3 Years

3 years ago today, I started dating my sometimes most of the time sweet boyfriend. Here is a little history into our relationship.

David is a 1 1/2 younger than me (yes I am a cradle robber) and we met a few weeks before his first semester of college through a mutua friend. I remember the first time I saw him I thought he was a cutie, but when I found out how young he was I knew I would NEVER date him. Well we hung out on a daily basis, and people thought we were dating for a good 6 months before we actually did start dating. I always wondered if I actually liked him as more than a friend or if I just thought I did because we got along so well as just friends. Well, David clued me in on the fact that he really liked/had liked me for a long time/didn't know what to do about liking me/wanted to date me around Christmas - after he had a few too many drinks with his family while in Chicago. He was texting me all of these sweet things and I was an unsure little girl, as my wonderful friend Whitney can attest to. I did not know if I liked him or not. We got along beautifully, but I was terrified of ruining a great friendship if we ever did date and broke up. So obviously, I rejected the poor boy and went on my way not thinking twice. Well, a few weeks later, he had this same conversation with me (again after a few drinks), and I told him the same thing I did the first time, I didn't want to risk losing him as a friend. Well, the boy finally got the hint that is wasn't going to happen and started talking to other girls. He got a little more interested in one girl that he kept bringing her around more and more, and I was not happy about it. I did not like the fact that I was no longer the one he hung out with every day, texted, and goofed around with. Slowly, but surely, my true feelings began to surface and after a long, dramatic night (on my part) I finally told him how I felt (after chewing him out about talking to/dating another girl), he agreed, and 3 years and a dog later, here we are. I could not be happier than I am now. He is a great guy who always keeps me laughing and grounded. So thank you to all of my friends (you know who you are) who were constantly on my back about liking him and dating - you finally got your way, and yes, you were right :)

One of the 1st times we hung out. Memphis vs Ole Miss game 2008

A recent picture of us.

Nice family picture of us with our sweet girl about 2 months after we go her :)

 

Hair Dilemma Follow-Up

Well, I went and got my hair cut this weekend. I did not do anything too drastic, but I am no longer bored with it! I got 3 inches cut off. I feel like she cut off 10! That alone changed the look and feel of my hair all together, it was in desperate need of a good trim. My solution to my boredom with long hair was to get bangs again. Not sraight-across bangs (I could never pull that off), but the basic side swoop bangs. I don't know if anyone else will notice a difference, but I feel much better and as if my hair has been completely re-vamped and it didn't take any drastic measures to do so.

Before

After 

 

 

 

Bangs/no bangs always seem to be my go-to when I need a change. What is your hair go-to style/change?

100!

100. One-Hundred. Ciento. 50x2. Half of 200. 100.


That is how many days I have officially survived teaching. I can't believe it, but it is true! Now, I don't remember ever making a big deal out of the "100th Day of School" when I was in elementary school, but boy oh boy do they make a scene out of it now days. There are parties, treats, games, crafts, and anything and everything you can think of dealing with the number 100 (that almost never have any educational benefit other than seeing the number 100 everywhere). Well, because I am a "winger"(and because I had no idea it was the 100th day), I had no special plans for this day and my kids. So in true Erica fashion, I decided to just wing it.

In my Kindergarten class, I had them make paper chains. They each got 10 strips of paper, using the colors of their choice, and we went from there. We I decided that making a chain all the way to 100 was completely unrealistic and I was not ready to take that task on with 6 kindergarten kids. So instead, we made a counting by 10s to 100 chain *educational part #1*. The kids had to then think of a pattern *educational part #2* that they wanted to make with the colors they chose. From there we counted together by 10s to 100 *educational part #3*, and then went on to write each number on each strip of paper *educational part #4, practicing writing :)* Well after we got all of our numbers written, I took them and stapled them together to make a lovely, colorful, educational, paper chain. That was their 100 day celebration activity with Ms. Curp.

Now 2nd grade, I guess I had some kind of lapse in judgment and came up with, what I thought, would be an easy and fun activity for them. Boy was I wrong, thankfully it all worked out. Before I tell you what the activity was, I would like you to keep in mind that I have these kids for an 1.5 hrs, and while that may seem like a lot of time - it was not for this particular last minute activity.

If you couldn't figure it out from the picture, I had the kids come up with 100 things they learned in 100 days. That may not seem like much of a task, but I have a whopping 3 students in my 2nd grade class - so between the 3 of them, they had the daunting task to come up with 100 things they remembered/learned up to this point in my class. I was going back and forth cutting out various shapes to write their memories on (since I had not planned this activity prior to the moment they walked in the door) and I will tell you cutting out 100 shapes is no small task when under a strict time limit! Well I finally got all 100 cut-out, and I was letting the kids write down things they remembered on the paper. Well, cue mistake #2 (next to not planning this out before), my kids are not the best spellers, and the words they were wanting to write, like perimeter, were not easy to figure out... so I was having to spell them out for them one at a time as they yelled out ideas. After each wrote about 10 of their own with my help on spelling, I took over the writing gig (for time's sake) and wrote the next 70 as they came up with them. About an hour and 15 minutes later... we had 100 things we had learned in 100 days :).

Well the next task was to glue all of these on a large sheet of butcher paper so I could hang up and show off the work they were so proud of before the end of the day. We got them all cut-out,  written-out, and glued on in exactly 1.5 hrs. I have never been more proud. During my end of the day 30 min planning period, I went and cut out the letters for the title so people would know what on earth the big paper with random words was about and hung it above. All and all, this project turned out great and I have had so many teachers comment on how much they loved it and how, in a way, it served as a type of review having the kids think back to all the things they have learned and refresh their memories.

I will definitely do this again next year, but with a little planning in advance. I think I will have them come up with one thing they learned at the end of each day for the 1st 100 days, and then by the time that 100th day comes around the corner, all we will have to do is glue those one some paper and hang it up. That sounds much easier, and much less stressful!

Any other bloggers know of any fun activities I could do for this 100 day celebration next year? Would love to hear any ideas, even if you are not a teacher, feel free to leave any suggestions, I am always open to trying new things!

Kid's Say the Darndest Things: Ch.1

     As most of you know, I am a teacher. I teach 3 grades, Kindergarten-2nd grade Resource Math and Reading. While it tends to be a little on the hectic side some most of the time, I am lucky enough to be able to have many laughable moments throughout my day. I find it useless to truly get stressed, so when something just is not going the way I planned (which is every day) - I try and smile and find the humor in some of the things my kids say and write on a weekly basis. I figured I would start sharing some of these little comments/stories with the blogworld in hopes they can bring a smile to your face. Some of you may not find any of this funny, and that is understandable. A lot of times the humor in things is intensified when you actually know the person who says and/or does something funny, in which case you will not in my stories. Either way, I hope you find joy in some anyway.  No matter what - this will be a good way for me to keep track of all the nonsense sayings :) Here are 3 stories/comments that come to mind right off the bat, happy reading!


1.)Learning how to sound out and spell 3 letter words. Students look at a picture and tell me what it is of and then have to spell that word. In this instance it was a picture of a pen.Sidenote: I am trying to spell it how the kid said it. I don't actually talk or spell that way, in case you were questioning.

Student: "That's a pen! Like a ink pen! Now, now.. you don't wanna go and stick one-uh doze in yo eye!!"


2.) I have a certain student that I work with every day. He is quite a handful to say the least. He has this odd fascination of pushing on my hard-earned love-handles and jiggly arms. He likes that squishy feelin' I guess (talk about a self-esteem booster). Well I went to go pick up this wonderful, wonderful little boy yesterday and he had decided to write all over himself. He had marker on his face - had a bit of that Harry Potter mark going on, all over his chin- like he was trying to look like he had facial hair at the tender age of 5, and on his hands, arms, and clothes. I didn't even know what to do, I could hardly be mad because it looked so ridiculous. It was like the kid got in a fight with a black marker and lost MISERABLY! I am hoping we got it all cleaned up for today :)

3.) In my 2nd grade class, we were talking about adaptations and ways we adapt to our environment. I had gone around giving some examples and then had the students do the same.  


*When asked how we adapt to cold weather, student 1 responds, " You can put on a jacket, or cover yourself with a blanket." -- good start, at this point I feel the kids are all going to get their question right.

*When asked how can adapt when it is raining, student 2 responds, "You can wear an umbrella or jacket." -- maybe not the correct verb usage with umbrella, but you get the point... still on the right track!

*When asked how we adapt to hot weather, student 3 responds, "You can, um, you caaannnn.... uh, pooooop??" -- and JACKPOT (slap in the face for actually thinking they were all going to get it right that quickly). I had no response, no words, nothing. I was trying not to laugh, and I think I did ok, but for goodness sake, where did that even come from, what was the thought process there?! I am still baffled by this comment, and wish I could figure out what went on in that child's mind.

4.) Every Friday, if the kids have filled their sticker chart, they get a treat. Well this just happened to be the Friday before Christmas break so I gave them all their treat and a candy cane. As I am passing them out one little boy is talking about his girlfriends to the class.

*When I give this one child his candy cane, he says: "Can I have anuffer 2 candy canes so I can give tim (them) to my girlfrins. They like candy canes and I want to make them happy."

*I say: "I am sorry, but everyone can only have one treat today, it would not be fair to give you more."

*His response: " Ok, I will just have to share my candy cane withs them so they don't cry and get not happy withs me."


Happy Friday, hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Hair Dilemma

     Hello bloggers! I have a bit a hair crisis and I could use opinions to help me out. I have been growing my hair out for quite some time now, and it is finally long! The problem is, it is boring. The main issue at this exact moment in time is that it is in dyer need of a freshen-up trim. However, the past couple of times I have gotten that, I still find myself bored with it. I see so many people with long hair that is just beautiful and they can curl it, wear it straight, wear it up, whatever and it looks fine. I can't curl mine because it DOES NOT STAY,  when I wear it straight it just sits the flat, thick, and lifeless, and when I wear it up - well I just don't know a cute way to do it that wouldn't take ages.

     I have thought a lot about cutting it lately and maybe starting the grow-out process fresh. However, me+short hair = not cute. So instead of going drastically shorter, I am thinking about going to a medium length (taking 3-5 inches off) for a while just to give it some life. Any thoughts or ideas? Here is a picture of this mess on my head... maybe you guys are better at picking a fitting hair cut/style for me :) Also if you have straight hair that just doesn't care for curls, do you have any tips for how to curl/keep that curl in? Or do you guys have any quick, easy ways to put hair up that is not just a boring ponytail?? I know this post may sound ridiculous, but hair can make or break and outfit, a look, an attitude and I need some help! Thanks guys!

Please excuse the awkward picture... I don't have any recent with my hair down so I had to take the awkward by myself photo :)

Boot Camp Update 1

Good Morning!

     Well, I have started boot camp and survived the 1st week + 1 day with MemFit. That is 5 days of a combination of sprints, lunges, planks, abs, mountain climbers, squats, push ups, star jumps, burpees, and so much more that I HAVE SURVIVED thus far! May not sound that bad to some of you, but for me - it is nothing short of a miracle I haven't keeled over dead yet. I don't think I realized just how out of shape I was, but I am taking control and I am going to be feeling great by the end of this (at least I hope).

     Boot camp is something I dread going to, but once I am there and especially when I finish I love it. There is such a wide variety of people there that there is always someone I can look at and say "I want to be on their level" because they are just destroying every workout done, and then there are the people there who I look at and say "If they can do this, there is no reason I can't", both of which are great motivators. We have assessments next Thursday, so I will definitely update again after that to let you know about the improvements I have made - hopefully there will be some!

      I have been enjoying enjoying this "boot camp" style workout, but I would be lying if I said I didn't wish the 6 week end mark was this week. However, the all mighty Groupon struck again (that is where I bought the boot camp package I am doing now, it was a $280 value and I got it for $37), and I found myself purchasing yet another 4 weeks of boot camp, with Memphis Adventure Boot Camp for Women , for a whopping $34, (it usually runs about $160 for 4 weeks). I don't know what has gotten into me, but I am loving the feeling I get when I come home knowing I did something to benefit me that day. Groupon has been a life (and bank account) saver with all of these fitness deals. I plan on starting the next boot camp February 20, which will give me 1 week off after finishing the one I am currently in. What's even better is that one of my best friends is going to be doing it with me, so that adds that much more accountability for me!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, blogworld!

Measure, Yea, Measure

Good Morning and Happy Friday!
   
     I swear, for being a 4 day week (with kids), it sure did seem to crawl by. The last week before Christmas break, 2nd grade learned about measurement, and this week it was Kindergarten's turn to start learning. Here a couple of the activities I did that the kids seemed to really enjoy :)

     In second grade, we learned about height, width, length, and perimeter. Conveniently enough, this was the week before Christmas break, and also the week I had my unannounced drop-in evaluation. Luckily, I had some fun activities for the kids to do that involved moving around so it turned out just fine.

*Day 1: I introduced measurement by having the kids lie down on the floor, while I proceeded to put down a piece of tape that reached from their head to their toes. They were pretty confused as to what I was doing, but eventually they started to figure out what our new topic was going to be. We then went on to discuss how we measure, the different things you can use to measure, and so on. Eventually, we integrated our reading skill for the week of comparing and they had to compare to see who was the tallest and shortest. It was fun, and a great way to relate it to real life.

I let them mark of my height as well, they got a real kick out of that. Fortunately, I can say I am taller than all of my 2nd graders... but it is definitely not by much!

O

     Over the next couple of days, we learned about width, length, and height and what standard form of measurement you would use to measure various things. The last half of the week, we explore perimeter. I taped down 3 different shapes, and used the tiles and drew dots to signify the "units". Each shape had a different color. Each student started in the color listed first on the note card I made for them, and had 1 minute to find the perimeter of that shape. After the minute was up, they switched to the next color on their card and continued rotating until they each had the perimeter of all 3 shapes. Once they had this, I had them record their answers on a chart on my SmartBoard to see if they all got the same answer, and so they could defend their answer if need be. Once we wrote down the results, we went back as a group and counted to find the perimeter to double check our answers. It was a lot of fun, and the competition aspect really had the kids into it! (Unfortunately, I did not get to take any pictures of the perimeter activity because it was the day I had my evaluation. )

     Now to Kindergarten. We have been learning about measurement all week. First thing I did was find a video on all types of measurement... low and behold I found this gem Measure, Yea, Measure (YES YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS, it's kind of catchy...). Oh. My. Word. I need to find who comes up with these things, but either way, the kids loved it and we ended up watching it 2 days in a row! The first activity we did was taping down their height (as I did with 2nd grade) and we found various things in the room to measure with. We used markers, cubes, our feet, and a couple of other things. They had fun finding things to use and seeing how tall they were :)

Not the best picture, but they measured using dry erase markers and linking cubes. (The linking cubes were put together in groups of 10, to reinforce the use of counting by 10s)

     Then we decided we wanted to measure something even bigger! So, after a little deliberation, the kids decided they wanted to measure the length of the classroom. We discussed what would be the best thing to use, and talked about why cubes wouldn't be good because they are so small, and eliminated a few more options. I then showed them this video, Sid the Science Kid , and they decided they wanted to make paper bodies, like in the video, and measure it that way. So we got to tracing bodies and cutting them out.

Tracing them out.

The finished paper bodies, with names.

     Today was the last day on measurement with Kindergarten, so we measured our classroom with the paper bodies and recorded how many "insert students' name here" long the classroom was on each cut-out. For example, "The classroom is 10 Ms. Curps long". I think this is a great activity and it is a good way to get them up and moving, as well as working together!

The finished product.

      That is all for now, I hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and an even better weekend. Hopefully it doesn't fly by too quickly :)

2012 Resolutions

     I am not usually one for resolutions, but this year I decided to make a few that would help better my quality of life. I am going to share them here, in hopes they will help keep me a little more accountable - unlike in years past.

1.) Get in shape. I know you are probably thinking, yea yea yea doesn't every one say this? Yes, you are right, I feel like this is a resolution that every human being makes every year, but this is definitely at the top of my list. While it is about losing some weight so I can be happier with my appearance, it is equally about doing it to simply be healthy. I got a sweet Groupon in December for 6 weeks of Boot Camp with Memfit and I jumped right on the deal. It was $40 for a $280 value worth of boot camp. When I bought it, I saw it was set to start January 2 (today) so I knew it was the perfect way to kick off this resolution. I cannot wait to get started and to start making changes for the better in my lifestyle.

2.) Stop biting my nails. Another, oh so cliche resolution - but seriously, I am sick of my nails looking like crap so I am going to try my best to fix it.

3.) Cook more. I want to do this for a couple of reasons. One being that I love cooking and trying new things, so cooking more would help me with my cooking exploration even more. Secondly, I need to cooking and stop eating out so much. The last month I have been throwing money away eating out a solid 3 days a week. That is ridiculous! I need to stop being so lazy and get my butt to the store and cooking :)

4.) Run a half marathon. This one will be by far the most difficult one for me. I am not a runner, never have been, but my hope is that after this boot camp, I will have developed a liking to working out and be able to tackle this goal. I would love to be able to say that I ran 13.1 miles, especially considering my love/ hate relationship with running.

5.) Last, but not least - I want to blog more. Not just blog, but have more substantial blog material. I would love to start back blogging about recipes experiments and start blogging about more teaching activities and lessons I have done with my students. We will see how that goes :)

What are your resolutions for 2012, or do you just throw the whole resolution idea right out the window? Wish me luck, I will try and keep you updated on my progress :)

The End of 2011

     The end of 2011 was definitely one for the books. So I figured what would be better than telling my small blog family about it. Here is a brief recap of the last few weeks :)

     First of all, I finished off my very first semester of teaching. We had some fun little activities to end our year - here are some pictures of our fun.

Measurement Station: Finding out who is the tallest -  sadly I barely won...

We made glue/shaving cream snowman thanks to a Pinterest find.

Pinterest find linked to Oopsey Daisy Blog , it worked out great and my kids all loved it! Thanks!

 

     Secondly, I had 3 wonderful friends get engage. I cannot wait to for all of the fun to come with these weddings. These are the first of my close friends to get engaged, and I couldn't be happier that happened to these girls.

My beautiful roommate was one of the lucky 3 :) 7.14.12 will be here before we know it and I can't wait to be a prat of her big day!

One of my best friends and adopted big sis from Phi Mu was another one of the lucky ladies. She is getting married June 30 and I can't wait to be a part of that T-County party!

And last but not least, the beautiful Whitney  was the first of the 3 to kick all of this wedding madness off. She has not set her date yet (that I know of), but I know it is going to be a beautiful wedding and I cannot wait to be there!!

    To go along with all the love, I had a wonderful Christmas with my family - including the newest member, Mildred Frites Curp - my brother's pup!

Cooked a delicious dinner for my family!

This was the first time I had ever cooked and had them all over. It turned out great and I can't wait to do it again!

Maddie and Millie :) They are best friends, I just hate Millie live so far away!

This is right when she arrived in Memphis for the first time!

My brother, mom, and me Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning with the Curp dogs.

So sweet, sorry I am little obsessed!

     Lastly, I brought in the New Year with my wonderful boy. It was our 3rd New Year's as a couple, and 4th in general. I unfortunately did not take any pictures to share with you, but it was a great night. We went to Piperton and brought in the New Year with great friends, food, and of course some tasty wine! It was low key, and believe me - that is just how I like it.

     I cannot wait for 2012 and all the celebrations it will consist of. I am so happy to have so many great people in my life and to see them all so happy and getting exactly what they have always deserved. Happy 2012, y'all!