SPRING STUFF FAVES

I love spring!!

It has really been gorgeous here all week....cool mornings and cool evenings but sunshine-filled days and warmer temperatures that beckons to the biker, hiker, kayaker in me.....but of course, I am still working.....today is the last day of work and then all next week I will be on Spring Break!!  It is later this year here in eastern NY and I am actually glad.....the weather is nicer than last year!

I'm taking some time out to pause and share FIVE of my FAVE things about spring this year.  I do this by linking up at Susanne's site to read what other bloggers have to share.  How about joining in with us?

front yard flowers under the cherry tree

• FLOWERS!  They started popping open over last weekend....I first noticed them opening up on Sunday afternoon...soon my tulips will be open as well.  Love the spring flowers and colors!  So thankful these have lasted quite a few years...they are low maintenance...they come up every April.

Wednesday late afternoon sun in living room

• LATE AFTERNOON SUNLIGHT  The front of our house gets the afternoon sun and in the late afternoon (between 4-6 pm) it is especially pretty hitting the bamboo floor of the living room and bouncing off the cornmeal yellow walls.  I love sitting in there after work to do my quiet time, read blogs, check emails and relax before power walking or dinner prep.  No matter what the season is, I love the late afternoon sunlight. 

front porch rest

• "just because" Dave called me last Saturday while he was running errands and told  me he wanted to buy me something!  I just had to laugh.  I said it was too early for mother's day.  He said that didn't matter...he just wanted to get me a gift "just because". So...he bought me the porch rocker pictured above which had been on my "wish list" for the last several years.  Unfortunately our side hall colonial doesn't have a real porch..it's really just a stoop...but it fits and it works for me!  On hot summer mornings, that porch will be in the shade while the deck is in the sun so if I get too hot on the deck, I can walk around and rock in the shade!  I am thankful for a husband who really knows my love language!!

• GOLD PLACEMENT!  Our youngest, Claire, went with other members of her Russian 4 class (she is a junior) to University of Albany on Wednesday for the Russian Olympiada, a state competition where students who study Russian compete orally.  Claire won a gold medal this year!!  The Olympiada is tough because many of the students are actually Russian students from NYC and they attend a school where only Russian is spoken.  Of course, now that Claire is in Russian 4 and taking it for 5 college credits, her high school class is only conducted in Russian as well.  She is quite good and we are very proud of her! (she expected just to get silver like last year so I was thrilled to hear her news!!).  I'm also so thankful that our suburban high school is still offering Russian language as many of the other schools around eastern NY have dropped it.

• FITNESS WALKING WITH A FRIEND: Last evening a friend of mine who also happens  to work in the classroom down the hall from mine, and also happens to be in my small group and goes to my church, met me at the town bike path where we spent an hour walking, followed by frozen yogurt at the new all natural frozen yogurt place in town.  It was so much fun!  We had opened this event up to all members of my small group but only the two of us showed up.  I am thankful for the friendships I have made this year by being a small group leader.

That wraps it up for me!

I am going to be on Spring Break and traveling down to PA for most of next week to do a college visit at this place with my youngest.  We are combining it with a visit to someone very special to us so I will not be doing the FFF next Friday as I will be gone for several days. My husband and oldest daughter will be managing the home!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend enjoying what Spring offers!