Teaching and Stuff

So, I a a terrible blogger lately. Really terrible. I want so badly to get back into this and call myself a blogger again, but I find myself coming home from work and just crashing. And on the weekends... more crashing. And packing! I can't believe I'm finally moving in just 2 days. Oh my.

Teaching. I should talk about that. So, I'm teaching preschool at a daycare/child care center (whatever you want to call it it... I prefer child care center. Daycare sounds like I just play with kids all day. I don't. I teach.)I started during the summer (it's year round) and now the "school year" is starting next week. So all but a few of my current kids will either move up to Pre-K or the kindergarten in public school and I will have a whole new class next week. Luckily though, I have met just about all of my new kids and I am excited! My very very tough class is about the get just a bit easier. And now I will be used to my school and my classroom a but so we should have a very good school year together.

I am finally starting to love my job. It's been a rough couple of weeks, getting settled in, worrying that I was selling myself short by teaching early childhood instead of trying to get into a public school (it's for the experience though), still living with my roommates instead of having my own place, general money anxiety, plus then the work stuff of having a really tough, undisciplined group of kids and being evaluated by the state my third week (did not go well. Not at all). However, I'm feeling confident now though. It helps immensely that I have a great teacher's aide who always manages to keep things humorous during the day. I'm so glad that we hit it off right away. I had so much trouble at my old job because one co-worker immediately decided that she hated me. Having a teammate in this class really makes the job easier.

So, that's where I'm at. Hopefully I can manage to blog some more in my new apartment next week. :)


Oh, how about some Ten on Tuesday?

1. What is your favorite brand of shoes?
I don't really have a favorite. The only kind of shoes that I am "loyal" to are Old Navy flip flops.

2. How old were you when you learned to tie your shoes?
I think six. I remember having to have my 1st grade teacher tie my shoes (yes, I remember stuff like this) and I do not remember my second grade teacher tying my shoes, so I'm guessing I learned in first grade.

3. How do you feel about freckles?
I have a few random ones sprinkled around. I kind of wish I had some on my face. I feel like I'd be the kind of girl who looks cute with freckles. (Sorry, freckled girls, but some of you don't wear it well.)

4. I can count to ten in ___ languages.
Three, I think. I could probably remember how to do it in French if pressed to.

5. What is your favorite store-bought ice cream flavor?
All of them. It's ice cream, guys. You can't go wrong. (Okay, you can. But I just don't have a favorite. I like ice cream)

6. Were you in ballet or gymnastics as a little girl?
Neither. I was in baton.


7. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
This question was recently asked (as evidenced by one of my blog posts that I just read) so I refuse to answer it again.

8. What’s your bedtime?
I don't have one. Whatever 8 hours before I need to be up is. Or 7 hours, if I'm feeling rebellious. Oh this life I lead.

9. Do you have any jewelry that you wear every single day?
Yes. My tourmaline ring and my infinity loop necklace.

10. Who is the bug killer in your household?
The cats

18 Days

That's how long until we FINALLY move into our own place. I hope to never, ever have to do the roommate thing ever again.

We bought a few things for our new place yesterday at IKEA. First trip there! Some may think it's insane to drive 2 hours to go shopping, but I guess because we're from Maine and you HAVE to drive at least 2 hours to get to ANYTHING it's not a big deal. And it was actually a lot of fun. I love spending the day with Danny and just getting away from here. Lord knows I need to.  We were after a desk for Danny in our new office (yay! office!) but we didn't find one we liked for a price we liked. However, we did get a new coffee table and side table for the living room, and a sewing desk for me! Also, a new set of dishes. They're green. And beautiful. And a few little incidentals like a $1 pack of candles (how could I resist!!!), a toilet brush (something I don't think should be brought along on any move - gross), and a new frying pan. (broke the handle on my old favorite one)

I'm getting really excited. 18 more days!!! We get the keys on the 1st of the month, which is a Thursday. Logically, we should wait until Friday night or Saturday to move, but one of my roommates (who has a truck) is willing to move it all up Thursday night when I get home from work. I'm not even going to pretend that it's not because he wants us to move out as soon as possible. And I'm not going to pretend that I'm not perfectly okay with this.

10 Day "You" Challenge ~ Nine Loves

9. Teaching. So much.

8. Crafting (Particularly quilting right now)

7. Sleeping.


6. Really good food.


5. Daytrips. Overnight trips. International trips. I love to travel!!!


4. Being famous in Australia. It's kind of amazing. I even do love cricket now.


3. My kitties, when they decide that they love me too.

2. My nephew, Hunter. And the rest of my dysfunctional, "bat shit crazy" family.

1. Danny - of course. :-D


Last week's 10 Day You Challenge ~ Ten Secrets (Okay, so it's been more than a week.)

My Life

So things are finally starting to look a little brighter here these days. It took awhile, but I'm finally getting somewhere in  my life. Someone a few weeks ago stated that I'm finally "getting my life together". Well, I certainly do not believe that my life wasn't together these past 10 months, but it just wasn't where I wanted it to be at the time. But it's not like my life was in shambles or something. I've been doing just fine, and working really really hard to make advancements in my career.

That being said, I finally landed a teaching position! A real one! With my own very real classroom. No more floating around doing other people's jobs in someone else's classroom. Starting this Tuesday I'm the lead teacher in room 5 at a local preschool. Local as in no more 45 minute commute for a sucky job. In fact, the apartment that we're moving into at the end of the month is less than 2 miles from my new job. The fact that this job is in a preschool (which is really part of a child care center, or a daycare if you want to call it that) and not in a public elementary school does make me a little sad. It's not my dream job, by any means. It's not what I saw myself doing in my second year out of college, but I didn't see myself being famous in another country for a sport I'd never watched before either. So, I'm taking life as it comes right now. Whatever seems like the right thing to do, I'm doing it.

So... apartment!!! We're finally moving into our own apartment. and it will be OUR apartment. For the past 10 months we've been living in my aunt's basement which SUCKS but whatcha gonna do? It got us to a different area that we love and were able to find jobs in. Decent jobs, at that.

I'm excited. :-D

10 Day "You" Challenge ~ Ten Secrets

Secrets.... Not so good at these! I'm pretty much an open book, but I'll try.

10. I don't really exercise and I don't diet. I'm making a conscious effort to eat healthier, but I've never been "on a diet." Yes, I will admit, I am slightly overweight. But I am healthy and I have a healthy body image, so I don't see the point in depriving myself of food (especially because I LOVE food) or forcing myself to go to the gym.

9. I didn't have a good relationship with my brother (AT ALL) until our mother left our father and we were forced to redefine what "family" meant to us (and we're still working on that). But at least now we can get through a weekend without fighting and annoying the crap out of each other.

8. I pride myself on having good spelling and grammar, but a lot of times it's because my Mac has built in spell-check. And I use it.... a lot.

7.  Sometimes, I don't like my cats and think about giving them away. But then I remember them as sweet little kittens and how Danny and I adopted them together the first year we were dating, and I know I could never get rid of them.

6. I have to look up "how to boil an egg" every. single. time. Cannot for the life of me remember how to do it. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to cooking, but this is one of the only things that I can never just "do" and hope it comes out okay. Because it doesn't.

5. I'm kind of okay with living in my aunt's basement. Some people in my "family" (see #9, where I've redefined what family actually means) have tried to make me feel ashamed of myself for making what has been a very economical choice for us and kept us from accruing any debt in the past year. But I am smart enough and mature enough (contrary to the belief of my so called family) to realize that no one gets their dream job right out of college (without some really good connections, anyways) and sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to get where you really want to be in life.

4. I want to have kids someday probably more than I really let on to people. I scoff at the idea of having kids quite often, but I really do want them - someday.

3. Sometimes I'm quite self-conscious about my teeth, but seeing pictures of celebrities (like Kirsten Dunst and Anna Paquin) make me realize that they are just a part of who I am, and you can be beautiful even with messed up teeth.

2. I used to be addicted to Frontierville (Zynga game, like Farmville)

1. I don't wear a lot of make-up, but I HATE leaving the house without at least mascara.



I'm going to ATTEMPT to post this weekly. Presumably on Sundays. No promises, cause I sometimes suuuuck at this sort of thing. But I think I just need to write. It's good for me.

On Being 23

I turned 23 last Friday, and to be quite truthful, 23 somehow feels older than 22. Perhaps it was a maddening bout of immaturity I experienced in my last days of being 22. Perhaps it's my sassy new "grown-up" (as in, no more ponytails!) hair cut. Or perhaps it is that I may possibly be nearing the end of my quest for a big girl job. Whatever the reason, 23 feels older.

Danny and I had a discussion about where in your 20s being 23 falls. I believe that I am in the last year of my early 20s and he will be 28 this year, and therefore well into his late 20s. He disagrees, at least as to which part of his 20s he's in. He doesn't think he's in his late 20s yet at 27. He thinks this:
20, 21, 22, and 23 are the early 20s.
24, 25, 26, and 27 are the mid 20s.
28 and 29 are late 20s.           Yea, cause that makes sense.

I think it's this way.
20 doesn't count. You're basically still a teenager and not even old enough to drink.
21, 22, and 23 are early 20s.
24, 25, and 26 are mid 20s.
27, 28, and 29 are late 20s.        Your take?



Anyways, I am looking forward to being 23. I'm looking forward to getting a big girl job (hopefully this week, ya'll!) and moving into Danny's and my first apartment together. (We lived in what was my college apartment for a year before we moved in with Jen and James).

This year in my life has potential, guys. Will it be as exciting being 22? Probably not. But I'm kind of okay with that. A lot of negative came with the positives of being 22. And some kick ass things happened right before I turned 22 (graduated from college, birth of my nephew) and aside from Australia (which was holy crap amazing) not much else lived up to being 21. But 23.... 23 has potential. Honestly, I'm hoping for a calm, unexciting year, really. I want to start a career, get an apartment that will be our home for a few years, and just be settled.

Ten on Tuesday

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alchoholic, coffee, whatever.)
I'm kind of a big fan of coconut rum and orange juice. It's delightful.

2. What kind of razor do you use?
I used to ALWAYS use Venus razors, but they're expensive. And now that I live with a man who believes that razors are communal and uses them on his massive beard, which ruins them. So I just buy cheap ones now. Not like suuuuuper cheap, slice your leg off type razors (cause that's what I'd do, not even kidding) but definitely disposable.

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
I always loved Big Bird because my aunt bought me a stuffed one when I was little. Now, I don't know, there's probably more interesting characters.

4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)
I like my salad with a lot of crunch. A good crispy lettuce base (like iceberg) is an absolute must. With other crunchy veggies like celery and onions. And crunchy toppings like bacon bits and croutons. (I'm almost drooling right now)

5. What was your favorite subject in school?
Language Arts. I love to read. Love it.


6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?
Cooking smores on a campfire. Hands down.


7. Do you suffer from season allergies? How do you combat them?
The further south I move, the less bad it is. But more so in duration than intensity. Last year in central Maine I had a HORRIBLE bout of allergies that actually resulted in an outbreak of hives, a trip to walk-in care, and a prescription for a triple combo of anti-histamines.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone?
Every night.

9. Do you have a bucket list?
Uhm, not really. But whenever I do awesome things, I usually think "Well, that's something I'm glad I got to do before I die." Almost a better way to think about it, I think.

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?
Yes, but not for a long time.