His and Her Weekend Shenanigans

We had a crazy busy weekend so without further ado, here are our -- 

**For those who are new to our blog - WELCOME - purple is Amanda, red is Sean, blue is for both of us. We hope it helps make it less confusing for our readers to know who is talking and sharing. :) **

Friday:
Sean stayed home while I went to sit under the Friday Night Lights at the high school in my division. One of my former students that I have remained close with asked me to come watch her in the marching band. I was happy to do it of course and loved seeing so many of my former students. It is nice to hear the shrieks when they see you and run up for a hug. I miss them all so much! 

The boys are gearing up to play!

Saturday: 
Meat pies and sausage rolls are traditional Australian snack foods but they are not easy to find in the U.S. One of Amanda's friends told us about a pie shop in Richmond that is run by a New Zealand couple. She said they sold the same types of pies and sausage rolls that I am used to. Richmond is about a 2 hour drive from our home so I hadn't had a chance to visit but since it was on the way to the fair, I talked everyone into trying this place. We tried several different pies and desserts - it was all very tasty. The steak & vegetable pie and the sausage roll tasted just like the ones from home. Now I have somewhere to go when I have a hankering for some good Aussie food.

Every year, my parents, Sean, and I travel to Richmond for the Virginia State Fair. We start talking about it in July because we are all so excited to go back! This year the fair's layout was different but it was just as fun. We saw the cows, sheep, goats, and chickens. We rode the Ferris Wheel at night and saw all the rides lit up. We played some games and won a few prizes. Mom won a giraffe pillow pet and a blue monkey. Dad won a wolf. I won a puffy heart and a giraffe. We ate amazing food - corn dogs, elephant ears, fried Oreos, fried Reese's, and fried Pecan Pie. I am already counting down until we can go back - only 363 days to go!

The best day of fall!! :)

Sunday:
We had a typical Sunday for us - 
               Sean cleaned up a little bit and got lunches and breakfast organized. He also grocery shopped and bathed the dog.
              Amanda set up the blog posts, did the laundry, and graded papers.
This is our typical Sunday routine - it works for us and we are getting pretty good at getting everything done.  
The nice thing about this Sunday is that our house smelled amazing as we worked through our chores. When we were at the fair on Saturday we visited a Scentsy booth. I saw a warmer that was the cutest thing ever - a cupcake - and decided I had to have it. We bought some scents (French Toast, Pumpkin Pie, Gooey Gooey Gumdrop) and set up the warmer first thing Sunday morning with the French Toast scent. Within an hour, the house smelled so good!

  
We hope your weekend was as good as ours. What was your favorite moment?

Happy Monday,

     

His and Her Happies and Crappies

The week came to an end two days ago and we have not stop running since. Not wanting to miss one of our favorite link-ups, we are still going to recap our Happies and Crappies of the week - even if it is Sunday. 

**For those who are new to our blog - WELCOME - purple is Amanda, red is Sean, blue is for both of us. We hope it helps make it less confusing for our readers to know who is talking and sharing. :) **

Happies:
I had time to knit on a weeknight! Whoo hooo!!! More of my sister's scarf finished.

I discovered a new way to manage my time at home after school (thanks to a good friend). I will likely blog about this soon. :)

I had a much-needed mani and pedi - pink with sparkles on my hands, light purple on my toes.

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I got to spend Wednesday night with my favorite knitting ladies. They are such a hoot! Plus the piece of peach pound cake (wow - say that five times fast!) was delish!! 

One of the girls in the group let me take home her awesome interchangeable knitting set to try out. Such a sweetie!

I went to the gym and got some strength training done.  

I played disc golf on Friday. It was fun (even though I didn't do very well).

I took a nap every day after work. Naps are wonderful!

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I was able to donate platelets on Sunday and I didn't have issues like I have had the last few times.



Crappies:
I have not been sleeping well, which makes for a very cranky teacher/wife.

Meetings, meetings, meetings -- 6 this week (yes, 6 meetings in five days!!). Crazy!!!

This pretty much sums it up!! Source

I am glad I had time for disc golf but my score sucked.

I have needed a nap each day this week because I have been so tired. I love naps but I hate being that tired.

I got up late a few days so I had to drive to work instead of bike. I miss riding but I was just so tired.



What would make your happy and crappy list for the week?

Happy Weekend,

Her Give-a-Way Win!!

I have been lucky over the last few years to find some amazing blogs to follow and draw inspiration from. Some of them are school/teacher blogs, some are knitting blogs, and some are lifestyle blogs. I find it so comforting and fun to come home and read about other classrooms, knitting projects, and daily events.

One of the blogs that I LOVE and that I look forward to each day is Erin's E-Z Class blog. Erin is a dedicated teacher who has some great ideas for her classroom. She is devoted to her students and she is funny. I find myself chuckling while reading her posts and wanting to steal ideas for my own classroom. The fact that she is from New Zealand and gets to look at that Lord of the Rings scenery every day makes me green with envy. 

When she reached 50 followers on her blog, she hosted a give-a-way of some of her favorite New Zealand goodies. As I read the list of what she was including, I recognized some of the things that Sean loved when we were in Australia this summer and some things he mentioned liking when he went to New Zealand years ago. I entered and crossed my fingers. On the morning of the first day of school, I got an email saying I won - what a great way to start the year!! 

Here are my winnings:

 

The white chocolate bar with L&P soda and pop rocks sounds like something right up Sean's alley. He loves L&P soda and white chocolate. I'm going to get a taste (I hope!) but then it's all his.
The Crunchie bars are his too - honeycomb wrapped in chocolate. I love chocolate but not honey so much. These are a favorite Australia treat of his so he is happy to have more. The ones he brought back from vacation are long gone.
The Pineapple chews are all Sean's also. He loves pineapple - LOVES it! These are kind of like a chewy, pineapple starburst wrapped in chocolate. I dislike pineapple greatly so I am staying away.
The Manuka Honey will be a good addition to my hot tea and Sean might put a little on his toast in the morning. We are going to fight over this one.
The coffee mug is all mine. The All Blacks are the national rugby team in New Zealand; Sean is a fan, even though that means he sometimes cheers against the Wallabies (which is Australia's team). I am not letting him use this mug however. The All Blacks and I are going to Windsor to try to convince the kids that American football is boring and rugby is better.

I am so grateful to Erin for having a give-a-way and I am over-the-moon that I won. It felt good to be able to share these items with Sean also, giving him a taste of home and some reminders of his favorite vacation. 

Which New Zealand candy do you most want to try?

Happy Thursday,

His Living in America - Same Name, Different Store

Burger King is called Hungry Jacks in Australia. Source

        I have become familiar with American stores and brands after living here for almost 12 years. It wasn't until our recent trip to Australia that I remembered that there are quite a few stores in Australia that shared names with companies in America. Some of them are international locations of the American company, like McDonald's, Burger King and KFC, but others have no connection to the American company or even sell the same type of product. Below is just some of the stores that share a name but are different stores.

Lowe's:

Lowes in Australia is a menswear store.

Although Australia and America both have stores named Lowes, they only thing they share is the name.
In America, Lowes is one of the largest hardware and home improvement warehouse stores (similar to Bunnings in Australia). They sell everything you need for home improvement from nails, to lumber, and even the kitchen sink. www.lowes.com
       In Australia, Lowes is a menswear stores that sells all types of men's clothing from casual wear to formal wear. There is no American equivalent as most clothing stores in America are either formal wear, or casual wear. www.lowes.com.au

Wendy's:

Wendy's in Australia sells dairy treats not hamburgers. Source

 Wendy's, like Lowe's, share a name in both countries but sell entirely different product and have no connection except for the name.
  In America, Wendy's is one of the most popular fast food restaurant chains (similar to McDonalds in Australia). They sell hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and other tasty treats including their signature dessert, the Frosty. www.wendys.com
   In Australia, Wendy's is a store that sells mostly frozen dairy treats including milkshakes, icecream and soft serve cones. They also sell hot dogs to complement the sweet treats. Wendy's are usually located in malls and not a stand alone store. The closest equivalent to Wendy's in America is Dairy Queen. www.wendys.com.au


Other stores:
There are other stores that have similar sounding names or have similar logos.

Coles is one of the major supermarket chains in Australia. Source

Coles/Kohls:
Although spelled differently these two companies' names sound the same.
Kohls is a department store chain that has over 1000 stores in America in every state in America. Kohl's actually started out as a grocery store but changed its business model to a department store as it was more profitable. www.kohls.com
Coles is one of Australia's largest supermarket chains and have stores in most towns and cities across the country. www.coles.com.au

A Kmart Tyre and Auto center - Source

Target/Kmart:
Australia has Target and Kmart stores but the only thing they share with their American counterpart is their name and logo. The interior of the stores are very similar in both countries as they use the same types of signage.
In America, Kmart and Target are owned by two separate companies. They both sell retail goods and are direct competitors.
www.target.com    www.kmart.com
 In Australia, Target and Kmart are both owned by the same company. They, like their American counterparts, are discount department stores. Kmart Australia also has tire and auto centers attached or located nearby their stores, similar to Walmart in America. 
www.target.com.au    www.kmart.com.au

Same burgers, just a different name for the store - Source

Burger King/Hungry Jacks:
Burger King and Hungry Jacks are essentially the same as they sell the same products, call their signature burgers "Whoppers" and their restuarants even look similar. So why is Burger King called Hungry Jacks in Australia? Back in 1970 Jack Cowin, who had already brought KFC to Australia wanted to open Burger King stores in Australia. He was not able to call it Burger King as that name had already been trademarked by a takeaway store in Adelaide so the name "Hungry Jacks" was chosen instead. 

     I got confused when I first visited America when names like Wendy's and Lowes were mentioned and now you can see why. Has anything similar ever happened to you on your trips abroad?

 

His and Her Never, Ever, Ever

It's Tuesday which means it's time to play ---



**For those who are new to our blog - WELCOME - purple is Amanda, red is Sean, blue is for both of us. We hope it helps make it less confusing for our readers to know who is talking and sharing. :) **

Since it is the first week of fall and that means new seasons of amazing TV shows starting, we thought we would focus on the shows that we never tire of watching.


Amanda will never, ever, ever tire of watching - 
Castle (Beckett, Castle, Esposito, Ryan -- I love them all. So, so good!)

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Project Runway (One day you're in, the next day you're out! Who doesn't love it?!?)

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Top Chef (I have been watching since season 1 and it only gets better and better.)

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Survivor (Backstabbing, struggles, and challenges, oh my!!) 

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Sean will never, ever, ever tire of watching-
(Note: I hate watching shows on TV because I do not have the patience for commercials or waiting a full week to see what will happen next. I wait until they are on Netflix or until I can buy the seasons and I have marathon days. So these shows are oldies, but great-ies!!)
Lost (the ending may have sucked, but the rest is awesome!!)

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Prison Break (twists and unpredictability plus great characters = worth a second watch)

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Dexter (He does good and always covers his tracks!)

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Simpsons (Right or wrong, they taught me American history.)

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Which fall TV shows do you look forward to each season?

Happy Watching,