Halloween is for costumes

...and candy le duh. 

Except, if you've been hanging around these parts for a while you know that I don't always feel the need to wait for Halloween to wear a costume.

See exhibit A-E.

The perks of teaching elementary school.

However, I love a good Halloween costume. 

Thinking of what to be, 

finding all the right pieces,

and being able to show it off to everyone,

it's one of the many many wonderful things about Halloween.

Despite how much I L-O-V-E going to Hallow-scream every year,

I'm not a big fan of scary things.

And I usually don't go all out on my costumes either,

not the way some people do.

(Color me a little bit jealous of that level of creativity.)

But since it is Halloween week,

I figured a walk down Hallow-memory lane might be somewhat enjoyable.

One of the wee Halloween years. 

Me and my brother - a football player and a cheerleader. 

Go figure.

My mom and aunt were the queens of homemade costumes. 

I have very few memories of actually buying a costume.

Most were thrown together with hand-me-downs

(that's my mom's old cheerleading outfit)

or pieced together with things laying around the house.

Lucky for my mom - my brother and I didn't stop piecing together Halloween costumes

until I went off to college. 

And contrary to how this picture looks,

my way-taller-than-me brother was only 10.

I was a hillbilly and he was a nerd, in case you can't tell.

College brought on a whole new meaning for Halloween.

Insert typical slutty costume {here}. 

I was Dorothy.

My roommate was a sexy nun. Totally PC.

Sophomore year of college,

we went as Rob and Big. 

For some odd reason, I always feel the need to carry a prop.

A decision I inevitably regret 5 minutes out the door.

This year Robbie and I went as Doug and Patty Mayonnaise. 

But here I'm with my roommates - a farmer and a present. 

Now I have dogs that I can dress up, which is great!

And as only increased my love of "couple/family costumes". 

Call me cheesy, but I think they're great.

Last year we were the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. 

Roxy and Willow hated their costumes, 

but aren't dey da cutest wittle pigs you ever did see?

~

This year, I was literally throwing our costumes together 

the hour before our Halloween party this weekend.

Things just snuck up on me,

as they tend to do this time of year. 

Saturday morning we had our annual Partners in Education Bowling fundraiser for school.

We bowled a total of 5 frames in two hours, 

which I think is a pretty impressive record.

BUT we tied for Team Spirit, again, and how could we not?

Welcome, welcome to the 15th Annual Partners in Education Hunger LANES.

It was pretty clever, if I do say so my self. 

And because I can't make my life easy and just wear the same costume 

I rushed home and threw together our "Starbucks" family costume.

And of course, because I was throwing together costumes,

speed cleaning my disaster of a house,

and trying to bake this new pumpkin concoction that Robbie discovered

a whole other disaster

I didn't really get a chance to take any decent pictures.

#bloggerfail

I did have time to take a picture with the cutest little owl ever.

And Robbie managed to take this high quality photograph.

(Notice Katniss and Effie from earlier in the day?)

Also, notice how everyone is holding their babies, and I'm holding Willow. 

Yea...color me crazy puppy mom. It is what it is.

Just for the record - the dogs did wear homemade Starbucks costumes.

Willow was a tall vanilla frap,

Roxy was a grande black coffee,

and I was a venti iced white chocolate mocha.

Clever, right?

Robbie was our sweet barista (or whatever you call a boy Starbucks worker).

All I know is he loved having that apron stocked with bottle openers and coozies.

~

Even though, we got all dressed up and hung around the house,

I would love, love, love to combine my two favorite parts of Halloween

(the spooky amusement parks and wearing costumes).

Especially if I could go to one these scary attractions. 

Something tells me I might have to pick a Halloween costume 

that's a little more hardcore than a Starbucks mocha. 

But seriously, if you're brave and love haunted houses

or even if you're like me and aren't brave at all,

but still love haunted houses, go read this article.

And in the famous words of Junie B. Jones

get ready to be scared right out of your pants.

Happy Halloween witches!

Someday...

Someday I'll remember to actually publish the blog posts I schedule ahead of time....

Happy Hump Days ladies and....gents(?)!!

When I saw that Taylor was hosting this link up

I got super excited because

1. I love a good link up

2. it's Mexican night, which means I knew I wouldn't feel like blogging

and 3. I'm kind of a big fan of the "someday..." posts. 

See here, here, and here for proof. 

What can I say, I'm a planner.

Plus, thinking about somedays is good for the soul.
You can't do it all right now anyway.
Having something to shoot for down the road is a must,
you know for that whole sanity thing.

Someday I will go cross country, stopping in all 48 continental states.

Someday I will actually stick to my gluten free diet....again.

Someday I will drink (and actually enjoy) red wine.

Someday I will get used to waking up at 5:30. One can only hope.

Someday I will be a mom to the cutest children you ever did see.

Someday I will have a fancy pants camera to take real pictures of said children.

Someday I will go back and get my masters. As soon I figure out what I want to get my masters in.
Oh and as soon as NC decides to offer pay incentives for teachers getting their masters. 

Someday I will build my dream house. And it will have every single thing from this Pinterest board in it.

Someday I will play the piano again.

Someday I will learn how to sew...and coupon.

Someday I will be a stay at home mom/housewife at least for a year. Just to see what it's all about.

Someday I will host a summer outdoor movie night.

Someday I will exercise regularly. Running after 1st Graders all day can only count for so much for so long.

Someday I will change my email to my married name. For now, the whole process just stresses me out.





Hugs,

Seven Deadly Sins

It's almost Halloween

and even though it's on a school day (again)

and our costumes were thrown together in a matter of days (literally),

I'm still pretty excited about the whole thing.

I got even more excited when I saw this. 

I love a good link up party.

I love a good list.

And I love a good sin.

Wait no, scratch that last one. 

But this is a pretty fun way to look at things.

Seven Great Things in Your Life

In no particular order...

1. My job. I'm proud of what I do for a living.

2. My husband. I'm proud of everything he has and continues to accomplish.

I'm also beyond proud to call him mine.

3. My time management. I think a do a pretty good balancing act.

4. My house. I'm proud that we own it. I'm proud of the work we've put in it.

5. My drive. I'm pretty proud of knowing what I want and getting it.

6. My education.  

7. My improving punctuality. It's a struggle, but I'm proud that it's getting better.    

Seven Things you Lack and Covet

1. Sleeping in on a regular basis.

2. 9:00-5:00 jobs. (Except I know I'd really hate it.)

3. Not worrying about money.

4. Remembering important dates.

5. Blogs that provide a substantial income. 

6. College kids.

7. The ability to braid mah hurs.      

Seven Things that Make You Angry

1. Politics.

2. People who make excuses.

3. Divorce.

4. Wal Mart.

5. Bad parenting choices.

6. Laziness.

7. Selfishness.   

Seven Things That You Neglect to Do

1. Keeping my email folders cleaned out.

2. Not sweating the small stuff. 

3. Staying in touch with long distance friends.

4. Putting away laundry in a timely manner.

5. Exercise.

6.    

Seven Worldly Material Desires

1. My iPhone. Can't live without it unfortunately. 

2. A matching top wedding band.

3. A custom built house.

4. A closet full of new clothes. 

5. An all-inclusive trip to somewhere tropical.

6.  A 4Runner.

7. Longchampes in every size and color.

Seven Guilty Pleasures

1. The Kardashians.

2. Social Media.

3. Gossip. Whoops.

4. Laying on the couch.

5. Pretty Little Liars.

6. Chips and salsa.

7. Waffles/Pancakes with lots and lots of syrup.

Seven Things You Love About Love

1. Sharing a bed together.

2. Being best friends.

3. "Just because" gifts.

4. Getting to put his name as my "emergency contact". 

5. Sweat pants, hair tied, chilling with no make up on.

6. Having security.

7. Doing simple things together. And having fun just because you're together. 

Shane's keeping the link up through Halloween

so get ready to confess your sins and head on over!

Hugs,

Erry day I'm hustlin

More like "erry day I'm blogging."

I had a longggg conversation with my setpmom about blogging a few weekends ago

which is always kind of weird,

because I still barely consider myself a "real blogger"

and I am no where near being a professional.

But when she asked how often I blogged,

I told her every day.

And then I realized that was kind of a lie.

So I'm trying to change that.

Unless during the week.

I've been seeing lots of love lists floating around this week.

Something about fall weather makes everyone all lovey

(personally it just makes me cold).

However, there are a few things in particular I'm loving right now.

~

1. Sleeping in until 7:15.

The only enjoyable part about being in trainings all day long.

2. Boots, boots, and more boots.

The only enjoyable part about it being cold.

I'm particularly swooning after these.

Well...and every other pair I come across. 

3. Taking #ootd selfies. 

I know...I'm a loser. But hear me out.

I haven't been shopping in forrrrever. The last new clothing item I bought was in DC

this summer...So I've really been scraping the bottom of the barrel lately.

Trying to find new ways to wear the old things I've got.

And I'm not hating it. 

The changing weather definitely helps, but it's become a fun little challenge and it's saving money

which makes my husband happeh happeh happeh.

All of these things make me feel like it's worth documenting.

For what it's worth, I don't post them all to social media. 

They're just chilling in my phone. Not sure if that makes it worse or better...

4. Leopard print.

It goes with everything and adds just the right amount of flare.

I've worn my leopard print scarf three times in the past 5 days. 

I want these on my person right meow.

Am I right?

5. My planner.

Not because it's some magical Erin Condren life organizer

but because it has soooo many fun things written on it for the next few weeks!

Hugs,

Hallow-scream

Every year in October,

Busch Gardens in Williamsburg opens up Hallow-scream.

In my opinion, this is the only time they should ever open 

because what could be better than roller coasters, haunted houses, and other spooks?

Nothing. That's what. 

Well, unless you throw in some really great friends too.

Which is exactly what Robbie and I did a few weekends ago.

Nevermind that it rained on and off the entire day. 

We spent 12 hours at the park, 

riding roller coasters, 

watching scary shows,

throwing back a few jello shots, 

and walking through scary haunted houses.

Neal was ready to travel through the countries of Busch Gardens.

Now, obviously between the rain

and the high g-force roller coasters,

taking pictures was tough.

But I'll share what I got. 

We rode much more age appropriate rides than just the merry-go-round

but don't those boys just look so darn cute on those ponies.

Like bumper cars. Bumper cars are age appropriate. 

Those kids didn't know what hit 'em.

I was the lone Wolf Packer among a whole group of Pirates. 

Oh, and I met (and touched) a hedgehog. Crazy.

But besides all the normal, fun stuff you can do at Busch Gardens

during Hallow-scream the entire park is decorated like a haunted village

which gets really scary at night,

especially when the "zombies" and "witches" and other spooky creatures come out.

Which I'll have to say, of all the times me and Robbie have been to Hallow-scream,

this one was extra scary as far as the goblins and ghouls jumping out at you.

There are also several haunted houses that open up as soon as the sun goes down.

Most of them are like you're typical haunted house

and are scary, but mainly just because of the build up of it all.

Except for 13, a haunted house meant to heighten thirteen of the most common fears.

Honestly, when I first saw it, all I could think of was TSwift,

which for some is scary enough. 

But once we got to the line we started noticing signs with different fears posted on them.

Arachnophobia - the fear of spiders. Ophidiophobia - the fear of snakes.
Coulrophobia - the fear of clowns.

As we're reading these signs,
while standing in line forrrrrever,
we're starting to get some pretty crazy ideas about what exactly is going to be in this haunted house.

And sure enough.
Each room represented a different fear.
Claustrophobia, darkness, scary clowns, slimy snakes.
It was all there and it was all scary.

Part of the fun was figuring out what each room was supposed to be
and the other fun part was actually being terrified of what was in the rooms.

I'm typically not a "scary-fan" person.
I don't like scary movies
and I'm perfectly fine dressing up as something fun for Halloween,
not something that's going to scare the pants off people.

But, I do love some Hallow-scream.
And I'm using it to link up with Helene and Sarah today.

Hugs,

50 Years of Memories

A few weeks ago,

my lovely mother turned 50

which is a huge deal,

because it's 50

but also because it's a birthday 

and my family loves birthdays/holidays/any reason to celebrate something.

Mom's birthday falls smack dab in the middle of college football season

and usually around the same weekend as Parent's Weekend.

So, since I started college (6 years ago say wha?) 

we've always kind of mashed up mom's birthday, football tailgating, 

and Parent's Weekend into one big, full weekend.



Remember this?

This year wasn't much different and we all spent that Saturday in Raleigh tailgating

at the NCSU football game.

There was cake and beer and corn hole.

And we won, which doesn't always happen

so overall, it was a birthday success.

That Sunday after we got back in New Bern 

we had a big dinner at mom's house 

and exchanged presents.

Disclaimer: I love giving presents, 

but usually suck at it. 

I try really hard to find the. perfect. gift. for everyone

and occasionally I'll stumble across just what I'm looking for.

My mom, however, has never opened a gift she doesn't like.

Seriously, you could wrap a pile of poo in a pretty box and she would love it and you forever.

It's one of the things that makes her such a good mama.

I knew we needed to do something special for mom's 50th birthday.

It's a huuuuuuge milestone after all.

I saw this thing on Pinterest, duh,

where you collect pictures and stories from family and friends

and put each one in an envelope to create "years of memories".

Naturally, I loved the idea, 

but completely forgot about it until like the week before mom's birthday.

I spent the entire week contacting everyone I could think of 

in every way I could think of 

asking for one memory or story of my mom.

It was the coolest things.

I got some of her close friends to spread the word

so I could reach as many different people as possible

and it was so neat to see the emails coming in,

not only because of the memories they contained

but because of the people they were from.

I, obviously, think my mom is amazing

but seeing how she touched so many different lives

in so many different ways was really cool.

I printed each memory and put them in envelopes,

one memory per envelope.

And y'all, 50 envelopes is a lot.

I wrapped it up and held on tight to my secret 

(which was really hard to do)

until Sunday night

when I could finally give them to mom.

Basically, it was the greatest gift ever.

My memories have always been my most prized possession

and I fear losing them almost more than anything else.

This was such a cool way to reminisce with my mom 

and reflect on the many, many wonderful years we've all had with her.

And the coolest part is, now that all of these are in writing, she'll have them forever.

Obviously, the one complaint I got from everyone

was that it was too hard to narrow it down to just one

fun story or heart-felt memory

and knowing my mom and her friends, 

we could easily fill up 100 envelopes with sweet memories.

But we'll save that for the next half-century.

Hugs,

Weekend Shenans

It's still Monday here for a good 5 hours.

Therefore I still have plenty of time to recap my weekend shenanigans.

Disclaimer - several of these pictures are recaps of multiple weekends

because that's how I roll over here at Delightfully Dunn.

Plus, I realized I had lots of pictures tucked away that I hadn't shown you yet.

1.

Finally broke out the uggs for dinner at Dad's last Friday night.

It was glorious.

2. 

I tried to make festive pancakes for dinner the other night. 

Those two are as far as I got.

3.

My Sunday afternoon view.

Leggings, fuzzy socks, and puppy stares.

4. 

Using candy as decoration is totally normal, right?

5. 

Margaritas - a weekend or weeknight staple. 

6.

Finding ways to wear my maxi skirts all fall long.

7.  and 8.

No weekend would be complete without a college football tailgate.

And this one involved my baby brother. 

Family time for the win!

Hugs,

I confess...

Oh hey, bloggy blog. How ya been?

It's me, the girl that likes to take week long vacations from this little hobby.

I confess that I'm also the girl who eats a salad for lunch

but then snacks on everything she can get her hands on

from the time she gets home from school 

to the time she goes to bed.

Which I confess has been super early this week.

Like falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 early.

I confess that I'm obsessed with my dogs.

This is nothing new, I'm aware.

But they spent the weekend with their grandparents last weekend 

and I missed them an un-normal amount

and was reminded how much I wuv themz.

I confess that's an old Instagram picture,
but I'm too lazy to find another.

Oh, yea and I confess I had an amazing weekend last weekend

and never told y'all about it. 

Hashtag sucks to suck.

I confess that I wish Chief Webber would just go ahead and die.

I confess that I actually sort of, kind of love my job right now.

I have a training today and two more next week 

which means three days of subs

and I've been dreading them all week long.

Partly because sub plans suck 

and partly because I'm going to miss my kids.

I confess that I've been a little hormonal lately.

It's disgusting really.

I've been all mushy and sentimental about everything.

Like last night, Robbie and I met up at the grocery store

after we had both had really great days at school

and I literally got all giddy at the idea of grocery shopping

with my future-teacher husband.

I confess I'm a weirdo.

I also confess that again, I am not pregnant.

I think it's too much week night wine.

I confess that I change my mind about my Halloween costume every 5 minutes.

I just can't decide on one.

I confess I haven't been this ready for Friday
since at least last week.

I confess that I'll be a better blogger next week.

You know, posting daily posts and stuff.

Happy Friday y'all!

Hugs,

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

That's kind of where we're at right now.

I've got a million and one things going on (hello, October)

and my already racing mind feels twice as racy as normal.

Plus also, it's rained for the past 45908234098 days 

and doing anything besides laying on the couch watching TV

on rainy days is just pure insanity.

Unfortunately, I'm the only one who thinks this, 

therefore I've still had to go to work and do other mature adult things,

like clean the house and put away laundry.

It's been interesting to say the least.

Anyway, all of this rambling is simply my excuse for not having a decent blog post today

or probably tomorrow either.

But hey, if the government can shut down for 15 days, 

so can I. 

Which, real quick, my two cents on that whole thing 

is this - every other professional has to continue to get their job done 

whether or not they agree with the people they work with,

hence that whole "being professional thing".

95% of working people probably disagree with each other on a daily basis.

Yet they still get shit done.

Come on....government, buck up.

Or in the words of Hank Williams Jr. 

"why can't we all just get a longggggg neck?"

Anyway, I have lots of fun stuff to tell you about.

It's just not happening right now. 

Sorry bout it.

Until then, 

I'll be on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy reruns.

Hugs,

One day...

I'll be an actual grown up. 

I've mentioned this goal once or twice or twenty different times on my blog before. 

And depending on the mood you catch me in,

"being an actual grown up" can mean eleventy different things.

For example,

sometimes I feel like a real grown up when I go grocery shopping all by myself

(although, lately that's been Robbie's job - God bless that man.)

Or when I'm teaching and I realize that I'm in charge of a whole classroom full of students.

It stills always kind of takes me by surprise.

Sometimes I feel like a grown up when I check my bank account

and either get really excited about all the money I have (ie, the beginning of the month)

or really depressed about all the money I don't have (ie, the end of the month).

I usually always feel like a grown up when I book and go on vacations all by myself well, with Robbie

and when I have to clean my house all by myself.

Being independent makes me feel like a real grown up.

But other times, 

I find myself still feeling like a complete child

and still wishing for those "grown up" years where I'll be able to do certain things

that I can't do now,

no matter how "grown up" I may appear.

For instance,

when I'm a real, full-time grown up I'll be able to...

- dress appropriately for "chilly" weather.

Right now I've got really hot weather under control (shorts and flip flops)

and really cold weather under control (everything I can effing find in my closet)

but that in-between, chilly weather is still tough.

Like what exactly does 70 degrees mean?

No matter what I choose to wear, I either find myself too hot or too cold.

- stop hitting the snooze button.

I'm still holding on to the fact that I will grow up to be a morning person.

That I'll hear my alarm go off, and I'll magically be ready to go.

- stop falling asleep in the car.

Seriously, I'm like that crying baby that you drive around the block with 

just so they'll fall asleep.

Put me in the car for more than 15 minutes and I'm out.

It's a childish problem.

Something I'm sure won't happen when I'm finally a real, full-time grown up.

- fly on an airplane all by myself.

This is one thing I'm still not wild about ever doing.

I get so nervous about flying,

not just the actual plane part, but the finding where I'm supposed to be,

keeping up with my ticket, catching all my layovers,

it stresses me out.

Although I'm sure it does not stress out real, full-time grown ups.

- read before going to sleep.

Instead of checking Instagram for the elventy millionth time.

Reading is supposed to be relaxing and good for the brain.

And something I hear grown ups delight in.

- cook things from scratch.

This is actually happening more and more lately.

Just more proof that I'm well on my way to this whole grown up thing.

I've always thought it was so cool when people threw together all sorts of ingredients

to make something completely yummy and delicious. 

I want to do that all the time when I grow up.

And in honor of being a grown up 

and it being time to #backthatazzup,

something I'm sure real, full-time grown ups do all the time,

I'll leave you with these gem.

Happy Friday dudes!