where in the world is...the bockholt family?

how does traveling the entire world sound?

willing to sell your house to make your dreams come true?

have kids? no problem.

this is a dream that one of my former students' families decided to make a reality. that's right. they sold their house here in the comforts of suburban austin, planned way in advance for a year of travel around the world, and packed their bags full of any necessities a family of four (inlcuding a 5 year-old and an 8 year-old) could possibly need while traveling for 12 months.

they're hitting some of the world's hot spots. highlights include riding the elephants in thailand, working at an orphanage in india, and sightseeing/charity work in africa.

this is also a dream of mine, to travel to those places, so mrs. bockholt even asked me to consider joining them and teaching the 2 kids. it was about a year ago when i talked to her about it. a few weeks after talking to her, i met adam and the rest is history. so, now i'm living a dream, just closer to home.

to follow the bockholt's adventure, go to http://www.offexploring.com/bbockholt/blog. they are currently in africa. i wonder where they'll be next...

WeLcOmE FaLl

we are getting our place ready to welcome fall... with a festive fall wreath
bringing in the yellow tones of fall
and of course a pumpkin centerpiece
yes, my husband helped me with the pumpkins. yes, he is the best.

SCARY

the following incident happened on the playground at a school in southeast austin. http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/092308kvue_hypodermic_needle-cb.a575e32b.html. sad. terrifying. shocking.

travel in the states

ever since i took my first trip out of the states, i really prefer international travel. i love engrossing myself in culture, different culture, and learning about the history of a different country. it makes me understand my american life better by learning about how other places around the world are similar and different from the u.s.

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however, with the economy the way it is and the american dollar losing value in other places around the world, this is not the time for international travel, at least for us. to fly internationally now is just not reasonable.

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growing up, my family would take a vacation every summer to a place we hadn't been before. because of this, i feel like i have had the opportunity to travel to the places in the u.s. that i would want to go. i do know that if adam and i travel this year, it will probably be somewhere in the states. i started really thinking and there are a places that i haven't been and that i would like to see on the homefront...

new england
the carolinas
georgia
napa valley
tennessee

highlights from the past few days

thursday. bunco with debbie (www.miller-crew.blogspot.com). my friend and fellow kindergarten teacher, debbie, has invited me to play bunco with her the past couple months. it is a lot of fun. any game that rewards you for losing (yes, i won with the most losses of the night) and is so easy that all you do is roll a dice is my type of game. plus you get to talk while you roll. perfect.
friday. dinner at guero's (http://www.guerostacobar.com/), one of my favs, with one of my student's families. adam and i had a great time chatting with the family of four and were so glad to get to eat with them!

then, we headed over to the annual "kinder bat night" under the congress bridge. every year, the kindergarten teachers, students and students' families meet downtown to watch the bats come out from under the bridge. it was a hit. everyone was there, including infamous leslie. yes, austin's famed leslie showed up in the very area that we were at.

saturday. brunch at z' tejas (www.ztejas.com) downtown with anna. after tasty eggs benedict, we got our nails done. sounds like a successful saturday to me!

now, i am just waiting for adam to get home as he went to houston for the night. distance definitely makes the heart grow fonder! can't wait til he comes home tomorrow.

my favorite things...in our home

black and white photos of family weddings on both sides of our family. the ones above: my parents' wedding, and my maternal and paternal grandparents' wedding
a putter frame given to us as a wedding gift
a cross i made adam for our wedding day
my blue and white everyday ware. anything blue and white i love.
flowers from adam

an "austin" snow-globe given to me a couple of years ago from a roommate. it's of downtown austin and includes the neatest details such as bats flying instead of "snow."
a blanket given to us by my maid-of-honor anna at a wedding shower. it has our wedding date on it! i LOVE anything personalized.
i am addicted to monogramming. i got our initial embroidered on our pillows.
several favorite things. 1. i love the off-white cake platter that i registered for. 2. i love the "U" cutting board that i registered for too! this is the same one that was part of "oprah's favorite things." 3. i even got our pot holder (the red one hanging up) embroidered with our initials on them. the embroidery store said that was a first for them! 4. the lovely trivet is from anna who made it for me. it has a picture that she took of greece when we went to greece a year ago!
monogrammed towels
the painting that hangs on our mantel. it was a wedding gift from my grandmother.

our haven, our home

i had so much fun this summer getting to decorate our first apartment. we didn't really pay for anything out of pocket to decorate. most of the furniture adam and i already had or got has hand-me-downs. some of the things we had registered for, or were just wedding gifts. others we bought with wedding gift certificates. we lucked out when it came to wedding gifts! here are the results.

our dining room
our kitchen
our living room
our bedroom
our bathroom

joy. hope. happiness.

want to see joy? how about hope? happiness? step into the wonderful world of kindergarten.

everyday, it is my pleasure to work with 19 wonderful 5 year-olds. although by friday, my feet are swollen from standing all week, i wouldn't change it for anything. i get to see 19 children blossom and grow throughout the year at, what i believe is the best age-5. there is so much hope, joy and happiness in the eyes of a 5 year-old. if you have a 5 year-old or know one, you may know what i mean by this. however, i see that times 18!

their creativity, friendships, personalities and academic growth bring a smile to my face daily. here is something that has made me smile the past few days. we always end our day with a class cheer, "mrs. unnasch's class rocks." i just have them say this together with a hand motion before walking out of the classroom door. well, now on their own, they are gathering together in a huddle and saying this in unison putting their hands together in a circle. they also, on their own, do the same thing with the word "teamwork." again, hope, joy and happiness everyday.

my favorite part of teaching is soon coming up. my class we begin reading groups in a few weeks. by the end of the year, each of them will be real readers. they won't remember me when they are older for being the person that helped them first learn how to read. however, i will always remember that i got to be a part of it.

happy birthday NANCE!

this week was my aunt's birthday, so my brother, parents, aunt, adam and i went out to celebrate.

we went to dinner at threadgill's. definitely one of my new favorite austin spots. "D"-li-cious home cooking. i recommend the pecan-crusted chicken.
here is my aunt and my brother...dessert at threadgills is a must. you will not go home hungry. guaranty it!
after threadgill's, we were all going to go watch the band that played at our wedding, the nash hernandez orchestra (www.nashhernandezorchestra.com). however, when we got there, we found out that you must be 21 and up. so, my parents and brother were not able to watch but adam, nancy and i still did. the orchestra hasn't lost their ability to create good music! good thing!

labor day weekend

adam and i had a nice, relaxing labor day weekend. first, we went to seguin and had a Bar-B-Q at the family ranch.
it is nice to get away and enjoy the outdoors at the ranch.
animals, watch out! this might be you one day!

my dad and adam bar-b-queing
we had to put out a few small fires, but that didn't ruin the fun!
my friend christina (who i have known since i was born), her boyfriend jason, adam and i eating

christina, jason and my mom

after we had a good trip to seguin, we headed back to austin. adam's sister, mandy, and her husband had us over for dinner so we got to see our niece! she is almost 6 weeks old and is such a sweet, calm baby. http://babygirlsummer.blogspot.com/