10 Day Challenge : 9 Loves

9. I love music. I am always looking for new music and love searching and finding something great on youtube or other places.
8. I love to eat! My favorite food, without a doubt, is steak. That is one thing that will make me happy no matter what!
7. I love to cook. I think of cooking as a stress reliever in a sense. I am not the best cook by any means, but I love experimenting and trying new recipes. I am trying to put together a cookbook of recipes that I really liked and that were tasty. I have a stack of almost 30 recipes right now that need to be tested out to see if they make the cut. That is my plan over Christmas break!
6. I love my job. While it is very stressful and/or frustrating at times, I am so glad I get to do something that has a direct effect on our future and is such an important part of life. I am so blessed that I have known I wanted to teach since I was 5 years old and it never changed, and it never will. I am a very lucky girl!
5. I love quotes. I like all kinds of quotes - funny, serious, sad, happy, etc. I feel like quotes are a good way to help someone having a rough time as well. If you can't find the words to say, I can guarantee that there is a quote that will suffice.
4. I love sweatshirts. They are just so cozy :)
3. I love cold weather. Cold weather means hot chocolate, spiced cider, fires, blankets, cuddling, and snow (on rare occasions) :) I wouldn't want to live somewhere where it was cold year-round, but I wouldn't mind moving somewhere that had a little more snow!
2. I love my friends. I have some of the best friends in the world, and no matter how far they are, I know I can always count on them.
1. I love my family. I have such a great family surrounding me. They are beyond supportive and always make sure to tell me how much they believe in me. I am very grateful for that :)

Happy Monday!

10 Day Challenge

This looked like a fun way to try and update my blog a little more frequently... at least for the next 10 days :)

Day 1: 10 secrets

1. I despise tea. Sweet tea, unsweet tea, cold tea, hot tea, any tea. I just hate it, everything about it!
2. I am the worst shopper ever. I am not able to come up with cute outfits and figure out what looks good together. I just don't have that gift, but I really wish I did!
3. To go along with the last one, I am not only a bad clothes shopper, I am horrible at shopping for house decorations as well. I just don't know how to coordinate things :(
4. I have a SERIOUS addiction to planners/agenda books. I love them and will go through 10-15 a year. I am extremely OCD about them, so if the slightest mistake is made, I will go buy a new one and rewrite the entire thing. Weird - I know.
5. I love music. I don't just listen to music and like it because it is catchy (most of the time). I really like getting the deeper meaning behind the song, the lyrics, etc. I can relate a song to almost every event in my life and to every one of my friends.
6. I count my steps when I walk. I only count to 7 and start back over until I get where I am going. OCD? I don't know.
7. I know the entire alphabet in sign language. I learned it in 7th grade when I rode the bus and met a peer who was deaf. I would love to take a sign language class and become fluent, I really think it is such an amazing thing.
8. I love sports. I love watching them and playing them, even though I am not very good at most.
9. I have never been out of the country, but hopefully it will happen in 2012 :)
10. I love to clean. My apartment is not always spotless, and goodness knows my room isn't either by any means... BUT when I get in a cleaning mood there is no stopping me. I love the feeling of a clean space. My favorite time to clean always seem to be after I have had a few cocktails... makes no sense, but it is what it is.

Hello/Goodbye October!

It has been quite some time since I have updated this bad boy, but I have been busy SWAMPED at work the last month or so. I had 6 IEP meetings and my first evaluation all within a 10-day time span. I was unsure if I was going to get through it, but I did and now feel a whole lot better about everything. I felt as though everything got piled on all at once, and IEP meetings take a lot of time and practice to really do right, but I now feel like a pro. I made it through my first eval with two 4s (above expectation) and one 3(meets expectations). That was such an awesome feeling and I am glad to have it out of the way. Now I get to look forward to my lasy 2 evals of the semester, which will both be unannounced (joy). I also finished up my class webpage this last month. It is a way for parents to get on and see what their kids are doing and I also try to keep it updated as far as what we do each week. I haven't updated for this week due to some network issues at school, but if interested you are welcome to check out the cute kiddos in my class!  My Lovely Class

After my hectic month, I was greeted very nicely by fall break, which I decided to spend in New York with one of my best friends and my brother. I really had a blast. It was such a relaxing trip since I have done most of the "touristy" things already. We did A LOT of eating and drinking, so there is really nothing to complain about there. We had perfect weather as well - definitely a plus. Here are a few pictures to recap my lovely break :)

My brother and me inside the huge light up cube at The Creators Project.

Beautiful view

Dinner at Char No.4 They had delicious steak and every type of whiskey there is!

We got to go to The Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. It was tasty!

Just enjoying a couple of cocktails while people watching in Brooklyn

That's all for now, Happy Tuesday :)