Week in Review

Work

Work has been very good lately. I've been working nearly every day. In fact, in March, I worked every day we had school except for 3 days. The previous week, I only did kindergarten all week which was really fun. Last week, I had 1st grade, 3rd grade, and kindergarten.

I had the kindergarten class for 2 days and they were pretty cute. We had indoor recess thanks to rainy weather and while they were playing with Playdough, some of them started singing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" They really love Frozen.

This week is the last week before spring break and so far, I'm not scheduled. I'm hoping to at least get a couple days, but since we have vacation next week, I probably won't get much. After spring break, my schedule is filling up. I already have 7 days scheduled in April and I anticipate that it will continue to fill since we're getting to the end of the year. There are lots of meetings and trainings that need to happen before the school year ends.

Life

Life has been pretty quiet lately. I'm happy that the snow is finally melting and spring weather appears to be on its way.

We finally watched White House Down over the weekend. It was actually a pretty good movie. Our nephew came down and stayed with us, which means we stayed up late playing Civ 4. We're nerds. I also made the guys watch This Means War and my husband even admitted it was entertaining.

We're halfway through Lent and my sacrifices are still going strong. It's been tough to pass on chocolate this year and I really miss being able to order a pizza when dinner plans don't go they way I want.

I was also really productive this weekend working on some Vera Bradley Outlet Sale related posts for the blog, so be sure to come back later this week to check those out.

How was your week?

 

Sunday Social

What is your ideal way to relax?

On the couch with my husband, watching TV or a movie while we both putter around on our laptops.

Where is your favorite place to be?

At home with my husband for relaxing. For fun, Disney World! It's my happy place.

Who do you consider your biggest role model? 

My mom and grandma who are both strong independent women. As for celebrities, it's definitely the Duchess of Cambridge. She's such a great model for being a true lady and I just love her style.

What does your life look like in 3 years? 

First child is a toddler, and baby #2 is being planned. Probably looking into getting a bigger house. Hopefully both of us have better jobs. Hopefully I'm a full time teacher again with my own classroom. I'd love to be teaching at the school connected with our church.

If you could go back and change one decision what would it be? 

My only true regret? Not getting a Florida resident annual pass to Walt Disney World while I lived in Tampa. I could have been spending my weekends in my happy place and then maybe the stress of my job wouldn't have made me quite so miserable.

What is your biggest accomplishment in life thus far?

Can I pull a Benedict Cumberbatch and say, "I wish I could say children."

No seriously, I'll say graduating from the college I wanted to attend since the second grade in four years with honors. I worked my butt off for that, I'm going to be proud of that for my life.

 

Sunday Social - 3s

What are the top 3 things you can't go a day without doing? 

Telling my husband I love him
Checking social media
Drinking a lot of water


What are 3 things that scare you the most?

Being home alone overnight
Bees/Wasps
Tornadoes 


What are 3 places you want to see before you kick the bucket? 

London
Alaska
The Vatican


What are 3 movies you will always love? 

Pride & Prejudice
The Princess Bride
Tangled

What are your 3 favorite current songs?

 This is a really hard question for me because I only listen to the radio in the 15 minutes it takes me to get to work or home. And most of the time, it's either morning show, commercials, or the same 5 songs. So, I have no idea what the hot new songs are anymore.

Lorde - Royals



Pink - True Love



Fun - Some Nights





 

Sunday Social

 

How much time do you spend on Social Media a day?...be honest 

None during work, but I make up for it when I get home. That's pretty much what all my saved tabs are anymore.

How long were you reading blogs before you started a blog?

I'm pretty sure it was several years. I didn't really think about blogging until I tried to start a wedding planning blog and then never updated it.

What is your favorite kind of cupcake?

Usually anything chocolate is great. The local cupcake bakery does a great snickerdoodle cupcake as well as an excellent strawberry one.   

Do you eat fast food? If so what's your favorite?

I don't eat fast food very often, but if I'm eating it, I prefer Chick-fil-a or Chipotle. Sadly, they're a bit of a drive, so I don't get them often. If I want a burger, I prefer Wendy's.

What is the most random thing someone would find in your purse?  

Even though I tend to carry a lot of stuff in my purse, I don't think anything in there is weird. 

What is the weirdest TV show you watch?

I don't think any of my TV shows are weird. Although it might be weird that I watch Mexico One Plate at a Time whenever I find it on TV. 


 

Week in Review

Work

Last week was an awesome week for work. We had school for 5 days straight for the second week in a row and we even had outside recess twice. Winter might finally be on it's way out. (Ha! We're getting snow again this week, so I'm not holding my breath.) The really great part was that I actually worked every day. It was a tiring week, but the paycheck will be great. I taught Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade, which made it great to be teaching in my preferred grades.

Life

Lent started and I'm doing a good job of sticking to my Lenten sacrifices so far. We celebrated my oldest niece's birthday on Saturday and my sister-in-law made a chocolate cake. I was sad to turn it down, but settled for some vanilla ice cream instead. Now if only there was a filter for Pinterest, so I didn't have to see all the yummy chocolate things on there!

I finally watched the movie, Pitch Perfect, this weekend. I don't know why I waited so long to watch it; it was a great movie. I was also very excited that Once Upon a Time came back this weekend. The episode was awesome and I'm so happy to have Captain Hook back on my TV.

 How was your week?

 

Sunday Social - Pinterest

I LOVE Pinterest, so this week's questions were really fun!

What is your favorite outfit pin?

I pin a lot of outfits from the Outfit Posts blog because I think she has some great ideas that are my style. I actually put together an outfit just like this before she posted this one and I was really proud of myself for coming up with something a little more stylish than my usual choices.


What is your favorite food pin? 


These doughnuts are begging me to try out my new doughnut pan and make them.

What is your favorite wedding pin? 


Of course, I had to pick something from my own wedding. I love seeing people pin my wedding pictures for their own inspiration.  

What is your favorite DIY/craft pin?

I put bottle brush trees like these in a couple of my vintage Ball jars, but I want to find some vintage jars like these for next winter. And I love the little deer, so I need to find some of those too.

What is your favorite quote/verse/lyric pin? 

This is very true!
 
Share one more random pin you love.


I'm on the hunt for a fun glitter like this so I can recreate this nail look.

Follow me on Pinterest!

Visit Jenn's profile on Pinterest.
 

Lent 2014

It's time once again to make some Lenten sacrifices.

As usual, I'm giving up pop. I've been doing a lot better since last Lent. We don't keep pop in our house, so I usually only get it once a week when we go to my mother-in-law's for dinner or on the rare occasions when we go out to eat. It's nice to see that my sacrifices can lead to better habits.

I'm also giving up chocolate. This one will be hard. I constantly crave chocolate. But, that's the point of Lent! I anticipate that I'll be baking something sinfully chocolate for Easter dessert.

M and I also decided that we are not going to eat out during Lent. No getting Chick-fil-A, no grocery store deli fried chicken, and no ordering pizza when we don't feel like cooking. I think we rarely eat out, but I have a feeling this sacrifice will make me realize just how often we fall back onto eating out or ordering pizza. I do have one exception that's unavoidable and that's the day we take our girls' trip to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale. Unless I want to pack a lunch, not eating out isn't really an option.

Since Lent is also supposed to be about developing some good habits as well, I'm going to challenge myself to get off my butt and get moving. It's time to finally try out the Just Dance 3 I got for Christmas and get the heart rate up. What can I say? Charlie and Meryl inspired me with their ice dancing. (P.S. I'm so excited they're going to be on Dancing with the Stars! I'm going to actually watch it this year.)

 I'll try to keep you updated on how I'm doing throughout Lent.

Are you giving up anything or starting a new habit?


 

Week In Review

 Sorry, there was no Week in Review post last week because the previous week was awful and I really didn't want to think about it. We're currently still adjusting to being a one cat household and it's a trial for all of us.

Work

I worked a couple days last week and could have had more, but I wasn't feeling great in the morning when I got the call and hadn't slept well, so I did turn down a job. I was back at my usual school and even had my favorite 4th graders. It still blows me away that I have a favorite 4th grade class when I usually dread doing anything above 2nd grade. Now if only the winter would let up so we can have some outside recess!

I turned in my application for my summer job, so hopefully I'll be back at the day camp again this year. I'm hoping for a group of younger children of my own like I was supposed to have last year. But, I would survive if I was stuck with the older kids again especially if I'm back at the same camp. I've got lots of ideas for this summer and I'm excited to get back to it.

Life

As I said, we're all adjusting to not having Mimi around anymore. Sammy has been very affectionate and has been sleeping on our bed most nights. I think she misses having someone to torment.

We ended up going out on Friday night for my brother-in-law's birthday. It was fun to a point and a nice reminder of why I don't drink much.

Sunday night, I enjoyed watching The Oscars. I mostly just watched to see Benedict Cumberbatch present an award, but I also enjoyed Ellen and her antics.

And of course, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Benedict's hijinks.

How was your week?

 

Sunday Social - Middle and High School

What was your biggest middle school fashion mistake? 

I don't think it was a mistake back then, but I cringe now when I look at pictures. The Midwestern grunge look was big when I was in junior high. I wore a lot of plaid flannel shirts and there was also overalls. There were even short overalls for the summer.

Who were your best friends in high school? Pics?

I'm actually not really even friends with the girls I hung out with in high school. There were five of us all together. We went to different colleges and just drifted apart. I am Facebook friends with one of them and we do sometimes talk on there, but she lives across the country now. I won't post pictures since I don't know how they'd feel about that.

What was a typical weekend like for you in high school?

If it was fall, then typically I spent my Saturdays at marching band competitions cheering for my friends (they were all in it) and my brother. The rest of the year, I probably just stayed home or went shopping with my mom. I didn't get my driver's license until after high school, so I had to get rides to hang out with my friends. Sometimes, we got together on Friday or Saturday nights and just watched movies or went to a local coffee shop.

Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends? Tell us about that. 

No boyfriends in high school, just a lot of crushes. I'm actually pretty glad for that now because I see how teenagers act about their boyfriends and it's pretty ridiculous. I was already ridiculous, I'm sure, so I didn't need that added stupidity of mooning over someone.

Did you have any secret codes with your friends? Spill your secrets! 

We usually had code names for our crushes so nobody would know who we were talking about if they overheard us or intercepting one of our notes. I was in high school before texting, so we still wrote notes and folded them up all fancy.

If you could relive one day/moment/experience from middle school or high school, what would it be?

Hmm, I didn't really love junior high or high school, so I'm not sure that there's anything I'd like to relive.