Friday Fives!

It's time for Friday Fives again!


This week it's 5 random questions, so here are my answers!

1. If given a choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?
First, I would most definitely SLEEP IN! Then, I would plan to go to lunch with a friend or someone from my family to take a nice break from sitting in the cafeteria with my students. :) After lunch, depending on the time of year, I would either go to lay out by the pool or visit the beach OR I would of course, go shopping! How wonderful it would be if the day I got to skip work was also pay day! Ha!





2.If you could start fresh, what profession would you choose?
NOTHING, I LOVE MY JOB! :) God called me to be a teacher, and I'm proud to answer and commit to His call! However, I someday plan on enhancing my career by becoming a guidance counselor, school psychologist...or something along those lines!

3. What is your favorite candy or candy bar?
That's a tough one because I like LOTS of candy bars! Any of these sound good!


Here are some pictures one of my college friends took of me inside a candy shop in Savannah, GA...does this tell you how I feel about candy in general? Ha!:)



4.Have your ever ordered anything from an infomercial or bought an"As seen on TV item"?
No I have not!

5. What's the movie you ALWAYS cry at??
I don't cry in movies. But, whenever I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I always get teary-eyed!


What are your answers to these questions?

Packing, Packing, Packing

Today I was in a Grades 3-5 Math workshop from 8:30-2:30. Wasn't too bad at all, much better than the workshop I went to on Monday; better presenter. I had to do a lot of thinking in geometry though, which is something I don't enjoy. I'm more of an algebra person when it comes to math. Tomorrow is Day 2 of the training and we will be given some manipulatives to use in our classroom. Yay! Teachers LOVE free stuff! The other 5th grade teachers I work with were also there and we had a yummy lunch at a place called Palace Pizza. I had never been there before and it was really good! When you go inside, you stand at the counter and look at a menu to order and then all the food is already made, you just tell them what you want and they warm it up and then you have it in less than 5 minutes! I have half of my calzone leftover in the fridge...yum! I love calzones! I think I am going to find a recipe for them and make them this summer!



Then when I got home...the packing became serious. I'm leaving Sunday for a teacher conference down in Ft. Myers and won't be back until Tuesday afternoon and we move Wednesday! So, I've got a lot to do between now and the time I leave on Sunday. My roommate, Dayna, was starting to get anxious that it wasn't all going to get done and didn't feel like we were getting anywhere. The apartment really didn't look like we had packed much but it looked (and still looks) messy which is driving us absolutely crazy!






I've been doing a lot though in my short summer break so far. I've gotten rid of a TON of stuff. Everything I accumulated while in college, including notebook, after notebook, after notebook and all the other random "stuff" that was serving no purpose has been donated to the thrift store or the dumpster, whichever place it was best suited for. :) The notebooks below are the ONLY college notebooks I have decided to keep. They're all mainly my methods courses which contain lots of resources that would be useful as a teacher now! Inevitably, these too, I will someday part with.

It was weird throwing away 4 years worth of college assignments that I worked so hard on away in the garbage! But the most important thing I have from college comes in the form of a single paper:

...and that is ALL I need. Ha!

It feels SO good to be free of so so so so so so much stuff. I mean it really was a lot that I am free of now! I also collected all of my bank statements and credit card statements and other bills, etc., that had just piled up and had them shredded so that is another relief. That, too, was a HUGE pile. This move feels so refreshing already. We have already taken down our table in our ever-so-small dining room to make room for all of the boxes. We really are getting somewhere. Kitchen will have to wait until right before we head out this weekend, but that will require lots of boxes. I'm thankful to have my parents coming the night before our move to help us the next morning load the truck and finish our last minute things. Only 5 more nights at this apartment since 2 of those nights will be in a hotel this coming week! Yeah! Well, I'm sure I'll blog more on moving later! Now it's time for a Wendy's frosty...yum! :)

Father's Day

For Mother's Day, I was unable to drive to Sarasota because my Honda was over on its miles as a lease vehicle and I was close to turning it in and that would have been 200+ miles I would have had to pay for. Mom understood. All that to say, now that I have a new car, I was bound and determined to be with my family for Father's Day. I only went to Sarasota for a night because I had a teacher workshop today, but sometimes short-and-sweet trips are good for the soul. Plus, I needed to get out of Lake Wales. I am SO bored. (By the way, I'm moving in NINE days! Single digits! Yeah!!)

So...back to the title of this post: Father's Day. My family is laid-back and low key so we didn't make the day a huge ordeal. I think my family is at one of the "in-between" stages of life. My siblings and I are in our early twenties/late teens and so we're old enough to where we don't do all the "frilly" stuff. None of us are married or have children, so my parents aren't grandparents yet. (Thank you, Captain Obvious, right?!) So I say we're in this "in-between" stage because I'm sure once my siblings and I are married and have children, the holidays will have their "frill" added back. MAYBE this only makes sense in my head...but it might be this way for my family too considering all but 1 of our grandparents are in Heaven and aren't here to physically celebrate holidays with us. When they were alive, especially my maternal grandparents...holidays, all of them, were fun and memorable! Oh, nostalgia...



We celebrated by having dinner at Outback Steakhouse. My dad has a HUGE thing for steak, prime rib especially. He likes it pink, pink, pink...to where the rest of us are like, "Ew, Dad!" Ha! I should have taken a picture of how pink it was...but instead I took a picture of my heart-shaped chicken pasta dish...

I unfortunately couldn't enjoy much of my dinner because I had a locked jaw. I have NO idea what caused it to go out of place, but it was not pleasant. At all. Thankfully it's feeling more normal today, but still very sore.

Here are some other pictures from the day... (I need to be a better blogger by taking more pictures, no matter what people think or say! Ha!)


My mom and I-she has visited the beach quite a few more times than me this summer so far! (Yes, I know I'm in need of a haircut!)


My brother and his crazy hair!


This picture looks the way it does because my cooperative teenage sister, Keleigh refused to get a family picture inside the restaurant, so we had to get it outside. Isn't it cute how we're all squinting? :/

After dinner, I basically packed up my things and headed back to Lake Wales. A wicked storm was about to hit Sarasota so I figured I'd better get on the road. I made it home in good time by 8:00 and made it a point to go to bed early. I have had this issue with not sleeping which is very unusual for me. I'm always able to fall asleep without problem...and sleep IN with no problem! Ha! Not lately, though. Saturday night, the night I stayed at my parents', I had NO sleep. Talk about miserable!!! NO sleep, a locked jaw, PLUS an ugly eye infection/allergic reaction I woke up to today as a result of using my sister's eye make-up remover on Saturday night. It'd be one thing if today was just a casual summer day where I didn't have anything planned...but I had a teacher workshop to attend which means professional attire, with colleagues...all with no make-up with red, puffy, swollen, ugly eyes! Luckily, my brown-framed glasses helped disguise some of the puffiness. Thank you, dear glasses! :)

So, as I mentioned earlier, the countdown 'til my move is in the single digits! I'm so so so excited! I have workshops 3 days this week, lunch with some of my family in Lakeland tomorrow, and then Sunday night I leave for a 2 day conference down near Ft. Myers and then Wednesday of next week I move! So..the packing has to get serious. Ha! No more of this moving-stuff-around-to-where-it-looks-like-I'm-packing-but-I'm-really-getting-nothing-accomplished stuff! Ha! I was able to get rid of a LOT of stuff though, both to my sister and to the thrift store; that's always a good feeling! So, technically, I have done something!

It's safe to say that I'm rambling on right now...so with that thought, I'll save more for next time!

Friday Fives-Favorite Songs!

Oh gosh, this week's Friday Fives is gonna be a hard one! I have LOTS of favorite songs! FYI: These songs will range from all different genres!

1. I Can Only Imagine, by Mercy Me. I sang this song at my grandma's funeral in 2006 and barely got through it. Such a great song with a powerful message!


2. Clocks, by Coldplay. Favorite lyric line from this song "closing walls, and ticking clocks"


3. Power of Love, by Celine Dion


4. Revelation Song, by Kari Jobe


5. It Happens, by Sugarland


What are your 5 favorite songs?! Link up at Just Me and My Life to play along!

Miscellany Monday

Here's a post filled with miscellaneous "stuff!"

1. Today officially begins my SUMMER! 0n this first day of summer I woke up decently early for me (10:00) and began making phone calls to reserve a U-haul, shut off my current electricity, start new electricity, end cable service, and call my new apartment office to get the measurements of the windows (for curtains.)

2. I had an unhealthy lunch, homemade nachos. They were delish! ;)

3. I cleaned and organized, but you can't tell. Yet.

4. I posted my entertainment center on Craigslist. Interested? Just kidding! ;) I have furniture on layaway at Rooms to Go and so there is no reason to trek this along for the move. Plus, it's ridiculously heavy!


5. I walked/ran at the lake.

6. I invested in a Racetrac gas station cup to get free refills all summer long! For an avid soda drinker like myself, this is exciting! Haha! I even got it in purple, my favorite color! :) The cool thing is, you can refill the cup with either fountain sodas or slurpees!


7. Only 16 days left until I move! I couldn't be more excited. I feel like, after working in Lakeland since January, that I already "belong" there and I'm ready to say goodbye to Lake Wales-after almost 5 years! Hard to believe. It just gets boring around here (but if you're on a strict budget, it's a good place to live because shopping isn't really a hot commodity around here! Ha!) It doesn't help that I just don't feel safe in this apartment complex either.

I think I'll end it there considering it's well after midnight and no longer Monday. See ya next week for another Miscellany Monday! :)

Five Question Friday-why not another Friday post? :)

I'm spending the evening relaxing after ending half a semester finishing up college in my internship, and the next semester playing the role of teacher all...by...myself. Whew, what a year! It's been non-stop since August! So, please excuse me if you think I'm blogging too much... ;)

Here are the 5 questions for Friday!

1. What do you think makes a good friend, or friendship?
A good friendship, in my opinion, consists of fun, honesty, compassion, showing God's love, helping, and definitely laughing!


2. What is the last thing you bought and later regretted?
A black linen-type jacket from Old Navy that was on clearance for $20 that I could have totally lived without and it's too late to return it now. Hopefully I will find use for it come fall/winter!

3. Have you ever had a prank played on you?
Yes, and I'm known to be gullible so that doesn't help out much. Ha! But I remember one time back in 8th grade, I was on the phone with a boy who was asking me questions about what I "thought of" another boy who was actually listening in on another phone. Ha! What a joke looking back! Oh the middle school drama! Oh...and another time, this was in my junior year of college, I was walking down to my friend Mandi's dorm room and our other friend Lauren was hiding in the closet. I didn't know she was hiding in there so I was just talking to my friend Mandi when all of a sudden Lauren comes out of the closet and I screamed at the top of my lungs! It's one of Lauren's favorite stories!

4. What is your favorite theme park?
I'll say Disney World. I'm not obsessed with Disney by any means, but compared to the other parks I've been to I do enjoy Disney and all the rides and the parades and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas is a fun holiday tradition!

5. Have you ever seen someone else give birth?
No I haven't!

Friday Five!

Today at Friday Fives, the theme is five people you would choose to have lunch with if you had the opportunity, both deceased and alive! Here are my choices:

1. Julia Roberts-she doesn't seem to be Hollywood trash. I think she's a wonderful actress and just simply beautiful!

2. Princess Diana-even though she died when I was much younger, I admired all that she did for less fortunate people and she was just so classy! It's sad that she died so young.


3. Selah, the music group. I absolutely LOVE their music and would love to see them in concert someday!


4. Rosa Parks-I think it would be so cool to talk to her and hear a personal account of her struggles and the challenges she faced in taking a stand against slavery!


5. Michelle Duggar-I would have so many questions for her! I really wonder how she does it! I love kids, but 19 is A LOT!


And there you have it! What 5 people would you choose to eat lunch with if you had the opportunity?

2009-2010 School Year is History!

Yesterday ended the 2009-2010 school year for my students and I! I cannot believe the time has already come and gone to say goodbye to my first-ever class, even though I have only been their teacher since January. Those 5 1/2 months sure did fly! I am proud of each one of my students and the progress they have all made in their own ways in the months that I have been their teacher and my prayer is that they will do even BETTER in middle school! I have invested a lot of time mentally preparing my students for middle school and the changes they will face and decisions that they will have to make about WHO they want to be. I want so badly for them to make good choices in their lives and to realize that it is up to them to create the way for themselves by doing well in school. Unfortunately, most of the students at the school I work at don't live in healthy households where there are two parents who love and provide for them in a way that a mom and dad should. Simply put. There aren't ANY excuses not to parent your child and step up to the plate and take responsibility. I could go on and on because I have such a passion for children and it hurts me to see children living in unstable situations. Oh I have such a burden on my heart for these children! One thing I know: teaching at this kind of a school in the neighborhood it is in only makes my job more important.


Anyway...Monday was our big day for 5th graders. We had a Spelling Bee, a Luau dance party, a special lunch and cake, and then an awards ceremony to end the day. What fun it was! I remember my 5th grade graduation like it was yesterday. I told my students before I announced their awards that I'll never forget my first class and the many improvements they made since January and that is the truth! My first half-year teaching was nothing short of a challenge and at times I didn't know if I was doing the right thing but I had to keep on and rely on God to get me through with His strength and He did provide! He gave me the passion to teach and I want to honor Him in all aspects of my career! Many times I have said to myself, "If I got through with this class, surely I can get through with any future class!" Ha! I am thankful for the challenge this class was for me though because without it, I wouldn't have grown at all as a teacher. But in all of the behavior issues I dealt with, I had to do a lot of self-reflecting to see what I was doing to make sure it was working and if it wasn't, I needed to try something new. That happened a lot! Ha! I know I'm not nearly close to "figuring it all out" either, because each child is different and I'm sure (I KNOW) there will be another behavior challenge I'll have the pleasure of dealing with! :)

On Tuesday it was another fun and relaxing day. The kids watched Toy Story 2 which they loved and I did too because I was able to organize! Ha! Since I took over a classroom in the middle of the year, I did not have time to make the room my own, I just had to make do with how it was. So finally I was able to throw a lot of stuff out, stuff that the old teacher still had from the year I was BORN! Ha! That definitely needed to go, education has improved/changed drastically since then! The afternoon ended with a tennis tournament in which several of my students were involved and the student who won was in my class and so was his opponent! I'm very proud of them!

Wednesday started with a Staff vs. Student Kickball Game! That was a huge hit and most classes were out there! It was a lot of fun! My class had the most points out of the other 5th grade classes-yeah!!!! Haha, all in good fun! After the kickball game, I went to get popsicles out of the freezer and was able to provide 4 classes with popsicles out of the 100 I had in the box! That made for some happy students! :)
After popsicles, we headed back to the classroom for our "mystery reader" who was my mom! I had the students guess who she was before I told them. They loved guessing! My mom read to them and then I had scheduled one of our PE coaches to come in and give my students a middle school pep-talk because he used to work at the middle school that most of my students are attending. They had lots of their questions answered about middle school. I am so excited for them but I know they are nervous. It'll be a good change for them! The end of the day came so fast! I let my students who wanted to go to P.E. and then 4 girls chose to stay and hang out in the classroom with me and my mom as we took more stuff down! Before long it was time for the final goodbye! I got a little bit teary-eyed but I kept it together! Up to this point, it has not hit me that the year is over but soon it will and I'll probably shed a few tears. Ha! I have come to accept the emotional side of me! ;)


I wish ALL of my students good luck in middle school! I hope that I'll run into them in the future or that they'll come visit me. I think it's gonna be so fun (and make me feel old) to see how much they change over these next few years! This world is a tough place and it's much easier to travel down the troublesome path than it is to travel down the positive one but I truly hope my students will steer clear of anything that could possibly hurt their future!

Wordless Wednesday

*A full post will be written tomorrow on all of my end-of-the-year festivities! Today has been a bittersweet day!

Happy Birthday, Dayna!!!

Today is Dayna's 22nd Birthday!



Happy Birthday, Dayn! You're the most amazing friend a girl could have! Thanks for always being there for me and being a fun roommate! You help keep me chill and you always keep me laughing! Love you!!! Happy Birthday!

Memorial Day Weekend in Sarasota

This past weekend, Dayna (my roommate/best friend) and I traveled to Sarasota for and stayed with my family (of course.) We're dying to move out of Lake Wales, and when we're not in Lake Wales we're in Lakeland...so we wanted to take a mini road trip! Plus my mom's 50th birthday party was being held that weekend and I had an extra day for the weekend since it was Memorial Day!

So anyway, Saturday I slept in, like really slept in. I'll keep the hour of my awakening a secret to save me from embarrassment. ;) (My mom made me feel less guilty about how late I slept in by telling me that I should sleep in while I'm still single and free of children! Ha!) When I finally got up, I showered, got ready and packed and we left.

I had been craving pizza from Dino's Pizza (a place unique to Sarasota-it's been around forever) so I treated my family! It was SO good and one of my favorite parts about Dino's is on their buffet, they have soft serve ice cream...of course I'm a sucker for that! Ha! The rest of Saturday night we just all chilled. It was relaxing!

Then on Sunday, I completely missed my alarm for church and was disappointed! I feel so bad when that happens. But after I got showered for the day, I treated my mom and Dayna (and me!) to pedicures for their birthdays. My mom's was yesterday and Dayna's is this Sunday. The leg massage felt so good-I really needed it! Then we went to the Dollar Tree for some things my mom needed to pick up. Afterwards, Dayna and I picked up Korinne and took her to Jersey Mike's for subs and then to get a haircut...a desperately needed haicut! A few weeks ago, Korinne's school visited Lake Wales near where I live for a field trip and I went to visit her and her hair was just...scraggly! Haha. She was so overdue for a haircut and her new "do" looks amazing! I styled it for her and everything for my mom's party that night. Here is her cut:


Saturday night, my mom and one of their family friend's shared a birthday party because they both had birthdays on the same day, one turning 40 and the other 50.


This is the cake I had made for them


Here is a picture of our family from that night


Monday, our brave plan was to go to Siesta Key...it was PACKED! Luckily, we found a parking spot within 10 minutes so that wasn't bad at all. We only stayed for an hour and a half but we swam and got some sun! It was fun and HOT!


You know my family and I are obsessed with Jack, the chihuahua! Here is a picture that will help you visualize the love for this dog! Haha!


Once we got back from the beach, I showered and started grading some papers and that was at like 5:00. We didn't leave Sarasota that night until 10:45 and it's a 2 hour drive back and I had work in the morning! But I was so relieved to have all my students' research books graded, very time consuming they were! It felt good to get out of Lake Wales for a weekend and celebrate my mom's birthday, get pedicures, take Korinne for a haircut, and go to the beach! Love weekends like that! :)

Happy 50th, Mom!!!

Today is my mom's 50th birthday!!!



This is a picture taken from this past weekend when I visited Sarasota. She and a family friend (who is 40 today) had a joint birthday party at my parents' house on Sunday night. I took her out for a pedicure Sunday and the shirt she is wearing is also from me! She had a wonderful party and I hope and pray she lives another 50 years!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

A Not So Wordless Wednesday

I've got pictures to document today, but I don't want this post to be wordless. So, I'm calling it the "Not So Wordless Wednesday."


Please excuse the unenthusiastic look on my face-I'm super tired and woke up at 7:17 today (supposed to LEAVE by 7:15!) so I don't have my normal make-up on and I think it just makes me look homely! Ha! I should look more excited about baking peanut butter cookies!


Rolling the peanut butter balls in sugar


Ready to go in the oven! They taste delicious; I've already had a few tonight! :)

So this coming Monday is the 5th Grade Awards Ceremony at my school. I really wanted the students to have a special invitation since it's their last hoorah of elementary school. So I decided to make them some fun, colorful, luau-themed invitations. It just so happens that I enjoy crafty stuff like this so it works out. In the neighborhood of our school and the kinds of homes these kids come from-they aren't made to feel special very often. I really want them to feel special at this time of year-it's an exciting time for them!!




The end of the school year is SO close and grades were due today, so I'm kind of at a loss right now as to what to do with the kids all day! Ha! I know that sounds terrible, but I know it's also part of being a new teacher. I've got to gain more experience at this time of year so that I know how to "keep" the kids 'til the end! Especially as 5th graders, they're basically checked out mentally already and it makes sense. Tomorrow I'm letting them practice the words for our spelling bee in shaving cream which they're excited about! (I am too-it's a good way to clean their dirty desks! Ha!) They will also be nominating each other for Notable Awards and I know they'll have fun with that. I'm excited to make their awards! I'm gonna work on them this weekend. I know next year at this time, I'll know a lot better of what to do until the last day. For now...we're winding down and no one is gonna stop us! :)