Family Pictures 2012

     During the week we had off for Thanksgiving, Karl and I decided to have our first set of "family pictures" taken professionally.  Prior to this, we haven't had any photos taken professionally since our wedding, so we thought it might be about time.  This is a sample of what we had done.  We used one of these for our Christmas card this year.  Photo credits go to Photography by Jessica Nicole based out of Vilonia, Arkansas.  

Fall 2012 Continued...

Halloween 2012 - Trunk-or-Treat @ Church

 Paisley was "Super Pug" this year for Halloween!  We dressed her up, and met our puppy friends in the courtyard of our apartment complex.  Should I be embarrassed to even share that with you?  Probably. :)

Thanksgiving 2012 @ Mommer's house....Karl can now carve a turkey. :)

This is just a bonus picture.  We're attaching this to Karl's resume'. :)

Thanks again for stopping by! :)

August 2012 - A New School Year

Moving onto a new season.....Fall 2012!  This fall has lived up to the busy expectations we had for it!  As I began my new school year (my 6th year teaching....time flies) in a new grade level (moving from 2nd to 3rd grade), I knew this year would be an adventure.  I won't bore you with all of the gory details, but the bottom line is that I had the opportunity to "loop" with my class this year.   That means that I took my 2nd grade class from last year, and moved up to 3rd grade with them.  I have almost my entire class from last year (minus a handful of kiddos that moved away, and I received some new students since our numbers went up this year).  It's been a really neat opportunity to see my students learn and grow over a two year period.  It's pretty amazing to track their growth over this length of time, and it has been really satisfying to see the fruits of my labor.  I've always tracked and noticed my students' growth before, but it is really exciting to see their continued growth this year.  Anyway, I've really learned a lot, and I'm grateful that I was able to do something like this.

Karl's school year has been busier than ever.  He is a senior at UCA (the University of Central Arkansas), and will graduate in May with his degree in Athletic Training.  Just to clarify....NO, he is not getting a degree to be a personal trainer (not that there is anything wrong with that)!  Athletic training is a growing profession in the medical field, and is absolutely perfect for my husband.  If you know Karl, you KNOW what an avid sports fanatic he is.....everything from football, to basketball, to golf, and beyond....my husband eats, sleeps, and breathes sports.  Well with athletic training my husband will have the opportunity and privilege of working with athletes.  Basically (in a nutshell....and I'm sure I'm not doing this explanation justice) Karl will be working with athletes preventing and rehabilitating their injuries.  It's very similar to physical therapy (just for athletes).  His long term goals include getting his masters degree in either sports administration, sports medicine, or a few other options.  We have been working on grad. school applications since Thanksgiving, and needless to say we have an adventure ahead of us in the very near future!   Here are some photos of Karl "in action" this fall:

                   

I'm really glad that we got this picture taken, HOWEVER, we both look exhausted, because we ARE. :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

4 Months Later....

I hate to say this....BUT, I told you so.  I knew that I wouldn't be very good at keeping this blog current and interesting.  I promise I have an excuse.  You see....life is super busy.  The last time I created a blog post was at the very end of my summer vacation.  Well, let's look at the calendar.  Today is December 28th....yes it is Christmas Break, and here I am updating our blog.  I truly am grateful that our lives are full of so many wonderful things, but at times both Karl and I can be very overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities we have taken on.  When we reevaluate everything we have going on, and try to eliminate something to free up some time, there just doesn't seem to be anything "optional."  So, where have we been the last four months??

here

AND

here....

...among other places like church, Karl in the athletic training room, library, studying, traveling with football, etc....with family, and taking care of normal daily responsibilities.

We are very grateful, however, for all of the blessings we have in our lives.  Here is a summary/timeline of what our lives have been like from summer until now.  I may do a month or two (maybe even three!) at a time in a different post for each one.

We spent a lot of time this summer trying to run.  I need to emphasize the word trying!

We registered for a few 5K races, thinking it would help us to have a commitment.  It helped, and we really enjoyed spending some quality time together, while trying to create a healthier lifestyle.

We also tried doing some fun things around Arkansas this summer.  We didn't end up doing nearly as many as we wanted to, but that's okay.  With graduate school quickly approaching, and the reality of the unknown (not knowing where we will be next year...that's a whole different blog post), we really wanted to enjoy the state we are currently living in.  This is at an Arkansas Traveler's game this summer.

We also spent a lot of time here.  We are definitely pool, beach, sunshine, and flip flop people.  Enough said!

We also enjoyed celebrating special moments with our friends this summer.  This included weddings...

AND babies!  :)

Most of all, we just enjoyed being together.  Life is good. :)

Hello there!  I know I'm not good at this yet, because I've only posted one time ever on our new little blog, but I warned you.  First of all, our lives are really busy.  However, busy doesn't always mean exciting, and honestly we haven't had anything noteworthy happen in the last couple of weeks to post about.  However, I felt the need to take care of this, and to not totally give up so soon on blogging....so here I am.

Anyone that knows us, knows that our little pug Paisley is basically like a child to us.  Our world revolves around her at this stage in our lives, and I'm proud and embarrassed of that fact all at the same time.  When we got married, Karl was adamant about having a pet someday.  It was one of those things where I would just roll my eyes, and say "Uh huh....okay....sure.  Maybe someday honey."  When in reality I was thinking "No way Jose'!"  I grew up with a lot of pets, and it just wasn't something I wanted to deal with as an adult...initially.  Karl grew up in a house without any pets (except for when he was really little), and it was something that he had always begged his parents for, without any luck. Well over the course of the first 2 years of our marriage, the pet thing was mentioned multiple times, but it was never something we followed through with (meaning that it wasn't something that Karl had talked me into yet).

All of this changed one snowy day in February 2011.  Karl and I had been watching a lot of HGTV shows about antiquing and fixing up old furniture, so we decided on a snow day (when snow was on the ground, school was canceled, but the roads were perfectly safe to drive on by noon) to go look at some antique stores in Downtown Conway.  While walking from store-to-store we stumbled upon this hot pink pet shop called "Best Friends Forever."  Corny....I know.  So we decided to walk in and just look at what they had.  That's when it happened.  We saw her.  One lonely little pug puppy mixed in with a litter of black schnauzer puppies.  Karl and I had chatted about different breeds we would have been interested in, and I had told him that if I was going to be talked into this, that I wanted a cute little (what I call "foo foo" dog).  Well Karl was totally uninterested in a "foo foo" dog, and wanted something tough and manly like a bull dog.  Well over the course of several discussions, we had stumbled upon a compromise.  Pugs were small (not quite foo foo), but had the bull dog build about them.  Anyway, we had never officially decided on getting a Pug before that day, but we walked in a saw her and she melted our hearts.

We didn't purchase her that day.  We talked with the breeder/store owner, held her, played with her, and left the store thinking about her.  We went home that night, and she was all we could think about.  Believe it or not, we even had trouble sleeping that night.  We got the up the next morning, and I could tell by the look on my husband's face that we were going to become proud pug parents that day.  Basically....he totally won.  He wore me down, my heart melted, and we went back to the store praying that she would still be there.  Obviously she was, and the rest is history.  I remember calling my mom from the car, and asking her if we could come by to introduce her to the newest member of our family.  If any of you know my mom, you won't be surprised to know that the day we got Paisley was probably the proudest moment of her life for me.  She's quite the animal lover, and she knew that me getting a puppy was a really big deal.

Anyway, now that I've rambled on about my dog for several paragraphs, you understand that our lives revolve around her for the time being.  Until we have children of our own, she is definitely our child.  Here are some pictures of her from the last week, playing with her puppy friends here at our apartment.

Paisley and her best friend Cupcake :)

Paisley enjoying some outdoor playtime (catching her breath). :)

Karl and Paisley dancing together.  LOL

Her tongue doesn't quite fit inside of her mouth.  Poor thing. :)

This photo is from last summer, but it's one of my favorites.  

Well, now that I've turned this blog post into a tribute to our dog, I'll end by promising that all posts won't be like this one.  ;)  Thanks for stopping by!

~Angela (and Karl) 

Reality is hitting us big time at our house lately.  The reality that our precious lazy days of summer are coming to an end....very soon.  This week has been filled with Karl being super busy with summer school and research, and me practically living out of my classroom.  I've been tutoring all summer on Tuesdays/Thursdays (which I love), but this week, on top of tutoring, I've been trying to at least wrap up the "cosmetic" part of my classroom.  As shallow as it may sound, the cosmetic part is super important to me.  Here's why:

1.  I spend more hours in a day (awake) at school than I do at home, so I want it to be a place that I enjoy looking at and being in.
2.  I feel like my kiddos' learning environment is vitally important in their overall experience during that school year.
3.  I like pretty things, and I enjoy receiving compliments for the blood, sweat, and tears that I (and my sweet, wonderful, and loving husband) put into the room.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, I am now teaching 3rd grade this year, after having taught 2nd grade for the last 5 years.  Therefore, I've spent a lot (and I mean....A LOT) of time this summer just moving my things into a new classroom, and getting organized.  After this week, I'm anxious to be settled into my room, and will actually be able to start working on lesson plans and everything that goes along with that.  I will try to post pictures after we wrap some things up tomorrow.

Until then, hubby, Paisley, and I will be at home this evening staying cozy during the rainy weather, cutting out laminated things I brought home from school, and pondering a few fun things we might do with our remaining days of summer vacation. :)

Watch out....The Smith Family has officially entered the blogging world!  That's right...we may be behind the times, but we are finally here!  Who knows how successful this attempt at blogging will be, however, it is my (our) best effort at keeping family and friends up to speed on our oh-so-exciting life.  I think this little spot will come in quite handy after we move for hubby to go to graduate school, but until then, we already have enough family and friends out-of-state to justify doing this.  One warning though:  I (we) make no promises to update this blog on a daily or even weekly basis.  Once school starts, I'll (we'll) be lucky to have monthly posts happening here at our "Southern Smith Family" blog.  Yes, you read that correctly.  "Southern Smith Family" is the official name for the location of our happy little home.  Creativity is a must when you have such a common name as "Smith", because of course, "TheSmithFamily.blogspot.com" was already taken.  Alrighty, well this is my official introduction, and hopefully our next post will begin to give you a glimpse into the life of our sweet little family.  Happy Reading! :)

~Angela and Karl

Until my next post, I'll leave you with a picture of our sweet girl, enjoying the summer sun at the lake. :)