Saturday, January 23, 2010

It's a New Year!

I'm back and ready to set forth in the blogging world again. It's a bit embarrassing that I haven't posted since September... but I'm going to try much harder this year. My life has been crazy busy since my last post, with teaching and the holidays making time to sit and type a bit difficult. I want to record more events that happen with us Taflans because it's important and satisfying to me to have memories and thoughts stored somewhere that I can revisit in the future. So here's my enthusiastic attempt at blogging more than once every few months...

I'm not going to spend time catching up on all that's happened in the last few months because I'd like to get on to what's currently taking place. I will sum up Oct-Dec. with:

1. My kindergarten class is exciting, a blessing, challenging, and tiring - but I am learning so much as a first year teacher!
2. Married life just gets better and better. We had our one year anniversary Dec. 27th and eagerly look forward to the next year together
3. Our holidays with family in NC and OH were filled with many precious moments. God truly blessed us with amazing parents and siblings :)

You can see photos of 2009 here:


Today was one of the most relaxing Saturdays I've had in a while. My husband and I slept in (no work for him today!) and we went looking for garage sales. We enjoy this activity although our routine is usually the same: Stop at many, many homes... ooh and ahh over odds and ends that we think we would like to have... mull over whether it's a necessary purchase... drive on to the next place and do the same :) We have actually bought things at garage sales before, but usually because a great idea comes to mind and we figure we can do some kind of project with an item. A few times we've driven away saying, "Oh, we'll come back later and if it's still there, then we'll get it." Do you know what happens when you do that? The beloved item is always gone! I passed up an amazing country style wooden kitchen cupboard once because I couldn't make up my mind. Deep down I wanted it because we could fix it up and make it so charming, but we live in an apartment and honestly had no room. We said we'd come back and it was gone. I kicked myself for it the rest of the day. Today I decided to actually go with my gut and get something if it's reasonable. I bought cute snowman accents for next year's Christmas/Winter decor. Matthew bought a staple gun for $2. We got to experience our first estate sale today as well. Very, very strange going through someone's house... we decided it was a bit creepy having so many people walking around a house buying food items, looking through linen closets, and walking out with anything they could get their hands on.

We decided to go to Wekiva Springs afterward and have a picnic lunch. I can't believe people were swimming in the spring! Yes, today the high was 76, but it was chilly in the shade and the water is only 72. We enjoyed some card games and walked the nature trail, soaking in this beautiful weather before the heat comes and sucks the life out of things once again. Last time we were there we had a new addition to our growing camera family... a Canon HG-20. Today we had our newest addition - the Canon 7D (very exciting!).

We were in need of a new camera, especially with a wedding coming up in March. Our other camera is still good, but the new Canon is great :) TaflanPictures, our videography/photography business is something we are pursuing with even more dedication. Matthew has had video gigs here and there through freelancing, and our opportunity for filming weddings on the side is becoming more numerous. I absolutely love assisting with shooting weddings! Here is a link to our latest: www.taflanpictures.com/vrbensky
Our website is getting a needed makeover and we hope to book more events in the near future. Matthew loves filming and editing, and he's been doing it for 9 years or so - definitely his niche. He's currently working here in Borders on editing a wedding we shot last weekend (a beautiful one with unique details that make me want to plan a wedding all over again!). We pray God will use us and TaflanPictures for His glory as we meet new people and produce new things.

I think I'm going to go explore the craft/diy magazines before the store closes. I only have 20 minutes! I love being inspired by neat ideas - although usually this inspiration happens late in the evening and by the time I round up supplies for a project, I'm tired and ready for bed :) I would like to work more tonight on the afghan I'm crocheting. I chose colors from our wedding and a simple pattern I found in a magazine. I'll have to post pictures soon. It takes me a while because I'm teaching myself and would like to spend more time on it in the evenings after school. Oh dear school, takes up so much of my time. I think about my classroom as I go to sleep, when I'm out shopping, as soon as I wake up (no exaggeration) - possibly because I'm a first year teacher? There's ALWAYS some cute poem or song I can research, project I can buy supplies for, and techniques I can read about to incorporate in our daily routine. Wonderful job, it truly is... a consuming one, but wonderful and rewarding!

Time to wander on over to the magazines...

2 comments:

Brittney Galloway said...

I'm so glad you updated! Sounds like you are busy, busy! Can't wait for more!

Kristy Zabel's Blog said...

Just thought of you and thought I'd see if you posted anything new. I'm glad the kindergarten gig is going well. :) :) We are sooooo busy, but we should try for lunch or something sometime. Maybe spring break?? You can let me know on Facebook (or by phone). ttyl :)

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