A Challenge.

Since I am no good at keeping my blog up to date, I have issued myself a challenge. I am always struggling for things to write about that other people would care to read. Scratch that plan. I am going to try to answer the thirty following questions in the next month or so. For ME!

THE LIST:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misunderstand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Now THIS will be a challenge! I am not good at sharing things about myself, especially not my feelings. I am hoping this will help me open up a little more. Besides, my only readers are my 2 best friends anyway! :) xoxo

Hello world!

Since I've been MIA lately, it's time for an update!! I will keep this simple, and kindly use bullets :)

• Last July, I got engaged to my incredible fiance Nick! He completely shocked me by proposing to me on our trip to Las Vegas. I was in no way expecting this to happen. Of course I said yes!
• I am now in my fourth year at Grogan Elementary, and this year I am teaching reading. I work with mainly the lower el kids. I see a LOT of second graders, which I don't mind. I have known them since kindergarten, so it's been fun for me to track their progress through the years.
• Nick has been living in Mexico since the beginning of January for his last rotation at Ford as an FCG (Ford College Graduate). He is working on the build of the 2013 Fusion. He is there until mid-July sometime. I am planning on joining him in June once school lets out, so I am looking forward to a new adventure! (And not working this summer, for the first time in years!)
• I have been working on planning our wedding, which is going to be on December 1st. We have the ceremony and reception locations, and I found my wedding dress a couple weeks ago. It's starting to become so real, and I am actually getting excited! It's really awesome when both of our families support and even LIKE our choices. They make it very easy for us. It has been really fun going places with my mom and my soon-to-be mother-in-law. I honestly could not ask for a more incredible family to be joining. Nick's family is amazing, and our families get along so well. It seems like a dream come true...a dream I never even knew I had!
• House hunting is also in our near future. We are hoping to get a place this summer after Nick gets back from Mexico. We're not completely sure where we will end up, but it's not going to be anywhere too far from where we live currently. 

Click to show the incredible Miranda some love! 

Isn't he freakin' adorable!?

 

Sharing is caring!

I saw this pic and it made me LOL fo'realz!!

Bahahahahaha!!!!
If you enjoy smart-ass answers on tests from kids of all ages, you have to check out a website I found. I died of laughter one day at work on my lunch break from looking at this website:

http://www.happyplace.com/3907/unintentionally-inappropriate-test-responses-from-children

You will die. And realize that some kids are just completely inappropriate, whether they mean to be or not!

That day where you forget your lunch and you were late for work because of traffic and you fell in the parking lot because it was icy...

You know....THAT day?! Let's be honest, we all have THAT day once in awhile.

But...not everyone gets to walk into their classroom and see this in the middle of THAT day:

 

Granted, I have known her since she was quite young, and she is now in 3rd grade. But seriously, how sweet is that? That made my day for a long time. It still makes my day to see that photo.

I guess I have some updating to do for those who I don't talk to every day. I got engaged in July and am currently planning a wedding for December 1st, 2012! It was crazy and unexpected and it's still hard to believe.

Inner Circle Photography

Nick is currently in Hermosillo, Mexico until July working a rotation for Ford. It hasn't been easy, but life can't be postponed. I'm thankful that I have been busy with work and will continue to keep busy planning the wedding. I am also thankful for the wonderful family and friends that I have.

Well, here's to 2012! Let's hope that it's full of happiness and love, and that it contains very few of THOSE days :)

HELLO!!!

Hey everyone!

I know it's been forever...I always go back on forth on whether or not I should even HAVE a blog since I can't seem to find the time to update it. However, it's times like these that I am THANKFUL to have one, because I want to share a great deal that I came across today!

If you love Target as much as I do, you can get $5 off of a $5 or more purchase online. You need to sign into your Target account (or just make one real quick, it's easy!) and find anything on the website you want to order. (I ordered some mascara!) When you check out, enter the promo code:
TGT75HFN
...and you get $5 off your purchase! You have to pay $0.99 for shipping, but hey that's not bad! I paid only $0.99 for my purchase and shipping!

Hope everyone is well! I keep up on all of you, and will find some time soon to update this thing!
XO

Summer time at last...

It’s finally summer!

I have been a bad blog owner for the past month, not because I’ve been neglecting to do so! No…my family has been hit with a bout of bad luck. It all started three weeks ago on a Friday night, when my mom tripped over the vacuum cord and fell. We had to take her to the ER – she ended up breaking her arm and smashing her shoulder into pieces. She was in the hospital for six days – four of those she was waiting to get operated on. I spent the night for 2 nights and my sister spent the night as well, she couldn’t move anywhere since she was lying in a bed with a broken arm. She needed help because the nurses were slow so we had to be there.

Fast forward to the next week, when my dad had scheduled surgery already planned. He has prostate cancer and he also needed a hernia repaired. Since my mom can’t drive, I was already doing all of the shopping and cooking once she got home. Now I am also chauffer to both my parents since my dad can’t drive either.

The day before my dad was supposed to be released from the hospital; my mom had another emergency and had to go to the ER. We ended up being in the ER until almost midnight that night. I needed a sweatshirt and some shoes since it got really cold, so my boyfriend took me home for a few minutes to grab some. On the way back we found my cat dead in the middle of the road. Someone hit him in the 5 minutes that we were at my house. I had to deal with that then pick up my mom who was waiting at the ER. Not a fun night.

The next morning, my dad got released from the hospital. We took him home, and about 2 hours later, his catheter stopped working. We had to take him back to the ER, and he was there for about 4 hours. We came home and ate dinner, and the same thing happened again. We went back at about 9:30 and didn’t get out of there until 2pm. This was a Saturday. The following Monday I started my summer job (Boys & Girls Club).

I also had a job interview for a teaching position at a charter school close by my house. It didn’t go so well, I was really distracted and couldn’t focus as much as I should have been able to. We will see what they have to say about it in a couple of weeks.

Things have finally started to slow down a bit…I’m dog sitting for a couple of days, but should be back to updating soon! xoxo

Things I’ve learned working in a school

#5 – Children often times confuse poop for an art tool.

I cannot tell you how many times in a year I get an all-staff e-mail about a “poop artist” in the lower or upper el boys bathroom. More times than you want to know about!

#4 – Don’t assume a child knows how to do something – no matter how simple – because most of the time they can’t. Even after you teach it to them.

i.e. Today, at the end of fourth grade, one of my students couldn’t add 14 + 14 + 14 + 20 + 23. He put that the answer was 47, and then proceeded to tell me that he was “close” when I re-added it. 47 IS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR 85!! I was fuming.

#3 – Most kids are brutally honest.

They will ask you pretty much anything. The one question I got the most this year…”When are you going to make your hair yellow again? It looks better that way.” Brutally honest.

#2 – The gym teacher is always the favorite teacher.

There must be something inviting to a kid about a teacher who wears sweat pants and t-shirts to school every day of the week. In every school I’ve been in (with the exception of my middle school years) the gym teacher is ALWAYS the favorite. Kids love gym!! (PS - I know they get a bad rep from movies and tv shows...but in real life, they are the favorite!)

#1 – Never, and I mean NEVER, eat homemade baked goods for a student’s birthday.

You don’t know where those baked goods came from, and chances are they came from somewhere very unsanitary. I know it sounds mean, but in this year alone, I have seen students eating cupcakes and cookies with hairs baked on or in them on MANY occasions. It’s DISGUSTING. I don’t care how good they look, DON’T DO IT. You can eat baked goods from the store though! Those are usually safe J