fill in the blank friday

link up @ the little things we do

1. Today is a great day because,   it's Friday and one day closer to summer vacay!  PTL!

 

2. Tomorrow I will  get a mani/pedi and have lunch with Chelsea! I'm pretty sure it's been way too long so we have had a girls day!

 

3. My favorite time of day is the morning  because it's one of the few parts of the day when I'm not talking. I wake up, crank up my radio and hop in the shower to get ready for the day. For at least the first hour of the morning I don't have to speak to anyone at all. LOVE!

 

4. Sometimes you just have to let it go. I have a serious problem with holding on to stupid things way too long. Or letting little things that I can't control get to me. Working on this!

 

5. A song that I just can't get enough of lately is "We are young" by Fun .

 

6. My favorite accessory is earrings. I feel naked without them!

 

7. My favorite thing about this week was catching up with my bff, girls date with my momma Wednesday and sleeping.  And realizing that with the few days I'm taking off work in the next month, I only have about 23 days of school left. I'm pretty sure many of you understand this feeling! : )

 

Happy Friday Friends!

Let the countdown begin

You know how I know it's almost summer?

This is what the teacher parking lot looked like at my this yesterday morning...about 10 minutes before school started. I'm guessing everyone is savoring those few extra minutes of sleep.

The whole running thing is foreign to my body again. My hips hurt, my shins ache and my feet are quickly becoming covered in blisters. Yesterday, my lungs felt like they had been set on fire. It's definitely not easy getting back in to running, but I already feel so much more at ease from it. I'm remembering why I used to get the crazy looks when I would tell people that I run because it relaxes me.

This is where I like to run after school. And...it might be considered our "hills". Don't laugh. I'm from a town about 30 miles from here called LEVELLAND. It's exactly what Levelland sounds like. FLAT.

Obviously my self portraits really do suck. I don't even want to start thinking about what went wrong here, but I figured you missed my face for so long that you would take just about anything you can get. sorry.

____________________________________________________________________

One of my students from last year brought this in to me yesterday.

In translation -- You the best teacher IN THE WORLD. Not You the best teacher and the worst. haha. This kid seriously melts me heart. I'm so sad he's heading to junior high in a few short months.

Do you watch The New Girl?

Seriously, Jess Schmidt and Nick crack me up. I'm pretty sure I could watch their stupid humor all day long.

"There’s no brushed steel, no nickel. It’s got none of the baller metals. C’mon, man, I’m not going to get Winklevossed because of your sloppiness." -Schmidt

After today -- 25 full and 2 half days until summer vacay!!!!!

Opportunities

I think that goes along with THIS post from last night. I just found Clare's blog Fitting It All In and I'm sure I will spend way too much of my day stalking her older posts. : )

I promise this is my last woe is me post...atleast for the week. You're welcome.

I attempted to do some yard work this weekend. By yard work I mean fight through the jungle of weeds that I call my backyard. I ended up with the biggest blister EVER on my finger and a HUGE gash on the back of my foot. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but I seriously thought I was going to die when it happened. I have pictures, but when you realize the blister is tiny and the HUGE gash isn't so huge, you might think everything I say is a lie. Needless to say, I have convinced my self that I have over done it so I took Sunday off to do NOTHING. Seriously. NOTHING...except watch TV and read magazines.

via

SELF is one of my favorite magazines. I ALWAYS find something in there that I can relate to. With all of my "unhappy" talk, I found the perfect article for me called Feel As Happy As a Pig in Mud. It basically talks about finding ways to trigger your own happiness. The four "ultra-easy" things it talks about to bring on happiness are...

Smile

Sing

Sweat

Soothe

Sounds easy enough, right? Check the article out and let me know what you think.

I'm off for a day of 4th graders, getting a quick run in after school then heading to a SMART training from 4:45-7:45. YUCK.

PS. I gave my dogs each a bone last night that were chicken flavored. I had no idea. I woke up to nasty chicken breath in my face this morning. Happy Monday to me!

Whistle While You Work

I mentioned last week that I have been in a funk. This funk made me cry...a lot. It made me a little more on edge than normal and it made me want to not be social -- at all. I can't pinpoint just exactly what it was that sent me off the deep end, but I know it was probably a combination of a few things.

1.  I have been more frustrated about my job in the last few months than I ever have. The stress of helping my students to meet the grade level requirements has gotten to me.

2.  I'm not exactly where I thought I would be when I was 27. Like most people, I thought I would be married and have a family, but I'm about as far away from that as possible. (according to a "friend", I'm now at the age where it's not an option for me to be picky...I just need to take what I can get and be happy with it.) <----I'm sorry you feel that way.

3.  I have been financially frustrated. Who isn't? I found out almost 2 months ago that my house payment is going up about $216 a month starting May 1 because of some changes in insurance and taxes going up. FABULOUS. It doesn't necessarily put me in a bind, but it will prevent me from doing some of the things I would like. grrr.

4.  I'm not happy with myself. I have gained weight and my pants got too tight. I can't use the "I can't work out because of my foot" excuse anymore. When I don't do some kind of working out I feel like crap.

I'm pretty sure that I had my family worried about me as well as my teaching partners at school. I just haven't been my happy, sarcastic, stubborn self and something had to be done about it. One of the smartest guys I know reminded me to remember all of the things I have to be thankful for. The good things definitely outweigh the bad, it's just hard to remember that sometimes.

So - with the list I made earlier...

1. I'm so thankful for the love and laughter my students bring to me at school.

They seriously crack me up on a daily basis. I never know what's coming out of their mouth but it usually makes me laugh. Even when I get asked if I think I nag too much. grrrr. hahaha. And my FAVORITE part is when the students I had last year walk by my room and stop to give me a hug and ask to come back to 4th grade to be with me. aww. love them!

 

2.  Although sometimes I get frustrated, I'm pretty okay with not being married and having the white picket fence right now. Especially when I sign on Facebook and my newsfeed is COVERED with baby mama drama and people trash talking their exes.

3.  I'm 27. I live in my own house. I drive a nice car. I travel with my friends. I can buy myself things I want even if it means I have to save up for a couple months. I can afford to do a lot of things that most people can't.

4. I have started running again. Garmin free, pace free running. I have missed it soo much.

I still struggle, but knowing that summer is coming is helping me get through. ; ) And messages like thist that help me stay sane...

What is your go-to thing when you're stressed?

Are you fresh?

One of the perks to being a teacher is getting a week off for Spring Break. Did I just say perk? I'm not sure if it's a perk for a teacher or just a small opportunity for teachers to regain a little bit of sanity before finishing out the year. As stressed and frustrated as I have been this school year I definitely needed a break.  During spring break, I was lucky enough to spend a few days on the ranch that my cousin and his family live on.  I don't think I can begin to tell you how gorgeous this place is, but maybe a couple of the pictures can show you.

 If you're wondering why these next two pictures have a funky blue tint, it's because I took the pictures from the INSIDE of the truck. Who does that? I did... right after I begged my 13 year old cousin to help me get off my horse and tie it up because I was still traumatized by the gigantic bulls that ran at me a few minutes earlier. I may or may not have been the 27 year old yelling "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD" as my horse took off in the opposite direction. Surprisingly, I didn't fall off but it gave everyone else something to laugh at after.

 

Still not convinced?

Maybe the pictures that Connie took will change your mind.

Although I give my family a hard time for being all about their horses, I can't think of a better way I would have wanted to spend my spring break. And - it was a pretty fantastic trip with my dad. : )

3 posts in a row. Ohhh yeah

I'll leave you with this...

Yep, there's ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

Goose Chase

Am I the only person that wasn't aware that a goose makes a hissing noise similar to what I imagine a gigantic snake making?? I don't care what you say -- that's what it sounds like.

This guy stretched his head out around the car and was making some awful sound that scared me enough to scream and run across the road. Seriously, goose? Thank goodness I didn't think long enough to look around to see if anyone else saw me make a fool out of myself.

I'm pretty excited about running again. How many times have you heard me say that? Blah blah...I know. I ran about 3 1/2 miles today with Tayler Garmin free. I didn't intentionally run without my watch. It was charged last night and when I got it out this afternoon it was dead. It worked out for me because I want to get back to running because I enjoy it, not for a time. When I first started running a couple years ago I didn't know my pace or how far I had been without driving the course. I think that sounds pretty good until I can run a mile without thinking my next gasp for air will be my last.

The plan for right now is to run Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I feel like writing it in a blog will mean it will happen just like that. Duh...isn't that how things work?

And just in case you were wondering what happens when you stop blogging for a while and don't constantly take pictures of yourself 24-7....

It's talent.



Don't catch the funk

How many times can I say I'm going to start posting again then I don't? I'm a blog failure x 100. Truth is...I haven't worked out or done much of anything for that matter. I have been in a funk where I just wanted to come home after school, close the door and lay on the couch until it is a somewhat acceptable time to go to bed. Who wants to read negative nancy's blog all the time? NOT ME. So, I'm going to spare you all that crap and leave you with a Happy Easter picture of me and my sister. : )

PS -- I'm making my way out of my funk. I just put my Garmin and Running shoes in my bag for after work! SO excited!