Employment: Year Two

My second year of employment is officially in the books!

I spent the last week hibernating recovering. I obsessively watched DWTS youtube videos (no judging!), stayed up late, slept in, napped, wore the battery out on my iPad, got a pedicure, hit up a Zumba class, grocery shopped in the morning, and, of course, exercised everyday. It has been wonderful, but it's back to the grind starting Monday. I was crazy and signed up to work ESY (Extended School Year -- aka summer school). It's extra money and only four mornings a week, so it'll be ok. I'm working with my supervisor which should be equal parts entertaining and torturous. Focus on the money, Sarah!

Looking back on the past year, I am amazed by how unexpectedly wonderful it was. I didn't anticipate Year Two being much different from Year One, but I was so very wrong.

• I made friends this year. Relationships that barely started last year had a chance to flourish this year. I had lunch plans and Target dates and hilarious text conversations with truly wonderful people. My Army Oklahoma BFF walked into my life on the second week of the school year and nothing has been the same since. I swear it was fate. She didn't spend much of the year in the classroom next door, but that sure didn't stop us (and subsequently our husbands) from becoming fast friends. She and I spent all day Thursday together and never was there an awkward moment. It is really awesome having friends where you live.
• Brian was around this year. I started the year without him, but within the month he was home again. It was an adjustment (as it always is), but we were both happy to figure out the dynamics of a dual-income household. I know he's proud of me, too.
• It was important to me last year to let my work speak for me so I stifled my personality quite a bit around my colleagues. This year I had a better handle on the personalities in my school and I was more secure in my abilities, so my personality came out a bit more. This resulted in better relationships with teachers/staff and just all around more fun. I didn't hide in my classroom quite as much!
• Many of my students were the same this year from last year which was a blast. I love the part of my job that requires me to love these little kids, especially the ones who may not be getting enough of it outside of school. I could see the excitement in their eyes when they realized I would still be their "speech teacher" this year. How can you be down on yourself when you have 45 students looking up to you every day?? The hugs, drawings, and notes were always appreciated.
• And one last obvious perk of another year of work: watching our savings account slowly build. It may not work for most people, but for the time being we are still able to live solely on Brian's pay and put mine away for the future. Now if only I could stop spending so much money at Target so as to not put this plan in jeopardy...

So, goodbye 2013-2014 school year! It was great fun. Next year may very well bring changes (many different things happening in my school system which has the potential to change my assignment), but I'll be ready for it.

Loving Right Now

I haven't done one of these in awhile and figured it was high time I remedied that!

.1.

Dancing With The Stars

I have a confession: I am obsessed with Meryl and Maks. I know the show ended on Tuesday (spoiler: they won!), but I'm nursing a DWTS hangover two days later. I'm not generally a reality television viewer and I never watch one from the beginning. I sometimes get roped in near the end when it gets down to a few contestants. I was more interested in DWTS this year because Meryl Davis and Charlie White were part of the cast. I loved watching them win gold at the Olympics in February and figured they'd both be great in the ballroom. I'd watch their dances on YouTube until my DVR schedule cleared up enough to allow me to record it. The problem? They're still on my DVR and I'm not sure when I'll delete them. I still watch them (more than I should admit). Why am I so weird??

First, they're both incredibly good looking. Second, their freestyle from the Finals (see below) was insane.

.2.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Airbrush Foundation

I'm a big fan of Tarte Cosmetics. I love their BB Tinted Treatment and blushes. Their eye shadows are awesome as well. I bit the bullet and forked over the cash to try out this powder foundation after reading a glowing review of it somewhere. Now, once summer really gets rolling, I'm not sure how much I'll actually be putting it on, but it's pretty awesome. The biggest thing I have noticed is how my face still looks perfect after a long day at work. The BB cream I used to wear alone (now I wear it as a primer) would sorta wear off throughout the day. If you have money to burn and want to try a new foundation, I recommend this one.

.3.

Quaker Warm and Crunchy Granola

This is the best fast breakfast! Add a little bit of milk and microwave for a whopping 25 seconds and you have a yummy filling breakfast! I have loved it after my early morning workouts!

.4.

Bumble and Bumble Hair Styling Lotion

My hair used to have a terrible time holding a curl. So, obviously, I just avoided curling it. My hair was straight for yeeeaarrsss! On a whim I bought the travel size of this styling lotion -- I have no idea why! At first I wasn't totally sure the best way to use it. When I tried to use it as a leave-in conditioner (spraying it in before blow-drying), it would leave my hair feeling sticky and gross. I hate drying my hair when I can feel product in it! But, when I used it as a heat protectant spray right before curling, magic happened! This stuff allows my hair to hold a curl FOREVER (until I wash it out!) without a single drop of hairspray. It is amazing. It may not work this way for everyone, but it was life-changing for me!

.5.

Fitness Blender

Tomorrow completes three weeks of my eight-week work out commitment. In those three weeks I haven't set foot in a gym. Every workout has happened in my living room. I somehow found this website that offers over 100 free workout videos all put together by a husband-wife duo. They aren't obnoxious, the workouts are diverse and doable, and they're free! It is so much easier to exercise when I just have to stumble downstairs!

Last Monday + Belle

Monday Fun Day!

Today was Fun Day at school. It. Was. Chaos. I wore my hot pink Fun Day shirt, braided my hair, and slathered on sunscreen. It was fun for about 10 minutes. Then it was windy. And hot. And boring. I mean, I think the kids were having fun, but the adults were not. *sigh* I actually spent 3 of the 4 Fun Day hours outside helping/chaperoning, but bailed on the last (hottest) hour to do paperwork inside with air conditioning. In all fairness, I do still have two meetings tomorrow that needed to be prepped. And I did spend an hour more outside than I signed up for!

Tomorrow is Talent Show day which is my FAVORITE day! The one bummer: I have a meeting right in the middle of the afternoon show. Boo! I have been assured it will be quick, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that that is the case. Wednesday morning I'll pack up my room, meet a friend for lunch, then shoot over to my second school to clean/pack there (and see my favorite student one last time -- yes, I have favorites, don't tell!). Thursday will be more packing and cleaning. Friday there is a faculty meeting and then I should be free! Summer, baby!

Alright, what else has been going on? We got our modem/router moved last week so our new expensive desktop computer now works like a charm! Yessss. I am now on Week 3 of my 8-week workout commitment. So far so good. I haven't seen any crazy improvement or anything, but I do notice I feel better. I don't wake up feeling bloated, my clothes are slightly more comfortable, and I'm not analyzing (as much) what I'm eating. The biggest surprise is how quickly I have adjusted to the early mornings. I wake up at 5:45 or 6:30 depending on the day. It sucks when the alarm goes off, but I'm wide awake and feeling good by the time my workout is over. One thing that helps: having my workout picked out and ready to go the night before. The less thinking I have to do at that early hour the better! And, since I'm crazy, I've even been working out on the weekends when I don't "have" to. One day I try to do a stretching/yoga routine and the other I run. I'm still slow which is discouraging, but my feet are moving!

After two years of trouble, the boat may be ready to get back out on the water. Brian has been working his butt off since we bought it and definitely since he got back last September. I swear we've replaced every part in the darn engine (no, I will not add up how much it has cost). I think he wants to take it out to the lake sometime this week and really test it out. Eek!

Finally, when I was a junior in high school, my boyfriend at the time had some puppies at his house. I convinced my parents that we needed not one, but TWO puppies. One was black and white named Chip and the other was almost white (later turned yellow) named Belle. They turned into large sweeties who lived in our backyard. They were always kinda crazy and not conducive to living inside. Belle loved to swim, Chip did not. Chip wanted attention, Belle wanted more. Belle told Chip to jump and Chip asked "how high?" They were perpetually dirty and love love loved treats. A couple years ago we said goodbye to Chip. She got sick and eventually that look came into her eyes and we knew it was time. We were afraid for Belle being without her sister, but she bounced back and has been fixture in my parents backyard ever since. She watches you pull in the driveway and always lays with her paws crossed (very lady-like). She's been getting skinnier as the months passed and would only eat on good days. We all knew what was coming. My mom warned me a couple days ago that Belle had that sad look in her eyes and it probably wouldn't be long. We let her go today. My Dad took her and I know it was devastating for him. He always does the tough stuff. He was there for me when I had to make the same decision for Tiny. I feel bad that he had to do it alone today. Pets are wonderful and I've loved every one of mine, but letting them go is never easy.

Chip and Belle

Mother's Day 2014

I am not spending this Mother's Day with my mom, but I wish I was. Instead I have spent hours stuffing 47 goody bags for my students. I broke a sweat more than once getting it all finished. Now I have to figure out the best way to get them all to school and up the stairs to my classroom. And they aren't light -- I really stuffed those suckers!!

For future reference: I used white paper lunch sacks and had my students decorate them. Most of them created acrostic poems using their first names on the front and then drew/colored the rest however they liked. Each student is getting Cheetos, pretzels, a kool-aid drink pouch, a granola bar, 2-3 pieces of candy, 1-2 pencils with an eraser, 1-2 bouncy balls, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, stickers, a glow bracelet, tattoos, a toothbrush, and travel size toothpaste. They all got additional random prizes that I've accumulated over the last two years and wanted to get rid of. Every bag also has that student's sticker book (my reward system for the year) and a summer speech/language program to use for practice over the break. One student even has some flashcards stuck in there. I sealed them shut with printed labels telling them to have a fantastic summer and that I've enjoyed spending time with them this year. I love them, love how they turned out, and hope my students and their parents love them as well. And to think, it all started with one student declaring that he did not have a toothbrush at home.

And now for some Mother's Day business:

This is the only place you will find this. I won't post it on FB or Instagram or anywhere else. But here, on my very own personal blog, I will post it. Everyone thinks their mom is the best and I'm not going to try to prove that mine is better than anyone else's, but Mom, you are the perfect mother to me. Your voice echoes in my head often with bits of advice or wisdom that carry me through my days. The list of inside jokes and movie quotes that have embedded themselves in our vernacular is unending and updated often. It is the language of our family and something I cherish. Interacting with others was never my forte (and still isn't, truly), but you taught me how and when I need some extra courage to say/do what I need to, I channel my inner you. You are the first person I want to share everything with (which drive Brian crazy) and you always always say exactly what I want/need to hear. You cheer every success and build me back up after every failure. You have welcomed me on many summer vacations -- including one in a couple months -- and have opened your house to me whenever necessary (aka whenever Brian deploys). We share a love for Parenthood and Friday Night Lights, our favorite Friday nights are spent at Shotwell Stadium watching Cooper play football, and we generally hate most people. We love love love cats (see above picture for proof) and can usually find a soft spot for dogs, too. I burn while you tan and I have Dad's blue eyes instead of yours, but I think I have your hair and I know I have your love for books (have you seen my bookcase lately -- geez!). Just, ya know, thanks for everything...for being you...for being MY mom. I'm glad I'm yours cause I wouldn't be me if it had been anyone else (obviously). See you soon! :)

TBT: October 2005

Bethany!

Leslie!

And my brother back when he was a total band nerd. ;)

Commitment

I came up with a crazy idea a few weeks ago: I am committing to exercising everyday Mon-Fri (and trying to do something at least once on the weekend) for eight weeks. I start tomorrow. Well, I kind of started today.

In an effort to document my progress, I completed a fitness test today. I also convinced Brian to measure various parts of my body. I even busted out the dreaded scale. Now, there is no way I am disclosing my weight or measurements on here, but I do want to share my fitness test results.

I ran 1 mile in 10:37. I did 20 girly push ups (on my knees, not my toes), 81 squats, and held a static plank on my forearms for 1:09. I finished it off by reaching 4.75" past my feet while sitting in the pike position.

Hopefully I'm not a total flake and check back in when this is over to see how I did. This isn't part of any program or plan. I know there are ones out there and people swear by them. The thing is, though, I hate jumping on bandwagons. If everyone tells me I should do something, I tend to push back quite forcefully. The concept intrigued me, so I figured out a way to make it work for me. I have made zero rules about what constituted "exercising" during this challenge. There will be some days that I do something relatively easy like stretching and yoga, but mostly I will try to work up a sweat for 20-30 minutes. That doesn't sound too terribly hard!

I'm afraid I'll fail. I'm afraid it will be too hard. But maybe, just maybe, I'll get stronger and faster. Plus, it's only 8 weeks!

Now, let's see if I can get out of bed super early tomorrow like I plan to...

Technical Difficulties

We got this new computer to make blogging and other computer activities more convenient, but ever since we got it set up, it's had internet connectivity issues. It's a long boring story and it's still not resolved, but the internet guy is coming Tuesday morning so maybe I'll be more reliably connected after that. It's so frustrating not being able to blog when I want to!

We spent last weekend in our hometown which is always a nice treat. We didn't go for any particular reason and didn't have an agenda. We got our moms early Mother's Day gifts and ate so much delicious food. I hit the gym with my mom both mornings and did a little shopping. It was fun. I was ready for this weekend at home after two weekends away, though! I already cleaned my bathroom and paid bills. Now I am procrastinating on doing a much needed closet purge.

I'm in the middle of a big self-imposed work project. One comment from one student prompted the whole thing. A couple weeks ago I found out that one of my students does not have a toothbrush, but would use one if he had one. That's when my heart shattered for this little boy. It seemed such a simple thing. The irony is that I had a meeting with his mother not a week before where she reported that they had cable and an xbox (all told to me while her cell phone kept going off). There is money for cable television, but not a toothbrush?! Of course.

I marinated on what he told me for a few days. Then I put the word out on FB that I wanted to give all of my students a toothbrush in a goodie bag at the end of the year. That prompted an exchange with my hometown dentist which snowballed into a pile of stuff in my living room. The toothbrushes and toothpaste were donated by my awesome dentist. The rest -- snacks, toys, pencils, stickers, bubbles, chalk -- was purchased by me. The paper goodie bags were snagged from the work room at my school. So, over the next week I will put together about 50 bags full of some really good stuff. They're all even getting a summer speech program to work on at home for some extra practice before next year. It's been a labor of love and I still have a lot to do, but I feel good about it. Maybe one kid will be able to brush his teeth who couldn't before. That's worth it, right? Plus, I can't help but love these crazy kids that I've worked with all year!