Hello again

Here's the past month.. all in one post!

Thanksgiving.

We spend Thanksgiving in New Orleans with my family.

We stayed in the French Quarter, went to the zoo, and ate amazing food.

Best of all, we went to the LSU vs. Arkansas game.

When I was 4, my parents and I moved to Baton Rouge so that my dad could get his masters at LSU.

We only lived there for a year, but my parents are definitely lovers of all things Louisiana.

The game was a blast!

Purdue football looks like an elementary school game in comparison.

LSU fans have more pride than I've ever seen.

Here's some pictures from that week:

My parents Thanksgiving night.

A cajun Thanksgiving was very delicious.

Lyndee trying grits... she obviously loved them!

Creeeeepy baby aligator at the zoo.

After the game... thank goodness LSU won :)

Anniversary.

Aaron and I celebrated 4 years of marriage on December 17th.

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years, yet it seems like it could have been forever!

I planned our actual anniversary night: spaghetti and The Office marathon :)

The last week of school before Christmas break is just about as crazy as the last week of school.

So, I wanted to have a fun, stay-in night.

We celebrated again Saturday night with a delicious dinner and then our first trip to Austin's Trail of Lights.

Here we are under the big, Christmas light tree.

Christmas.

Aaron's parents flew in from Arizona a couple of days before Christmas so we had a big Mullins/Nyby family holiday.

We had a good time playing with the boys, finishing up shopping, and just spending time together.

My Texas husband got me cowgirl boots! I've been asking for them, so he did very good. Now we can go dancing...

I also got a sewing machine! So, watch out Martha Stewart.. once I actually figure out more than just threading the machine, I'll be a sewing fool!

I don't have any pictures yet, so I'll post them if I get them soon...

Hope your holidays were warm and bright :)

Snow day

So I really thought I was going to be good about this whole blogging thing... apparently not.

Expect the next few posts to be out of order, but appreciate the time it took to write them :)

Story actually from Friday, December 4th.

It snowed last Friday.

For about half of you reading this, that's no big deal at all. You probably live in the midwest and you dread those snowy days.

Here in Texas, snow is like nothing I've ever seen.

Partially because it's the saddest example of snow, but also because Texans FLIP when it snows.

Days leading up to it everyone is terrified we're going to get snowed/frozen in. I will say, the one ice storm that happened the first year we lived here was bad... for a day or two.

So last week everyone bought their water, waited to see if school would be cancelled or delayed, but of course, the snow didn't quite live up to everyone's expectations.

Around 11:30 I noticed white specks floating outside our window so I called the kids over to squint their little eyes to try to see them.

Lucky for the kids, they went outside for recess at 12.

Even more lucky for me, I had 5 kiddos in study hall (watching kids that didn't finish their work) inside my nice, heated classroom.

Sidenote--I'm a huge wimp when it comes to cold weather--

About 20 minutes into study hall I look out the window and it is snowing.

For real snowing. Indiana flurries snowing.

So I quickly tell the kids study hall is cancelled and get your jackets!

One student didn't actually have work to finish, but had left his jacket in his mom's car so he stayed inside for recess that day.

Special note about this child... he moved here from Michigan in September.

I told him that he could just borrow a jacket from lost and found so that he could go outside.

He kindly replied, "I don't want to wear someone else's jacket."

I tried to explain to him how I knew seeing snow wasn't anything new for him, but that it was for the other 4 students about to pee their pants with excitement!

So we finally head outside, and this is what I see.

I promise.. there really is snow blowing around.

We missed when it was really blowing.

The best part was the kids were SO loving those tiny specks.

Catching them on their tongues was their favorite part.

Realize, it hasn't snowed in Austin since 2007. So some of these kids barely remember that.

Here are my kiddos, pink cheeks and all :)

Week(s) in Review!

Our close friend Kathrin was baptized about a week ago. We met her and her husband through the Newly, Nearly Wed class at the Stone. They have been part of our community group since last fall, and we just love them! We felt really special to be able to be with her during this memorable moment.



Aaron is using his skills to work on a house with some of our friends. He's some of the guys. I'm so excited to see what this house will look like months down the road!






One day, a family's going to walk through that door into a beautiful home :)

We're getting ready to leave for our Thanksgiving trip tomorrow morning.
We're meeting my family in New Orleans tomorrow!
We will spend Wednesday-Friday in New Orleans.
Then we'll drive to Baton Rouge on Saturday for the LSU vs. Arkansas game.
My dad will be his own personal heaven all week long.
Pictures to come!

I'll leave you with some pictures taken a year ago today, when Aaron was in his own personal heaven...

Inner Teenager

Tonight I will find myself feeling like a teenager again.

I have great memories of being a teenager... Singing/dancing to NSync, sleepovers, talking and giggling about boys, hanging pictures of cute boys on my walls, etc. I wish I had a scanner so I could show you just how cool I was as a teenager.

Well, tonight I'll be embracing that teenager again.

I'm going to see New Moon, at midnight.

If you know me at all, you know I'll be napping before hand because there's no way I'll make it through the movie otherwise.

So, yes. I've read all four of the Twilight books.

It all started last summer when my younger sister Lyndee was reading them. She came to visit so I read the first book. I was shocked that I actually enjoyed reading it. I think most people felt this way after having read a love story that involved a vampire. I moved onto the next book immediately. The third one took a bit longer (silly me started it in August, not my best month). Then I waited patiently for the fourth book to come out. It was actually this time last that the last book came out. I spent Thanksgiving break with my nose in the book. I didn't have many opportunities to read it, but when I did, I was sucked in (no pun intended).

I'm going to the movie with about 12 other girls. We're getting to the movie theater at 8. The movie starts at midnight. I'm sure tonight is bound to be full of some strange people. I'm hopeful I won't be one of them!

And no. I'm not wearing a Twilight/New Moon/Mrs. Cullen Tshirt :)

Why my job is hilarious.

Background knowledge:

Every morning our whole school meets in the gym for school-wide announcements. One thing the kiddos get to do every morning is answer a science question of the day. Our assistant principal is in charge of this and encourages students to think of their own questions for him to use.

Now this morning...

One of my special friends tells me that he has written a science question.

I ask to see it. Sadly, I can't read his handwriting so he interprets it for me.

"It says, is a fart gas or air? Yes or no."

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

I could go on and on with what my kids do/say.

But there's just one of the joyful things I listen to throughout my day :)

Well, I'm already a blogging slacker.
Sorry :)

Here's a "funny" story to make up for it.

I got home last Thursday night and was greeted by our two well-behaved puppies. If you know Molly and Cooper at all, you know they are far from well-behaved. Yes they're sweet and cuddly, but they are also crazy... especially anytime someone comes into the house. They're not really puppies any more either. Molly is 4 and Cooper is 3. It's just easier to refer to them as puppies.

So.. I walk into the living room and ask them how their day was. Then, as I walk into the kitchen I see ice allllll over the floor. I mean everywhere. And then I think. That can't be ice. What is it? That's when I realize the 9x13 pan that was once on the stove halfway full of cookie-brownies isn't there anymore.
Oh no.
Stinkin Molly pulled the glass pan off the stove. The pan shattered everywhere. Then, she (and I'm assuming Cooper) ate the cookies.
They also had to of eaten the glass that was everywhere.

Here's the picture I took to show Aaron what had happened:


Then.. I start checking their feet, tongues, etc. to make sure that they aren't bleeding. Nope. Nothing. They continued to be perfectly fine since then.

Well. Somewhat.

Fast forward to Saturday.
I let Molly out in the back yard before we head to Kai Karsten's T-Ball game. Aaron lets her in, and then I hear "What is that?". There is blood on the carpet. He quickly pulls Molly into the bathroom (tile floor), and we figure out that her paw is bleeding. Bad.
Now I know dogs aren't children, but I turn into a crazy "mother" and stare wide-eyed thinking what on earth can I do!? So, I get paper towels.
We then decide she needs to go to the vet.
An hour later, she's bandaged up (and stitched up). She even got a fun accessory for the next 10 days.


Yes. She has to wear a cone until next Wednesday.

Now, you might be thinking. Shauna, is Molly laying on the couch? With a pillow?!
And my answer would be yes.
When you realize that the reason your dog has stitches in her paw is because of something you left in the backyard. You feel pretty darn guilty and do whatever you can to make her comfortable.

But, I do realize she is a dog. The comforting lasted about 2 days.

And don't be too worried. She's back to her craziness as usual.
How is it that she can eat glass cookies and be perfectly fine, yet a run outside ends in stitches?!
Oh Molly. You always keep things interesting :)

Here we go..

Well. I'll start off by being completely honest. I started this blog back in July. Yes, it's October now. I wasn't sure if I wanted to dive into the blogging world, but here I am.

I like reading blogs, so I figure I owe it to those that I read to write about my own life. I'm not sure that it'll be all that interesting, but I'll at least try and make it sound interesting :)

I'm sure over the next few weeks I'll still be trying to figure this all out, but I guess I should start of by telling a bit about myself. My guess is most of the people reading this will already know this information, but it just seems like a good place to start.

Hi :)

I'm Shauna.

Jesus has hold of my heart, and I'm saved by His grace.

He sustains me through each day.

In return, I try to live a life that looks more like His and less like what I might want.

It's not an easy thing to do, but it's how I know He wants me to live.

I'm married to my high school sweetheart Aaron.

I was 15 when I said I would be his girlfriend... you know, "go out" with him.

We were married on December 17th, 2005 in front of the people we love.

We grew up in northwestern Indiana in LaPorte.

It's a small, usually uninteresting town, but will always be special to us.

We went off to Purdue University: Aaron to study engineering. Me to study elementary education.

We graduated in 2006 on a Saturday and moved to Austin, Texas the following Monday.

We've now been Texans for 3 and a half years and have loved every second of it.

Aaron works for a commercial contractor.

I taught 1st grade for two years. I'm now on year two of teaching 2nd grade.

We bought our first house in the spring of 2007.

It's in a suburb just north of Austin.

We have been beyond blessed with an amazing family, spread out from Indiana to Arizona and between.

Thankfully, we have family very close now.

We have friends that are so much more like family.

The Austin Stone Community Church has stretched and challenged us ever since we moved here.

We have two dogs, Molly (a black lab) and Cooper (a terrier mutt).

We love them a lot.

I love to read and be crafty, but sadly don't do either of these things as often as I'd like.

I think I'm going to try to learn to sew soon.

I guess you'll have to stay tuned to see how all that turns out :)

I'll leave you with some photos...

This is Aaron and my first photo as a couple.

September 1999.

At a wedding this summer.

Little different huh?