Summer in a Nutshell

Wow! This has been a busy summer for yours truly. I am officially on my last week of freedom summer vacation. I cannot believe how fast it always goes. I am happy to say that I did make a dent in My Summer Bucket List, though. Here is one of the crocheted creations I made (for my husband):

It's a Narwhal!

My husband is quite the collector of random things.
Mr. Narwhal got a prime spot, though!

I didn't do as much reading as I wanted to, but I did read a few books. My students,on the other hand, did a great job with the online book club. Or course I did not get 100% participation, but the fact that a good handful frequently posted and kept me up-to-date on their reading is more than I could have asked for. Hopefully if I hype it up more at the end of this school year it will be even more successful! 

My husband and I took a fun trip to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. I simply LOVE that zoo. We had a blast! And...I found some friends to create a book display for one of my favorite books from last year, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (the author we skyped with!).

It's Ivan and Ruby!

I tried a lot of new recipes, but here are some favorites that will work their way into the school year, too:

Southwestern Stuffed Chicken

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

 Both were SUPER easy and pretty healthy. Bonus: My husband liked them! That is not an easy thing to accomplish!

I spent a lot of time with friends, and am actually having one last "hurrah" before going back to school. What are we doing, you ask? We're having a Pinterest dinner party! Each of us is bringing a dish we found on our beloved Pinterest. I encouraged the girls to bring things that they wanted to try, but knew hubbies might not like. Mine is Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary. I cannot wait!

Now that summer has come to an end, I promise you will see more of me. I had a hard time thinking of what to blog about when I didn't do anything teacher related. Speaking of which, what are some things you would like to see more posts about? Knowing what you like reading will help me make my blog more of a valuable resource to you, my readers.

By the way...I have officially been a blogger for one year! Woo-hoo!!! Bring on the 2012-2013 school year!

Stay tuned for a post about first week of school ideas!