Trials of a 7th Grader

I walked into the bathroom after school today and was reminded of why teaching pre-pubescent 7th graders makes me laugh regularly.  There were a handful of cheerleaders in there getting ready to cheer at the basketball game (which 12 year old boys in huge sleeve-less jerseys is another thing that makes me laugh) but anyway....I walk through the mass of giggling girls, hold my breath through gobs of hairspray shot my way, and make it to a stall.  Then the following conversation took place:

"OMG!!!  The worst thing happened to me this morning!! In first hour, I thought I had left my lip gloss at home and I was like, are you serious?! But then I rememberd it was in my binder....phew! That would have been so terrible."

-other girl  "Wow!! I almost forgot to wear mascara to school today!  That is like my worst nightmare!"

It took all that I had not to laugh out loud at this point.  I can't help but think though that their life is pretty good if that's their biggest concern.  And I know so many of them have much bigger concerns; concerns I've never had to worry about.  I just do what I can in my little corner of their world...room D-2, Language Arts.  Hope for more laughs tomorrow.

And still no camera charger...I just need to break down and buy a new one.

Our Humble Abode

We still don't have a name for the new place yet and that bothers me because I love naming things.  Every car I've ever owned has had a name:  Anita Acclaim, Dexter the Taurus, and now Lola the Corolla.  So...gotta get a name.

Before I share pics of the unnamed place, here's a side note.  Remember these lovely things?  Here I was so quick to chuck that crap stuff out the window and what email do I get at school today? A memo that Friday is "Beach Day" at school.  Wear your shorts, flip flops, and tacky Hawaiian shirts to jazz it up in the middle of winter.  I'm immediately ticked at myself because I just THREW AWAY multiple leis and a Hawaiian dress thinking, "where in the world would I ever wear these?" Um...to work...duh. Grrr

On with the show.  I forgot to take a picture of the outside and now I can't find my camera charger since moving and the cameras dead.  So this could very well be my last post for awhile.  Who likes a blog without pictures?!

The fam was in town this past weekend and were so great at helping me pick things out and hang them up.  Our biggest surprise was how much of a perfectionist my dad was with hanging things.  We're talking tape measurer, level, pencil mark on the wall, and multiple forms of affirmation that yes, it is straight.  If you know my dad, he's the first to admit he's not a "details" guy so that was shocking...and a bit annoying to Jana :)

Finished wall arrangement.  This is my favorite part of the living room!  The shelves and square pieces are all metal from Hobby Lobby (50% off, yes please) The blue sign on the top was a housewarming gift from my mom.  It says, "God bless this home" and has cute birds on it.

I've mentioned numerous times how crafty and creative my mom is.  She made a center piece for our kitchen table.  Brightens up the place.

Bigger shot of dining area.  I'm now realizing these are not great shots and don't really do the place justice.  I've never really been a great photographer.

Kitchen shot.  The highlight of the kitchen has been the dishwasher!  And we now have barstools at the island area.

Jessica and I bought this couch from Tracie before we moved out.  So a little piece of the BP is still with us!  My mom helped me pick out the three 3 cute pillows in the middle.  We originally bought some at Hobby Lobby on sale for $23 (originally $90....are you kidding me?!) Then we went to Gordman's and they had some for $12.  Love Gordman's.

Here's the basement.  Again, I wish I had my camera charger because I'd take more updated pictures of this.  Jessica has since bought and put together a coffee table and TV stand so it's much more put together.

And here's my pride and joy.  This is when you know you're officically an adult.  I own a washer and dryer. Me. I shopped around on Craigslist, went to some rather sketchy appliance stores, tried to get haggled at Lowes, and ended up with this beautiful matching set from a friend of a friend through Jessica for $200.  Heck of a deal.

I'm also noticing now I have no pictures of my own room and massive walk-in closet (love).  I just might live here forever.  So again...whenever I find that stupid camera charger and take more pictures I'll let ya know.  Until then....I've got to scrounge up some Hawaiian gear for Friday! Aloha!
 

So Much Cooler Online

There are a lot of good things in life...diet dr. pepper, sleeping in on Saturdays, watching Season 3 of Castle (believe it or not, I haven't been totally glued to that like I thought I would).  And then there are a select few things in life that are absolutely great!  I was able to enjoy one of those great things this past weekend.  Feast your eyes on this guy:



Mr. Brad Paisley himself

My dad's company got tickets to his concert for their Christmas party and I was able to join in on the fun!  I went to his concert when he opened for Intrust two years ago and I think he was even better than last time! 

American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery

And The Band Perry

were his opening acts.  Can't go wrong there.  Scotty is just so young and cute and TBP have a handful of great songs out right now.  My all time favorite being All Your Life.  I think I could listen to this song all day long.  Minus their crazy/bad hair, they were very entertaining.  Back to the main event.....

We had great seats and were in a fun section that enjoyed standing up and joining in on the fun.  Brad (who will now be referred to as Hottie Cowboy) had great big screens behind him displaying all kinds of fun videos and graphics.  He is by far the most entertaining person I've ever seen in concert, and I feel like I've gone to a decent number of concerts.  Enjoy the pics.

Carrie Underwood was on a screen for their song together and she looked so life-like!

Nothing like good country music to get ya out of your seat, swaying back and forth with a crowd of thousands of strangers.  Until next time, Hottie Cowboy!  Pics of the new place coming very soon!!  

The Guessing Game

I've officially vacated the BP and moved into my new place (a name to come when it's created...the BP2? Suggestions are welcome.)  What other way to avoid unpacking all my junk then to play a little game.  The guessing game.  Let's guess some of the things I found in the depths of my closet while packing up.  Clothes, shoes, gift bags and wrapping paper, arts & crafts supplies, etc. All of these things seem very normal, and yes, were found in my closet.  Then came the dark, back section of the closet that had probably been untouched since the first day I moved in there two years ago, except for the occassional throw of random stuff to the "cave".  I don't think you'll guess these items, so I'll just show you the pictures for proof that yes, I own the following items for one reason or another....

Our first item


A sparkly vest...yep

I had totally forgot I had this little beauty!  I took it from the "Crescent Cutie" closet at Gamma Phi.  The CC is a closet full of dress up clothes and random items for date parties or just that Friday afternoon where you felt like dressing up in crazy clothes to take your friends to class.  Good ol' college.

Check this out...



Tacky Christmas vest, pirate swords, and some Hawaiian gear

Yes, all of the above was found in my closet.  Here's the icing on the cake....


Me displaying these items in my lovely sweats

No shame here, people.  Among these precious items I found pirate accessories (you know, eye patch, hook, gold hoop earrings, etc) and a lovely Hawaiian dress.  I hate to admit that I threw all of this away.  At the time I didn't want to mess with moving it, but now I'm wishing I had kept them.  You never know when you need a plastic sword.  Look forward to pics of the new place, without my address of course, thanks Papa. ;)   

Christmas Recap

Christmas break is winding down and it's going to take a bulldozer to get me out of bed for work this week.  I went into the break with the goal of not getting my days and nights turned around and then Jana and Matt introduced me to Castle, the best show ever.  I watched the entire Season One and Two in an eight day time period.  I would say that's being very productive with my time.  And don't worry, I've already ordered Season Three off of Amazon for a very reasonable price and two day shipping.  So consider me on my couch every evening from Wednesday on watching Detective Kate Beckett and Richard Castle solving all of New York's homicides. 

Ok...I promise this post was originally supposed to be about Christmas.  Sorry for the brief commercial.  I'm going to let the pictures do all the talking, but know that there was plenty of food, sleep, wearing of sweats, family games, hot chocolate from the push of a button (parents' Keurig was awesome), watching Christmas movies, looking at Christmas lights (yes, I was feeling a bit car sick) and so on.



The ingredients for a day of baking.



Jana and her snowman baby bump :)



Cade showing us how smart he is



game night



Christmas Eve brunch



GIRL gifts :)



The girls with all of our new boots.



My mom's decor at its finest



Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and your 2012 is off to a great start!