Happy Valentine's Day weekend! It's been such a great one. Friday I was able to spend it will 21 of my littlest loves. They showered me with candy, cards, flowers, and…more candy, which unfortunately is a "big no, no" these days. That night my parents came up and we took them to dinner at our fave spot [Sushi Court…yummo!]. It was dad's first time having sushi and it was entertaining to say the least. American Sniper was next on our to-do list. W and I have already seen it…but because it's so awesome we didn't mind seeing it again. A trip to Cold Stone is how we ended the evening. I was pretty proud of myself. I stuck to only getting a "Like it." Yesterday, we celebrated by cooking scallops and sautéed veggies…another favorite. To top it off, my big valentine surprised me with a gift card for a hot stone massage, pedi, and mani. Whoop, whoop! :)
We've now been on our health kick for a little over 2 weeks. In order to not go crazy, we allow ourselves to have one cheat meal (yes meal…not day) a week. It's been nice to have something to look forward to. Sushi Court and Cold Stone were definitely picked two weeks prior. The first week was rough. Not because I was missing any particular food per say, but because we were literally eating the same foods for almost every meal. I literally became sick of it. Last week, after research and putting some extra thought into it, we got more creative and actually had some really good meals. It made it so much easier to stick to and not get bored. GOTR is also going better than I thought. Just like we teach the girls, I have tried setting small goals for myself each practice. I've hit them each time…so I guess you could say, so far, so good. At our practice last Thursday I actually was able to do 3 miles in 36 minutes! That may be no big deal to most of you, but I was super excited. Baby steps.
Last Monday, at school, we kicked off our Celebrity Apprentice Weight-loss Challenge. I hadn't even considered signing up, but after my wonderful assistant did if for me, I had no choice. Basically, you get together with 5 other people at school and create a team and team name. Weigh ins are every Monday. Each week you have a "team leader." The team leader is supposed to organize some sort of event or something of the sort for the team to participate in. On Fridays all teams meet in the conference room and have to report what their team has done throughout the week. Based on our performance, or lack their of, we can be fired. Each time you get fired you have to donated a gift card…the amount you donate increases $5 each time you are fired. Our first weigh in since the initial one is tomorrow, and our first meeting is this upcoming Friday. Our team has done such a great job this past week! We've held each other accountable for food choices, we've logged everything we have eaten, and we've all hit the track together each day after school to exercise as a team. Tomorrow, with it being a work day, we've all decided to contribute an item towards creating a healthy meal for lunch. Apparently the goal of this challenge is to find ways to work together as a team with those you wouldn't typically work with, and the weight-loss part of it is just an added bonus. I was a little skeptical about it at first, but it's proven to be very encouraging and has promoted an even better working environment. So, here's to Team GG (long story behind the name)! We better kick some butt, because I can't afford to be fired, ha!
Time to spend the rest of my Sunday researching snow dances in order to prepare for this upcoming week's weather forecast. Dear Sweet Baby Jesus…all I'm asking for is one full day off of work. Fingers crossed...
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Happy New Year…a month late!
It's been a while, huh? Let's see…it's probably easiest to just make a list of everything that's been going on. I'll probably be all over the place. Here we go:
- started my new job at my new school [LOVE it!]
- first grade is my jam
- became so much less stressed this year [miracles do happen]
- had our first annual girls weekend in Asheville with my bests!
- after 3 years, finally celebrated our first holiday together…Thanksgiving in Edisto
- Sullivan came into our lives a week before Christmas [he's presh]
- had a fantastic Christmas and did a lot of holiday traveling
- ….and then came Olivia on New Year's Eve [two puppies...what were with thinking?!]
- entered the New Year with my favorite guy by my side
- W added to his MHP empire and pretty much got a steal [he works so hard and I am so proud of him]
- just bypassed the halfway mark of the school year
That's the past few months in a nutshell. It's been exciting for sure. We are now juggling two puppies, new work experiences, along with life in general. I love it! With all that's been going on, I've let my healthy food choices and my gym visits fall to the wayside. I was so proud of myself last year when I was going to the gym at least 4 times a week and watching everything I put in my mouth. So, in order to get back on track, I've lost my mind and decided I'd join the coaching staff for Girls on the Run at my school…HA! I hate running. Like literally hate it. But the funny thing is, is that I want to love it. I see how much W and others I know love doing it and I want to feel the same way about it. Plus it's the cheapest exercise to perform. You literally need no equipment. So, I'll give this a whirl. W and I also decided we both needed to get back on track with our eating habits and went to HT today and stocked up on the healthiest cart of foods we've bought in a while. It's so much easier to stick to something when someone is doing it with you. We are going to allow ourselves one cheat meal a week so that we don't go crazy and we've also come up with an exercise routine to do together. I'm excited to get back into our healthy lifestyle [plus…there should be a new piece of jewelry coming my way soon and I need to get on track for the festivities that go along with it…whoop! ;)] Hopefully there will be a post on that sooner than later. Anyways…fingers crossed that we are able to stick to our goals and create a healthy lifestyle again. Just went back and reread everything…I was right…it was all over the place. Oh well, happy weekend people!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Where has the time gone?
Good grief. What…a…month. Who knew that I would let so much time pass since my very first post? I have a good excuse though :) This month has flown by! Agreed?
Since I last posted, so much has been going on. I've turned in all of my "official paperwork" to the county and "officially" submitted my resignation from the other. Honestly, it was a bit sad. I didn't think it would be, but it was. I don't typically do well with change, so that could be the reason. It was the closing of a chapter, but the beginning of a new one.
I've also been doing a bunch of visiting. I'm so blessed that I have a group of old parents who still share their babies with me. I got the chance to head down 95 and cheer on two of my boys while they played baseball, and talk and laugh with their families. I've had a girls day with one of my favorites that included lunch, a movie, putt-putt, and lots of loud singing…or as we like to call it, carpool concerts ;) I've visited my best friends and their little ones, and made a few weekend and day trips down 401 to visit my family.
My guy and I also made the traditional summer lake trip up to the mountains to visit his family. Grrr…the weatherman was not our friend during our week there. The afternoon that we got there and the next day were absolutely beautiful! But, not much can be said for the rest of our stay. Mid-July and it was cold. I'm talking like 58 degrees at night. And it rained…ugh…oh, how it rained. It legit rained for multiple days straight. Not even like scattered thunderstorms…just rain. I think by the last few days we were going a little stir crazy from cabin fever. It was also really weird without Maws. She was there last summer, keeping everyone straight, and giving William a hard time. The house just wasn't as lively this go 'round. It was great spending time with his mom and grandfather, though.
During this hectic month I have also turned another year older. Blah. They're never fun anymore after your turn like 24 or 25. Am I right? This year brought on the big 2-8. Yikes! I just keep thinking how close I am to 30 and it makes me nauseous. I guess I can't stop or slow down the time, so I might as well embrace it and keep moving forward. I am excited to see what this next year holds!
Today I was able to meet with 4 out of 5 of my new grade level coworkers. We decided to meet for lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants in town to get to know everyone (or better yet so that I could meet all of them and they could put a name with a face) and so that we could plan for, at least, the beginning of the year. I wasn't nervous about it at all, however I did realize on the way there that I had no clue who to look for or even what to look for when I arrived. I probably looked a bit flustered in the parking lot and when I first entered the restaurant asking people if they were affiliated with my new school. I finally found my group sitting in one of the corner booths. Introductions were made and it took off from there. I was relieved when I learned that 4 out of the 6 of us would be new to teaching first grade. I will not be alone in this journey! One of the ladies is coming from 13 years in 5th grade…whoa. Bless her. I am the only new one to the school though. We ate, socialized, and then got down to business. It was SO nice being able to get a feel for how things work there and within the grade level before just being thrown into it all. All of the ladies seem to be passionate, helpful, supportive, dedicated, and organized. I feel like I will fit right in…except maybe the organized part? But hey, I'm working on it! :) They were also very open to hearing any ideas that I had. I was able to share The Daily 5 routine that we had been using this past school year at my old school. They acted pretty interested, and a few of them seemed to jump right on board. I was happy about that for sure! I wasn't sure how they'd take to the idea, because I know how skeptical I was at first. I'd already talked to the Instructional Coach and principal and they were down for me using it, so maybe the rest of the team will jump on board and grow to love it like I have!
Welp--I know this is abrupt but that's all I can think of for now. I've been procrastinating this online safety training for quite a while so I should probably move on to working on that. Happy Thursday!
Since I last posted, so much has been going on. I've turned in all of my "official paperwork" to the county and "officially" submitted my resignation from the other. Honestly, it was a bit sad. I didn't think it would be, but it was. I don't typically do well with change, so that could be the reason. It was the closing of a chapter, but the beginning of a new one.
I've also been doing a bunch of visiting. I'm so blessed that I have a group of old parents who still share their babies with me. I got the chance to head down 95 and cheer on two of my boys while they played baseball, and talk and laugh with their families. I've had a girls day with one of my favorites that included lunch, a movie, putt-putt, and lots of loud singing…or as we like to call it, carpool concerts ;) I've visited my best friends and their little ones, and made a few weekend and day trips down 401 to visit my family.
My guy and I also made the traditional summer lake trip up to the mountains to visit his family. Grrr…the weatherman was not our friend during our week there. The afternoon that we got there and the next day were absolutely beautiful! But, not much can be said for the rest of our stay. Mid-July and it was cold. I'm talking like 58 degrees at night. And it rained…ugh…oh, how it rained. It legit rained for multiple days straight. Not even like scattered thunderstorms…just rain. I think by the last few days we were going a little stir crazy from cabin fever. It was also really weird without Maws. She was there last summer, keeping everyone straight, and giving William a hard time. The house just wasn't as lively this go 'round. It was great spending time with his mom and grandfather, though.
During this hectic month I have also turned another year older. Blah. They're never fun anymore after your turn like 24 or 25. Am I right? This year brought on the big 2-8. Yikes! I just keep thinking how close I am to 30 and it makes me nauseous. I guess I can't stop or slow down the time, so I might as well embrace it and keep moving forward. I am excited to see what this next year holds!
Today I was able to meet with 4 out of 5 of my new grade level coworkers. We decided to meet for lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants in town to get to know everyone (or better yet so that I could meet all of them and they could put a name with a face) and so that we could plan for, at least, the beginning of the year. I wasn't nervous about it at all, however I did realize on the way there that I had no clue who to look for or even what to look for when I arrived. I probably looked a bit flustered in the parking lot and when I first entered the restaurant asking people if they were affiliated with my new school. I finally found my group sitting in one of the corner booths. Introductions were made and it took off from there. I was relieved when I learned that 4 out of the 6 of us would be new to teaching first grade. I will not be alone in this journey! One of the ladies is coming from 13 years in 5th grade…whoa. Bless her. I am the only new one to the school though. We ate, socialized, and then got down to business. It was SO nice being able to get a feel for how things work there and within the grade level before just being thrown into it all. All of the ladies seem to be passionate, helpful, supportive, dedicated, and organized. I feel like I will fit right in…except maybe the organized part? But hey, I'm working on it! :) They were also very open to hearing any ideas that I had. I was able to share The Daily 5 routine that we had been using this past school year at my old school. They acted pretty interested, and a few of them seemed to jump right on board. I was happy about that for sure! I wasn't sure how they'd take to the idea, because I know how skeptical I was at first. I'd already talked to the Instructional Coach and principal and they were down for me using it, so maybe the rest of the team will jump on board and grow to love it like I have!
Welp--I know this is abrupt but that's all I can think of for now. I've been procrastinating this online safety training for quite a while so I should probably move on to working on that. Happy Thursday!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Starting a new journey...
Well, here it is. This post is about a few firsts…ha, oh, how true that statement is.
First things first (see what I did there?)…this is my very first post on my very first blog ever! It's a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm realizing very quickly how much I've allowed myself to be put outside of my comfort zone here lately. My hesitations about starting a blog range anywhere from worries about not having enough to say to keep a blog running, to making some embarrassing grammatical errors, all the way to not having anyone read it. If I'm being completely honest with myself then the second of those two worries is probably the most realistic.
I am also experiencing a change within my career. I am leaving the first school I joined after graduating college, and the only school system I've known for the past five years, to join a new one. I have SO loved teaching my babies (as you'll soon realize I call all of my students) at MES, but realized through a years worth of prayers, thinking, and talking with others, that my time there was coming to an end. Not only will I be changing systems, I will also be changing grade levels. Yikes! I will be moving down a grade level to FIRST! Ahhh! I've only known second grade for five years, so that will be yet another first. I told you, lots and lots of firsts are heading my way…literally and figuratively.
I've decided that with all of this change it may be helpful to write (blog) about it and hopefully connect with others who may be helpful in my new and upcoming situations. But then again, if no one ends up reading, then I've just created a super, technological online journal for myself. Glass half full, right?? :)
So…I guess I'll end it with this…feel free to share experiences, ideas, encouragement, etc!
Happy Sunday, people!
First things first (see what I did there?)…this is my very first post on my very first blog ever! It's a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm realizing very quickly how much I've allowed myself to be put outside of my comfort zone here lately. My hesitations about starting a blog range anywhere from worries about not having enough to say to keep a blog running, to making some embarrassing grammatical errors, all the way to not having anyone read it. If I'm being completely honest with myself then the second of those two worries is probably the most realistic.
I am also experiencing a change within my career. I am leaving the first school I joined after graduating college, and the only school system I've known for the past five years, to join a new one. I have SO loved teaching my babies (as you'll soon realize I call all of my students) at MES, but realized through a years worth of prayers, thinking, and talking with others, that my time there was coming to an end. Not only will I be changing systems, I will also be changing grade levels. Yikes! I will be moving down a grade level to FIRST! Ahhh! I've only known second grade for five years, so that will be yet another first. I told you, lots and lots of firsts are heading my way…literally and figuratively.
I've decided that with all of this change it may be helpful to write (blog) about it and hopefully connect with others who may be helpful in my new and upcoming situations. But then again, if no one ends up reading, then I've just created a super, technological online journal for myself. Glass half full, right?? :)
So…I guess I'll end it with this…feel free to share experiences, ideas, encouragement, etc!
Happy Sunday, people!
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