Happy Post

Happy things to report here in my world!

Okay, first of all - I passed my screening interview!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A week ago, I had an interview at big school district. They asked me 50 situation questions and told me to be on my way. With the passing on this screener, it means that principals in the district can only hire people of have passed this initial screener. I'm considered a "preferred candidate" and newly hired teachers must be "preferred candiadates". It's the first step to getting a dream job in a perfect location. Fingers Crossed!!!

We had a great weekend in Iowa. We got to Iowa late on Thursday night, but not late enough to not meet up with my gal pals at a bar. I as able to catch up with the ladies while Joel met up with some of his friends downtown too. It wasn't a late night because on Saturday I had a job fair.

My first job fair experience was pretty successful. It's a lot of long lines and short conversations but I feel like I'm a pretty good interviewee and hope that I made a postive impression on some of the principals.

Saturday night was sushi and airliner. It was so much fun and I felt like I got to accomplish everything I wanted to do in Iowa in such a short time.

From Iowa, Joel and I drove straight to downtown Chicago to hang out with my cousins for the night. We ordered in sushi again, ordered 10 rolls for 4 of us, and we're literally in a sushi-coma. We played a pretty competitive game of Ticket to Ride (which is like my most favorite game ever and serisouly recommend buying it off amazon), had some wine, and went to bed.

This little princess is my cousin's daughter Sophia. She and Joel were just too precious together I couldn't help but snap a few photos. Joel is also forever grateful for Sophia for letting him borrow a Hello Kitty band-aid.

smile

Cheerfulness in the best promoter of health.

This weekend Joel and I are heading out to U. of Iowa. I can't wait to go back (see those girls) and pretend that I'm still a college girl livin' it up. In the meantime, before I get to Iowa I need to pack supplies (food, drinks, clothes, shoes, etc. etc.), get a baby shower gift for the baby shower I am missing, fill prescriptions, bake cookies for all of my hosts, install my new bed frame, and finish all of my lesson plans for the two days of school I'll be missing. Friday and Monday I have job fairs that I need 100 copies of my resume for, and need to prep for....and today, I'm being observed by my principal.

Easy peazy!

Girl Crush

I have a girl crush. Her name is Hilary Duff.

I have always had a love-hate-I'mreallyjealousofyou relationship with her, but I have decided this weekend (when she got engaged on a balcony in Hawaii with a huggge rock) that I just love her.

jobs.

A watched pot never boils. That kid with the brown hood, staring at that kettle is how I feel with my phone. My sweet valentine is waiting, and has been waiting since Friday, for a very important phone call. He is waiting to hear information on a really lucrative job opportunity. Which in turn means I'm waiting to hear what he hears. Every time Joel calls I have dropped all greeting formalities and gone straight to, "HaveYouHeardAnythingYet????"

In other news, it's Lent today. I haven't decided what I want/can/need to give up. I'm thinking I'm going to give up being lazy and get my butt to the gym a few more times in a week.

Valentine's Day

I've got a really lovely valentine. His name is Joel and I like him so much that I have decided to keep him.


Joel and I spent Valentine's dinner at home. We each cooked two courses and decided to spend only $15 on each other's gifts. Having such a low price point ended up being harder than I thought. I found a cute khaki polo hat on clearance and a Brooks Brothers tie so I ended up doing pretty well.

Joel made me a book, "Ten reasons I wouldn't want to spend Valentine's Day With Anyone Else" (Can you see why I'm keeping him). There's ten reasons (obviously) with a picture on each page that goes along with the reason...example ----> 10. you make me laugh, a picture of us laughing. The book is stinkin' adorable and is worth so much more than fifteen dollars.



As far as dinner went Joel had the first 2 courses. He made a smoked salmon spread that was divine and a clam bisque soup. By the time my courses were up, I was already getting full. Everything we made was so delicious I don't think we could have had ordered a better meal. We didn't want each other to know what we were making until it was served which made the meal that much more fun.

I made this beauty:



I bought a dough mix that you add water too so you can form it how you want. I thought the crust was delish. The toppings are a crumbled turkey sausage, feta cheese, and thin tomato slices with a tomato basil sauce. Really easy, and really good.

For dessert we had choclate fondue:


We had such a great valentine's night just enjoying each other's company and conversation. Today we had brunch and just hung around. It's so fun to laugh and play with someone you truly love and care about. Thanks for a great weekend Joely.

Be Mine

Valentine's Day Party in the first grade, is not as much fun when you are the teacher. The kids were sugar crazed all day. I did get lots of yummy chocolates and fruit roll ups as apologies for their insanity so all is forgiven.

For my valentine's date with Joel, things are a tad calmer. We are celebrating on Saturday. The same day that I have 12 hours of licensing exams. Not ideal. Doubly not ideal because we are cooking our own dinner. A few weeks back we decided that we would make an appetizer, 2 small entrees, and a dessert item. We picked out of a hat which items we'll cook and I picked a dessert and an entree. I can't tell you what I'm cooking up (Sorry Joel) but it's not too tricky so I should be able to cook it up while I set up our dining room, shower, and prepare for a celebration. Yea, maybe that won't be as easy as I was hoping....

No school on Monday makes me a realllllly happy camper (thank you Presidents!). It is especially appreciated because I received a job interview!!!!!! and need to go buy a suit for the big round 1 screener next Friday.

Overall, I think a holiday that celebrates love and chocolate isn't half bad.

I hope you are enjoying the love that is surely all around you.
xoxo

checked in

I found this pillow at Darby's great blog

Okay, so I didn't get a snow day, but that's okay. I woke up with a little bounce in my step. Last night, I took the entire night to myself, bunkered down on the couch and finished Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. An adorable, unconventional love story and it was a perfect snowy, cozy, curl up kind of couch read.

And if you happen to be a fan of Emily Giffin as well, she has this little beauty on its way. Hits shelves May 11th, right in time for my May 8th birthday!

Ho-Hum.

I'm just sort of out of it. I can't drag myself to the gym because, well...it is simply too snowy. That is my excuse this week. That dang snow, keeping me from my workout.
So, instead of going to the gym I have been constantly snacking on twizzlers, puppy chow, m&ms, and anything else I can get my paws on.

I think I need a........

Superbowl Sunday

Who will come out victorious???

vs.

I'm rootin' for the colts...and Kendra.

RTI meetings

RTI meeting, in place: now.

What's an RTI meeting? It stands for response to intervention. In the classroom we set up interventions for individual students who need more assistance. Well, I'm home, and I'm calling an emergency RTI meeting on myself.

It's time for some interventions. My interventions that I will be putting in place for the next thirty days are as follows (with picture, since I think a post without a picture is like a wine glass without wine)

1.Yoga - I've done yoga on and off for the past 4 or 5 years. Maybe once every month. I've tried all different kinds, Bikram, Vinyasa, Hatha, I even think I took a pre-natal yoga class on accident. But, this time it's different. This time I'm going to go to yoga for the mental benefits, not the physical gains. I'm going to go to yoga to spend an hour of my time silencing my mind, stretching my body, learning breathing techniques, and relaxing. My goal is to go to 3 weekend classes in the next 4 weeks.

*That's me in the white-tee doin' some downward dog

2. Journal - Another thing I do all the time. I have always written down what I eat, and the calories next to it, and I have this blog. But rarely do I have a self-reflective journal where I just vent. My goal is to write in my journal almost everyday for the next 30 days.

3. Church - I simply don't go to church enough. I have excuses for it, but I need to get my butt there. I love church. I love the way it makes you feel re-energized, humble, and thankful. I am not in love with my church. I find the messages a bit traditional, and the service meets the needs of an older crowd. I've wanted to try other churchs but haven't gotten around to it. My goal, is to attend church at least once (Hey, I gotta be realistic....) in the next month.



4. Secret - Have you read "The Secret"? Are you busy right now? Okay, well then head out to Borders and go pick it up. It's not hokey-pokey. It's not magic. It's down right common sense. It's all about sending out positive energy in order to get positive things back into your life. My goal is to re-read it and practice it!


5. Affirmations - Since all of my goofy (which is a really nice way of putting it) negative thoughts are in my head, the only way to get them to leave is to replace them with something more positive. My goal is to say my positive affirmations every single day, to believe them and feel them.

grammys

The good. The bad. The ugly.

My favorites (The good.)

On the fence with this one, a pony-tail may have made this cuter.

The bad:


The ugly:

*photos from justjared.com