Good Advice

I went to dinner with a friend a few weeks ago. This is a friend that I can talk to about anything and she will listen. I can say really mean things about people and she will not think of me as a horrible person. I've really thought a lot about something she said to me.

There are enough bad things that happen in life that we cannot control. So we should really take control of the things that we can to try to have a happier life.

She probably didn't say it exactly like that, which is why there are no quotation marks, but this is what I heard and have been putting a lot of thought into it. The last year and a half has been both really amazing and really hard for Matt and I. Once my friend put things into perspective for me, I decided that I would become a more proactive person. I'm not going to keep negative people in my life just to be hurt by them continuously. I will avoid situations that do not make me feel comfortable. I will not watch TV that makes me sad. I will only read things that make me happy or lift me up. I've been working hard to cut out the negativity and I have to say that I have felt so much better about my life and just am all around happier.

I have so much to be thankful for and I am going to concentrate on those things and people.

Pet Peeves

Everyone has pet peeves. I just think maybe I have more than most people. There is so much that gets on my ever-lovin' nerves!!!

1. Kids on leashes. Dumb. Don't have kids, get a dog.

2. Girls who ride in the middle of a truck with their man and no one is in the passenger seat. You can't wait to touch him till you get to your destination?!

3. Needy people. I don't think this needs a further explanation.

4. The words "hubby" and "kiddo". Those are 2 words that are NOT cute. They are dumb. Just dumb.

5. The new trend of using the word epic to describe things that are obviously far from that.

6. Couples that write on each other's fb walls. Constantly. We all sure hope you love each other. You're married.

7. Hypocritical people. There are too many people that think they are perfect in this world. Life can be hard as crap. Lets hold on to each other and be nice to one another.

8. Taylor Swift. If you are a grown woman listening to her, stop. Now. My kindergarten students listen to her. They also watch Curious George and they love the slide and swings on the playground.

9. Jealousy. We are all jealous at one time or another. Don't take it to that next level. I'll let you a secret. It makes you look dumb.

10. Dirty sheets. That's gross. I wash mine almost every Sunday. Mmmm...fresh sheets!

What are some of your pet peeves?

Randomness

This week has been a pretty good week. Busy, yes. Probably one of the busiest so far this school year. Blah! I've been happy this week. Liberated.

On Monday and Tuesday I had parent-teacher conferences until about 7. Today was the first dance team practice and tomorrow I have more conferences. Just busy. But it doesn't stop! This weekend I am going home to visit my parents. It's much needed right now. Saturday is a cousin's baby shower.

Hopefully I have some good news to share with you little blog readers very soon!! :)

Two of my closest friends from high school just had their babies recently!! I can't wait to go actually meet these two handsome boys.

My Best Friend Got Married!!

This weekend was my best friend, Rebecca's wedding. She married a really great guy, Jered. I was so excited when I got the sweetest card in the mail asking me to be one of her bridesmaids! I have loved everything about her wedding process. She was never once Bridezilla. Also, we were planning our weddings at the same time, so it was so nice to share this exciting time with someone else who understood what was going on in my life. There never was a sense of competition and that was such a nice change. Girls can be so catty and competitive in situations like that.





















Yes- that happened! Best picture ever!!

Rebecca and I have been friends for TEN whole freaking years!! We met our freshman year of college. We were friends through college, but really became a lot closer after college and our friendship has really grown more recently. I just couldn't be happier for them! I wish them a lifetime of love, laughter and happiness. Raise your glass and toast with me to the happy couple! CHEERS!!

Doomsday

From here on out August 9th will be referred to as doomsday-the day that the 2012-2013 school year will begin. Now, don't get me wrong. I love my job. I do. In the past there have been times that I have doubted my career choice. Never because of the kids or my love for teaching them. Because of adults. They are so much more demanding and pleasing all of them has proven to be a difficult task. I know in my heart that I am doing what I am supposed to be and that I am touching the lives of my students and most of their parents. I just have never been much of a people pleaser. I'm not good at it.

But. I love summer. So much. What teacher doesn't? I mean, I get to sleep in, not wear make-up, go to the pool and eat whenever I please. You know you'd love it if you were a teacher.

In a way I am ready for school to start, but in an even bigger way, I'm not. This school year will be so different. My bf left to go teach at a new school in our district, along with our principal and several other teachers. I just don't really know exactly what to expect this school year and that kind of terrifies me in some weird, lame way.

I've been at school trying to get some things accomplished. Because of the wedding and taking 2 June term grad classes, I didn't go work at all until about a week ago. I have thrown away and de-cluttered sooo much! I have thrown out 4 huge trash bags full (to the point that I couldn't pick them up) and almost have a 5th filled. How does that happen?! I think it will motivate me and make me feel better about the year. In the meantime I spend time on Pinterest and teacher blogs looking for new ideas. There is so much I want to change and do! Overload.

Oh yeah...and I'm taking a July class and one of my bf's gets married this weekend. Eeeeekk!

Wedding Photos

Here is a small sampling of some wedding pictures. I hope you enjoy!!


































Laura got some really awesome pics for us, too. I haven't gotten to buy any, yet. But I am thinking we want all of them!!

Being married really isn't all that different than how life was before for Matt & I. Really we just get a little giddy once in a while now. I love him so much and am glad that the day finally came!

I'm a loser, baby...

Seriously. My last post was in April?? Where has my motivation gone? Oh, right. Grad school has sucked it all out of me. I should actually be writing some kind of crazy, dumb lesson plan for a class right now. But, I would rather talk to you people. And eat pickles and grilled cheese.

So, I'm married now. No big deal or anything....AAAHHHH!!! It's seriously this strange feeling and I love everything about it. Our wedding turned out great and the honeymoon was even better. We went to Antigua and I loved everything about it. We did the whole Sandals thing, all inclusive. At first I was unsure about it, but it ended up being pretty awesome. Being able to eat or get yourself a cold drank at any time? Yes, please and thank you.

Cool. I am going to seriously get back at it. But, I will leave you with a wedding picture in case you care to know what myself and my little husband looked like.

My bf Laura took our professional pictures and she is working hard at editing, but should be done soon. I can't wait to see them and share them with you lovelies! I know she did wonderful.

P90X and Landscaping

Shew, y'all. For real. I'm so exhausted and it's only Tuesday! Spring Break went too quickly and I got really stressed out today looking at my to-do list. There are 26 school days left until summer. Can I get a hallelujah?! It will be a long (and possibly emotional 26 days-more on that later).

So P90X. The only update I'll give to you is that yoga with a man is hilarious. Seriously. I laughed. Hard. :)

This last Saturday and Sunday Matt & I landscaped. When we bought this home, the realtor who owned it had made a lot of improvements inside, like new flooring and appliances and painting. The landscaping was horrible, though! We got a big part of it finished and have a wish list now that we have spent some time out there. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :)















I hope that you all have had a great week so far!! About halfway there!! I'll be having my very first bridal shower on Saturday thanks to Candice and Nikki. I'm pretty excited to see everyone that is coming!! :)

P90X Day 2

What the heck did I get myself into?? I'd better see results. Soon.

I kid, I kid. Kinda. My chest was so sore today and trying on clothes while shopping with the girls proved to be quite difficult. But I pushed through it and actually found quite a bit of cute spring clothes. I did not, however, buy this little number.


Back to P90X, though. Today was Plyometrics, also known as jump training. There was a lot of squatting and jumping. My thighs are on fire and my legs were shaking. But...it does feel good in a strange way. Tomorrow is shoulders, arms and ab ripper. Yeesh!

This little lady made it kinda hard to find room. We had to run her off.


Fingers crossed that this little flat top feller comes on board to Kentucky. He makes his announcement soon!


Commeeee ooonnnn!!! You know you wanna!!!

P90X Day 1

I want to have awesome arms in my wedding dress in June and I want to look good for our honeymoon. Both of my brothers had previously done P90X and talked about how much they loved it. I thought I would give it a try and was happy when Matt agreed to do it with me. So far the hardest part was deciding when we wanted our off day to be. The program works with 6 days on and 1 day off. After a lot of discussion, Matt & I decided that we wanted our off day to be Monday. It will give us the first day of the work week off. Plus, Matt plays in a dodgeball league on Mondays.

Before we started we took some "before pictures". I am embarrassingly going to share mine, but I am going to take more in a couple of weeks to share with you, to compare progress.







Once the photography session was over, we popped in the DVD and got started. We did a warm-up, then got started with push-ups and pull-ups galore! My word. I thought, "I can't do anymore!!" and then he would make us do MORE push-ups. I can honestly say that I didn't really enjoy yesterday. Today is Plyometrics. We had to google it to see what it is all about. It sounds kinda fun, actually. A lot of squats and jumping...from what Wikipedia says.

After we finished yesterday, I was already sore. I was really dreading today and what I would feel like, but it's not all that bad. I can hardly lift my arms above my head...no biggie. Who needs to do that, anyway??

More progress to follow. Happy Wednesday!!

Wedding Planning Update and MORE

So far you know about the location and the maid of honor...I think that's about it. Whoops. Guess I really dropped the ball on that whole "Wedding Wednesday" idea...


Since I last wrote, we have sent out invitations, I've bought my dress! EEEEEE Wish I could show you a picture, but SORRY! We bought our wedding bands last week and I am in love with mine. Again, no spoilers. ;) I have started on my bouquet, also. Here is some of the inspiration for my bouquet...courtesy of pinterest, duh.

In the pictures on my bouquet, I will have a picture of Rhonda, Matt's Mom and both sets of my grandparents. I sure wish they could all be there with us.


So, have you guys heard of or read the book 50 Shades of Grey?? Oh my. Seriously. Oh. My. I can't wait to read the next two and I'm not quite sure what that says about me...

On Tuesday I am starting P90X. Girl's gotta look gooood for da honeymoon and beach wedding!! Both of my brothers, Matt and I are doing it together...a support group of some kind, I guess you could say. I have heard that I need to drink some protein drinks and shakes. I guess I could consult my dear friend, Bre to give me some advice...We need to Skype soon, anyway!!

Some Lifetime movie with Jennifer Love Hewitt just came on...there goes any chance of me going to bed any time soon!

Hope y'all enjoyed your Easter! (AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!!!)

Big Blue Nation

GO CATS!!!














































Still excited!!!

Bad Mood, Much?

Tell it like it is Tuesday

1. If you are a close friend/family member and you cannot come to our wedding alllll the way in Georgia, I get it. But, you could at least tell me why you cannot, rather than just a small 'x' beside of "Will celebrate from afar".

2. Even in kindergarten, kids can understand logic, reasoning and what you say to them. They are just little miniature versions of our adult selves.

3. When you make a banner with anything associated with me, please make it presentable. The lamination should be cut straight, the paper and letters should be spaced accordingly.

4. 50 Shades of Grey...yowza! I had to put it down and take a cold shower...

5. If I am mad at you, you'll know. There will be no doubt in your mind. I promise.

6. You aren't better than me. I am not better than you. Please don't feel one way or the other.

7. I'm not apologizing for something that I didn't do. Ever.

8. If you don't like me, don't pretend. I respect you WAY more if you just ignore me. Chances are, I don't like you either.

9. Cocky people. I hate them. They're dumb.

10. I think I need a break from life.

Frenemies

I have a pretty funny class this year. I love them, because they are always finding ways to be clever and I laugh all day. everyday. This is THE BEST class I have had in my six years of teaching. I needed a good class, let me tell ya. There is one boy this year who I always think to myself, "Self. When you have a kid, I hope he's as cool as this student." He is very thoughtful and I feel like I can have pretty in depth conversations with him. After Christmas he asked me what I got for Christmas (nobody else cared about me...just themselves). After I told him what I got, he asked me what the one thing was that I really wanted that I didn't get. WHO ARE YOU, KID?!


The other day, he proceeded to tell me about his "frenemy". When I asked him to explain what he meant, he told me that this kid in his neighborhood is his friend, but his arch nemesis, too. Hilarious explanation. But, have you ever put any thought into this? Is there anyone in your life that is not necessarily just an enemy, but you aren't completely on the friend level?


I know there is for me. There is someone in my life that I don't completely dislike, by any means. But I also do not completely trust them to be good friends with them. I know they feel the same way about it as I do. There is always some level of discomfort between us. Does this ever go away? Or are you always going to be frenemies? I think that it can go the other way. You can start as good friends and then end up as frenemies. Like on the movie Bride Wars. They were best friends in the beginning of the movie and slowly became frenemies and then full on enemies and then besties again. Strange. I just don't operate that way. But, can you ever start out as frenemies and then just become friends? Thought provoking...


So, tell me. Who is your frememy and why?

Wedding Wednesday: MOH

So, you know how we got engaged, the when and the where we will be getting hitched. I guess I should tell you the who. Since we are having a beach wedding/destination, we decided to keep everything very, very simple. We are only having one attendant each. Matt chose to have his Dad stand by him. For me, the decision was not as simple. I have many close girlfriends that I care about and would love to stand up with me. I chose my best friend, Sammi.

Let's start by how Sammi and I met and became close. We met my freshman year in college...that's about 10 years ago! She was a senior in high school. I was roommates with one of her friends from Muhlenberg Co. My Sophomore year, she and Ashley decided to live together and I lived with my friend from HS, Candice. I would go hang out with them on the regular. They threw a party for mine and Ashley's birthdays (hers was the day after mine). Let's just say that things took a turn for the worse and we wrote Ashley off and became very, very close from it all. Piece of advice before I move on....DO NOT let a boy come between you and your friends...and DO NOT be the girl that tries to become between a girl and her boyfriend. Moving on.

Sammi and I had a ton of great times together through college and the time following college. Evidence:

I am SO thankful to have Sammi in my life. She has always been a constant. She is quick to forgive and never judges me. I couldn't ask for a better best friend, which is why I have chosen her as my Maid of Honor.

To ask her, I bought a bottle of wine and attached a note to it. I got the idea from Pinterest. Shocking. I was happy to see how excited she was that I asked her! She's going to be the BEST MOH EVER!