Hello, Is this thing on?

I don't exactly remember how to do this whole 'blog' thing, but I figured with summer on the horizon I'd give it another go...  I haven't stopped in since Thanksgiving, 2014 (and was on-again-off-again for quite awhile prior to that), so it should go without saying that a lot has been going on around these parts.
Nick is in his 3rd semester of grad school - hip hip hooray!  I'm very lucky to be married to someone whose ambition and drive is so focused; the fact that he knows what he wants to do with his life is incredible to me.  I enjoy teaching for now, but I know I won't be able to make it for 30+ years just teaching.  However, I have no clue what I want to be when I grow up and admire him for being so decisive.  Keep up the good work, N!  In addition, Nick ran a half marathon in April and may just convince me to run some sort of run alongside him someday.  Like a way long time from now type of someday, that is.  

Penny is still her crazy, spunky, lovable self.  I cannot believe we brought this pup into our homes almost a year ago already!  I couldn't imagine life without her (although, I do miss waking up after 6am on the weekends), and can't believe how much she has taught me to love and how to be patient.  She may only be an animal, but she has definitely opened up my eyes regarding selflessness and having something genuinely depend on you.  I still don't feel ready to be a mom yet, but for now a "puppy mommy" will do :)  She has her own instagram if that explains just how much I'm embracing the whole "puppy mommy" thing and can sit/stay/shake/crawl/leave it/spin/fetch.  We're still working on "roll over" and "say hello."  We'll see how long those take!

As for me, I don't have anything fancy schmancy to report other than a hodgepodge of things that have happened these past few months.  We rang in the new year in DC with some of our close friends and had a blast indulging ourselves at the Gaylord.  We had umpteen million additional snow days this year (which is always a good time), helped welcome a puppy Cali into my parents' lives, and have kicked off attending 4 weddings in 2015 (yes, FOUR).  I have a flight to Nashville booked for the summer, and Nick + I have a road trip in store to Florida.  My beautiful grandfather passed away in March, but with the sadness of losing him came the joy of reuniting with every life he touched reflecting on the stories of his life.  I finally broke out of my 3-year-stint with only teaching regular Geometry and took on 3 honors Geometry courses as well as a Senior Capstone class.  I've been embracing technology in the classroom; some of my favorite go-to apps include Socrative Student and Poll Everywhere.  I've also been embracing the outdoors; I haven't killed my plants this year (yet!!), and haven't had the same level of anxiety when faced with a bug.  I/we also started receiving Blue Apron shipments, and am giving this cooking thing a go again.  I've decided by the time I'm 30 (eeew, 30!) I want to have tried at least one new recipe a month (if I'm being umber ambitions at least one per week) and this is definitely helping kick that off.  And last, but not least, I/we are almost finished with our 4th year teaching here.  It's amazing how quickly time flies, am I right?  

So I suppose that about does it for now...  A lot has and continues to happen and I wouldn't have it any other way.  As for "blogging," I'm not sure how it'll go, so I'm taking this day by day.  We'll see if I can keep up with the updates, but for now I'm off to continue living life :)