The husband was sweet enough to buy me tickets months ago.  He told me to invite a friend and go have fun.  Is he not the best?

Slack joined me for a night of fun.  Laura Story was the first to perform.  She is hilarious!!  She had us rolling as she told stories in between songs.  She is a worship leader at her church.  They are lucky!  She writes and sings some amazing songs. 

Britt Nicole came out next.  I was most excited to see her live.  She was at Winter Jam several years ago when she was a new artist.  I had been wanting to see her again ever since.  That girl knows out to rock out!  I love it!  Her latest cd just came out not to long ago.  It's called Gold.  This album contains Britt's message that I believe every girl should hear and know.  She has songs that talk about how you are worth more than gold. You are one in a million.  My favorite song from this album is called Ready or Not.  It talks about how we don't have to try to fit into the box that the world things we belong in.  We can be who we are in Christ.  Let his light shine through us even if it means we look a little different.  Love it!  As a middle school teacher, I see every day how important it is for young girls to hear this message.  Shoot I'm 28 and there are still days when I need to hear this message. 

We ended the night with Mandisa.  She is awesome!!  She has been on a journey in weight loss for quite some time now.  In that journey she has discovered and come to love Zumba.  She made up a Zumba routine for one of her songs that she taught us.  So much fun!!

I have been wanting to do a give away for awhile now.  I think it's about time we did that.  One of you lucky ladies (or guys) will win Britt Nicole's new album Gold.  The message in this album is just that good! 

To enter the give away and have a chance to win this cd all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.  Easy as that!

Almost forgot.  I'll use random.org to choose a winner on Friday, May 4. :)

Tuesday Tunes: Winter Jam 2011

Thought I would do something a little different today for Tuesday Tunes. Instead of picking just one song to share with you, I want to share with you about a concert the husband and I went to Saturday night.

Our oldest nephew, Tyler, tagged along with us. He and Andrew are concert buddies!! Very rarely does one go to a concert without the other one.

Winter Jam is a great concert of several different Christian artist joined by speaker Tony Nolan. It is general admission for $10 every year. Loads of fun!!

This was my 2nd Winter Jam. I have been looking forward to it for awhile, ever since I learned that Francesca Battistelli was going to be there.

The night opened with Joseph Castro. I'm sure those of you watch American Idol know who he is. I only know one song by him. Being the first act, he only played three or four songs.

He was followed by Chris August. I recently bought his cd and I'm enjoying it. You can still get one of his songs, Starry Night, free at KLOVE. Check it out here if you haven't already.

These guys were followed by Newsong and then a band called Red. I wasn't that crazy about either one of these artist. Red was LOUD!!! Just not my kind of music. The guys loved them though.

Next up was my main reason for wanting to go to Winter Jam.


Francesca Batistelli!! She was so stinkin' cute. I loved her outfit. There are very few people who can pull off that kind of look.

David Crowder Band was also one of the performers. We had never seen them before. They did a couple of their popular songs. Half way through their act, he mentioned that he was from Texas.


Wrong thing to say in Arkansas. We might have possibly booed DCB. Their little story continued and then they asked us to call the hogs. Of course, we obliged.


Not the best picture, but that's a whole lot of people calling those Hogs.

Back to the music....I was so excited that DCB played my favorite song that they do. It isn't one you would expect. I LOVE their version of I Saw The Light. They played it and I'll Fly Away. I was thrilled.

I found this video from Winter Jam in NC this year.



The night ended with Kutless and Newsboys.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in Kutless. I really like their music. I just expected more from their show.

Newsboys, however, was awesome. It was a great ending to the night. At one point they were all raised into the air on different platforms. The drummer was on a round platform that raised into the air and then began to til. It tilted until it was completely vertical. As if that wasn't enough, it started spinning.



It was amazing night. I'm so glad that we went.

A Mini Getaway

Last Friday afternoon Andrew and I decided to attend a concert in a town two and half hours away. We knew we wouldn't feel like driving back after the concert so we book a hotel using points Andrew has from all his traveling. See...good things do come from not having a husband at home two weeks out of every month. :)

Saturday we slept in exhausted from the fair. We took our time about getting up and around. Once we were finally ready to go we loaded up the car and turned on the radio so we wouldn't miss the game.

Oh I'm glad we listened and didn't watch our Hogs. I don't think I could have taken it.

We arrived in Harrison in time to check into the hotel before going out for dinner and the concert.

As we were leaving I had my head down and walking pretty fast out of the hotel. I almost ran into this guy who was unloading his vehicle. I apolagized and jsut kept walking. I heard him and Andrew exchange a few words. When we got in the car I asked who it was. Andrew just looks at me like I'm crazy and informs that it was the lead singer of Sanctus Real. Oops!

At the concert we had VIP tickets which guarenteed us seas in the front row and backstage passes. We were front and center. I'm not sure I've ever been been that close to a stage while I was in my seat. Crazy kind of close.

Right before the show they called us back and we got to meet the bands. We had our picture taken with The After and Sanctus Real. Leeland had to head out before we got to them. All nice guys!!!



I really enjoyed The Afters. I love their new song Light Up the Sky. If you haven't heard you should check it out.


Leeland was good too, but very intense. The lead singer did more preaching than singing, which was totally fine, but it was kind of weird. It's hard to explain. He is just very intense and comes off looking mad.

Sanctus Real was AWESOME!! This was the second time we've seen them. Amazing show. At one point we were taking pictures and Matt, the lead singer, looked at Andrew and said, "Let me help you out with that." He then took our camera and took pictures of all the band members while they were playing. So...the following pictures are taken by the lead singer of Sanctus Real.