Random Monday Ramblings...

I will start by saying that I do have some blog post ideas, but none of them are ready to share.  I plan to write a post with before and after pictures of my classroom, but I'm not even close to finished with the after.  So that will be later.  I also want to show you this really fun way to tie a scarf.  This requires me to make and post a vlog.  Since I'm lucky that I even get dressed each day, I want to wait until I look especially nice for all of you.  AND I received my first prize package from Influenster.  I won two of the brand challenges from the VoxBox I got a few months ago.  This one was from Oasis+. 

So that's what's coming.

What other random things can I share with you.....?

-Scott and I really, really, really need to go grocery shopping. 

This adorable kitty (Allie) likes to watch me cook.  Every time I go to the kitchen, she hops up on the counter and meows at me!





-I am wondering why I have my busiest two weeks of the summer during the last two weeks of my summer.
-I spent way too much money at Maurice's in the last week.  I got some great new pieces.  I couldn't resist wearing one of my new dresses to church today.  Picture to follow in an upcoming style post. 
-Stay tuned tomorrow for Dinner Time Tuesday!  (And come link up! :) )

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Wedding Anniversary: The Reception

If you stopped by yesterday, you read that it was my Wedding Anniversary.
If you're like my husband, you probably would agree that the best part of the wedding is the reception.  We had so much fun at ours.

Since I was going into picture overload yesterday, I thought it would be best to split it up into two posts.  So today, I share some memories from our reception.  :)

Our reception was at a place called The Casino at Lakemont Park.  It's not a gambling place, though, and honestly, I don't even know why it's called "The Casino."

This IS one of our professional photos.  It's one of my most favorites!
 

It was a relatively warm day on August 7, 2010.  The guys' jackets were off almost immediately after entering the reception.

Our first dance was to "Angel Eyes" by the Jeff Healey Band

My dad and I danced to "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle

My friend, Kira, (who was already engaged) caught my bouquet.

Our garter toss was fun.  After Scott tossed it and my friend Jason reluctantly picked it up off of the floor, one of our groomsmen took the place of Kira (the bouquet catcher).  Jason was blindfolded to put the garter on "her".  He was a good sport.  :)

This was our cake...and yes, the bride is dragging the groom on the top.

I love this picture of my brother and I.  I don't remember what he said, but he's a funny kid...clearly.  :)

There was a lot of other fun and dancing and mostly inappropriate pictures left with Scott and his friends!  lol

But our day was wonderful, and I just can't believe that it was three years ago!  Time has flown by so quickly!  But here's to many more wonderful years ahead!

It's My Wedding Anniversary

Back in February, I shared the story of how Scott and I came to be husband in wife.  If you missed it, or if you're new around here, you can go check them out: Our Story, Our Story, Part 2.

From reading those posts, you know that Scott and I had a legal marriage, and an official wedding ceremony.

Three years ago, today, Scott and I had our wedding. 

Though, I shared some of our wedding photos in Our Story, Part 2, I'm going to share some of my favorites today.  These are photos that were taken by guests at the wedding.  None of these are our professional photographs.  Oh, and there may be repeats from the previous post, I warn you now.  :)

This is me (obviously) with my flower girl, Zoe.  She's my cousin's daughter.  I can't tell you how much I love this picture.

My mom is finishing the tying of my corset back, and I'm zipping up Tori's (my cousin) dress.

Ready to go...and yes, I took the hair tie off of my wrist. :)

My cousin's son, AJ, was our ringbearer.  He carried the actual rings because I trusted him more than either of the best men.  :)

My brother, David, escorted my mom to her seat.

Scott and his groomsmen waiting for my entrance

Walking down the aisle :)

Mr. & Mrs. :)

Our bridal party

With our parents

This picture cracks me up.  It looks like Scott is using AJ as a puppet.

At our wedding we...
...held our ceremony at New Life Worship Center.
...had 1 maid of honor and 1 matron of honor, 6 bridesmaids, 2 best men, 6 groomsmen, 1 ringbearer, and 1 flower girl.
...chose music that suited us!  My friend, Kira (also a bridesmaid), sang "A Moment Like This" by Kelly Clarkson for the processional.  I walked down the aisle to "Everything I Do (I Do it for You) by Bryan Adams.  My aunt and uncle sang, "The Other Side of Me" by Michael W. Smith for the unity candle ceremony.  We exited our ceremony to "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson.
...did not force our entire bridal party to stand in a receiving line....AWKWARD.  It was just us and my parents and Scott's mom and stepdad. 
...did not leave the church together for the outdoor pictures.  My brand-new husband said it never occurred to him that we were supposed to do that.  Even though I told him that we were supposed to.
...had an awesome reception.

I'm going to share reception details and pictures tomorrow!  :)  Stay tuned.   

Book Review: Redeeming Love

I know that it's Tuesday.  I should be hosting Dinner Time Tuesday right now, but I'm not for two reasons:

1) We don't really have any food.  So I haven't really been making dinner. (ie. I ate tortilla chips and salsa for dinner yesterday.)
2)  It's usually only Kristin and I linking up anyway, so I figured it could wait until next week.....or until I buy some food, whichever comes first! :)

Instead, I share with you my review of Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. 

Here's what Goodreads.com has to say: California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does ... the One who will never let her go.

I cannot even put into words how good this book is!  I'm so glad Julie sent it to me during our Book Swap with Ashley way back in April!

This book is an amazing story of God's redeeming and unconditional love. Rivers creates a beautiful love story, not just between the characters and God, but between man and woman. It is a story of hope and love, and it reminds us that no matter how awful we may be, God will forgive us. 

I feel like I could go on and on about this book, but at the same time, I can't find any more words than the ones above because I feel like it just sums it up so well.  If you're looking for a book to finish off your summer reading or a book that's just simply amazing, I highly recommend this one!

Too cute!

These plates are the Celebrating Home "Deal of the Day" for August 5th.

 

They can be used decoratively or practically...you know, as dishes.

 

Click here to snag these for $8.00 while supplies last!!

Are you looking for a tablet cover?

If you're in the market for a tablet cover OR looking for a gift for someone...I've got a great idea!

Each day during the month of August, Celebrating Home is offering a Deal of the Day.  It's a clearance sale to move merchandise that will not be featured in our Fall/Winter 2013 Celebrating Home or Penelope Ann Catalogs.

I couldn't resist sharing today's deal with my fellow bloggers because I'm sure many of you have tablets!

As you can see, there are three patterns.  You can get them plain for just $5 OR you can add personalized embroidery for $6 more.  I'm not a fan of monograms, so I would just personalize mine with the letter B.  That IS an option.  You don't have to enter your 3 initials.

Click here to be taken directly to the deal of the day.  You can also explore the current catalogs or the other sales!  Other "Deal of the Day" items that are still in stock are also pictured on the page the link directs you to.

Thank you for your help!!  Happy Shopping! :)

It's August Already?!?

I seriously cannot believe that it's the first day of August.  At my school, teachers head back to work on the 26th.  I always enjoy the beginning of the school year, but giving up my lazy summer days takes some adjusting.  Every year, without fail, back-to-school nightmares start disrupting my sleep.  All of these things serve to remind me that my summer is rapidly drawing to a close.  :( 

As many of you know, though, I have a big change coming this school year.  I am moving from first grade to sixth!

I've had a lot of reactions from people about this.  An overwhelming majority of people are excited for me and have offered their congratulations.  I appreciate this because it was MY decision.  I wasn't "asked" (aka "told') to move.  I didn't have to do it.  It was something I wanted to do.  What I haven't appreciated are the few people who have said, "Are you crazy?",  "Why are you punishing yourself?", "Of all the elementary grades, 6th is my least favorite.", and "Why would you want to do THAT?"

Fortunately, none of you were among those negative Nelly's, but with the school year approaching, I decided I would share why I am moving to 6th grade.  But first, some background as to why I even considered it.  I honestly never wanted to teach above third grade.  Students after that develop real attitudes about school...and usually, they're not good attitudes.  I had been working closely with a sixth grade teacher on our School Wide Positive Behavior team.  One day, during a meeting, he mentioned that the sixth grade was going to need a fourth teacher for the upcoming school year.  Knowing how I felt about the older grades, he jested, "Wanna come teach 6th grade?"  "Uhh...no," was my sarcastic reply. 

I call those my famous last words.

After that conversation, I couldn't stop thinking about moving out of first and up to sixth.

In no particular order, my reasons are listed below:

1. I spent 6 years of my seven-year teaching career in first grade.  I really just felt the need for a change.
2. If I moved, I would be teaching reading.  This is a subject I am highly comfortable with.  Not only do I love reading, but my background of teaching primary reading will be very helpful with sixth grade students who are still struggling.  I will be able to take them back to the basics, if necessary.
3. I taught this group of students when they were in first grade five years ago.  That's a good AND bad thing.  BUT I like that I can see and interact with past students again.  One of my favorite things about teaching is watching my students grow up and seeing what kind of people they become.
4. Independence.  Sixth graders are not needy.  They can do so much more on their own without repeated explicit instruction.
5. Projects.  Because of their independence, they can do much more interesting things to demonstrate their knowledge.
6. I am sick and tired of the reading stories in first grade.  We use a wonderful curriculum in first grade (Story Town by Harcourt).  When we got the reading series during my second year of teaching first grade, I was thrilled.  My first year was chaos.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I finally had a guide.  But after five years of some of the most boring and/or stupid stories ever, I decided that if I had to hear "Little Rabbit's Tale" (to name just one) one more time, I was going to rip off my ears.
7. I am done with the negativity.  Not that everyone is happy and positive all the time.  I know I'm not, but two of the teachers with whom I've worked for a long time have just brought me down.  Every change, certain students, anything that they don't like becomes a HUGE issue.  I've essentially been doing things the way I want anyway because I just don't care what they say.  I need to be somewhere where each thing we're asked to do is not the end of the world.
8. I only need to write lesson plans for 4 reading classes (which can essentially be the same) and one math class.
9. Students can actually help you...effectively.  I could only rely on the best and brightest of my first graders sometimes to help me with certain tasks.  Sixth graders are a bit more reliable. 
10. Change is good, y'all!  Especially when it's change that you've initiated.  Am I nervous?  Yes.  Do I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing?  Absolutely.  Am I overwhelmed right now?  Sure.  But I'm so excited.  

And that, friends, is why I'm moving to sixth grade.  :)