A letter.

Dear students,

Thank you for your curiosity and for asking questions that truly challenge me.  Thank you for waving to me across the hallway during class change.  Thank you for your hand-made cards and letters.  Thank you for sharing who you are with me--in Spanish!.  Thank you for testing the limits because it's my job to help teach you what they are.  Thank you for laughing at my jokes (that often flop).  Thank you for laughing at other funny things that I (as the responsible adult) am not supposed to laugh at but are truly funny.  Thank you for appreciating the work I put into help you learn even if you don't directly say it.  Thank you for your energy.  Thank you for always wanting to help pass back papers and erase the board.  Thank you for making mistakes that help me grow as a person to teach you how to "do good" because I'm not perfect, either.  Thank you for your positivity.  Thank you for your honesty and frankness.  Thank you for teaching me as much as I teach you.

With love,
Mrs. S

HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!

Our appraisal came back today...$33,000 over what we paid!  We're so happy!!!!!! Comps in the neighborhood sold for around $220, so we made out with a steal.  Yay for deals.

Craigslist

I adore Craigslist.  Saturday afternoon while working in my thesis (and taking one of my many necessary breaks), I happened to be browsing it looking for moving boxes and other home decor at a discount.  I then came across a gem of a breakfast-nook table: dark espresso finish, pretty design, perfect size, and a great price.

I was geeked.  I love tables.  I love cheap tables.  And we need one.  Our family unit conversation pretty much unfolded as such:

However, after Charlie carefully considered the "happy life happy wife rule"..and knew it was important to me...

 ...we went to pick it up.. and after all we need a place to eat in the kitchen!  So we borrowed a truck from a friend and headed up to Huntersville.  Ed and his wife were selling it, and they helped us load it into the truck.  What made the pot even sweeter?  They had just moved from the same area we live in now, so they had a garage full of moving boxes and they gave them all to us!!!  This made Charlie also very happy.

We arrived home and promptly fed Luna.  And now our home is filled with boxes galore and another table.  Yay deals!

Here's the exact table we snagged, too.   (They told us where they bought it so I found it online).  We saved almost $500 through Craigslist.  Score!

Lowe's!

Charlie and I have been spending a fair amount of time at Lowe's lately. We don't even officially own a home yet, but Black Friday had us calling and besides, we like to walk up and down the aisles pricing everything to see what we are in for in a couple of weeks.  Rake $14.95, Spackle $3.95, Fan for the master $89.99...stopping to take your picture on a toilet, priceless. 

Okay, so a little awkward.  But where else would you find a "Kathryn suite"?  I think I almost made a lady pee her pants when she saw us take this picture!  It was a busy Saturday, so I'm pretty sure I had some guts! ;)

In all seriousness, we were in there scoring a deal.  So, without further ado, our kitchen lovelies to be delivered in a few weeks.

We'll start off with the microwave... We originally wanted a microwave over the oven, but it wouldn't fit with the cabinets, and when this $100 MW went on sale for $69 we scooped it up!  I don't know about you, but I seriously cannot live in a home without a MW.  I use it every day.  And you better believe frozen meals will be a staple the first few days.  Lowe's is working with us and delivering it for us, too, even though it's normally something you buy in store and take home that day.  Yay for one less thing to lug around.

And this is my favorite of all purchases...our fridge.  Swoon.  Thanks to Black Friday this fridge was originally $2,249 and well out of our league, but we scored it for about $1,500.  Back before I knew anything about home-buying, I always thought homes came with a fridge and all the appliances, but I guess that isn't standard, but we are so lucky to have found this baby.  Plenty of room for bulk shopping, too with all my couponing.   

In other news we have been keeping busy.  My thesis is almost...dare I say it?...DONE!  I have the conclusion and one section to write about globalization and Epals.  And I'm through!!!  Well, the editing will take time, but the big chuck of the the writing is done.  I feel so accomplished.

We went to a Holiday party last night with some friends and played Taboo... such a fun game, and one I happen to be very good at (and quite competitive at!).  LOL.  I lost on "robbery"...how do you describe "robbery" if you can't say bank, steal, money, take, or police???

Christmas "within"

This year Charlie and I aren't decorating for Christmas.  (Collective gasp for those who know me, I know).  But it is no lie: we have not a single bulb or garland to be found in the entire apartment....

Don't get me wrong.  We could have decorated.  We could have opened the tree, the ornaments, the whole shebang, but considering we are moving at the beginning of January, frankly it just didn't make sense.  We are going to be packing and unpacking boxes so much that we may so much as never want or see another box again.... it seemed like the smart thing to do.

For me this is a huge deal, though.  See, I am a huge traditionalist.  Every year, "Santa" brings Christmas to town in the Detroit Thanksgiving day parade, thus making Christmas music "legal" to play (I will kindly plug my ears and exit the room if you play it before this day).  I love the advent calendar, and the decorating of the tree with hand-crafted childhood ornaments, and the hanging of the garland, and mistletoe, and so on and so forth.

It's not necessary at all: Christmas is about Jesus and family and has nothing to do with decorations and "stuff," but they sure help the holiday feel so merry.  So, I'm choosing to look at our lack of Christmas decor as a way of celebrating from "within", a-la John 3:16-- For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

Today this is our garland and decor!  Happy time of Christmas cheer from the Snearly's undecorated home, bursting with joy and thanksgiving :)