Turning Over a New Leaf

     Good afternoon everyone! Been a little while since I last blogged, but I do have some updating to do. First and foremost, I have 18 more school days until I am done with undergrad forever and I could not be more excited! Secondly, I finally finished and submitted my final project/paper for my professional seminar. 57 pages later, I am one happy camper! Now all I have to worry about is making sure I don't miss any days of school, and I think I can do that! Thirdly, I finally... 6 months later... found out about Teach for America. Unfortunately I did not get accepted but that is ok, I consider it to be quite an accomplishment to have made it as far as I did in such a prestigious program, and while I wish I would have been accepted, I know it just was not the right path for me and I will find something else that I know I will love and succeed in. Now that that phase of waiting is over, I am submitting more applications to various school systems and will just be waiting around and hoping for a great job.
      I have 8 more days left with my 4th graders in Mr. Marks' class. I sure am going to miss them, while sometimes they really tested my patience, they truly were a wonderful class and I am so glad I had so long with them. After my 8 days are up in here, I will be moving to a functional skills class for my last 10 days. I am excited and nervous about that move, but I know I will definitely learn a lot in that short time. Another big change coming up is my moving home. I am moving out of my current house and back in with the parentals for a few months. I figured it would be better to move home and try and save some money up, and the money I could save by living at home for 2 months really will make a difference. I plan to hopefully move somewhere new by July :)
     Overall, life is fantastic right now and I have so many wonderful things coming up in the future. I am excited to get this job search going, and seeing what I am going to be doing for the next few years as a true grown-up. I hope everyone is having a wonderful April thus far (not suffering from allergies like me). I will update soon, or whenever something update worthy comes up! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Incredible

I saw this this morning and was amazed. I can't find the original link with video, but here is a brief article. The video said this woman does not even take a single pill!!

Happy 119th Birthday

Truly amazing!

Finally, Warm Weather!

     Hello! Just wanted to take a minute and update the blogging world on my life. I just had Spring Break last week and it was absolutely marvelous. Other than the fact that I worked ALL week, I enjoyed not having to wake up at 6am and not getting home until 7:30. I also took avantage of my break by going out last Thursday for St. Patrick's Day. For those who know me, you know this is a huge deal because I am not much for crowds, downtown,  spending blowing money on overpriced covers and drinks, or being up past 9:30 Sun-Thursday, but I did! It was nice being able to go out and actually feel like I am a college kid because I haven't been able to do that in the last year thanks to my school schedule. I went to Bardog Tavern (which was new to me), Silky's (which I left soon after arriving because I wasn't wasting $8 on a beer), and lastly to the infamous Hollywood Disco where I spent the most time because it doesn't break the bank. Overall, it was a good night with good people and I can't wait for summer when I can enjoy these types of things again!

Before heading out

"Couple's Corner"- this happened completely on accident haha

I just enjoy this picture, it makes me laugh 

    Next in news for me, I enjoyed the dog park and the outdoors in general towards the end of the week. I played volleyball for 3 hours Friday night, until 1:30 in the morning, it was a lot of fun. I am not the best volleyball player, but I like playing and I think I have gotten a lot better over the last year. Saturday, was pretty relaxed, I just hung around and then had dinner with an old friend. Later that night Dave and I went to a friend's house and just hung out on the patio and talked, very nice and chill night. Sunday, we took Maddie to the Toby Field dog park where she had a play date with little miss Jayduh, Theresa's dog. She made a few new friends and I have some cute pictures of her and a new friend I need to get and put up here! I then took her home and gave her about an hour to rest and then we took her to Shelby Farms for her second play date with Polo, Katie's dog! As most people who follow my blog know, my grandpa is 95 and doesn't get to take his 45 lb border collie out and about too much, especially to a wide open place like Shelby Farms. So, I have gone and started picking up Ginger, his dog, and taking her with us to the park, she is so overwhelmed to be getting out that she almost doesn't know what to do with herself! To give you a better idea, the first time I took her, we had to go up some stairs and she didn't even know how because she had never seen stairs before... this dog is 5 years old! All the while, she did great at Shelby Farms, in fact, she went straight for the water which really shocked me! Maddie, Polo, and Ginger had a wonderful time and I sure did enjoy that weather.

Maddie and Ginger walking toward the water

This is the first place they went :)

Maddie is getting much better about getting in, I am determined to make her like water. She does have webbed feet after all!

Maddie and Polo

Dad, Ginger-the 45lb lap dog, and Grandpa

Furniture Saver!!

For any readers who have dog that sheds I have found the most amazing thing ever. Maddie sheds every where and it shows up on everything so I was in desperate need of a solution. So a dear friend told me about this thing called the "FURminator" she said she used it on her dog and it was amazing. So I went on a journey to find one and went to my first choice pet store, Hollywood Feed. They had the FURminator but the guy working there told me about another brand that is literally the exact same thing but about $10-$15 cheaper. It is the andis de-shedder. It is electric so you have to have 2 AA batteries but I tell you, this thing is a miracle worker!!

After only a couple of minutes, this is what we got off Maddie.

 AMAZING!! I just couldn't help but to blog about this and share this and all of its glory with anyone who may be struggling. The only downside is that this thing costs about $45 (for the medium one) they have one for small, medium, and large but the guy said this is the best one and he uses it on his Wolf-Hybrid which is far from a small or medium sized dog. That is all I have for now, I just had to share this exciting discovery with someone. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

Some Picture Updates :)

Here is brief recap of my life as told through pictures. 2011 is flying by, but I am loving every minute of it so far, and I will be loving it even more come May 7th :)

Valentine's Party at school

4th grade party again

Trying to get out more and not be such an old lady :)

2 years!

Nashville with my best friends (Chelsea and Lindsay)

Again (Lindsay and Michelle)

Theresa's birthday

Maddie enjoying some steak and wine.

The last snow day

Advice

     Hello my many, I mean few and far between blog readers. I need some advice. My make-up just ain't doin' me right anymore. I have been using Bare Minerals(recently matte) foundation for the last 3 years, however, it just doesn't do what I need it to do anymore. I have very splotchy, sometimes red, oily(with a dash of dryness) skin and I need to find a makeup that will, duh duh duh----1) make me look all one color 2) provides good coverage 3) does not look caked on 5) will last throughout most of the day and 4)will not break my face out. Now I know that seems like a lot to ask but I am in desperate. I know SOMEONE out there has to have some help for me, if you do please let me know :)

     Other than my make-up issues, my life is pretty fantastic right now. I had my last evaluation today and got ALL 4s (out of 4) on my lesson evaluation and my summative eval, needless to say, I am a VERY happy girl. Now that all that is over with, it will be pretty much smooth sailing from here on out. All I have left is to finish one part of my big writing thing and then it will really feel like heaven. Graduation is so so close and I cannot wait to get to gettin' on the next phase of my life.
     I am taking my 5th Praxis this Saturday (out of 6) and I am just ready to get it over with. Once I get this one out of they way, I just have the nasty PLT in April and I will be done with these money sucking, waste of time tests for good! I also have my FINAL interview with Teach for America next Tuesday the 15th. I have been trying to get ready for it and not freak out about it, and I think I have done a decent job thus far.     
     Maddie girl is doing just wonderful :) She is just the most precious pup in the world. I swear I don't know what I would do without her, she makes me so happy when I walk in the door and she literally tackles me down and licks my face for a solid 2 minutes. It is nice having something to come home to that is ALWAYS excited to see you no matter what.Sorry, you know I have to mention the love of my life when I blog.

That is all I have for now, thanks for any help you can offer and I wish you all a very wonderful rest of the week!

Hello!

Hello all, it is has been too long since I last blogged but I have just been buried in all of the seminars, lesson planning, capstone, working, and everything else! I have been student teaching for 7 weeks so far and it has been going beautifully. I absolutely love my class and have one of the best mentor teachers I could ask for. We are so much alike in the sense that we just aren't much into worrying, we just go with it. While I have several peers who seem to be worrying their life away over all of the nonsense we have had thrown on us, I have simply come to the conclusion that I have made it this far and I will graduate.  I know it would take some pretty extreme measures for me not to graduate and get my license at this point because I am doing what I was told to do and that's all there is to it.

Other than that, my life is pretty uneventful. The past couple of weekends have been so nice and I have taken full advantage by taking Maddie to the park. She has really gotten a lot better out there, instead of staying right by us the whole time, she is starting to wonder and make friends, which is wonderful since she has lots of energy to get out thanks to that jack russell in her! I am still working but I took off this week since I am completing my Capstone teaching event. It is nice being able to relax a little bit after a long day at school instead of having to turn around and go straight to work.

I have to sign up for my final interview with Teach for America at the end of the week. I am getting very anxious and nervous about this, especially thinking about if I were to actually be accepted and what I would do! I have to keep reminding myself to take it one step at a time. I interviewed with Shelby County a couple of weeks ago and it went really well. That was my first job interview ever, so I am glad I got that one out of the way before the TFA one. I am so excited to see what direction my life goes in come May 7th. I am ready to finally be out of school (as a student) and be a teacher!! The thought of having my own classroom and a more permanent place to live is so exciting. I am ready to move onto the next phase of my life and see what it has in store. Only 73 more days :) Hope all is well with every one else and I will try and update sooner next time! Farewell until next time!