1st blog as a 27 year old

Yup..so I'm 27 now. yippee. (note the sarcasm there)

Its been a good birthday. I got a lot of stuff.

Thanksgiving was good. I'd normally have lots of pictures to put on here...but, sadly, something is wrong with my digital camera charger. It just won't charge my camera. I need to search online and see if I can find another charger. It was a cool little dock thing.... I'm kinda sad about that. Kodak Easyshare is cheap. If you're gonna buy a camera go for a Sony or at least a more expensive Kodak. I want a Cannon Rebel.

So.. anyway, no Thanksgiving pictures. I've been doing a little Christmas shopping. I got a lot of it done. All I really need to buy now is something for my Mom and Dad...and something for the "White Elephant" gift exchange that Jesse's brothers and sisters do. In case you've never heard of the "White Elephant" (I always used to call it the "Yankee Swap") Wikipedia explains it fairly well.....just click here. Its pretty fun. Last year I forgot about it until the last minute and I brought a bunch of used Christian books from back in my Bible College days. For Jesse's "gift" we brought a huge container of chocolate protein shake mix. This year I might wrap a 24 pack of toliet paper. No one ever does funny stuff though. One year I ended up with a picture frame and I saw it later (the EXACT same one) at Big Lots for 4 dollars. The gifts are supposed to be 15 bucks! I got ripped. Oh well, I guess I made up for it with the protein shake and used books. (Although those were expensive!)


Well I better go work out before it gets too late. I was getting sick of the same old workout videos... and then Jesse reminded me that I can watch fitness videos on demand with our Netflix membership. So I've been doing that lately. There are some Jillian Michael's DVDs on there...and there are some more of the Self DVDs (like my legs DVD that I love so much!) I also found some new ones called 10 minute solutions which have 5 ten minute workouts on each DVD so you can just do one, some, or all...and they are really good!

I'm dreading going to school tomorrow. Not because I don't want to go...just because I'm afraid its going to be FRIGID! I'm wearing long underwear tomorrow. hahaha. Can you teach wearing earmuffs?

at school again...

Today...since there are a lot of students absent...my students are watching The Adventures of Huck Finn. I love that book/movie. :)

Its freezing in here today!! I wish I would have worn something warmer. Almost lunch time now and I'm hungry. I brought Chicken Noodle Soup!! and I'm glad cause I'm freezing. I can't wait to eat it. As I sit here typing I have my big pink peacoat on...and my scarf wrapped around me too. My heater is on full blast...and there are about 25 kids in here with the door closed....and I'm still FREEEEEZING!! My toes are cold and clammy feeling, YUK!

I just found out that I will be here for the month of December! Yippie!!

at school...

I'm at school right now.... at work I should say. My students are watching a video about Mark Twain. There are only 6 kids in this class, but sometimes it feels like 25. :) They've been pretty good since I gave them all violations 10 minutes ago. hahaha. I'm going to have to do that more often.

I'm so glad that its ALMOST the weekend! YAY! Tomorrow my mom and I made plans to go to the Charleston Town Center! I'm excited. Although I really need to go grocery shopping and clean my house too!

I'm almost 27!! Next sunday is my birthday....I just found out that I share a birthday with Mark Twain!

Well I better go!

Photos of "my" classroom

if u wanna die... eat this

Everyone needs to get this stuff OUT of their diet. If we are all picky about not eating this junk then the food makers will be forced to take it out of their foods!!

About Trans Fat

There are four kinds of fats: monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are the "good" fats. It is generally accepted that consumption of saturated fat should be kept low, especially for adults. Trans fat (which means trans fatty acids) is the worst kind of fat, far worse than saturated fat.
Partial hydrogenation is an industrial process used to make a perfectly good oil, such as soybean oil, into a perfectly bad oil. The process is used to make an oil more solid; provide longer shelf-life in baked products; provide longer fry-life for cooking oils, and provide a certain kind of texture or "mouthfeel." The big problem is that partially hydrogenated oil is laden with lethal trans fat.

It is only the trans fat created by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils that we are concerned about and that should be eliminated completely from your diet. We at BanTransFats.com are not concerned with the kind of naturally occurring trans fat found in small amounts in pomegranates, cabbage, peas, or the type found in the meat and milk of cows, sheep and goats.

Partially hydrogenated oils are commonly found in processed foods like commercial baked products such as cookies, cakes and crackers, and even in bread. They are also used as cooking oils (called "liquid shortening") for frying in restaurants.

Top nutritionists at Harvard have concluded that trans fat could be responsible for an many as 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year. See New York Times. See also "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating" at p.73.
30,000 premature deaths each year means 82 each day!

How much trans fat is in the products that we eat?

How much trans fat do we consume in a day? Some of us are consuming virtually none, because we are being extremely selective about what we eat. Some of us are consuming in excess of 15 grams of trans fat per day. If that sounds unbelievable, look at the following figures:
One McDonald's large fries contains 8 grams of trans fat.
A McDonald's apple pie contains 4.5 grams of trans fat.
Four Girl Scout shortbread cookies contain 1.5 grams of trans fat.
A large order of KFC Popcorn Chicken contains 7 grams of trans fat.
KFC's Chicken Pot Pie contains 14 grams of trans fat.
A typical 3-piece KFC Extra Crispy combo meal, with a drumstick, two thighs, potato wedges, and a biscuit contains 15 grams of trans fat.

Incidentally, don't think that the problem is only at McDonald's or other fast-food chains. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many other restaurants, including "quality" restaurants, fry their food in partially hydrogenated oil and served baked goods containing partially hydrogenated fat. Many of them serve larger portions with more trans fat than McDonald's.

How much are you consuming?

What not to eat

Here are six rules to help you avoid consuming partially hydrogenated oils. Don't think for one minute that this is all you need to do for your heart and your health. Eliminating partially hydrogenated oils from your diet is just one piece of the puzzle. This is not the place to educate you about heart health and other medical issues. But if you don't understand heart health, then learn about it - please - for your own and your family's well-being. And if you are avoiding squarely facing up to the issue, and possibly kidding yourself, then go to a cardiologist for a checkup if you haven't already done so. That applies to women too. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States.

1. Don't eat any product which has the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" in the ingredients list.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises:
Consumers can know if a food contains trans fat by looking at the ingredient list on the food label. If the ingredient list includes the words “shortening,” “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “hydrogenated vegetable oil,” the food contains trans fat. Because ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance, smaller amounts are present when the ingredient is close to the end of the list.

2. If the label says zero trans fats, don't believe it. If the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" are in the ingredients list, it DOES contain trans fat.
Under FDA regulations in effect in the United States, "if the serving contains less than 0.5 gram [of trans fat], the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero." Suppose a product contains 0.4 grams per serving and you eat four servings (which is not uncommon). You have just consumed 1.6 grams of trans fat, despite the fact that the package claims that the product contains zero grams of trans fat per serving. Changing this rule is a high priority for BanTransFats.com. We are working on it.

(In Canada, the situation is not as bad. If the serving contains less than 0.2 grams of trans fat, the content may expressed as zero. Click here for the Canadian rules.)

3. Be careful when consuming products with labels from outside the United States. Sometimes they contain partially hydrogenated oil but it's not on the label.

4. In restaurants, bakeries, and other eateries, ask whether they use partially hydrogenated oil for frying or baking or in salad dressings. If they say they use vegetable oil, ask whether it is partially hydrogenated. Don't be shy about asking. Assume that all unlabeled baked and fried goods contain partially hydrogenated oil, unless you know otherwise.
Ask about that fried food. Ask about the oil in the salad dressing. Ask about that donut. Ask about that pie crust. Ask about that bread. When you ask, you are sending a message to the seller of the food that you don't want trans fats.

5. Keep saturated fat intake low too. This is very important.

6. Remember that polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fats are good fats.

One more thing. Cholesterol that affects our arteries comes from two sources: (i) animal products and (ii) bad fats. If a product is "cholesterol fee," that doesn't mean that it won't raise your bad cholesterol. If the product itself contains no cholesterol but it does contain trans fat or saturated fat, it will raise your bad cholesterol.

To learn more about good and bad fats, click here.

i'm lovin' life right now!!

Things are going really well with my sub job...and everything else. I'm just feeling so good. I'm back home in WV... I'm here with my family... physically, I feel better than I ever have.... I have the best husband ever....I have the best cat ever....I like where I'm working... I love my students...and I'm actually making a little money.....and life is just good all around!









This weekend was good. On friday Jesse and I hung out after work.... I made Balsamic Salmon, fresh green beans, and roasted red pototoes for dinner. We got some ice cream from McDonalds. Then we watched some netflix movie that was crappy.









On Saturday we stayed around the house at first...and worked out and I did laundry and a little house work (not enough, ha!) Then Jesse went to Ty's house and I went to the mall. I had to return one of those polo shirts that I bought for Jesse last week with Jessica. The only thing I bought was a pair of new black dress pants for Jesse...since he's gonna be starting his new job next week and they have to dress up...he's gotta do a tie, everyday. :(









Jesse and I have been scouring the internet, looking at tons of house plans. We are dreaming about maybe someday building a house in a new development that we love. His friend owns the land and is a contractor. So.... I'm going to post the one we've been looking at most seriously.

• http://www.eplans.com/country_house-plans/HWEPL08169.hwx

Here are a couple that I love...but are probably a little too big for our budget.

http://www.eplans.com/country_house-plans/HWEPL10912.hwx#floorplan

http://www.eplans.com/country_house-plans/HWEPL07919.hwx

http://www.eplans.com/country_house-plans/HWEPL08286.hwx

just a day

I'm sleepy. Today was a longish day. It was pretty much just an ordinary day in my substitute teaching life. I woke up...went to school...had homeroom...planning... taught 2 classes, had lunch..and then 3 more. I found a tiny scrap of paper on the floor of my classroom today that said, "Mrs. Crouch is hot" hahahaha. Funny stuff.

After school I was really tired....and I rested a bit and ate some graham crackers w/ skippy natural peanut butter on 'em. YUM!

Then I did my Jillian Michael's DVD...level 3. Then I had to unload the dishwasher... load the dirty dishes back in, etc. I also had to clean up 3 piles of cat puke today. I think Kitsy may have ate some pieces of plastic off of the Christmas tree and it may have made her sick. I'm trying to find a way to keep her out of the tree. I found a site that gives you ideas...one guy hooked up his vacuum cleaner (a cats worst enemy) to a motion senser near the tree. hahaha. Smart guy.

I didn't have to cook tonight because I made a huge pot of dinner last night. I made another one of my mom's recipes... italian turkey sausage cooked with green peppers, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and onions.... in a tomato vodka sauce with feta cheese over penne pasta. Its so good!! So tonight I just made a salad and we had leftovers. And I'm taking it for lunch tomorrow too! :)

I watched quite a bit of TV tonight... Survivor, CSI and now I'm watched that new show, Eleventh Hour. I like it. CSI has been freakin' boring lately! I'm about to be over it!! Since it was boring I flipped over to Kitchen Nightmares and watched some of that too. I hate Hell's Kitchen but I like Kitchen Nightmares.

nothing new going on

Well I've thought about writing on this blog a few times in the last week....but nothing new has been going on. I even started to write one day...and I just didn't have anything to write about.

This weekend was good. I didn't do much of anything. On friday Jesse and I had a movie night. Then on Saturday I did housework, did some crafty stuff, did a TON of laundry, and relaxed. In the evening I did my Self;Sculpt Sexy Legs Fast DVD...which I hadn't done in a looong time. About halfway through I thought I was going to throw up. I had to go lay in the floor in the bathroom. I managed to finish it though.

Sunday...my parents were out of town visiting friends in Tennessee. So, we didn't get to go over there and eat. Ty (Jesse's friend from back in the day) went to church with us...and then we came back home, ate leftovers (miss you Mom!) and Jesse went to Ty's brothers house to watch his nephew wrestle. He's supposed to be really good and I think he's 11. I stayed home and did my Jillian video, level 3.

I made pumpkin bread, but I put too much spices in it...and its not that good :( Last time I made it I didn't put enough!! I just cant get it right.

Today I went to school and had a good day. I found out that the teacher I'm subbing for will probably be out until at least Feb. 1st! So...that means I could be there for all of November, December, and January, too!! Thats good news!

After school I did a work out video...and played around on the computer. I had a lot of fun giving myself a virtual makeover. I found a really good site for it. Go to http://www.marieclaire.com/hair/hairstyles/virtual-salon/ when you have a couple of free minutes. I thought it was fun.

I cooked one of my mom's old recipes tonight. I call it Biscuit Topped Casserole. It was good...can't wait to eat some for lunch tomorrow!!

Perhaps I'll share the recipe....or maybe I won't. :)

wahooo!! I got the job!

OK...so I found out today that they won't be posting this long-term sub job up for bid...there was some reason but I don't know why....but anyway!! They asked me to stay! So... I'm on as of right now for the rest of this month...after that, its not set in stone. But...basically I was told that as long as their teacher is out... I'll be there!!!

Yay! I'm so happy!

Yesterday was election day. I'm so glad its over! I had a good day off. I cleaned up the house a bit. I cleaned out my car...and it was a long time coming. I even vacuumed it out. Its like a whole new car. When I got in it yesterday, for a second, I thought I was getting into the wrong car!

Yesterday evening I went down to the Barboursville Mall w/ Jessica. Kelli was supposed to come too, but she backed out at the last minute. (poo on her) I went to Michael's and AC Moore before I met Jessica. Then we went to Linens N Things...they are going out of business and everything is on sale. Although they need to drop their prices a lot more to get me to buy anything in there!! After that...we went over to the mall.

After a dinner of a Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme, I looked w/ envy at the purses in Macy's. Then we went to Aerie, Old Navy, NY & C, American Eagle, Aero, and the new Doggie Store (so cute!) I bought Kitsy a toy in there...and she likes it. Not as much as her twisty-ties, but she still likes it.

I bought Jesse 4 polo shirts from Old Navy and I got a Liz Claiborne teal leather tote bag that was on clearance at Macy's. Here are some pics of it...but these are green and gold. Mine is teal. I'd like to have the gold one too!! :)

After school today I ran outside. Its been so nice lately... I have to take advantage of the weather while its around. While I was running I ran into my great-aunt, Linda! She was walking and we talked for a little while. Ironic.

well...time for bed. I'm beat and I have a headache. Blah.

ok, I'm hooked....

I wasn't going to get my hopes up. I wasn't even really wanting this job. But... now, in my second week of teaching Reading to 6th graders....I really, really want this long term job!! Yeah a few of the students drive me crazy...and yes, 2 of the classes make me want to pull my hair out at times....but I really like this job!! And for the most part I REALLY like these kids!

So now I'm in trouble. I have to bid on the job...and I really want it. (The VP told me today that he wants me to get the job.) But... now, I'm going to be upset if I don't get it. :( So please pray that I get it!!

Well... this weekend was really good, but too short. I can barely remember it! Saturday I don't think I did much of anything.

Sunday was church, lunch at my parents', shopping with my mom (she bought me a new purple purse!), baked pumpkin bread, and then Jesse and I went to Brian & Jessica's house and had a late dinner.

After school today I went to the valley park and ran...by myself. No Amy. I guess shes never gonna run with me again. :( She said she was too busy. But I enjoyed my run nevertheless.

After that I cooked some turkey taco salad.... and then we went to McDonald's. Jesse got a ice cream cone and I got a non-fat, sugar-free vanilla latte.




oh yeah, in case you ever have read this blog and wondered to yourself, "What in the world is Jillian?" Heres a small taste. I started out with workout 1...now I'm up to workout 3.







I really need a new hairdo and I'm struggling to figure out what I want to do. I don't really want bangs...and I don't want to go too short (cause it makes me look 12!!) but...here are a few ideas.

halloween party w/ 6th graders pooped me out

Well, my first week of teaching in the same place went very well! I really like the kids. The teachers are ok. The days just seem to fly by!





I had to plan a Halloween party on Friday afternoon with my homeroom. I don't really do Halloween, but.... it was really just a stuff-your-face party. Only one kid spilled his Mountain Dew so I thought it was a success. They had rootbeer, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, candy, chocolate & white cupcakes, chips, dip, and 2 kinds of Doritos. I even let myself eat a cupcake and some chips and dip.





Last night I did Level 3 of my Jillian video,which I hadn't done in a while. After that (and a shower of course) Jesse and I watched Fools Gold. It was pretty good..unbelievable, but cute.




Today Jesse and I went to Walmart early. We double teamed it and got outta there in about 30 minutes! I wish he'd go with me all the time!



When we got home I tried a new recipe for lunch. It was pretty darn good.... I used tilapia to make fish tacos with a spicy chipotle lime sauce. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was delicious! I used this recipe from allrecipes.com but I changed it a little. Jesse hates cilantro so I didn't use that..and I used lettuce instead of cabbage. Also I cooked the fish in a saute pan with the marinade. I've got a ton of the sauce left though, so.....you know what that means. I'll have to make it again soon! :)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Fish-Tacos-with-Chipotle-Lime-Dressing/Detail.aspx

Just a little bit ago, I went for a short jog around Hurricane...only about 4 miles today. I think I'm going to make a pumpkin dessert tonight, maybe do a little crafty-stuff and just relax.