Where I Belong

Giveaway for Cod Liver Oil!

2011-07-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

http://realfoodforager.com/2011/06/announcing-a-giveaway/#comment-2648

This blog is totally and utterly dead. I'm thinking about starting a new blog....but anyway, I'm posting a link to a giveaway for cod liver oil because I want to win it!

and the Winter Weather Teacher-loving Wonderland begins!!

2010-12-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

blog envy, bedroom before photos & Christmas decorations

2010-11-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

I have been enjoying my Thanksgiving break! The week has flown by though! I have been working on grad school work, shopping, cooking and putting up some Christmas decorations in the new house (not to mention nursing a really, REALLY painful toothache & root canal!).

I wish I had more time to blog.... Lately I have really been spending a lot of time reading blogs. I must admit that I have a bad case of blog-envy!! However, I know that at this point and time I do not have time to put into my blog. One of these days I want to have a really nice personal blog (like this one but more focused on clean eating, recipes, and decorating) and a really nice art teacher blog, too!

I can't wait to be done with grad school!! I will be done with this semester next week!! YAY! After that I have 12 hours left. I plan on taking 9 hours next semester and then the last 3 in the Fall.

I realized the other day that I am completely overwhelmed when it comes to decorating this new house. So, I have a new plan of attack. I will complete one room at a time. For some reason, I am beginning with my Master bedroom. I guess because it it the closest to actually being done.

I'm getting really sick of looking at these blank walls!

Bedroom Before Photos
Here are some photos of my bedroom AS IS. I should be getting my new bedroom furniture delivered sometime soon. Notice the crappy curtain panels on the tension rods. Those WILL NOT be around for the AFTER photos.

You will have to stay tuned for the AFTER photos. (Be patient, It will probably take me awhile!)

Here is another room that I am working on now too. (This one is easy so I can do 2 at a time! ha!) This is my extra upstairs bathroom. I had all of the green towels and accessories from our apartment so when I found this quatrefoil print green shower curtain at Walmart (Better Homes & Garden brand) I just had to have it!!

Here are some photos of my inside Christmas decorations this year. I bought all new Christmas tree decorations this year (My old Christmas tree was really primitive and just wouldn't fit right in this house) So, I went to the Hobby Lobby on a mission. I came out with a bronze/copper tree skirt, two HUGE spools of damask print bronze ribbon and a massive package of copper bulbs.

I found these tiny pre-lit entry way trees at Big Lots packaged with 2 pre-lit 9' long garlands, too (which I used outside around the door). The trees were only 36" tall and were too small to use outside on my porch where I wanted. :( So I had to improvise! I put one on a plant stand covered with some (really cheap...I'm talking 1$ a yard) gold fabric that I bought on clearance at JoAnn a few months ago. I decorated them to match my tree!! and I love them!

I bought this apothecary jar at HomeGoods for $9.99 and its a big one!! Some smaller ones were $14.99 so I'm not really sure why this one was cheaper. Anyway, I filled it with red bulbs that I bought at the DollarTree. I also found some really large peppermint stick candy canes at the DollarTree and stuck those in there too. I finished it off with a $.50 berry pick from Hobby Lobby. I'm not happy with the overall look of this table, but its ok for now I guess. I'm having a hard time finding "homes" for all of my goodies since we gave a LOT of our old furniture to Goodwill. I really love the little Japanese looking light (gift from my MIL) because it gives off a really cozy glow at night. Some day I get it all situated the way I want it!!

I guess we'll be back to school on Monday. :( I'm looking forward to snow days already!

trying to win a Mint Floor cleaner!

2010-11-26T22:14:00.000-05:00

Am I a Black Friday girl?....or a Cyber Monday girl?

I. <3. Online. Shopping.

There is nothing better than shopping when sitting on the couch! I love being able to compare deals on various stores websites all at once. I love being able to search customer reviews too! You can't see reviews when you are at the store. Plus, I really enjoy sleep...so getting me out of bed before 5 am on my day off is NOT gonna happen!

I am participating in Infarrantly Creative and Tatertots and Jello’s Blog Hop for a chance to win a Mint Cleaner. It is the revolutionary machine that cleans your hard floor surfaces for you.

Click here to join the blog hop and a chance to win!

The Mint Cleaner is available at the following places:

2010-11-04T23:32:00.001-04:00

photos of the house.... including new counters/sink!

2010-11-04T18:29:00.000-04:00

Its getting close! (part 2)

2010-10-17T22:44:00.001-04:00

It's getting close!!

2010-10-17T22:31:00.000-04:00

house almost finished !!!

2010-10-05T22:43:00.001-04:00

first post in a millenium

2010-10-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

The house is coming right along. I haven't posted any new pictures in forever because....well, because I've just been lazy about it. I've been posting pics to Facebook, but it takes me longer to post them on here. Grad school hasn't been too time consuming this semester (and for that I am so thankful!) but I've been busy with getting stuff for the house....and driving over to look at the house....and looking at stuff online for the house. So, blogging about the house has not been at the top of my priorities.

I'm going to try to catch up. My last post was about new things for the house. I tried through 2 different online companies to get the light fixtures that I mentioned in that post.   However, I was unable to get them because they were backordered until the middle of November. So, we needed lights ASAP so we went to Lowe's and picked some out. They hung them up yesterday. I think I actually like them better than the ones from the Internet.  I really like the ceiling fans we bought. They look really nice.

The painters have been working hard in the house this past week. I think they will finally be able to paint the walls sometime in the next few days. Jesse and I keep driving over there each evening, anticipating seeing the wall colors.....but they are always white when we get there.   I'm just a little nervous about the choices that I made with the wall colors. Its tough to decide in the store while looking at a 2"x2" square of the color, ya know?

I can't post pictures right now because I'm at school....but I may be able to upload some in a little while.   But, I will post pics soon!!

Lost Camera

2010-09-12T19:10:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted new pictures of the house for awhile. I had misplaced my camera and I just found it today. So, the next time Jesse and I head over there I'll be sure to take plenty of new photos to post on here. They have finished the deck. They have built stairs in the garage. They poured our walkway to the door and our driveway. They have been working on the drywall still. I think they might be laying tile soon. I think the brick masons are supposed to be there this week to finish up the brick on the front of the garage. We might even have our kitchen cabinets delivered this week! (I can't wait to see those!...They are made by hand by an Amish man).

We....excuse me, I mean...I picked out our light fixtures. Here is a link to the one that will be in our dining room. And this one is going in the bathroom. I liked these lights because I was able to get all the lights in the house to match. I got them in the brushed nickel finish. We also picked out our ceiling fans.

We also bought our kitchen faucet. (and I LOVE it!)

We had to pick out our tile last week. We were at the store for an hour and a half. It took awhile to make up my mind, but that was mostly because the tile salesman wouldn't leave me alone to think. I hope it all works out! Its really tough to make a decision like that!

On Friday, I went to pick out our carpet.

I still have a lot of things to pick out! I think my next mission will be cabinet hardware...which sounds kinda fun!

Drywall is up! Siding almost done.

2010-09-06T21:51:00.001-04:00

I am still super excited about building this house. I love going to look at it every night. I cannot wait to move in a decorate. The fun stuff is coming soon... They will be painting the walls and putting in the carpet, tile and floors soon! I'm looking forward to seeing my kitchen cabinets!!

They have started to build our back deck. Love it!

Drywall in the living room.

This is the tray ceiling in the master bedroom.

I love the high vaulted ceiling in this bedroom!

They are almost finished with the siding. The front of the garage will be brick eventually. I think they are supposed to be working on that this week. Do you like the siding colors? Initially I wanted the two different sidings to be close to the same color. Jesse wanted more contrast. I think I like it though. Its growing on me. I'm thinking that I might like it more when it is all finished and the garage has the brick on it.

More pics to come soon!!

more house pics

2010-08-31T22:27:00.000-04:00

Here are some more house pictures, they have finished about half of the siding.

Electric & plumbing work being done

2010-08-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

Look! It's the faucets that I picked out!

This is our master bathroom shower. It will be tiled. (That reminds me, we need to go pick it out)

My tub!

Electric panel that is in the garage.

This photo was taken while standing in the "breakfast nook" and looking towards the powder room. You can see some of the electric work they've done.

Back to Work

2010-08-25T08:45:00.001-04:00

I'm back to the daily grind of school. Summer is gone already!! It's so hard to believe. So far it looks like I will have a pretty good semester though. I'm just happy that they are smaller than the ones I started with last year!! I had 37 students in each of my classes to begin last year. This time the largest is 30. My students seem pretty good, too. I'm not going to make any promises because students tend to behave like angels for a short period of time....but turn to you-know-whats before long.

I danced a little jig on Monday when I thought that I was going to get my classroom for my planning period. I had to share it all last year and, being an art teacher, sometimes I need to cut paper and set materials up for the day. But, (you knew it was coming) yesterday I got a message that I was going to share my room on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a college class. No big deal, I thought. Only 2 days a week. That's not bad! This morning I was standing in the hallway talking to Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Anderson, when a young guy in a shirt & tie waltzed right into my classroom like he owned the place. He said he was teaching college English in there on Mondays and Wednesdays!! AHHHH! I'm not even going to think about Fridays now because as soon as I do...they'll be someone who needs the room then too!! :( I am a little bummed about this right now. I'll never get my hopes up again.

I'll be posting some new house pics soon. Gotta get back to planning.

Paint Colors

2010-08-19T13:12:00.000-04:00

Keep in mind that these photos are NOT of my house. hahaha. It will be a while before we are painting the walls. However, I did select the paint colors from Sherwin Williams the other day. So, I wanted to share my choices. I really think they are going to work really well! What do you think?

This one is my favorite! This color is called Restrained Gold. It will be going everywhere downstairs in our house. The dining room is going to have a chair rail and I plan on painting the lower half of the walls some variation of a chocolate brown. But..other than that little bit, everything downstairs will be this color. I will probably paint the powder room a different color eventually, too. In such a little room like a powder room, I think I would prefer to have a brighter color.

The photo above is the color that I chose to go upstairs in our house. It is called Latte and will eventually be in our bonus room, extra bedrooms, laundry room and upstairs bathroom. I may end up painting some of these rooms different colors in the future (you know, like for a nursery!), but I was only allowed to pick 3 colors for the whole house. (or pay more $) So, I decided to go really neutral and then paint it later if I want.

Lastly, the bedroom above is Jubilee, the paint color that I selected for our master bedroom. I am not a huge fan of blue, but this is a very gray blue. I think it will look really nice with the tray ceiling in there. I told them that I wanted the master bath painted this color too....but I'm not so sure anymore. I might have them go more neutral in there so I don't have to worry about matching the tile with blue.

House Pics from Sunday

2010-08-16T12:39:00.000-04:00

More House Pics from Saturday

2010-08-16T12:36:00.001-04:00

I can't wait to spend some time sitting on this front porch!

This will be our "media room" eventually.

House Pics from Saturday

2010-08-16T12:34:00.000-04:00

What a difference a day can make!

2010-08-11T21:58:00.001-04:00

I can't believe the framers were able to get all this done in just one day! Wow! The whole 1st floor was complete aside from one wall. It looked a lot bigger today with the walls giving everything shape.

I was the most excited about my pantry in the kitchen! I LOVE IT! I can't wait to pack it full of stuff! I'm ready to move in!

This is in the "great room."

Another thing that I was excited about was this window! Can you believe the size of that thing?

This will be my breakfast nook and kitchen eventually.

Yesterday Tuesday 8/10

2010-08-11T21:46:00.002-04:00

On Monday the garage floor was poured. On Tuesday, Jesse and I drove over to the lot and that is when I took these photos. As you can see in the photo below, there were stacks of wood for the framers to use. They were supposed to begin today, Wednesday the 11th.... more on that later!

The Brick Is Going Up!

2010-08-07T23:42:00.004-04:00

We were told today that the garage will be poured on Monday afternoon. Then, on Tuesday they are supposed to begin the framing.

It was really strange looking at the house today. It looked really really small. I told Jesse that I thought it was because it was all open with no walls. While we were there we talked to our neighbor (who is a contractor) and one of our contractors (Jason). They both said that the house looks small during this stage.

The cool thing is that the lot looks a lot bigger now. We will have a decent little yard. Also, I am very pleased with the brick. It is really hard to select brick from a small sample...but it turned out pretty well!

More pictures later in the week.

Welcome! Our New Front Door....

2010-08-05T20:41:00.004-04:00

Today we went to ProBuild to pick out our front door for the house. No, it looks nothing like the one in the photo here...but isn't it pretty!?

I don't have a picture of it, since we chose it from looking at a catalog.

Our door will have 2 panels, one on top and one on the bottom. The top panel has a curve on the top. (Similar to this white one, but we will be painting it black, I think)

It will have a transom and sidelights, too. So...it should look something like this.

picked out the faucets

2010-07-30T11:44:00.001-04:00

Well.... I have been busy picking out our bathroom fixtures. We are buying them from Mountaineer Wholesale Supply in Charleston. They use Delta faucets... so I got a catalog and I've been looking online. It took a long time, but I finally decided to go with the Lahara series. Here is a photo of what we are getting. This photo has the Roman tub, the showers & tubs, and the faucets. I haven't selected the kitchen faucet yet because they don't have a Lahara kitchen collection. :(

I drove over to the lot yesterday to see if I could hold my siding samples up to the brick....but the brick wasn't there yet. What was there was a bunch of block. They are going to be using that to do the foundation.

Please Vote for WHS!!

2010-07-28T18:39:00.002-04:00

http://bit.ly/9YKEqF

Please click the link above. It should take you to a page where you can vote for WHS (or any school of your choice) to win $500,000! You have 20 votes and you can only vote for one school 5 times...so please share some of your votes with Winfield High School in Winfield, WV! I want a new classroom!!

~pancake love~

2010-07-13T17:02:00.002-04:00

I really hope that my last post didn't make me sound like a food snob! I decided that I should share my homemade pancake recipe since it is super cheap and easy.

I know a lot of people who use Bisquick & other mixes to make pancakes (& other baked goods, etc.). Here's an easy rule of thumb to remember about prepackaged mixes: If it says "Just add water" DON'T BUY IT. As a rule, I avoid all prepackaged mixes because they are generally cheaper if you make them yourself plus they are LOADED with trans fats and preservatives. The only kind that *might* be worth buying are the ones where you add your own milk & oil, but you should still check the label for "hydrogenated oil" on the ingredient list.

Look at the Nutrition Facts label of Bisquick Original. Check out the trans fats!! (Also keep in mind 1/3 of a cup would make 2 REALLY SMALL pancakes)

My pancakes are pretty good and they are very healthy. I fed one to my 3 year old nephew without syrup and he gobbled it up! I never make them the same way twice, but here's the basic recipe:

Erin's Multi Grain Pancakes

Ingredients

1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (if you are a health food junky, replace this with more white whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 dash salt (optional)
1 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
1 cup low-fat or fat free buttermilk
1 egg
drizzle of olive oil
1 to 2 scoops of vanilla flavored whey protein powder (optional)
1/8 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions

Place the oats into a blender or a food-processor. Grind until the oats are a flour-like powder.
Begin warming a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: ground oat flour, all-purpose flour, flax, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and protein powder. Mix well.
Add egg and buttermilk to the dry ingredients.
Mix until all flour is incorporated. Let batter rest for a minute until it becomes bubbly.
You know how to make pancakes...but the drizzle of olive oil goes into the pan.

I make these A LOT so let me share what I do that makes preparation as easy as Bisquick. I take an old oatmeal container and I mix up enough dry mix to almost fill the whole thing up. I usually use about 8 cups of the flours (oats, white whole wheat, all-purpose, flaxseeds, buckwheat, etc.) I mix in about 3 Tbsp each of baking soda and baking powder, about 1/2 cup of sugar (brown sugar or sugar in the raw would be better), and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

I just keep all of that in my pantry and when I want to make a batch, I measure out a cup of the dry mix and add 1 egg and a little more than a cup of buttermilk. And there you have it.... pancakes as quick as Bisquick! The wet batter will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. (Although is usually separates so you have to stir it up and sometimes you may need to add a little more milk.)

Now to go with those pancakes....Turkey Sausage!! But, what about all those nitrates in sausage? Make your own! Here is a link to a recipe that uses ground turkey to make sausage. I tried it out yesterday and it was pretty good. I'm sure it would have been better if I had given it time for the flavors to mingle before I cooked it.

~Enjoy your (from scratch!) breakfast!

"Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food." ~Hippocrates

2010-07-09T16:30:00.002-04:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Dr. Oz. He says to make the produce aisle your pharmacy. I couldn't agree more. Eat your veggies now, avoid the doctor later!

I've been reading a blog by a friend of mine lately. Her name is Jessica and her blog is This Blessed Life.

I was really interested in her blogs about her goal to eat "clean." Eating clean means free from unnatural products like chemicals and preservatives. If you know me very well at all you would know that I am SO against shoveling spoonfuls of processed foods into my mouth. I can only imagine how picky I will be if and when I ever get pregnant...and then, my poor children will never taste a "cheesy-poof" (I know, bless their little hearts!)

I watch parents feed their kids and grandkids pizza, chicken nuggets and other garbage for dinner. It kills me! They never get a vegetable!! (Fries do not count) Jesse (my DH) is fairly picky about "health" food and I've usually been able to make food that he enjoys. I consider myself pretty good at taking a recipe and making it healthy. I also try to cook on a budget, so it can be really challenging.

A few months ago my wonderful MIL came to live with us for a short period of time. She went grocery shopping before she came. I've never seen so much garbage food in all my life! She is extremely EXTREMELY frugal (I'm being nice here...hehehe) and shops mostly at stores like Aldi and Sav-a-lot. She brought peanut butter (all trans fat) and margarine (which Jesse & his family lovingly refer to as "butter" HA!) This "butter" was almost ALL trans fat but of course listed 0 grams on the label. (I later told her that the stuff scared me and I made her throw it in the trash can) She brought applesauce and the label was horrendous! What's the point of eating applesauce that is loaded with corn syrup & ::gasp:: high-fructose corn syrup! Last time I checked, plain ol' apples are delicious! This is just the start of it...she also uses Crisco to make frosting and boxed cake mixes to make birthday cakes. I'm not sure how it's going to go over when my future children aren't allowed to eat those birthday cakes!

For those of you saying, "What's wrong with Crisco?" please, please do a little research (try Googling "Crisco") There is a site that talks about the Rise and Fall of Crisco and the history of the product. It's a pretty amazing story really....I'm not linking to it because I don't have permission.

Being frugal does NOT mean that you have to eat chemi-foods. Hopefully in the future I will post more about what I eat and some of my recipes!!

I could honestly write a book about healthy eating... but I will leave you with this. If you want to do something (easy) to increase your health elliminate all hydrogenated oils & all high-fructose corn syrup from your diet. Become a label reader.

Want more info? Here are some books that have helped me.....

Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels

Master Your Metabolism Cookbook by Jillian Michaels

Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss by Mark Hyman

The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories by Dr. Barbara Rolls

Mastering the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears

just a lot of signatures...

2010-07-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

I remember when we closed on our first house. Jesse and I were both still in college at Marshall and we worked at the Cracker Barrel in Barboursville. We knew we were going to be around that area for awhile so we decided to buy a house in Ona. It was pretty exciting being that it was our first house. It was just a cute little country house in the woods..but it had a nice big yard and a charming white kitchen. I remember when we went to the closing...WOW. Who knew that you had to sign and initial so many papers!! It gets really old. But...its exciting because at the end that massive stack of papers........ is a key.

Today... will be just a bunch of signing, signing, initialing and signing. Bleh. There will be no key at the bottom of the stack. Delayed gratification... Patience. That's what I'm learning!! Hopefully we will see some progress on the lot when all this is over.

photos~take 2 (part 2)

2010-07-02T09:24:00.000-04:00

We drove back out to the lot tonight. We brought Ty this time and Mike & Emma met us out there, too. Mike is concerned about the drainage of water because of the insane slope at the back of the property. We are going to make sure we get a drain of some sort. We are really going to need some ground cover and maybe some small shrubs for that slope. Anyone have any good recommendations? I would love to get someone to come cut some steps into the hillside and then we could put a little firepit area up at the top. Our lot goes back past those pine trees that you can see back there.

I can't wait to have a backyard! Right now my backyard consists of a 7' x 4' deck on the back of my apartment that is about 3 feet from my back neighbors deck. They sit out there all of the time, blow their stinky cigarette smoke at us, and they are REALLY loud. Very annoying. So, yes, I'm looking forward to getting a fairly private backyard. The other big thing that I'm looking forward too is having a refrigerator that makes ice!! I've never had a refrigerator with an icemaker and I think it will be awesome! I will be posting photos of the 'frig for sure!! hahaha.

photos~take 2

2010-07-02T09:21:00.000-04:00

bummed :(

2010-06-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

I was really excited to go see the lot today because Jesse told me that they had been doing some more work leveling it off. So we went over there and I brought my camera to take some photos. I wanted to post the photos on here.............BUT when I got out of the car, my camera's batteries were dead. I was mad. I'll have to go back and take some photos in a couple of days.

Our Lot

2010-06-24T19:31:00.000-04:00

We found out today that we will be closing on our house sometime next week. We had an appraisal and the appraiser guy took some photos of the lot & our street. How do they appraise a house that is just a pile of dirt? I find that odd, but whatever. Our lot, in case you couldn't figure it out from my yellow highlighting, is lot #5.

Picking out our brick.

2010-06-23T18:25:00.000-04:00

Heres the brick we ended up with. We got it cheap because it was leftover from another order. I think I like it, but its hard to judge what brick will look like on a house when all you can look at is a 3'x3' square. I guess time will tell!

Building a House!

2010-06-23T14:51:00.000-04:00

I know my blog hasn't been very interesting for the past few months, but... I think its about to get a bit more interesting. Lord willing, Jesse and I are (if all goes according to plan) going to be building a house over the next few months! I'm going to be blogging about the process as we go through it. After all, thats what this blog is all about, right? Yeah, its about my life, but I titled it "Where I Belong" because I wanted the blog to be about my process of getting closer to where I belong. This is definitely a step in that process. I doubt that this house will be our "forever" house, but...we'll be there for awhile.

This is our house plan that we've picked out. We are changing a few things about it.

http://www.frankbetz.com/homeplans/plan_info.html?pn=3424

Today we are going to Peerless Block and Brick to pick out our brick for our house. This will be the first thing that we pick out so I'm kinda excited about it.

WEST test.... blah

2010-05-17T09:17:00.001-04:00

So here I am. I'm sitting in my classroom with 18 9th graders. They are finishing up the 1st session of the Mathematics portion of the WEST test. Some students are snoozing. Some are drawing pictures on their scrap paper. Others and still plugging numbers into their calculators. Strangely, it seems the most intelligent of students are the ones still working. I guess the others are drawing Christmas trees on their answer sheet.

This is kinda boring for me. At least I'm sitting in a quiet room...and its MY room. I just wish I could get up and move around. Clean up. Do something. Guess thats why I'm blogging for the first time in a long time.

So...this weekend was nice. I went to Jesse's sister, Mary's bridal shower on Saturday. It was good. I won a prize! It was a really pretty decorative table lamp! Mary is marrying a guy named Ron and they are moving to Charlotte after the wedding. She is really excited and I'm happy for her. The wedding is on June 12th.

My friend, Cassie is getting married on June 5th, too! I have been looking for something to wear to these weddings for a while now and I can't find anything!!! I have somehow talked Jesse into taking me to Columbus this weekend. I can't wait!!!! Hopefully I can find something to wear there. We'll be staying near the Polaris mall and we'll probably go to Easton too. Friday is his birthday and he wants to eat at Chipotle.

I'm really excited about everything that is happening in the next few weeks!~ School is almost out! I can't believe how fast my first year went by! The summer is going to be great!

On June 6th, my Dad is getting baptized so we'll be going to Mom's church to see that. YAY! There are just lots of exciting things happening in the next few weeks!

Mom is doing really well. She had her 6th chemo treatment on the last Thursday in April. She has an appointment with Dr. Schiano on Wednesday this week and if everything is good then she will be scheduled for a CT scan. If that is all clear then she'll be done. Everyone keeps asking me if that means she'll be in remission. With ovarian cancer they don't consider you to be in remission for 5 years. Instead they say "no evidence of disease" which some people called "dancing with NED" SO, as long as Mom can dance with NED for 5 years then they will say she is in remission.

I will be writing more when we find out more information after Mom's appointment this week.

Gotta go, its almost time for a pee break. (thank God)

2010-05-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

			Free Diet Diary my-calorie-counter.com
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1.1	Serving - 4 G	DOMINO - SUGAR - DARK BROWN 2 LB BAG	17	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0
0.5	1/3 cup (40g) serving	Hodgson Mill Multigrain Hot Cereal	80	2	0	0	0	13	3	1	4
0.5	cup	Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim)	42	0	0	2	51	6	0	6	4
0.7	fl oz	Cream, fluid, half and half	27	2	2	8	9	1	0	0	1
0.2	1/3 cup	Ocean Spray® - Craisins - sweetened dried cranberries	26	0	0	0	0	7	0	5	0
2	1 Softgel	Omega 3 Fish Oil Supplement	20	2	1	10	0	0	0	0	0
0.85	1 Scoop	Jillian Michaels Natural Whey Protein Triple Choc	85	2	0	38	51	6	3	3	13
0.2	oz (14 halves)	Nuts, walnuts, english	37	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
			334	12	3	58	111	38	6	19	23
Lunch
2	tbsp	Pickle relish, hot dog	27	0	0	0	327	7	0	0	0
1	Serving - 56 G	EXCEPTIONAL VALUE - PASTA - ELBOW MACARONI 5 LB BAG	210	1	0	0	0	41	2	2	7
1	1 tbsp	Kraft Olive Oil Mayo Reduced Fat	45	4	0	0	95	2	0	0	0
2	2 oz (1/4 cup)	Kroger Chunk Light Tuna in Water	120	0	0	50	560	0	0	0	26
			402	5	0	50	982	50	2	2	33
Dinner
0.125	cucumber (8-1/4")	Cucumber, with peel, raw	6	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0
0.5	serving	flax	30	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	2
1	cup	Spinach, raw	7	0	0	0	24	1	1	0	1
0.2	cup (1 serving)	Cereals ready-to-eat, UNCLE SAM CEREAL	47	1	0	0	23	7	2	0	2
1	cup	Beans, snap, green, cooked, boiled, drained, with salt	44	0	0	0	299	10	4	2	2
0.25	large	Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled	19	1	0	53	16	0	0	0	2
1	2 Tbsp serving	Kens Steakhouse Honey Dijon Healthy Options	70	4	1	10	250	7	0	7	0
0.5	tbsp	Vegetable oil, canola	62	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	wedge (1/4 of medium tomato)	Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, November thru May average	13	0	0	0	6	3	1	0	1
1	Serving - 112 G	JENNIE-O - TURKEY - GROUND 16 OZ CHUB	170	13	3	110	80	0	0	0	19
			468	28	4	173	699	31	10	10	29
Snack
1	1	Oikos Greek YOgurt Honey 5.3oz	120	0	0	0	50	18	0	17	13
1	medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb)	Apples, raw, with skin	72	0	0	0	1	19	3	14	0
			192	0	0	0	51	37	3	31	13
Water Tracker

Totals Target Balance			1396 1500 93 104	45 50 90 5	7 14 50 7	281 200 140 81	1843 2400 77 557	156 150 104 6	21 30 70 9	62 50 124 12	98 113 87 15

			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Activity

Totals			0

day 2 of calorie counting

2010-05-04T22:24:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to do the 40-30-30 diet plan. Its 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. I did good the first day...today I had a bit too many carbs.

			Free Diet Journal my-calorie-counter.com
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1.1	Serving - 4 G	DOMINO - SUGAR - DARK BROWN 2 LB BAG	17	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0
0.7	fl oz	Cream, fluid, half and half	27	2	2	8	9	1	0	0	1
0.5	1 scoop (34 g)	Body Fortress Super Whey Protein	65	1	1	23	35	2	1	1	13
0.5	cup	Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim)	42	0	0	2	51	6	0	6	4
20	raisins	Raisins, seedless	31	0	0	0	1	8	0	6	0
0.5	1/3 cup (40g) serving	Hodgson Mill Multigrain Hot Cereal	80	2	0	0	0	13	3	1	4
0.158	oz (19 halves)	Nuts, pecans	31	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
2	1 packet (1.3 g)	Sun Crystals all-natural sweetener	10	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
			303	8	3	33	96	37	4	20	22
Lunch
1.25	4 oz serving	Black Beans (Great Value Brand)	138	0	0	0	463	15	9	0	9
1	1 cup serving	Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock	20	0	0	0	480	1	0	0	4
4.5	2 tbsp	Sam's Choice Southwest Black Bean and White Corn Mild Salsa 26oz jar	90	0	0	0	675	18	5	9	0
1	fruit without skin, medium	Kiwi fruit, (chinese gooseberries), fresh, raw	46	0	0	0	2	11	2	7	1
2	1 serving	green chilis	10	0	0	0	150	2	0	0	0
0.4	fruit (2-7/8" dia)	Oranges, raw, navels	27	0	0	0	1	7	1	5	1
			331	0	0	0	1771	54	17	21	15
Dinner
1	2 Tbsp. (30g)	Kraft Greek Vinaigrette Dressing	110	11	2	0	320	2	0	0	0
1	medium (2" dia, 5" long, raw)	Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, with salt	103	0	0	0	280	24	4	10	2
3	cup	Chard, swiss, raw	21	0	0	0	230	4	2	1	2
0.5	medium (2-1/2" dia)	Onions, raw	22	0	0	0	2	5	1	2	1
1	1 Tbsp	Spread - Land O Lakes Light Butter Spread with Canola Oil	50	5	2	5	95	1	0	0	0
1	tbsp	Vegetable oil, canola	124	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1.5	Serving - 133 G	TYSON / IFF - CHICKEN BREAST PORTIONS - BONELESS SKINLESS W/RIB MEAT 2.5 LB BAG	210	6	2	105	495	0	0	0	39
			640	36	7	110	1422	36	7	13	44
Snack
1	fruit without refuse	Mangos, raw	135	1	0	0	4	35	4	31	1
1	1	Oikos Greek YOgurt Honey 5.3oz	120	0	0	0	50	18	0	17	13
			255	1	0	0	54	53	4	48	14
Water Tracker

Totals Target Balance			1529 1500 102 29	45 50 90 5	10 10 100 0	143 250 57 107	3343 2400 139 943	180 150 120 30	32 25 128 7	102 50 204 52	95 113 84 18

			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Activity

Totals			0

todays food journal.

2010-05-03T11:52:00.004-04:00

			Free Weight Loss Diary my-calorie-counter.com
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1.1	Serving - 4 G	DOMINO - SUGAR - DARK BROWN 2 LB BAG	17	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0
2	container, individual (.5 fl oz)	Cream, fluid, half and half	39	3	2	11	12	1	0	0	1
0.1	oz (19 halves)	Nuts, pecans	20	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
0.5	1 scoop (34 g)	Body Fortress Super Whey Protein	65	1	1	23	35	2	1	1	13
20	raisins	Raisins, seedless	31	0	0	0	1	8	0	6	0
0.5	1/3 cup (40g) serving	Hodgson Mill Multigrain Hot Cereal	80	2	0	0	0	13	3	1	4
4	fl oz	Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim)	42	0	0	2	51	6	0	6	4
			294	8	3	36	99	34	4	18	22
Lunch
1	Serving - 38 G	ARNOLD - BREAD - 100% WHOLE WHEAT 24 OZ BAG	90	1	0	0	190	17	2	3	5
1.5	Serving - 15 G	STEINFELD'S - PICKLE RELISH - DILL 10 OZ JAR	0	0	0	0	270	0	0	0	0
1	Serving - 15 G	KRAFT - MAYO - MAYONNAISE LIGHT 32 OZ JAR	50	5	1	5	90	2	0	1	0
1	tsp or 1 packet	Mustard, prepared, yellow	3	0	0	0	57	0	0	0	0
1	can	Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids	191	1	0	50	558	0	0	0	42
1	fruit without skin, medium	Kiwi fruit, (chinese gooseberries), fresh, raw	46	0	0	0	2	11	2	7	1
			380	7	1	55	1167	30	4	11	48
Dinner
0.5	1/4 cup 1 oz 27g	Kraft® - Sharp Cheddar Cheese - natural, shredded	55	5	3	13	85	0	0	0	4
1	2 Tbsp. (30g)	Kraft Greek Vinaigrette Dressing	110	11	2	0	320	2	0	0	0
1	1/4 cup (45g dry) serving	Lundberg Gourmet Whole Grain Wild Rice Blend	150	2	0	0	0	35	3	0	4
1	cup	Spinach, raw	7	0	0	0	24	1	1	0	1
0.5	1 cup serving	Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock	10	0	0	0	240	1	0	0	2
2	3.5 oz filet	Tilapia, Filet	196	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	37
			528	23	5	13	669	39	4	0	48
Snack
1.1	1	Oikos Greek YOgurt Honey 5.3oz	132	0	0	0	55	20	0	19	14
			132	0	0	0	55	20	0	19	14
Water Tracker

Totals Target Balance			1334 1500 89 166	38 55 69 17	9 15 60 6	104 250 42 146	1990 2400 83 410	123 200 62 77	12 35 34 23	48 50 96 2	132 85 155 47

			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Activity
1	hour(s)	conditioning exercise - circuit training, including some aerobic movement with minimal rest, general	-415
Totals			-415

I'm gonna start counting calories again.... I'm done with grad school (yippee!!) so I guess I'll have time to count them now. I need to lose a couple of pounds....literally. I need to lose like 4 pounds, but its hard to do!! So, I'm back to counting calories because its the only thing that really works. Its time consuming...but it works. I'm going to try to post my journals from time to time.

yikes!!

2010-04-20T21:29:00.001-04:00

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but I'm sure I will start back to blogging soon. Grad school will be over and done with after the first week of May.... then school will be out after the 2nd week in June. Then I will be a free woman! Yippee!!

Yesterday at school my Photography class watched "Rivers and Tides" which is a documentary about the artist, Andy Goldsworthy. If you've never heard of him, you should google his name and look at some of his art. Its amazing. He does nature sculptures and then photos them. Anyway, today I took my 11 students outside to create our own nature sculptures and then photograph them. It was fun and today was a beautiful day!

I got in on the art and started making a huge swirl out of a hige pile of cut grass.... It was probably 12 to 15 feet long and about 1 foot tall. I was almost finished and ready to photo....when I looked down at my hand. My. Engagement. Ring. Was. Gone. I commenced to freak out.

I yelled, "CATASTROPHE!!" All of my students came over and helped me dig through the grass to find it. It took about 5 minutes but I was so releaved when I heard a girl say, "I found it!"

I yelled out "Thank JESUS!" and gave her a hug! It was a great moment. It reminded me of going to the beach with Brian and Jessica when he lost his wedding ring while passing a football with Jesse. Brian had to go buy a metal detector in order to find his ring. I was seriously contemplating doing that...at least for those frantic 5 minutes.

I was done with my sculpture after that....and I didn't even get to photo it. :(

So, you think everyone in the US should speak English?

2010-04-06T12:07:00.000-04:00

This is for those of you out there who think everyone in the US should speak English. Have a little patience with people!

It is extremely difficult to learn English as a second language. Unless you have ever tried to do it, don't criticize another person!

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce .

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish Furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a
play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes
off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?


There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is.....


    'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a
meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the Officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP our day. We polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP
trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.


And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at
night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a
desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirt y definitions. If you are UP to it, you might
try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a
hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.  When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, and so.... it is time to shut UP!

Hard work, Attitude or the love of God?

2010-03-19T21:08:00.001-04:00

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%

But:

A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E

1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close.

Attitude will get you there, but it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

Teaser Trailer for Eclipse! Can't Wait!!!

2010-03-12T11:53:00.002-05:00

wowsers!

2010-03-12T09:19:00.001-05:00

I haven't blogged in forever and a day!

I haven't given up on the blog though. I still love blogging, but with my job, working out, cooking dinner, and 9 hours of grad school... I'm a busy lady!

This summer, I'm sure the blog will be resurrected.

I have been blogging....actually I have been blogging A LOT! But its for my Digitial Photography class that I teach at the high school. Its a blast. My students all have their own blogs too.

You can check it out at www.crouchphotoart.blogspot.com I'm kind of a crazy teacher.

Well, some of you know that Jesse and I were thinking about trying to start a family this summer.....but I don't think its going to happen just yet. I think we may wait another year. We are living in an apartment right now. Our lease is up in June....and I just don't really see us moving this year...and we don't really want to have a wee bitty baby in our apartment and I don't want to be trying to move to a new house next summer with a newborn or 9 months pregnant. So, it seems that we will probably wait another year. I'm not old yet. :)

We are still considering building our own house, too. I'm kinda hoping that is what happens. Only time will tell.

Well, I better go finish up some lesson plans, etc. We have the County Art Exhibition coming up and I've been really really busy lately.

Still Looking' Good!! Yippeeeee!

2010-02-17T10:13:00.001-05:00

This is what a teacher loves to see!

2010-02-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

Praise Report!

2010-01-12T18:57:00.008-05:00

God is good.. Let me tell you how I know....

We have had mom's pathology report for awhile, but it was really only yesterday that we got to look at it. Mom had an appointment for a "chemo orientation" on monday. My aunt Jo took her. They actually did a little shopping first. :)
Her pathology reports aren't totally conclusive, but I'm not sure if they ever really are. Anyway, to summarize....the reports say that she had two primary cancers. The report said that more than likely she is FIGO Stage T2b of endometrial cancer and Stage T1c of ovarian cancer. They tested a bunch of lymph nodes, all were negative for cancer. They tested her appendix, also negative for cancer. They tested her omentum, also negative for cancer. They did a washing of her abdominal area and that was also negative for cancer!! (That last one is a big one because if they would have found any it would take her from Stage 1 to Stage 3.)
During her appointment, Mom mentioned that she didn't really want to do her chemo treatments on Wednesdays. She was signed up for Wed. January 20th. After the first appointment they try to keep you on the same day...so it would have probably always been on a Wednesday. Mom wanted to be able to go to church on Wednesday night. So, the doctor said that they could push it back to Thursday January 28th. Mom really didn't want to wait too much longer. So, her doctor looked again and said, "I can fit you in THIS Thursday?"
So, they decided to try it. However, Mom had to get 4 different prescriptions before that! Come to find out...the prescriptions are kind of hard to get. Sometimes it takes weeks or more. So, they called Mom's normal pharmacy..which is Fruth in Winfield. They pretty much refused to even try. So, they faxed over an info. sheet to the Eleanor RiteAid.
Instead of telling you the story... I'm going to copy and paste the message that I got last night on Facebook from a girl I know who is a Pharmacy Tech at the Eleanor RiteAid.
Mandy King January 11 at 8:49pm
Hey Erin...I just want to share the experience I had today! I received a fax containg several pages with your mom's info as well as prescriptons for her. I know that she doesn't usually get prescriptions filled with us, therefore I hesitated to process them. When I looked to see what the prescriptions were for, I literally cringed because not only have we tried to order one of them before and couldn't get it...insurances will never approve 2 out of the 4 of them. I called Fruth because the info sheet said that was her normal pharmacy and they didn't know anything about them or why they were faxed to us.
So, I called Jo (my aunt)...she was with your mom and told me it was not a mistake and Fruth couldn't order the one that I just knew we wouldn't be able to get either. I refrained from saying anything negative about the process and decided to give it a shot. I processed 3 of them and they came back as paid claims with very low copays so I processed the 4th, the biggie, and just as I had suspected...it needed prior authorization which is something that normally can only be done by the Dr.'s office. I took a chance, just positive I wouldn't get any results! Much to my surprise...the lady on the other end not only got it approved, she got refills approved for a year with a $50 copay! This sounds like a large copay, but not for a $4,000 med! Even the lady with the insurance was shocked that it went through! So I hung up and decided to try to order it, never been able to get it in the past, and yeah you guessed it...available and we will receive it tomorrow. Everyone in the pharmacy was in awe! I know this may seem like a minor insignificant detail to most people, but beieve me, it was a miraculous work of God! I know you're faith is strong, but I hope this gives you even more confirmation about what God is getting ready to do. There is no logical explanation of why this was resolved with just a 5 minute phone call when it should have taken 2 weeks and even then without gurantee! I truly witnessed a "God thing" today!!! Much love and prayers...if I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to ask!
Pretty amazing, huh!? God is good.
Now we just gotta keep praying that...
1. She won't have any allergy to the chemo drugs
2. The chemo will be effective at killing any remaining cancer cells.
3. The chemo won't effect any normal cells, only cancerous cells.
4. No side effects.
5.God will protect her body from infections and keep all her organs working properly.

teachers <3 SNOW!

2010-01-05T14:15:00.001-05:00

Well my dad got a great present for his birthday today....a SNOW DAY! I wish I would have had a snow day on my birthday!

I'm not really into writing a lot right now. I'm reading a new book and I really just want to get back to it.... but I wanted to post a little update about my mom.

She did go to her appointment last week, but they didn't have any new news about her pathology results. It seemed to Mom that the pathology results were conflicting...so hopefully they will be able to get to the bottom of that. We need to know exactly what was going on so that her treatment will be successful!

I'll be posting more when I know it! Now I'm off to enjoy my snow day!

time flies

2009-12-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year. Its almost 2010 and it seems like only the other day that I was blogging about 2008.

Since I last wrote....

On Monday Dec. 6th, Mom got a call from her doctor. He had the pathology results of her D&C. It wasn't what we wanted to hear...malignancy.

So, he scheduled her surgery for that Friday, Dec. 11th. Mom was admitted on Thursday morning. That was the last time she had food or water for 5 days! They took her in for the surgery at around 8:15 on Friday morning. Dad and I were there along with Pastor Jim. He said a prayer for her and we kissed her goodbye. We spent the next few hours talking in Mom's hospital room on the 3rd floor.

They called for us to come down to the 2nd floor at around 1:30. After a few more minutes of waiting, Dr. Schiano came out to talk to us. Dad, Pastor Jim, and my aunt Jo were there with me. Dr. Schiano said that they removed a very large malignant tumor from Mom's ovary. She had a complete hysterectomy. They also took her appendix and her omentum. Dr. Schiano said that they cut open her uterus and found a small amount of cancerous tissue there too. Then he mentioned something strange...at least it was to me.... He said that he believed Mom had 2 simultaneously occuring malignancies. He thought that she had developed uterine cancer AND ovarian cancer at the same time! This meant that it could be possible for Mom to be in Stage 1 of both cancers.

On Friday, after they brought Mom back from the recovery room she was soooo thirsty. It was really tough not to give her some water. We could only swab out her mouth every once in awhile. Why could she not have water? Well the problem is this; when they manipulate your intestines (and they looked at every inch of hers) they go into "shock" and won't work. So if she ate something, even an ice cube, she would have thrown up. Not exactly something that you want to do with 200 staples in your stomach and an NG tube down your nose!

When she got back to her "step-down" room, she had an oxygen/heartrate monitor, a port in her chest, an epidural, a drainage tube, an NG tube and a urinary cathiter. She rested the first night.

While she was laying there, I started talking to Dad. My heart started pounding and I knew I was supposed to talk to him about salvation. So, I said, "Dad, you believe what the Bible says is true, right?" and he said yes. This led to a short conversation....that ended up with me praying with him!! I looked up and Mom's heartrate had rose 20 beats per minute and she said, "I want to shout, but I can't!" She had Dad call Pastor Jim to tell him. Praise God! God works all things to good for them that love Him!

The next morning when Dad and I got to the hospital, Mom was sitting up in a rocking chair in her room! She looked pretty bad and I could tell that she was in a lot of pain. She got up and walked 4 times that day! The next day she walked down the whole hallway 4 times! They don't let you lay around after a surgery anymore. After a few days Mom started to look better and feel better. By Tuesday she was planning shopping trips! haha... Then they took the epidural out. She didn't realize how much that thing was helping! So, her pain was pretty bad after that, but she finally got to eat and then the next day, Thursday, they let her come home!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Monday, Mom had an appointment to remove half of her staples on her incision. She asked them how many staples they used and they said, "too many to count!" Her incision looks around 2 feet long! Its huge! Her tumor was around the size of a football, maybe bigger.

Mom has been doing really well now. She says that she feels a little better every day. Tomorrow she has another appointment to remove the remaining staples, and we are fairly certain that Dr. Schiano will be telling us the results of her pathology. We imagine that he will know more about her plan of treatment as well. He already told us that Mom will have to undergo chemotherapy. We are dreading this, but we are willing to do anything he feels that she should do. I will post more after I know it tomorrow.

It is amazing to me the amount of peace that I have had throughout this entire ordeal. I praise God for peace that passes all understanding. I have really felt God's presence. He keeps sending me messages that I'm not alone and that He is wirth me. The one scripture that I keep hearing over and over is Isaiah 43:1-2 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you."

It makes me think of the Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fire but were not burned....and the Angel of the Lord was with them!! The Christmas season also reminds me that Jesus is with me. Emmanuel means God With Us!

Jesse and I went to church at Faith Christian Fellowship with my Mom and Dad this morning. I haven't been to church there in YEARS. There was a visiting minister there, Mike Manuel. At the end of his message, he began walking around the church, giving words of knowledge. He walked up to ME! (scary! haha) I cant remember his exact words, but he basically told me to have PEACE during my storm. He said that Jesus spoke and said "Peace, be still" I have to admit, it was a very amazing experience. God has always been so good to me!

so much has happened....

2009-12-05T11:08:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted on my blog for a long time, but I have been very busy.

School has been really good lately. I'm feeling more comfortable and getting more and more into a ruitine. I'm looking forward to next semester because I may not have to share my classroom AND I only will have one class of Art 1 instead of 2. Less freshmen is always a good thing!! :)

About a month ago, my mom told me that she had been feeling strange lately. We were sitting at the kitchen table. I was eating some chocolate chip cookies. She told me her symptoms. She said she had been feeling kinda bloated. She said that she hadn't been able to eat much. Normally, my mom would be all about some chocolate chip cookies. She didn't even take a bite. We had eaten steaks for dinner. She didn't finish hers. This was very unusual behavior.

She told me that she had been losing weight...but she felt like she had gained! She had been feeling tired and actually having some back and pelvic pain! I was concerned, but honestly, I thought that it might just be that she was going through menopause. I don't know much about that topic. I think she thought the same but she decided to make an appointment with her gynocologist. The soonest appointment she could get was for Dec. 1st.

I absolutely LOVE Dr. Oz and I record it on my DVR everyday. I always have at least 7 episodes saved on my DVR. So, I don't usually watch it on the day that it airs. However...on Veteran's Day...for some reason... I did. The first 15 minutes was about the early signs of ovarian cancer. I tried to find the video online, but couldn't. However, here is a video from the lady doctor that was the guest on the show that day...

Here is a link to Doctor Oz's website on the topic. http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/ovarian-cancer-secret-killer

After I watched this show.... I was scared! My mom had ALL of these!! As soon as I watched it.. I called her.

Heres about how our convo went....
Me: "Did you watch....." (she didn't even let me finish!)
Mom: "YES!.... I taped it because I thought that it was going to be about Alzhiemer's.
Me: "I'm scared!"
Mom: "I have ALL of those symptoms, but I have an appointment. Its going to be ok, but it is weird how compelled I felt to watch the show today." (Mom never watches Dr. Oz)

So, that was on a Wednesday. Mom decided to talk to her Pastor about it that night at church. He encouraged her to make a trip to her general practice doctor to see what was going on. So, she did.

The next week, she went to her doctor. They took some blood and told her that they needed her to have a CT scan. She did this on Wednesday the 18th. They told her that she had a mass in her pelvic area that was between the size of a grapefruit and an orange.

She was given some pain meds and told that she should just wait until her gyn. appointment. Cysts, etc. on the ovaries are very common and more than 90sih percent are benign. So, I guess they weren't very concerned.

So, thats what Mom did. Until the following day, Thursday the 19th..... she was at school in the afternoon, teaching about 60 6th graders. When she started having severe pain. She had to call someone in to watch her students. Her principal had to drive her home! But she DIDNT go to the hospital then. She went through the whole night, in pain, until the morning. She called my Aunt Jo, who is a nurse, and she (and my cousin Danielle, who is also a nurse) told her to go to her gyn. right now!

I was in my classroom, when my Dad walked in and said, "Your mom is in a lot of pain and I have to take her to the hospital." But, I decided to stay at school and just go to the hospital at the end of the day.

I called them a few times to check on them. They took her to her gyn. office (which is at Womens and Childrens) first and they did a sonagram. They admitted her immediately.

She called me during my last class of the day. She said, "Its a lot bigger than they thought and we're probably facing a little bit of a fight. They referred me to an oncologist." Then she asked me to bring her some chapstick and her pillow.

After school, I grabbed her stuff she wanted and headed right to the hospital.

She was in there from Friday through Wednesday. They took a ton of photos...CT scans, barium stuff, etc. On Tuesday she had a D&C. Then on Wednesday they sent her home. We asked Dr. Schiano what the mass was...and he said that he had no way of knowing until surgery. He told me that she would probably have the surgery some time in the first 2 weeks of Decemeber.

Since then shes been doing ok. She's still losing weight and her stomach is actually getting larger.

We are now just waiting on her doctor to call us back about the results of the D&C. We are looking forward (reluctantly) to the date of her surgery. We want that junk OUTTA THERE! The surgery is pretty rough. Dr. Schiano is supposed to be EXCELLENT though. He takes out pretty much everything and looks for cancer. Because of that, its very hard after the surgery. Mom will not be able to eat or drink for about 4 days.

If you have made it through reading this whole story, you have shown that you care. So, I want to ask that you pray for my mom. I'll be posting when we find out the date of the surgery. Also, pray for my dad. He needs some peace. He is realizing how much he depends on my mom for just about everything. Mom also needs to rest and let him take care of her. She is not used to that!

2009-12-05T11:05:00.002-05:00

Happy Art Teacher Moment!!

2009-11-17T22:56:00.001-05:00

In my Art 1 classes I decided to squeeze in a quick lesson on proportion....so we've been talking about correct human facial and body proportions. I went back into my past and pulled out an old Mr. Pahl assignment...the 1/2 face portrait. My students are supposed to find a forward-facing magazine photo....then they cut the photo right down the bridge of the nose. They glue one half down on white paper and then they finish the rest of the face.

I just thought that this would be some little, quick exercise and that they really wouldn't do that well... (I was vaguely remembering what mine looked like when I was in Mr. Pahl's class) But... I really stressed that I wanted them to look at the shapes of shadows and highlights...instead of drawing lines for the nose, lips, etc. I REALLY stressed that I wanted them to look look look and look at the photo.

and....guess what they did?????

THEY LISTENED! and then THEY DID IT!! I'm so proud of them!

It made me remember when I taught adults watercolor painting last winter.... and they didn't listen to what I said AT ALL! (of course they weren't getting graded, either)

I actually heard one kid say that this was his best artwork from this class. Another girl said, "This is an assignment where even people with no artistic talent can do good!"

Needless to say....it made my day.

What Teachers Make

2009-11-16T17:36:00.001-05:00

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

"I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor....

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental...

You want to know what I make?"

(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

"I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America .

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?"

"I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?"

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

going organic

2009-11-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

So I've been reading the new Jillian Michael's book called Mastering Your Metabolism. Its a lot about eating less hormones and chemicals. She talks A LOT about eating organic food. If it was up to me, I'd be all for the organic and healthy stuff. However, Jesse... won't let me spend the money on it. I guess I'll just have to make little changes over time. Plus, it is really hard to find a lot of the organic foods that she says to eat around here in po-dunk WV. We need a WholeFoods or a Trader Joes.

I'm going to try to take her advice and see if it makes any difference. I actually have been doing a lot of the things she says to do already.

I can't wait until next Sunday! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> NEW MOON! New Moon! new moon!!!!!!!!!

I really hope this week at school goes by quickly. The weeks usually do go by fast for me. This week I have to go on a field trip on Thursday. We are just going over to the Eleanor Army Reserve to do something. I don't even know...its some kind of career conference. I hope it turns out ok!! I hate getting stuff ready for a sub though! booooooo.

Good week @ school

2009-11-13T20:27:00.001-05:00

This week has been a really good week at school. I think having Wednesday off for Veteran's Day really helped! haha. Today (Friday) we had the annual PowderPuff Football game. It was an easy day for me because I have first period planning ...so I only taught one class all day long! The Seniors won. One of my students made all but 2 of the points for the Seniors. She was named MVP, of course.

I really should be working on some of my grad school homework....but I just can't get myself to focus on it right now. Again, I have to write up a stupid lesson plan. BLAH.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I'm really glad that I get to sleep in! Maybe I'll get to sleep more than I did on Wednesday morning. Jesse's cell phone alarm went off downstairs at 6:45. THEN, he got in the shower, turned on the vent and blasted music. He is rude.

I really really miss reading! I've only read one book since Catching Fire...It's Swimsuit by James Patterson. I bet I've been trying to read it for 2 months. I really miss my free time. Can't wait til summer!

Last night I stopped by the theatre and bought my New Moon ticket for this weekend! YAY! I'm so excited about that! My sister-in-law Bekah is going with me!!

no time to blog.

2009-11-04T17:42:00.001-05:00

I wish I had the time I used to have while I was subbing! I used to blog almost every single day! I really love keeping a blog. Its really interesting to go back and look at old posts...like a diary. :)

So at least I'm going to try to write a little from time to time.

Lately school has been going pretty well. I don't feel quite as stressed out. My classes are going well. I like my students a lot. I think that I'll be glad to see a few of them go at 2nd semester...but there will be a few that I miss. I haven't been bringing ANY work home. None at all. I like it that way. I don't need to grade papers here. If it takes me 3 weeks to get an assignment graded then it takes 3 weeks. I don't care. I can't seem to get things graded while I have kids in the room. And planning period isn't long enough!

Some days I get so sick of hearing "MRS CROUCH!" AHHHH! It makes me crazy.

And grad school has been making me crazy lately too. I'm so sick of writing stupid lesson plans and all the other garbage I've been doing lately. It kills me. It ruins my weekends. This week I'm trying to get all of my grad school work done during the week so that I can have the whole weekend to do whatever my little heart desires~!

Jesse is in Columbus this week. :( I was really bummed about it. This is supposed to be the last time that he has to go, except for maybe one more day. I spent the night at Jessica's house last night. I could hear Dax wheezing while I was trying to sleep. hahaha. It was nice getting to WHS in about 5 minutes this morning.

Tomorrow she may be staying with me.. :) Tonight I'll be snuggling with Kitsy.

so much school work!

2009-10-25T19:43:00.001-04:00

Wow. I went for a run with Amy at the Wave Pool park after school on Friday... We are both taking grad classes and working full time. We talked about how we almost dread the weekend more than the week...just because we save our school work for the weekends. I spent all day yesterday working on an excel spreadsheet thingie for one of classes. I'm going to try to attach it, but I'm not sure if it will work. After I figured out how to do it, it was actually pretty cool. I may actually use something like this sometime.

Yesterday I just couldn't get motivated to do anything. Jesse and I laid on the couch and napped. It was very cozy, a little chilly and dreary outside. I spent so much time on my school work that I didn't even work out.

Today we went to church...and we were going to go see my parents, like usual. But I got a message from my Mom saying to call her.. ..so I did, and she sounded terrible! She's sick...so we decided not to go over there. Instead we came home and I made homemade pizza. Then, I had some extra time to clean the house. I hadn't cleaned the bathroom upstairs in way too long. I have to say that my house is usually pretty clean and always neat....but, lately...cleaning just hasn't been at the top of my priority list.

This week Jesse is going to be out of town in Columbus one evening. Just one, thankfully! Brian is out of town, too...so Jessica is going to spend the night with me! I'm excited about it. We are going to go to the mall and get something to eat! :)

Also, this week marks halfway through the semester!! Nine weeks down... Twenty Seven weeks to go! WahooO! I can smell the suntan lotion and summer breezes already!! I'm looking forward to this summer because, hopefully, Jesse and I will get to buy a house.

I'm looking forward to a lot of things in the next few weeks.. One- NEW MOON comes out on Nov. 20th. Two-THANKSGIVING. Three-My birthday! Four-Christmas break! It'll all be here so soon!!

is liking my job more and more

2009-10-22T20:51:00.001-04:00

Well... I am still struggling at staying ahead at school. Its tough...but I can see where it will be a lot easier next semester...and especially next year. I was frustrated the other day because I gave my Art 1 students a complicated assignment. It has a lot of steps and a lot of requirements..but it got better the next day and today was even better. I'm very happy with the way the assignment is coming along.

They are doing a radial balance assignment using black sharpies on white paper. They have to cut them out and glue 'em to black paper. They look like snowflakes. I really like them.

Art 2, on the other hand... I am still frustrated with. They are painting...and I'm not kidding, their paintings look like 3rd graders did them. Its a shame that Putnam Co. doesn't have Art taught by Art specialists in the elementary schools, because it most definately shows. My students in Elementary school in Cabell county were better at art then some of my Art 2 students. Very sad.

I love that the weeks are just seeming to fly by. One nine weeks is just able over!! That means we are 1/4 of the way done w/ the school year! YAY! Plus, the holidays will be here before we know it. I can't wait til my grad classes are over. At least I get a decent break w/ college classes. They end during the first week of December. It would be nice to get that long of a break from work!

I'm breathing a little easier....

2009-10-10T23:29:00.002-04:00

oh my goodness... I've been really stressed out lately and really busy. I've been staying up too toooo late this week. I was so tired last night! Thank God for fridays because I needed some rest. I slept until after 10 am this morning and I don't think its ever felt so good.

This week was Spirit Week at WHS. I had a lot of fun dressing up. I wore a tie-dyed t shirt on Tie-Dye Day. I wore a Redskins shirt for Jersey day (No it wasn't a Jersey, but so what?) I wore leg warmers, hoop earrings, blue eyeshadow and bangle bracelets for Decades day. (of course, I picked the 80's) and I wore a green sweater for green and white day.

We've had a lot of students absent for the flu, swine flu, and other sicknesses this week. It's SO hard to keep up with. Plus, I picked this week to do my hardest lesson, Perspective! :(

Today is Saturday....and I have been sitting all day behind this computer. Literally over 12 hours. My back is killing me! I have a paper due this week in my human development class...and I've been working on that and on another assignment for my CIEC 534 class. I can't wait until this stupid 20 page paper and the 50 pages of articles that I have to send with it is mailed to my professor and submitted to turnitin.com. My life will really improve.

I'm almost finished though! :) Meanwhile, my house is filthy.

Tomorrow, church...mom and dads for lunch...walmart...workout...and hopefully finishing up the paper. Wish me luck!

Erin thought you might find this interesting...

2009-10-04T11:58:00.001-04:00

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The Hunger Games read aloud by Suzanne Collins

2009-10-03T21:59:00.001-04:00

back in Columbus

2009-09-29T22:45:00.002-04:00

I've been having a good time here in Columbus! Jesse had another business trip but this time I decided to come along. I took off 2 personal days from work.

This morning I slept in til 9. Then I went downstairs for breakfast. The hotel has a nice hot breakfast buffet.. and it is expensive! Jesse's company gave him 2 complementary tickets for breakfast...and since he's not a breakfast eater, he gave them to me! I had a fresh waffle, fresh pineapple, grapes, chocolate soy milk, and coffee. Tomorrow I'm planning on eating an omelet.

I spent the whole day shopping. I bought a really cool Toulouse Lautrec tshirt. I spent a long time shopping in a huge forever21. I bought a few things in there. I went to just about every shop in the Polaris Mall.

I may have ran out of things to do for tomorrow!

Tonight Jesse and I ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I ordered a fettuccine with chicken and sun dried tomatoes in Parmesan sauce. Sounded like it would be something that I LOVE.....but it was nasty! I never send stuff back...but this was bad. I didn't want to eat all those calories when it was bland and kinda burnt tasting. yuck. So, I sent it back and I got a Four Cheese Pasta and it was AWESOME. It had a scoop of ricotta cheese in the middle...and it was loaded with cheese and a yummy marinara sauce. I loved it!!

Jesse order Chicken Belaggio. It may have been the best fried chicken breast that I've ever had. Then it had a yummy spaghetti pasta with oil and basil plus it had prosciutto and arugula on top.

Can't wait til I get up and eat some yummy breakfast! goodnight!

no time to breathe.

2009-09-25T22:10:00.003-04:00

Oh my goodness... I haven't blogged in forever! I think this may have been my longest hiatus ever!

I'm really really busy....especially at school. I wish I had another hour of planning a day. I feel like I'll never get the stuff done that I want/need to get done. I'm always having to work on stuff at home. Its a pain. I don't get paid for that time and Jesse gets upset with me working at home, too.

I've been really stressed lately. Mostly about my grad school classes.... Mostly my Edf 616 class because the Professor isn't very clear...and we have to write this big paper. We have to find 6 research articles and I was having a really hard time finding what I needed... I think I've finally got my articles now. Its due on Oct. 16th so I should probably get started.

This week, I had my principal come in and do an observation of me teaching this week, too. I had to send a student out of my room. I had to give a student after-school detention. I also broke up a verbal girl fight where the girls were so angry that they were shaking. Its been a crazy week.

Jesse was out of town again this week. Just from Monday to Thursday this time. Next week I took off 2 personal days so I can go to Columbus with him! I'm really excited about that! We are trying to figure out where to eat out while we're there. I kinda wanna go to Macaroni Grill or the Cheesecake Factory. I'm really glad that I'm going to get a couple of days to chill and relax. I hope the weather is nice!!

With all this stress...it was bad timing for the health screening that we had at school today. I signed up for it because if you have good numbers PEIA will pay me 50 bucks! However, I've never given blood for ANYTHING before and I was seriously nervous. I had to squeeze the hand of a large, old, male nurse. But...there was absolutely no reason to be nervous. It was easy! It barely hurt at all.

BUT......when I looked at the tube of blood...it sorta freaked me out. Physically I was fine, but seeing my blood kinda messed me up. I can't stop thinking about it. Is that normal??????? Seeing that much of my own blood made me feel real...like mortal....like someone could squish me and I would bleed and die. It's not like I didn't know this before, but seeing the blood just made me seem more real somehow.

feeling...better

2009-09-16T09:37:00.002-04:00

I was totally sick yesterday. BLAH. Felt horrible!! Last night I started feeling sooo much better. I took some Tylenol Cold medicine and it helped but it makes me feel all yucky and disconnected. It makes me feel like my brain doesn't work properly and my reflexes feel slowed. I hate that feeling! I slept much better last night. This morning I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm not back 100% yet, but I'm here at school. I'm making it through.

My sub seemed to do a good job, she complimented me for being very organized and said she would come back to sub for me any time!! :) Thats always a good thing! I know as a sub, that if you don't really mean that, you don't say it. You never want to go back to a bad place.

So, thats good ...since I'm going to be out of town for 2 days the week after next. I'm going to need a sub!! I'm going with Jesse to Columbus for his business meetings. I'm excited! :) We haven't been to Columbus since we left in Dec. 2003. I'd like to go to church on Wednesday night, but... we'll be headed home. We both have to work on Thursday morning.

I'm in the Art office right now and I just woke up. hahaha. I decided to take a little nap. It was nice.

Its almost time for 2nd...gotta go

way too busy to blog!

2009-09-14T21:31:00.002-04:00

Oh my goodness. I'm so busy lately that I have to write a post-it note to myself to remember to brush my teeth.

At school I'm always trying to keep my head above water. I feel like I'm always behind and running to catch up. I don't ever have a minute to spare!

My classes have been going pretty well. I'm learning as I go. I still have to find better ways to manage my materials. Eventually I'll find a system that works.

I'm also taking grad classes right now so that has kept me busy while I'm home. Of course, I've still been trying to work out every day....which I'll admit is a challenge!

This past weekend Jesse got his new 47" tv. So, I had planned on having a big football party. I made a TON of finger food. I made pepperoni rolls, sausage balls, cocktail meatballs, cheese ball, cinnamon pretzels, fiesta pinwheels, honeybun cake and homemade vanilla ice cream! It was a little crazy over here being that there were 25+ people and at least 10 kids. The kids didn't really have a place to play so it was a little rowdy.

Last night I started feeling crappy...with a sore throat and sore back. Jesse had been sick all weekend. He gave it to me. I. feel. awful.

So, I got plans ready for a sub. and I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I can't wait to get in the bed and sleep alllllllllllllllllll day tomorrow. I'm beat.

much better day!

2009-09-02T21:45:00.002-04:00

Today was a better day... I felt really good about how my classroom worked today. I had to take one of my trouble makers in 4th block out in the hall and have a little conversation. It helped a lot. :)

After school I stayed a little while and fixed all my crazy cords from my projector, computer, ethernet cord, printer, etc. that were all over the place. I got my printer hooked up finally (since I finally found the right cords in the Art Office! :) I even have some ink for it YAY! Tomorrow I just need to stick in cartridges in there and I should be set. I had to download the drivers from http://www.hp.com/.

I was sleepy when I got home, so I just didn't feel like working out. Instead I decided Jesse and I would have an early dinner and then go for a walk. So, thats what we did. It was such a beautiful evening! I miss our really long walks we used to take when we were both unemployeed. :( Tonight's walk was probably only 2 miles or so.

Jesse has to go out of town soon for about 3 nights. He's gotta go to Middletown, Ohio for training for his job. :( I'm upset about this, but I'll make it through.

at school

2009-09-02T09:22:00.001-04:00

Right now I'm at school. I'm sitting in the Art office trying to get myself prepared (instructionally & mentally) and ready to face the day. I'm liking my 2nd block a lot, even though its my biggest class. I LOVE my Art II class, which is right after lunch....but 4th block is tough. Today I'm going to be mean. They aren't bad...there are just a few who are trying to push my boundaries and today is the day that I'm going to set them straight.

Last night I stayed up far too late reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm getting down to the end and its making me nervous....its one of those books where you kinda know whats going to happen (or at least you think you do) and it adds a lot of suspense because you don't want it to happen. Its been a really strange but really good book.

Yesterday was the first day that the Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy book came out. Its called Catching Fire. I was going to buy it because I couldn't wait....but I reserved it at the library and I'm number 1 on the list!! So, I'm happy about that. I should get it pretty sooN! YAY! My library fine for The Time Traveler's Wife is up to about a dollar now. All in all, a bargain! Plus, I feel like I'm donating to the library. ;) I should finish it up tonight.

Today my students are beginning their first real art assignment. They are going to create a work of art using LINE (the first element of art) that is inspired by the Op-Art movement. We are going to talk about the expressive qualities of line and how a simple line can show emotions. Sound interesting? I hope it keeps them involved for a few days at least.

More about that later....gotta go!

blogs on the backburner

2009-09-01T18:03:00.003-04:00

Thanks for all the concerned people responding to my overcrowded classroom situation. It hasn't been completely fixed, but for now the problem is under control. On Monday afternoon they created a new English 9 class. It took 5 kids out of my 4th block, leaving me with around 30. They also took 3 out of my 2nd block, leaving me with 33. It would be nice to get 2nd block down to 30, but its not that bad. There are a bunch of seniors in that class, so they are pretty well behaved and calm.

I have a kid in my 4th block that is driving me crazy and telling me that he loves me. He's one of the biggest smart-you-know-whats I've ever seen. There are a couple of crazies in there. Plus not very many of them can draw so it takes a lot of my attention to give independant help.

well...I gotta go bake a pizza now, but I'm sure I'll blog again soon. I miss it!!

blogs on the backburner

2009-09-01T18:03:00.000-04:00

wow...where to begin?

2009-08-29T11:58:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure what to even say about school so far. I can say that I love my 3rd block class, which is Art II. I have about 18 kids in there.

On Tuesday, our prep day, I got my class lists and they said that I had 29 and 31 students in my 2 Art I classes. Crowded, but not that bad. On the first day of school, however, I got my code to log onto Edline. I pulled up my class lists on there...and it said that I had 36 in both of those classes. Yes, 36!!!!!!

How is that even possible? I don't have near enough room for 36. My room would be cozy with about 26. So, I ran down to the office to tell the administration. They promised me that it would be fixed. 3 days later, though, I still have 36 kids. Hopefully, by Monday or Tuesday they will get some of those guys outta there for me.

I have had to pull in chairs from the science office and from Mrs. Johnson's room to have enough places for everyone to sit. Its been a nightmare. Kids don't even have a place to write, let alone work on some art.

Needless to say, those seating charts I spent my time on went in the trash. I have rearranged my room three time in three days just trying to make it work a teensy bit better.

And, of course, my lesson plans have totally changed, too. Now I'm just trying to come up with stuff for that many students to do in that small of a space. Its difficult because I cannot have them up and moving around. I cannot have them getting materials out. I don't really want to waste the materials that I have on kids that will be removed from the class.

So, I think starting Monday they will be doing some lovely book work. They'll love that. Maybe that'll get some of 'em to drop.

ok... I'm going to get on with my busy saturday now. Off to Wal-Mart!

Monday wasn't that bad...

2009-08-24T22:03:00.003-04:00

This morning I had to go back to the CE at PCTC. It was even worse this time because I had to sit with people that I didn't know. Although, somehow it went by pretty quickly. I had an extra 3 hours of CE so I decided that I wasn't going to hang out for the afternoon. So I skipped out at lunchtime and came back home.

After all that talk about hair cuts yesterday, I never got around to calling my hair dresser to make an appointment. I'm going to try to remember to do that tomorrow.

When I got home I read my newest Better Homes and Gardens magazine and a little of The Time Traveler's Wife. Gosh that book is huge. It was actually due back to the library today, so I'll be racking up a fine soon. Its only a dime a day. I figure its the least I can do to support the library system, right?

My sister-in-law and brother-in law, Sarah and Jay are having their second baby tomorrow. If they don't have her tonight, then she is going to be induced tomorrow around 8 am. I'll be writing more about that tomorrow for sure.

Tomorrow is my first day of work at Winfield High School!! I'm really excited!

should I do it????

2009-08-22T21:24:00.002-04:00

I've been getting really sick of my hair lately. Its just so b.l.a.h. I'm going to call my hair lady (I go to Bev at Unique Designs in Eleanor) on Monday and set up an appointment. I'm considering doing something slightly drastic...ok, its really drastic for me since I've not really changed my hairstyle since 4th grade (and trust me, that was a mistake! haha I wish I had a photo of my 4th grade bowl cut to post!)

What I want is something similar to a pob. A pob is what they call Victoria Beckham's hairstyle a.k.a. a posh bob...shortened to just pob. Some websites call it an "inverted bob," too. These photos look really good, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to go this short. So what I was thinking was more like a longer version of the pob.

More like in this photo of Kelly Clarkson. I really like this one. I like this next photo of Hayden Panettiere, too. Except I do not want bangs. I don't want to deal with bangs. And this one is a little short too.

I don't know!!! The more I look at these photos, the more I think cutting my hair short could be a big mistake. Although, its not the end of the world. Hair grows back. It might be worth a try....but its so scary!!

Maybe I'll think of something else...a different hairstyle thats not so drastic.

Maybe...more like this.

<---I like this one!! :) hmm...I wonder if this one is long enough to still get in a pony tail? I think it probably is. :) This one may be a winner.

worst book I've read in as long as I remember.

2009-08-21T23:35:00.002-04:00

I finished reading Evermore today, and I'm not really sure why I did. I should have put it down a lot sooner. It was pretty terrible. The writing was atrocious.

Now I'm about to start reading The Time Travelers Wife.

I went to a CE training for all high school teachers at Putnam Career and Tech. Center today. It was pretty dang boring. They had one lady talk to us for the whole freakin' day about assessments. A few things she said resonated with me...but most was just AWFUL. I think I'm going to try to bring something to work on for Monday. I don't know if I can take that again. A lot of people were being very rude and talking while she was trying to teach.

I just got on Marshalls online website about my grad classes. I was upset to find out that I need 2 books that are going to cost a collective 180 bucks. Blah.

I love (getting paid for) art!

2009-08-20T20:50:00.005-04:00

Summer is over. But...today was a good day! I had a CE training at the Huntington Museum of Art this morning. Mrs. Cole and I carpooled. When we got there, they had a little table with tons of fresh fruit (FRESH pineapple, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, etc) hot teas, coffee, pecan tarts, water bottles, fruit juices...I mean, it was really really nice. I had already eaten oatmeal, but trust me, that didn't stop me from eating my weight in grapes and drinking a bottle of 100% cranberry juice. YUM!

Then we had a presentation on a new critique type strategy called Visual Thinking Strategy or VTS for short. It was really interesting and I think I will use it in my classroom. Then we went to an art studio and made some paper! It was fun. I had never done papermaking before and it was actually really easy and fun. I mixed purple glitter and purple string into mine. :)

Lunch was good, but I ate way too much. They ordered us a lunch from Heavenly Ham. I had a zesty roast beef, which was good...but the ciabatta bread that it was on was HUGE! It had a delicious horseradish mayo on it that provided the ZESTY. ;) I also had a diet coke, tropical fruit cup, a cookie, and a mint. It all came in a cute little box. If you want a catered lunch, Heavenly Ham is top notch.

After lunch we headed back to the studios and made some clay bowls on a potter's wheel! It was hard, but fun. I've never used a wheel before, so it was interesting to say the least. My first attempt turned out really really well. It must have been beginners luck because the 2nd try was a disaster!

At the end the museum gave us some free gifts. I got a NICE tin of 12 prismacolor pencils, a large kit of Sargent chalk pastels, and some natural sun print paper.

On the way home, Susie and I stoppped at the Goodwill in Milton. She is looking for something to use as a lecturn. I looked around and saw a fitness step. My videos use those sometimes, but I don't have one, so sometimes I have to improvize. NOT ANY MOOOOORE! I got it for 3 bucks! I've looked at them in the store for around $40. Pretty good deal! I didn't take this photo, but it looks just like this. After some research on the internet, I found out that its a Jane Fonda Fitness Quest Stepper w/3 Risers. :)

I'm going to go read now. Tomorrow I have a boring day of CE ahead of me.

stinky bleach hands

2009-08-18T21:30:00.004-04:00

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned today. I started in the kitchen and I pretty much cleaned everything in the house. I cleaned the stove top thingies. I completely cleaned out the fridge....

I cleaned under the microwave. I even cleaned out my lazy susan. The only thing that I didn't get to was running the vacuum cleaner.... I guess I'll do that later.

I did make time to read a little bit. So far I'm not that impressed with Evermore. Its a little teenie-bopperish. But.... I'm still kinda into the story even if the writing isn't that good.

I ran for about 15 minutes and then did one of my old Jillian Michaels DVDs. For dinner I made my homemade whole grain veggie pizza. I've got it down to a science now and its actually one of the easiest dinners that I make regularly.

Tomorrow I have a lot of stuff that I want to get done. ITS MY LAST DAY OF SUMMERTIME FREEDOM!! AHHHH! I can't believe it! The summer is over. On Thursday I have to go to a special CE for Art teachers. It lasts all day and they are buying us lunch from Heavenly Ham. :) I'm getting a zesty roast beef sandwich. I'm lookin' forward to that! YUM!

Newest New Moon Trailer

2009-08-17T21:43:00.001-04:00

can't wait til November!!

2009-08-17T20:39:00.005-04:00

Today I had some yummy steel cut oats for breakfast while I worked on the menu for the week and a grocery list. Then I headed out to the library, Elder Beerman, Big Lots, WV Craft & Hobby, and then to Wal-Mart. I didn't make it back home until around 3:30.

After I got home and put the groceries away, I worked out. Today I ran for about 20 minutes and then I did a Jari Love DVD. I even added a little Kathy Smith stretch video at the end. I <3 that video!

Then it was time to cook dinner. I tried a new baked chicken breast recipe tonight. I thought it was awesome, but Jesse declared it was, "pretty good." It was called Curried Honey Mustard Chicken from www.allrecipes.com. I love curry! Its tasty and makes your house smell so good. It does stick on your clothes and hair though. I probably smell like a Indian Restaurant right now.

Then I got on facebook and saw the new Twilight Trailer. OH MA GOODNESS!! I cannot wait until this movie comes out. It really looks like its gonna be great! You can call me a dork if you want, but.... everytime I watch this trailer I get chill bumps!! I LOVE JACOB! I'm really looking forward to seeing him sans shirt for pretty much the entire movie. hahaha! I'm posting the trailer in the next post.

I'm so glad that I made it to the library today. Now I have five books to read. Tonight I'm gonna start reading Evermore by Alyson Noel. I hope its good!

open house day

2009-08-16T20:36:00.003-04:00

After church this morning I went to my mom and dads like always. My mom made lasagna and we had chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert.

At 2 Dad and I had to leave to go to school for the Open House. There were quite a few freshman and parents there, but I didn't really get too many visitors. For some reason the air conditioning in my hallway was off...or hadn't been on very long...or was having problems...or something. It. Was. Hot.

I was wearing a really cute dress that Mom just bought for me and I was sweating like a pig. I put on facebook that I sweated like a fat kid at summer camp. I had to continually fan myself to be able to stand it. Then, I walked out into the main hallway and a teacher said her classroom was so cold that her ears hurt! So I guess it was just my hallway! :( My hair went flat and yucky and my face was all shiny...NASTY!

Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the library and to Elder Beerman to get some Clinique face soap for Jesse.... I've gotta work out...and I have some things to work on for school. Over the next three days, I'm going to try to clean my house from top to bottom. I may not get the chance to clean it really well for awhile.

out of books!!

2009-08-15T21:54:00.003-04:00

Today has been a good day. I think I'll make it my typical Saturday ruitine! Except when school starts I may have to start doing a little housework on Saturdays, bleh!

Today I made myself a pancake...then I read a bit while drinking coffee. Kitsy came and stretched out on my lap...and it was very cozy. :)

Then I worked out. Today I did one of my old old videos (self;sculpt sexy legs fast) Then I changed into my swimsuit and layed on the back deck for over 2 hours. It was HOT and I was sweaty, but I love it. I LOVE the sun.

While I was out there I finished reading The Lucky One. It was pretty good. I think it will be a movie eventually. It would make a great movie actually. Now I don't have any more books to read!!!! I think the delivery guy at the library has been on vacation or soemthing because none of my new books on hold have arrived at the Putnam Library for a LOOOONG time. Then, all the sudden a few days ago three arrived on the same day.

I kinda don't know what to do without a book to read. I feel lost. I can't get to the library until monday. I think I'll go early!

I cooked dinner (taco salad) and then Jesse and I went for one of our long walks. All in all a great day!

Tomorrow, I'm going to church, of course...but after that I have to go to an Open House at WHS. I'm kinda nervous about starting teaching!! AHHH!! I'm excited, but nervous too! The other day my dad helped me carry in my mini fridge and my microwave to my classroom...and while we were there he saw one of the vice principals and she told him that he has a CLASSROOM this year! YAY!!! He has been traveling from classroom to classroom for the past 2 years. This will be SO much better for him. I'm so happy that he finally got a room!

I'll write about the Open House tomorrow!

3 dollar deal

2009-08-11T23:31:00.002-04:00

Today I had to wake up and go to a Ob/Gyn appointment...after that ickyness I had to drive to Winfield to get a form from the Assessor's office at the Courthouse. Since I was over there...I went over to the high school. I continued to try to get my last century computer to do what I want it to do...with no luck. Blah.

I emailed the principal to see how I could get a newer computer. I can't do ANYTHING on that one. :(

Afterwards I decided to run in the Goodwill store and just look around to see if they have anything good. I go in there from time to time and usually, I don't buy anything. Today, I'm really glad that I went in there. My mom has been looking for a stool to use in her classroom. I walked to the back of the store and they had a tall wood stool marked for 3 dollars! It was filthy!!! I mean FILTHY! It looked like it was covered in muddy water and cob webs....but it still had good bones. So, I called her...and she was actually in Walmart with a large 40 dollar stool in her cart! She put it back and told me to biy the 3 dollar one...and then they met me at Big Lots to get it. I think she liked it! :) Not bad for 3 bucks.

Then I went to Big Lots and bought a laptop sleeve.. I figured if I can't get my school computer to work, then, HECK, I'll just bring my own. So now I have a cute little bag to my computer in.

When I got home, I layed out on my back deck and read a little of my newest book, The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. I used to be a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, but I just can't really get into this one. It seems like everytime I start reading it I get really sleepy. We'll see if I finish.

For dinner tonight I made the Cabbage Sloppy Joe's again. They were so good the other day...and Jesse ate all the leftovers which made me really want them again.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to make a baked whole chicken...and I still gotta find a recipe for it. I guess I'll be doing that in the morning. For now, goodnight!

pizza & a movie!

2009-08-08T23:51:00.003-04:00

Today was a really great day! It started out nice...I slept in. Then I made myself some of my favorite pancakes! (yes, with peanut butter!!) Then I sat in a oversized green chair that is in our family room with a cup of coffee and a blanket and I read....and read...and read. I'm not sure how long I read, but now I'm almost finished with The Good Thief. I really love it so far!! Its almost like reading an old classic novel. Its a lot like Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and Tom Sawyer. I can't wait to finish!

After that, Jesse's sister, Mary stopped by with her 3 kids. Jaiden, her youngest and only son, needed a hair cut and Jesse has been buzzing it lately with his clippers. So, they did that...and I sat on my bed with Braylan and Amiya and read some books to them.

After they left we went to Walmart to get a few things and a DVD from the redbox. When we got home I worked out. I did another Jari Love video, this time it was Ripped: To The Core.

I really gave my shoulders a GOOD workout today. I'll probably be sore tomorrow.

After working out I cooked dinner. Jesse said he wanted one of my homemade pizzas again, so I made that. We just had one on Tuesday night, but.... hey, they are tasty!!

After dinner we watched the DVD we got earlier. It was Obsessed. It was a pretty decent movie. I can't say that Beyonce was the best actress I've ever seen, but she wasn't terrible and she got to kick a little booty...which I think Jesse enjoyed. hahaha.

Tomorrow...church and then heading to my Mom and Dad's house as always :)

a busy day of errands!

2009-08-06T21:11:00.003-04:00

I knew last night that I had a lot to get done today.... I even took the time to sit down and make a to-do list. Usually when I do that... I get to about a half of the list. Today I got 'em all!

This morning I woke up and worked out... I did a Jari Love DVD called Get Ripped & Chiseled. Heres a video of here for you all to see what I sweat through every other day. :)

Then I made myself a vanilla protein pancake. I got ready and went to the Board Office to drop off my forms. I actually had to go in THREE different departments to drop off various paperwork. I practically gave myself a tour of the building!

I called Ms. Cole and found out where the longer cord that connects my PC to the projector was....and so I went to the high school to get the projector hooked up. I think I've got it now, but the longer cord is WAY too long and I've got cords going everywhere! :( I hate cords. I can't wait until the entire world is wireless!!

After that I went to the library, dropped off all my completed books, and got one new one. Nicholas Spark's book The Lucky One. Although, today I started reading another book...one I had never heard of, called The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. So far its been pretty interesting, but I've only read like 3 chapters. I finished Peeps and it was a great book, except I thought the end seemed rushed...and not as well thought out as the rest of the book.

After the library I made myself a blackberry smoothie and spent about a half hour sitting and reading on the back deck. There wasn't much sun, though!

Then I cooked dinner...which I thought was AWESOME!! I made sloppy joe's...but these weren't your typical sloppy joe's..and there were no cans involved. I found the recipe on www.allrecipes.com and it was called Cabbage Sloppy Joes.

Mine were a little different though because I didn't use celery (Jesse hates the stuff) and I used ground turkey instead of beef to make them even healthier! I think I added some hot sauce and extra green pepper and seasonings, too. Oh, and I used Nature's Own White Wheat Buns. They are fairly healthy and very tasty. :) I whipped up a little homemade coleslaw to go with it too.

I normally am not that into sloppy joes, but these were GOOD! and I like that I can hide the cabbage in there and Jesse doesn't know how much veggies he's getting!!! hehehehe.

After dinner I vacuumed the whole couch (which is huge) I vacuumed the stairs and I vacuumed the entire upper floor. I even did the baseboards! haha... Then I did a load of laundry....OOPs...that just reminded me that I forgot to put them in the dryer!

I started watched So You Think You Can Dance and got distracted, I guess. I was glad that Jeanine won! YAY! Now, I just have a few weeks to wait before Season 6 begins!

sooo much paperwork...

2009-08-05T22:39:00.003-04:00

Today I had to wake up early and go to WHS to a CE training on Substance Abuse. It wasn't that boring..haha. It actually was better than I had anticipated because I got to chat with Amanda and Kim, two of the teachers I worked with last winter at Poca Middle!

That was over around 11:30 and then I went upstairs to work in my classroom for a bit. I tried to hook up the projector to my computer. I got that to work, even though I need a longer cord to get it set up right. Then I tried to open the Powerpoint presentation on my computer from my USB stick....well, I was out of luck because my stinkin' computer is SO OLD that it won't install my drivers from the USB!! AHHHHH! I need neeed neeeeeed a new computer ASAP!

After that I stopped by my mom and dad's house for a few minutes. My dad is looking at maybe getting a new job.... which would mean that I wouldn't be working with him at WHS, but I think he would be happier. Putnam Co. might be making a new new full-time positions for Athletic Trainers (because they can't keep people as it is because they pay diddly-squat) So, if they do that he is going to try to get the job at Buffalo High School. We shall see.

Then I had to stop by the Board Office to pick up my benefits package. I had to fill out a billion forms....but pretty soon I'm going to have life insurance, health insurance, dental insurance, and vision insurance. I had to fill out a bunch of other stuff too. I even got a Heavenly Ham menu order form that I had to fill out for my CE training day on August 20th. :) I'm gonna get a Zesty Roast Beef Sandwich, an Apple, Double Chocolate Carmel Cookie, and a Diet Coke. :) I'm looking forward to that!

Tonight, for dinner I made Almond Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Grilled Marinated Veggies, and Parmesan Whole Wheat Pasta. All from http://www.allrecipes.com/, my favorite website!

I watched the So You Think You Can Dance finale show tonight, of course. I have to say that, like Nigel, I was most impressed with Brandon and Jeanine. I can't really say who's going to win...I'm tempted to say Brandon, but..... a black muscly guy won last year and it would be good for a girl to win this year!! We'll see tomorrow!

Which one will it be??

Jesse's last weekend of unemployment (at least for awhile...hopefully!)

2009-08-02T21:51:00.009-04:00

Poor Jesse. His last weekend of unemployment and he spends all Friday and most of Saturday feeling like poo. I don't know what was wrong with him, but he threw up on Friday at least 4 or 5 times (One was a "good one," he said! hahaha) He slept a lot.

On Friday morning, I stayed in bed and read ALL day. From the time I woke up until 1 pm I only left the bed to pee. Then I got up, made me a protein shake, and got back into bed...and read until 4:30!! Can you believe that? It was awesome. hahaha..... My book was really good and I just couldn't stop until I was done! I was reading Paper Towns by John Green. Which in typical John Green fashion..was hilarious! I laughed until I had tears flowing down at one point...Jesse asked me what happened that was so funny and when I told him..he even laughed a little. There was a lot of suspense in this book and thats why I spent all day reading it!! I couldn't stop.

Friday night, we were supposed to go over to Brian & Jessica's house for pizza and a movie...but, of course, that would have been awkward what with Jesse sleeping and running to their bathroom every couple hours. haha. So, we stayed home.

I was really bored while Jesse was snoozing so..I went to Kroger. They had chicken breasts on sale for $1.79 a pound. So I bought about 6 packages. I also had to go to the post office. That was the extent of my Friday evening.

On Saturday morning we went to April Dawn Park in Milton for Amiya's 5th birthday party. Normally I'd have pictures to post, but when I got there I realized that the memory card was still at home. booooooo! This pic is a random shot of the park that I found on the internet.

The kids (not the ones in the photo, but my nephews and neices) had a lot of fun. They have water fountains there that come up from the concrete. Mary brought water balloons too...and Braylan tossed one at some other child standing behind me. Of course, she missed....and who do you think she hit? Why ME, of course! haha. It wasn't bad, I just got drenched on one side of my tank top and shorts. The sun was so hot that it dried really quick. Braylan walked over to me (after Jesse said something to her) with a towel for me to dry off with. :) She looked really sorry.

After that Jesse and I went to Sheetz in Milton. His sister, Sarah, gave us some coupons for free stuff! So I got me a free coffee drink! It was tasty, too. It was supposed to be almost 5 bucks, but....no, mine was free! I got soymilk this time and you can't tell the difference. Later, at home, I looked up Sheetz' nutrition info. online and found out that its aLoT less calories if you get the soymilk because they don't put in this stuff called CREAM BASE in the drinks made with soy. The skim, 2%, and whole milk drinks have CREAM BASE added...which adds 180 calories!! YIKES! Here's a link to their nutrition stats. http://www.sheetz.com/main/food/nutrition.cfm

When I got home I layed out on my back deck and read my newest book, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Its really really good so far. I find it incredibly interesting.

Heres a little review I found at a website called TheBookBind...

Cal works for the Night Watch. They track down modern vampires...but they call them..."...parasite positive (hence, peeps). They have a disease – so they are not magical, they don’t fly, they don’t become bats, and are not dark, brooding, and romantic. They are, however, hungry all the time, and can become crazed zombies, dangerous to all around them. And Westerfeld even gives us reasons why these vampires shy away from a cross or hide from the light making it all seem so verybelievable. And then there is Cal, a carrier (so he doesn’t have many symptoms),who has the unfortunate task of tracking his ex-girlfriends, who he turned into peeps, for the Night Watch.

Every other chapter is about parasites — tapeworms, guinea worms, mealworms, parasitic wasps, wolbachia — and you leave the book knowing far more than you ever wanted to know about them. And why you shouldn’t ever pee in tropical rivers — ever. Haunting.

This totally disturbing book should not be missed as Cal tracks down his ex-girlfriends, finds out about the unusual cats in the area, meets a girl called Lace, and realizes how much he has been kept in the dark about the changes to himself."

Sounds good, right? :) I'll write more when I finish it.

After reading I did a Jillian Michaels DVD and then got ready for my cousin Danielle's wedding. It was at 8 pm in her parents back yard. It was really pretty!! They had bright pink lanterns hanging from the trees and their backyard was full of flowers and all decorated so nicely. The food was good and the cake was beautiful and tasty too (mine was cinnamon toast cake! YUM!) We didn't really talk to many people..just my mom and dad mostly. I'm sure a lot of people stayed and partied all night, but we left around 10.

More about Jesse's new job...tomorrow! :)

so bored today!

2009-07-30T15:38:00.003-04:00

I don't know why I feel so bored. I just don't feel like doing anything. Nothing sounds appealing.

This morning I had a late breakfast...and then Jesse went to play tennis with his ex-boss, Tommy. So I decided to get out the iron, ironing board, sewing machine, and the fabric I bought to make curtains for my classroom. I ironed one panel and hemmed one edge of the panel (130 inches!) and after that I was sick of that. So I put all that away.

Then I thought that I might want to paint....so I got out a little blank wooden sign and painted it white. But then I had to wait for it to dry and I was bored again.

I wanted to go lay outside in the sun and maybe read a bit....but theres no sun. blah.

I thought about running...sounded excruciating.

I need to work out...and I will later, but right now I just can't get motivated to do anything.

So finally I got on Netflix and watched the first episode of Harper's Island. It was pretty good, but I don't want to sit through another episode right now. Maybe later...

In a little bit I'm going to start cooking dinner. We are going to skip eating lunch (after the early breakfast) and eat early since Jesse is going to Maranatha (our church) tonight to play volleyball with Roop and Amanda. I don't do volleyball so I'll probably stay home and do a Jillian Michael's workout DVD. I'm cooking homemade (from scratch) Chicken Alfredo tonight. I'd love to make it with heavy cream and butter.....but tonight's version is going to be a little lighter and use milk and chicken broth. Its still good and still unhealthy with all the parmesan cheese. At least I use whole wheat pasta.