Day 6: Picture of something that makes me happy

Although there are many things that make me happy, a few of which have already been covered over the last couple of days (my family), the one thing that has recently entered my life and that I have completely fallen head over heels in love with:

 Miss Madison :) She is the first pet I have ever had! I love dogs so much and have always wanted one. Luckily for the last 22 years I have had my grandpa's dog(s) and friend's dogs to help me deal with my want/need for a puppy. Well, after moving out of my last apartment with my roommate who had a dog, I really started to get an itch to get my own puppy. I went to the animal shelter to just look, not planning on actually getting anything and next thing I knew, I was walking out with that cutie in the picture! The moment I saw her I knew I had to have her. She makes me so happy and is just the most adorable dog ever. No matter what kind of day I have had, as soon as I see her she puts me in a good mood! If you haven't gotten the picture by now, through my posts about her here, my 100 pictures on facebook of just her, and any other talk about her, I love my dog :)

Day 5: Siblings

I have one older brother, he is 26 and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. While he may have tortured me as a child and made me do his chores because he was bitter he was stuck at home babysitting me all day,  I feel that the older we have gotten the closer we've become as well. I wish he lived closer but at the same time, it is nice having a free place to stay when I want to take a trip to New York, he makes it much more affordable for me :) My brother is a very laid back person who has by far the largest music collection of any one I have ever met in my entire life. He is my electronic go to guy, if not for him I would have wasted way too much money going to get something looked at that was an easy fix for him, even when he is all the way in New York! I am glad to have such a wonderful big brother and can't wait to continue getting closer as the years go by. <--- (how cheesy did that sound?!)

Day 4: My Parents

I have a wonderful ma and pa! Although at first glance it looks like my mother is my nanny, she is definitely my mother. She is a wonderful woman, full of spunk and someone who could talk to a brick wall if she had to. Although I did get some things from her, that is definitely not one of them. She is very outgoing to anyone she meets, where I am more reserved and shy until I get to know you a little better. My father is amazing as well! He is one of the more laid back people I have ever met, and I rarely see him really get worked up about a whole lot. I would say I take after him on that. I don't like to worry and I just try to go with the flow, but I will admit just like any other normal person, I have my moments when I just lose it (I blame a majority of that on the colege of education :) )! Both of my parents have always been very supportive of anything and everything I have done. No matter what I choose, they stand by me and encourage me when I start feeling unsure. They have raised me to be a strong, independent woman and to never give up. I could never thank them enough for all they have done for me. I am so lucky to have such wonderful folks :) Love you both!!

Day 3: First Love

     Well this is an interesting one, I don't really know what to write about for this one. I feel I had an imaginary first love, my first boyfriend. I think most girls go through this, they date someone they think is just amazing in every way and then it all comes crashing down around them. I think I was just so enthralled with the whole having a boyfriend thing I just thought it was love! I have obviously come to realize I was sadly mistaken by this. However, from my imaginary first love, I learned a lot so I am glad I had my idiot girl moment and glad I had it sooner than later. I have realized more of what I want and been through a couple of relationships since then. For now, I am happily dating a boy who I get along with so well, in an almost creepy kind of way. He is like my best friend and it has definitely been an adventurous couple of years. So thank you to my imaginary first love from 9th grade, glad I had it and glad it's over!

Day 2: Meaning Behind Blog Name

For those who were sheltered as young children, Eureka's Castle was a kids show way back when. I chose this as my blog name not because I have some strange obsession with the show, but because growing up I have always been called Eureka by friends and family. Katie Henderson (my stalker) is the one who most consistently calls me Eureka or Eureka's Castle, and since I am just not creative I decided to use it as my blog name. Sorry for not having a more exciting and deep meaning behind this name of mine :)

30 Day Blog Challenge

I have seen this little challenge on several blogs, so I figured why not join in the fun! Each day there is something new to write about, so here we go!

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite tv shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Bible verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-3 WishesDay 30-a picture 

Day 1: This is me, obviously :)

15 "Interesting" Facts

1. My name according to my birth certificate is Erica Marie Curp Jr. (There were obviously some very intelligent people working that day)
2. I am half Cuban, although I don't look it a bit! 
3. I enjoy cooking, even though I don't have much time to actually do that.
4. I am an avid Memphis Tigers fan (mainly basketball since our football team may as well not exist)
5. I have one brother, he is 4 years older than me and lives in New York.
6. I have wanted to be a functional skills special education teacher since I was about 5.
7. I love to play softball, I have played since I was little.
8. I am addicted to chap stick. 
9. I never had a pet growing up but have just recently adopted a precious puppy named Madison :)
10. I have lived in the same house my entire life.
11. I am a die-hard Hanson fan, go ahead and make fun of me.
12. I was in band in high school, played the clarinet and was drum major/conductor my senior year.
13. I cannot read music, I have always learned everything by ear.
14. I have never traveled out of the country.
15. I am very OCD about my bangs... weird but true.

Quick update!

     I know I just updated this a couple of days ago, but as I mentioned I was taking Maddog to the vet yesterday and I was excited to see how much bigger she got. Well, I had guessed she gained about a pound (in a 3 week period), but I was wrong, they told me she was up to 7.12 lbs, meaning she gained a little over 2 lbs in hardly 3 weeks! My little pup is growing up fast and getting more rambunctious each day. She had her 3rd round of vaccines yesterday though and didn't handle them too well, she was puny the whole rest of the night, poor thing. But she is as wide eyed and bushy tailed as ever today so I am glad to see she is feeling better :) Here are a few recent pictures of my little pumpkin!

                                             

Meeting her great grand-pa :)

                                                    

Visiting Munford

                                   

Such a sweet face!

Nap time with James

Enjoying her pig ear she got for being a good pup at the vet! She LOVES them!!

This is dedicated to K.Hen and Hillary

     Hello all! Long time no blog, which I was made very aware of this weekend by Katherine Henderson and Hillary Thornton. However, there is reasoning behind this, there has simply not been anything worthy of wasting any readers precious time with lately! But for the sake of blogging, here is what is new in my oh so exciting life.
     I have recently embarked on a mission of completing a 5k. I am not one for working out because I get unbelievably bored, but my dear friend Whitney Hall told me about the couch to 5k app a few months ago and I decided to try it out. I don't have a whole lot of free time to go workout between teaching 2 days a week, school, work, and all the projects that go along with those things, so I have found that 6:30 am is the best, and really only time for me to go. With my schedule I am only able to go 2-3 days a week, but the way I look at it, that's a start! I actually am enjoying it because 1) I have a goal to work toward and 2) It is a mix of walking/running so it keeps it a little more interesting. I doubt I will run every 5k for the rest of my life but I hope by the first of the year to be able to run one the whole way.
       Other exciting news, it is finally fall break! I felt like it would never get here so I couldn't be happier. Unfortunately I am not doing anything exciting this break, I am doing homework and working all day both Monday and Tuesday (feel free to be jealous). Even though I don't have any exciting plans, it is nice to be able to sit back and just relax for a couple of days, I am already worn out from this semester so any break is more than welcome in my book, even if it is spent working my life away. I did have a nice weekend though. Friday, I went to Memphis Madness and then to Bluefin downtown to celebrate my dear friend Katie's birthday and it was a blast! Sunday, I got a manicure and pedicure with my mom and went to Munford to celebrate David's mom's birthday. It was fun and relaxing, especially with the beautiful weather we had!
     Lastly, a Maddie update :) She is one crazy dog! We call her the "houdini" of dog world. She somehow manages to escape and end up right next to you in a matter of minutes. To figure this mystery out, I put her back in the kitchen, with the doorway closed off using her kennel, and proceeded to watch her climb up on top of her kennel and jump off to me. So, to try and solve this problem, I put a baby gate on TOP of the kennel, thinking there was no way she could climb over both. Well, I was right about that, she couldn't climb over both but she found an opening about the size of her head and managed to squeeze, climb, and wiggle her way up and out. Therefor, my new mission is to find other means of barricading her while I am gone so she doesn't tear the house apart. I love her more than ever though and she is really growing! She is going to the vet tomorrow for her last round of puppy shots and I am anxious to see how much weight she has gained since I last took her, barely a month ago! Now that she is getting a little bigger, I have done more research on what kind of pup she is. The shelter said she was Manchester terrier (they were obviously on drugs when they decided this), but after a little googling I have come to the conclusion that she is a pointer/jack russell terrier mix. The jack russell explains her "crack dog mode" but her coloring and tail is spot on to that of a pointer. No matter what she is though, she is the cutest thing in the world and I am so glad I have her around.
     That is about all I have for now. Hope this was worthy of your time and hope you are happy Katie and Hillary! Hope you all have a fantastic week. :)





     

Another way to waste time at work..

     Hello blogging world! I have recently realized a lot of people are into this whole "blogging" thing, and although a majority of the ones I have seen are "couples" blogs (engagement updates, married life updates, etc) I decided I wanted to have one too, even if it is just me.
     My life is pretty uneventful right now, all I do is teach, go to school, go to work, repeat. I am semi student teaching this semester at Ellendale Elementary with Mr. Marks, my mentor teacher. I love it there, and love working with him! His teaching style is really laid back, but he is an awesome teacher and the students love being there. It is really cool observing and working with a male teacher, considering I have been with all old women every other semester I had to complete hours. Ellendale is the only part of this semester that I am enjoying... mainly because, surprise surprise, the College of Education wanted to ruin my  life a little more before I graduate and had me missing 2 classes I needed to graduate. So instead of having a fairly calm 12 hour semester, I am taking 18 hours of pure evil. I just keep reminding myself, May 7, 2011 @ 2:00 I will be walking across the stage to freedom!
    The one exciting development in my life is that I adopted a precious puppy about a month ago, on September 11. Her name is Madison, I think she has some jack russell terrier, pointer, and manchester terrier in her. I really don't care what she is, all I know is that she the light of my life and I could not be happier with my impulse decision! I have never had any type of pet and have always wanted a dog. Well finally, after 22 years of holding out, I gave in and got Madison and I love her more than you can imagine! She is a little firecracker, she gets in "crack-dog mode" as I like to call it and you just can't keep up with her. She is a little of 5 lbs right now but is supposed to get up to about 25-30 lbs. I will probably blog about her a lot because she is my world now :)
     I think that is all I really have to blog about for now, I will be back sometime, I can make no promises of when (not that anyone is that worried about it), but I will update when things are update worthy. Hope you all have a fantastic week, and Happy October!!