The Tiptons

5K

2011-08-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well the date has been set for my first ever 5K. I will be running the Apple Festival 5K with my sister-in-law and a friend from work. Needless to say I am extremely nervous because I am seriously not a runner. We have worked super hard since May to build ourselves up to be able to do this 5K. All three of us are nervous, but very excited to be able to complete this task. I set a goal back at the beginning of the year to run a 5K and if all goes as planned that goal will be met September 17th. Wish us luck!

Update

2011-08-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I can not believe that it is already August and I haven't updated since April. This summer has flown by. So here is what has been going on in the Tipton's life.

May 2nd at about 1:00 am my cell phone rang. Of course we were in the bed asleep. Brandon grabs the phone and hands it to me, it's Amber. I immediately knew what this meant. I talk to Amber and she says her water broke and they are on the way to the hospital. I jump out of bed, wake Brandon up, brush my teeth, wash my face, and get dressed. Brandon slowly gets up and gets ready. He puts on a shirt and decides he isn't sure if that is what he wants to be wearing the first time he meets his nephew. This whole time I keep telling him to hurry up or we are going to miss everything. We jump in the car and head to the hospital, but first we have to turn around in our neighborhood because I forgot the camera. We are on our way! We are driving and all of a sudden we see a car with flashing lights coming up behind us, it's Amber and Andrew! We almost beat them to the hospital. At 3:18 am Hudson Reid was born. I was so excited to finally be an aunt. I love that little man more than I knew I could. He is the sweetest thing in the world. We are very proud to be called his aunt and uncle.

After this huge event, the rest of May isn't really exciting. School was super busy preparing for testing.

June 7 was the last day of school for students. After students left we had about 4 workdays. It was a good year, but I was so glad to see it come to an end. I love my job, but teachers have summers off to regain their sanity!

June 26-July 3 we went to the beach with Brandon's parents. We had a great time. We stayed on the beach most of the day every day. We went out to dinner each night. Brandon ran and I did a little walk/running 3 mornings. We had a great time and hated to see the week come to an end.

That same weekend we got home Brandon, with the help of his dad and Andrew, built a pergola over our patio. It is so nice to have. It has been so hot that we haven't been able to sit outside as much as we would like, but I know once it cools down some we will really enjoy it.

Also with the month of July came babysitting Hudson! I kept Hudson most week days in July. I LOVED every minute of it. It was amazing to see him grow and change over the whole time I kept him. I loved listening to him try to talk to me and watch that sweet little smile when he was happy. I really enjoyed spending so much time with Hudson.

The month of August has brought about back to school shopping and trying to soak up the end of summer. There has also been some sadness thrown our way this month as well. Brandon's uncle passed away. It was a difficult time for the whole family. Brandon and his parents were close with his uncle so it was hard for them to lose him. Although we all know he is in a better place now, it is hard to understand why these things happen.

I am going to try to post some pictures soon of my sweet nephew and of our summer.

San Francisco

2011-04-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

This past Monday-Thursday, Brandon and I went to San Francisco. We decided a few months ago that we wanted to do something over my Spring Break. We packed up about 5:00am Monday morning and made our way to the airport to begin our vacation. We had a great time! It was like nothing I have ever seen before. We enjoyed lot, and I do mean lots, of walking, good food, and beautiful sights. Here are a few pictures to enjoy!

Sea Lions at Pier 39

Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge (it was extremely foggy)

Muir Woods

More trees in Muir Woods

And more! (this is just to show how tall they were)

V Sattui Winery

Lombard Street

A view from the top of one of the mountains (street) we had to climb!

Another beautiful view!

These are just a few of the pictures from our amazing vacation! We definitely ate some good food, but I am pretty sure we walked off all of the calories we ate. It is amazing the hills these people climb each day. Can't wait for our next trip!

Birthday Boy

2011-02-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

So Thursday is Brandon's birthday. As of yesterday this became is "Birthday Week". He thinks that we should celebrate his birthday all week long. Conveniently the birthday boy has his birthday week off. His office is closed President's Day and they give all their employees a day off for their birthday, so Brandon decided to take the other 3 days off this week. So his birthday present to himself is the week off. Friday night we are going out with family for his birthday.

Saturday I have a surprise little trip planned for us. He HATES not knowing what is going on. He is a planner and loves to find restaurants for us to visit. But this trip is a secret. Everyday he tries to trick me into telling him where we are going, but I am keeping my lips zipped. While we are gone Bella Rose will be staying with her Granny. She enjoys staying there because her Granny spoils her rotten. Pretty much anything she wants, she gets. So we will have a little diva coming home with us when we return on Sunday.

I will leave you with a few pictures of where Brandon has guessed we might be going.

Greenville, SC

Asheville, NC

Shelton Vineyard
Dobson, NC

Exciting News!

2011-02-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

We are going to have a nephew! I am sooooo excited. We found out a few days before Christmas that Amber and Andrew are having a little boy. We can't wait for him to arrive. Hudson Reid is going to be one spoiled rotten little boy! Brandon and I are already thinking of things that will make lots of noise that he will need as he gets a little older!

Amber and Andrew had a gender reveal party a few days before Christmas. This is what we all saw when Amber and Andrew unwrapped their present that had the gender in the envelope.

New York

2011-02-06T05:40:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving we took a trip with my sister and brother-in-law to NY. We had a WONDERFUL time. We left Thanksgiving day around 7:00am. After arriving in NY around 9:30 our 2 day mini vacation began. We definitely saw almost everything there is to see in NY in 2 days. We had a wonderful time talking, laughing, and just hanging out together. We ate at some delicious places and even had to take a subway around 9:00 one night for a visit to Gray's Papaya, the boys just had to have it. Here are just a few pictures from our trip.

Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge.

In front of the BEST pizza place in the world, in Brooklyn.

This is how we felt after walking 40-50 blocks. We were told it was just a little bit further, 40-50 blocks later we arrived.

Brandon and me in front of the Christmas tree and ice skating rink.

In front of Ground Zero

Weekend Recap!

2010-10-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend was a pretty busy weekend at the Tipton house. Brandon had the day off Friday so he began rocking a grill area he built last year. It took him a total of 2 days to rock the entire area and build a door, but it turned out great. The door is still not finished. We have to stain the door and get a handle to put on it. I think he did a wonderful job! Here is a picture of the project.

Brandon and I found this cute sign at Michael's yesterday. It was 40% off! Can't beat that!

My mom found this chair at the Habitat store. When she bought it, it was painted white and had a super old cushion on it. I painted it black, Brandon used some sand paper to ruff it up, and I covered the cushion. I think this chair turned out great and I love it for my front porch. We have a small front porch, so it was the perfect size.

My mom bought us some orange mums to help celebrate fall.

I have had these pictures for a long time. I just never bought frames for the larger ones. Well I decided this weekend was time to hang them up. These pictures are by Brian Andreas. I absolutely love his pictures and all of the neat sayings they have on them.

We found this wreath in a Martha Stewart magazine. We changed it up a little by putting spiders and an orange bow on it. We are still going to add some snakes to it to make it a little more Halloween like!

A Most Memorable Trip with the Tiptons

2010-10-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks, maybe months, ago Brandon and I went Kayaking with his mom, dad, sister, cousin Julie, cousin Lauren, and her husband Scott. Well, this girl has never been kayaking before, EVER! So I had no idea what to expect. I was so nervous about the experience. Once we got there and got started we had a great time. My father-in-law and sister-in-law were out of their kayak more than they were in it, which made for good laughs! I just thought I would share a few pictures from this most memorable day.

On our way to kayak, all we heard from Ashley was how she was going to buy herself a kayak. After falling out of her kayak numerous times and having to receive help getting out of the water to be shuttled back, she hasn't mentioned much about purchasing her own kayak!

Professional!

This is after he fell in the water and we had to wait on him for over an hour to figure out how to get himself back in the kayak!

Brandon's self portrait.

Just sitting back and enjoying the view!

The whole gang!

Back to School

2010-08-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe, but I only have 7 more weekdays off before I return to school. I have really mixed feelings about it. Part of me is excited about getting back in a routine and working again, but another part of me is going to definitely miss the sleeping in, lazy days, and doing anything I want to do. Wednesday I am going to school to work on my room so I am going to post some pictures of what my room will look like this year. The beginning of the year is so crazy and so much of our workdays are taken up by other things we need to do. So hopefully Wednesday I will get everything where I want it and all of my things back up on the walls. Pictures soon!

DIY

2010-08-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago I made a TO DO list for myself for my last few weeks of summer. I have checked off 2 things on my list and completed a lot of things that were not on my list. I made myself a coupon book, which I LOVE because I can see my coupons so easily and I completed my jewelry boards! I made 2 jewelry boards, a picture board for school, and a board I can use to hang memos on at school. So here are a few pictures of my completed project.

I bought a pack of 4 cork boards, 4 individual pieces of super cute fabric for $1.00 each, brown ribbon, and clear push pins.

Here is the first jewelry board in the works!

The completed jewelry board!

My picture board for school!

Making these jewelry/picture/memo boards was so super easy! I actually got the idea from another blogger. I thought they were the perfect things to hold all my jewelry and I can easily see all of my options!

Happy Birthday!

2010-07-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my WONDERFUL mom! Hope you have a fabulous day!

Thank you for everything you do for us!

Vacation Ideas

2010-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

So our goal for our third anniversary, June 7th, is to go on a vacation. We went to Mexico on our honeymoon and LOVED it! We would like to go somewhere different. So I am blogging to ask for some advice on places you have been that you would recommend. I would like somewhere tropical and definitely all inclusive. So please let me know if you have any ideas for us!

Who is in need of some furniture?

2010-07-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

Furniture For Sale!!!!
1 couch
2 chairs
1 coffee table
2 end tables
2 lamps

Let me know if you are interested!!!!

Summer

2010-07-21T12:05:00.001-07:00

It seems that the summer is slowly coming to an end. I think I only have about 5 more weeks before I go back for workdays. That is probably the last time I will say anything about going back to school for sometime.

After working an 8 day summer camp at school, Brandon and I made it to the beach for a week. We had a wonderful time. We ate too much and stayed out on the beach alllll day. It was so nice to get away and not have anything to worry about for a while. We couldn't take Bella and I missed her like crazy.

Since we have been home my summer has consisted of cleaning, reading, and relaxing. My mom was out of town for about 10 days and Brandon and I kept her dogs. So needless to say, this past Monday I spent about 5 hours cleaning my house. I cleaned baseboards, blinds, dusted, vacuumed, and mopped the whole house. I was exhausted when I was finished.

Still on my to do list for the next few weeks:

clean off the shelf in the garage (it is terrible!)
make a jewelry board to hang in my closet
make a picture frame out of an old window (when I get this finished I will post pics)
make a coupon notebook
sale furniture!

Before I go back to school this is what I want to do just one more time...

Happy Anniversary!

2010-06-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late, but Monday was our 2 year Anniversary! It is so hard to believe that 2 years ago we were married! It has been an amazing 2 years of loving, arguing, learning, lots of laundry, new house, new (to us) car, and lots of getting used to! I can't wait to spend MANY more years with my wonderful husband! Here are a few pictures from our wedding day...

Our First Dance!

Right after being pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Tipton!

Loving my HUSBAND!

Happy Anniversary Babe! I love you!

End of May/Beginning of June Happenings!

2010-06-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

May 28th-31st we headed to Myrtle Beach with Amber and Andrew. This was a much needed vacation. We left Friday around 6:00 and arrived around 11:00. Of course we had to stop for dinner and restroom breaks. Saturday morning the guys got up early, took our stuff to the beach, then they went to play golf. Amber and I walked down to the beach from the condo. We stayed out on the beach ALL day. For dinner we went to Drunken Jacks in Murrells Inlet, yum! Sunday morning we got up and got out on the beach by about 9. Once again we stayed until about 5:30. Sunday night for dinner we went to Carolina Roadhouse. Then of course we had to go down memory lane and cruise the strip, it was hilarious! Monday morning we got up and went to the outlets and Hamburger Jo's before heading home. We had such a wonderful weekend!

The Case of the Missing Rose Bush
After coming home from the beach, Brandon had to leave for PA Tuesday morning and didn't get back home until Friday. Friday night we were outside watering the garden and flowers. All of a sudden I realized that one of our rose bushes was missing. It was there just last week and it was blooming. When we walked over to investigate, there was a hole that looked like the bush had been dug up. Immediately we decided someone in our neighborhood spotted our beautiful roses and decided they wanted them. We couldn't believe someone would do that. We called Brandon's mom to make sure they didn't decide to take it and she said she had no idea what we were talking about. We look around at our neighbors houses and call people we think could have wanted to "borrow" it. Later that night we talked to Mark, Brandon's dad, and the mystery was solved....

HE THOUGHT THE ROSE BUSH WAS DEAD AND PULLED IT OUT OF THE GROUND!

WHY?!?!?!

I then decided to let him know that it was not dead because just last week it was blooming. Needless to say I was not happy!

Monday is our 2 year anniversary so later tonight we are going to eat dinner at Del Friscos and see Wicked!!!!

Pictures coming soon!

Summer Vacation Is Just Around the Corner!

2010-05-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to say that there are only 15 days of school left, yes 15! I love my job, but summer break is much deserved! I have a wonderful class, but they definitely keep me on my toes. I have been called stupid, told that they didn't have to freakin' listen to me, and much more! So needless to say, I am ready for June 9th! Although I have to continue to work a few more days, workdays are different. They are extremely peaceful and so much more can be accomplished.

This week we are taking EOG's. We started today with reading and continue the next two days with math. These poor kids. We started testing today at 8:30 and did not finish until 11:45. I mean seriously???? I am not a 9/10 year old and I was about to go insane, and all I had to do was walk around to make sure they stayed on bubble! These kids are put under so much pressure to pass this test. Students are gifted in many areas and not all of them are gifted in reading and math. To me, that is completely fine. People shine in different ways every day. If we all were experts in reading and math life would be boring. I am so proud of my students. They worked super hard today and I hope they continue to work hard the rest of the week. It breaks my heart to see them stress. So tomorrow and Thursday between 8:30-11:30, please say a short prayer for all the students in Lincoln County that are testing, they need it!

Just a little side note: We leave to go to the beach in 10 days for a long weekend!!!!!

South Mountain

2010-04-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday Brandon and I packed up and headed to South Mountain. We packed our water, lunch, blanket, snack, and Bella Rose. I had never been to South Mountain before, but Brandon had. When we arrived at the state park we went to the welcome center and got a map. Then we were on our way.

We started hiking the trail to the water fall. At first it didn't seem to tough. As we walked it got harder and harder. The trail was straight up, climbing rocks and stairs. So needless to say we had to take a few breaks. Bella Rose was a pro! She acted like she had hiked her whole life. We went to the top and took some pictures and then had a picnic. We sat for a few minutes and ate our lunch and got some energy. After lunch we packed up and finished the trail, which circled back around to the beginning. We had such a great time. I posted some pictures so everyone could see how we spent our Saturday!
Brandon and Bella Rose on the trail. The beautiful waterfall, which was definitely worth all the hard work.
Family portrait, I think something scared BR, and Brandon setting up our picnic!

Bella Rose enjoying the creek! Bella Rose and me after climbing up a hill, that was not on the trail, to look out over the mountain!

Wednesday Happenings!

2010-04-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today Brandon had the day off, so we enjoyed spending the day together. The day started off with breakfast at the Lincoln House. It was yummy! Then we came home and waited on the people to come install our dishwasher! I am so excited about having a dishwasher! I have been waiting a year and a half for this. As you can see we had to take the tile off the top to get the old one out. Brandon worked super hard on our tile, so I know it broke his heart to pop this off, but he says it is easily fixable! So I can't wait to dirty up some dishes to use it. I actually took some clean dishes out of my cabinet just so I could use it, I couldn't contain my excitement!

After the dishwasher was put in we ran a few errands and met my dad and Amber for lunch at Taco and Tequila. We then went and bought some tomato plants for Brandon to plant. So here is a picture of our garden in the beginning stage. I can't wait to pick some veggies this summer!

Spring Break So Far...

2010-04-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

So far Spring Break has been wonderful! The weather has been beautiful and I have enjoyed the fresh air. Although, I have been having some major sinus/allergy problems all weekend.

Saturday Brandon and I spent the day outside. We planted some new shrubs in our front yard and some flowers in our planters. Sunday we went to my mom's house for brunch and then my in-laws for dinner. We had a great weekend.

Monday began with a walk, as promised to Bella Rose. I then came home and majorly cleaned my house, which no longer looks that way. How do two people get a house so dirty? I just don't understand. I then went and ate lunch with my dad and sister at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is a favorite of mine and Amber's. Anytime we go eat somewhere without our husbands that's usually the place we pick, they aren't as big of fans as we are. After lunch I did a little running around. My plans were to go to Zumba at the gym, but they weren't having any classes. So Hope and I went walking...again!

Tuesday began with a walk, Bella Rose is loving me being home. After that I came home and showered and went to lunch at Shake Shop, yummy, with my in-laws and sister in law. We then went to see The Last Song! Wonderful movie, but not as good as the book. If you go see it, which I recommend, take your Kleenex! It is an extremely sad movie. Also, Carmike Cinemas has $1 popcorn and drinks on Tuesday! So we got the entire movie experience with some buttery popcorn and a Diet Coke!

Tomorrow Brandon is off. So I can not wait to see what the day will bring!

Spring Break!

2010-04-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

It is official...I am on Spring Break. My Spring Break officially started yesterday at 3:15. It was a huge relief to see 3:15. After spending 4 days with 23 9-10 year olds who were super excited about the warm weather and break, this was a much needed break.

I do not really have any plans for my break. I do know that Bella Rose and I will go for a walk every morning when we get up and play outside a lot! I am going to try to get some sun on my pale body. And Brandon has taken Wednesday off, so we get a family day! Of course I will have to also do the usual cleaning and laundry.

This really doesn't have anything to do with Spring Break, but we got a dishwasher today! We have an extremely old dishwasher in our house now that does not work. So for the past year and 3 months I have patiently waited to buy one. We went to Lowe's today and got a really good deal on one! I am so excited about it...I can't wait for it to be installed!

I am sure I will be posting again soon about my wonderful, relaxing week and about how wonderful it is to have a dishwasher!

What I am Thankful for!

2010-03-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

So here are a few things that I am extremely thankful for!

Brandon: My wonderful/amazing husband! I love spending time with him. I enjoy our little chats every night about our day and our future. I thank God for him every day and I don't know where I would be without him.
Bella Rose: I love her more than any person should love a dog! She is my baby and I treat her like a real person.
Amber: My sister/best friend! I love having a sister that I can talk to about ANYTHING and she completely understands me and always listens!
Mom: I love my mom! I don't know where I would be without her. She is wonderful!
The in-laws: I love the Tipton family!
Dad: I love my dad! I enjoy hanging out with him and I love it when he brings me lunch to school!
Granny: There is nothing like talking to my Granny! Gossiping about everything and everybody...I just love her!

Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

Valentine's weekend was a fun yet tiring weekend. We began our weekend by heading to my dad's parents house Friday night. We started that way just as the snow was beginning to stick to the roads, and of course Brandon chose back roads to check everything out. We had a good time hanging out with family.

Saturday Amber and Andrew came over to hang out and brought Pizza Hut for lunch, yum! Of course the boys had to play video games so Amber and I took a trip to Wal-Mart. We decided to go to 131 Main for dinner, which of course was an excellent choice. We had a great time hanging out.

Sunday morning all four of us, Brandon, Amber, Andrew, and me, went to South Carolina to see my mom's parents. We met them at one of their favorite restaurants, that they eat at most days for lunch, along with our aunt, uncle, cousin, and his wife. We had such a great time hanging out with family. Of course I love seeing my grandparents because we don't get to see them often. I also love catching up/gossiping with my grandmother. She is such a wonderful lady and I love being around her. Of course we all spent most of the trip trying to talk my grandparents into moving to Lincolnton. On our way home from SC we ate dinner at PF Changs. Once again a wonderful choice for dinner. We finally ended our weekend about 9:30 Sunday night. We had such a great time catching up and hanging out with family.

Life as a Teacher

2010-02-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

So I was sitting here tonight reading blogs, of course, and came across another teacher's blog. Reading this blog really made me think.

As most of you know, I teach 4th grade. Teaching is very rewarding, yet very draining. This week has been a rough, yet short week. We were out of school Monday and Tuesday and had a 2 hour delay Wednesday. On top of that we are supposed to get some kind of wintry mix tomorrow, Friday. Just imagine how excited we get as adults about snow. So imagine dealing with 23 9-10 year olds who have spent 4 days playing in it and expecting more. It has been rough to get students motivated and myself motivated. I have been so whiny and complaining with my co-workers about how hard this is and so on. I struggled to teach/work all day yesterday and today. It is super hard to get back into a schedule.

Then I began thinking...I am so fortunate to have my job. I teach 23 students every day. But more than that, they teach me so much. I learn so much about how life is so different for kids today than just a few years ago. So many children come in to school and just want to talk. In my mind I am thinking, "Why are you talking so much when you should be doing morning work", when I should be saying "Tell me more"! Life at home for children is so different today than when I was in elementary school.

I have a very rewarding job! I see students learn something new, and watch their eyes light up with excitement! I also do not have to work weekends, except Saturday snow make-up days. I have summers off, which I LOVE! There are many days throughout the school year we have off, holidays and workdays. So I am going to try my BEST to have a positive attitude every day. Instead of being "lazy", I am going to put forth my best effort. After all, not many people have the wonderful job that I do!!!!

My Husband!

2010-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

So if you read my previous blog, you know that we have been car shopping. Saturday was the big day. I made an appointment with a car dealer at Hendrick's in Hickory. Brandon and I went with no intentions of buying. We got to the dealership and they had the car we wanted to test drive in the front, nice and clean! Of course we fell in love. We test drove the car and I let Brandon know, with my looks, that this was MY car! So we decided to proceed with getting a loan and all that mess.

As we sat making an offer on the car Saturday, I began to think of how proud I am of my husband. Brandon, if you know him, is not an extremely social person, especially with people he does not know. But I love him no matter what. We knew what we were willing to pay and decided we would not go a dime higher. Brandon was so stern in his offer and what he wanted. I am so proud of the man he is! Not only for putting his big boy pants on and know what he wanted, but just in every day life. He works extremely hard every day. He has many goals in life and strives every day to reach those goals. I am also proud of how much he is allowing God to lead his life and our marriage. We have prayed about a car for a few months, but nothing has happened. He told me Saturday morning that he prayed that God would lead us to a car that was dependable and affordable, and of course he did! I love him more than words can express. We have only been married about a year and a half and I fall in love with him more every day. I am so proud of the man he is and the man he is growing into daily!!!!