Tis the Season

December has brought so many wonderful things already, and I can't wait to see what else is in store the rest of the month! Here is a brief re-cap of this eventful and happy month thus far:

1) 2 of my dear friends have gotten engaged! Whitney and Kristen are two of my Phi Mu sisters and I absolutely could not be happier for them. I am so excited to celebrate their engagements and marriage in the coming year, 2012 is already shaping up to be a great one!

2) I had my last evaluation of the semester and got ALL 4s and 5s (even got a couple more 5s :) ) I cannot express how great of a feeling that was. My evaluator had nothing but great things to say and it really made me feel good and more confident in the job I am doing. It was definitely a good way to end my first semester as a teacher.

3) I SURVIVED MY FIRST SEMESTER AS A TEACHER! While there have been good days and bad days, I made it. I am really starting to get in a routine and establish my own foundation for my classes. I know it takes a solid 3 years if not more to truly build up the right teaching program for you, but I feel I am making good progress toward that. I survived scheduling mayhem, 13 IEP meetings, 3 evaluations, and everything else that comes with teaching. It was a lot of work, but now I have a nice 2 weeks of nothing to look forward to. Come January 2, I will be ready to finish up my year just as strong as I began it.

Here's to December and the Holiday season. I hope everyone is feeling as blessed and joyful as I am and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

10 Day Challenge : 5 Foods

As I am sure most of my followers know.. I love food. I love cooking it and I love eating it. Here are 5 of my either go-to foods, or foods that I am always having a taste for.

5. Sushi: Now, when I say I love sushi, I don't mean the legit stuff. You know, the raw fish and all that jazz. I love COOKED sushi. Anything with crab, shrimp, lobster, salmon, avocado, cucumber, and so on is absolutely delicious, so long as the meat is cooked (or smoked). I can pretty much guarantee that I am always up for going to get some sushi, no matter how much I have had it that week. (not such a good thing for my bank account)
 

4. Pasta: Any pasta dish is fine with me. I cook a lot of them because they are just simple and fairly inexpensive. I have also found that most recipes I come across to try, all seem to be pasta related! When in doubt, I have 2-3 pasta dishes I can eat pretty much any time.

3. Steak: I really like  LOVE, OBSESS OVER, MAY HAVE A SLIGHT ADDICTION TO... steak. It is just so wonderful. For those who know me well, you know how much of a carnivore I am. If there is red meat, I am a happy girl; but steak.. steak is the way to my heart. I don't have it often, but when I do, I can assure you, I am the happiest girl alive. (sorry my love may be a little out of hand)

2. Hamburger: Hamburger- it's red meat, of course I love it. Hamburgers are just one of those things that are always good and always seem to hit the spot. Especially when you get a good one! One of my favorite burgers is the Belmont Burger at Belmont Grill. I used to be a loyal Huey's burger girl, but they haven't impressed me as much the last couple of years, but Belmont's are thick, juicy little pieces of heaven.

1.Grilled Cheese/ Deli Sandwiches: My #1 go to food is a grilled cheese sandwich or a grilled turkey/cheese etc. They are quick, easy, and inexpensive. Cheese (if you can even consider it a food) is probably my second favorite food next to steak. So anything with cheese is great. Add some bread, butter, and melt them all together and I am good to go. 


Those are some of my favorite dishes, and after writing this post, I think I may just need to consume one of the aforementioned foods this evening!

Happy Friday Eve, everyone!

10 Day Challenge : 6 Places

I really want to travel, but here are just a few places I would love to visit and/or places I just love :) (in no particular order)


6. Spain - I would love to go to Spain one day. For no particular reason really, just think it would be a pretty exciting place to visit!

5. Chicago - I have never been and I have ALWAYS wanted to! Fortunately, I get to go in March for my cousins Bachelorette party and I cannot wait!

4. Africa - I think it would be pretty awesome to go to Africa and explore all of it's natural beauty.

3. Bora Bora - This place just looks awesome. Gorgeous, relaxing, romantic. Perfect honeymoon place!

2. Denver - I love cold. I love snow. I would love to visit Colorado in general, and even potentially live there one day. Guess we will just see where life takes me!

1.  Memphis - I have lived here my whole life, and while I definitely want to get away a lot I still think Memphis is a beautiful place.

Happy traveling :) At least one day, I hope!

10 Day Challenge : 7 Wants

7. I want to travel. Anywhere and everywhere.
6. I want this entire outfit. Feel free to make that happen. I really love the whole look, it is cute but comfortable. I love LOVE love the accessories!

I already have the boots, but I will take the rest please :)

5. I want to start reading more. I have a list of books I can't wait to read, but I just don't have the time right now!
4. I want another puppy... but that won't be happening anytime soon (don't worry mother)

I miss that sweet little puppy face!

3. I want/NEED some new shoes (especially flats)
2. I want this semester to be over so I can have that boyfriend of mine back. Our schedules are completely opposite so we don't get to hang out nearly as much!

1. I want my friends to move back to Memphis so we can hang out all the time. I miss them!

10 Day Challenge : 8 Fears

8. Spiders

7. Roaches

6. Being jobless

5. Being robbed/mugged

4. Rubberbands - I hate having those things shot at me

3. House Fires - couldn't imagine losing everything

2.Awkward run-in's (may sound stupid, but I wouldn't know what to do!)

1.Letting down my family/friends

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.