Delaying The Real World

One Very Hard Decision

2011-07-08T08:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I made the conscious decision to leave the Peace Corps.

It was truly one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

I know what most of you are thinking....but you just started! I know this but I came to the realization rather quickly once I was there. It just wasn't for me. Not at this time in my life.

From the beginning I had not been truly excited about moving to China to teach English to university students. I hoped that once I reached staging and pre-service training that the excitement would kick in.

It never did. I feel as though I let myself get swept up and never actually sat and thought, "Is this really what I want to do?" My heart just wasn't in it.

My true passion is teaching elementary school, not university students. The more and more I learned about the job the less excited I was. I knew that this lack of enthusiasm was not fair to my furutre students or community. I've had less than enthusiastic teachers, it was not fun.

I also came to the realization that I would be 25 when I finished and would still have to finish my masters. I don't want to wait that long to start my career.

What excites me and makes me happy right now is the thought of finishing my degree and either teaching at an elementary school or finding a job with an international aid organization in NYC, DC, or London. So that is exactly what I am going to do!

In the end I had to do what was right for me. I have to do what makes me happy.

Life is too short to just "get through it".

I treasure the short time I had in the Peace Corps. It truly is a great organization.

I also treasure the friends I made during that short time. They supported me through the process of making the decision and continue to support me, despite the fact that they are on the other side of the world. They truly are great people!

I made it!

2011-07-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

Well.....I finally made it!

I'm in China!

After two days (ish) in Chicago, all 83 (ish) volunteers boarded our 13 hour flight to Beijing. After some confusion and some rushing through the airport, we made it on to our flight to Chengdu, just barely.

At the moment we are in a pretty nice hotel in Chengdu. We go to sessions from 9a-3p everyday, including an hour and a half of Mandarin lessons. My Chinese name is Wàng Lèlè (pronounced W-ah-ng Luh-luh), meaning joyful and optimistic. I'm not so sure this fits but maybe I can grow into it.

So far I haven't had any food I didn't like. I am super relieved by this as I tend to be very picky about the food I eat. Mom, you would be proud to know that I have at least tried everything that has been put in front of me. Even tofu, which after eating it, was reminded of why I'm not a fan.

Tomorrow we will get our training site assignments. This is where we will be for the next two months while we continue to learn Mandarin and live with a host family. We move there the next day, Tuesday. Nothing like jumping in feet first! Living with a host family is what I am most nervous about.

So....hopefully I'll have a chance to update tomorrow with some info. about my home for the next two months. Until next time, zài jiàn, or goodbye!

My bags are packed.....

2011-06-28T20:55:00.000-04:00

And I'm ready to go.

It's finally that time!

In the morning I'm headed to Chicago for two days and then on to CHINA!!!

I don't know what my internet situation will be over the next few months so we will see how the blog does.

Wish me luck.....here goes nothing!

As Far As The Eye Can See

2011-06-24T21:34:00.000-04:00

We saw the absolutely most amazing views while in Ireland!

They were gorgeous and every one of them looked like a postcard!

View from the top of The Rock of Cashel

Found along the Ring of Kerry

Ladies' View - on the Ring of Kerry

Also along the Ring of Kerry

The Cliffs of Moher......the most breathtaking of them all!

Along the Sky Road in The Connemara

I found some of the best views of any place I have ever traveled, in Ireland. They definitely have a monopoly on scenic views!

You scream, I scream, We all scream for ruins!

2011-06-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

Ruins are everywhere in Ireland!

Every city has at least one and they dot the countryside everywhere you go. We saw them along the country roads, along the motorway, and in farmers' fields. Most of the time they were just hanging out in a pasture surrounded by sheep and cows.

I find them so fascinating!

These are some of the best!

Hore Abbey

Just gorgeous!

The Rock of Cashel.....just up the hill from Hore Abbey

Absolutely stunning!

The view was amazing!

Most of the ruins had cemeteries attached. There were gravestone in this one from the 1600's....amazing!

Found this along the Ring of Kerry

Aughnanure Castle

Clanmacnoise Monastery

The cathedral.....beautiful!

The thing that I loved the most about Ireland was that history was all around you!

For me the ruins were one of the best parts of the trip!

Come back tomorrow for the beautiful views we found along our travels!

The Emerald Isle

2011-06-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm blogging from here this week!

Well not exactly from that exact spot. I doubt there was a wi-fi signal at the Cliffs of Moher.

As we speak (type? read?) I am relaxing in our B&B just outside of Galway.

Full recap when I'm back from Ireland!

Gosh I love typing that....back from IRELAND!

No Sleep Till Ireland

2011-06-08T19:36:00.000-04:00

On Monday I will be getting on a plane and heading to the wonderful country of Ireland for the week!

My parents and I will be renting a car in Dublin and immediately heading out on our 7 day road trip!

When my mom asked where I wanted to go on our last family vacation before China she was expecting me to say Disney World or Universal or maybe a cruise. She was not expecting Ireland!

Ever since I spent a semester in London during undergrad I've wanted to go back! And as soon as possible! Well it's only taken me 4 years but it's finally happening!

When my mom gave me a budget to stay within she didn't realize she was giving me a challenge. I was determined to prove that we could spend a week in Ireland on the budget she gave me. I have spent hours planning, researching, and pricing flights, B&Bs, and hotels. I made an excel spreadsheet and even went as far as including the projected gas costs for the week plus 25% to account for rising gas prices.

Yeah, I'm just a little OCD!

We are planning on going to Kilkenny, Killarney, Galway, and ending in Dublin. Of course we are going to see all the sites: Rock of Cashel, pubs, Cliffs of Moher, pubs, Guinness Storehouse, pubs, etc. You get the picture.....maybe a little less pubs....maybe :)

So, if any of you out there have any suggestions or things we absolutely cannot miss I want to hear it!

Now I just have to get through the last few days of work and move out of my house in Tallahassee and I'll be on my way!

Tough Decision

2011-06-05T15:57:00.000-04:00

In one corner the Nook Color.....

And in the other, the Kindle.

I have succumbed to the e-reader trend.

As much as I love real books I have decided that I need an e-reader for China. Packing two years worth of books is not plausible and after reading some blogs it looks like English books are pretty hard to come by in the PRC.

So....I need your help internets!

Which one would you choose?

Which one do you have?

J'adore Montreal

2011-05-15T21:26:00.002-04:00

I got back from Montreal last week but immediately jumped back into work and started a summer class so I am just now getting around to posting some pics to the 'ol blog.

There were seven of us that traveled together so in order to save money we rented an apartment for the week. Think Real World: Montreal....what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real!

The apartment was amazing! It was in the middle of the city, gorgeous inside, and had a full kitchen complete with everything you would need to cook each night (another cost saving tactic)! I have rented an apartment on vacation before in NYC so I thought I'd try it again. It worked out great and I am now convinced that renting an apartment is the only way to go when traveling!

To top it off there was a beautiful church right outside our door!

We saw all the sites and had some great food!

First dinner in Montreal....authentic Chinese food just three blocks from our apartment!

Old Montreal

Home made beer at The Three Brasseurs in Old Montreal

Pub food!

Poutine....a Montreal staple

French fries, gravy, and cheese curds

We found a cute little cupcake shop next to Notre Dame Basilica

An awesome panorama of Montreal

The Sailor's Chapel

Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal

Olympic Park

Lunch before the market.....authentic Italian food...yum!

Jean-Talon Market

The fruit and vegetable arrangements were great!

Even though it was cold and rainy for almost the whole week we had a great time! Montreal is a great city and definitely worth a second visit!

Where In The World

2011-05-01T08:14:00.000-04:00

I'll be coming to you from Montreal this week lovelies!

(photo credit)

I'm here for a school conference with some grad. school comrades. Took a week off from the 'ol job, hopped on a plane, and headed for the border. So excited to be here and can't wait to blog and post pictures! Keep your eyes peeled!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2011-04-10T18:53:00.002-04:00

I turned to big two-three on Thursday and I got my official Peace Corps invitation last week so I had to celebrate! I gathered up almost 20 of my closest friends and we headed to a local Mexican restaurant for some margaritas (sangria for me) and good food. It was great and my sweet friends even got together and got me a great card and the biggest bottle of Moscato I have ever seen. Moscato has become a staple at all our weekend get togethers so it was the go to gift. I also got the book Shanghai Girls in honor of my impending move to China along with a Target gift card. And, my lovely friend Jasmine, from China, got me a cute little good luck charm. I truly do have some great friends in Tallahassee!

At dinner

I do love my friends but they can be sneaky when they want to be. They told our waitress it was my birthday and of course that was followed by the traditional singing and shot of tequila. Tequila and I don't exactly get along so I passed it off down the table. But, the best part was the guy playing the tambourine. He was horrible. He had no rhythm and it as just loud banging. Of course he stationed himself right behind me for the duration. But, by the end of the night we all found this to be hilarious.

The horrible tambourine man

After dinner we headed to Stetson's for some good 'ole fashioned line dancing. Now, I have a pretty eclectic group of friends and we tend to bring the party with us wherever we go. So the party continued and we all embarrassed ourselves trying to learn the dances but it was a good time. After that we hopped around to a few bars. All in all it was a great night! Pretty sure one of my best birthdays to date!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

P.S. Please excuse the lovely cell phone pictures. I forgot my big girl camera so one my friends took over with her Blackberry.

I'm Still Alive....I Promise

2011-04-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

I know it's been 4 months since I've updated the blog. Let me provide you all with a recap: Work....School....Read for School.....Write Paper for School......Sleep....Rinse and Repeat. You get the idea. Super exciting right? Yeah, that's why I haven't been writing, I didn't want to put anyone into a boredom coma.

But, remember that whole possibly joining the Peace Corps thing? Yeah well it's really happening! Last Friday I officially accepted an invitation to be a Teacher Trainer in The People's Republic of China!

On June 29th I will be moving to China for two years! Or 27 months! Or 835 days (according to my visa application)! However you want to look at it.

I am super excited and can.not.wait! But, it means I have a lot to do in the next three months. Part of this time will be taken up by a week in Montreal for a school conference and a week vacation with the fam in Ireland. So in the month of June I will finish up my summer class, spend a week in Ireland, move out of my place in Tallahassee and move to China. Crazy! But I love it!

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah!!

2010-12-24T21:46:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Kwanza!

Happy Festivus!

Whatever you celebrate remember one thing this year....life is so much more fun

when you don't take yourself too seriously!

Christmas with the Obamas

2010-12-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

I have loved Michelle Obama's style since I first saw her on TV campaigning with Barack. She has such an effortless style and always looks appropriate for whatever situation she finds herself in. I also love her down-to-Earth attitude that she has held on to even thought her husband is considered to be the most powerful man in the world.

So, when HGTV announced that they would continue their Christmas at the White House special this year I was very much looking forward to seeing how The First Lady would infuse her great style into the decorations. And then, when she announced the theme as "Simple Gifts" I knew it was going to be great. And boy is it ever! From what I saw on the special the White House looks amazing!

(Photo Credit)

The simple branches with crystals made to look like ice diffuses the light and makes this hallway look beautiful!

(Photo Credit)

The Blue Room tree is as grand as ever and filled with ornaments made by students at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

(Photo Credit)

The ornaments represent each of the 50 states and are made of organic cloth. What a great way to fit the theme of Simple Gifts!

(Photo Credit)

The annual White House gingerbread house goes above and beyond this year! It has holes cut into the facade and rooms in the house were meticulously created, complete with electricity! There is even a tiny Bo out front. Too cute!

Needless to say I would love to visit the White House at Christmas time. It looks like it is such a magical place at this time of year! I can't imagine what it is like living in the space and getting to enjoy it every day.

Merry Christmas ya'll!

Friday Funny

2010-12-17T01:01:00.001-05:00

I love the E*Trade Baby commercials! I think they are hilarious! I came upon this new one that I have never seen before....so great!

bad blogger

2010-12-16T23:31:00.000-05:00

Again with the month long absence from the blog. Ugh! I have become the worst blogger lately!

But...not to worry...school is over and so I have more time. For a bit. A little under one month to be exact.

On the school front, I have successfully completed my first semester of graduate school with flying colors! All A's for me! One of my papers even landed on a list of the best in the class in my International Development Education class! If any of you out there want to read a paper about Child Soldier's just let me know. What....no one? Yeah, that's what I thought.

One positive of an ever changing school schedule is an ever changing work schedule. My new work schedule now includes two days that allow me to sleep in until a whopping 7am! It is so sad that I consider 7am sleeping in these days. Oh how I wish for the days as an undergrad. Sleeping until noon, going to the elementary art methods class (yes, we made paper mache puppets in that class, don't judge me) at 1pm, and then lounging around and doing nothing for the rest of the day. Oh to be young again!

Oh yeah and big news! I was officially nominated for the Peace Corps! All that is in my way is the medical and legal clearances. Woo hoo! I am on my way. My recruiter said that I might not know where I'm going until two months before I leave. Scary but exciting at the same time!

I'll try to keep it going here on the ol' blog. Remember last month when I promised that same thing. This time will be different. Really.

missing you...five years later

2010-11-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

We miss...

your smile.

your laugh.

your voice.

your ever changing hair color.

your crazy stories.

your attitude, even when it was bad.

you being able to see your children.

you seeing Tristan's smile.

you seeing Alexa dance.

you at school plays.

you at the family parties.

you at Thanksgiving.

you at Christmas.

you at birthdays.

seeing you these last five years.

We know you can see us from wherever you are.

We can feel you on special days.

You let us know you are here in your own special way.

We miss a lot of things about you.

But, put simply, we miss you Kierra.

Friday Funny

2010-11-12T01:01:00.000-05:00

It's Friday! That means it's time for the Friday Funny!

To play along, head on over to Keeping up with Kelly and Co..

This came up on my iPod yesterday and I was literally laughing out loud and singing at the same time. Hard to do but definitely possible!

Enjoy Adam Sandler and the amazingness of Lunch Lady Land!

relaxation

2010-10-31T19:49:00.001-04:00

At Florida State we are lucky enough to have a beautiful lakefront park that is free for student use, the FSU Reservation. Or, as the cool kids call it, The Rez.

The park is great and there are so many activities students can do for FREE!

You know us college kids love the word FREE!

Since starting grad. school, my friends and I have made it a habit to go kayaking as much as possible, usually every weekend. It is the perfect thing for getting some relaxation in. Leisurely paddling through the water and pushing all the work and reading that needs to be done out of your mind is the best!

One part of the lake is full of cypress trees and the water flows through them like a road.

So beautiful and quiet.

The best part is when you stop paddling and just float, lean back, and enjoy the sun.

If you've never gone kayaking I highly recommend it! So relaxing and a great work out to boot!

the choir

2010-10-15T19:40:00.027-04:00

I have an new TV obsession.

The Choir on BBC America.

I recently saw The Choir on my On Demand menu and was curios. What choir? Who's choir?

Well it's Gareth Malone's choir and the show is great!

Gareth Malone is a choir master that travels England and creates choirs from nothing. He turns these groups of people into amazing choirs within only a few months. In the episodes I have seen so far, he creates a boys choir at a school that is obsessed with sports and a community choir in a down and out town that needs something to bring them together.

The show touches on some individual stories within the choirs and is very touching. It is amazing to see what he does with these seemingly ordinary people that never ever thought of singing.

Check out the video below for The Choir!

plugging along

2010-10-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

My life is plugging along. And that is all. Plugging. Work. School. Work. School

There is some sprinkling of fun during the weekend but that is in between writing papers and creating PowerPoint presentations. Exciting and riveting right? Didn't think so.

I have done some fun things lately. And by lately I mean within the last month. 'Cause remember that whole I vow to post more thing.... yeah it's not really happening.

Help! Grad. school is swallowing my life!

Now...some fun things....

I saw The Town. Great movie! Boston bank robbers says it all. Ben Affleck stars in it and he wrote and directed it. He did a great job! By the end of the movie you are rooting for the bad guys. Pretty funny too, even if it wasn't meant to be.

I also saw The Social Network. Another pretty good one. Although, it does make Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook) look like a completely egotistical jerk. He pretty much abandons his best friend and business partner and follows the money. Not nice, Mark, not nice at all.

Last weekend was the Experience Asia Festival here in Tallahassee. Basically, I go for the food! I hadn't had Indian food in a very, very long time so I was definitely excited to get my hands on some chicken tika masala and naan bread. It was glorious! I could probably eat chicken tika all day everyday and never get tired of it.

I registered for spring semester and am excited to only have class one day a week! Woo hoo! I can now (in January) come home from work and not have to rush back out to go to class three days a week. Much less hectic! I like it! And, bonus, I can start going to the gym more. I was going everyday until school took over my life.

Super exciting is the fact that Florida State is playing some great football this year! And, to top it off, the Gators LOST! TWICE! As you know, a Florida State fan roots for anyone playing the Gators.

Ok, for real this time, I promise to post more. Maybe. We'll see.

back from the dead

2010-09-29T22:23:00.001-04:00

I am back from the dead!

So we just won't talk about the fact that I took a big 'ol giant break from blogging.

I am back and I missed writing so I am excited to get back at it.

So, since I last graced you with my presence I have of course come back from NYC.

I so wish I had still been in New York this whole time!

Sadly I have not. I have started grad. school!

And I landed a full time job! Hence the world's longest bloggy break.

Needless to say my life has been a little crazy and busy!

I am really loving grad. school so far. I'm working towards my degree in the international education development field. Basically we are learning to save the world one child at a time. My degree will eventually include a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps. As a matter of fact I turned in my application for the Peace Corps last week! Exciting!

Goodness it feels good to be back!

i don't want to brag but....

2010-08-05T11:03:00.000-04:00

I've been too busy to blog because I'm hanging out here.

And eating these.

I'll have a full recap of the week over the weekend.

decisions.....decisions.....

2010-07-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

In a few weeks I am moving back to Tallahassee for graduate school.

This means that I need to decorate my room!

I love decorating but I'm really bad about making decisions and visualizing.

I already bought my furniture.

It is a simple, white, wood bed with matching white night stands and white desk and chair.

It is on the cusp of shabby chic without the sanding.

I love the simplicity of white and the versatility that it can provide.

I am now in search of bedding.

I think I have narrowed it down to three choices.

This is from Target in the Liberty of London Collection.

I enjoy the whimsical-ness of this I just don't know about the orange.

Another option is

This is also from Target in the Dwell Studio Collection.

This is my favorite. I love the flower patterns and I think it will look great with white furniture.

My last choice is

This is from Pottery Barn and it is on sale.

I don't know about the pattern. Is it too busy? It is bright which I like.

And to throw more options in the mix I bought this wall decal to put in the room.

Talk amongst yourselves :)

heart break

2010-07-26T10:01:00.001-04:00

UPDATE!
We found Sophie!
She is now safe and sound!

I came home last night and my dog is missing.

I am heartbroken.

it's the little things in life

2010-07-14T23:11:00.000-04:00

It's been crazy at work lately (we are down a staff member), I'm going to the gym everyday (yay me!), and I'm trying to prepare for grad. school.

Needless to say, I look forward to any funny or stressless moment I can come across.

There are a few things that have put a smile on my face lately.

1. This new Kia commercial.

Rapping hamsters get me everytime!

2. The new fruit smoothies at McDonald's.

The wild berry flavor is especially good!

3. This webpage: Lady Gaga doing normal things.

Love her. Love this.

Hope ya'll have less going on than me!

leavin' on a jet plane

2010-07-09T19:40:00.003-04:00

I got sucked into a marathon of The City tonight.

NYC is neck and neck with London as my favorite city on Earth.

The fact that you can do anything you want, anytime you want is amazing!

The marathon got me excited about my VACATION IN NYC that is coming up in less than a month!

One of my greatest friends moved up there after college and I couldn't wait to go and visit her.

I'll be there for a week which is soooooo exciting!

Instead of staying in a hotel, I rented this beautiful apartment for the week.

I found this rental on metroflatsnyc.com.

They have great apartments all over the city and they have great rates.

This apartment was actually less than a three star hotel and it's four blocks from Times Square!

I 've been to NYC a few times before so I am looking forward to having a (new) native New Yorker with me. I want to do all the non-touristy things.

I want to do this

at Trapeze School New York!

I also want to explore the other side of this bridge!

I am so excited about this trip! So much so that I am counting down like a small chid.

Do you guys have a favorite sight in NYC? I am totally up for suggestions!

Born on the 4th of july

2010-07-05T15:44:00.002-04:00

The 4th of July got rained our here in my little corner of Florida.

It rained for the entire long weekend which put the brakes on a lot of celebrations and some of the fireworks got rained out.

But....the rain did not stop me from seeing REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar in concert!!

I love me some classic rock, being my parent's daughter and all.

I was raised on the stuff and boy am I thankful for it!

They both put on a great show!

(I unfortunately had no idea that my camera was dead when I got there. :( Pictures courtesy of jacksonville.com)

Rockin' with the Wagon!

She's still got it!

Wishful Wednesday - Style

2010-06-30T17:37:00.001-04:00

I am jumping on the bandwagon of Wishful Wednesday.

The topic for this week is style.

If I could pick any store as my personal closet I would choose Banana Republic.

I love their classic yet modern style and the timeless silhouettes.

Their dresses are especially swoon worthy.

Love it!

You can play along too! Head over to The Seattle Smith's!

Happy Wednesday to the blogosphere!

long time no blog

2010-06-22T18:58:00.008-04:00

So...what's the big, new, exciting, development in my life? Netflix.

That's how not so exciting my life has been lately.

We (the 'rents and I) recently broke down and bought a Wii.
We love it!

I am eyeing this.

I'm patiently waiting on a good sale.
We all know how I love a good deal!

But, back to Netflix. You can watch movies instantly on your t.v. through your Wii!
I love it! The instant movies come free with whichever subscription you paid for. They aren't new releases but there is still a pretty good selection.
So, you can still watch movies while your waiting on the snail mail.

This was first in my queue.

I really enjoyed it. I watched it win all those awards at the Oscars and I wondered what all the hype was about. I understand now. The movie is very suspenseful and
keeps your interest the whole time.

I never felt myself getting bored. I also really liked the way it was filmed. Some parts of the movie were filmed with handheld cameras which gave it a really cool feel. Even if you're not a fan of war movies youshould check this one out.

words to live by

2010-05-19T21:53:00.002-04:00

Can I start this post by saying....OMG I haven't blogged in almost a month! Bad blogger! I would say I have a good reason for this but I don't. I can't even make up a good one.

Lately I have spent an inordinate amount of time in the deep South. Last weekend I spent a great weekend with a bunch of great ladies at our favorite horse ranch in Georgia. And, the weekend before I spent in South Carolina at the NASCAR race in Darlington.

Along the way I saw a billboard after my own heart. This road sign simply stated: "Country Cookin' Makes You Good Lookin'" Amen sister, amen! I have no idea what was being advertised but this slogan shall stay with me forever. It will now be my sole excuse for eating all the Southern food I would like.

That brought up all the other Southern words to live by. For example, "Bless your heart." To the un-expecting Yankee this seems like a lovely sympathetic term. In reality it is never a good thing. For those not familiar, "Bless your heart" is something you don't want to hear said about you. This phrase is what we polite southern belles say when we really want to say something very un-lady like. A soccer mom steals your parking spot at the mall? You reply, "Bless her heart." Your boyfriend thinks that a vacuum cleaner is a great birthday gift? Your friends respond, "Bless his heart." You see, we actually mean the complete opposite.

And now, courtesy of eHow.com, a tutorial on how to use Southern phrases.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Extra Time

Step1
SURPRISING CONVERSATIONS...

"Butter my butt, and call me a biscuit!" It's a clear way to say you are knocked out of your britches with a new tidbit of knowledge.

"It made me as ill as a hornet." You were so mad, you just didn't know what to do.

"If that don't put pepper in the gumbo."

"Well, slap my head and call me silly."

"Tie me to an anthill and fill my ears with jam."
Step2
WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY AND CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NICE

"Bless her/his heart."

"Do tell."

"My cow died last night, so I don't need your bull."

"I do declare."

"Well, shut my mouth."
Step3
IN DEATH

"She's resting in peace in the marble orchard." (You can add "Bless her heart.")

"He's fixin' to meet his Maker."
Step4
STUPID, UGLY AND CLUMSY PEOPLE (there must be a lot around here because there are many ways to imply such things) Since we don't usually call people stupid, ugly and clumsy - follow each of these phrases with, "Bless his/her heart"

"He looks like something the dog's been keeping under the porch."

"She's so ugly, she could haunt a house."

"He's acting crazier than a sprayed roach."

"She's two sandwiches shy of a good picnic."

"If brains were dynamite, he couldn't blow his nose."

"He's as useful as a pogo stick in quicksand."

"She needs some fries to go with that shake."

"Like a bump on the log."

"She's so clumsy, she could trip on a cordless phone."

Do you have a favorite phrase/saying/slang?

a slice of old Florida

2010-04-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

I have always been intrigued by old Florida. I'm a Floridian (born and raised) and I love the magic that Florida holds for non-Floridians. The promise of endless sunshine, gorgeous beaches, the happiest place on Earth (Disney World, of course!).

But, there is a forgotten piece of old Florida that out ranks all of this for me. Just north of Tampa on US 19 sits a relic of Florida that is still standing tall. Weeki Wachee Springs is slice of nostalgia that has been preserved for future generations. Hailed as the world's only city of live mermaids, it beckons tourists away from the all mighty mouse. It promises them a wonderful, if not gimmicky, show full of magic and sights beyond belief. Since 1946 tourists have been coming to Weeki Wachee to marvel at the beautiful mermaids that seem to effortlessly dance without the need for air in the crystal clear spring. A spectacle and a must see for sure!

The draw of old Florida and the magic of such a place is what drew me into my current read, Swim to Me. The book tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who leaves her home in the Bronx for the sunny promise of Florida. After her father walks out on her family, she feels as though she must get out and make a better life for herself. Weeki Wachee seems like the perfect place to do just that after visiting the park on a family vacation the year before. She auditions at Weeki Wachee and gets the job. Now, how will she deal with her new found stardom and what will happen when her family suddenly reunites in a most feared twist of fate? This book is not the most substantial book but it is a good read none the less. I would recommend this for a long drive or a day at the beach. It left me with dreams of old Florida and I am now planning a trip to Weeki Wachee as soon as possible!

the south: can't live with it, can't live without it

2010-04-21T21:50:00.000-04:00

As much as I loathe the South I also love the South. I've lived in the South my entire life and there are some days when I can't wait to GET OUT!!! Especially, when I'm surrounded by Sarah Palin bumper stickers and gun racks. But some days, I absolutely love living in the South. I love sunny days, going to eat at the local seafood place down by the river, the fact that we can find any excuse to have a party, and of course, the food (fried pickles are my weakness)!!

This thought process was brought on by the quintessential movie of the South, Steel Magnolias. Could you get any more southern when you have a red velvet groom's cake shaped like an armadillo? I don't think it's possible.

The South has always been my home and I suppose it always will be. But, I do wish that some days it was a little bit more sophisticated. I wish that we weren't a little bit of a laughing stock. Some of the news stories that I see about the South when I'm traveling are just plain embarrassing. No, not all of us drive pick-up trucks, go hunting 24/7, and we don't all know how to line dance.

I do love the laid back way of life we have perfected down here south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Why do what needs to be done now if it can wait until tomorrow is our motto. Wasting time is one of our favorite past times. Heck, it's actually a full fledged sport!. An afternoon with a sweet tea and a front porch swing is all we need.

But, if we believe in something we sure aren't afraid to tell you. (Hence all the bumper stickers previously mentioned.) We did seceded from the Union after all. We stick up for ourselves and are some of the proudest people there are. But, sometimes we're a little too proud and can be a little loud. But, just bare with us and hear us out. Once, our point is out there we'll quiet down.

So, next time you happen to be in our neck of the woods take advantage! Find a front porch, pour yourself some sweet tea and waste away the day. Talk loudly and speak your mind. Remember, your among friends.

It's my birthday and i'll shop if I want to

2010-04-10T22:27:00.002-04:00

Wednesday was my birthday. Or, as I like to think of it, the day the Earth was graced with my presence. What? You've never heard of it?

Anyway, there was a perfect storm of obstacles that kept me from celebrating my birthday on my actual birthday. One, I have a job, and I didn't get off of work until 5pm the entire week. Two, my mom has been sick for a week, as have I. Three, my dog has been really sick all week, he's just starting to get better. And four, my dad worked all night the night before and was therefore falling asleep at 6pm because of it. So, today I celebrated my birthday!

I went shopping. This is my absolute most favorite hobby! I consider it a hobby because that's how much time I spend doing it. And because I'm a deal hunter. It's a game.

My parents were awesome and bought me a new stereo for my car. My poor stereo in my Jetta is kind of falling apart. There is no direct plug-in for my iPod so I use one of those cassette tape player adapter thingys. But, for some reason when I play my iPod through my care stereo it only likes to play out of the left side speakers. So, I have to fix the balance until its just right because I'm OCD like that and it has to be even. Also, the buttons that control the balance, the fade, the base, and other sound do-hickeys all have their knobs falling off. Every time you try to change any of these things the knobs fall off in your hand. One poor little knob got vacuumed up. My radio has served me well but it is time it take an early retirement. It shall be replaced by this beauty.

If you notice it glows purple. That's not the only color it can be either! That's the main reason I ended up choosing this one. And I'm sure the sales person at Best Buy thought that my decision to get this one based on the fact that it had "pretty colors" was a thoughtful one. I think so. But, the best laid plans seldom go as planned. It turns out that they didn't have a part they needed to place my thoughtfully researched choice of radio in my car. So, they had to order it which means I can't get my new radio installed until next weekend. This gives me time to say goodbye to my trusty old radio.

After sharing my amazing electronics knowledge with the people at Best Buy, my mom and I headed to the mall. My mom got an a.m.a.z.i.n.g deal at New York & Company. Two skirts marked from $24.99 down to $7.99 and a "leather" jacket that was 70% off.

Yeah. Well. I didn't fair as well. I gave in to my weakness, The Gap. Love it, love it, love it.

First up are these shorts:

I paid way more than anyone should ever pay for denim shorts.

But look how cute the embroidery is!

I also found these dressy jeans on clearance.

They are perfect for Jean Friday at work.

This cute flower applique t-shirt also came home to live with me.

Hope ya'll had a great Saturday too!

the rundown

2010-04-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

So I've been extremely lazy lately, especially on the blogging front. I will now continue that laziness and share with you a list of what has happened lately.

1. We got a new puppy, Sadie. Her name was originally Patsy, but we are not the most country music inclined family. Then her name was Bodie, short for Bodacious, but we couldn't remember that she was a girl with that name. She is settling in well, only a few accidents while she gets the hang of the doggie doors. But with this face, how can you get mad at her?

2. My other dog, Jake, is sick. He has doggie pneumonia and is coughing like crazy. We took him to the vet yesterday and the poor guy had to have an IV for antibiotics. He has to be confined and kept calm so he now resides in a laundry basket on the couch next to me. But again, how can you resist the face?

3. I did not get the job in London so it looks like it will be grad. school in the Fall for me. Back to Tally I go. Now I just have to find an apartment, my days of living on campus are over!

4. I have become obsessed with researching my family history. No one in my family has every really known much about where we all come from. My inspiration was a new show on NBC Who Do You Think You Are?. The show consists of celebrities researching their family history. Sarah Jessica Parker learned that she had a family member that was in the Salem Witch Trials, Lisa Kudrow found a long lost relative her family believed was dead, and Matthew Broderick found out someone in his family was in the Civil War. I'm using Ancestry.com and it is super easy. They have a 14-day trial offer going right now. Check it out and see what you can find. I already found the ship manifest that shows my great-great-great grandfather immigrating from France. How cool! I know, I'm a big, family history obsessed, nerd.

5. After my post about my addiction to Coach, I won that second purse and my grandmother sent me a Coach gift card for my birthday. My mom called her an enabler. She may be an enabler, but she's my favorite enabler!

6. My birthday is next week. I will be 22 and I have yet to decide what I will do to celebrate the occasion. I'm not big on celebrating birthdays, especially since this one falls in the middle of the week. I'm thinking I'm going to spend next weekend shopping and getting pampered: mani-pedi and a haircut.

I will now continue to sit on the couch in my pj's and watch 90's sitcom re-runs.

I have an addiction

2010-03-26T18:39:00.000-04:00

"Hi. I'm Savannah and I'm addicted to Coach." "Hi Savannah", the group replies.

That is what it would sound like if I joined Coach Buyers Anonymous. Or if there was such an organization for that matter. I am addicted to Coach purses and I'm not ashamed. I absolutely love them and they love me! We have a very good relationship. I bought my first Coach purse in high school. It was my first big purchase. I fell in love that day in the Coach store and I haven't looked back since. I now have 4 bags, 1 wristlet, a pair of sneakers, an iPod case, and a key chain. That's right, I love everything Coach, not just the bags. But, their bags were my first love. You never get over your first love.

Some of you are probably thinking that I must be made of money or that I am a spoiled little rich girl. Well, I am not made of money but I must admit I am a little bit spoiled. My grandmother enjoys buying me presents, including Coach purses.

But, if I buy Coach for myself I never pay full price! That's right, I am a bargain hunter. I love shopping and finding bargains, it's a game to me and I consider it a hobby. If I am going to buy a Coach purse I only go to the outlet store. I am lucky enough to have one about 10 minutes from my house. But, if I see something that I like at the outlet store, I might not even buy it then. Although, I have to muster up all my self-control to walk away. I note what the purse looks like and maybe even get it's name and then I go on eBay, that's when the magic happens! I put in a bid to test the waters and see if any of the other bidders are paying attention to the auction. If someone outbids me then I wait until the last minutes of the auction and I go in for the kill. I told you I was a bargain hunter! I place my bid in time to win the auction but I don't leave enough time for the other bidders to outbid me!

The fruits of war are plentiful and supple. For example, check out this beauty that just arrived in the mail.

And to prove my point even further, this is what I am currently bidding on.

I told you, I have a problem. And this new job and a steady paycheck aren't helping anything. But, isn't the first step admitting you have a problem? There, I admitted it. I'd be happy if recovery went no further.

Until next time, love, your favorite Coach addicted blogger.

puttin' on the ritz

2010-03-16T21:54:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday my dad and I went to a car show. Please stick with me here, I know the words "car show" have already lost some of you.

I am genuinely interested in antique cars, all cars for that matter. My dad of course is into cars as well so it is something fun that we can do together. This car show, though, is the mother of all car shows. It even has an important sounding, snooty name: The Concours d'Elegance. It's held on the golf course of the Ritz-Carlton to boot! Swanky, huh? The cars were beautiful but this show tends to make you feel like you are the hired help out with the family for the day. "Yes master, that is a beautiful automobile."

This show is for the major antique cars. We're talking Model-T's, Model-A's, etc. Fully restored and gorgeous! The majority of the show consists of cars that were built before 1940.

Here are some rides to drool over!

Yes, this car is made of Peruvian maple wood. Thanks for asking.

Classy yellow!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!!!!!

My most favorite part of this particular car show are the hood ornaments. They are absolutely to die for! Masterpieces!

Hope you weren't too bored out there. We now go back to our regularly scheduled programming.

quick review

2010-03-03T20:28:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick review of my life lately:

1. The new job is going well. Although, this is the first job I've had in a while, read that as close to my whole life. Therefore, I am always tired, stupid 7:30am wake up :(

2. I did however go to the gym yesterday after work. Savannah - 1 Laziness - 0

3. I was accepted into graduate school at Florida State!! Yeah!!! Socicultural and International Development Education Studies here I come! Super important sounding huh? Not really, it's just an excuse for me to spend two years in the Peace Corps and get credit for it.

4. I have been really getting into couponing lately. I may have been a soccer mom in a previous life. But, it's like a hunt, just like how shopping is for me! For example, this week at Walgreen's, Purex laundry detergent was BOGO (buy one get one for all those non-shopaholics). And, there was a coupon in the paper for BOGO Purex detergent. Yep, that means I got two bottles of Purex for free!!! Well almost, I did have to pay tax. Guess what, I have another one of those coupons and I plan on taking advantage of the deal tomorrow when I go to my other Walgreen's and score two more free bottles of laundry detergent! In your face corporate america!!!

5. On the couponing front, I started reading a great blog! Totally Target....in a word...amazing! It's all the great Target deals we all love in one convenient place. Clearance, ads with coupon match-ups, price cuts, surprise deals, etc. What more could you ask for?!?! A personal shopper you say, well that would probably negate the money you would be saving. I know, me, always with the details.

Spring has Sprung

2010-02-21T18:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I did a little shopping with my mom. It was finally feeling like spring here in North Florida so I had to break out the skirt and flip flops. What no rain? What no crazy wind that makes it feel like its 30 degrees outside? Nope, just a blue sky and a high of 65 degrees. Lovely, simply lovely!

I had a handy dandy gift card from a return so I decided to stop by American Eagle to see what was new on clearance. Now, usually I never buy anything at AE unless it is on clearance. But, I just couldn't resist this cutie of a sun dress!

It looks so cute on! I pair it with a cute cropped denim jacket and some sandals and I am a walking celebration of spring!

I also picked up this cute little t-shirt. I love wearing t-shirts that have a little interest, you look more put together that way I think.

What spring looks have caught your eye?

books and what not

2010-02-15T20:58:00.000-05:00

I have recently been devouring books. This isn't really out of the ordinary. I read about 6 books last summer. What can I say, I've always loved reading. Hence, my career choice of an elementary school teacher.

I finished two books last week.

One: The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It was a good book, although I'm still unsure as to whether I liked it or not. I spent the first few chapters very confused and feeling like I had no idea what was going on. The story is actually two stories that intertwine. One is of a twelve-year-old, upper class, Parisian girl living in a very nice apartment building. She is searching for beauty and purpose in her life and has set her mind on committing suicide. The other story is of the concierge of the apartment building. She is secretly a very worldly person. She hides her intelligence and worldly hobbies from the tenants because she thinks she needs to keep with the idea that concierges are simply there to serve the tenants and should not be knowledgeable about upper class topics. These two characters eventually meet and become fast friends. They each find what they are looking for in life, but in a most peculiar way.

Two: Wench. I was so into this book I finished it in two days! I found out about it from O Magazine. Wench is the story of four woman slaves who only see each other during the summer when their masters take them on vacation in the North, free country. The book delves into the relationships the women have with their masters, most are forced to have their master's children. It also explores the relationship the slaves have with each other and what they are willing to do for each other and their children. The book provides great insight into why a slave would not run while in the free territory of the northern United States. The most interesting part is the way the masters interact with and think of the children they have with their slave mistresses. A great, and interesting read, I highly recommend it.

Check out the sidebar to see what I am currently reading: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

In other exciting news.....I GOT A JOB!!!! I am the administrative assistant at a local home health agency. It's not a teaching position which would be ideal considering I do have a degree in elementary education. But, it's a job and it will get me out of my house and stop me from going absolutely bonkers! I start tomorrow and am very excited for someone who will be leaving behind her life of leisure and the ability to sleep until noon.

what I'm listening to

2010-02-11T17:54:00.003-05:00

I recently discovered some wonderful music while perusing on British iTunes. I find the best music on the UK iTunes. BTW, you can get to it by scrolling down to the bottom of iTunes and clicking on the little American flag. You can go to any country you want right there on iTunes. What a cheap trip, huh?

A wonderful singer from South London, Ms. Florence Welch combines her amazing voice with some great lyrics and adds them to some wonderfully created melodies and beats to create music that will get stuck in your head. But, you won't care! I have been listening to her album Lungs all weekend and I am smitten! Without further ado I give you Florence + The Machine!

You've Got The Love

Dog Days Are Over

I have fallen in love

2010-02-02T19:57:00.001-05:00

The last time I went to CVS I was looking for replacements for some of my toiletries. I visited my grandmother over Christmas and left all of my shower things at her house. So I was without shampoo, face wash, and body wash! ahhhhh! But, an upside is I do enjoy shopping for these particular items. I especially love smelling all the different things I could buy. I'm sure the people at CVS think I'm crazy!

I was already a fan of Burt's Bees but I had only ever used their chapstick and lipgloss. I had a coupon so I decided to take advantage and replace my things with Burt's Bees product. I am oh-so-happy that I did. I have absolutely fallen in love with everything Burt's Bees.

I bought the Very Volumizing Pomegranate Shampoo:

It leaves my hair smelling wonderful and my hair is not the slightest bit oily. I have rather oily skin and my hair has been known to be oily by the end of the day depending on the weather conditions and the shampoo I used. This shampoo keeps my hair soft and shiny!

I also picked up the Extra Energizing Citrus & Ginger Root Body Wash:

This smells amazing and doesn't dry out my skin in the slightest. And, mixed with the heat of the water it leaves my bathroom smelling great too!

Last but not least, I decided to try the Natural Acne Solutions Pore Refining Scrub:

Like I said, my skin can be rather oily and I've always had to fight to have clear skin. I usually use a Neutrogena scrub but I like the thought that the Burt's Bees one is 100% all natural. It has a gentle scrub in it as well as 1% Salicylic Acid, which as we all know is the best thing to fight acne with. I have been using it for about two weeks now and it has succeeded in keeping my face clear and it keeps the oil down all the way into the next morning.

If you're looking for any all natural additions to your toiletry arsenal, Burt's Bees is the way to go!

What is your must have beauty product?

saving some mula

2010-01-24T22:51:00.004-05:00

I've been hearing about this whole couponing thing for a while now and I decided to try my hand at it. It seemed like a lot of work. To be honest I thought I was going to spend hours hunched over with my fingers stuffed into a pair of scissors cutting out every coupon I could find. The truth is it wasn't like that at all. I decided to take a trial run and it worked out fabulously! I got $70 worth of groceries for $38.70! Nice!

The Loot:

2x NY Texas Toast
2x Ruffles Chips
2x Oral B Toothbrush
2x Dove Deodorant
1 Colgate Toothpaste
1 Publix Whipped Butter
1 Lays Dip
2x Kraft Dressing
2x Orville Popcorn
2x Johnsanville Brats
2x Redbaron Singles Pizza
2x Barilla Pasta

Vendor Coupon Savings: $5.60
Advertised Special Savings: $24.23
Advantage Buy Savings: $1.98

I saved $31.81!!!!!

Total price paid: $38.70 (including tax)

I shop at Publix...I heart Publix! Basically the rule is: take advantage of Buy One Get One and then use two coupons, technically you are buying two. For example, the NY Texas Toast. They were buy one get one (BOGO) plus I had two .50 cents off coupons. So, they started at $3.29 a piece. I got two at buy one get one so two were $3.29. Minus my two coupons ($1.00), that means that two boxes of NY Texas Toast was $2.29!! How exciting!!

I got my training at Frugal Fun and Fortune.

It sounds daunting when you first read her instructions but it's not. The main idea is you take advantage of the sales and stack coupons on top of them. You then stock up your pantry and fridge so you don't have to buy any more for a while. Each week you buy less and less groceries because you stockpiled when things were on sale. The moral of the story is this: buy it now when it's on sale rather than having to buy it later when it's not.

Happy couponing!

Spoke too soon

2010-01-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

I heard back from the insurance office assistant job. It's a no go. He hired someone that had more experience in the insurance industry. But, not to worry faithful readers, I have some other plans moving along. Substitute teaching, more office assistant interviews, etc. If all else fails I can always fall back on a life of crime.

Now for something completely different.

The Golden Globes were on last night. Can I just say that Ricky Gervais is my favorite! He is hilarious! But let's talk about what really matters, the fashion! Almost everybody looked great. I didn't see any dress that screamed, "I'm firing my stylist when this is over!".

Here are some of my favorites.

Cameron Diaz, red is definitely her color!

I love Tina Fey. Her style definitely matches her personality. This dress is so fun, especially with the red peeking out from underneath!

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are such a cute couple. I'm loving the pink and blue combo!

Of course, Lauren Graham is one of my favorite actresses and she didn't disappoint!

Did you have a favorite?

Happy Monday!

the hunt

2010-01-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

I am on the hunt. A hunt for a job! I graduated almost exactly a month ago and I've sent out over 50 resumes. I'm mostly using Craigslist, hidden gem on the job search front by the way. I think it's finally coming to a close. Hopefully!

I got an interview earlier in the week and today was the day. I think it went pretty well. Me and the owner ended up talking about his industry, insurance, for about 45 minutes. Pretty good I would say. I think he was impressed that I had some sort of idea about the business and business practices in general. [Thanks mom for owning your own business.] I should know something by Monday. Fingers crossed! I know you'll all be waiting with baited breath.

I would have told you all earlier but I was too busy last night to blog. By busy I mean I was too busy flipping back and forth between American Idol and Dirty Jobs. But you're saying to yourself, those shows end at 10p. Yes, but after that was Paranormal State and Celebrity Rehab. I know I know, reality television rules my life. And to prove it I'm blogging right now during American Idol. I just can't look away!

In more fun and amazing news...I might be working in London come August! For those of you who are not my family or Sarah, I studied abroad in the fall of 2007 in London, England through my university. I would say ya'll could all read my blog posts from the amazing 3 months I spent there but I accidentally deleted my blog a while ago. We don't talk about that.

Well....they posted on their website that they are going to have three positions opening up at the study center in London for August. Of course I am applying! I love London and it truly feels like a home away from home. I am super excited and I wish it was closer. So keep some happy thoughts in your head for me. I would appreciate it lovelies!

Happy Thursday!

sticking with it

2010-01-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I don't like giving myself an opportunity to fail. This year I decided to bite the bullet ad come up with a resolution. But, I made it super general so that I had lots of room to succeed. So, this year's resolution is to simply be healthier.

This could be anything. I plan to eat better, no more McDonald's for me, and workout whenever I get the chance. You'll be happy to know that I am well on my way to accomplishing my goal. The Monday after New Year's I went to the gym and joined! And then the next day I actually went to the gym, and the day after that! Two days in a row is quite a feat for me. Today me and my mom went to Zumba. Has anyone else out there ever tried it? It's almost like a cross between a latin dancing class and aerobics. There is some great music and you really don't feel like you are exercising. Now that doesn't mean you don't sweat up a storm because believe me you do! But, if you just get it in your head that you're just dancing you don't start counting down the minutes until the class is over. We know we've all done it. I'm convinced that the only reason to have a towel at the gym is to cover the timer on the elliptical.

On the eating healthier front I'm doing pretty good. I have an app on my iPod that keeps track of my calories and exercise. You can program it with your weight, height, birthdate, and how many pounds you want to lose a week and it will tell you how many calories you can eat a day. It's super handy. It's also a little scary. I looked at some of the food I usually eat and was appalled. I'm surprised I haven't keeled over yet from a clogged artery. So basically this app scares you into eating better. Nothing like fear as a motivator!

How are ya'll's resolutions going? Everybody still on the wagon?

the final product

2010-01-03T21:25:00.001-05:00

So...remember me talking about a desk my dad was making me. If you need to refresh your memory or just joined us you can read up here.

Drum roll please....

It's done!! And look how cute and pretty it is! Complete with chair and my baby (macbook). If you've been around long enough you've probably seen that all my "children" are electronics. I'm pretty sure I'm a closet technology geek.

Please disregard the open receptacle. I broke it when I was taking them off to paint and I keep forgetting to replace it.

But I have one questions dear internets. Should I put fabric around the edge to make like a desk skirt or leave it be? Decisions, decisions.

antiquing isn't complete without a cupcake

2009-12-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few posts back that my dad built me a new desk for my room. Well, a desk isn't complete without a chair. I have been using a vintage milking stool that came with our house. Let's just say it isn't the best thing to sit at a desk on. It kind of lacks the back support that I would like to have, a.k.a. it has none to speak of!

The town I live in has bunches and bunches of wonderful antique stores. St. Augustine, FL, you may have heard of it. We're kind of famous and all, we are the nation's oldest city after all. You've at least seen the old fort on your fifth grade field trip, especially if you went to elementary school in Florida. Me and my wonderful mommy went out on a mission. Operation: find Savannah a desk chair. What do you know but the very first store we step into has the perfect chair! What a coinkydink! And what a price, no overpriced antiques here! And bonus, they had the cutest night stand you've ever seen in your life, guaranteed! Ch-ch-check 'em out!

And no antiquing mission is complete without a homemade cupcake!

second family

2009-12-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

In my last post I mentioned my second mom Mari-jane. She is one of my mom's oldest friends from high school and I have known her my entire life. She is an amazing woman who does it all for everybody. She makes delicious meals, blogs, is a mother of three, who adopted her nephew's son and then took in her daughter's two children after she passed away. She will also take in any animal that needs help. She is superwoman!

On Christmas Eve we went over to her house and she made us a most scrumptious meal of cranberry- turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cheesy rice and broccoli, and southern style green beans. I have loved her cooking my entire life. She makes a stellar green bean casserole and a to-die-for caesar salad. I always look forward to meals at her house, you will not be going home hungry!

I just had to share with you all who she is and what she does. She rarely gets the recognition she deserves.

The spread

Tristan, one of her daughter's two kids.

Alexa, her daughter's other child

Her son, Hunter

Her great dane, Calypso

Calypso's partner in crime, Callie-Hanna

Alexa doesn't appreciate the paprazzi

Since when....

2009-12-28T20:58:00.002-05:00

did Christmas become a week long activity?!?! I guess it comes with age. But seriously, it lasted all week!!

On Monday my Uncle and his girlfriend came to town to stay until Wednesday. On Tuesday I worked all day for my mom and did some Christmas shopping. Wednesday was spent between work and home. I went to work in the morning to get payroll out then ran back home to do Christmas with my Uncle and his girlfriend. I then ran back to work to finish before the office had the annual Christmas lunch. Back to work after lunch followed by more Christmas shopping. The relatives headed out Thursday, Christmas Eve, morning. We did our presents on Thursday morning because my dad had to work all day Christmas Day.

Side note: my presents were probably the most amazing ever! Besides the lovely, wonderful, perfect trip to NYC, my parents also got me a new lens for my new baby (my camera), and a record player! I've been wanting one for a while and it was a complete surprise. I didn't realize that they took me seriously! They also got me the fully re-mastered Beatles album from the Cirque du Soleil show Love. Now I have to start collecting albums!

Back to our regularly schedule programming...

On Christmas Eve afternoon we went over to the house of my mom's most amazing friend from way back when, Mari-jane. She made us Christmas lunch. And boy, does she ever make the most delicious food! I'm not joking, she is wonderful and should probably have her own show! Not to mention her kids are terrific and the cutest things ever! She is really like my second mom, I love her and love being around her.

Christmas Day was spent with my mom at the movies. It was rainy all day and my dad was working so it was the perfect day to spend 6 hrs. at the movie theater. We did a double feature. Sherlock Holmes and It's Complicated. Who knew the movie theater would be so crowded on Christmas Day. It appeared that the entire town was at the movies. But it is St. Augustine, there isn't much else to do. It's either the movies or the bowling alley.

It's Complicated was hilarious, I almost choked I was laughing so hard! Sherlock Holmes was great. Beisdes, who doesn't want to stare at Jude Law for 2 hours? I know I didn't mind it!

Back to real life after Christmas and the job hunt continues.....

the holidays

2009-12-23T22:31:00.000-05:00

It's the eve of Christmas eve and I find myself not so excited about the holidays this year.

For one, my Dad has to work on Christmas Day. He is a firefighter/paramedic and he works 24 hrs. on and 48hrs. off. It just so happens that this year his 24 hrs. on is on Christmas. His schedule hasn't worked out like that in about 6 years, and I don't like it!

I remember Christmas morning when I was a kid. I would always wake up insanely early and wait for him to get home from his shift at the firehouse. He usually got home around 9am so my mom had to placate me with a gift to open. It was never a good one, or the really big one that I was dying to open, but it was something to keep me from bouncing off the walls. But this year we are doing Christmas on Christmas Eve morning....ugh! It's just not the same. I've never understood the why some people open all their presents on Christmas eve. What do you do on Christmas day?

Me and my mom have come up with a plan to spend the entirety of Christmas day at the movies. We're going to do a double, possibly a triple, feature. We want to see It's Complicated, the new one with Meryl Streep, and Sherlock Holmes, with Jude Law (yum!!). We might also see Up In The Air, it's gotten such amazing reviews, and who doesn't want to stare at George Clooney for 2 hours.

On a side note I am typing this while watching Footloose. And guess what! They are at the part where Kevin Bacon tries to teach his friend to dance.....the BEST part! Oh man was that kid rhythmically challenged! Let's hear it for the boy! Let's give the boy a hand! I digress...

On a second side note...I am sitting at my brand new homemade desk! When I moved back from school I really wanted a place to put my laptop. I had a desk in my room at school and I lack that piece of furniture in my room at home. I just recently re-designed my room and I was looking for just the perfect desk. Have you ever tried to find a cute, rather well priced, desk? If you have you know it's kind of a difficult job. They were all sooooo expensive! I blame it on my good taste. I always pick out the most expensive piece of jewelry in the store! My dad saw that I couldn't find what I wanted so he suggested he build me a desk. I wasn't sure that it would come out the way I wanted but he assured me that it would be perfect. We made the trek to Home Depot and got all the pieces and parts. It's really cute! All that is left to do is sand it an paint it. I'll post pictures as soon as it's done! I already love it!

last day in NYC

2009-12-20T01:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten to this sooner...I am a bad blogger. We got back on Friday afternoon and I was soooooo tired! And today was sooooooo busy!

Our last day in NYC took place in lower Manhattan, mostly.

Me and my dad got up early to find a bridge in Central Park. You want the story behind this don't you? I knew you would. A little bit ago, when we booked our trip, I found this great picture of a bridge in Central Park and I put it as my desktop on my computer.

My dad was determined to find that bridge for me so that I could take pictures of it. So on Thursday we got up early and went to Central Park before humanity descended. He did some research the day before on his handy dandy iPhone and figured out it was called the Gapstow Bridge. Then he found a map of the park that had all the bridges on it. So he found the cross streets for it and we made a plan. We found the bridge, without snow :( and I got to take pictures with my oh-so-wonderful camera.

When we got back to the hotel we headed out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was absolutely freezing but a beautiful day for sightseeing. Not a cloud in the sky.

And, since we were already in Lower Manhattan, at Battery Park, we took advantage and visited Trinity Church and Ground Zero. I have never been inside Trinity Church, it was absolutely beautiful.

They have a new memorial museum at Ground Zero. It is very well done and heart breaking. The room that got me was the one filled with pictures of all those that lost their lives. Floor to ceiling, the walls were covered in their pictures. I couldn't stay in the room, I was about to start crying my eyes out.

On Friday we got up bright and early to fly out. I didn't want to go. Usually by the end of vacations I am ready to go home, no matter how great the city was. But not New York, I absolutely love NYC and could have stayed there the rest of my life. I can't wait to go back!

Imagine all the people...

2009-12-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Second day in NYC.....another great one. Although, no celebrities today.

We woke up and went straight to the Empire State Building. We went all the way to the 102nd floor! the view was absolutely amazing!!

After that we headed over to Central Park West and went to the Natural History Museum. Lions and tigers and bears oh my! And Dinosaurs too! And a life size blue whale too!!!

The Great Hall

For my kids...we did a two week unit on dinosaurs

A life size blue whale!!!

On our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art we walked through Central Park and paid a visit to Strawberry Fields.

The park was beautiful even though there were no leaves on the trees. We walked up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the amazingness that it is! I could have stayed in there for the rest of the day and been perfectly happy! They have everything....

Temples from Egypt

Period Rooms in the American Wing

And of course all the beautiful artwork you can handle!

My most favorite piece of artwork ever...Degas' Little Dancer of Fourteen

They had three rooms devoted to Degas...even some of his unfinished sketches!

Van Gogh

Monet - Parliament Buildings

I wandered around for a while looking at all the beautiful art but alas, it was time to go.

We took the subway down to Soho and stopped at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC. Tt was great! They gave you little audio guides that automatically play music depending on what you were looking at. Looking at Elvis' guitar, you heard Elvis. Looking at AC/DC school boy uniforms, you heard AC/DC. They had so many things, ranging from Buddy Holly to Grandmaster Flash!

They also had a great John Lennon exhibit. The exhibit was very well done and very personal. Many of the items in the exhibit were on loan from Yoko Ono. They had the iconic New York City t-shirt and his trademark army surplus jacket. They also had a section devoted to his fight against immigration, including his green card. They had videos playing that highlighted his relationship with Yoko and his son, their activist efforts, and their art films. They also had personal letters and hand written lyric sheets. The most moving part of the exhibit was a brown paper bag. In this bag, marked "patient's belongings", were the clothes that John Lennon was wearing the day he was shot. Yoko still owns them and has not taken them out of the bag. Yoko also still owns the bloody glasses John was wearing the day he was murdered. She has not cleaned them, 29 years later. Those glasses spent the days after his murder sitting on a table in their apartment at The Dakota. Yoko used a picture of them for an anti-gun poster.

The coolest thing in the exhibit was The Telephone for Peace. It was a white rotary telephone mounted to the wall. The sign next to the phone read, "When the phone rings, answer it. It is Yoko Ono. Yes, it really is Yoko." Yoko installed this modern art in the exhibit and she actually does call it. The employee there said that she calls once a week and she hasn't called yet this week. How awesome is that!!!

We were all tuckered out after all this sightseeing so we headed back to the hotel and their amazing beds, stopping for dinner at a local diner on the way.

Tomorrow I'm up bright and early so I can go up to Central Park and get pictures before the crowds descend. We also plan on seeing The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Ground Zero tomorrow. Good night all, sleep tight.

what more could a girl ask for?

2009-12-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up at the butt crack of dawn [3am!!!!] to get on a flight to got to NYC!!! The early morning can be forgiven because of the destination.

After a long morning of flying we finally arrived...picture happy Savannah at this point!!!

We got to our hotel, The Sofitel. It is probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in and we have our own little mini suite which is awesome. But the best thing about the room are these beds.

These are the most comfortable beds known to man. And I should know, I'm blogging from mine right now! As my cousin Jessica put it, its like sleeping on a marshmallow!

We ventured out for lunch and then headed over to Rockefeller Center. The tree was all lit up and it was gorgeous! I got to play with my new camera a bit and I fell even more in love with it!

We decided to go and take the NBC Studio Tour. My parents and I had taken it before but my cousin has never been to New York. It's really neat to see all the behind the scene things. But, just wait for this story! As the tour was winding down our tour guides said that there was an announcement to make. A college-aged girl comes into the room and asks us if we want to watch Jimmy Fallon practice his monologue for the show tonight. He would be basically testing jokes out on our group to see if people would like them. Of course we said yes!!!! So about 30 minutes of waiting later...we went into the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon studio!! And there he was...Jimmy Fallon himself! I am a huge fan and there he was, right in front of me! He talked to us for a little bit and tried about 25 jokes, which were all hilarious. It was such a great surprise! It made our whole day! Only in NYC can that happen to you!

After the studio tour we caught a quick bite and then hopped on a Holiday Lights Night Tour on one of those red double decker buses. The city is beautiful at night, especially at this time of year!

Time Warner Center...Columbus Circle

Christ Church on Park Ave.

Cartier....so cute!!!

Rockefeller Center

Empire State Building....all lit up for Hannukah

The theme for Macy's windows this year is Miracle on 34th Street

So, what have we learned from this post: all a girl needs is a comfy bed, a beautiful city, and an amazing day to be on top of the world!!

catching up

2009-12-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

Hello all you lovely people out there!

Sorry I have been gone, but I GRADUATED!!!! I am no longer a soon-to-be college graduate. But with that comes the realization that I can no longer write "student" as my employment. I now have to write "un-emplyed". What a rude awakening that is! I don't have the excuse for mooching off my parents!

We won't worry about that though, at least not now. On Friday my parents and I made the long drive to Tallahassee and met up with my grandmother, her partner, my mom's best friend (my second mom), and her sister. On Saturday I walked across the stage with a civic center full of my closest friends. I had no idea how boring a college graduation could be. The speaker was alright but my college was the second to last one to go on stage. The girl next to me read about half her book! But going across the stage was the best feeling ever!

[It was super rainy outside so we used the hotel lobby as our backdrop.]

[So ready to stop taking pictures!]

That night we had a great dinner at Marie Livingston's Steak House. Chicken Fettucini Alfredo...yummm!!! At dinner my parents surprised me with this little beauty....I am of course in love with it!

It was a great weekend! Now, onto NYC on Tuesday!!!

let life begin

2009-12-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

I am graduating in T-4 hours. It is pouring rain in Tallahassee and it's supposed to stay that way all day. Oh joy, frizzy hair here I come!

Pictures to come of course!

jump on the bandwagon

2009-12-09T12:30:00.001-05:00

I did it, I joined Twitter. I've always wondered about it and now I'm in. I'm one of the masses. You can find my profile here. I even got my self a cute, handy dandy button that takes you right to my profile, it's right over there in the "Where I'm At" section on the sidebar. Ch, ch, check it out!!

Susie Homemaker....not so much

2009-12-08T19:23:00.019-05:00

I have recently discovered a love of cooking. I have not, in my previous years, been a big fan of cooking or any other domestic chore for that matter. You see, I was not raised in a cooking household. When I was younger my mom was an "out-of-the-box" cooker. By this I mean that if it did not come out of a box we did not eat it. We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper and Stouffer's frozen dinners. Don't get me wrong, I think all that food is great and am astounded by what can actually come out of a pre-made dinner box. It truly amazes me. But, because of this I never really learned to cook. For example, I just learned to make Quaker grits about two years ago! And I still don't know how to make scrambled eggs for that matter.

I owe my newly kindled interest in cooking to The Food Network. I love watching The Food Network and get very inspired by the meals they create. I always think, if they can make it, so can I! How hard could it be? Right? I have had some flops, I won't mention the empanadas I attempted [i knew something was wrong when the recipe wanted me to use curry powder]. But I've also had some great successes.

Recently I have come across a wonderful cookbook. I am an avid reader of Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, it is a wonderful blog about a Los Angeles city girl who married a country guy and now lives on her ranch in Oklahoma with their four children. She is a great writer and a wonderful photographer [all the pictures on her site and blog are hers!]. Anyway, back to the point, Pioneer Woman is a also a great cook and she published her own cookbook [you can check it out here].

I have fallen in love with this cookbook. Not only does it have some very yummy looking recipes but also, it has illustrated steps in all the recipes. Yeppers, each step in every recipe comes with a beautiful photograph so that you can see what everything is supposed to look like. This is probably the best idea ever! For those of us that are not natural born chefs, we need a little reassurance that what we are doing is right and a picture is a great way to supply this much needed confidence. Also in the cookbook are amazing photographs of her ranch, all the animals on it, and her children [or her punks as she calls them]. She also includes cute little stories between sections, most of which are previous blog posts. I plan on adding this wonderful book to my Christmas wish list [which is now rather extensive].

2009-12-05T12:50:00.011-05:00

I have recently discovered hats as a fashion accessory. I know, where was I, under a rock?!?!

I have never been one for hats, I never thought I looked cute in them. Until.....I found this little cutie!

[thank you photobooth for the chic background!]

I was at Target last week and me and my mom were looking for winter things for our upcoming trip to NYC [squeal!], and I decided to give this hat a try. It turns out that I love it and it loves me. A match made in accessory heaven! So of course this now opens up a whole world of fashion choices for moi'! I of course hopped right on Google and got to work....here are some of the contenders that will definitely be going on my Christmas list! [all under $ 50!!!]

Here is the 411:

Pink hat: $20 - topshop.com
Purple hat with flower: $27 - lauraashley.com
White pom-pom hat: $30 - ae.com
Black hat with bow: $12 - forever21.com
Black beret with pearl details: $30 - topshop.com
Purple hate with bow: $9.99 - target.com
Blue hat: $8.80 - forever21.com
Black hat with flower detail: $40 - shopplasticland.com

Do you have a favorite hat? Are you a hat person?

So This Is Christmas

2009-12-01T18:54:00.007-05:00

I'm one of those people that likes to decorate for Christmas as soon as I possibly can. I have the urge to bust out the Christmas decor before Thanksgiving but my mom refuses. I truly believe that if I tried to get out the storage boxes before Thanksgiving she would physically block the entrance to the shed with her body. But, I do not agree with the store breaking out Christmas before Halloween is even over! That's another rant for another day.

So this year, I brought out the Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving. I thought about not even letting the Thanksgiving table get cleared before I ran out to the shed and cranked up the Christmas music but I thought that I shouldn't scare all the guests. A long time family friend and I went to The Christmas Carol on Thanksgiving night so that filled my Christmas spirit quota for that day, thank goodness!

I waited until Friday to indulge my Christmas craving, much to the satisfaction of my mom. As I was sorting out all the doo-dads and watcha-ma-call-its, I came across our "tree". Now, I put "tree" in quotation marks because what I found was not a proper tree. What I found was a horrible excuse for a tree. I found a four foot tree. A FOUR foot tree! Where are we, NYC in a rent controlled apartment? No, I think not! We are in a recently renovated 1,400 square foot house and I will not stand for a puny four foot tree! I insisted that we go to my grandfather's house and retrieve our true tree from storage. We had a perfectly wonderful 7 ft. pre-lit tree sitting there, waiting to be admired in all its glory.

The next day I proceeded to assemble the newly rescued tree. Now, for those of you that have not had experience with pre-lit christmas tress, there is a little catch to putting them together. Each section plugs into the one before it so that all the lights can light up while only using one cord plugged into the wall at the bottom. I had all the sections put together and all plugs connected, I was ready to let it shine. I plugged it in to much drum-rolling by my 5-year old cousins. The reaction was less than excited. Why, you ask? Well, my loyal reader(s), only the first half of the bottom section was lit up! Huh? What? All the sections as plugged in. What is wrong? I took it apart and tested each section individually. They all worked, except the top half of the bottom section. I racked my brain, how could I put it together without having to plug each section into each other? Maybe I could run an extension to cord to each section to light them up individually. But that would defeat the point of having the sections able to plug into each other now wouldn't it.

And then it hit me! Maybe it's the fuse on the bottom half. So, I went to work replacing the fuses in the plug. Ready? Here we go again! Yep, you guessed it. Nothing! Same result! Well after much discussion, it was concluded that one of the lights was burnt out on the bottom section and the only way to fix the problem was to find it and replace it. That sounds like a barrel of laughs, doesn't it? I didn't think so either. Sadly, that tree was put into the trailer outside to be taken to the dump. But, that wasn't the last time we would speak of that tree. Oh no, not the last time by far!

So, in disgust, I headed to Wal-Mart to buy a new tree. For those of you that know me, you know that Wal-Mart is not my favorite place. I had no choice though! I had to have a tree, especially one that is taller than four feet! I found a perfect contender in the garden section and made my purchase. When I got home I got right to work putting it together. I recruited my mom to help me because at that point me and Christmas trees were not on good terms. We put all the sections together and plugged them together. We plugged the whole tree into the wall. What happens? Part of one of the sections didn't light up! Oh no! Not again! I've just about had it now! But, then I see it. A plug that is not plugged in. How could that be? An extra plug in the middle of the tree? It has to have a mate. We searched and searched. By the way, who came up with making the plugs the same color as the tree? Sure it's convenient in making the plugs blend in, but, there in lies the problem, how are you supposed to find them to plug the tree in? Finally, we found the plug's mate. At this point I had an epiphany, each section has multiple plugs to connect.

That's right folks, the other tree was perfectly fine. I just didn't know this fun fact at the time. So now we have two perfectly good trees, and are $100 poorer for no good reason.

I made up with the Wal-Mart tree as I was decorating it. Decorating the tree always makes you feel better. I think I did a fine job, if I do say so myself.

As you can see we are tinsel and candy cane people. Sure the tinsel will haunt us until next Christmas but who cares! It's great!

Now, what's a tree without a tour of it. I bet you've never been on a tour of a Christmas tree before have you? Well hop in the Magic School Bus and shrink down as we venture into the tree. Here are some favorite ornaments.

I got this ornament in middle school when I was taking dance. I still love dance and wish I still took classes. I think this fairy is beautiful and it is one of my prized possessions. I love the colors on her.

That's right! That is me, the one and only! Wasn't I a cute little kid?!? We have many ornaments on our tree with pictures of me. Most of them I made in school and are made of wrapping paper and are held together with glitter glue. Oh the memories!

This is the newest addition to our tree. I picked this cute little guy up for my mom n my recent trip to D.C. My mom collects Santa Clause ornaments and I thought this one represented D.C. perfectly! Isn't he cute!

This is my favorite of the Santa Clause ornaments. What a perfect Florida Christmas ornament! This is also my mom's favorite Santa ornament. It's just perfect with Santa hanging from the starfish with the little present in his hand. I love it!

Did you have a Christmas tree adventure? What are your favorite ornaments?

2009-12-01T18:26:00.004-05:00

Everyone has their favorite Christmas music. Some people are very protective of said favorite songs. I am one of these people. I like my Christmas music a certain way. I hate Christmas remixes! Who wants to hear Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer with a speaker-blasting techno beat in the background? Nobody! That's who! It's plain blasphemy!

I digress. As you can see this post is simply a disguise for me posting youtube videos of my favorite Christmas songs. So...without further ado, I give you three of my favorites!

Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid

I know some people have some very strong hateful feelings about this song [I try to stay away from these people.] I absolutely love this song! I can't get enough of it! Just look at that amazing 80's fashion. And those haircuts, priceless! It may be a little cheesy but then again, isn't all Christmas music?

Next up.....

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Who doesn't love a former Beatle and his crazy wife singing about Christmas? I don't know any body who wouldn't love it! This song has less of the cheese factor which is a much appreciated oasis in the desert of cheesiness that is holiday music. It is so hopeful and I love it!

Here is a great cover by Maroon 5 that I found.

And last but not least....

Last Christmas - Wham!

Oh come on! You knew where I as going with this! You should have seen it coming. Of course Wham! has to be included in the trilogy of amazing Christmas songs. It wouldn't be the holidays without the timeless musical stylings of Mr. George Michael. You know you secretly like this song. I'm just shameless enough to yell from the roof tops how near and dear to my heart this song is!

There you have it folks. There before you are my must have Christmas songs. I bet if you look on your iTunes right now you will find them in your collection as well [whether you're willing to admit it or not]. And if by some great cosmic mistake you do not find these songs in your holiday tunes collection, get yourself on over to Limewire and illegally download them today!

Happy Holidays!

Garage Sale Psychology

2009-11-23T17:11:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we had a garage sale. We did the very American thing of hauling all our junk out onto our driveway and selling it to other people so they could add it to the junk they already have.

But, as we were hosting our sale some things were brought to my attention.

One, I watch the show Hoarders on A&E way too much. I found myself trying to figure out if the person I was taking money from was a hoarder or not. I tried to profile everyone that stepped foot on our driveway. Could that lady be one? How about her? Is that picture frame just going to go on top of a pile that is almost to the ceiling? Is that vase going to end up on the front porch with all the other garage sale finds, never to be touched again? In the end I couldn't really tell one way or another but it was fun to speculate.

Two, I take things way too personally. As we all know, anything in the retail industry comes in waves. You get a crazy load of people all at one time and then you get 20 minutes of nothing. Well, those 20 minutes of nothing really took a blow to my psyche. I took it way too personally. When people weren't there I felt as if they saw our signs and felt as though it wasn't worth their time. They stuck up their noses at our junk. And the worst thing of all were the drive-byers. They would drive by, slow down as if they were going to stop, get my hopes up, and then decide not to stop. What? Is our junk not up to par for you? Are you too good to even stop and get out of the car? I felt as though they were saying, "Nope, your garage sale isn't even the effort of putting my car in park and taking the key out of the ignition." Well, humph! See what I do the next time you have a garage sale. Will I stop? No! See how it feels then. Although, you probably won't feel a thing because you are not nearly as unstable as me and don't take strangers' opinions about your junk nearly as personally. But doesn't that make me the more interesting person? How else would I be able to write this oh-so-interesting post for the enjoyment of all who read my blog? [All two of them.]

In the end, garage sales: good for clearing out your house, bad for your mental health.

2009-11-15T23:09:00.006-05:00

This week on playing favorites we are venturing to Hollywood and onto the silver screen and the Great White Way. This week my favorite thing was the movie Paper Heart. In Paper Heart we see comedienne Charlyne Yi trying to figure out if love is real and if she will ever find it. She is convinced she will never find it, she may even be incapable of loving someone. But, love strikes her when she least expects it. Part documentary, part romantic comedy, with a little stop motion animation thrown in for good measure, Paper Heart is a hilarious and amazing movie. A great date movie or just a movie for when you need a laugh.

And now....I give you the trailer!

4 years too long without you

2009-11-13T18:46:00.002-05:00

It's been four years since you left. I see you every time I look at your two beautiful children. I see you in Alexa's smile and her gorgeous eyes. I hear you in Tristan's laugh and I feel you in his mischievous spirit. We miss you my dear but we will be alright. We just need a little more time.

I promised you the world again

Everything within my hands
All the riches one could dream
They will come from me

I hoped that you could understand
That this is not what I had planned
Please don’t worry now
It will turn around

Cause I need more time
Just a few more months and we’ll be fine
So say what’s on your mind
Cause I can’t figure out just what’s inside

I hoped that you could understand
That this is not what I had planned
Please don’t worry now
It will turn around

Cause I need more time
Just a few more months and we’ll be fine
So say what’s on your mind
Cause I can’t figure out just what’s inside
So say alright
Cause I know we can make it if we try
Cause I need more time
Just a few more months and we’ll be fine

We’re off to new lands
So hold on to my hands
It’s gonna be alright
It’s a whole lot brighter
So stand by the fire
It’s gonna be alright
Yeah, the road gets harder
But it’s not much farther
It’s gonna be alright
You know that it ain’t easy
Please believe me
It’s gonna be alright

Please don’t worry now
It will turn around

Cause I need more time
Just a few more months and we’ll be fine
So say what’s on your mind
Cause I can’t figure out just what’s inside
So say alright
Cause I know we can make it if we try
Cause I need more time
Just a few more months and we’ll be fine

Home of the Brave

2009-11-12T19:16:00.005-05:00

In honor of Veterans Day I had my kids make Thank You cards to send to troops that are currently deployed. They got really into it and we ended up with 35 cards just form my class. I sent out an e-mail to all the other second grade teachers and now I think we have almost 70 cards!

And they are too cute to boot! We brainstormed some things we could say in the cards and my kids came up with the best things: "You rock!" "Thank you for serving our country." "Stay safe." "Thank you for protecting us." "Thank you for keeping us safe." "Thank you for keeping us free." They are just too smart and sweet! They made me so proud when they came up with all these things on their own. Some kids even made pop-up cards! How cute is that?! I could have just made cards with them all day, they were having so much fun and really getting into it. One of them said, "Ms. Cole, I feel really good doing this. I could do it all day."

I am using the site, anysoldier.com, to find addresses for service members overseas. One service member acts as a contact for their battalion and lists the number of males and females in their group. You request their address and the site e-mails it to you. Most contacts list little notes on their page with news and wish lists of their troops. It's a great site!

Did you thank a veteran on Veterans Day? What are you thankful for?

2009-11-08T08:18:00.005-05:00

It's that time again for....playing favorites! One [there are actually two this week] of my favorite things this week is The Sartorialist. This wonderful blog provides us common folk with daily pictures of those more fabulous and chic than us. But, it is great for fashion inspiration and confidence. You think, "If she can do it, so can I!" I got hooked on this great blog by this wonderful friend.

The second favorite of the week is another blog. This time a pretty hilarious one. It goes by the name Overheard in New York. It brings you wonderful tid-bits of life that are overheard by passersby. All of these eavesdropped conversations are hilarious and some make you worry about the human race's survival. Some also make you a firm believer in natural selection. So check it out and get a laugh!

2009-11-08T08:08:00.003-05:00

This edition of Kidisms is brought to you by a very polite kindergartner. Part of my after school duty is car duty. I stand by the line of cars and put kids in their cars. Well, I was walking one boy to this car on Friday and I noticed that he was in kindergarten because of the finished project he was carrying. I remember helping my teacher do that project when I spent a semester in kindergarten.

So I was walking him to his car. He pointed to which one it was. The point was confirmed with a wave from Dad in the front seat. [Always look for the wave, it is the perfect confirmation for a not so confident kid.] I opened the door and he climbed in the car. He turned to me and said, "Thank you." I was a little taken back that a kindergartner just thought to say thank you to me in the car line. I said, "You're welcome." He turned to me again and said, "Have a nice day!" What? A kindergartner just told me to have a nice day. I don't even get that from most of the parents I see in these cars.

Thank you little kindergartner for re-kindling my hope for humanity. Thank you indeed!

My current theme songs

2009-11-03T18:49:00.003-05:00

So these songs have been on repeat lately for me. For obvious reasons.

And for those that are more of the gangster persuasion...

I almost forgot!

2009-11-02T18:33:00.003-05:00

We booked our trip to NYC!! That's right, Big Apple, here I come. Oh to be a college graduate and have the most wonderful parents ever! NYC has to be one of my favorite cities of all time, a close second to London. I am super excited to be going when we are too! The week before Christmas! I have never been to the city during Christmas time! All the store will be decorated for Christmas and the tree in Rockefeller Center will be lit! I'm hoping for snow. Fingers-crossed.

We are staying in a very posh and swanky hotel. Sofitel on 45th St. We got a great deal! [It's French, that makes it automatically cool and trendy don't ya know.]

How quickly will we get bad looks for being the touristy tourists that we are?

Well, I'm trying to make us be as un-touristy as we possibly can while we're there. We have been there a few times so we're practically like real New Yorkers, right? Yeah, I didn't think so either but we can dream. Anyway, I looked up a bunch of restaurants to eat at that aren't your normal tourist places. None of them are in Times Square. I prefer to go to places that locals go to. It's the best way to see the city, any city, in my opinion. We are only going to be there for three days and I'm not gonna waste it in the T.G.I. McFunster places [as Anthony Bourdain would say].

We have a bunch of stuff already booked. A night tour that specializes in holiday lights [how p.c. are we], of course Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, the new Ground Zero museum, Empire State Building, the U.N., etc. My dad is going to try to do a ride along with NYPD while we are there [so jealous by the way]. We can't leave without seeing a show? But which one to see? Any suggestions? I'm really hoping for Mary Poppins! I never got to see it when I was in London.

I'm going to try and blog as we go along to keep you all up to date with our galavanting. How else am I to make you all envious and green with jealousy?

Lazy Sunday

2009-11-01T12:08:00.010-05:00

It's officially noon and I am still in my p.j.'s and my comfy slippers. There are plenty of things I should be doing, i.e. laundry, vacuuming, etc. But instead I am watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta: The Reunion [closet fan, my favorite is Kim, she is such a train wreck. You can't help but look!].

In other news, we won yesterday! Go Noles!

And....I saw the greatest costume at the game! Can you spot Wilson? Everyone's favorite backyard neighbor!

In other other news.....the Gators won the Georgia/Florida game and the Tebow hype train rolls on. Ugh! Will it ever stop?!?!? Notice I say Georgia/Florida not Florida/Georgia. Almost like we in the South call the Civil War: The War of Northern Aggression. It's just the FSU fan's way of displaying the hatred we have for the Florida Gators.

Moving on....I saw the worst movie I think I've ever seen this weekend. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. I really wanted my $9.50 back! I would have taken a few free bags of candy in exchange. What a waste of one and half hours of my life! My hope is to save you all from this fate by warning you about this movie.

But, the movies did redeem themselves by giving us the cinematic genius that is Michael Jackson's This Is It. Such a great film. After watching it I was so sad for him. He really was on top of his game and he could have definitely done the 50 concerts they had planned. And, those 50 concerts would have been the best concerts he has ever done. The things they had planned for those concerts were amazing and beautiful. Such a sad ending for a talented and creative person.

Happy November to you and I hope you are having a wonderful Lazy Sunday too!

Oh the things I will do for my kids!

2009-10-30T17:39:00.003-04:00

In our new politically correct world, many elementary students aren't allowed to wear the typical Halloween costumes to school. At the school I'm at now, the word Halloween can't be seen anywhere! No ghosts, no witches, no bats, no anything that might offend a soccer mom.

Come on people!

What has the world come to when a parent can't go out and buy a cheap costume at Wal-Mart and send their kid off to school dressed as the grim reaper, complete with realistic looking sickle? Isn't that just want we want, a school full of kindergartners wielding fake, plastic symbols of death?

Because the powers that be have ruled that kids can't wear what they really want to wear to school for Halloween, the have to dress up as a book character. A book character, really? We all know that deep down in their heart of hearts they want to be Freddy Krueger, Jason, or at least a ninja with plastic nunchucks! Okay, maybe they don't want to be a serial killer but they certainly don't want to be a tame book character. On top of having to wear a not so cool costume, they have to write a book report! So, not only did our American school system manage to suck the scary and fun element out of Halloween at school, they made it an academic holiday too!

In the spirit of the watered down version that is imposed on us by the school system, I present for your consideration my costume for Book Character Dress Up Day.

Ms. Frizzle is in the house! Who knew that cutting out individual lizards from some fabric I found would be so tedious! You are looking at two nights of hard labor, all so half of them could call me the lizard lady. Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

But in all seriousness, my kids liked my costume and I even got a few compliments from other teachers. All in a day's work for a second grade teacher.

Jerry Seinfeld on Halloween

2009-10-29T18:29:00.002-04:00

See what Jerry has to say about Halloween!

[Please excuse the website advertisements....it's the only one I could find]

Playing Favorites

2009-10-29T18:10:00.008-04:00

I've decided that every week I'm going to post a favorite thing of the week. It's your job to check out my blog to see my favorite thing of the week!

Without further ado...drum roll please........

I picked these cutie patooties up at Target for one of the theme days we had at school this week (slipper day)! They make me smile every time I look at my feet and they are comfortable to boot! What was your favorite thing of the week?

2009-10-14T17:39:00.012-04:00

Another edition of Kidisms!!!!!

So....this week our reading unit's theme is "Let's Explore". A week long project for the kids is to explore their yard or neighborhood and find nature related items to bring in and share. One of our students made a great little shadow box with some nature related items in it. It is really cute and really well done. Everything is labeled and all! Yesterday, her mother came for the report card conference. As she was walking out the door we complimented the shadow box that her daughter brought in. As we were all looking at it, the centipede that she had glued in started to move!!! His little antennas started to go back and forth. She said they found it in their pool and there was no way it could be alive....apparently it is! Today, the kids noticed! Luckily, I was able to compare it to a lizard's tail that wiggles after you cut it off. I played it off as nerves and that the centipede is dead. The kids bough it! After school today me and my teacher were checking it out and it was still moving and now it's legs are moving! How long could this centipede possibly live?!?! So I have a possibly dead centipede glued into a shadow box in my room....is that anything like a possibly dead Sheriff Dullard?

One of my students said the sweetest thing to me today. After working with his reading group, as he was cleaning up his space, he turned to me and said, "Thank you for teaching us Ms. Cole." How sweet! That really made me feel like a true teacher. :)

Have a good rest of the week!

Marching Chiefs doing Thriller!!

2009-10-12T16:27:00.003-04:00

Parent's Weekend 2009

2009-10-11T13:18:00.004-04:00

Originally uploaded by smc06r

It was officially the last Parent's Weekend as an undergraduate :(

We had a lot of fun! My parents brought the RV to Tallahassee so that was a lot more convenient. On Friday night we went to the FSU Circus. It was wonderful as usual! The, on Saturday, before the game, I took them to Pebble Hill Plantation just over the line in Georgia. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Saturday night was the big game! FSU vs. GA Tech! Well we go though half of the first quarter and then the game was suspended because of lightning in the area. After about an hour the game started again. We stuck it out in the rain! There was a row of GA TEch fans in front of us and we couldn't possibly leave before they did!

At half time the Marching Chiefs did a tribute to Michael Jackson! They even did the Thriller dance! That's right, 500 band nerds, some lacking rhythmic coordination, doing the thriller dance in front of 83,000 people! It was amazing!

We did lose the game but it wasn't because of a lack of effort. After the week's hoopla over Bobby Bowden it was great to see a show of solidarity by the fans! There were multiple signs in support of our beloved head coach. My favorite one was "In Bowden We Trust". Another one read, "Every Real Seminole Supports Bobby".

Hope you had a good weekend! Click on the pic for more!

2009-10-01T19:12:00.006-04:00

You know you love 'em!

The state has implemented a new reading test that every child in the state has to to do. Some of the testing is one-on-one. One of the tasks is to re-make words. The teacher says, "Make the word 'code' into 'node'." And the students use letter cards to make the new word. The kid that was being tested says, "I can't, there isn't a 'k' !" As in 'knowed'...ha ha ha!

One more for ya! One of our spelling words this week is 'demand'. So, one of the teachers in second grade is giving a spelling pre-test. She says the word and one of her students writes: the man....like "da man"....ha ha ha!

Labor Day Weekend!

2009-09-09T18:26:00.002-04:00

The reflection pool from the Lincoln Memorial
Originally uploaded by smc06r

For the long weekend I went to D.C. to visit my roommate from London, Sarah! We had a great time!

I got in late Friday night and was pretty tired, we just stayed up talking and catching up.

On Saturday we did the tourist thing and saw all the monuments. It was a gorgeous but hot day. The best part of the day was definitely the improv show that night which was hilarious! And we ate at Union Jack's, a TGIFriday's type of place but British. I attempted to eat the biggest plate of fish and chips I had ever seen but failed. It was delicious either way.

On Sunday we went to the National Zoo to see the pandas and the new baby gorilla! The baby gorilla was so cute but I couldn't get a good picture because of the glass. That night we went to a party at one of her boyfriend's friend's houses. A bunch of law school people but we had fun anyway!

I left on Monday but before I did me and Sarah went to downtown Alexandria and did a little shopping and exploring. Old Town Alexandria is such a cute place. Brick sidewalks and cute shops...what more could a girl ask for?!?!

Hope your three day weekend was fun! Click on the picture for more of D.C. and the national zoo!

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

2009-08-31T18:01:00.003-04:00

Look at that...an actual teacher! Welcome to the first day of second grade! I'll be your teacher, Ms. Cole. We are going to have a great year!........

Fast forward to the second week of school.....not so cheery anymore are we?!?! After three schedule changes and three seating arrangements, I think we are finally getting somewhere. We are doing actual work and not procedural fluff.

We do have some doozies in class but we are working forward. I just can't wait to do my full time teaching. Right now I'm doing a lot of observations and errands. I'm sure I'll have some great stories once I really get into it!

Playing Tourist

2009-08-31T17:51:00.002-04:00

The Main House...Pebble Hill Plantation
Originally uploaded by smc06r

Me and a couple of friends spent Sunday at Pebble Hill Planation. The plantation is just over the Florida/Georgia line. We had a picnic and explored the house and the grounds. The whole compound was absolutely gorgeous! The main house was beautiful and we all wanted to move in immediately! They also had stables and a couple of the horses were out in the pasture. They were beautiful. A couple of them came right up to us! The whole time I was wondering if I could talk someone into letting me go for a ride! Next time! Click on the pic for more of Pebble Hill Plantation.

Our last sumer adventure...

2009-07-30T11:42:00.001-04:00

The view from our RV site
Originally uploaded by smc06r

We got back on Sunday from our vacation in the Keys. It was a great time and there was beautiful scenery. We stayed at Bluewater Key RV Resort and it was beautiful. Each site had their own dock and was right on the water. The picture is the view from our site!

We spent a day in the upper keys and fed the giant tarpon at Robbie's Marina and toured the Turtle Hospital. Then we went to Key West and explored that area. We rode the tourist trolley, toured the Ernest Hemingway House, Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum and Truman's Little White House.

And guess what I found in Key West?!?! A real Irish pub!! They even had my favorite English cider, Strongbow!!! Great food and great atmosphere!

I know your all jealous now. Click on the pic to see some more of our tropical break.

Our South Carolina - North Carolina - Tennessee Adventure!

2009-06-30T17:17:00.001-04:00

About to ride The Dragon!
Originally uploaded by smc06r

So after my parents picked me up form camp we traveled to Cherokee, NC to check out the Smoky Mountains and the surrounding area. We saw Unto These Hills, the outdoor drama about the Cherokee people. It was great! Also me and my dad rode the motorcycle on the Tail of the Dragon. It is a world famous motorcycle and sports car road. It has 318 turns in 11 miles. What a blast! After that we rode 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, what views! Absolutely gorgeous! Click on the pic for more pictures of Tail of the Dragon and the Smoky Mountains.

Victory Junction Gang

2009-06-30T17:13:00.001-04:00

Adam's Race Shop
Originally uploaded by smc06r

a.k.a. the happiest place on Earth! Move over Disney World...you're title has been taken! This truly is a magical place! When kids come here they can be themselves, do anything they want, and forget about their illness. It's a great place and everyone should volunteer here and experience the magic for themselves. I will most definitely be back next summer! Click on the pic for more pictures of the grounds and Kyle Petty (who I totally met!).

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T17:57:00.001-04:00

A Glorious Day for a Sail
Originally uploaded by smc06r

This year for Mother's Day we took my mom on the schooner Freedom. She has seen it sail since we moved here and every time she does she says, "I want to do that." So today...we did. It was a great day for a sail and the water was wonderful.

We ate at a little restaurant downtown afterward. It was good food and great service!

Overall a great Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life...you know who you are!! Love ya!

P.S. Click on the pic for some views from the boat.

Invisible Children

2009-05-07T21:24:00.003-04:00

I found out about Invisible Children a while back at a screening of this very movie at FSU. Three young guys go to Africa and discover a 23-year war in which a rebel leader kidnaps and enslaves young children and makes them fight in his war. They are taken from their homes at night and then forced to kill their friends in order to harden them for war. This is still going on and needs to be stopped! Go forth and be informed!!

Gilmoreisms

2009-04-21T16:56:00.003-04:00

It's that time of the day! It's time for Gilmore Girls! For all of you non-Gilmore obsessed people out there who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, I'll explain. Everyday at 11am and 5pm, ABC Family shows an episode of Gilmore Girls. That's right, twice a day, it is truly amazing! I love this time of day. It's my guaranteed relaxation hour. I rarely have class or anything else going on at 5pm so it's perfect! I know that no matter what homework I am working on, at 5pm I can drop it and turn off my brain for an hour! It's my own little reward system.

In honor of this glorious hour, I have gathered some of my favorite Gilmoreisms for your pleasure!

Logan: Rory, you're special.
Rory: Like "stop-eating-the-paste" special?

Rory: What's with the carrots?
Lorelai: I was afraid you weren't eating well at school.
Rory: Ohhh.
Lorelai: Marshmallow?

[At the Yale-Harvard football game]
Lorelai: Oh, wait, are you Pennilyn Lott, my dad's college sweetheart?
Pennilyn Lott: Yes.
Lorelai: You're my almost-mommy.
Pennilyn Lott: Well, I supposed that's one way of putting it...
Lorelai: I'm so glad to finally meet you. Let me ask you something - would you have let me get a pony?

Richard: Focus, please.
Lorelai: I am a camera.

Luke: Get out, Taylor.
Taylor: Why?
Luke: It's just a code I live by.

Taylor: [Luke won't give out free coffee at the dance marathon] You would knock the crutch out from under Tiny Tim, wouldn't you?
Luke: If he asked for a free cup of coffee, Gimpy's goin' down.

Christopher: This town is like one big outpatient mental institution.

Luke: Rory's not here yet.
Lorelai: Then you'll have to entertain me until she arrives. Okay Burger boy, dance.
Luke: Will you marry me?
[Lorelai is taken aback]
Luke: Just looking for something to shut you up.

Luke: Ow.
Lorelai: Luke, are you okay?
Luke: Stupid box. Stupid lamp.
Lorelai: Hey Luke, are you being attacked by your possessions again?

Paris: I could really call you?
Lorelai: Anytime. Anywhere.
Paris: I'm gonna hold you to that.
Lorelai: Okay. It's not a threat, sweetie if someone makes the offer willingly.

Luke: [bringing their plates to the table] Hot plates.
Lorelai: [to Rory] See? He called me 'Hot Plates.' He so likes me.
Luke: [embarrassed] Geez...

Luke: Hey, Kirk, what's with the...?
Kirk: It's not a purse!
Luke: I wasn't going to say "purse". What's with the gay bag?

And the pièce de résistance...

Lorelai: I'm going to make out in the coatroom. Don't eat my chicken.
Rory: That's going on your tombstone.

Go forth and laugh!

What to do....what to do....

2009-04-19T21:33:00.004-04:00

I have a dilemma. Not a big one in the grand scheme of things. It's not nearly on the level of say, world hunger or the state of the middle east, but it's my dilemma, my own little dilemma to try to work out. So here goes. Should I get a mac computer? Here's the story.

I knew my computer had been running low on space on the hard drive so I took a little peak at it yesterday. And what did I see, pray tell, but not even a sliver of pink on the wonderful pie graph that Windows so helpfully provides for me. The pink, a hopeful color, represents the amount of space left on my hard drive. I couldn't see this little sliver of hope as it had drowned in a sea of blue, used up space. I was awash in panic. No more room for music, no more room for pictures, no more room for documents! Whatever shall I do? Then the idea came to me, what a perfect excuse to get a mac! I've always wanted one and they are very pretty. And not to mention new, you all know the affinity I have towards new and shiny things. The curiosity took over and it was all downhill from there. So, I let my fingers do the walking and went on over to the apple store website and look what greeted me.

Look at it! Just look at it! Isn't it preeetttyyyy! So cute and fun! I want one! Doesn't everybody?

But then, I saw the price! OMG the price! That's almost all of my savings account. The savings account I have been building since high school. Are you kidding me?!?!

But then the voices start again. It's so pretty. And shiny. And new. And cute.

What to do....what to do.....

Sacrifice almost my entire savings account or just put some memory into my old reliable PC? Join the Apple world or stay in the PC world?

We shall see. Either way, I need more space. How else am I supposed to single handily swindle the music industry out of thousands of dollars a year by illegally downloading music if I have no where to put that music? The world would end as I know it.

Look at this beauty....

2009-04-18T19:57:00.002-04:00

I am currently bidding on this lovely vintage Lady Buxton jewelry case. I saw it on eBay and had to have it. First of all I love that it's vintage and second, I love that it's gold. It will match my travel toiletry case perfectly. It has all the storage I could possibly need. I am already in love with it so a death match may occur between me and anyone that tries to steal this beauty away from me. The auction ends in 5 days...wish me luck!

The Plan

2009-04-18T13:18:00.001-04:00

I just realized that I never really explained the graduate school plan that I overly organized in the last post. Silly me. You're probably wondering, what graduate school program for Education lasts from 2009 to 2013? I'll tell you which one does. The Peace Corps International Master's. I'll give you the rundown. One year of classes in one of two majors; middle or secondary education (math, science, or english) or international education development. Since I can't even really stand fifth graders, I'm thinking middle or secondary education is not for me. Just a hunch.

After I finish that one year of classes I enter the Peace Corps. For 27 months. Count 'em, 27. I will more than likely be sent to either Eastern Europe or Africa. Crossing my fingers for Africa.

27 months later I will re-enter graduate school and finish up. You know, all that thesis stuff. Blah, blah, blah.

Oh, and did I mention I'm taking 6 months off before I do any of this.

Hence the four year time line.

An Organization Frenzy

2009-04-18T00:49:00.000-04:00

*Originally posted before the great blog deletion of 2009.*

I am in an organization frenzy!

It all started when me and my mom were in the midst of one of our daily e-mail conversations. We started talking about graduate school and all the plans that go with that. I thought I had it all planned out but I realized that it wasn't as planned out as I would have liked it. So, what did I do you ask? I made a time line. Now, here is where my organizational OCD comes into play. I made the mother of all time lines. This time line starts in August 2009 and does not end until Fall of 2013. This time line is a month-by-month breakdown of my life. I put every date you could possible put on it. I have internship dates, I have scholarship dates, I even have dates to remind me to look for the scholarship paperwork online to begin with. Now, some of you are probably saying to yourself right now, she needs help. Some of you may even be picking up your phone right now and dialing your favorite shrink. Let me assure you, this is becoming normal for me. As I like to say, it's just how I roll.

Oh, and, might I add that these fits of orgnaization do not last only a fwe hours or a few days. Oh no, they last a week, may be even two weeks.

Today I was doing laundry and I looked at my closet and I couldn't stand it one. more. second. What did I do, I organized it too. First my life, then my closet. Makes sense to me. How did I organize my closet you ask? Well, the same way anyother organization obsessed person might; jackets, tops, bottoms, and dresses. Harmless right. Brace yourselves. I didn't stop at jus those four categories, I made sub-categories! Now for this I am really proud of myself so no laughing or eye-rolling. The jackets go from longsleeve, to three-quarte length, to shortsleeve, as do the tops. The bootoms go from jeans, to dress pants, to capris, to skirts. The dressese go from three-quarter length sleeve, to shortsleeved, to sleevless. This is all, of course, form left to right; the same way we read.

May I provide you with a picture of my stellar organizational skills (or hysteria).

After that, I happened to glance over and see the door handle that holds all my jewelry.

I was just as disgusted with it as I was with my closet before I unleashed my amazing organizational skills on it. So much so that I sat right down at my computer to look for an appropriate organizational tool. And guess what I found, a website made especially for people in the midst of organizational hysteria. Amazing!

I organized my top desk drawer but I am still unhappy with it. I don't have the correct organizational products to deal with it. I'll leave that for another fit.

Now that I think about it, I could sort each category of clothes by color too!

My Fifth Graders

2009-04-18T00:48:00.001-04:00

*Originally posted before the great blog deletion of 2009.*

My time in Fifth grade ended on Friday. It was bittersweet. I enjoyed most of my students but some I just couldn't handle. At times there were the most disrespectful kids I had ever met. I feel like such an old lady when I say this but kids today are different. I remember being in elementary school and any adult that was in the room was respected just as much as the teacher. I just don't understand some of the kids.

And their parents...ugh....useless. One of the kids did not come home from school and did not tell her mother that she was staying over at a friend's house and the parents never noticed that she wasn't in the house and that she didn't come home from school that day. How can that happen?!?!?! Because of absentee parents, discipline becomes a separate challenge. You don't have the threat of parents anymore.

Probably one of my greatest achievements was one of my reading lesson plans. We read a play about a girl that wakes up with spots and then can transform into different patterns. So, we talked about how different people pictured different things in their head about the character. We also talked about how more details would have helped us all to have the same picture in our heads.

The next day the kids did "Monster Writing". Each student drew a monster and then wrote a description. I told them to make their description as detailed as possible but did not tell them why. When they were done writing, I had them switch their descriptions with another student and that student had to draw the monster described as best as they could. They had a great time and it made a great bulletin board! I put up all the kids' pictures along with their descriptions and their partners' drawings. All the other classes loved seeing all the drawings and reading the descriptions.

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

2009-04-18T00:41:00.000-04:00

While I was trying to clean up all the google accounts I had accumulated I accidentally deleted my entire blog! I am freaking out right now! OMG!!!

I am really annoyed with myself and mad that I lost all those memories from London and of college dating all the way back to freshman year!! Ugh!!!

On the bright side...high school had been over for a long while so I guess it was time for a fresh start anyway. This blog is going to be called Delaying the Real World as that is my goal for the next 4 years of my life.