Major Catch-Up / Life Lately

Hey guys, remember me? I used to blog consistently over here, but now that my baby is over a whole year old, she is into literally everything, and it's tough to get enough time to shower and eat, let alone blog.

I soooo miss this space and the fellowship with my blog friends, though. I want to try to be better. No promises. No guarantees. But I'm going to try. Even if it's just one post a week... that's still better than none, right?

I am thankful that I am friends with so many blog friends on Facebook (or at least follow on Instagram) - it makes it a bit easier to stay caught up with everyone!

Waaaaay back in September, Annabelle turned one. For her birthday, Dan and I decided that we weren't going to buy her a gift since she doesn't need anything... so we decided to start the gifting of experiences tradition with her. We decided that her first trip to the zoo was in order, so that's what we did! Living two hours to the closest zoo makes it tough to go all the time like some of my friends and their kiddos do, but we had a fun little weekend trip to Dallas, and she LOVED the zoo. (She has since been to the St. Louis Zoo and the Tulsa Zoo as well! She's a zoo-hopper, I guess! We created a monster... she is hooked on them!)

Annabelle and I drove up to Kansas City at the end of September because I was a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's wedding. Little Annie got to spend a couple nights with her Grammy and Great Meme while I was busy with wedding festivities. They fed her lots of ice cream, and she had a blast. She's now looking forward to seeing them again TODAY!!! (for the first time in seven weeks! Woo!) 

We did find out that she's a chips and salsa junkie just like her mama... see below. :) 

While I was in already in Kansas City, Annabelle and I drove across the stat to St. Louis to see another one of my best friends, Michelle! We had to meet little Huxley, who was born in July. We had a blast catching up in person rather than via Skype, and we took the kids to the zoo (and to eat food... lots of food!) It was so great seeing so many friends during my trip to Missouri... but I was SO glad when we made it back to Texas. There's just nothing like your own bed, right?! 

Phew! That was a lot all at once... sorry! It feels great to be sharing again, though! :)

(Since I'm still WAY behind, I have a few more catch-up posts coming before I'm back to normal... sorry in advance!)

The Salvy Splash is Where It's At

If you know anything about me, you know that I'm from Kansas City (Missouri) and am proud of it! And that I love the sports teams from there - namely the Royals and Chiefs!

Well, after an amazing two years in a row in the World Series (a loss in 2014 followed by a victory in 2015!), the Royals have captured the hearts of many... and one player, known for his Gatorade baths after every win, had his time to shine with this epic billboard!

When I learned it would stay up longer than previously thought, I was stoked because we'd be able to go see it as we passed through KC during our PCS. It was seriously put in a spot for people to go take photo with it - awesome idea! 

We hd to get a little family photo and also a four generation photo. We take those every time we get a chance to! 

What is your favorite sports team?

Tough Times

I've been a really bad blogger lately. I'm well aware of that.

The reason behind that is that the past couple of weeks have been crazy, hectic, stressful, and rough.

Dan went out of town a couple weeks ago to see his dad when he got a phone call that he was in the ICU and not doing well. He stayed there with him for eight days, and he passed away last Thursday (yes, the same day he found out where we'll be moving).

This has been really tough on Dan (and therefore on me because when he hurts, I hurt {not to mention the fact that I've been through all of this before}).

Dan with his parents after his USAFA Prep School graduation in May of 2010

However, he has a lot of good memories to reminisce about, and we found out that we have lots of incredibly supportive friends and family members. One of our couple friends even drove from Ohio to Missouri to support Dan, and that was incredible.

The funeral was on Saturday, and I flew in on Friday (so I only had to miss one day of teaching). We drove back together on Sunday, and we are finally getting back into some sort of a routine.

Dan finally got to meet Tyler, our friends Joe and Ellie's baby, when they drove to Missouri over the weekend. Doesn't he look great with a baby? ;-)

Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!

• Have you ever been away from your blog due to stress?
• Have you lost a parent?

Dating, Engaged, Married DIY Framed States

Today's DIY craft is something I've been wanting to share for a while. I made these last spring when I had a day off of work. However, life got busy, and I'm just now getting around to posting about them.

Since Dan and I started dating in Missouri, got engaged in New Mexico, and will be married in Colorado, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to make these ADORABLE prints to hang in the living room. 

I am SO happy with how they turned out, and people comment on them all the time, asking where I got them. 

To start, I bought some colorful cardstock at Hobby Lobby. I chose a textured teal color because it goes with the earthy tones in my living room but also stands out quite a bit.

Then, I picked out a patterned scrapbook paper (and bought a couple extras in case I messed up!).

When I got home, I searched on Google Images for the three different states I was looking for. I picked silhouettes and printed them on regular printer paper.

Then, I cut out the states.

After that, I glued the cut out states to the back of scrapbook paper and cut out the states again. New Mexico and Colorado were super simple, but Missouri was a piece of work!

Then, I made a template on Microsoft Word with one of my favorite fonts and practiced printing on a plain piece of printer paper to make sure it was spaced out right. Once it was, I printed the three on my teal paper. 

Now comes the glue! I actually used Mod Podge because it is sticker, and I'm used to working with it. I glued the states down as close to the middle of the teal paper as I could.

Last but not least, I added the small red heart stickers I bought for this project over the approximate location of the cities that these major events happened/will happen! 

• So, what do you think? 
• Would you make something like this to decorate your home? 
• Did these three big life events happen in different places for you as well?

Where I Come From {Blogtember Challenge}

Tuesday, September 3rd Prompt: Describe where or what you come from - the people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are. 

I am Janelle. I'm 26 years old, and I'm a middle school language arts teacher. I'm engaged to a handsome man, who just happens to be a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. I have two cats who follow me everywhere.

But this post isn't about who I am; rather, it is about where I come from.


I am from Raytown, Missouri. 

Raytown is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I went to school there from preschool all the way through my high school graduation. It is home to the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The population is just about 29,500 people, but it feels much larger because it really is just a small part of a much bigger city. 

I am from a great family.

I was born in 1987 to Jay and Cheryl, who had been together throughout high school and (my mom's) college before getting married. Nine months later, I was born! I had a great life growing up. My family was pretty close, and we did a lot of activities together. I was also lucky enough to have two sets of grandparents AND a set of great grandparents living SO CLOSE that I saw them all at least once a week. 

I am athletic.

...or at least I once was. I have played many sports. I was first a dancer, and then I became a tumbler for many, many years. I played soccer, football (yes, on the boys' team), and basketball. I ran cross country and track. As you can see from the three pictures of me from 8th grade, sports are just what I did. I loved every minute of it. 

I guess you could say I'm lucky. I'd have to agree with that. Life isn't always perfect, nor is it always fair (like how my perfect family was ripped to pieces when my dad passed away unexpectedly in 2006). But I'm truly blessed to be where I am... and I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for my background. I am proud to be from Raytown, and I am dang proud to be a Vannice. 

Busy Summer

This summer has been crazy busy so far.

School got out, and I attended the Air Force Academy Ring Dance that weekend. We rented a house in Breckenridge with friends and had a blast.

Then, our friends Lucy and Simon visited us all the way from England. We did all the typical Colorado tourist attractions, and we drove to the Grand Canyon and to Las Vegas for some fun with them.

Dan left for his time working at a Boy Scout camp, and Lucy and Simon headed back to the UK... and I had one lazy week around the house.

And then I drove home to Kansas City, where I am right now. I'm spending time with my family and seeing some friends. It's been fun so far, but my drive was not so normal.

You see, it's usually bright and sunny for the entire ten hour drive... kind of boring, right? This time, I drove through an INTENSE storm before I even got out of Colorado. We needed the rain for sure, but this was eerie.

these clouds were SO dark!

I had never seen anything like this before, even growing up in tornado alley in Missouri. This was SO cool, and I couldn't stop looking at it. Have I mentioned that I *LOVE* severe weather? I really do. I'm such a geek. 

I'm having fun here, but I can't wait to see my handsome fiancé in about a week and a half! He is already half way done with his time in New Mexico, and I'm ready to have him back! 

What I'm Looking Forward To

As work is at one of its busiest points of the year, I have been feeling a little bit overwhelmed. This feeling is NOTHING compared to how I felt last year at this time, and I am incredibly thankful to teach in such an amazing little school. However, we just wrapped up our state standardized testing (TCAP in Colorado), and it has been ROUGH. Proctoring test after test gets tiring, and the students have not been themselves. They have been bored out of their minds taking so many tests, and I can't blame them! Tomorrow, we are rewarding them with an ice cream party at the end of the day -- it should be SO much fun!

Because I've been feeling stressed out, I decided to come up with a list of things I am looking forward to in the near and distant future.

1. SPRING BREAK. It starts in less than 24 hours. I am STOKED! Tomorrow and Saturday, Dan and I are just hanging out and relaxing. We leave early Sunday morning to head to the hot springs for a day/night and then to Copper Mountain to ski for a few days. We will head back to Colorado Springs on Wednesday evening, and my mom flies in then to spend a few days here. I don't know what all we will do, but I am looking forward to sleeping in.

2. Celebrating Dan's birthday in April. He turns 24, and I love the few months when we only have a one year age difference. My birthday is in July, and then we'll be back to two years apart. I have a pretty fun gift for him this year, and I can't wait to give it to him!

3. Running a fun 5K! I get to check one off for the year in April, and I'm pretty excited! I am running The Glow Run with Dan and some people on his Flying Team. It's on April 27th, it's at night (in the dark), and lots of glow sticks are involved. I CAN'T WAIT! For fun, here are a couple pictures from The Color Run last year...

4. Engagement Pictures in Colorado! Dan and I are having our wedding photographer take engagement pictures of us so we can get to know her style, etc. I have been dying for pictures at Garden of the Gods, so guess what is in our future... ;) A friend took some gorgeous photos for us last fall at the Air Force Academy, and they turned out great, so I'm excited for this last set of pictures before our big day!

5. Finishing my novel! I actually finished writing it in 2010. I didn't look at it once in 2011. I did one edit in 2012, and that felt WONDERFUL to finish. Now that I'm in my second edit, it's tougher. I love the story. I love the characters. I am just a little bit tired of trying to make it all perfect... but it will come together. I enjoy working on it when I can find the time, and I am looking forward to several Saturdays doing just that this spring while Dan is flying. I love going to La Baguette downtown to work. The atmosphere is great, and the food is even better!

6. Spending some time at Garden of the Gods. It is my favorite place in the world (so far), and I always feel completely at peace there. I could drive through it, run, hike, whatever... it's just SO nice. Dan and I picnic there sometimes, and it's so romantic and beautiful. I could basically live there. And hey, rent would be a lot cheaper too!

7. Exploring the outdoors with Dan as it continues to get warmer. This is something we both love. Hiking together is great, especially if there is a picnic in the middle! I can't wait to take our British friends hiking in gorgeous Colorado this summer when they visit. This state is so wonderful for doing things outdoors.

8. Starting our garden again! There's nothing like growing your own food. It's amazing to watch, and it tastes ever-so-slightly better... just because you watched it grow from day one. Last summer, we got several veggies, but since I didn't move into this house until July, we didn't plant seeds until mid-July... so I KNOW we will yield even more this year. We have mapped out what we want to plant, when to plant it, and where to put it. I am looking forward to lots of fresh vegetables this year!

9. Going home to Missouri for part of the summer. I do this every year when Dan is busy. I look forward to the drive through Kansas by myself because it is so calm. I take the cats with me, and we drive almost straight through for ten hours. I stop once for gas, food, and a bathroom break half way, and I make CDs to listen to for the parts where the radio doesn't even work (gotta love middle-of-nowhere Kansas). It's always fun, and I enjoy seeing my family and friends when it's nice outside... because the only other time I go home is in the winter. I always go to a Royals game while I'm home, and I can't wait to do that again this summer!

10. Marrying my handsome fiancé in just over a year and finally calling him my husband! I enjoy being Dan's fiancée, sure, but it gets old not being able to see him during the week, not being allowed to live with him, etc. I am 25 years old, and I am READY. I have been learning how to be patient (and let me tell you -- it's gotten much better over the past few years). By our wedding date, we will have been together for five years and three months -- plenty of time if you ask me! Our wedding date is just two days after his Air Force Academy graduation. Since he's not allowed to be married while he's there, we aren't going to waste any time afterward!

Well, that was fun! I highly suggest writing out all of the things you're looking forward to the next time you're stressed. Going through old pictures makes it even better. I am in a VERY happy mood right now! I just need to make it through tomorrow, and I will be on spring break for nine days! Life is good.