Turkey Time

It's that time of year again . . . a few days after Halloween and everyone is decorated for Christmas. I enjoy Christmas more than any other holiday but as a Thanksgiving baby, I would appreciate a little more recognition for the giving thanks to the Pilgrims and Indians for inventing this holiday. . . and my birthday!!!

Anywho - this time of year is so hard on everyone with spending and eating too much. I've decided this year I'm going to be on strict "portion control" at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's going to suck and be extremely hard with all of those yummy casseroles and all of that turkey and ham staring at me . . . begging to be eaten. Denny and I are both getting back into our gym habits. Since my training partner left the gym and Denny had his surgery, we've fallen off the bandwagon with going. BUT it will happen and my goal of being back into highschool/YHC shape will happen by the time I head off to Europe next summer. I don't want to be that person who hates looking at awesome pictures from far off dream land because I don't like the way I looked. So . . . motivation is set and now I just have to go through with it!

So here's to turkey and pilgrims and portion controls.

Snapfish Holiday Cards

It's that time of the year again . . . time to decide which picture to add to your holiday cards. I love receiving Christmas cards that include pictures of the family and now that the actual card can have the picture located on the card, it makes it so much easier! Snapfish allows you to create your own photo card with a holiday theme. They have a wide variety of designs you can choose from and you can choose from different layouts that allow you to display 1 picture or many pictures. There are traditional themes, with red and green color schemes, or the more modern themes of bright colors.

Also - a great idea is to take advantage of the holiday season sales that occur on snapfish. Why not go ahead and print cards for next year's fall season with current pictures? You also can do general birthday cards and include your own personal greeting as well as photos.

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, follow the arrow à http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Frienimies

I love my friends - there is absolutely no denying that. They are there for me whenever I need them whether they are near or far. We have our moments where we don't exactly see eye to eye but we have always managed to get through it. Although I'm not someone who wants to sit down and talk about "it" when something happens, I do eventually like to discuss the issues at hand. I like resolution and it bothers me when I can't figure out how to approach such situations.

So here's my dilemma - having a big group of friends there is always bound to be issues. No one ever said being friends was "easy." My problem comes from the inner-friendship competition. Obviously there are going to be those people or couples who are closer with some than others - there is nothing wrong with that because I am one of those couples. Denny and I have 2 couples that we do most things with and we call on those people because they are close in location to us and we have, for the most part, the same schedules. Everyone has those friends and everyone NEEDS those friends. I do however hate competition between friends. Everyone knows what I'm talking about - the "we hang out more than they do" crap. If you're friends, be confident in that friendship. Just because I'm closer with certain people doesn't mean I care for the others any less. I'd still do anything for my other friends but 9/10 times they call on their friends who they are closest with . . . as anyone would do!

I'm not pointing fingers because we're all guilty of it - I just wish sometimes everyone would think on the same "friend level" and understand that we all love each other, we all want to hang out with each other and accept that it doesn't always work out that way. But just because it might now work out at that moment, don't write your friends off. They still love you and still want to be considered your "friend" . . . it was just bad timing.

..... CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE FRIENDS!?!?!?

Flashback to 7th grade . . .

Today was day "2" at UGMS. It is AWESOME. I almost feel spoiled by how great everything is going. I have heard some nightmare stories when it comes to student teaching but I just can't place my finger on what is bad yet. I know I will eat those words eventually - everyone has bad days. But right now I just feel blessed.

Our kids are great - 7th grade is ideal. You don't have the 8th grade attitude and you don't have the 6th grade babies who constantly look like deer in headlights. 7th grade is just laid back and chill. They aren't afraid to be goofy and if you know my personality . . . we (7th graders and I) understand each other quite well! ;)

I appreciate Clayton State University putting us in the schools for Fall and Spring semesters. The kids are getting used to me being there and today were comfortable to call me by name in class and ask a question. It's scary sometimes when they ask questions because you have to be confident and answer them. You aren't always correct and sometimes I refer them to Mrs. Pickett when it comes to leaving the classroom or management issues. I'm still learning that as well. They teach by example! ;)

Today I co-taught a lab. The kids had to get a gummy work through a gummy life-saver using only paper clips. They couldn't touch anything but the clips and if they dropped "Fred" (our worm) they had to start over. TALK ABOUT STRESSING!! The kids were hilarious! The whole purpose was to teach them how to write detailed instructions.

Anywho - great first two days and I'm excited about the rest of the week. I get next week off because college hasn't started yet. I still have classes at CSU - 3 of them. :/ So I'm taking off on an airplane Friday to go see Callan and Weeda at Pensacola Beach. Super pumped. The Triple Threat will be back together once again!

XOXO

It's almost that time again . . .

Time for school to start back and time for me to begin student teaching. I STILL do not know where I will be placed for the year. It is absolutely ridiculous that we have to wait until the week of pre-planning to find this mess out! I'm venting . . .

We had a great weekend - went camping with some friends up at YHC for Homecoming. Just the one night more than I thought it would be on the "fun scale" so I was glad we made the trip. We hung out on campus Saturday and got to see the new sports facility. It's ridiculously nice! Driving back to head to the lake was rough, we were super tired. We got to the lake around 9 last night and crashed. We enjoyed a relaxing morning on a float in the lake and I had to come back to the MCD for La and Bone's first wedding shower. Today was the church shower and they were "showered" quite well!! We helped them unpack everything tonight. It's kind of overwhelming and its not even my house or stuff!! But we love them!

Tomorrow starts the diet - lots of salads are in my future. Bone and Al are having an August Weight Loss competition so I told them I was in on it. I ordered my bridesmaids dress a size bigger just in case and was very relieved that it didn't "fit" . . . I was hoping it would be too big. I'm hoping to lose around 20 lbs. Most people freak out when I say that but I just need to get back to a healthy place for myself and my "self" happiness. My sister has started her journey to run a half-marathon. I've never been a fan of running, I'm more of a biking/kayaking type person but I think it would be fun to do together. I go to the gym a good bit but I'm making myself MAKE time to go everyday or at least walk through the neighborhood. It's time to walk the walk because the talking has been going on for months.

Senior Year

I can't believe it is finally here - one more year and I will finally be out in the real world. I feel like I've been "there" for a while but I guess it will be official with the diploma in hand. If you know me well, you know college hasn't been the easiest road I've traveled down. But thankfully I have a great family and friend support system who have never given up on me.

I will graduate with a Bachelor's in Middle Grades Education focusing on Science and Social Studies. I just got the first of good news for the new year - I passed the Science GACE. If you don't know what the GACE is, its the state test every teacher-in-the-making must pass to graduate and be "certified" to teach a content area. So . . . step 1 - completed!

We got our first "assignment" for our seminar class this morning and I'm already stressing over it! Summer isn't officially over yet and this is happening! I have 1 more week of summer class (stupid, STUPID technology class . . . that's a whole different blog to post!) and then I go to pre-planning, Open House, and the entire first week of school. I'm thankful that Clayton sees the importance of being there from the beginning. I'm very excited to meet the students in my class. I'm still not sure where I'll be interning - there are 4 possible choices: Union Grove, Ola, Luella, or Dutchtown. UGMS was my first pick because I graduated from UGHS. I had the current principal as an AP during my 4 years and he is amazing. Ola has a new principal that I have heard great things about as well. I don't know too much about Luella and Dutchtown on a "personal" level.

I'll make the best out of wherever I get placed but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for one of the first two. Any of them will be a great learning experience and I'm thankful for the opportunity. I am one of the few left who haven't been placed yet. Good ole' Henry County waiting until the last minute . . . as per usual!

So send up some prayers or good vibes, whichever you choose to do, and wish us future teachers the best in our upcoming adventures!!