Give a day, get a day...

Last year Disneyland provided an opportunity that if you volunteered your time at a participating nonprofit you would get a free ticket to Disneyland. Well who doesn't love to spend time at Neighborhood Thrift?!?!? Andrew, Bryan, Kim, Christian, Lacy and I all received tickets to Disneyland so we planned a trip. Last weekend we spent the day in the happiest place on Earth. A little rain wouldn't slow us down.

The return of Captain E.O. in 3D

Shaver

Our Fast family took a weekend get-a-way up to Shaver. Plenty of fresh air, family, good food, and great times were had by all. Of course being able to hang out with Henry for a whole weekend was one of my favorite parts!

Chicago

I love Andrew's job, I get to travel to all kinds of different places...

For the past 3 years Andrew has gone to a conference called CCDA, Christian Community Development Association, for his job. Every year this conference moves to a different city. This year the conference took place in Chicago and I was able to go with him. How great... some conference... some city ... what could be better. Ok, it gets even better. Bryan and kim went to the conference also!! We had an amazing time hanging out together and experiencing a new place.

Here were a few highlights from the trip...

The Obwald Kids

Andrew and I baby sat the Obwald kids this past Friday and Saturday while Dave and Erin had a Southeast/Fig get-a-away for some church dreaming. Our weekend consisted of some charades, Mario Cart and Just Dance for the Wii, taking a trip to the splash park, Barbies (this playing with Barbies stuff was a 1st for me), watching an episode of Little House of the Prarie and I Love Lucy, and a birthday party for Emma and Casey Jo Getz. We had a great time being parents for a few days. If only they all came out well behaved and potty trained!!!

My classroom blog

Now that school has started, I will definitely be posting a lot less on my blog.... I guess someone has to bring home the bacon=) In place of my posts here I am going to have a classroom blog this year to help my parents keep up with what is going on with their child at school. Just in case any one is interested in checking in on my little squirrels, my blog address is...

http://feils5thgrade.blogspot.com

Enjoy...

Back in the swing of things....

I mean, staring Denise Feil...

Well I have officially finished my 1st day of school for the 4th time. This year things are much the same as the last 2 which I am totally excited about.

Reagan Elementary

5th grade

Room 17

Go Red Hawks!!!

Today went extremely well. I only have 19 students at the moment which sounds like a great thing but which also means we will be the feeder school that gets all of the new kids in the district... in other words... new kids ALL the time. I am excited for this year. I could not ask to for a better school to work at.

Huntington Lake

With my last few days of summer vacation I decided to head up to Huntington Lake to hangout with The Krause family for a few days. I have amazing memories camping at Huntington during high school and hanging out this week definitely added a few more great memories to that list. When I first arrived, Layne and I decided to go for a hike up to Nelly Lake. One minor problem.... I didn't bring any tennis shoes. Well, I am always up for a challenge so my rainbow sandals took me the 4 miles up and the 4 miles back. I was pleasantly surprised at how good my feet felt afterwards. Some good camp fires, smores, reading, and conversation filled up the rest of our time. Thanks Krause family for letting me join your vacation!!!

Don't judge our grungy look.... we are camping with no showers=)

thrift store finds...

I went to the thrift store the other day and came home with a few new kitchen decorations. Not bad for $3 total.

I love that I can just spray paint this tray whatever color I want to use it for all sorts of things.

girls' day

Anna, Sarah and I spent the day up at Shaver this past Saturday. We originally went up to hike Potter's Pass but couldn't end up finding it so we changed our plans. We hiked a well known trail behind the lake to the edge of the water and had a picnic there. After that we went to the marina and rented kayaks for an hour. So much fun.... we took those things all over the lake. The water was so perfect we had to jump in. To finish off the day we headed to the Hungry Hut for some ice cream. What a great way to spend a Saturday.

What do you think...

It's not official yet but we are getting closer. I am having fun thinking of all the possibilities of redoing this house.

I am not exactly the best decorator, which is why I will be relying on my sister to help out with this project.

Here is the 1st question... What color should I paint the outside of the house? I have been exploring blogs and other websites getting ideas but I haven't come to any conclusion yet. Here are a few super cute houses that I have seen. What do you guys think??? I would love to have your ideas.

khaki w/ white trim

white w/ black trim

white w/ grey trim

Another tan w/ white trim

A tribute to my Golden Girl... I love you Layne!

On July 26th, my amazing friend Layne turned 26!!! and Yes, that means it was her golden birthday. She made me proud by decking herself our in gold.

On the Saturday before her birthday, Colette, Layne, Jamie, and I went down to L.A. to watch "In the Heights" in the Pantages theater. I love the theater and I especially love musicals. Can I just say that I wish my life could just break out in song and dance all the time. I didn't know exactly what "In the Heights" was about but as I watched I wasn't let down. It was an amazing show and I would definitely suggest that everyone go see it.

I am not quite sure if anyone knows just how long Layne and I have been friends.... well let's just say that our moms were friends before we were even born so when we were born exactly 2 months apart it was a smooth and natural friendship. I am truly blessed to have a friend like Layne that I have literally spent my whole life with and praise God for the person that she has grown up to be.

Here are 26 favorite memories that I have with Layne over these past 26 years.

1. Camping trips to Carpenteria

2. Filling out bathing suits with sand and pretending that we had huge bellies.

3. When we were little I would take the candles down that were too high for Layne to reach and she would eat them.

4. Spritzer and chili picante corn nuts at Hartland

5. Making up many dances together

6. Finding out that Layne was getting to come to RBG in 4th grade

7. Planning our barn dance in my dad's new shop

8. Dee Dee giving us good luck fishing up at Huntington

9. Dress up, dress up, and more dress up

10. Homemade movies... "get on the hog"

11. Staying up to all hours of the night beating Mario Bros.

12. Having Layne there when Katie and I cleaned our room so that she could take all of the stuff we didn't want.

13. The best college roommate ever!! Sch and Krause House

14. Spring Break at NewPort beach (melissa's tattoo)

15. Dying our own hair

16. Camp outs in my back yard

17. 2 words... Pancake Pantry

18. Layney Loo

19. Neicey Woo

20. Making brown bobbies

21. Getting a ride inside of the cotton picker with Layne's dad

22. Layne's car catching on fire (loved the bug)

23. Picking a football team because it's always more fun to have someone to cheer for

24. Sunday afternoon bike rides with tandy

25. Smoking our 1st cigar by the 13 palms

26. Three legged race champions in the Awana Olympics!!!

Let's make some more memories.

Love you Layne!