my apologies.

my apologies for our absence. the last month of school is typically torture, and this year was no different. shane and i have both been busy beyond belief (notice the alliteration -- just wrapped up an awesome poetry unit with my ninth graders, forgive me [again]).

somewhere within the last month, beth and dylan visited. our time with them was much needed and provided an awesome break from the chaos that is may.

we said goodbye to our friends for another year, but our fingers were crossed behind our backs in hopes that we can see them again before another full year passes.

our week in pictures.

have i told you lately how much i love this guy of mine?

i may have complained a bit in recent days about how itchy the beard had become. husband graciously offered to wave goodbye to the destruction left by no-shave november. it has been five months, after all.

look at that baby face.

we spent easter weekend with family. so happy to spend some time with our eleven month old nephew, kale. i see two bottom baby teeth poking through.

in case you're counting (i know we are), the dicharrys arrive in sixteen days. 

six-teen-days!!! 

we're going to pack as much as we can into their week-long visit. i think we're most looking forward to the black keys concert, but i know there are going to be a lot of good times in our very near future. 

we'll have some good old hometown fun and journey to tulsa and probably kansas city and lawrence, too. it's likely to be the best week ever. 

high:low number four.

we're a bit late with our most recent high:low, but it's better late than never. and, what's kind of cute is that our high:low entries are more or less identical. how adorable are we?

shane
high: saturday i got to spend some time with my beautiful wife. it felt like it had been forever since we'd had some quality one on one time. we went to tulsa for some shopping, a matinee, and had our first experience at cherry berry. if you haven't been, you need to find one soon and indulge.

low: taxes suck. enough said.

rene
low: we had our taxes done last week and were beyond shocked to find out we owe an obscene amount of money. like, more than our combined monthly income. here's to an obscene amount of ramen in our future.
high: ah, saturday. in and of itself, saturday outshines every other day of the week... always. this saturday, though, was really sweet. my hubby and i saw the hunger games. shane loved the movie -- i was so relieved seeing as i had created a lot of hype after reading the books. we enjoyed some cherry berry frozen yogurt together and then did some shopping. i was on a mission for a few new super cute outfits. i've got to look good for bethany's visit. hehe. shopping was a success, and saturday, overall, was lovely.

playing catch-up.

as was my fear, once school started in early september, i completely forgot about blogging. for your viewing pleasure, i've created a compilation of photographs and summaries to catch you up on our last six months. enjoy!

september:

september included my ten-year high school reunion. homecoming was part of our reunion weekend, and my baby sister, sydney, was a queen candidate. love my sisters!

... shane's not so bad either.  ;)

october:

the highlight of my october was sending bethany a birthday box of goodies. she created a play-by-play so we could see how much fun she had opening the box all the way in japan.

november:

the entire month of november played out like a metaphorical drum roll in shane's head. his favorite holiday, thanksgiving, found us spending lots of time with family. we decorated the trees at dad's house, and i made an anti-turkey dinner of a hensley favorite: mashed potatoes and chicken noodles. don't worry, there was plenty of turkey over the course of the holiday weekend.

in mid-november, on my mom's birthday, we decorated our first christmas tree. i love how it turned out!

december:

in early december we sent out our first christmas card, created by my talented husband (with some serious credit given to amandajanejones -- her amazing work was our obvious inspiration). 

photo credit: simple splendor photography

january:

we spent new year's in london, england! we were able to meet up with beth and dylan on their european vacation and get bed bugs all in a week's time. oh, london...

february:

february isn't over yet, but we've already celebrated valentine's day and shane's birthday! it's a good month.

it's a good life.

my birthday dream come true.

my best friend in the world lives across the world -- japan, to be specific. she's a real pretty lady who apparently attempted mt. fuji today with her husband, dylan. and if i know bethany like i think i know bethany, she was the most stylish lady climbing that nearly 13,000 foot mountain.

admire her style here and here.

my story today, though, has little to do with her style.  here's what you need to know:

my 28th birthday is this sunday, and celebrating without one's bff is a recipe for disaster. but, i must tell you, disaster has been thwarted. minutes ago beth's mom arrived at my door with two birthday packages.

notice the cake batter rice crispy treats wrapped so perfectly. i noticed the treats right away because i had recently pinned the recipe for them on pinterest (best. website. ever.) -- according to linda, bethany sent her the recipe and requested that she make them for my birthday. so sweet and so thoughtful... that's my friend. i'm eating one now and i could not care less about the sticky mess on my keyboard.

i saved the big package until after linda's departure -- if i had been wise, i would've opened while skyping with beth, but i didn't think of it nor did i have the patience for such a rendezvous. i began opening the package immediately.

THIS, my friends, is what i found inside:

notice the debris in the background. i tore into the sucker. now, notice the beauty of the dooney.

take a minute...

how stinkin' adorable is that bag? it's the perfect rene bag. a long strap to wear across my chest when my hands are too full or too busy shopping to carry said bag and the perfect handles to hang fashionably on my wrists. oh, and the inside... let me show you the inside.

the pink and white stitching make for a beautiful inside, and the colors contrast the amazing turquoise color of the entire bag. every detail is perfect! i'm in love.

this bag, my birthday bag, is the very same bag i pinned on pinterest months ago. never could i have imagined that i would be the proud owner. pinterest, after all, is where you daydream about things you want but don't really think you'll ever get.

take another look.

gorgeous, right? just like my friend, my best friend forever.

bethany, i love you. thank you so much for my birthday dream come true.

a freaky frosting fanatic.

yesterday, due to a mild ice storm, i was exempt from school. i spent the day with my sisters who spent the day with johnny depp... well, basically.

as they passed the time watching secret window and pirates of the caribbean, i rummaged through cookbooks. by the end of the day i had not only prepared lunch for the girls and dinner for the entire family but i had perfected two pie recipes as well -- lemon meringue and blueberry.

after dinner, while savoring every bite of blue goodness, i thought of my friend bethany who surprisingly hates pie. on very few things do the two of us disagree, but when it comes to dessert, bethany is a cake girl all the way. and, if given the choice, bethany would probably forego cake altogether and simply eat the frosting.

growing up i detested frosting. i would actually scrape it off of a slice of cake. and, when birthdays came i would most often be presented with a large birthday cookie rather than a cake. bethany on the other hand will eat frosting straight from the container. in fact, practically every box sent to her while she teaches in korea is made complete with at least one container of frosting.

i remember the first time i witnessed her frosting escapades. while visiting her house i came upon this friend of mine eating frosting straight from the cute container with the blue lid. then, to make it worse, she nonchalantly replaced said lid and put the frosting back in the cabinet. the nerve!

on another occasion, early in our friendship, i remember sharing thanksgiving dinner with bethany and her family. when dinner ended and pie began i remember vividly my astonishment when i witnessed bethany go for another helping of mashed potatoes in lieu of pie. isn't that somewhat un-American?!?

still, our friendship somehow continues, and i'm comforted knowing that we each have our own derogatory phrases for the other. if ever you come across an argument between bethany and myself, it may conclude in a way very similar to the following:

bethany: "shut your pie hole."

rene: "no. you shut your cake hole."

fighting ends with giddy laughter followed by each girl partaking in the dessert of their choice.